Twilight at the Rim

We took a family trip down to Crater Lake and saw this beautiful sunset!  Crater Lake is a collapsed volcano that after it exploded, the lake formed inside the rim.  Then the neat island (Wizard Island) started to form in the lake as the volcano cone started to grow again - so cool!

 

It was a great trip - I brought my bike along and had a great day of cycling around the 35mi Rim Road which circles the rim of the volcano and has great views of the lake along the way. The views were amazing as the winding road bumped up near the rim here and there along the way!  Despite a blowout and a flat, it was still an awesome ride!

 

The weather was perfect fall temps for sightseeing afterwards and we had this awesome sunset and pink glow in the lake at twilight. 

 

Find it here: 42°54’39” N;  122°8’30” W

 

splitrock lighthouse

When most people think of Minnesota, they probably imagine fields, lakes, farms, and snow but when you get up north of Duluth and the Lake Superior coast you get small mountains, amazing streams and waterfalls and a rocky coastline.  Back when I lived in MN, the state government shutdown for a while so I took that opportunity to head up to Lake Superior and see some of the state parks without people in them (parks were shutdown too).  I got to Splitrock Lighthouse late in the afternoon and spend the night perched out on the rocks to get this other photo of it too at night silhouetting the stars :)

find it here:  47°11’59” N;  91°22’12” W

Gooseberry Falls

This area is about an hour north of of Duluth on the shore of Lake Superior. Since the state of Minnesota was closed, this park area was closed too, but you could just park on the road and it was a short walk to the falls.  I never realized that this part of Minnesota had so many cliffs and bluffs - I’m looking forward to exploring this part of the state more now that I’m living here.

Find it here:  47°8’34” N;  91°28’3” W

stars glow at the dark lighthouse

I spent some time this holiday weekend exploring my new state of Minnesota and took a drive up to Duluth and Lake Superior.  I planned on spending the day in Duluth, but just kept driving north along the western shore of Lake Superior stopping along the way to take some photos.  State Highway 61 hugs the shore all along the way, passing through a few small towns.  My plan was to make it to Split Rock state park (and lighthouse) by sunset so I spent some time in Two Harbors checking out the steel agate loading docks, and Gooseberry Falls a little further North.

I got to Split Rock Lighthouse State Park just before sunset, then realized that today the Minnesota government shut down (couldn’t reach a budget agreement) so the state parks were closed too.  The entry road was under construction, and since there wasn’t really a gate (just some cones and a wooden barrier), I pulled over on the side of the road and hiked in.  It was probably a little more than a mile walk through the park and down to the bottom of the cliff to get to the vantage point here.  I got here just as the last of the sunlight was striking the lighthouse and cliff.  With the park closed down and no one else there, it was amazingly serene and peaceful.  The only sound was the water gently washing up against the rocks.  I took some photos but even with the great light, there were no clouds which would have made it even better.  Being so clear and not windy, I decided to stay until it go dark enough to photograph the stars with the silhouette of the lighthouse in the background.  It was roughly 7:30pm and using the VelaClock iPhone app, I figured I had to wait until at least 10:45 to get past nautical twilight and it would be dark enough so I just sat on the rocks and watched the light fade listening to the splashing water.

Next trip, I’m looking forward to getting all the way up to the Canadian border and later hopefully to travel the south/eastern portion of the lake in Wisconsin to the Apostle Islands (but may need a kayak for that).

Find it here:  47°12’0” N;  91°22’6” W

Beach Day at the Edge of the World

Coulter Bay on Jackson Lake in Teton National Park. There was this really cool storm forming just west of the Tetons in Idaho. We were listening to an Idaho AM radio station broadcasting the emergency warning and hearing the lighting “pops” crackle through the radio. This beach is covered with these large flat/smooth stones thus the course look to it.  Just after taking this photo, it started to rain, one of those really cold summer mountain rains, it was awesome!

Find this here:  43°54’21” N; 110°38’51” W