Palouse Falls

Palouse Falls are about 4 miles upstream of the confluence of the Snake and Palouse River. The falls are 198 feet in height. There is a viewing area facing the falls but intrepid hikers can walk around towards the left and actually look down on the pool of water before it falls into the bowl below. There are signs everywhere warning about hiking close to the edge and swimming below the falls as there have been four deaths there this year. In 2014 the Washington House of Representatives passed a bill to make Palouse Falls the official state waterfall of Washington having been so deemed on Februar. The proposal for the bill originated when a group of elementary school students in the nearby town of Washtucna lobbied the state legislature.

We have been to Palouse Falls before and have never seen a the rainbow. It was a very nice surprise!

An interesting rock formation viewable from across the bowl.

This photograph is a bit tricky to get. One has to lay flat on a rock outcrop and handhold a very wide angle lens. Tom was not too happy with my decision to try to get this image but both camera and this crazy photographer backed out safely. Lens used was a rectilinear 14-24mm f/2.8.

The drama of the adventure was spotting these young men swimming in the water within feet of the falling water column. It was difficult to watch and concentrate on photography. As best we could tell, they eventually got tired and made it to the edge along the side. We have no idea how they hiked back and got out.

Tetons Revisited

This was our second trip to the Grand Teton National Park and it was every bit as spectacular as the first time. One main difference was the weather which is obviously still clinging to the last gasps of winter even in late May. It rained, snowed or both every day and the mountains were often not visible at all. This time we had the pleasure of camping close to Jackson Lake which gave us several opportunities to photograph some reflections of the Teton mountains.

South Dakota Badlands

The park’s brochure makes a statement about this place that we can appreciate but did not experience. They wrote, “For centuries humans have viewed South Dakota’s celebrated Badlands with a mix of dread and fascination.” For us, the place was simply fascinating! We did not sense the dread, but perhaps it is because we came in spring when the temperatures were mild and the grasses lush and green. In this place one can marvel at the eroded peaks and pinnacles, gullies, buttes and wide prairies. The skies were interesting and the light played with colors that seemed to change by the hour. There is a sense of vastness. Best of all, this is a great place to photograph!

In many places one can see layering in the rock formations; the result of broad cycles of climates and geologic processes that have shaped the region over the past 75 million years.

We saw plenty of Big Horn sheep. They are very used to tourist traffic and will pass within feet of photographers.

Taken during a late afternoon golden hour.

Taken later in the same place with some late light reflecting on just this one hill.

When the black hills were formed in South Dakota the ancient sea drained away. Once exposed to air, the black ocean mud was weathered into a yellow soil and this can be seen in mound-like structures in the park.

This is the only standing water we saw in the park. It is a small pond inhabited by vocal frogs. I suspect that by late spring it will have dried up.

This spot reminded me of Zabriski Point in Death Valley.

Sunrise gold!!

This is a prairie dog. I would have been thrilled to spot a black-footed ferret. The ferrets were once thought to be extinct but were discovered in the wilderness of Wyoming. A program to save them in captivity and then reintroduce them to the prairie in the Badlands National Park seems to have been successful.

This is such a typical photograph representing the richness of the prairie grasses in the park. There are 60 species of prairie grass in the park. I imagine these grasses turn yellow and brown in the extreme summer heat, but for now following significant winter and spring rains, the prairie is flourishing.