Life: Through the Lens

First in Rocky Mountain State Park, then in Yellowstone, as well as points in between, we noticed a great number of pine trees had died; tall, brown tree trunks and branches standing on the hillside, or sliding down the mountain slopes. We quickly became educated about the pine bark beetle, currently found from Montana through New Mexico. From our own experience we noticed more damage in Rocky Mountain National Park than we did as we traveled further north, though the pine beetle had definitely moved north ahead of us. These beetles burrow through the outer bark of conifers, lay eggs which hatch into hungry beetle larvae, which then consume the living inner bark of the trees. Currently western pine forests are affected, especially lodgepole pine. There are 17 species of native bark beetles in Rocky Mountain National Park alone. Hard winters can kill beetle eggs and larvae which winter under the outer bark, but it has to be bitterly cold to work. Unfortunately the average winter temper...

What's the difference between a bison and a buffalo?

We spent a couple of days inside Yellowstone National Park, staying in a Pioneer Cabin at Lake Lodge. Beautiful country, with a fabulous 1920's lodge on pristine Yellowstone Lake, with snow-capped mountains forming a back drop. The interesting "drawback" was the lack of access to technology. No Internet, and no towers to receive or send cell phone signals. So we truly enjoyed a couple of days of no noise, no stress and no distraction...almost. As I said, we stayed inside the national park. And the national park allows animals to roam free. And when they say "roam free," they mean it! Here is a photo taken from the doorway of our cabin as we prepared to go to breakfast one morning: Yes, that's a bison passing through. Actually, it's the second bison to pass by the cabin across from ours...it took a minute to grab the camera for this shot! Bison truly go where they want, and you need to stay out of the way. Just a few weeks ago a teenage boy was thrown by ...

Driving I-80 across the flatlands of Iowa and Nebraska is a rather tedious experience, at times. Lovely for it's fruitful fields of wheat, and rolling pastures complete with grazing horses and cows, the highway just seems to keep going, and going, and going. Then you enter Colorado. And you finally get that view of the Rocky Mountains. Still snow-capped in June, they are a beautiful and awe-inspiring site. Exploring Winter Park (the ski resort), and Rocky Mountain National Park, is a wonderful adventure. The mountains of Colorado are abundant with wildflowers. They are also abundant with wildlife! It's so much fun to take two-track "roads" into forest and field. This is an adventure for all your senses.