Golden Critters Found at Crater Lake

By Jim | Published August 6, 2012

When we hiked to Crater Lake, we had a colony of Golden-mantled Ground Squirrels (Spermophilus lateralis) that became active as the sun rose above the treeline. Here are a couple of my favorite images:     Cute little guys! They resemble the numerous Colorado Chipmunks that seemed to be everywhere. But the biggest differences were […]

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Fun Friday: “You Tourists are Boring Me!”

By Jim | Published August 3, 2012

Today’s “Fun Friday” post comes from along the Crater Lake Trail, in Colorado’s Maroon Bells area. As Adam and I hiked back down the mountain from Crater Lake, we had this cute little Pika that was very patient with us, sitting on a rock, watching us, and yawning! Here is a sequence that shows the […]

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Mountain Climbing, Anyone?

By Jim | Published August 2, 2012

One of the surprises Adam and I found along the Crater Lake Trail was totally unexpected. As we hiked the trail, we had just come across an area where several pikas were scurrying among the loose rocks (“A ‘Life’ Mammal … On Top of the Mountain”). We decided it would be best to find a […]

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Hiking to Crater Lake

By Jim | Published July 31, 2012

A couple of days after arriving at Maroon Bells, my good friend Adam Jack (aka @wildobs, for all you Twitter followers) joined me for a couple of days. We had a blast, hiking around Maroon Bells Lake and hiking through some of the area meadows/woodlands, as we searched out interesting wildlife. But our highlight was […]

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Wildflowers of Maroon Lake, Part 2

By Jim | Published July 30, 2012

Last week, I featured the first of the Wildflowers of Maroon Lake posts. Today, a few more interesting wildflowers from the Maroon Bells area, all of them white. I still haven’t had the time to sit down and identify them, so if you know the identity of any of them, I’d appreciate your input!   […]

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Morning in the Bells

By Jim | Published July 25, 2012

I arrived late in the day at my initial destination of my recent Colorado Rockies trip … the Maroon Bells. First job was check-in, followed by pitching my tent … my “home” for the next 5 days:   The next morning (Day 2) I awoke early (with the help of my alarm clock) and drove […]

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Breakfast of Champions!

By Jim | Published January 17, 2012

During my frequent meadow hikes in the Maroon Bells area of Colorado, I came upon quite a nice patch of wild blueberries! I didn’t eat any, but was so tempted to pick a handful for a tasteful snack … but I refrained so that the local critters could have them!       The foliage […]

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Busy As A Bee

By Jim | Published January 16, 2012

While hiking some meadows in the Maroon Bells area of Colorado, I came upon a nice patch of thistles, and several Bumble Bees that were busy nectar hunting:         These images were made in mid-September. The nighttime temperatures were downright cold, but you could count on seeing these guys busy at work […]

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Chill Out!

By Jim | Published January 11, 2012

While hiking the Maroon Bells area of the Colorado Rockies, I stumbled upon a small patch of wildflowers, including these yellow beauties. Not sure of the identification, but appears to possibly be a sunflower of the genus Arnica (any ID help is certainly appreciated!):       Did you notice the small “inhabitant”, located near […]

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For Whom the (Maroon) Bells Toll

By Jim | Published January 9, 2012

Today’s images were made in the Maroon Bells area of the Colorado Rockies.  We stopped in this area and camped for a couple of days, while returning home from the late summer Alaska photo workshop I led aboard the Delphinus:   Our “home” during the Maroon Bells visit:       Maroon Bells, shortly after […]

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