My Visual Adventures: Sharing my Travel, Sports, Nature, and Animal Photography. With a little bit of life thrown in. I luv living life in Northern California.
Proud single mom of one beautiful daughter who shares my love of sports and music. She doesn't share my love of the outdoors which I find weird. I love photography and wish I had a better camera!! Maybe someday...
Hello! We're back to continue the fun adventure I had in Santa Cruz, California back in April 2025 where I wanted to rediscover my love for photography and see some beautiful flora and fauna in the process.
Click on the links below to see my previous posts from this series:
After spending the morning with the flowers and the early afternoon with the cormorants, I was ready to take my next walk and discover the Monarch Trail at Natural Bridges State Beach.
I have been wanting to go and see the monarchs over-winter there which happens from mid-October through early February. So on this outing, I didn't really expect to see any monarchs...I just wanted to familiarize myself with it so I could come back during winter feeling more comfortable. That pesky anxious thing again.
But I was doing pretty good as I walked up to the Visitor Center. I decided to go inside so I could see the exhibits and the little gift shop. I got to talking to the lady working in there and she told me that it wasn't monarch season but that she had seen two monarchs flitting around a couple days before! Exciting!
So I headed out... It is quite beautiful and peaceful there. The weather was amazing and the walk was filled with trees, birds, and other lovely sights. First I walked through the little garden next to the VC.
Couldn't resist a semi-macro shot (using a zoom lens lol) of this lovely yellow flower.
And I loved these little red flowers on a bush... Love both of these pictures.
Then I headed out on the trail proper. The eucalyptus trees surrounded the boardwalk along with lilies and other beautiful foliage.
After walking about five minutes, a Spotted Towhee landed on the fence about 10 feet in front of me! I love these birds...they are so cool looking. Love the bokeh made by the leaves in the sunlight too.
And there were a few stragglers here and there by the fence.
The eucalyptus trees are so gorgeous. I love their bark; it reminds me of puzzle pieces and the colors are so pretty.
It's a prettyish kind of a little wilderness! (Jane Austen Pride and Prejudice reference. IYKYK)
Complete with copious amounts of Poison Oak. Walk carefully!
And then I saw them. Two bright orange and black butterflies flitting around the meadow. I was so excited! I lifted my camera and said a prayer that I would be able to capture a halfway decent shot. My prayer was answered! Truly I got halfway decent shots. lol It was so hard!
I watched, enthralled, as the two butterflies fluttered and swooped around the meadow going in every direction. I loved it! I was so happy to just stand there and watch, occasionally raising my camera to try to capture them.
These photos, as you can see, are nowhere good. Not clean. Not clear. Soft and unfocused. lol But I love them. I was having such fun!
And then they flew over the trees and flitted away. It was a wonderful visitation and seemed special just for me.
I kept walking for a little bit. I only walked a little of the entire trail. The bit I walked was about .6 of a mile in and out. There was a little marsh with very cool plants in the water which sparkled like diamonds in the sunlight. Unfortunately, this picture doesn't fully capture the mystique.
On my way back to the VC, I saw another Spotted Towhee. It might be the same one? But I was happy to see it anyway. It's flicking its tail at me.
I went back to the VC and found some birds out in the garden. I think this is an American Goldfinch but I'm not certain. Pretty bird and pretty bokeh.
And there were some finches flying about. I'm not sure if this is a House Finch or a Purple Finch but I'm leaning towards the latter. The lady in the VC thought Purple as well. Whatever it was, it was gorgeous.
I went inside the VC to tell the lady that I had seen two Monarchs and she was as excited as I was. lol I bought a cute little Monarch pin to remember it by.
Then she told me that there was a Great Horned Owl nest in one of the trees just off limits behind the VC but that I could go try and have a look.
I saw just a tip of the horns in a beautiful tree cavity nest.
And then I walked to where my car was parked in the parking lot and saw a beautiful Western Bluebird and a stunning American Crow. I love Corvids so much.
Then I headed down to the beach to try to find the tidepools. Of course I couldn't. Apparently I didn't walk far enough which I just realized by looking at a map of the beach. lol Next time I guess. Sucks because I timed it exactly right to be on the beach at low tide which was very low.
I saw tons of By-the-Wind-Sailors washed up on the beach. Snapped a pic of course. This was in the little creek that ran down to the water.
That was about the extent of my "tidepooling". haha But I definitely enjoyed my walk and sat by the ocean for a little bit just listening to the wind and waves and looking out at the Bridge rock with the Cormorant colony on it.
Enjoy a little ASMR video of the waves and wind on the cliffs of the beach!
Then I hopped in my car and drove north on Highway 1 to Shark Fin Cove - an amazing little cove which has two large rocks that look like...you guessed it...shark fins!
It was beautiful of course. I was hoping to come back at about 3:00 in the morning to try to get some Milky Way shots but I didn't make it. And that's okay! I will be going back. And now I know to walk on the bluffs to the right of the cove for the perfect Shark Fin/Milky Way angle!
And with that I drove to my hotel in Scott's Valley for the night.
What a lovely day filled with exercise, lovely landscapes, flowers, birds, and butterflies!
Okay! On with the story of my amazing adventure in Yellowstone National Park! Quick refresher: I set off from California to visit a place I haven't been since childhood - solo as usual!
Great fun was had, amazing sights were seen in both Grand Teton NP and Yellowstone NP. Anxiety was felt and my first solo nights were successful!
And now, on my first full day in Yellowstone National Park, I was up early and excited to hit the road, see some more sights, and - hopefully - get a little exercise.
I absolutely loved being there at this time of year! The colder (than summer) air means that the steam rising from the vents is easier to see and looks so cool!
I was heading to catch the morning eruption of Old Faithful so I was on the right side of the road to get a picture or two of the bison herd in front of the Midway Geyser Basin and Grand Prismatic Spring.
All those little dots are bison in various sized. I didn't notice it at the time, but there are even BABIES out there!
Some, like me, were a little on the sleepy side.
Some people at the far end of the turnout left, so I was able to move a bit closer to the herd for more photos.
Is it just me or is this bison pregnant?
They all have horns so I don't know how else to tell boys from girls.
Here's a closer look.
This is when I first noticed the babies!
Yes, there is one in the next photo...hiding behind it's mom (dad?).
But I couldn't linger to take more photos as I had someplace to be.
There was a park ranger standing near the meadow with binoculars, looking across the road and up a nearby hill. I asked her if the bison herd was usually there and she said it had been there for awhile and would probably hang out all day, but couldn't promise.
I asked her what she was looking for and she said that about 15 minutes prior, a bear had crossed the road nearby and ran up the hill. She was hoping to see where it was heading.
Darn! I just missed it!
But I had to press on and hope the bison decided to wait for me to come back this way because Old Faithful was predicted to blow at 6:35 and I was on my way! I got there and found a pretty close parking spot because it was so early (I guess). I was hustling up the walk way and, to my surprise, the geyser was already going off!
Holy chit! Luckily my camera was slung across my chest so I was able to snap a quick shot as I walked up! It was pretty amazing and the eruption seemed to last for a pretty good bit. I guess it was on the upper end of the 1-5 minutes per eruption.
I debated about hanging around to see the next eruption but it wasn't for awhile according to the board in front of the visitor center.
I walked around for a bit while I was trying to decide and got this cool photo of one of the other geysers in the area. I don't know which one it is though.
The birder in me (very amateur as we all know) was happy to see a heron soaring over the forest near Old Faithful. I didn't see a ton of birds and the few pictures I tried to get are a little on the shitty side. Especially the one mountain bluebird I saw. lol I'm still going to post them though.
Well, I decided not to wait around because I wanted to visit Biscuit Basin and, hopefully, go on a little easy hike. Which I did. And the videos? They're a little hilarious. lol But that's going to be in the next post.
So first, it's Biscuit Basin!
With sleeping bison right in the parking lot!! Well, just beside the parking lot anyway. Like within 10 yards! I cropped the bottom of this photo right at the asphalt line. So cool!
So, so very cool to see these huge creatures up close!
It was so amazing to be in such a beautiful place on such a beautiful morning! Words cannot even describe honestly. But pictures can!
Black Opal Pool and Black Diamond Pool
Golden ground! I swear the terraced ground around the springs and geysers looked like real gold in the morning light. So gorgeous!
Sapphire Pool with stunning gold and green runoff
Sapphire Pool with it's aqua to azure depths. So clear and gorgeous! There are random bubbles in there too...see if you can spot them.
Jewel Geyser
Shell Geyser (closeup) - You can see the clamshell appearance of the sinter surrounding the opening which gives this geyser it's name.
Silver Globe Cave Geyser
After walking the loop at Biscuit Basin, I decided that I did, indeed, want to try the little hike from the Artemesia Trailhead to Morning Glory Pool.
Since I am more than a little out of shape and the altitude at the trailhead is approximately 7,300' compared to the 80' where I live, I was slightly apprehensive. But I love walking in the outdoors and would never forgive myself if I came to Yellowstone and DIDN'T try to hike.
So I decided to go for it. I mean, I could always turn around, right?
This is the hike which is about .9 miles each way from trailhead to Morning Glory. You can keep going all the way to Old Faithful and even farther! I hope to do that next time. :) So each way was probably about 1.25 from the parking lot of Biscuit Basin where I left my car.
But that adventure is deserving of it's own post. :) Which shall be up MUCH sooner than this one was. haha See you soon!
xoxo
Nikon D600 with Nikkor 28-300 & Nikon D7200 with Sigma Contemporary 150-600
While Grand Teton National Park was amazing beyond my wildest expectation, I was finally in Yellowstone! I hadn't been since I was a child and don't really have many memories of it. I've ALWAYS wanted to go back. And I finally made it!
But before we get into that, be sure to check out my previous entries documenting the beauty and must see places in Grand Teton National Park!
As I mentioned in my previous posts, my anxieties were in my head a bit and I was worrying a lot about my reservation at Madison campground being messed up and whether not not I had a space reserved for that night (the confirmation email only said night of the 19th).
So I was kind of rushing through southern Yellowstone and telling myself not to make any more stops in case the campground wasn't staffed when I got there and I had no space. My fears weren't completely out of left field because of the confirmation email and also because when I had arrived at Jenny Lake the night before, the staff had gone and it was about the same time.
But when I saw the steam rising from Black Sand Basin, I truly couldn't resist and turned right in.
I was so glad I did!
Not only to get out of my car and see these crazy amazing geological features, but also because the first thing I saw when I got out of my car was a bison sleeping in the trees! My first Yellowstone bison! And it seemed so close! But in actuality, I was far enough away that I couldn't get a great picture. haha
And then it was time to explore the basin. It was so beautiful! Truly the blue sky, the fluffy clouds, along with the amazing features on the ground are too much for words to describe. I made a little video so you can feel what it was like from the moment I got out of the car. The audio is from the Yellowstone Sound Library and is Black Sand Pool.
It really sounded pretty much like that! In fact, there is some of my own audio in the video, but I can't stand hearing myself breathe and talk in these so I cut most of it out. haha I need to quit talking so much. lol
It was so gorgeous that of course I had to take a bunch of photos too.
Here are a couple maps of the area:
This is Spouter Geyser which is also in the video.
And this is the Cliff Geyser! This round pool on the edge of Iron Spring Creek - forming a "cliff" over the water (hence the name) - fills with boiling water and then...
...it erupts! I think it can get as high as 40 feet, but this was obviously one of the more minor eruptions.
I'm sorry that I can't remember exactly what each of these are named exactly, but I'm going to take my best guess. I believe this is the Opalescent pool.
I took this close up of the lovely gold runoff! It doesn't do it justice as to how it looked like liquid gold shimmering in the sunlight.
Rainbow Pool
And/Or Sunset Lake
Another close up shot of gorgeous, misty blue and pink runoff.
Here is a very short video of Sunset Lake and Rainbow Pool:
This is another view of Cliff Geyser! This time with a bigger eruption and more of Iron Spring Creek.
So cool.
So much fun to walk along the windy boardwalk and watch and listen as the water churns, boils, and steams! I considered stopping at Midway Geyser basin, but my feet were a little bit sore and I was a little bit tired so I decided to press on, not knowing how long it might take me to get to Madison.
I did get this amazing shot of Grand Prismatic Spring boardwalk with the steam rising around the lines of people. I absolutely love this dramatic black and white edit!
Here is a version in color in case you prefer. :-)
The bright water in front is runoff into Iron Spring Creek.
Along the way, I had a wonderful encounter with a lone bison. I say lone, but he wasn't lonely as he was covered with little birdies!
After this amazing encounter, I made it to Madison Campground, were I confirmed that I had a wonderful camp site for both nights! I went and got settled in, pitched my tent, etc., and then decided that I was going to head back out since there were a few hours of daylight left.
But, when I got to the main road in the campground, my plans were derailed by an entire herd of bison blocking the road and coming through in droves! There were at least 20 bison and as I pulled up, one was butted by another one and stumbled down the small embankment!
As I saw this, I put my car in park and grabbed a phone and started filming! It was soooo cool! Then I went back to my campsite and warned a few people that I saw out and about that there was a herd of bison coming through. Some people who had the bison come straight through their sites had to grab children and dash into tents and RVs. It was wild!
I put together a little video of my bison encounters - including a very short clip of two bison play fighting! Wow! Hope you enjoy!
See ya next post when I see even more bison, visit Grand Prismatic, and hike to Morning Glory Pool!
xoxo
Nikon D600 with Nikor 28-300 lens & Nikon D7200 with Sigma Contemporary 150-600 lens
