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Colorado Rocky Mountain High

01 Wednesday Sep 2021

Posted by victoriaperpetua in Hiking, National Parks, Photography, Rocky Mountain National Park

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National Parks, photography, Rocky Mountain National Park

Recently, we took a much-needed vacation, and along with our daughter, Griffin, and her boyfriend, Chaz, spent the better part of a week in Estes Park at the foot of Rocky Mountain National Park in Colorado. It was cooler than where we were coming from (Savannah, Georgia and Phoenix, Arizona) by a good 20-30º Fahrenheit. And for us, it was a major change in elevation–from 18 feet above sea level to in excess of 7,000 feet above sea level.

And the Colorado Rocky Mountain high
I’ve seen it rainin’ fire in the sky
Talk to God and listen to the casual reply
Rocky Mountain high (in Colorado)
Rocky Mountain high (in Colorado)~~John Denver

We hiked to several lakes: Nymph Lake

 

Dream Lake

Bierstadt Lake, named for Albert Bierstadt (1830-1902) who was famous for painting lavish landscapes of the American West.

Griffin and Chaz at Bear Lake

Pretending to be drawn to opposite oceans–Frank to the Atlantic, me to the Pacific.

I made friends with a clever little chipmunk that hiked a good 100 feet or so along the trail with me. I named him Simon after the middle brother in “The Chipmunks”.

A freaky picture of Griffin during our night tour of the Stanley Hotel, where Stephen King was inspired to write “The Shining” and where the miniseries was filmed.

On our last day, we took the aerial tramway to the top of Prospect Mountain, which overlooks Estes Park and the Rockies.

 

Parque Nacional Soberanía

30 Sunday Jun 2019

Posted by victoriaperpetua in Animals, Anteater, Birds, Botany, Earth, Ecology, Flora, Flowers, National Parks, Nature, Panama, Parque Nacional Soberanía, Parrots, Photography, Termites, Travel

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Panama, Parrots, photography, Travel

Soberaniavic

Looking for birds along the Pipeline Road . . .

We were supposed to head to Parque Nacional Soberanía the day after we exhausted ourselves hiking at  Parque Natural Metropolitano and then walking to Casco Viejo. Fortunately, we had to postpone our trip by a day because it was raining so hard. It gave us some much needed time to rest and we enjoyed an excellent meal of sushi and maracuyá sangria.

The next morning, we were up early and on our way to Soberanía with our guide, Miguel Ibarra (@nature_guide_panama on Instagram of Panama Road Trip Adventures. I highly recommend him!), one of the most accessible tropical rainforests in Panamá.

We hiked down the Pipeline Road, mostly in search of birds as the park is home to 525 species and holds the Guinness World Record for most species sighted in a day–nearly 400. I was lucky enough to be the first to spot a southern mealy amazon parrot perched high in a tree.

Soberaniamealyparrot

While one of the largest amazonian parrots at 15-17 inches length, the mealy parrot is rarely spotted except when flying.

I was fortunate enough to be able to grab a photo through Miguel’s telescope. My husband, Frank, was lucky enough to grab a shot of this anteater crossing the Pipeline Road:

Soberaniaanteater

This anteater is one of 105 species of mammals in the park.

We also saw agoutis, caiman, and heard howler monkeys, among other things. But what I found truly interesting was the termites, which are essential to the rainforest biome.

Soberaniatermites

Miguel exposed part of the “termite highway” to show us the activity beneath.

Soberaniatermitehwy

The “highway” runs the length of the tree.

Recent research has discovered that termites are actually modified roaches with the oldest fossils being found in the Lower Cretaceous period (145-99 million years ago!), which makes them the oldest social animals currently alive. Who knew?

These Central American termites is the second largest species in richness but less researched than the termites of Africa and Europe. In the rainforests, termites build large mounds, usually on trees. These termites are particularly adept at breaking down the cellulose from dead wood in the soil because they have the highest gut Ph in the world at more than 12. This makes it possible for the termites to explore the thick humus layers under tropical rainforest canopies. We also got to see the unique relationship between bees and ants, which nest near each other.

Soberaniahotlips

This Psychotria elata is a plant native to Central and South America, which is slowly disappearing due to deforestation.

This striking flower is not actually a flower but bracts, or modified leaves. Tiny, star-shaped flowers will eventually grow from the center of the red leaves. The plant is also known as Hot Lips, Mick Jagger Lips, or, as Miguel updated it, Angelina Jolie Lips.

Soberaniagroup

Group photo with Miguel, Frank and myself, and our daughter, Griffin.

Did I say that we also saw lots of toucans and hummingbirds? Butterflies, frogs, and caterpillars? A dead caiman with a basilisk or Jesus lizard (because it can walk on water) resting on its exposed belly? A live caiman carrying a plastic grocery bag full of intestines?

We decided that day that if we just saw one unexpected thing (three that morning) each time we went out, it would be enough. Dayenu.

Joshua Tree National Park

28 Sunday Oct 2018

Posted by victoriaperpetua in California, Desert, Joshua Tree National Park, Joshua Trees, National Parks, Photography, road trip

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Joshua Tree, Joshua Tree National Park, National Parks, photography, road trip

JTNP1

Exploring Joshua Tree National Park at sunset in our rented Rogue.

From the National Park Service:

“While the Joshua Tree area has been inhabited by humans for at least 5,000 years, by the late 1920s the development of new roads into the desert had brought an influx of land developers and cactus poachers. Minerva Hoyt, a Pasadena resident who was extremely fond of desert plants, became concerned about the removal of cacti and other plants to the gardens of Los Angeles. Her tireless efforts to protect this area culminated in 825,000 acres being set aside as Joshua Tree National Monument in 1936.”

We’d heard about Joshua Tree National Park for years, and when we decided to turn a trip to California into a road trip that would take us down California 1 then across the state to Barstow before heading to Joshua Tree and then east to Phoenix to visit our daughter.

Joshua Tree didn’t become a National Park until 1994, but the designation added 234,000 acres to the monument. The new boundaries created an important habitat for desert bighorn sheep. Today the park ranges from 536 feet above sea level in elevation to 5,814 feet atop Quail Mountain.

And while the park’s unique landscapes are a stunning combination of the Mojave and Colorado deserts with their unusual plant life and rock formations, we were really there to see the Joshua Trees.

In addition to Joshua Tree, Yucca brevifolia is known as yucca palm, tree yucca, and palm tree yucca. Mormon settlers crossing the Mojave desert in the mid 19th Century, gave the tree its most common name because its unique shape reminded them of the Biblical story of Joshua raising his hands to the sky in prayer. The Spanish name for the Joshua tree is izote de desierto or desert dagger.

JTNP2

Joshua Tree at sunset.

JTNP3

Looking up into the Joshua Trees.

JTNP4

Joshua tree and rock formation.

JTNP5

JTNP6

JTNP7

A different view of Skull Rock.

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