Puffins

When we went to Alaska last year, one of our wishes was to see puffins in the wild. Indeed we saw some during our Kenai Fjords National Park Glacier and wildlife cruise. However, they were so far afar from our boat that we were not able to really get an up close picture of puffin.

Part 2 of Upper Geyser Basin, Yellowstone National Park

Sawmill Geyser, Upper Geyser Basin, Yellowstone National Park

In my previous post  Upper Geyser Basin (part 1), after watching Old Faithful geyser erupt, we followed the paved trail and some elevated board walks to Geyser Hill. After Geyser Hill, we continued walking North. The first erupting geyser we saw after Geyser Hill was Sawmill Geyser. If you look at the picture above, Sawmill is a fountain type geyser. The bursting water stream comes through a pool of water. Sawmill's eruption can exceed 35 feet. Eruptions commonly last 30 to 50 minutes but can last from as little as 9 minutes to over 4 hours. At the time we were there, it definitely lasted more than 30 minutes. 

Upper Geyser Basin, Yellowstone National Park (Part 1)

Old Faithful Geyser, Upper Geyser Basin, Yellowstone National Park

There is more to Old Faithful area than Old Faithful Geyser. However, coming to Old Faithful with limited idea what was around, except Old Faithful, we started by following 95+% of the tourists. We crowded near the Old Faithful area waiting for Old Faithful to erupt. Though I was quiet at all times during the wait, but deep inside me, I was like the whining kids, crying to their mom, "MOM, I am bored! Can we do something else?" And mom had to explain, "shhhh, let us wait a little bit, for in just a short while, Old Faithful will erupt!"

chipmunk (?) entertaining us while waiting for Old Faithful to erupt

String Lake Trailhead to Hidden Falls and Inspiration Point, Grand Teton

Hidden Falls, Grand Teton National Park, WY

Hidden Falls is a 200 ft cascade found at the Cascade Canyon of Grand Teton National Park. There are three options that I know of to reach Hidden Falls and the Cascade Canyon Trail, which is probably the most popular trail system in the park, therefore, expect company in your hike. 

My Summer Break in San Diego

Ellen Browning Scripps Park, La Jolla

(all pictures in this post were taken by cell phone)

Let me take a break first from sharing the excitement of our Montana-Wyoming vacation to share some fun activities stay-cationing in San Diego. I should have ample time to be productive online right now, to follow Icy (of Wandering Thought ) and Jo (of Poetic Shutterbug) in making a zazzle store out of their beautiful and inspiring images. BUT, I guess, I am having so much fun in the sun right now. I realized that I even seldom update this blog, and my other blog, Breathe In....Breathe Out. I thought it is this time of the year where I could fill my blog's drafts with saved posts for scheduling, but I found out I do not have any saved posts. What happened to the time? Well, spent very well under the sun. :)

Sea Gulls @ Ellen Browning Scripps Park, La Jolla

Northern Elephant Seals @ Piedras Blancas

An Adult Elephant Seal Bull, Piedras Blancas, CA

Point Piedras Blancas is one of the elephant seal rookeries that can be found in California coast. A rookery is a breeding site on sandy beaches protected from dangerous surf and predation. Elephant seals got their name from their size, the males can grow to 14 ft and 5000 lbs. The elephant seals were hunted almost to extinction by the 19th century,  being prized for their oil. There were only about 100 to 1000 Northern elephant seals left, and they found refuge in Mexican waters. The only surviving rookery that was left then was at the Guadalupe Island, Mexico. The rookery was granted protection by the Mexican government.  By early 20th century, elephant seals have been protected by both Mexico and United States laws. After US passed the Marine Mammal Protection Act, the numbers have recovered to over 100,000. Now, the population is growing at about 25% in California, new colonies are established, and are probably limited only by haul out space. However, the population can easily be reduced with weather conditions. In 1997- 98 El Nino, about 80% of the pups were lost to the weather.