Call of the Wild- Denali National Park, An abode of Grizzly Bears!

Early rays of Sun on Mt Denali

Home of North America's highest peak Mt Denali (20,320ft), Denali National Park is a vast wild land of high alpine tundras and snowy mountains. The highest mountain, more popular by the name Mt McKinley, is the 'roof' of North America. Denali means "the high one" in Athabascan native language. It seems only 20% of the total visitors happen to have a glimpse of this mountain! And I am one of them!

Flowerscapes- A tiny flower from backyard

When I open my door I get the sight of a garden full of tiny colorful flowers and a green lawn. Instead of going out in search of subjects I thought of clicking macro shots in my backyard itself. I tried many different angles and I liked this one the most. It is Himalayan Geranium, a perennial plant and is beautiful with blue petals, white centre and the deep dark veins! Also called as Lilac Cranesbill, grows in California too!

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National Parks- The popular Yosemite

This is my 100th post on this blog! I started this new blog with a beautiful template (recently changed it anyway!). I started it on May 24th, a little over 6 months ago. It has grown well with over 27K hits. I thank all of you who like to read my articles and encouraged by expressing beautiful thoughts in comments. On this occasion I would like to present an article on Yosemite National Park- one of my all time favorite place!

Yosemite National Park is one of the most popular, most beautiful, most visited, most hiked and most photographed national parks of USA. I have visited this place n-number of times, in spring for wildflowers and waterfalls, in summer for hiking, in fall for fall colors and in winter for snow-shoeing. To visit this place one doesn't need a reason or occasion just the name is enough! Very easily accessible waterfalls and viewpoints are crowd pullers.

Lakes- Tahoe, Part II

As I have mentioned in Tahoe- Part I, Tahoe Basin is home for several recreational activities and hikers paradise. Numerous trails for all types- days hikes or multiday backpacking. Trails to the summits and trails to the alpine lakes. These lakes are beautiful up in the high elevation surrounded by high standing mountains. The clear blue waters mesmerize the hikers. I have hiked a few and have camped in beautiful state parks here. I will post info about some of the them.

Photo Friday: Vibrant Weed!

Lantana Camara is commonly known as Spanish Flag or sometimes called as Red Sage though it is not a sage at all. It is a flowering plant from Verbena family native to American Tropics. It seems it is indigenous to Rio Grande Valley of Texas, USA. It was introduced to rest of the world later. Well, in India it is considered to be an invasive weed because- it grows and spreads quickly, and is resistant to fire which makes it impossible to eradicate. It causes indigestion making animals and birds ill after consumption. But, the flowers are very pretty with vibrant colors!

I took this picture in its native, Big Island, Hawaii near Hilo airport. I was waiting for my travel-buddy who was flying-in in the next flight. These looked very pretty road-side there.

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National Parks- Sequoia, A walk in the Land of Giants

Sequoia National Park in California is a place to see the ancient giant sequoia trees. As I had mentioned in the previous post Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks are adjacent to each other. And one can see these magnificent trees in both parks. In Sequoia, one finds the world's largest tree and in Kings Canyon- world's second largest tree :)

The Blooms- Dogwoods from Yosemite

It is June ... when most of the Yosemite trails officially open ... the Dogwood blooming has ended for this year ... Dogwoods open the window for very short time during spring (April-May) for us to enjoy the spectacular show ... The Blooms ...