If a half-ton wild animal gives you The Look…

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Photo #306: Elk LookLocation Taken: Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming
Time Taken: October 2012

Look at this elk, being an elk.  All “yup, I’m here to wander through your campground and eat some dry grass, yup.”

Such interesting critters, elk.  I’m more used to deer, which are a bit smaller.  Just as bold, though.

This is an elk that won’t take any gruff from anyone trying to say “Hey, there’s rules about humans getting too close to elk, stop walking straight at me!” or “That’s my campsite you’re eating grass out of!  I need to use that space to pack up for the day!”

This elk will just look at the person exclaiming such things (or holding a camera), toss them a look, and continue on its merry elk way.

  

The (currently) Rainbowless Rainbow Falls

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Photo #305: Rainbow FallsLocation Taken: Rainbow Falls Provincial Park, Ontario
Time Taken: June 2010

I took this at Rainbow Falls Provincial Park, which, as you may expect, has a fantastic waterfall.

Well, more like series of waterfalls. Each individual waterfall, like this one, really didn’t fall that far. But there was at least a dozen of them just in the stretch that had a well-made boardwalk stairs for casual visitors to go down. And the waterfalls kept going down past the end of the boardwalk, falling the considerable vertical distance down to Lake Superior.

I can’t verify the Rainbow aspect of the falls, though. It was quite rainy when we visited, which is why we stuck to the boardwalk and didn’t explore the trail going further downhill. Alas, the skies were solid gray, without even the tiniest of breaks to let a sunbeam through to create a rainbow.

Just look at the water vapor by the falls, though. There’s plenty of it there, and it must catch the light magnificently. There probably are rainbows in the falls every time the sun gets past the clouds and the trees.

  

*Whine* I want snow pictures *whiiine*

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Photo #304: Mom Dog SnowLocation Taken: Watervale, Michigan
Time Taken: January 2011

It’s not me twitching about the lack of snow today. It’s my Mom. She’s begging me to post a snow picture, being all cute about it and everything.

So yeah, here’s a picture of her. In snow. With dogs. That should keep her happy.

Well, at least as happy as she can be when there’s no snow on the ground.

  

A Quick View of Beauty

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Photo #303: Terra Nova BayLocation Taken: Terra Nova National Park, Newfoundland
Time Taken: July 2012

There’s a lovely national park on the eastern side of Newfoundland, full of magnificant forests and marvelous bays. It’s called Terra Nova, which means “new world”, and it is full of pristine wilderness that may just convince you that you’re on a different, much less populated, planet. Both the land and the seas teem with wildlife, including many that are endangered, and the bays are full of magnificant cliffs and clear blue waters.

Or at least that’s what I’ve heard. I only drove through the place.

Oh, and we stopped for about fifteen minutes at the visitor center as well.

That’s about it.

We had been planning on camping at this park, which would have given me a chance to explore it some and take more than a handful of photos. But alas, car trouble meant we spent that night in a hotel, hoping that the mechanics would be about to get it up and running before we had to catch the ferry to the mainland. And they did an excellent job, taking only two days to complete the repairs beautifully!

Alas, that meant two days of our itinerary had to be cut, so Terra Nova was dropped, as was the extra day in St. John’s that I’d asked for. I’d wanted to check out the Avalon Peninsula a lot more, but we only spent one night there, and had to head off for the ferry in the morning.

Ah well, perhaps next time I head to Newfoundland, I shall get more time for the eastern portion. I really liked the rocks there. And what little I saw of Terra Nova (mainly this bay right by the visitor’s center, plus a whole lot of forest to drive through) was beautiful, even if most of it went by at 110 kilometers per hour (or whatever the speed limit on the highway was).

  

The Delicate Spikes of Symplocarpus foetidus

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Photo #302: Skunk CabbageLocation Taken: Ithaca, New York
Time Taken: March 2010

Ah, skunk cabbage, such a beauty in the spring!

Just look at that marvelous green and purple color, the spikes curving like a witch’s hat!

Smell the scent of the swamps they grow in, and the odor that earned this plant its name is only a simple leaf-tear away!

See the rotting material of a swamp in spring providing a fertile breeding ground for the plants that grow in it, and trillions of mosquitoes as well!

The glory of nature!

Ok, I actually really like skunk cabbages, so that wasn’t actually that sarcastic. I rather like that purple color, and my lack of a sense of smell makes the skunk aspect not an issue at all. And I like swamps. They’re awesome breeding grounds for lots of interesting plants, such as the carnivorous ones I’m especially fond of. And hey, when the weather’s warm enough for mosquitoes, it’s often too warm for me! And the skunk cabbage shows its beauty best in early spring, long before the bloodsuckers get going. Plus they’re one of the fly-pollinated plants (hence the smell), AND they can produce heat enough to melt any snow that’s on top of them when they start growing! Those are both really rare and nifty things!

Once it’s grown more, skunk cabbage looks more like, well, cabbage. All green and leafy, not purple and spiky. Not very interesting at that point. So sad, so sad.