[jules' pics] Sunrise in Yellowstone

I imagined that there might be a nice photo to be taken across the pools at sunrise on the top of the terraces at Mammoth. Weirdly no one else had the same idea. But that was good, as other photographers often spoil the ambiance. Then James played one of his tricks. He said it was all over, and it was time to go back. A few seconds later the sky turned orange. Fortunately we were able to run back, but unfortunately (no doubt due to his mean trickery) James took the best shot. I have a similar one, but I like the way he got the clouds refelected in the smaller pools. On the way down to Mammoth we saw all the other photographers. They were lined up on a boardwalk with their tripods, long lenses aimed towards this waterfall (not this view - this is taken from the top).
Two days later we explored the lower terraces. I thought they might look good with early morning sunlight on them. These two below are, however, pre-sunrise.
James and Pa started to get twitchy (they need to read more blogs about how patience is key to photography) but eventually the sun rose to light up the otherworldly landscape.

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Posted By Blogger to jules' pics at 10/18/2012 12:52:00 PM

[jules' pics] Buffalo

Yellowstone - the land where the buffalo are bison, the moose are elk, and the elk are deer.

Oh look - there's one!
And another gentleman...
What's this one is thinking?... "where's my grass?"
A lady buffalo and a hill
Dusty buffalos
Angry bison - the Occupy Yellowstone Highways movement
It was nose to tail buffalo in some places It is now obvious that I should finish this post with buffalo on a plate but I haven't uploaded the photo to flickr yet... so perhaps I'll update this post later...
....Bison sliders at Mammoth. Health warning: only for sharing. Mammoth sliders would have been even more exciting?

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Posted By Blogger to jules' pics at 10/16/2012 02:53:00 PM

[jules' pics] Thermopolis -> Cooke City

The mornin' starts with more of the very best nuthin' nuthin' nuthin'. Oh there's a truck!

Someone called Buffalo Bill Cody founded the metropolis of Cody, but these days more than bison are to be found - the cake, coffee and sandwiches were all delicious.

Cody has a large expensive museum complex all about Buffalo-san. Instead we strolled around the Old Trail Town which is an elegant street of old historically significant buildings moved log-by-log from various places. Store School Bar Butch Cassidy and pals (I thought they were fictional!) Graves of hoodlums, doogooders and victims Another street view

Then we took the scenic route. Labelled as pericoloso et dangereuse (Oh, wait, that's the Verdon gorge) Chief Josephs' Highway was actually a wide clear road. Smoke from the fires caused the views to become monochrome. Later on a pointy peak appeared If the name of this cafe in Cooke City is anything to go by, the peak must be called "beartooth". Cooke City is at the edge of Yellowstone and the evening stop was Mammoth, well inside the park... but there there are so many Yellowstone photos to work through that this post must stop here at afternoon tea root beer (amazingly, Americans still can't make tea).

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Posted By Blogger to jules' pics at 10/13/2012 05:35:00 PM

[jules' pics] to Thermopolis

Petroglyphs scribed upon the rocks by primitive cultures may still be found in many parts of the US. We spotted these in Fort Collins, last civilisation before the wild west.

Over the years we have criss-crossed most of Wyoming, and now I'm pretty sure that there is nuthin' there at all. Let's Zen paradise!

Because of the nuthin', the people who are travelling through it, take EVERYTHING with them.


After Zen, kitsch is the best, and less-than-National Parks are a great place to find it. Except by some very particular definition, the little puddle at the end of the arrow painted on the rock is surely not the world's largest mineral hot spring. Nevertheless, Thermopolis is a nice location for an evening walk.

At the end of the day James prays, white knuckled, for the American nation. ...or perhaps he was just waiting for some scrumptious pizza.

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Posted By Blogger to jules' pics at 10/10/2012 08:09:00 PM

[jules' pics] Boulder

We are back home. My travel laptop mysteriously failed on hols, so now I have a zillion fotoes to sort out. To help myself through it, I'm aiming to blog a section of the trip every day or so. I hope this does not overwhelm the long-suffering reader.

We started in Boulder. The advantages of accommodations in the cheap seats are mountain views and relatively delayed sunset.

Sunday Brunch may be eaten in Longmont when Boulder is too busy, but a walk in the park can not burn off a significant number of the calories gained. Notice how my friends don't stop to let me take photos. Their reward is immortalisation of their buttocks.

People in America don't seem to photograph their food like we do in Japan, but some of it is still quite pretty. It's not all burgers and fries. Tripadvisor is your friend.

Boulder has Boris Bikes!

Boulder people are rich, so there are lots of nice shops, but the large distance between shops is a bit alarming for someone from Japan. Americans like to exert peer pressure by publicly shouting at people who are not conforming. After I took this lovely photo some middle aged porky bloke wearing shorts and three Che Guevaras on his T-shirt shouted at me from way across the parking lot that noone would ever take such a photo. What sadly limited imagination...

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Posted By Blogger to jules' pics at 10/08/2012 06:39:00 PM

[jules' pics] Greenwash

photo, originally uploaded by julesberry2001.

There are plenty of greenish enterprises in Boulder, but if the increase in car traffic density each time we visit is anything to go by, they are really just a sad little drop in the ocean.

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Posted By Blogger to jules' pics at 10/02/2012 12:27:00 PM

[jules' pics] Nice marmot

Oh, OK, here are more pixels of marmot (crop from above pik)... [Glaysher* Park, Montana,USA]
*it's how the Americans pronounce "glacier"

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Posted By Blogger to jules' pics at 9/30/2012 09:34:00 PM

[jules' pics] northeast west South Dakota

northeast west South Dakota, originally uploaded by julesberry2001.

The really good Badlands

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Posted By Blogger to jules' pics at 9/30/2012 08:09:00 AM

[jules' pics] Devil's Work

Devil's Tower, originally uploaded by julesberry2001.

Animist religions worship everything, but the temple-ish look of this bit of geology makes  it is easy to understand why it is thought special by the American Indians. Curiously, while it was crawling with rock-climbers, not one was to be seen scaling George Washington's brow at Mt Rushmore (see last post). Perhaps the granite of the latter is just too slippery...
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Posted By Blogger to jules' pics at 9/29/2012 11:02:00 AM

[jules' pics] Giant politics

photo, originally uploaded by julesberry2001.

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Posted By Blogger to jules' pics at 9/28/2012 01:21:00 PM