Terra Galleria Photography

Posts Tagged ‘travels’

The Desert Peaks

Days 3,4,5 Organ Mountains-Desert Peaks National Monument protects five mountain ranges located in four detached sections of distinct character straddling all sides of the city of Las Cruces and separated by two interstate highways, I-10 and I-25. To the east, the 20-mile-long Organ Mountains, although they form the second smallest section, are the most developed […]

Bigelow Cholla Garden Wilderness

Day 2 In Mojave Trails National Monument, Bigelow Cholla Garden Wilderness, 18 miles west of Needles, protects California’s densest population of the fluffy cactus. The Wilderness area is bounded by I-40 on the north and power utility roads on the southwest and southeast. On my first visit, I tried to drive the later roads in […]

Bonanza Springs – Car troubles in the desert

Day 1 At Bonanza Springs, the only water source of its size in more than 1,000 square miles of most arid desert, willows and cottonwoods line up a small canyon for half a mile. The watering hole sustains rare Mojave Desert wildlife including tortoises and bighorn sheep. It is a great place to camp and […]

Traveling to Public Lands in Times of COVID-19

Summary: An account of a road trip in the desert at the start of the COVID-19 outbreak, and some thoughts on public lands and national parks as places for self-isolation. All images are from the Table Top Wilderness I visited during this trip. The Plan I had planned the Sonoran Desert trip for a year. […]

Visiting Kobuk Valley: the Crux of a 59 National Parks Adventure

Kobuk Valley National Park is the least visited of the 59 national parks, because it is arguably the most difficult to access. In this post, I discuss the logistics of visiting Kobuk Valley National Park, contrasting my approach with that of my fellow travelers who have visited the 59 national parks. Getting there Most Kobuk […]

Con Dao Islands, Vietnam’s last unspoiled costal destination

The Con Dao Islands are possibly the last unspoiled coastal destination in Vietnam. Traveling there, you feel you’ve made it to the end of the country. Less than two decades ago, the only air link to the mainland was a helicopter carrying mostly military personnel that flew a few days a week. Read on to […]

Saguaro National Park: five days and $314

This March, I visited Saguaro National Park in less than five days, inclusive of travel from home. A fairly extensive National Park photography trip doesn’t need to be lengthy nor expensive! To illustrate this point, in this post, rather than describing the locations visited, I will detail my itinerary, logistics, and costs, which totalled $314 […]

Mui Ne Beach, Vietnam

The Ho Chi Minh City project is simply “The image of the President in the City”: in each of the photographs, all made in Ho Chi Minh City, there is a depiction of Ho Chi Minh, for instance as framed portrait, poster, sculpture, bust, post stamp, post card, or book cover. The continued presence of […]

Hiking Mauna Loa summit via Observatory Trail

Part 3 of 3: 1 | 2 | 3 As part of my sea-to-summit visit of Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, after photographing the lava ocean entry and exploring around and above Kilauea, I hiked to the top of Mauna Loa, the world’s largest volcano. In this post, you will learn enough to plan your own […]

Taroko Gorge National Park, Taiwan

While Sun Moon Lake is a scenic area with a fair amount of development, Taroko Gorge, Taiwan’s most well-known natural attraction, has been protected as a National Park since 1986. The day before my visit, I traveled by rail to Hualien. From the station, I walked to the Amigos hotel, only to find out that […]