Mt. Rushmore

Waking up early, in part due to the train tracks that ran perilously close to our hotel, Mike and I saddled up and struck out for Mt. Rushmore. Through no fault or planning on our parts, we arrived on the morning of the Inauguration. To celebrate the next president, this shrine to past presidents was free to enter all morning!



I'll admit, my first thought as we walked up to the rocky edifice was, "I thought it would be bigger!" Though as I got closer to the sculpture, I saw that it was plenty big enough. Washington's head stretches 60 feet from chin to forehead, and his nose is a shocking 20 feet long.



We really lucked out with our timing, the deep blue sky seemed more early May than late January, and the lack of high season crowds was a serious bonus. We could wander around and photograph the monument to our hearts content, with no competition or wailing youngsters.



While the actual mountain is certainly the centerpiece of the park, there was also a (closed for the season) museum that was dedicated to the creation of the monument, and the work of the sculptor, Gutzon Borglum. There was also a really interesting little area dedicated to each of the presidents enshrined in the granite face, George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln, and Theodore Roosevelt. I think Mike especially appreciated that display, as his knowledge of US history is a bit limited. (Rightly so, my knowledge of New Zealand's history is probably far more limited.)



Of course, I couldn't leave without trying my hands at a couple of HDR images with my new remote. While the tripod/ remote worked out perfectly, the bright blue sky and direct sunlight didn't really provide the contrast needed for an effective HDR. After all, who needs more dynamic range when there isn't much range in the values in the first place? I had a little more success with a shot taken of the columns and benchs near the bookstore.

The Long Drive

With Mike in town, the main plan was to do the Great American Road Trip. Our original idea was for me to take a week off and drive through the Southwest to LA, but when renting a car for a one way drive proved prohibitively expensive, we recalculated and decided to drive to Mt. Rushmore instead.



As befits a pair of hard partying 20-somethings, we got a late start heading north on Interstate 25. I'll admit that I had been a little bit worried about being the main driver on an epic cross country road trip. People who know me can testify to my distaste for all things automobile related. However, as we reached the northern reaches of the state and the highway opened up I discovered the glory of cruise control.



As we passed into Wyoming the first thing we saw was the huge signs for fireworks stores. Mike and I had often whiled away the time in Japan by lighting off fireworks, so we just had to stop and peruse the selection. (On a related note, if anybody knows a good place to detonate enough fireworks to take over a small South American Country, let me know)



As it got dark we opted to stay in Newcastle Wyoming, the Gateway to the Black Hills. All in all we weren't too impressed with poor Newcastle, like a lot of small towns there is a lack of young people, and a resultant lack of things for traveling young people to do. We relaxed in a local bar with a quick beer and bite to eat before we hit the sack in preperation for the next day's drive.

A Kiwi at the Stock Show

Back in January my good friend Michael stopped by Colorado on the last leg of an around the world trip. He had started by flying from his native New Zealand to Tokyo, from there to London and Munich, then to New York, Chicago and finally Denver. Yes it does seem strange to see Denver listed among those great cities of the world. Of course a big part of the reason he stopped here was to see me!



Since he was in town at the same time as the National Western Stock Show, we figured it would be fun to go to the Rodeo. I enjoy seeing the cowboys strut their stuff, and it is a great activity that is a good look into the culture and history of the area.



The best part was (as always) the mutton busting, with very young children holding on to rampaging sheep. I always really enjoy the barrel racing, I suppose because it takes skill, is unlikely to result in serious injury, and can make for some good photographs.



Mike was agog that people actually wear cowboy hats, he said that in New Zealand, you can only buy them at costume shops!

Snow Days

As I write this overdue entry, the wind outside howls for my blood. You would be forgiven in wondering just why I've angered the wind.

Flashback to a few weeks ago, and I was telling everybody that "Colorado didn't have a winter this year." It was true, especially when compared to the last few years, we had a very mild winter in Denver. In January we posted record high's, sometimes temperatures reached as high as the upper 60's or more. This phenomenon stretched beyond Colorado, even when I was in South Dakota on our road trip (more on that later) I had to run the Air Conditioning in my car. Yes, you read that right, run the a/c while in South Dakota in January. You can see how I could assume that the worst wasn't very bad to begin with, and it was over.

Which brings us back to the wind, and why you never assume anything about the weather in these parts. Last week we had quite the storm, the first real winter storm all year, and the worst one to hit the Metro Area in a while. Denver pretty much shut down around 2, and everybody went home. I got leave a little bit early at around 4:30, by which time the streets were empty and everything was closed. Since then we've had several days of snow, and today was predicted to be another heavy Blizzard. Luckily that prediction hasn't come true yet, and snow fall was light last night, but the wind has been blowing hard since last night. I can here it howling against my windows, and I'm glad I'm in my warm apartment with a nice cup of coffee. I've always found that its a bad idea to insult the weather in Colorado, and once again that has been proven right. Next time maybe I'll remember that if anything stays constant around here, it's that the weather can and will do anything at anytime.

Vulcan's Forge

Growing up in Colorado, I've long been fascinated by geology. In some ways I think it ties into my love of history. After all, geology is the history of the earth, laid down in the rocks. If you can read the rocks, you can read back millions or even billions of years. While the study of history, human and Terran, is wonderful, sometimes it is nice to see history happen, to see things be made. I think that is one reason I had wanted to travel to Hawaii. The chance to see rocks that are younger than I am is a rare chance indeed!



On Halloween Megan and I flew from Honolulu to Hilo airport for a trip to Volcanoes National Park, the centerpiece of current activity on the Hawaiian Hot Spot. Interestingly enough, we were there in time to see a very interesting bit of science taking place. Volcanoes (traditionally) feed from a single magma chamber deep in the earth, and so (traditionally) erupt from one area at a time. While this eruptive vent can shift around the volcano, usually only one vent is active at any one time. At least, that was true before March of 2008. The vast caldera at the summit of Kilauea had been dormant since 1924, and the constantly spewing lava that the volcano is known for had moved to the east. Then, last March, a new vent in Halema‘uma‘u Crater (above) on the summit of Kilauea exploded. When we were there it was still erupting ash and noxious gases into the air, at the same time as vast amounts of lava flowed into the sea from another part of the volcano. Kilauea is the first volcano to erupt simultaneously from two separate vents, and you can imagine the geologists are busy little bees trying to figure it all out!



Near the summit is the Thurston Lava Tube, which was another amazing spectacle. Lava tubes are formed when erupting lava congeals on the surface of the flow, which protects and insulates the rest of the river of rock. When the eruption stops, the molten rock runs out of the worm tunnel it has created, leaving a very different sort of cave behind. Part of the Thurston tube is paved and well lit, and part of it isn't. Exploring the pitch black of unimproved tube was amazing, and a bit creepy.



Near the lava tube is Kilauea Iki crater, where in 1959 a vent nearby filled the area with a lake of lava. As the lava has cooled over the last 50 years, it has shrunk, cracking along the edges. The total lake was 400 feet deep, and by the year of my birth (1981) about half of it had solidified. It is totally safe to walk on, and in fact a trail leads around the edge of the crater, and out onto the surface of the lake.



Above the lake is the Devastated Area, where the Pu'u Pua'i vent that filled Kilauea Iki is located. The blasted landscape lives up to its name, with the area that used to be a road now covered in lava flows and cinders.



From there we drove down Chain of Craters Road, passing a plethora of recent lava flows, most from the 1970's and 80's. In fact, Chain of Craters Road used to pass out of the park along the coast, at least it did until 1986, when a huge flow covered the road.



And that is one of the things that is so fascinating about Kilauea. When I look at a piece of granite from Pikes Peak, that rock is billions of years old. But a shard of basalt from that 1986 flow was erupted in my lifetime, and that makes it much more immediate and easier to relate too. It's hard to understand the concept of a billion, but but 23 years is a number we can comprehend.



Of course, the craters, calderas, and past flows were all prologue. The real fireworks started at dusk, at the lava viewing overlook a little ways outside the park. If it is interesting to see flows that have erupted since my birth, how much better is it to see flows erupting at that very instant? The answer is "Very Interesting!" We were exceedingly lucky, Kilauea was feeling very active that day, and we had quite a show as the river of molten rock flowed into the ocean. Sometimes seawater will flow into the lava tube, and cold water and hot rock make an explosive combination!



As the sun set, we were treated to a real fireworks display put on by Mother Nature and Vulcan himself, complete with oooohing and ahhhhing from the spectators. It's almost hard to describe how I felt, except to say that I felt supremely lucky. I've seen three "active" volcanoes now, but to see an actual eruption, with lava and fountains of steam and ash, that's certainly not something you get to see every day, or even every lifetime.



It was an interesting walk back to the car, after all we were walking on uneven and sharp black rock, at night. Even with a flashlight, it wasn't easy. As we walked we could see the glow of the lava flowing further up the slopes of the volcano. The photograph is rather blurry, but it does offer a glimpse of what we saw. I promise next time I'll take my tripod!

This post was made possible by the generosity and sense of adventure of Megan, and was prepared with the armchair assistance of Roadside Geology of Hawai'i by Richard Hazlett and Donald Hyndman. If you are ever interested in the meaning behind the rocks you see, the Roadside Geology series is invaluable. I got this particular edition at the gift store in Volcanoes National Park, and it looks great on the shelf next to Roadside Geology of Colorado (I'm going to the Grand Canyon in May, so i suppose I will have to add Arizona to my collection!

Snowshoeing in Rocky Mountain National Park

A couple of weeks ago a pair of co-workers (Cristian and Tim) and I went to Rocky Mountain National Park for a bit of snowshoeing.



The day was one of the perfect Colorado days, sunny, and warm, with hardly a cloud in the sky. You couldn't have asked for better weather, so of course there were a lot of people there.



Of course, that's one of the great things about the outdoors, even if there are a ton of car's in the lot, you can still find a place to be by yourself. Especially as a fair number of people didn't have any snowshoes with them, and that made it pretty hard for them to walk in the deep snow.



Even with snowshoes its pretty hard to walk in deep snow, especially if you aren't in the best of shape anymore. One of these days I'll start going to one of the free gyms that's available!



Back in Denver, the light was glorious, but my options for shooting in the late afternoon light were limited to the old apartment buildings on Capitol Hill.



While at the park I got a year pass, so I expect to go back up at least a few more times over the next year. It's really criminal that I hadn't been up to Rocky Mountain National Park in YEARS. It's so close to Denver, and so beautiful in all seasons, there is just no excuse not to go.

U.S.S. Bowfin

Now back to my trip to Hawaii, and the visit to Pearl Harbor. After the Arizona Memorial, the next stop on the Pearl Harbor museum loop is the U.S.S. Bowfin, a World War II era submarine that went on nine very successful patrols between 1943 and 1945.



I've often read about how cramped those old submarines were. However, walking through the tiny pressure hull really brought it home. Imagine weeks and months at a time trapped in such a small place with so many other stinky men. Yet these sailors did their part in ending the war, starving the home islands of raw materials, especially the oil that was the life's blood of the Japanese war machine.



In the Pacific theater, the American submarine force succeeded in doing what Kriegsmarine tried to do to Britain in the battle of the Atlantic. As the war dragged on, ever fewer numbers of the vital tankers and transports made it to the factories on the Japanese Home Islands. However, this success came at a high cost. The American submarine force suffered 22 percent total casualties, 47 lost submarines, around 3,500 sailors and officers. This was the highest rate of loss for any branch in the US Forces during World War 2. However, this was nothing compared to the rate of submarine loss for the Japanese and the Germans, 128 and 781 respectively.

Busy Little Bee

I have been a very busy little be these past few weeks. My friend Mike came out from New Zealand and we went on a 1,200 mile road trip to South Dakota. More stories and photos from that trip will be forthcoming. Also, I entered a few photos in a local exhibit, and this one was accepted. The opening reception was last week, and it was amazingly well attended. Very cool seeing one of my photographs up on the wall in a real, juried show. Hopefully there will be even more such opportunities!

Venice in Depth

Above you'll find a 3 photo panorama of the Venice waterfront as seen from San Giorgio. I loved that fact that the trip up in the bell tower there was half the price of the trip up St. Mark's Tower, and half the crowds too! Not only that, but you had a wonderful view of the waterfront and San Marco and the Doge's Palace.




For our only full day in Venice, we hit up most of the major sights, starting with the Doge's palace. This glimpse into the history of the city was really cool, especially as of any Italian city Venice had the most ties between east and west. Venician traders had a lot of contact with the Middle East and Asia, and of course fought several wars with Turkey. All of this and more was laid out in the displays in the Doge's Palace, as well as a look into the New Prison, and the famous bride of sighs (so called because of the heart felt sighs of the prisoners being led to their cells from the courtroom.



I also really wanted to look through the cathedral there, as the architecture is very unique, a blend of eastern and western styles created with items both traded and 'liberated.'



We capped the day with a visit to the Rialto Bridge, before stumbling back to our non air conditioned room at the convent. Of all the places we stayed, Venice was the worst, though still the location was hard to beat.



Even with the limited time we got a lot done in Venice, though I could certainly spend days wandering the gorgeous alleyways and canals. I was both sad and happy to be leaving for home the next morning.

Venice!

We departed from a rather rainy Florence via Eurostar for the last leg of my European extravaganza. The train was full, so we had to stand in the cafe car for the two hour trip north. Interestingly enough, we ran into a young German man who we had talked to in a restaurant some nights before. It's funny the people you run into in random places!



I'll admit, I wasn't really sure what to expect in Venice. I knew it as a city of canals, but I hadn't realized just how true that was. The omnipresence of water was quite shocking, especially for a boy from dry Colorado. I was constantly amused by boats for every task, from Fed Ex boats to Ambulance boats to Taxi boats.



While walking around, I got hit with a feeling of 'wow, I'm in Venice' Sure, I get that feeling in a lot of places I go, but some places give it to you more than others, and the two cities that have most impressed me with their uniqueness have been Paris and now Venice. I think part of it is those cities place in popular culture. So many films have use Venice as a backdrop, and that adds an extra layer of wow to seeing the city in the flesh. I mean hey, even James Bond has been to Venice!



Though we were far from the only people feeling those feelings, if anything Venice was MORE crowded than Florence, or perhaps there were just more people in a smaller area. Though thankfully, our convent was in a quiet residential 'suburb' far from the tourist drag. I say far, but of course little in Venice is more than a ten minute walk, if you can find your way through the maze of streets.



I often pride myself on my sense of direction, but Venice defeated me. I was totally turned around and utterly confused on that first day. Part of the problem was the address of the convent wasn't quite correct, but I also encountered the traditional male block of asking for directions. Thankfully, Nick had no such compunction, and we managed to track down our accommodations with the assistance of a kindly old man who knew exactly the convent we were staying in.

Florence Final

For our last day in Florence, we decided to check out the Leonardo Da Vinci Museum first off. While it lacks some of the grand artistic merit of much of the city, the museum offered a glimpse into Florence's scientific past and didn't have a two hour line to get in!



Much of the museum was actually closed for renovation, but there was a significant exhibit on early telescopes that was very interesting. As a lover of history and astronomy, the whole thing was right up my ally!





While we had been up to the top of the Duomo, and we had been to the top of the Bell tower, we had yet to actually go inside the great church, so we took the time to rectify that oversight. It was very different from St. Peters, grand and glorious, without being overbearing or at all gaudy. As always, it was a very difficult environment to shoot, but sometimes I think that's for the best. Some things simply have to be experienced, and some photographers have to be convinced to lay down their camera, and drink in their surroundings.



Down in the Duomo crypt was a look at the foundations of previous churches and buildings, as well as Brunelleschi's resting place. I always love an opportunity to see how cities and buildings change, from Roman times to now, but the displays were very incomplete, and the jumble of old foundations was hard to piece together without good English signs.



Across the street was a museum dedicated to the Duomo and the construction of the vast Cathedral. The original baptistery doors are stored there, as well as displays on construction and the decoration of the face of the church. I was shocked to learn that the front of this grand building wasn't finished for centuries, standing bare and unadorned in the center of Florence. They even had photographs of the uncompleted face, so recently had the church been finally finished.

I really loved Florence, but it was time to move on to the final act, Venice. I'll admit, I was looking forward to it, not only to see Venice, but to get closer to going home. 18 days on the road is a long time, and 16 of those had now passed.