Driving into Lassen Volcanic National Park in California, the first thing that struck me was the range of vivid, bright colors in the landscape all around me. From fresh greens, dark overhead blue, back-lighted purple colored Thrift ground flowers, light white clouds, and on and on. Its like driving into a new section of the land that is being lit by some special kind of light. Add the deep blue sky reflection off the water in lake Helen, and you have a window on paradise.

The Ancient Bristlecone Pine Forest is located in the White Mountains of California. The Patriot Grove is the highest elevation grove in the park, at 11,323 feet.

When twilight and then nighttime come along, it can be a very eerie place. The dark blue skies of high elevation, 40 miles from civilization, no one around, and no lights in any direction as far as you can see, only the ancient Bristlecone Pines standing around you. If you watch overhead at night, meteors frequently fly soundlessly, and FAST, across the sky above you.

This shot was taken right at twilight, as the sun was about to go down behind the far mountains.

I arrived back home from a 5 week, 7900 mile roadtrip, at the end of August. I am happy to say there is still plenty of unspoiled, beautiful scenery in our country. I was also awed by the vast array of natural resources our country has, from one end to the other.

In Texas, on my way out to California, I wanted to go to Big Bend National Park, down south on the Rio Grande River. But there were heavy storms down there at the time, and being in a tent in the rain is not exactly a pleasant experience (to me anyway). So I looked over my map and noticed Guadalupe Mountains National Park in the northwest corner of Texas. I had never been there before, nor even heard of it. I went on up, and found it to be a scenic location, with land I don’t normally equate with Texas.

Here is a photograph of Casa Grande Peak.