Yellowstone is probably the most famous national park in the USA. I visited it in the early summer in 2014. Every time I think about Yellowstone, I tell myself that I will definitely go there again. Why?
I want to stay inside of the park. Two reasons: (1) I want to be waken up by the sound of forest, not by alarm; (2) I do not want to spend at least two hours a day on the road going in and out of the park. The lodging inside of Yellowstone is so popular that it has to be secured several months in advance. I would love to stay in the Lake Lodge! Last time when we passed the Lake, I really wanted to just sit there for some time…
Yellowstone Lake
I want to look for those secret spots for amazing photos. Or, just have more time to take photos… Meanwhile, I also want to have more time for my eyes to enjoy. Yellowstone’s beauty is everywhere; it varies in different parts of the park; it changes over time within a day.
Yellowstone Cistern Spring in Norris Geyser BasinBeartooth HighwayFlatlands and River
I want to meet with more animals. Yellowstone is home for many species. I was lucky to see a white mountain goat in somebody’s binoculars (wish I could take a photo). And … I was excited to come across with a bear family, while I was thinking I would never see a bear in Yellowstone…
To me, Mauna Kea Observatories was the main reason to visit the Big Island. Simply because astronomy has been my thing since I was little. Before this trip, I had never been to a real observatory, and suddenly I had the opportunity to visit one of the best ones! So, driving to Mauna Kea Observatories was exciting. On the way, we saw some sheep … wild?
Mauna Kea Observatories Sheep
And, there were … volcanoes! A bunch of volcanoes!! Volcano-looking volcanoes – I mean, they are different from what we saw in the Volcanoes National Park. These volcanoes have a bowl-shaped dip at the top.
Colorful volcanoes have a bowl-shaped dip
After driving for a while, suddenly we were in clouds – and soon above the clouds. We could see more and more volcanoes. It’s a strange feeling – to be close to so many volcanoes. There were also dried lava visible in the far place.
Volcanoes (close) and dried lava (far)
The driving was not difficult, but we liked to drive in the center of the road. It’s a little bit scary when passing cars (only met a few). Finally we arrived at the top. It’s sunny and chilly. And the view was breathtaking!
VolcanoesWhere does this road go to
There are many telescopes. I only knew Keck.
Keck (one of the two)Keck and IRTF
Here are some other telescopes I don’t even know their names.
Other telescopesRadio Telescopes
To me, this place is heaven.
I regret that we didn’t spend one more day on the Big Island. I really want to go inside of those observatories, and see what I can see. I heard they have very good stargazing programs. In fact, on the way there is a complex for amateur astronomers. People there seemed to be waiting for the night. I wish I could join them!
Volcanoes National Park was our first stop after arriving at the Big Island. Since we had an early flight, we were quite early at the national park (open 24h), weren’t we? Anyhow, there weren’t many people in the park. It’s like a lost world. If we had more time (if I go to the Big Island again in the future), I would love to try wondering on that black land.
The lost landDried lava pattern
We drove towards the seaside, hoping to see lava flowing into the ocean. Unfortunately, it was not possible that day.
“River” of dried lava
However, we could see the the path of the flowing lava. Imagine that the black dried lava was boiling red and marching towards the ocean some days in the past…
Lava flowing into the ocean
Then we went to the Jagger museum to see Halema ‘uma’u Crater, one of the most active volcanoes on earth. It was easy to spot from far place, with high and big “smoke” (gas eruption).
Halema ‘uma’u Crater from far placeHalema ‘uma’u Crater Info
The overlook in Jagger museum offers a closer view (still one mile away). I heard that the view would be much more spectacular in the evening. But we had to go to see the Mauna Kea observatories, where we could see a lot of volcanoes (although not nearly as active).
The warm wind reminds me that it’s almost the time to reserve tickets for a special light show in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. This show is presented by small insects that all of you are familiar with – fireflies. I guess everybody has good memories of pointing out fireflies in the backyards in summer evernings. Those sudden light ups are like shooting stars… And if there are a lot of fireflies, they look like Christmas lights.
There is one special species of fireflies living in the smokies. They are called synchronized fireflies! As you can guess from the name, these fireflies flash together. Isn’t that amazing? How do they communicate to each other? Why do they synchronize? They are certainly not doing this show for us… I heard it’s for their mating, but I am not sure why the synchronization is important. There are information elsewhere, here I want to talk about my four years’ experience on watching their show – more specifically, how to get a ticket, what to prepare before going, how to get there, and what to expect to see.
So, the most important thing is to get a ticket! The mating season of the fireflies lasts about two weeks. Based on the weather, the National Park Service (NPS) will estimate and announce a 8/9 days window for the peak flashing (late May to mid June) of the synchronized fireflies. The announcement is usually made a few days before April 30th. Please check their website for the dates! Before 2016, part of the tickets (“Advanced Tickets) were distributed online at 10am EST on April 30th. And those tickets were gone within three minutes! The rest of the tickets were called something like “day before tickets” (you get it today and go tomorrow), and were available through phone calls on a first-come-first-serve basis. I have had success with both methods. The key was to be prepared! No waste of one second. I could share some tips, but they have already changed the rules! Since 2016, all the tickets are distributed via a lottery system! Basically, they open the lottery in the end of April, and close it in two/three days. A week or so after the closing date, people will be notified of the lottery results. Last year, I was lucky! Since you can only choose two days in the application, my philosophy was to avoid the weekends so that the chance would be much higher. If you are unlucky, there is another way to get to see the show – camping at Elkmont Campground! From the campground, you can simply walk to the site to see the synchronized fireflies. Remember that those camp sites are also filled quickly. But don’t be too frustrated if you couldn’t get the date you want. Check back often in case there’s cancelation.
Now let’s come back to the “normal” tickets. I haven’t told you that the tickets are actually parking tickets! Most of the tickets are for standard cars, and up to six people are allowed for one car. There are a few tickets for busses, which can take more people. You need to drive to Sugarland Visitor Center. There will be officers doing traffic control and ticket admission. Only the cars with tickets are allowed to park at the visitor center. One car one ticket (the confirmation email that NPS sends out), and the ticket holder must be in the car. The officer will count people in the car, and give a trolley ticket to each person. After parking the car, you get into the line (there’ll be a line, a long line) for the trolley. You need the trolley ticket and 1$ to board the trolley. I think the trolley starts to take people to the Elkmont area from 7-ish. Except for campers, no private car can access the Elkmont area during the show days (the 8/9 days for the synchronized fireflies).
The trolleys will take you to the Elkmont area. From there, just follow the crowd. At the entrance, you will be given a handout introducing the synchronized fireflies. You can also get a piece of red cellophane and a rubber band to cover your flashlight/phone. This is very important, as the white light will disturb and confuse the fireflies! You are there to see the show, not to be part of it.
Since it’s early June, the sky does not get dark until 9pm. You will have plenty of time hanging around and looking for a good spot. You probably want to take a light and foldable chair with you 🙂 Not a bad idea to have a picnic there.
You sit down, and wonder what the show will be like… While the sky gets darker and darker, you see more and more white dots flashing (somehow yellow in photos). At the beginning, they are not synchronized. But as the show proceeds to peak time, you will see a wave of flashing. I mean, not all the fireflies are synchronized to one rhythm. It’s more like: this region of fireflies synchronized to this rhythm, and that region of fireflies synchronized to that rhythm. Another thing is that those fireflies have different levels of performance in the 8/9 days window. I have seen the light show six times (once or twice a year), and I can tell there’s clearly a difference (sometimes a big difference)! Nevertheless, it’s always an incredible experience.
Being immersed in flashings, you will forget about the time! And soon you realize that people are leaving. When you get back to the entrance (where the trolley drops you), there’s a long long line. We have once waited for more than an hour. So, might be a good idea to slowly move towards the entrance between 10 and 10:30.
Lastly, I just want to say that be nice to the fireflies, and be nice to people. Don’t do things that you don’t want other people do to you. Pay attention to your flashlight and phone!
I don’t remember how I knew about The Wave, but I was immediately attracted. Every day, only twenty people can go into that secret place. Ten permits are given out through the online lottery, and the other ten are drawn in the visitor center in Kanab. Out of our eight days’ travel, I decided to try three days. And if we could get the permit, we would give up any other plans! In fact, because of The Wave, we rented a 4WD jeep instead of a standard car.
Comparing to The Wave, White Pocket has some similar features, but is probably not as carefully crafted (could be intentional though!) by nature. Nevertheless, White Pocket is White Pocket – it has some unique features, and it does not require special permit. We were afraid that we would not be able to go to The Wave, so we decided to try White Pocket first! But to be honest, later I thought that even if we could see The Wave, White Pocket would still be as worthy! White Pocket is not a second choice or a backup. It’s the best choice we made in our Grand Circle trip!
We drove from Page with 3/4 tank of fuel. We thought there would be gas stand on the way, but, we were wrong! So we have been worrying about running out of gas for the whole day!!! The route to White Pocket can be found online. It’s not very difficult, but it’s nothing like following google map. We have had doubts a couple of times. And we actually got lost once! The road condition was not too bad that day (be sure to check with the visitor center in Kanab). However, there’s one deep ditch we had to cross. We stopped in front of the ditch, and was checking out the condition. Interestingly, there’s another jeep parked not far away. One old man, who perhaps has sensed our hesitation, said to us that our jeep should be able to do it. With that encouragement, we jumped into our car. My husband switched it to 4WD. Slowly and carefully, he did it! (I don’t think I can do it.)
Shortly after crossing the ditch, we passed a small parking lot – several cars parked there. It looks like a trailhead. Later we knew that it’s the trailhead for The Wave! There are restrooms, and even bottled water, which are left there to save people’s lives! Because The Wave requires more than 3 hrs’s hiking one way. No wonder that people started their trips early when it’s cooler. Anyway, we kept driving to our destination. For White Pocket, the driving is long ~ 3hrs, but no hiking.
As I said, our gas was low. Therefore, we turned off the AC, and left the windows open. The road is rocky, but not as sandy as we thought… We have met only one car… If we ran out of gas, we would not be able to get any help! I have never been to a place as wild as this! Oh, maybe the volcano island in Hawaii is comparable, but there seem to be more people around. When we got closer to White Pocket, the road turned more sandy. Our jeep got a small stuck once. Overall we were lucky to have missed spots with deep sand.
Finally we reached White Pocket! We saw a group of three were leaving. They said us that it’s worth it, and it’s all yours now 🙂 Yes, after they left, we were the only human beings there.
Now it’s the difficult part of writing, because White Pocket is non-describable. If I can only compare it with the volcano land in Hawaii, I would say that I can imagine and understand the volcano land, but I cannot imagine or understand the formation of White Pocket! It’s like nothing else in this planet. And of course, the feeling of being alone in this amazing place was … amazing!
My photos show some views of White Pocket, but being inside of it is totally different. White Pocket truly awaits you to discover with your own eyes.
That day, it’s the thunderstorm dragged us out of White Pocket… otherwise it’s difficult to notice the time!
For our Grand Circle trip, Antelope Canyon is a must see in the list. It is the heaven for photographers! The access to the canyon is restricted, because it is in the Navajo Nation. Only guided tours are allowed to enter Antelope Canyon. Thinking that it’s so popular, we booked our tours one and a half months earlier. Still, the Photographer’s tour was already fully booked. So we just took the Sightseer’s tour for the Upper Antelope Canyon, which was $50 each. We could pick a good time – 11:30 to 1:10, when the sun is up high in the sky.
It was a sunny day! We arrived at the tour company 30 min before the tour, and got the tickets. The tour trucks took us to the canyon. Forgot how long it took, but it was not very long. The tour trucks were open aired but with roofs. You probably don’t expect to see clean and air-conditioned bus anyway. In fact, the funky shaky tour truck made everybody even more excited!
Entering the canyon was like entering a magic land. Outside – so bright so hot; but inside – so quite so mysterious. With that perfect amount of sunlight – no more and no less – the rocks, in my eyes, looked like flowing water that stopped at some point in the past. It seemed like time has stopped. I guess I can’t find a way to describe my feeling… I could feel that everybody was amazed.
Since the canyon is narrow, we had to keep moving. There’s no time to look for the best angle and the best setting for photos. On the way, we passed a few photography tour groups. They are all with tripods and quietly waiting for us to pass by!
