road trips – Page 4 – Michael Rappa

American Southwest Trip, 2018: Bryce Canyon Lookouts

May 30, 2020October 4, 2020 Michael Rappa

These photos are from three different lookout points in Bryce Canyon National Park. The first few were taken at Piracy and Fairview Points as the sun finally peeked through the clouds toward the end of a dreary day. The majority of the remaining photos were taken on the following sunny day at various spots along the Inspiration Point trail.

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Piracy Point

Fairview Point

Inspiration Point

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American Northwest Trip, 2017: Old Faithful

May 23, 2020 Michael Rappa

These photos are from my two visits to Old Faithful to watch the famous geyser erupt on its reliable schedule. I took shots at various stages of eruption and the final one has a nice rainbow alongside the geyser plume. The birds in some of the photos were actually very large, which helps put the size of the eruption in perspective.

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Large crowd gathering for the eruption.

The eruption grows…

…and grows.

Peak eruption.

Eruption waning.

Probably wouldn’t want to be standing under that shower of steam.

Steaming water, no big deal for this guy.

Keeping in mind that these are very large birds helps provide a sense of scale to the size of the eruption.

Looks like a steaming tea kettle.

Old Faithful and a rainbow towering over the crowd in the distance.

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Canada Trip, 2016: Cape Forchu

May 3, 2020 Michael RappaLeave a comment

On our final full day in Nova Scotia we spent a foggy morning at Cape Forchu. The following photos were shot at the Cape Forchu lighthouse and a nearby beach.

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Upstate New York Trip, 2015: A Niagara Detour

April 26, 2020 Michael Rappa

As we prepared to depart Letchworth State Park for Watkins Glen, we noticed that Niagara Falls was only 90 minutes northwest of Letchworth, so we decided to take a detour since we wouldn’t be able to check in to our Watkins Glen hotel until later in the day anyway. We had stayed on the Canadian side of the falls for our one-year anniversary back in 2002 but had never visited the American side, so this seemed like a worthy day trip—and it was.

The American Falls may appear less impressive from the Canadian side when you’re standing over the magnificent Horseshoe Falls, but looks are deceiving. When you’re standing above the American Falls or hiking up the side of them, you realize just how incredibly powerful they are. The American side also allows you to walk along and across the upper Niagara River and gaze upon the rapids as the river approaches its perpetual rendezvous with a cliff. Unfortunately, we could not get close to the Horseshoe Falls because they were doing construction, but we had seen plenty of them in Canada, so it wasn’t a huge disappointment.

Here are a few photos from our visit. As always, no photo or video can do justice to any major waterfall, and this is especially true of Niagara Falls—you really need to be there in person to feel the power of hundreds of thousands of gallons per second thundering over the edge and crashing to the river below in order to understand what an amazing natural wonder this place truly is. Both the American and Canadian sides are more than worthy of a visit.

Niagara Falls, New York: Niagara River Rapids

The first hotel to the right is where we stayed on our one-year anniversary, with a room overlooking the horseshoe falls.

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Glacier National Park, 2019: Three Falls Trail

March 28, 2020March 30, 2020 Michael Rappa

These photos are from my hike of the Three Falls Trail on the eastern side of Glacier National Park last September. It could actually be called the Dozen Falls Trail if you count all the pretty cascades I passed along the way. First was Baring Falls, followed by St. Mary Falls, and then a long uphill climb to majestic Virginia Falls, to which photos cannot do justice.

I connected to this trail, a portion of which is part of the multi-state Continental Divide Trail, from the Sun Point Nature trail. On my way back, I considered diverting to the Saint Mary Falls trailhead and taking a shuttle back to my car at the Sun Point parking area, but chose instead to hike back the way I came, continuing up the short trail to Sun Point before heading back to my car, which amounted to about 6-7 miles worth of hiking that day.

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Three Falls Trail: St. Mary Falls

Three Falls Trail

Three Falls Trail: Virginia Falls

Three Falls Trail: Baring Falls

Three Falls Trail

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Virginia Trip, 2018: Luray Reflections

March 21, 2020 Michael Rappa

This collection features photos of underground pools in Luray Caverns. Most of them were shot at the main Mirror Pool, where the water is so still that it produces a perfect reflection, resulting in imagery reminiscent of landscapes you might see in a science fiction film.

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Mirror Pool

Another reflecting pool.

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American Southwest Trip, 2018: A Rainy Day in Bryce Canyon

March 15, 2020October 4, 2020 Michael Rappa

My first day in Bryce Canyon National Park was mostly a washout as it stormed heavily all day, but the skies did clear enough toward the end of the day for me to get some decent photos. I had tried waiting out the storm at my hotel but after a while I decided that I didn’t want to lose my entire first day (having already sacrificed my planned stop at Red Canyon) so I made my way out in the rain.

I started by driving all the way to the highest point at the end of the park, hoping the rain would be gone by the time I got there, but instead the rain turned to snow at the higher altitudes and the ground was covered in ice. I didn’t even bother parking the car after reaching the top since I was only wearing a windbreaker and also because I didn’t want to be stuck driving on icy mountain roads when it got darker, so I just turned around and drove back down the mountain. As I made my way down, the rain finally started to subside and I was able to hit some scenic lookouts.

The one good thing about driving through Bryce in a heavy rainstorm was that I practically had the entire place to myself. At some points it was eerily quiet, without even the sounds of birds or insects to break the silence. And some of the photos I took, while shot at a much lower than ideal aperture because of the gloomy conditions, have a unique look because of it.

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Bryce Canyon National Park, Utah - August, 2018

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American Northwest Trip, 2017: Norris Geyser Basin in Yellowstone

March 11, 2020 Michael Rappa

These photos are from the Norris Geyser Basin, the hottest thermal region in Yellowstone. Walking among an abundance of craters, geysers, and steam plumes really drives home the reality that you are standing on top of a super volcano, and the beautiful blue pools and multicolored springs give the place an otherworldly feel.

This is the area of the park where a man died the year before my visit when he fell into one of the springs and his body dissolved. He had left the boardwalk to engage in “hot potting,” an illegal activity in which people look for hot springs to bathe in. He slipped and fell while taking the spring’s temperature and was never seen again. So, if you ever visit the thermal areas of Yellowstone, you might want to stay on the boardwalks–they were put there for a reason.

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Norris Geyser Basin, Yellowstone National Park - August, 2017

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Canada Trip, 2016: The Cabot Trail

February 27, 2020 Michael RappaLeave a comment

This is a collection of photos taken over three days during my drive along the majestic Cabot Trail in Cape Breton—considered one of the most scenic drives in the world—and for good reason. The northern portion in particular reminded me of the Scottish Highlands, which makes sense given that geological evidence suggests at least part of the island was joined with Scotland millions of years ago. This is one road trip you definitely want to add to your bucket list.

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On the Cabot Trail in Cape Breton, Canada

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Upstate New York Trip, 2015: Around Letchworth

February 22, 2020 Michael Rappa

Here are some miscellaneous photos from my hikes around Letchworth State Park in Upstate New York, including high-vantage-point views of the gorge and the Middle/Upper Falls area, as well as shots from the Great Bend Overlook area.

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