The Terra Galleria Blog – QT Luong

Lake Clark National Park, situated on the Alaska Peninsula, does not include the superlatives of the other Alaskan parks such as highest or northernmost mountains, largest icefield or glaciers. Instead, the park preserves a supremely varied wilderness where all the geographical features of Alaska can be found in a relatively small area. Maybe because the [...]

One of the most recently designated National Parks, Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park preserves the most dramatic section of the canyon of the Gunnison River in Colorado. Unlike other canyons in the Southwest which were carved into soft rock, extremely hard metamorphic rock form the walls of the Black Canyon of the Gunnison. [...]

Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, on the Big Island of Hawaii, is the place where the past and present volcanic island activity can be observed. It is the easiest place in the world to come close to a active volcano. The entire island was created by the Mauna Loa volcano, which now towers 13700 feet above [...]

Kenai Fjords National Park, like many other Alaskan parks, is a place of superlatives. Its centerpiece, the Harding field, is the largest ice field in North America, covering more than half of the park. At some places, the thickness exceeds a mile. Unlike other Alaska parks, one section of the park can be easily reached. [...]

Located in South Carolina just a half-hour’s from its capital Columbia, Congaree National Park preserves the largest remaining old-growth bottomland forest in North America. The easy 2.4 mile boardwalk loop trail is an obvious choice for an introduction to the park, offering diverse perspectives, and natural environments. It begins on the bluff where the visitor [...]

The saguaro cactus, with its multiple arms, is an icon of the American West. Although Western Films place them all over the place, they actually grow natively only in the Sonoran Desert, whose US portion is all included in southern Arizona. Around Tucson, the higher rate of precipitation causes the saguaro to grow twice as [...]

(More pictures of Lost Lake and the Diving Board) The Diving Board is the prominent rock in front of the face of Half-Dome. The location offers one of the most impressive views in Yosemite. On the West, you see the whole Valley, below you is a 30 feet overhang and a 1500 feet vertical face [...]

If you look carefully at the Upper Yosemite Falls wall, you will notice a tiny horizontal ledge protruding all the way to the waterfall, around 1/8 of its height. This is Fern Ledge. I had read about it before, but my curiosity was rekindled when I saw an episode of The National Parks, America’s Best [...]

I have been spending quite a bit of time in Yosemite, and posting quite a few images for a project I’ll talk about later. To celebrate its completion, for the rest of the summer, I will be describing a few Yosemite locations that I visited recently. Their common characteristic is that they are out of [...]

On my first visit to Everglades National Park, I focused on the wildlife, the wading birds and alligators. Nowhere else in North America are the birds that diverse, abundant and easy to observe and photograph along one of the parks famous boardwalk trails. The scenery at first appeared flat and monotonous, so I was content [...]