Posted on April 2, 2020, 5:13 pm, by QT Luong, under
Locations.
Part 1 of 5: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 The Sonoran Desert is the most biologically diverse desert in North America – or maybe not, see discussion in the last part of this series. Thanks to the national park designation, the most well-known track of Sonoran Desert consists of Saguaro National […]
Posted on October 21, 2019, 11:55 pm, by QT Luong, under
Locations.
A decade ago, I inspected the Maine North Woods as it became the focus of Roxane Quimby’s quest for a new national park. As anticipated in my Maine North Woods travel report, opposition to this grand vision was widespread enough that Quimby changed her goals to a national monument instead, which does not require congressional […]
Posted on September 23, 2019, 3:45 pm, by QT Luong, under
Locations.
Most travelers identify Cascade Siskiyou National Monument with Pilot Rock, whose distinctive profile can be seen from both directions of I-5 between Oregon and California. In this article, I describe four other favorite locations in the monument and discuss some of the photographs I made there. Except for the last one, all of them require […]
Posted on September 16, 2019, 12:05 pm, by QT Luong, under
Locations.
Our planet is experiencing a mass extinction at a scale unprecedented since the demise of dinosaurs 65 million years ago (UN Report, Center for Biological Diversity). Public lands can act as sanctuaries for biodiversity. In 1947, Everglades National Park was the first large tract of land protected not for its scenic value, but for the […]
Posted on July 14, 2019, 4:00 pm, by QT Luong, under
Locations.
It could have been difficult to know where to start in largest city in the world, with a population of 24 million. However, Shanghai has a clear focal point, called the Bund, full of iconic photographic possibilities. The Bund refers to a roughly mile-long promenade along the west side of the Huangpu River, where you […]
Posted on July 7, 2019, 3:42 pm, by QT Luong, under
Locations.
The Havasupai Indian Reservation, home to the “people of the blue-green water”, is located in a side canyon of the Grand Canyon out of the way from the South Rim. The oasis with waterfalls dropping over red rock into turquoise pools is a uniquely enchanting location in North America with a Shangri-La quality reinforced by […]
Posted on June 14, 2019, 9:33 pm, by QT Luong, under
Locations.
Since Bear Ears National Monument was controversially reduced by 85%, Gold Butte National Monument, which happened to be designated on the same day of Dec 28 2016, is the most recent large national monument. Gold Butte National Monument protects almost 300,000 acres of Nevada, northeast of Las Vegas, bordering Lake Mead National Recreation Area on […]
Posted on May 21, 2019, 4:44 pm, by QT Luong, under
Locations.
The Grand Canyon’s North Rim receives nine times fewer visitors than its South Rim. To the west, the awesome Toropweap overlook (described here) is seen by considerably fewer. However, no matter how little traffic Toroweeps gets, it still dwarfs that of the rim points further west, the subject of this post. The northwestern rim Grand […]
Posted on May 14, 2019, 10:11 pm, by QT Luong, under
Locations.
The Coyote Buttes are the most sought after area of Vermilion Cliffs National Monument, and as such are subject to quotas and permits. If you didn’t win one, a great alternative is to visit the White Pocket, which for now does not require a permit despite being in my opinion equally impressive and otherworldly. Previously […]
Posted on May 7, 2019, 6:10 pm, by QT Luong, under
Locations.
In 2001, 18 years ago, even though it was a cold and rainy day in the middle of winter, there was already some competition to visit the Wave in then recently designed Vermilion Cliffs National Monument. And on such a day, my wife and I were surprised to be asked for our permits on site, […]
