Nature’s Noel

As I sit looking out my window this Christmas Eve, my thoughts travel many miles to a valley in Montana where a family of wolves settle in against the harsh Montana Winter. My thoughts also travel to Alaska where a wolf pack follows the faint scent of a meal that had long past.

So often at this time of year we reflect on the love of family and friends and all that is good. Yet we pause not for even a moment to reflect on the incredible beauty of nature and how little we’ve done to protect it.

In Alaska more than 1000 wolves have been killed by aerial hunting. Ran to exhaustion before they are shot from the air, the wolves have little chance to escape the bullet. Protection has been lifted on the wolves of Yellowstone as well. Hundreds have already been shot for no reason other than being a wolf.

Idaho has extended their wolf hunt into the Spring denning period when wolves are particularly vulnerable. Killing just a single pregnant female can have a huge impact on the population.

Polar bears are drowning due to lack of sea ice yet no one really seams to care about the changing climate. Why can we spend untold billions of dollars to fight a war that in the end changes nothing, yet we refuse to spend anything on our planet that is dieing.

We’re poisoning our water, we’re polluting our air. We’re overfishing our oceans, we’re destroying our rain forests. Is it even possible for us to stop?

As I watch the snow fall silently upon the frozen ground outside my window, I worry about our planets future. I hope that you and your family have a joyous holiday. I hope one day our planet and all it’s inhabitants, human, plant and animal can do the same.

Below is my Christmas gift to you. It’s the most precious gift I can give.
I hope you enjoy it.

[flv:http://www.silverphoenixllc.com/phoenixblog/movies/Noel.flv 592 331]

Clip of the Week

Grand Prismatic Spring, Yellowstone National Park

Another of my favorite spots in Yellowstone is Grand Prismatic Spring. Grand Prismatic is the largest hot spring in Yellowstone. Only in New Zealand will you find two springs that are larger. The Hayden Expedition in 1871 named this spring because of its beautiful coloration. Early sketches of the springs seem so exaggerated that geologist A.C. Peale returned in 1878 to verify the colors.

The vivid colors in the spring are the result of pigmented bacteria in the microbial mats that grow around the edges of the mineral-rich water. The bacteria produce colors ranging from green to red; the amount of color in the microbial mats depends on the ratio of chlorophyll to carotenoids. In the summer, the mats tend to be orange and red, whereas in the winter the mats are usually dark green. The center of the pool is sterile due to extreme heat.

The deep blue color of the water in the center of the pool results from a light-absorbing overtone of the hydroxy stretch of water. Though this effect is responsible for making all large bodies of water blue, it is particularly intense in Grand Prismatic Spring because of the high purity and depth of the water in the middle of the spring.

The spring is approximately 250 by 300 feet (75 by 91 m) in size and is 160 feet (49 meters) deep. The spring discharges an estimated 560 gallons (2000 litres) of 160°F (71°C) water per minute.

You can view this clip here.

Clip of the Week

Artist Point Yellowstone National Park Part 2

A very different clip than last weeks close-up view of the Lower Falls from Artist Point.

This clip is a time-lapse of the entire canyon with the falls off in the distance.

Artist Point is one of the most spectacular scenic areas in the Canyon Area of the Park. The sheer walls drop 700 feet to the bottom of the canyon.

Upriver the powerful Lower Falls are still in view. Down river the canyon widens and deepens to maximum of 1540 feet.

The canyon walls are predominantly yellow, but colors of blue, red, orange, and brown are also present. The colors are ever changing and intensified especially when the sun shines after raining.

Click HERE to view the clip.

Clip of the Week

Lower Falls, Artist Point Yellowstone National Park


One of my all time favorite spots on Earth has to be Yellowstone National Park.
I’ve been coming to Yellowstone since the mid-eighties. While Old Faithful is certainly the most famous feature in the park, one of my favorite has to be the Lower Falls.

At 308 feet, almost twice the height of Niagra, The Lower Falls is truly breathtaking to behold.

This clip was shot early one June morning before most of the people had even had breakfast.

The sun rises early that time of year and the best light is over about the same time people are just starting to arrive in large numbers.

There was only three or four other people at Artist Point that morning. Everyone was scattered enough that it felt like I had a private audience with the falls.

It’s moments like this that you can almost imagine how it was in 1872 when painter Thomas Moran first painted this scene.
Moran’s painting was the first landscape painting by an American artist bought by the American government.

Moran’s painting along with photographs by William Henry Jackson, convinced the US government to set aside this land to become America’s first national park.

Click here to view the clip.

Clip of the Week

White Dome Geyser, Yellowstone National Park

Whenever I travel to Yellowstone I can never resist stopping by White Dome geyser. It’s not a huge geyser by any means, only erupts twenty to thirty feet.

But oftentimes, I’m the only one there to watch as it puts forth its best effort.
It’s usually upstaged by its neighbor Great Fountain Geyser.

This clip was shot one cool morning around the end of May. As usual, people would stop for a few minutes and then continue on, hoping to catch a bigger geyser going off somewhere in the park.

So, I sat alone and kept White Dome company as it performed for its audience of one.

To watch White Dome in action, click on the link below.

white_dome_geyser