PICTURES OF ROCKY MOUNTAIN SCENERY

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This is a view of Dream Lake in Rocky Mountain National Park. It is one of many scenic lakes that are readily accessible with a fairly short hike.

This picture is of Mills Lake in Rocky Mountain National Park.  

Loch Vale is a neat scenic lake located in the same general area of Rocky Mountain National Park as Mills Lake shown above.

Sky Pond, in Rocky Mountain National Park, is located at the end of a high valley that can be seen curving out of sight to the right above the far end of Loch Vale pictured above.

To reach Sky Pond, shown above, the "trail" from the far end of Loch Vale requires one to climb up the rocks adjacent to Timberline Falls, pictured here, to reach the valley above. The falls are visible as a tiny white vertical line high on the wall, just below the upper valley, at the far end of Loch Vale (see previous picture of Loch Vale).

This is a view of Lake Helene in Rocky Mountain National Park. This lake is a very shallow lake at an elevation of approximately 10,600 feet which is near the tree line there.

Notchtop Mountain, with Grace Falls, is in Rocky Mountain National Park near Lake Helene, shown above.

This rainbow appeared briefly at the edge of Hollowell Park in Rocky Mountain National Park as a storm moved east away from the mountains, which allowed the sun to come out over the mountains to produce the rainbow and illuminate the foreground.

Chasm Falls, seen here in the shade, is reached by a short path from the Fall River Road in Rocky Mountain National Park.

A significant portion of the Teton range in Grand Teton National Park
is shown in this panoramic view as seen from the east side of the
park. The foreground sage is separated from the mountains by the line
of trees which grow on either side of the Snake River, thus blocking it
from view.

This picture shows a central portion of the Teton mountain range in Grand Teton National Park with the Snake River in the foreground. The highest peak is the Grand Teton itself. The Teton Glacier is visible as a white patch part way down the front of the mountain.

The Teton Glacier (mentioned above) is not picturesque like the blue ice crevasse glaciers seen farther north in the Rocky Mountains, but this picture clearly shows the huge ridge of rock and gravel across the front of it that has been scraped up and deposited there by past movement of the ice.

Hidden Falls is located a short distance from the west side of Jenny Lake in Grand Teton National Park.

From the bottom of Hidden Falls, pictured above, this trail climbs the side of the mouth of Cascade Canyon to the floor of the main part of the canyon where one can hike along the Cascade River as seen in the picture below. Jenny Lake is just visible in the lower right corner of this picture.

The large volume of water that produces Hidden Falls, seen above, flows down Cascade Canyon above the falls. There are areas where the canyon widens out and allows scenic pools of water like this to form in the river.

This is a view across Jenny Lake toward the mouth of Cascade Canyon in Grand Teton National Park. The group of three mountains in the background to the left is known as the "Cathedral Group", and the center one is the Grand Teton. The Grand Teton is the highest peak, but being more distant, does not appear quite as high in the picture.

This is another view of the peaks shown in the above picture from Grand Teton National Park. The middle peak is again the Grand Teton.

This view of the peaks seen in the above pictures from Grand Teton National Park shows the stream from the outlet of String Lake in the foreground.

This rainbow was visible during a September visit to Grand Teton National Park. It was taken early in the morning as the rain and clouds moved in from the west, but while the sun was still illuminating the scene from the east. At that time of year, the grass had dried up, and the sagebrush had started to fade.

This picture of Bradley Lake was taken from the southeast edge of the lake (looking northwest) just as the early morning breeze began to disturb the surface of the lake. The peak on the right, with the cloud plume, is the Grand Teton.

One sees a completely different view of Bradley Lake from the northeast edge of the lake near its outlet (looking southwest).

This is a view of water falls and cascades resulting from the heavy snow pack melting at the top of Teewinot Mountain in Grand Teton National Park.

This is another set of water falls and cascades resulting from the same snow pack on Teewinot Mountain as seen in the above picture. The yellow flowers on the bank to the right of the falls are clumps of Balsamroot.

This picture was taken when Lupine Meadows was in bloom. Teewinot Mountain is at the rear.

Here is a view of Mt. Moran as seen from across String Lake in Grand Teton National Park.

This is a view of Mt. Moran as seen from across Leigh Lake in Grand Teton National Park. This picture of the mountain reflected in the lake was taken early in the morning before the wind came up and disturbed the mirror like surface of the lake.

The outflow from Leigh Lake forms this cascade as it flows down into String Lake.

The outflow from String Lake forms a number of cascades as it flows down into Jenny Lake. I particularly like this one because of the green pool of water at the end of the cascade.

Bivouac Peak is reflected in this view of String Lake during the early morning calm. The unfortunate brownish tinge of the sky at the horizon was caused by smoke from wildfires in California at the time. The calm winds that made this picture possible also exacerbated the smoke pollution problem.

This field of blooming Yellow Mule's Ears was adjacent to the Snake River in Grand Teton National Park. The top of Mt. Moran can be seen in the distance.

This picture of Jackson Lake with Mt. Moran in the background was taken from a viewpoint on Signal Mountain in Grand Teton National Park.

This picture shows the colorful changes in the foliage on a mountainside during autumn in Grand Teton National Park.

This scene shows the Hoback River in the entrance to Hoback Canyon in the national forest south of Jackson, Wyoming. The picture was taken in the autumn when the foliage had begun to turn as can be seen by the redish colors of the growth on the far side of the river, and the low water level in the river. The canyon is fairly wide at this point, so there was room to pull off the road to take the picture. Just north of this point, the canyon becomes quite narrow with high, nearly vertical, walls.

Craters of the Moon National Monument is not actually in the Rocky Mountains, since it is located west of the Tetons in a relatively flat area of eastern Idaho, but I was amazed to see this inhospitable looking volcanic cinder field blooming with little flowers one July. A lava ridge is visible at rear of field.

While waiting several hours for Great Fountain Geyser in Yellowstone National Park to erupt, dark storm clouds moved in overhead. However, just as the geyser erupted, the clouds parted in the west, allowing the setting sun to edge light the erupting water and steam, which resulted in the unusual display seen here.

This is a view of the Upper Falls of the Yellowstone River in Yellowstone National Park. Note the rainbow effect in the mist near the bottom of the falls.

This picture of the Lower Falls of the Yellowstone River was taken from a viewpoint part way down inside the west side of the canyon, which provides a closer view of the falls than the more commonly seen one from Artist Point located on the east rim of the canyon.

The colorful and rugged walls of the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone are readily evident in this view looking downstream into the canyon, with the Yellowstone River visible at the bottom of the canyon.

Tower Falls is located at the head end of a high and narrow canyon near the Yellowstone River.

Grand Geyser in Yellowstone National Park is truly "grand" to see erupt. Unfortunately, the prediction window for time of eruption is 4 hours wide at best, and it frequently runs longer than that, with the result that the weather can go bad while one is spending the day waiting, as demonstrated by these clouds moving in. Fortunately, the sun still illuminated the geyser.

This picture of river cascades over red rocks was taken on the west side of Glacier National Park.

Hidden Lake is reached by a trail over the shoulder of the mountain behind the Logan Pass visitor center in Glacier National Park. Getting to see this neat lake is sometimes problematic due to snow lasting well into the summer and trail closures provoked by grizzly bear sightings in the area.

The above picture of the lake was taken from a point high up on the trail and gives a better overall view than seemed possible down near the shore. When I had descended to the edge of Hidden Lake, this mountain goat kept wondering around in the vicinity and looking at me curiously.

This is Virginia Falls, which is located on the east side of Glacier National Park.

This is a view of stream flowing over red rocks below Virginia Falls in Glacier National Park.

This is a view of Mary's Falls in Glacier National Park. The falls are near the western end of St. Mary Lake.

This is the upper end of St. Mary Lake in Glacier National Park on a stormy day. Note the rainbow over Goose Island in the middle of the picture.

This is Iceberg Lake in Glacier National National Park. Although the lake is not particularly big, it had some large icebergs in it.

This is Grinnell Lake in Glacier National Park. The waterfalls behind the lake are the result of melting of Grinnell Glacier and the snow pack on the mountain above the lake. The milky color of the water is characteristic of lakes fed by glacial run off.

This is a picture of Red Rock Lake in Glacier National Park. Red Rock Falls is visible on the far side.

Bullhead Lake is at the upper end of the valley beyond Red Rock Lake (seen above), in Glacier National Park.

This picture of Trick Falls in Glacier National Park was taken during a period of moderate stream water flow. Part of the water flows over the upper lip creating the narrower upper falls. The rest of the stream water flows down a passage inside the mountain and comes out through an exit lower down where the widening and increased size of the falls is evident.

Twin Falls is near the beginning of the trail to Upper Two Medicine Lake as shown below.

Upper Two Medicine Lake is located in the southeastern area of Glacier National Park.

This picture of the waterfall from the Chisos Basin Window was taken just as the sun rose high enough to illuminate the edges of the surrounding cliffs in Big Bend National Park. The water comes from the forested Chisos Mountains above and forms a pool in the desert terrain at the bottom which sustains the growth of the greenery for a short distance below the pool.

This is a view of the Chisos Basin Window at the top. The Window is a narrow canyon through the mountains that allows a view of the desert far below. Water falling over the edge at the end of the canyon forms the falls seen in the picture above.

This picture of Casa Grande in Big Bend National Park was taken as the setting sun caused it to glow red for a brief time. It is one of the most picturesque peaks that make up the ridge of mountains that encircle the Chisos Basin.

This is a view of Casa Grande as seen from the side at sunrise.

Ernst Tinaja is located in a small, colorful canyon in Big Bend National Park.

This is a close up the actual tinaja showing the canyon wall and sky reflected in the water.

The Balanced Rock in Big Bend National Park seems to be a popular subject for professional photographers, judging from the number of variations I have seen in different publications, including those in calenders.

This view shows the entrance to Boquillas Canyon in Big Bend National Park. The water flowing through it is the Rio Grande River, and the walls on the far side of the canyon are in Mexico.

This picture of the entrance to Santa Elena Canyon in Big Bend National Park was taken just as sunrise illuminated the scene.

One can hike into Santa Elena Canyon a short distance before the dry ground ends, and the vertical walls of the canyon drop straight into the Rio Grande River. Mexico is on the left and the United States is on the right side of the river.

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