There is something neat about spending time with things in nature that transcend human lifespans. These bristlecone pines are some of the oldest known individual living tree species. Some trees in this grove are over 4,700 years old. It’s neat to think of these trees as little seedlings 200 years before the pyramids at Giza were built. Although some of the bristlecone groves are very well known, it is neat to run across a small grove in the middle of nowhere in the high mountains. A few times we have sat in a grove and had lunch while out hiking high in the Sierras, and it’s just neat to think of how our modern world is just a tiny moment in time to the tree we are sitting next to.
I’ve been thinking about latitude and climates a lot lately. It’s neat how much climate variation you can see just by going to the other side of a mountain, going up in elevation, or going a little further north. Although I enjoy the mild climates and abundant life of the tropics, I find that I really like to visit the harsher climates of the higher latitudes. The variety is just interesting.
The lava tubes and volcanic features in Hawaii are really interesting. It’s neat to explore freshly created geography that is, in some cases, only a handful of years old.
I photographed this little beaver in the middle of the night in the Canadian arctic neat the Peel River in the Northwest Territories. There were more beavers in the arctic and sub arctic than I expected. Seeing them in that environment, I can’t help but picture them cozy in their dens hibernating during the long winters waiting for those endless summer arctic days, but it’s interesting that thy don’t actually hibernate in the winter.
Michael Fuchs Photography 