Pictures and descriptions of some of our trips.
Ralph made a two-night trip to Pt. Reyes National Seashore to test some updates to his van and saw some birds, bobcats and sunsets.
In November Ralph drove his van to Arizona to meet up with his friend Martin for some photography on the eastern and northern rims of the Grand Canyon. There were many stunning views from remote and rarely visited places. On the way there and back Ralph stopped at Gold Butte National Monument in Nevada which has some amazing rock formations and petroglyphs.
In October Ralph joined some fellow Revel owners for a meetup near Crowley Lake in the Eastern Sierra where he saw a comet, some fall colors and some interesting geology.
In August Ralph travelled, with Martin, to Brazil to try to photograph jaguars in the Pantanal. There were many animals to photograph and huge numbers of birds. The city of Sao Paulo was also interesting.
In June Ralph got an offer to join a group going to Lake Clark National Park in Alaska in July. It was short notice, but there are many good reports from from the area, so Ralph went. There was lots of good photography, much of it in the rain. The good thing about rain is that it keeps the mosquitoes down.
In June a quick day trip to Sequoia National Park in search of black bears yielded a few pictures.
In June Ralph joined a small group on the Olympic Peninsula for landscape photography.
Ralph went to the Khuzteymateen Grizzly Bear sanctuary for (at least) the forth time in May. This time there was lots of interaction among bears and some good birds.
In April, Ralph planned to join his friend Martin in southern Arizona . It was unusually hot so they worked their way north and uphill and ended up at the northern end of Death Valley National Park.
On April 8 there was a solar eclipse visible throughout most of North America. For us, it was only a partial eclipse but we went to a local high point, Freemont Peak, to view it.
In March, Ralph joined some friends in the Yukon to search for Canada Lynx, in the process they saw some other interesting animals.
In February Ralph went to Iceland. The primary purpose was to photograph Icelandic Arctic Foxes in the snow at Hornstrandir in the extreme north west of Iceland. The Icelandic Arctic Foxes are slightly smaller than arctic foxes in general (they are considered a subspecies) and many of them stay brown all year because there is no advantage in being white in the winter as they do not need to hide from either predators nor prey. While there Ralph also saw some ptarmigan and some nice landscapes.
In August 2023 there was a major storm that dumped a lot of water on Death Valley National Park. It fill the lake at the bottom of Death Valley known as Lake Manly. In January another, smaller storm put some snow on the mountains and topped up the lake. Ralph was able to hurry down and see it.
In January Ralph went to Tule Lake National Wildlife Refuge in in northern California to look for birds. There were lots of birds and a few wolves.
In January we went to Santa Cruz to see the butterflies and saw some surfing by accident.
In December we took a day trip to the coast to have a look at Pigeon Point Light Station before it gets buried in scaffolding for two years and to look for birds. The day started foggy but ended with some good bird action at sunset.
Back in 2017 Ralph joined a fall photography workshop Jasper. Six years later he was back with the same leader for an advanced photo tour in Jasper, just in time to catch the first snow of the year.
Ralph joined his fellow photographer, Martin, for a trip to the highlands of Iceland and Scorseby Sund, Greenland in late August and early September.
Ralph took a long trip in his van, across the US, up to Newfoundland and then back across Canada and then home. He left in early May and returned in early July. The total trip was about eight and a half weeks. The primary goal was to spend time in Newfoundland, and to drive the Trans Labrador Highway. It was a long trip with a thorough exploration of Newfoundland.
In February, Raph attended a short workshop on desert photography at White Sands National Park. Afterwords, he traveled to Gila Cliff Dwellings, Bisti Badlands and Shiprock, all great places to see in New Mexico.
In early February, Raph travelled to Ontario to join a group photographing snowy owls. The weather was not good for owls. The winter had been too warm and there was nots of wind and rain, but there were a few owls.
In early January, Raph visited Uvas Canyon again, after a heavy rain. This time there was more water in the water falls, and the ladybugs were not wet with dew like they were in December making for better pictures.
In December we went to Santa Cruz to look at the monarch butterflies that overwinter there and got lucky seeing an owl. Ralph later went to a nearby park after a heavy rain to photograph waterfalls and ladybugs that gather in large swarms in cold weather.
In the fall Ralph watched the Fleet Week airshow from land for the first time. He has seen in from boats in the bay twice.
From late August to early October Ralph took a long awaited (and twice postponed by Covid) trip to Alaska, the Yukon Territory and the Northwest Territories. He drove first to Alaska to meet up with Martin who Raph has travelled with in the past, and together they drove to many places. Ralph also made some side trips on his own. For Ralph the total trip was 43 days and 13,000 miles. There are some highlight images and a larger set of images that try to give a feel for the trip.
In early August Ralph finally got to go to the Arctic Watch Lodge on the north shore of Somerset Island (a long way north in the Canadian Arctic). He May 2018 he made a reservation for a July 2020. The lodge is small and has a short season, so booking 2 years in advance was necessary. Then the trip got postponed a few times. Seeing the high arctic from the ground is a special experience.
Ralph was invited to join 3 other adventurous photographers in Patagonia, Chile in late July to photograph pumas in snow. They were lucky to get some good snow on one day and many puma sightings. Ralph stayed in the Santiago area for a few more nights to photography local birds with one of the three other photographers.
In 2019 Ralph was able to join a short trip to the Khutzeymateen Grizzly Bear Sanctuary and found it to be a magical place for viewing bears and other wildlife. Covid and other factors meant that it was impossible to return until 2022. Ralph lucky and was able to spend 11 days in the Khutzeymateen photographing bears, wolves and other interesting things. He was also able to see and photograph some frogs, black bears and a fox in the interior of British Columbia on the way to Prince Rupert where he got on the boat to go to the Khutzeymateen. Here are pictures of the main wildlife, birds, some landscapes (the place really is stunning), and the boat and airplanes used to transport and house the photographers.
In March Ralph travelled to Botswana with his friend and fellow wildlife photographer, Martin. They first spent a week at the Pangolin Chobe Hotel which offers excelent wildlife photography on the Chobe River from their boats that are specifically designed for photography. They later moved to the Bushman Plains camp in the Okavango Delta for photography of "cats and dogs".
In the fall Ralph made trips to south eastern Utah, the Eastern Sierra in California and northern Arizona.
In late summer Ralph went to a local reservoir with a friend to practice photographing birds. Later he went to an amateur rocket launch in the Black Rock Desert in Nevada.
In late May there was a total eclipse of the Moon. The Mono Lake area was a good place to see it.
In May Ralph went to Death Valley to explore some less-travelled 4x4 trails in the southern and eastern part of the park.
In late March Ralph traveled the Mojave Road from east to west. It is not really a road. It is a rough trail that largely follows a trading route used by the Mojave people. It largely follows a path through the desert that leads from water-source to water-source, about a day's travel between each.
Ralph was able to join a professional landscape photo guide who was scouting locations in the US south west in late September. The plans were made long before the wildfires in California filled the air with smoke, and the pandemic restrictions were an issue but the trip happened. Highlights of the trip include a stunning day at the The Wave (on trail at 05:00, returned to the parking lot at about 22:00), stunning fall colors in Colorado, some smokey views of the Grand Canyon from Toroweap Overlook, and some general historic and scenic locations.
In the summer, Ralph started getting lots of email from customers wondering how to photograph comets. Ralph was busy answering questions and almost missed the fact that the reason people were asking about photographing comets was because there was one very visible comet, Comet Neowise. He was able to figure out what was going on just in time to get several good views of the comet.
Just as the country was beginning to shut down in March due to Covid-19 Ralph was in and around the Alabama Hills near Lone Pine, California.
In February Ralph went to Marshall Beach with a group of photographers. This was the last group trip before Covid-19 stopped group activities like this.
In January Ralph made a trip to Death Valley National Park to try to get to Chloride Cliff (partially successful) and the Racetrack Playa with the mysterious moving rocks.
Ralph closed out the year by joining some friends north of the Golden Gate to try to photograph the New Year's Fireworks in San Francisco. Earlier in the year the same group tried the same thing for the Fourth of July Fireworks and but there was too much fog.
In late September Ralph was able to link up two bear photography trips. The first was to the Great Bear Rainforest on the coast concentrating on Spirit Bears, but with some birds and scenery. It was very wet but we got some good views of bears. The second was in the interior of British Columbia to photography grizzlies fishing in the Chilcotin River. We saw huge numbers of bears and some birds and landscape. It would have been great for star photography with snow capped mountains, but the bears were active at night so it was not safe to photograph at night.
Ralph was able to make two trips to Mount Hamilton in July and August with two different photography groups. Mount Hamilton is the location of the world's first permanently-staffied mounting top observator and is an active observatory with multiple telescopes. Access at night is very restricted so getting a chance to go is rate, but the views and the telescope are worth it.
In July Ralph joined some photographers for a day trip to Moss Landing and Pacific Grove. There was an excellent sighting of a sea otter feeding.
Back in May 2017 Ralph went to the Arctic Haven Lodge in Nunavut to see the spring caribou migration. The timing was a bit off and the trip was too early. This August, Ralph returned to try to see caribou on the tundra in fall colours. This trip was successful. The trip overall had lots of scenic views, berries on the ground, and great skies. The colours were amazing in the right light and the caribou were cooperative.
Taking a tip from one of his fellow photographers on on the Khutzeymateen trip, Ralph was able to join an expedition to photograph coastal wolves in the Great Bear Rainforest in August. The accommodations were minimal but functional. There was an awful lot of time spent waiting because you cannot go to the wolves, you have to wait for the wolves to come to you. But two wolves did come out to see us on several occasions.
In June Ralph attended a meeting of owners of Revel RVs in Colorado. To get there he had to travel across Arizona, so he stopped at White Pocket, a remote location in the Vermilion Cliffs National Mounument. Maybe not the best time to go as it was hot and dry, but it is a place worth visiting.
Ralph was very lucky and managed to join a trip to the Khutzeymateen Grizzly Bear Sanctuary on short notice in May (necessitating the cancelation of a long-planned trip to Arizona and Utah). The wildlife there has been very well protected for 25 years making this a very special place. The opportunity to go there to photograph bears is a rare gift. K’tzim-a-deen means the “Valley at the Head of the Inlet” in Ts'msyan (the Coast Tsimshian language). An apt name.
In March Ralph went to the Carrizo Plain trying to see the flowers in south, which he missed on his 2017 trips. The flowers were not as varried and colorful as 2017, but still very impressive.
In early March Ralph went to Anza-Borrego Desert State Park and Joshua Tree National Park in southern California in search of wild flowers. The flowers were not impressive, but it was good to see these parks for the first time.
In February Ralph made a return trip to the Lofoten Islands in far northn Norway (100km north of the Arctic Circle). He was previously there in March 2017. This time there was more snow and less wind and one clear night with some Aurora.
Ralph took his Revel to Mono Lake and Death Valley in December to try its winter capabilities and to see those places in the winter and to see a comet and meteor shower. The comet and meteor shower were not as bright as expected, but the rest of the trip was great.
Ralph made a big trip to New Zealand in October. Most of the time was spent on a guided landscape photography trip on the South Island, but he also spent time in Christchurch and the Aukland areas on his own.
The Santa Clara Camera Club was able to arrange a night photo tour of Alcatraz Island. Ralph is a member of the club and was lucky enough to join the group.
In late August and early September Ralph went to south east Greenland (via Iceland) for a landscape photography trip. It was a great trip for learning about south east Greenland, but not the best for photography. The trip was cut short by severe whether and had everyone hunkered down for 3 days next to a remote airport. Definitely an adventure.
Sea Otters are making a come back along larger stretches of the Pacific coast of North America after being hunted to near extinction for their fur. In August Ralph joined a group on a small boat for a trip to photograph "marine mammals" near the northern tip of Vancouver Island. There were whales, seals and sea lions, but by far the highlight was the sea otters. There were a few good birds too.
In April Ralph travelled to Svalbard for a winter tour on a small ship that only takes 12 passengers. The weather was windy and cold. The ships passage was blocked in several places by unexpected ice, but there was some wonderful light and some wildlife. Here are some pictures of Polar Bears, Walrus, Landscapes, animals and landscapes from Bjørndalen near Longyearbyen, some flying things and some local tours Ralph took.
Following his successful trip to the Panamint Valley with his new van, Ralph took a trip to see some of the sights close to Highway 395 in California.
In March Ralph took his new van to Death Valley National Park. He found so many interesting places in the Panamint Valley that he never made it to Death Valley.
Ralph joined two other members of the Santa Clara Camera Club for a day-long trip to San Francisco in late February. The primary goal was to attend the Pacific Orchid Exposition to photograph the flowers, but the day started with sunrise at the Bay Bridge and ended with sunset at the Golden Gate Bridge.
On the evening of January 30th Ralph was able to photographed the rising Super Blue Moon (second full moon of the month, occuring when the moon is closest to the earth) from Clipper Cove on Treasure Island in San Francisco Bay and then the next morning shot the total Lunar Eclipse from the Santa Cruz Mountains.
Some photography day trips that Ralph took during the year.
In November 1983 we visited Jasper on our way from Edmonton to Vancouver. Since then, neither of us has been back until this November when Ralph went for joined a small group for a fall wildlife photography trip.
Neither of us has ever seen a total solar eclipse, but we have seen several partial eclipses and an annular eclipse. This year, after a lot of planning, Ralph was able to see and photograph the total solar eclipse from Shadow Mountain in Wyoming. It was an amazing display. Here is some video of the event. Ralph was able to get some pictures of the area taken both before and after the eclipse.
Ralph has often read about Whale Sharks and trips to swim with them or photograph them. Whale Sharks are the largest fish in the world. They are plankton feeders, so there is little risk to swimming with them. They are found in tropical waters throughout the world, but are particularly easy to find and swim with near Isla Mujeres, Mexico. In early August, Ralph joined a trip run by Wet Pixel and found himself mixed in with 5 hard-core underwater photographers for 5 days of snorkeling with Whale Sharks. It was outsanding!
Heavy winter rains seriously damaged the roads that access the Big Sur Coast. This left only a small part of Big Sur accessible meaning that it was not overrun with tourists this summer. Ralph was able to spend a few peaceful days there in June. In December he made a return trip to photograph the sunset through the hole in the rock on Pfeiffer Beach, an effect that is visible only a few days a year. He also spent some time at McWay Falls.
In early May Ralph headed to the Arctic Haven lodge in Nunuvat to try to photograph the spring caribou migration. The weather was colder than expected so only a few caribou could be found, but it was still a great trip.
Carrizo Plain National Monument in California is normally a dry and mostly uninteresting grassland valley near the coast, about 100 miles north of Los Angeles. It is perhaps most famous for being an place where you can see streams whose paths have been altered by the San Andreas fault—the effects of plate techtonics are clearly visible on the surface. But April 2017 was different. Heavy rains over the winter resulted in spectacular displays of wildflowers. Ralph spent 5 nights sleeping in the back of his car and driving around the Carrizo Plain photographing the flowers. Ralph made a return trip for one night in November to get a different view of the Carrizo Plain.
In March, Ralph joined a photography trip to the Lofoten Islands in far northern Norway to attempt to photograph either the aruora or stars with pointy, snow-covered mountains. The weather did not cooperate—there were no clear nights. But it was a good trip anyway.
Some photography day trips that Ralph took during the year.
In November, Ralph went to the Atchafalaya Swamp in Texas and Louisana with Squiver, a Dutch photo tour company. Photography in a swamp is difficult because the light is constantly changing, the trees are dark and the sky is bright, you are usually in a small boat that is rocking and drifting and a host of other challenges. But it is a very interesting experience and well worth the effort.
Mid September, Ralph joined a small group at the Golden Gate Bridge to try to photograph the bridge with fog and/or the nearly full moon. Later he join a similar group to photograph the bridge and Point Bonita Lighthouse from Marshall Beach.
In early August, Ralph spent 10 days along Highway 395 in the Eastern Sierra Nevada region of California. This included stops for photography in the abandoned mining town of Bodie, around Mono Lake, the western part of Yosemite National Park, the White Mountains and the Alabama Hills.
In April and May we traveled to Africa to visit Cape Town, South Africa and join a photo tour covering a large part of Namibia.
Here are some pictures of some spring wildflowers we saw on some local hikes. The local wildflowers were very good this year.
In November, we made our second trip to South Georgia (the first was in 2011). This time we joined a pretty intense photophraphy trip with about 50 other people on a small ship.
In September, we joined a photophraphy trip in the Great Bear Rainforest of British Columbia, Canada. We traveled aboard the 111 year old wooden sailboat, the SV Maple Leaf, with 6 other guests in search of the Spirit Bear.
In May, we joined a photophraphy tour to Ilulissat, Greenland. This is a return visit to Greenland. In 2013 we travelled Baffin Island and Greenland on small ship. On that trip we spent 2 days planning and scheduling activities in Ilulissat only to be prevented from landing by ice in the harbour.
In April, we joined an expedition on the National Geographic Orion from Dar es Salaam in Tanzania across the Indian Ocean to Colombo, Sri Lanka. This Indian Ocean Odyssey featured visits to remote and seldom visited locations and some excellent snorkeling.
We began 2015 with a photography tour of southern Iceland in late February and early March. It was cold and very windy. We experienced lots of rain and snow but we saw some great scenery and had two nights of aurora. Here are Winnie's highlights, and Ralph's highlights. We have some pictures showing our experience of Iceland.
In late October we spent a few days in California's Eastern Sierra. Although we knew we were a bit late, we were mostly looking for fall colors. We also stumbled uppon some work being done with Sierra Nevada Bighorn Sheep, an endangered subspieces of Bighorn Sheep.
In early October Ralph joined some friends on a sail boat in San Francisco Bay for the Fleet Week Airshow.
In late February and early March we made our first trip to the continent of Africa. We took a photographic safari to Kenya and Tanzania.
In mid-February Ralph went to the Alabama Hills in California to photograph the setting full moon above Mt. Whitney, the tallest mountain in the 48 contiguous states.
On Christmas Day, 2012 we drove east for a 12-day trip to Grand Teton National Park and Yellowstone National Park. We started in Grand Teton National Park then moved to the north part of Yellowstone for a Winter Wildlife tour. Later we traveled to the Snow Lodge next to the Geyser Basin in the interior of Yellowstone.
In August we visited the east coast of Baffin Island and south west Greenland from a small ship.
We went to Borel Hill in the hills overlooking the coast to watch the annular eclipse in May.
In August we visited the Point Sur Light Station for an evening tour.
In September, the Space Shuttle Endevour made a final tour of California before retiring to the California Science Center in Los Angeles.
Just before U.S. Thanksgiving we took a trip to see Sequoia and King's Canyon National Parks.
In December, Ralph took a night photography trip to Trona Pinnacles, not far from Death Valley. The goal was to photograph the Geminid Meteor shower. The meteors did not show up in great numbers, but it was a good dark night.
In October and November we took a four week trip south to Argentina, the Falkland Islands and the South Georgia Islands. Here are a few highlights.
In May we rented a small RV based on a Mercedes Sprinter chassis, with the interior done by RoadTrek based in Kitchener, Ontario (near Waterloo, where Ralph once studied). We wanted to see what the RV experience is like. We went to Van Damme State Park near Mendocino on the northern coast of California. It is nice to be able to park your temporary home at the trailhead.
Over labour day weekend, we went to Crater Lake National Park in southern Oregon.
On our return from Svalbard we learned that Blue Whales had been spotted in Monterey Bay for the first time in many years. Not wanting to miss an opportunity for a another view at the largest animals ever on earth (bigger than the largest diansors) we went for an afternoon whale watching trip. Remember this is California in July. It is not as cold as Svalbard, but you do have to bundle up.
In July 2010 we returned to Svalbard which we visited in 2004. Our goal was to see more Polar Bears than we saw last time. We succeeded. The offical total for the trip was 28 bear sightings in 7 days.
In May 2010 we took a trip to Peru to see Machu Picchu and the Manu Wildlife Refuge in the upper Amazon basin.
In October we took an 18-day trip down the Colorado River through the Grand Canyon. We have three groups of pictures:
In June 2007 we took a day hike to Sunset Beach at Point Reyes National Seashore with some friends.
In May 2007 we spent a week on a small ship in the northern part of the Gulf of California.
In December 2006 we took a dogsleding and winter camping trip in Ely, Minnesota.
In June 2006 we spent 18 days on a small ship traveling from Fiji to Tahiti.
In April 2006 we spent a week visiting Hoover Dam, and Zion and Bryce Canyon National Parks in Utah.
In February we went to Lake San Antonio, a resevoir a few hours south of San Jose for a day kayak. It was a very nice day and at lunch we spent some time wandering near the south end of the resevoir and saw lots of wild flowers.
Later in February we spent a long weekend in Death Valley National Park. It had been an unusually wet winter and there were many reports of large displays of wild flowers.
In April we spent a week driving through central Nevada. We stopped at the historic mining town of Virginia City. Spent some time at Great Basin National Park and Cathederal Gorge State Park and drove both the Loneliest Road in America (route 50) and The Extraterrestrial Highway (route 375).
In July 2005 we rented a ski condo in Mammoth Lakes for a week and visited the eastern sierra region of California with Ralph's parents. We visited the White Mountains, Devils Post Pile, Mono Lake and the Mono Craters, Bodie and lots of places in between.
In September 2005 we spent a week in Kaua'i hiking, snorkeling and kayaking.
In late May we spent a few days at a fancy resort on the beach south of Los Angeles called Montage Laguna Beach. This was work related event for Winnie, but we did get two days to visit Santa Catalina Island.
In July 2004 we spent three weeks travelling to the Svalbard Archipelago and to southern Norway. Our trip through southern Norway was as "independent travelers". We had a stack of train, ferry and bus tickets as well as hotel vouchers. These were arranged in advance through Scantours. In 9 days visited Oslo, Flåm, Gudvangen, Balestrand, Bergent and Lofthus. These are the standard highlights that many tourists that have one to two weeks try to see. The trip worked out well as an introduction, but there are many places we would like to go back to and spend more time. It we do that, we will probably rent a car and drive. The roads are generally uncrowded and well signed and maintained.
Some pictures of Svalbard and Norway that Ralph took on film.
In April we attended an event in Las Vegas for owners of Toyota MR-2s. While we were there we took a day to have a good look at the Valley of Fire State Park which is an hour or so to the east.
In May 2003 we did a day hike around the summit of Mount Diablo Mount Diablo which is just inland from San Francisco. It was a great day and we saw lots of wild flowers.
In June 2003 we spent a week on Vancouver Island, visiting friends in Victoria and also in the town of Tofino.
We spent the 4th of July long weekend visiting some sights along Route 49 in California. Highlights include the Empire Mine, Malakoff Digins, Indian Grinding Rock and the Black Chasm Cavern.
In May 2002 we traveled to the east coast of central America where we first visited the Mayan ruins in Tikal, Guatemala. We then boarded the MV Sea Voyager in Belize City, Belize for a week of kayaking, snorkeling and other explorations. The snorkeling was great and we took many underwater photos.
In January of 2001 we spent 10 days in Costa Rica. We spent most of our time kayaking in Gulfo Dulce and in the Monteverde cloud forest. We spent a little time touring in the San Jose area.
In the first two weeks of June of 2001 we traveled to Ecuador and the Galapagos Islands.
Here are some underwater pictures from the Galapagos.
In July 2000 we took a small ship (62 passengers) cruise on the south east coast of Alaska and finished with a few extra days hiking around Juneau where Ralph had spent two months in 1979.
In December 1999 we took a trip to Antarctica.
In July 1999 we spent a week in British Columbia. We started with a few days at the Kapristo Lodge in Golden. We did some white water rafting, some river kayaking and relaxing. It was excellent. And then we went on to several days of heli-hiking at the Canadian Mountain Holidays Adamant Lodge.
In late December 1998 we spent a week on Espiritu Santo Island in the Gulf of California. We camped on the island and kayaked, hiked and snorkelled.
In June 1995 we drove from our home in New Jersey to Newfoundland and toured around the island and a bit of Labrador.
In 1994 we travelled to the UK where we rented a narrow boat and traveled the historic canals for two weeks with Ralph's parents and his aunt Edith.
In May of 1983 we went to Edmonton for a conference and then rented a car and drove through the Rockies to Vancouver.
In the summer of 1979 Ralph was lucky enough to have a summer job working for the University of Alaska Computer Network. He started the summer in Juneau working both at the Auke Lake campus as the the State Office Building in the city. After two months he got moved to the West Ridge Research Campus in Fairbanks. While in Fairbanks he did an overnight hike up the Canwell Glacier with some co-workers. Finally, he closed out the summer with a spectacular trip home by flying to Juneau, riding the Alaska Marine Highway ferry to Prince Rupert, and then then train through the mountains via Jasper and then on to Winnipeg.