Tag Archives: national park

Wonderful Jungle Hike at Mount Santubong, Borneo, Malaysia

Trail in the forest

My hike on Mount Santubong was an amazing experience. The hike was quite challenging; very step climbing for a long time.

rope handhold for steep jungle trail, Mount Santubong, Sarawak, Malaysia

The trail climbed like this for a long time. The ropes could help you climb (especially necessary if there had been rain recently as it is not only steep but slippery when went).

Jungle trail, rope ladder, Mount Santubong

Quite frequently rope ladders were necessary to aid the climb.

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Stone Forest, Yunnan, China

Vista over the Stone Forest in Yunnan, China

The Stone Forest in Yunnan, China is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The stone formations were created as the limestone eroded.

Red berries on a bush with stone pillars in the background

The Stone Forest (South China Karst) area was a shallow sea some 270 million years ago (the Permian period) when the sandstone and limestone deposits were formed. The entire Shilin National Scenic Area (昆明市石林风景区) covers an area of 400 square km.

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Cliff Palace, Mesa Verde National Park

John Hunter at the Cliff Palace, Mesa Verde National Park

John Hunter at the Cliff Palace in Mesa Verde National Park, Colorado, USA. The photos in this post show the Cliff Palace site (photos by John Hunter). You must take a ranger led tour to walk into the Cliff Palace. The overhead lookout doesn’t require joining a tour.

Cliff Palace at sunset, Mesa Verde National Park

Recent studies reveal that Cliff Palace contained 150 rooms and 23 kivas and had a population of approximately 100 people. Out of the nearly 600 cliff dwellings concentrated within the boundaries of the park. Cliff Palace is an exceptionally large dwelling which may have had special significance. It is thought that Cliff Palace was a social, administrative site with high ceremonial usage.

Overview of the Cliff Palace

Sometime during the late 1190s, after primarily living on the mesa top for 600 years, many Ancestral Pueblo people began living in pueblos they built beneath the overhanging cliffs. The structures ranged in size from one-room storage units to villages of more than 150 rooms. While still farming the mesa tops, they continued to reside in the alcoves, repairing, remodeling, and constructing new rooms for nearly a century.

View from Cliff Palace

View from the cliff palace, looking across the valley.

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Apostle Islands National Lakeshore, Wisconsin

Photos from my visit to the Apostle Islands National Lakeshore in northern Wisconsin.

Purple Fungus growing through brown leaves

An interesting purple fungus on the point trail. The main island is Stockton Island which has several interesting trails (all are easy). The photos on this post are from there and our boat ride.

photo from sailboat with view of Lake Superior and clouded blue sky

We took a sailboat ride on Lake Superior.

Yellow Flowers

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Guadalupe Peak Trail, Guadalupe Mountains National Park

Guadalupe Peak Trail with mountains in the background

The Guadalupe Peak Trail in Guadalupe Mountains National Park is a 8.4 mile round trip hike with an elevation gain of 2,930 feet (they estimate 6 to 8 hours).

Brown beetle with a green head

If you can identify this beetle (or the other insects in this post) please add a comment. See more of my photos that I need help identifying.

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World War II Memorial, Washington DC

World War II Memorial with the Lincoln Memorial in the background

The World War II Memorial in Washington DC is between the Lincoln Memorial (the photo above shows looking toward it) and the Washington Monument (below) on The Mall.

World War II Memorial with the Washington Monument in the background

The memorial was opened on 29 May 2004. Many Smithsonian museums, the White House and the Capital are within easy walking distance of the memorial.

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Kuang Si Waterfalls, Laos

Tat Kuang Si park is a wonderful spot for a hike.

amazing light blue colored pool of water

The water has an amazing blue color that seems almost fake in photos but is really the color of these photos. The blue is due to dissolved copper.

pedestrian bridge with blue water pool and waterfalls in the background

The Kuang Si waterfalls are about 30 km outside of Luang Prabang. You can rent a open back pickup for about $30 (really I forget I think it was about that amount though) for the trip or you can join a tour group (easy to arrange at many guest houses and travel agents all over Luang Prabang).

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Magical Day at Glacier-Waterton International Peace Park

One of the most enjoyable days of my life began at Glacier National Park (USA) and continued in the Canadian portion of the park (Waterton International Peace Park). The parks share a long border and amazing natural beauty.

View on Iceberg Lake Trail

Iceberg Lake Trail, Glacier National Park

This magical day was my fifth day at Glacier National Park, which had already been wonderful.

John Hunter with vista in background

John Hunter, top of Bear’s Hump trail, Waterton International Peace Park

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