Meeting at Lake Tahoe next week. Plan to drive up/back from LA & photo along the way.

Week in the Sierra mid June just south of Whitney: Golden Trout Workshops
I'm really looking forward to being in the mountains for a bit.

Thanks Jim...I will look at that. We have 5 days, four nights.

Hey Durwood,

How did you find Yosemite? I keep hearing that the amazing visual experience gets ruined by the fact that the loop road becomes a giant parking lot....

James

...BTW, spoke with Steve Kossack yesterday. He has invited me to join them for the Glacier NP workshop. That's cool. I have never been there before (though Tony and I have been talking about getting together there this year as well).

James

Who has more info on Estes Park? Lodging deals, photo ops, etc.

Wife and I are leaving Iowa Friday afternoon for a week in Yellowstone.

Don

Hey Don,

That's awesome. I have never gone this early in the cycle before. I have been trying to convince wifey thay we want to go at Christmas time - but it is probably 2x as expensive at that time, so it will need to wait (lol indefinitely).

James

Leaving this week for Texas and Padre Island National Seashore.
Any recommendations of what not to miss? So far birds appear to be the thing, along with turtles. . . Any suggestions most welcome.
Caroline

We like this time of year
The bears are starting to come out of hibernation and are on the hunt for food of any kind. There's a lot of new borns, elk and bison, that the wolves and bears hunt. There are some winter kill carcasses around that attract the bears and wolves as well.
The higher elevations will still have snow so we can get some "winter" type photos.

We have a couple of insiders that help us with our photo ops, step-son works for the National Park Service repairing the trails and his girlfriend is a National Park Firefighter. Then my step-daughter works for Xanterra, the service that runs all the gift shops and snackbars. If we can't find anything on our own we ask them what they've seen or heard. Plus they take us to spots that most people stay away from.

Don

I loved Yosemite. The more iconic spots for photography can be somewhat of a circus. There are a lot of people, but, at least this early (April) in the season, the park manages them very well. We stayed in the Lodge at the Falls and walked almost everywhere. We were very close to many trails, and we got out early before most people were up.


The free shuttle is very convenient to reach more remote corners.