Essays
The Badlands: One Look Wasn't Enough
What first felt like another planet has given way to birds, prairie dogs, bison, bighorn sheep and fellow travelers moving through the landscape.
Jeanette Mintiens
South Dakota
Custer State Park — Right of Way
Suddenly, we feel like the visitors we are. This is their land, and they make that known.
South Dakota
Mount Rushmore — A Matter of Scale
From the road, the scale feels surprisingly modest.
Field Notes
Yellowstone — Long Enough to Notice
Meanwhile, a lone ram nearby is unceremoniously using the guardrail to scratch his rear end...
Yellowstone
Yellowstone — Road to Lamar
A black bear crosses the road.
Field Notes
Yellowstone — The Ground Beneath Us
The volcano is not one feature within Yellowstone. It is the ground beneath us.
Essays
Yellowstone: Somewhere Along the Way
The alarm sounds at 4 a.m. It is an early start, but wolves don't operate on our schedule, and wolves are the mission at hand. By 5 a.m., the car heads toward Lamar Valley through the darkness. With months of research behind us, we are on
Field Notes
Yellowstone — The Wrong Turn
The boardwalk climbs through a landscape broken by mudpots, springs and openings in the earth.
Field Notes
Zermatt — The Mountain Keeps Its Distance
Mountains don't disappear when clouds arrive. Only our ability to see them does.
Essays
Grindelwald: First Descent
Standing at the First summit, one could almost be fooled into believing they'd conquered a mountain. Surrounded by snow-covered peaks at more than 11,000 feet, it was easy to feel like a mountaineer. Of course, we'd arrived by gondola, but confidence has never required
Field Notes
Gornergrat — Visibility in Intervals
A mountain is not always revealed at once. Clouds move across the ridgeline while visitors wait for brief openings in the weather.
Field Notes
Mt. Rigi — Cogwheel to the Clouds
A mountain does not need to be climbed when the journey upward reveals the landscape just as clearly.