Island Addiction

Lahaina Sunset

In this season, I reflect on my experiences and the far away places that I have visited. I am beyond greatful, never taking for granted the resources and technology that allowed those experiences to be obtained. I am truly one of the privileged few on earth, having the freedom to travel in the modern way.

Maui is a beautiful island in the Hawaiian chain, close to the center of the largest ocean on earth. In this way, the sea surrounding the island exhibits a pristine beauty and purity that other tropical destinations envy. Where the power of the sea pounds the forbidding volcanic cliffs and headlands, the heart beat of a dynamic world can be heard and felt.


The Road to Hana



Falls near Hana

Lake Waikaremoana

With darkness lasting longer than light here in the western US, I am reminded that spring is quickly unfurling in the southern hemisphere. One of the strangest experiences is to leave the northern hemisphere in the dead of winter, to arrive in the southern hemisphere at the height of summer. Leaving a place that holds 8 hours of sunlight, and arriving in a different place with 16 hours of sunlight is certainly an experience that will leave the body somewhat confused.

New Zealand is a country blessed with amazing beauty. Most of the country has been converted from ancient native forest, to various types of grazing land and timber land to support the commercial interests of land holders. Of course, the most beautiful and mysterious places in New Zealand lie within the protected confines of national parks.

One such place called Te Urewera National Park allows a visitor to witness ancient New Zealand nature as it mostly once was.



Lake Waikaremoana

It is rare to see water clarity as great as what I experienced while camping on the shore of Lake Waikaremoana. The lake is huge, the deepest on the North Island, and completely natural (no dam). The forest and vegetation around the lake are native, allowing one to sense the pristine state of nature from the days of old.




A hike through the local forests will provide incredible views of the native Kauri trees that once dominated the New Zealand countryside. A slow growing hardwood, the Kauri have long been a prized wood for building. Unfortunately very few kauri forests are left due to the over logging and consumption by invasive non-native possums.



Kauri Tree

The Racetrack

Do not go where the path may lead, go instead where there is no path and leave a trail.
Ralph Waldo Emerson


Racetrack, Death Valley, CA

In the middle of nowhere, not too far from this place is a mysterious and desolate playa called The Racetrack. In the barren "wasteland" of Death Valley National Park, lies features that only the forces of nature themselves could conjure.



One theory explains that once in a great while, during a summer thunderstorm or a windy winter storm, the conditions are just right for the sliding of rocks across a slick, slimy film of lake bed clay. The rocks are pushed along by wind in sometimes shifting directions, leaving a smoothed path etched in the earth behind them. No human has ever witnessed the phenomenon, thus creating controversy as to how it could happen.



A visitor to this playa may sense a feeling of isolation resulting purely from the challenge of getting there.

Misty Valley

ODpassion would not be complete without a post from Yosemite.

"In every walk with nature one receives far more than he seeks."

John Muir

A breaking spring storm unveils misting falls in full glory. Pictured below, is my all time favorite image of a waterfall;


Nevada Falls, May 2000

My passion for nature and the outdoors is wildly provoked when I view this image. I fall short when I try to describe what I feel. It's as if all of my life's experience and memories of the most beautiful places I have been come together and cry out with an ecstatic familiarity. I know from the writings of others that there is a spiritual connection humans have with nature. It comes from a source so deep that language cannot describe it. It must be felt. Rationalism is left scrambling for the exits in this arena of being. In my own existential terms, I feel as though I am viewing through primordial eyes at the awesome work of God.

Earth Sculptures 2

In honor of Earth Sculptures, and my explanation of the difference between Arch and Bridge, I had to conclude with this unique natural wonder;


Stream eroded Natural Bridge

Natural Bridges National Monument is a Federally protected area in Utah that operates much like a National Park. They state on the website that this area features the darkest skies in the country. Yep, its remote! You can feel it when you visit. Many archaeological sites in this area are still being discovered for the first time.

Earth Sculptures

The warm, red heart of western North America contains a land with an unexpected and strangely beautiful landscape. The shapes and geomorphic forms found here tell the story of an ancient earth, where dinosaurs and shallow seas once dwelled. Arches National Park is located north of the town of Moab Utah, and just east of Canyonlands National Park. A visit to Arches National Park will reveal the massive sandstone formations that have eroded over the millenia from the simple process weather. An arch is a feature that forms by the action of weather as opposed to a natural bridge which is formed from the erosional process of rivers, streams, lakes and oceans.


In the Eye


Perspective

Wizard Pool

Deep in the Desert Wilderness of Death Valley National Park lies a very remote and beautiful valley surrounded by towering mountains and rocky escarpments. Saline Valley seems cut off from civilization like very few places on earth. In the days of man over nature, mining of all sorts was the interest of this area of California. The old mining roads are still used to access the area. The nearest civilization of any sort is located about 85 miles at the town of Lone Pine California. In the north east corner of Saline Valley lies one of nature's rare gems, a hot spring.


Wizard Pool

There are several tubs at this extremely primitive Park campground. Although you must be forewarned, as with any primitive hot spring area, the tubs may contain outdoorsy folk in their most natural form. A great retreat far from the constraints and stresses of modern life. The stars shimmer a little brighter out here....