Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary
Lettuce Lake Mirror
Hiking
Two Rainforest Waterfalls
Hawai’i Tropical Bioreserve & Garden
Hawai’i Tropical Bioreserve & Garden
Heliconia Squatter
Heliconia and Gecko
Nāhuku
Nāhuku (Thurston Lava Tube)
Nāhuku, known as the Thurston Lava Tube, rests inside Hawai’i’s Big Island. The cave formed when molten lava coursed through the tube’s floor, reaching temperatures exceeding 2,000º F. When the flow stopped, the cave remained.
Nāhuku’s roof was once covered in curious solidified drips of lava. Sadly, the majority disappeared as souvenirs.
Nāhuku (Thurston Lava Tube)
Nāhuku (Thurston Lava Tube)
Cherokee Vistas
Cloudland Canyon
Cloudland Canyon Cliff
West Rim Trail Sandstone
West Rim Trail Ice and Sandstone
Turtle or Whale Rock (Which do you see?)
Turtle or Whale Rock (Which do you see?)
West Rim Trail Creek
Cloudland Canyon Waterfall
Cumberland Plateau
Hanging Out Above Tallulah Gorge
On days devoted to whitewater boating, 500-700 cubic feet of water flows through the Tallulah Gorge every second. A cool mist rises to meet hikers from around the world swaying in awe 80 feet above on a suspension bridge.
The eastern tiger swallowtail clings to a red maple limb.
Road to Nowhere
Click here to read about the controversial botched construction of Lakeview Drive in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.
Smoky Dusk
Smoky Mountain Fungi
While hiking the Deep Creek Trail into the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, coral, turkey tail and other curious fungi sprout from the humus below.
Wilson Lick Ranger Station
On the way up to Wayah Bald, a stop at Wilson Lick offers hikers a glimpse into the world of Nantahala National Forest’s first rangers. Construction began in 1916.
“It’s a widely accepted principle . . . that you can claim a piece of land which has been inhabited for tens of thousands of years, if only you will repeat this mantra endlessly: ‘We discovered it, we discovered it, we discovered it.”
– Kurt Vonnegut
Pedagogy of the Plants 