Pictured Rocks

Pictured Rocks   Of the different types of units within the National Park Service, National Lakeshores are some of the rarest. Just three instances of recognized lakeshore exist. You will not be surprised to learn they all occur within the Great Lakes, though just two of those five majestic bodies of water feature a National […]

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Mont Blanc

Mont Blanc   Today we travel to the border of France and Italy, to the crown of the Alps. The highest point in that famed mountain range and all of Western Europe is Mont Blanc. Meaning “white mountain” in French, the crag’s Italian name is Monte Bianco. Rising 15,774 feet above sea level, both countries

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The Color Change

The Color Change   Autumn Is A Second Spring When Every Leaf Is A Flower. –Albert Camus Why don’t you make like a tree and get out of here? — Biff Tannen   One of the greatest boons to living somewhere with distinct seasons is the fireworks show the trees give us every autumn. The

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Prometheus and Methuselah

Prometheus and Methuselah   The mountains of California, Nevada, and Utah contain magical creatures. These ancient beings live thousands of feet above sea level in unforgiving terrain. Sometimes, you might encounter one, a gnarled hermit, and suspect she is dead. Yet these presences are masters of survival; they have outlasted countless human civilizations; they have

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Hyperion

Hyperion Today’s title subject could refer to a variety of things. Hyperion was one of the 12 Greek Titans and a byname for the Sun, Helios. It’s the name of one of Saturn’s moons. We could discuss the genus of beetle named Hyperion or the supercluster of galaxies of the same moniker or Longfellow’s poem.

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