SHOW US WHERE YOU YEARN TO RETURN

Bayliss

During this Stay at Home period, I have been watching Ken Burns' series, "The National Parks: America's Best Idea" on PBS.  If you have never seen it, it is definitely worth watching.  Check your local PBS station to see if it is currently playing in your area.  It brought back great memories of visiting Crater Lake National Park, which we visit every year or so.  The below photo was taken from behind their historic Lodge.  Where do you yearn to return?

ontheroad

Big Bend National Park...we did a drive thru of the Maxwell Scenic Drive...had the T@g and not ready for our first time no hookups... we'll be back and do T@bazona again...so beautiful...

BrianZ

One of our most favorite spots overlooking the Blue Ridge Mountains - Grayson Highlands state park in SW Virginia.  The campground is on the peak rising at left which is the second highest elevation in Virginia.

Looking south into NC; TN would be off to the right.

MuttonChops

@Bayliss ;  Two Thumbs Up.  Great Idea.

Greater Mojave Desert Area for me. I grew up in New Mexico, Mojave area is very different from the high plateau desert in NM.  There is something about the combination of harsh conditions, vast distances, yet a full range of life and terrain keeps me wanting more. 
Will limit visits to the cooler (at times cold) snowbird months of course.

After recent trip learned Mojave National Preserve has largest Joshua Tree Forest on earth . . . only visited one small stand while there . . .

Now when we talk about non-National Park areas there is a growing list of must returns as well with American Prairie Reserve (Montana) at the top of the list.

AirBoss

Forgive me...a few choose from:
First up, I will be returning to this location for an 8-day adventure starting in early July. Twin Lakes, CA., in the northern Sierra Nevada range:

Grand Prismatic in Yellowstone NP:


Apache Slot Canyon outside Page, AZ:


"Carhenge" outside Alliance, NE. (if you go, stop in at Ken & Dales restaurant for the BEST Bloody Mary you'll ever have!):

pthomas745

A place called the Grandview Campground, at 8600 feet In the Inyo Mountains, about 20 miles east of Bishop, Ca. I need to go back and get this photo done correctly!  So wonderfully dark that even a quarter moon was bright enough to read by.

AirBoss

@pthomas745
Nicely done! Just started getting into nightsky photography a couple years ago. What type of gear are you shooting with?

Here's a few from a camping excursion to Anza-Borrego Desert SP, CA last year.: 

pthomas745

Mine are with a Canon 7d MK2 and a Tokina 11-16 f2.8.  I learned everything I know from Lonely Speck and all their nightsky tutorials.  I'm getting better at it after about 7 years, and it is fun to work on, and some of the results are great.  I need some focus stacking skills.  I've managed to pull off Milky Way shots almost everywhere I've camped, some places are better than others.  This shot is Alabama Hills out behind Lone Pine.

Marceline

@AirBoss Twin Lakes looks gorgeous. Any tips? Best campsites etc.
I’ll be on the other side of the ridge at Huntington Lake in July but I’ve been meaning to do an Eastern Sierra trip. 

AirBoss

@Marceline
Usually head up to Annett's Mono Village at the far end of the upper lake. Last I checked it was FCFS in an RV. This trip I'm staying at Twin Lakes Resort, which in the lower lake. Both have boat rentals, store, etc. Will lgive a report when I return.

Also spending one night on way up and two on return leg in Alabama Hills area. 

AirBoss

pthomas745 said:

Mine are with a Canon 7d MK2 and a Tokina 11-16 f2.8.  I learned everything I know from Lonely Speck and all their nightsky tutorials.  I'm getting better at it after about 7 years, and it is fun to work on, and some of the results are great.  I need some focus stacking skills.  I've managed to pull off Milky Way shots almost everywhere I've camped, some places are better than others.  This shot is Alabama Hills out behind Lone Pine.

Big fan of Lonely Speck. Use Stellarium App to assist.
I shoot with two Canon 5D Mk III's. Battery grips, Sigma lenses: 18mm 1.4, 14-24mm 2.8, 150-500mm f5 and Canon 24-105. Have a doubler that I rarely use. For night shots using Manfrotto quick release systems with L-brackets, and the Vello Plus wireless remote shutter releases. Like to experiment with shooting both camera simultaneously and also painting the foreground once in a while. Focusing at 1130 at night can be a challenge! Found if you pick a star in the viewfinder (especially in Live Mode) and focus until the white dot is as small as you can get it, that works well. Sometimes I'll tape the focus ring down so it doesn't move. 

Get out there a kill some pixels!  

dragonsdofly

Most photos have been of spectacular scenery and extraordinary locations, but what I had wanted to do this year was attend üCamp. Almost seems silly, but it was what I looked forward to the most. Seeing friends and acquaintances and meeting more soon to be friends. Here's hoping there is another üCamp in my future!

pthomas745

@dragonsdofly No, certainly not silly.

AirBoss

@dragonsdofly
No doubt many on here share that same feeling. Silly? Absolutely not!