Sam Cossman and George Kourounis guided by volcanic pioneers Geoff Mackely and Brad Ambrose become among the first explorers to step foot inside one of the worlds most dangerous and inaccessible volcanoes, Marum Crater. More people have visited the moon than the fiery bottom of this spectacular and deadly place. Ambrym is a volcanic…
The Wilderness Act of 1964 marked a historic moment for the American environmental movement: for the first time, land was set-aside for the specific purpose of protecting it from the reach of mankind. The landmark act created the National Wilderness Preservation System, a nationwide system of federally protected lands known as wilderness areas. Today…
Photograph by Raffaele Camardella Arpino is a comune (municipality) in the province of Frosinone in the region of Lazio in central Italy. Its Roman name was Arpinum and the ancient city dates back to at least the 7th century BC. [source] As of 2007, Arpino had a population of 7,684 over an area of…
Located in Nelson Lakes National Park, Blue Lake—also known as Rotomairewhenua—holds the title of the world’s clearest lake. Scientific tests carried out in 2011 by New Zealand’s National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research (NIWA) showed Blue Lake to be the clearest natural body of fresh water known to man. According to the NIWA…
“I’ve never crawled out through a tent door and not had an incredible day.” Those were the words of Cort Muller who took the first photo seen below. Sure it can rain, the ground can be hard and the temperature can drop, but when you wake up to views like these, it makes…
Photograph by DaeWook Kim In this beautiful capture by DaeWook Kim, we see fields of Royal Azaleas on Mt. Hwangmaesan in South Korea during the Hapcheon Hwangmaesan Royal Azalea Festival which runs from May 3 – 16 each year. According to South Korea’s official tourism site: The 1,108-meter-high Mt. Hwangmaesan encompasses the three peaks…
DARK AND STORMY Photograph by Peter Essick/National Geographic In this incredible black and white photograph by Peter Essick, we see mighty thunderclouds towering over Banner Peak (12,942 ft/3,945 m) on the right and Mount Ritter (13,149 ft/4,008 m) on the left. Both are situated in the Ansel Adams Wilderness area in the…
This hedgehog has been to more places than I have! Meet Biddy, a 3.5 year-old African pygmy hedgehog who lives in the state of Oregon with his owners Toni DeWeese and Tom Unterseher. Reminiscent of the travelling garden gnome, the couple, who enjoy hiking and exploring the great outdoors, take Biddy with them on…
RAINBOW STORM CLOUD Photograph by CHRIS LIEDLE Twitter | Instagram KVAL-TV Reporter/Fill-In Anchor Chris Liedle took this amazing photo of a storm cloud and rainbow last week in Eugene, Oregon. Chris said he took the shot whilst hiking Spencer Butte, a prominent landmark in Lane County, Oregon, on the southern edge of…
Photograph by JACOPO MARTOCCHI 500px | Facebook In this beautiful night-time capture by Jacopo Martocchi, we see fog illuminated by the city lights of Chiavenna, Italy. The artificial light gives the fog a ‘lava-like’ quality. Chiavenna is a city (municipality) in the Province of Sondrio in the Italian region of Lombardy. It is located…