Ten years ago, this humble Korean beaver stepped outside to take a photo on a fishhook cactus in Arizona, never dreaming that this prickly and precarious balancing stunt in 2011 would one day lead to one heck of an adventure! Before I look back on the best photos of 2021, let’s take a peek even further back in time, starting with the year of the Metal Rabbit!
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2021
1. Backyard Adventure at Vásquez Rocks!
I started off 2021 kind of depressed, because it looked like COVID was going to put a wrench in all of my big 10-Year Anniversary plans. But, on January 14th, which counted 10,606 new cases in LA County alone, I decided to get outdoors and find adventure where I could! That took me north to Vásquez Rocks Natural Area, a nationally registered rock formation you’re sure to have recognized from the movies! As I hiked around, I explored its importance as a film setting, a hiding place for notorious outlaw, Tiburcio Vásquez, and a home for the Tataviam people and their ancestors!
2. The COVID-19 Vaccine Reopens Travel Options!
As vaccines against the coronavirus became more widespread, I had a little more hope of grander destinations! That being said, I wasn’t planning to go to Disneyland just yet. The closest I would get in terms of lofty goals was to see all the national parks of Virginia! Along the way, I ran into my old pals, the Penguins, who were up to their usual mischief in search of Shackleton. After they got arrested digging for gold at Jamestown, I followed them to Colonial Williamsburg, where I discovered the visitor center had been converted into a vaccination clinic! If it’s any indication of the urgency of early 2021, it’s that a tourist site had become a medical center!
3. Learning to Unplug in West Virginia!
When a big chunk of your identity is your blog, it’s hard to unplug from technology! But did you know there’s a place in West Virginia where you really have to? On my April adventure, I heard about the National Radio Quiet Zone and the Green Bank Telescope it protects, and I had to check it out! That telescope you see behind me is the largest, fully steerable radio telescope in the world! It is so sensitive that a huge swath of countryside has to be kept clear of radio signals, phone reception, even microwaves! This was as close as I could get with my camera, because even the shutter click could disrupt their observations if made too close!
4. Slowing Down at Depoe Bay!
I don’t know if I’m getting older or if the pandemic has rattled me a lot, but I was happy to spend a slow-paced week in Depoe Bay, Oregon, home to the world’s smallest navigable harbor and the capital of Beaver State whale watching! It was a week of wandering around town, watching the seabirds on the rocks, and sampling all kinds of fresh seafood, a real recharger that was nonetheless chock-full of history, beauty, and wonder! I may be looking for more opportunities to explore places like this in the future!
5. Show Me a Good Time on My Birthday!
One of my goals in 2021 was to visit sites that were not likely to get heaps of tourists, so as summer warmed up and my birthday arrived, I headed to the Show-Me state of Missouri to explore both the famous (Gateway Arch) and the more obscure (Terminus of the Butterfield Overland Stage Route)! I like this photo from downtown St. Louis, showing the arch that commemorates advancement, the courthouse where the egregious Dred Scott case impeded advancement, and the runner, who is advancing away on his own darn course toward a new horizon!
6. Nuts about George!
On this same trip to Missouri, I visited the boyhood home of George Washington Carver, now a national monument! Not to be confused with Booker T. Washington, whose home I visited in April, Mr. Carver is widely known for his work with plants, particularly peanuts! What really stood out to me from visiting this site was how he fundamentally saved Southern agriculture! See, growing one crop again and again and again (i.e. cotton) depletes the soil of its nutrition, but legumes like peanuts, soybeans, and sweet potatoes, restore essential nitrogen to the soil! Visiting the home of this remarkable horticulturist, musician, and teacher is going to shape how I plan my own garden for years to come!
7. Back to Nature in the Wind Rivers!
In July, my brother, Flatty, invited me on the type of adventure I haven’t taken in a long, long, long time: a 4-day backpacking trip! Heading east from his home in Salt Lake City, we made camp near Big Sandy Lake in the Wind Rivers of Wyoming and explored the majestic Cirque of the Towers and remote, high mountain lakes! Snacking mostly on natural beaver food (a real break from human stuff), it was great bonding time in a beautiful place, no matter how many mosquitoes we had to swat!
8. Groundhog Day in July!
This may be the most legendary doorway I’ve ever been tempted to knock! It belongs to Punxsutawney Phil, the prognosticator of prognosticators and world famous rodent matched only by Mickey Mouse! I traveled to Punxsutawney on a major detour to help my friends move, and not only did I meet the one, the only, Phil himself, but I also learned a lot about this unique crossroads of cultures! “Punxsutawney” comes from a Lenape word for a place of biting flies, while Phil, the groundhog, is an Americanized German tradition that used to involve hedgehogs and candles! From visiting Phil’s home, I was reminded that a groundhog can only predict spring on a gloomy, cloudy day, which was good to keep in mind in a year like 2021!
9. A Glimpse at an Ever-Changing Landscape!!
Speaking of clearing, gloomy clouds, I love this photo taken through Hole-in-the-Wall on Washington’s Rialto Beach! When I arrived, the beach was soaked in fog with nothing to be seen, but as I walked north, the fog cleared, revealing amazing seastacks! This was part of my trip to Olympic National Park, where I learned more about the effects of climate change on the local environment, from this summer’s coast-cooking heatwave to mysterious illnesses that are killing off the sword ferns. This was a reminder that all we get are glimpses of a world in flux, so we should soak them in while we can!
10. Stormy Swiftcurrent Lake!
Lastly, I wrapped up the year early. Swiftcurrent sums it up. I couldn’t make a decision from August all the way to September, so my final adventure in 2021 was to Glacier National Park. It was a stormy couple of days, but the clouds over Swiftcurrent Lake gave photos a lot of drama, despite getting overwhelmed by the loss of the glaciers that gave the park its name.
Even though my year of adventures was very condensed, from April to August, I saw and did a whole lot! I explored 28 national park sites and researched a new historical landmark to nominate! While doing so, I found out that California has added more landmarks to their list! So look out, 2022! Whatever uncertainty clung to last year, it’s time to shake that loose!
Happy New Year!
