Capturing the Moment

  Day 1 in the Masai Mara, and we've already seen something that belongs on a BBC wildlife show. Two brother lions were resting, but we noticed a herd of elephants closing in on the lions' position. The suspense built as we watched. Finally the lions had played chicken long enough, and they got up and walked quickly away, keeping a close eye on the elephants as they did. Then one younger elephant took off from the herd and charged the lions, trumpeting and flapping his ears. The lions moved farther away, before lying back down again. As we caught our breath, David our guide, reminded us that this was just another day in the Masai Mara here in Kenya! There are travel moments that stay etched in memory forever, and our first day in the Masai Mara is one of them. We are staying at Kichwa Tembo Luxury Tented Camp, where the canvas walls open up to sweeping views of the East African savanna. It felt both indulgent and raw, like being wrapped in comfort while standing at the edge of ...

  I really appreciate hiking with a small drone that can capture these stunning aerial scenes that give me a totally different perspective on where I am hiking. This is the summit of Camel's Hump. It was a stunningly beautiful late summer's day in Vermont, so I grabbed my hiking boots and my drone and drove towards a mountain that I've been wanting to summit for a long time. The summit is 4,083ft high, making it the third tallest mountain in Vermont. I have driven past this mountain many times on the way to Burlington and Lake Champlain, and have always wanted to hike it and see what it was like. Today was the day! There are several trails leading up to the summit from different sides of the mountain. The closest trailhead to me was the Monroe Trail, so I decided to start there. It was a 7.2 mile, there and back trail, with nearly 3,000ft of vertical gain. I packed pretty light, just a long sleeve fleece for the summit, a couple of granola bars, and my drone. The trail itse...

  The foggy mornings are sometimes the best. The corn is tall and the barns are plentiful here in Northern Vermont. It was a foggy morning here in Stowe, Vermont in the northern part of the state. We are not too far from the Canadian border, and the chill that we felt in the air this morning reminded me of that. As I drove the kids to school I noticed a fog clinging to the hillsides and enveloping the town. I have always appreciated a good fog in my landscape photos. It add a certain mystique. So I grabbed my camera and went for a little tour of the town. Stowe is beautiful in just about every condition, but I especially like it like this. Out here in the countryside of Vermont, we have corn fields for days. Red barns dot the fields, and homes are lost into the foggy mountainsides. The famed Green Mountains run right through town, which gives us ample opportunity to hike and ski in season. Mountain biking is the usual go to during the summer and fall months. So I grabbed my bike an...

  This is the ridgeline that connects Vermont's tallest peaks. A trail, called the Long Trail, goes the entire length of the state. I love how the mountains continue to layer into the distant background. This is why Vermont is such a haven for hiking. It was another beautiful day in Stowe, Vermont, and with the kids in school I wanted to head into the mountains and go for a photo hike. The top of Vermont was my goal today. Mt. Mansfield is the tallest mountain in Vermont, and there are several trails that you can climb to the top. I didn't have too much time today, so I took a bit of a shortcut. I rode the Stowe gondola up to the cliff house, then took the 0.4 mile Cliff Trail up to the summit. The ride up the Gondola was breathtaking. I could see deep into Smugglers Notch, and the wildflowers were going off below me. The sky was about as clear as it can get, so the view just got better and better as I got higher. I didn't run into anyone else once I got on the Cliff Trail....