Seneca Creek Photography by Allison Pluda

Photos, thoughts, and adventures from a Geologist, Photographer, Climber, Skier, Tenkara Fly Fisher, Backpacker, and enthusiast for Nature, Life, and the Truth Within

Permalink Afternoon Nap in front of the Snowy Range, Medicine Bow National Forest, Wyoming, Black and White Self PortraitThe woman who follows the crowd will usually go no further than the crowd. The woman who walks alone is likely to find herself in places no one has ever been before” - Albert Einstein
Permalink Wyoming Skies Along the Road“If we long to believe that the stars rise and set for us, that we are the reason there is a Universe, does science do us a disservice in deflating our conceits?” -Carl Sagan The Wyoming skies were even more beautiful last night without a moon.
Permalink Holding a Fresh Caught Wyoming Trout, Black and WhiteHere’s a photo of a nice trout caught the other day. Hard to be stressed after a day of fishing (without seeing another human all day!) the wild rivers of Wyoming
Permalink Venus and the Forest at Twilight on a Full Moon, Happy Jack, Medicine Bow National Forest, Wyoming“For my part I know nothing with any certainty, but the sight of the stars makes me dream.” -Vincent Van Gogh
Permalink Perigee Moon“Three things cannot be long hidden: the sun, the moon, and the truth.” - The Buddha Siddharta
Permalink Perigee Moonrise, Happy Jack, Medicine Bow National Forest, WyomingI went out last night to see the perigee moon (Supermoon) but unfortunately it was cloudy. By the time the moon peeked above the clouds it was already far above the horizon and looked much smaller. Nonetheless it was nice to take the Jeep and my dog miles into the hills on rocky dirt roads to watch the moonlight take over the night.
Permalink Mist at the Base of Lower Falls, Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming“The finest workers in stone are not copper or steel tools, but the gentle touches of air and water working at their leisure with a liberal allowance of time.” - Henry David Thoreau
Permalink Sunset from Fontenelle Reservoir, La Barge, Wyoming“Every sunset brings the promise of a new dawn.” -Ralph Waldo Emerson I forgot just how beautiful Wyoming can be! This is a image from a sunset I had long forgotten about until stumbling back upon it today. Myself, a friend, and our dogs were camped out by Fontenelle Reservoir in South West Wyoming on the open plain while doing some field research in the area. This was the home we came back to after a long days work of taking measurements in remote places, 30 miles in on winding dirt roads. This particular sunset was especially beautiful and was a nice way to relax before sitting around the fire and waking up early the next morning to get to our outdoor “office” early to take some more samples. There is a certain beauty that the openness and barrenness of the rolling sage brush hills of south west Wyoming has that is, in my opinion, a unique landscape that sure has grown on me.
Permalink Sunset on the Big Horn River in Hot Springs State Park, Thermopolis, WyomingAs I’m in the last stages of writing my masters thesis on two years of work on the geology and chemistry of the Thermopolis hot springs in central Wyoming, I decided to re-visit some of my field work photos. Sitting here typing in front of the computer made me forget that I am actually studying a very beautiful and unique area and should be thankful to be able to say that this is the ‘lab’ in which I collect my samples :) Oh yeah, and if sampling went well enough, I would get to fish the Big Horn River while the experiment finished. Not too shabby!
Permalink Forest at 11,000 Feet“Wind Blown Ice on Alpine Trees, Snowy Range Mountains, Wyoming” This is what a forest looks like at 11,000 feet in June on the Medicine Bow Peak Trail on the way to the peak of the Snowy Range Mountains in Wyoming. The wind is always whipping down the slopes from the west and causes these (what I call) ‘ice bullets’ in one direction. Its amazing that these hardy trees survive this battering every winter (or should I say spring).