February 2010 I was one of the few fortunate photographers to witness and photograph a very healthy young bobcat … quite close. I’ve blogged about this amazing experience earlier this year but have just processed a few more images from this time … so it’s time to share! As you might imagine, seeing a bobcat, [...]
Rocky Mountain National Park
Rocky Mountain National Park was one of my last adventures in photography before three solid days of “heading back” home. I got to the West Side of the Park late in the afternoon and decided to go for a short hike before heading over to Estes Park on the east side, where I was staying. [...]
Great Sand Dunes National Park
Sept 6 – Great Sands National Park Evening Photo shoot The light was extremely dramatic on the drive over to this wonderful park. A rainbow blessed my drive into the park and for just a few moments even treated me to a double rainbow! I arrived just in time for the dramatic light on the [...]
hiking the Continental Divide trail
Sept 6 Hiking a part of the Continental Divide Trail I got out of Durango and finally into really beautiful mountain regions of Colorado. Though several times I have driven by areas that crossed the Continental Divide I had not seen the trail that extends from the North Region of Montana in Glacier National Park [...]
Monument Valley Sept 4
Later that day I made my way down to Monument Valley and stayed in a little town called Bluff. Storms were moving in which gave much drama to the monuments landscape.
Sept 4 Canyonlands
While Arches was a neat park I find a bit more solitude to be preferable when I am composing pictures. Getting off the beaten path heightens the atmosphere for creativity and bond with the land.All the hiking I am doing makes me a part of rather than separate from my subjects.This morning I met the [...]
Arches National Park Sept 2
I got here early afternoon and went first to Delicate Arch. I loved the 1.5 mile climb up the slick rock. It's exhilarating and a great workout!For me, Arches is full of too many people.. but I love the slick rock climbs!
Sept 1 – Bryce Canyon
Sept 1 – Bryce Canyon I most often enjoy getting into the land in order to really experience the art of making images. My 8 mile hike took me into this eye candy world where I felt sheer bliss. The colors, shapes and formations were amazing in every direction, changing 360 degrees with every step [...]
August 31
August 31 – Sunday I dropped Kimberli off at the Salt Lake City Airport early in the morning. We stayed with my High School Track and CC coaches in SLC the night before. I returned back and enjoyed the morning hiking with SarAndyand catching up. It was great to see Sarah and Bill. They were [...]
August 29, Saturday Tetons
August 29, Saturday Tetons Today was an exciting one. Along our 14 – 15 mile hike between Teton Mountains we were surrounded by beauty and encountered several bull moose! Kimberli spotted the first one by his huge rack as he laid in the grasses sleeping. He was acting similar to the mountain goat I photographed [...]
August 26 Yellowstone
August 26 Yellowstone We entered Yellowstone through the North and began in Mammoth Hot Springs. The photos I made look as if there is snow behind the trees but in fact it hotter than you would care to know! We were hoping to see wolves but never heard or saw a single one. We camped [...]
Grizzly bear on Swiftcurrent Trail Glacier National Park
When I posted my blog on August 23 I had not yet gotten to my images. Here is the grizzly bear we saw along the way, blissfully eating grass and huckleberries!
August 24, Monday
After camping last night at St Mary's where we thought the wind was going to blow our tent away, we woke up and got on the road to hike at Many Glacier. We took the Swiftcurrent Trail, which was very much bear country. We were not disappointed when some hikers coming towards us told us [...]
August 23 Sunday
After a blissful night of sleep under a big cedar tree we drove along "Going to the Sun" Road to get to the trail head at Hidden Lake. The view was spectacular as it winded and zigged along the mountain side. Our first gift of the day was a mountain goat mama with her baby [...]
Glacier National Park Aug 22
Friday, August 21 – Tuesday August 25 We are just now back into cell phone range after spending Friday – this morning (Tuesday) in Glacier National Park. One could easily spend a decade here and never really see the whole place. The trail system here really allows a person to be in touch with nature, [...]
Glacier National Park
Check out this video on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LxG3NwblcRk Kristen WestlakeNature and Wildlife Photography on CanvasWEBSITE: http://www.Kristenwestlake.comPHONE: (262) 374-0869EMAIL: kristenwestlake2@gmail.com
Day 3 – Badlands
Badlands We drove about 10 hours out of Minneapolis and across Minnesota which became really flat, really fast! And we drove and we sang at the top of our lungs, laughed a lot, chatted up a storm as well! We stopped long enough to take a few snap shots, as posted, along the long drive. [...]
The Fruit of the Journey Day 2
The Journey Begins It seemed like I was never going to get out of my house and on the road yesterday. All these things that need to be done before heading out on a 3 – 4 day adventure. I just learned that people in Austrailia call these kind of adventures “walk abouts”. The term [...]
Extremes in temperature differences
I’m checking out the temperatures along my upcoming travels and noted the extreme differences between Jackson Hole and places in AZ!
Journey West : Beginning August 18 – ?
This is my tentative travel plan. I am beginning my journey with another nature photographer friend from Michigan called Kimberly. She will travel with me until Salt Lake City. I was going to have another friend meet up with me there for a few days of travel but I could not give him a time [...]








