MISSISSIPPI RIVER STORIES 2023 #7 - UNHEALTHY EFFECTS

Smoke over the Mississippi River, Lock & Dam #11, Dubuque, Iowa

It’s not really a ”Mississippi River Story” only, large areas in the country are under the effect of numerous wildfires burning in Canada. It’s not unusual to have some haze in the Mississippi Valley, due to high humidity, during the summer, but since a few days we experience haze on a much different level. We can even smell the smoke at times and with an air quality index of over 200 it’s not a good time to be outside for everybody.

When I made this photo downstream from lock and dam #11 in Dubuque, Iowa today a turkey vulture just landed on the reeling in the foreground. I hope it is not a bad omen that there is more to come… Right now a storm further south moves some of the unhealthy fine dust to the east, but I feel sorry for everybody who will be effected in other parts of the country.

OUT WEST #29

Little Rock Creek, Wind River Range, Wyoming

Our last destination in the mountains of western Wyoming was the Wind River Range, an approximately 100 miles long part of the Rocky Mountains. We pitched the tent for three nights in Sink Canyon State Park, west of Lander, WY. These mountains are not so well known by the public as for example the Tetons or Yellowstone, but there is no lack of interesting geology and beautiful nature. We went on hikes and traveled off the beaten path by car, but time was too short to explore more than a small area of the range.

Wildfire smoke, Louis Lake Road, Wind River Range, Wyoming

One reason why I didn’t shoot a lot of wide landscape views was the fact that the impact of wildfires created a certain haziness, even if the fires were far away. The photo gives you an idea…

Mule Deer, Red Canyon, Wyoming

Finding wildlife is not very difficult in the Wind River Range, there was always a Pronghorn or Mule Deer somewhere, but when we saw this doe with her two fawns on a rock ledge in the Red Canyon near Lander, WY we had to stop and make the click. Mountains Lions are not uncommon and are a great danger for the young Mule Deer and this spot was obviously a good place to have control over the terrain for the mother.

Least Chipmunk, Popo Agie Falls, Wyoming

The Least Chipmunk is smaller than the Eastern Chipmunk that lives in our woods here in eastern Iowa. In areas that are more frequented by people, like along the hiking trail that leads to the Popo Agie Falls, the chipmunks have not much fear and can be easily photographed within the range of a 200 mm lens.

ROMANCING THE LANDSCAPE

I’m not a big hunter for sunset photos but sometimes I come across of one that sets it apart and romances the landscape in a special way. In August we had a few days when the smoke of wildfires in the western US made the sun more hazy and gave the sunsets a different mood. The photo shows how the last light of the day touches the hills and ridges here in the eastern part of Iowa along the Mississippi River. The white farm buildings and plastic covers of hey bales reflect the light and even some fog seems to creep into the valleys. To get the color the way it is I underexposed by 2 stops and set the white balance to cloudy. No reason to fiddle in Lightroom or Photoshop, just simple settings in the camera.