Hollis

LATEST ARTICLES ( 468 )

• Plants and Rocks by the Square Mile

  

  In Wyoming, we’re blessed with public lands. The Federal government holds in trust for us 3.5 million acres – 55,000 square miles – 48% of the state. This is a... Read more

  Posted on 17 April 2015 OUTDOORS

• Profligate Man-willow

  

  A single willow tree – a male – grows in a dry canyon in the rocky hills just east of Laramie. This is hardly willow country. But years ago a seed landed on a... Read more

  Posted on 07 April 2015 OUTDOORS

• Erosion in a Land of Sky and Grass

  

  Last week I was faced with a trip to Fort Collins. Laramie isn’t quite big enough to satisfy every material desire, so occasionally I brave the urban sprawl... Read more

  Posted on 03 April 2015 OUTDOORS

• Portraits of Plants and Rocks

  

  This is a story of light, specifically light inside a box, specifically light inside a light box, which I made. The project began a little over two weeks ago... Read more

  Posted on 27 March 2015 OUTDOORS

• The Crystal Unicorn

  

  Wyoming has been good to me. For 25 years I made a living traveling to its far corners and obscure non-destinations in search of plants. It rewarded me with... Read more

  Posted on 20 March 2015 OUTDOORS

• Willow Cones

  

  It was time to do something about all the cones on the willows along the river. They’re so common; some trees are covered in them! People notice, and I’ve been... Read more

  Posted on 15 March 2015 OUTDOORS

• Things You Find in the Field: a Sleeping Log

  

  What I found first. I was driving a narrow winding country road looking for small Precambrian outcrops poking through Tertiary fill. I found one and luckily... Read more

  Posted on 12 March 2015 OUTDOORS

• Winter Tree Following: Cottonwood, Juniper, Willow

  

  Cottonwood twigs collected in January are leafing out – indoors. In the wild, leaves won't appear until late May.It’s time to part with my cottonwood and... Read more

  Posted on 07 March 2015 OUTDOORS

• Geo-challenge: What’s Behind This Curious Beauty?

  

  I found these beautiful and mysterious sculptures in Goblin Valley State Park in southeast Utah, on the opposite side of the main ridge from the goblins.View... Read more

  Posted on 04 March 2015 OUTDOORS

• Plants in the Abstract

  

  Aspen.There’s a photographic world somewhere between realism and pure abstraction where I love to be. Traditional subjects are secondary, upstaged by things... Read more

  Posted on 28 February 2015 OUTDOORS

• Laramie Street Plants (in February???)

  

  These don’t count.On a cold dreary Sunday with snow and rain falling, I walked the sidewalks and alleys of downtown Laramie looking for street plants – feral... Read more

  Posted on 21 February 2015 OUTDOORS

• Geology in the Abstract

  

  How a camera helps us see.Often when I look at the geological world through the viewfinder of my camera, I see things I don’t see with my eyes alone – light... Read more

  Posted on 15 February 2015 OUTDOORS

• Of Anchor Ice & Cottonwood Flowers

  

  It was the first of February, 8:30 AM, and 17º F after a cloudy night with light snow. When I reached the river, I saw two men with poles standing in the water... Read more

  Posted on 08 February 2015 OUTDOORS

• Geologists Make Some Sense of “Uinta Sandstone” Chapter, Still a Tough Read

  

  This post is a sequel to The sandstone that fooled the great geologists (but the younger generation needs to understand)."Haydens Cathedral, Uinta Mountains. Read more

  Posted on 04 February 2015 OUTDOORS

• The Sandstone That Fooled the Great Geologists (but the Younger Generation...

  

  Flaming Gorge Reservoir from the canyon rim.The Uinta Mountains of northeast Utah and adjacent Wyoming are “a grand sandstone structure” – red sandstone peaks... Read more

  Posted on 16 January 2015 OUTDOORS

• Am I Following a Cottonwood of the Bitter Kind?

  

  The Laramie River is lined with the wrong kind of cottonwood, including mine (left).... we arrived on the 10th March at a small branch of the North fork of the... Read more

  Posted on 07 January 2015 OUTDOORS

• Best Wishes from Plants and Rocks

  

  Lanceleaf cottonwood, Laramie River.Another year of blogging is almost over. I’d like to thank all my colleagues in the blogosphere ... those who read and... Read more

  Posted on 25 December 2014 OUTDOORS

• Street Plants in Laramie in December?!

  

  From asphalt and snow, some grass will grow.When Lucy suggested we post about street plants four times a year, I was not optimistic for December. We live at 700... Read more

  Posted on 22 December 2014 OUTDOORS

• Recommended Reading: “Photographing Trees”

  

  the air frost and heavy mist offered the potential for creating a great winter scene ... I left lots of room around the tree to make the photograph more... Read more

  Posted on 19 December 2014 OUTDOORS

• Lost Water Found

  

  Precious water flows from vertically-tilted limestone at Big Spring.Much of the American West is dry country, where farmers and ranchers lust after and fight... Read more

  Posted on 13 December 2014 OUTDOORS