Stevens Family Calendar: March

This is part of a series about the Stevens Family Calendar (if you know, you know).

Spectacular scenery

March is about the trip Caty and I took to California and Oregon to visit Lassen Volcanic National Park, Redwood National and State Parks and Crater Lake National Park. While there, we added in Oregon Caves and Lava Beds National Monuments plus the fabulous Burney Falls in California and Umpqua National Forest in Oregon. I also included a shot of Great Basin National Park in Nevada, where we went to see the annular solar eclipse.

I included this shot in the opening section

The March page was one that suffered the most from the dark printing, so here I hope you can see how bright and lovely the places we visited were.

Let's break this one down by locale, starting with Lassen Volcanic ...

The calendar page showcased the Park's dramatic rock formations
and the main page featured vibrant wildflowers

I had two more nice scenery shots I dropped, left, and one that was use on the cover

... and some pretty wildflowers and gnarled trees that didn't fit

As I mentioned, we added a stop at Oregon Caves National Monument in southern Oregon. 

Looking up

Because they are dark, caves are tricky to photograph. This one was also tight without any expansive rooms, increasing the challenges. Although beautiful, Oregon Caves was not as stunning as, say, Carlsbad Caverns or Mammoth Cave. I had only one photo I considered (and used) for the calendar. And, I mainly picked it to add variety.

Another unplanned stop was Burney Falls in northern California: one of the most spectacular water falls I have ever seen because not only does it have water plunging over a cliff, but it has hundreds of springs pouring out of the cliff walls.

Burney Falls; Photo: Caty Stevens

It was tricky to photograph because it is in almost perpetual shade, but I had to include it because it is so amazing.

Crater Lake was a major objective because Caty had been trying for years to see it not shrouded in smoke from wildfires. If we could get that, we knew we'd have some calendar shots. And, we were somewhat successful. We had one clear day. And, we go lots of nice photos.

I mean, look at that! This is the main one we picked. Photo: Caty Stevens

Wizard Island shots we didn't use

We had several options for the Phantom Ship; I chose the left one

There are so many gorgeous sights, we just didn't have room!

We hoped for good night sky, but the Moon was too bright

In nearby Umpqua National Forest, we saw lots of waterfalls; Caty's photo of Watson Falls, right, made the cut, the photos of Clearwater Falls, left, didn't

A leaf that was on the front cover

I am grateful that we get to visit and photograph so many beautiful places every year, but it makes me kind of sad that the pictures have to compete with each other for calendar placement. 

Redwood National and State Parks in northern California really underscore this. 

You could do an entire calendar with just photos from that one place.

How do you pick your favorite tall tree photo; I went with the far left, but any could do

The shot of the left was on the cover and the two on the right in the opening section

And, then there were more; we used the one on the far right;
Middle and right photos: Caty Stevens

Fern Canyon options; we picked the right

So many details; we featured the tree growing from a downed tree on the left

Redwood is on the coast, so a coastal shot was warranted

The coast and forest are home to many critters, but we didn't have room to showcase them

The last place featured on the March page was from a different trip. Caty and I visited Great Basin National Park in Nevada to view the annular eclipse. It's a gorgeous place, but we didn't get many photos.

I couldn't pass this one up

I did pass this one, but I love it

I picked up these two at Ward Charcoal Ovens State Park in Ely, Nevada;
the one on the left is on the back cover and the one on the right is in the opening section

So, that's March. Next month, we'll leave North America for some color and drama.

Heading to Ecuador