Sequoia NP

Approximately a six hours drive from Las Vegas towards west brought us to the Sequoia National Park. This park is famous for it's name giving Giant Sequoia Trees. They grow to an average height of 50 - 85 m (164 - 279 ft). We were for sure impressed by these huge trees. Also we were happy to see some animals as well. We even saw a Black Bear, but because of the light condition in the forest  during the mid of a sunny day and the long distance, we only got low quality proof shots. It was a very nice experience to observe a bear in the wild anyway.

Sequoiadendron giganteum - Giant Sequoia Trees

Ursus americanus - American Black Bear

Happy Couple with travel mascot "Cosima"

While hiking some trails a bit more off track, we found a cute and nicely colored Wandering Garter Snake (Thamnophis elegans vagrans) baby, some fascinating invertebrates and a Striped Whipsnake (Masticophis taeniatus).

Thamnophis elegans vagrans - Wandering Garter Snake

Wandering Garter Snake - portrait

Danaus plexippus - Monarch, caterpillar

Aphonopelma sp. - Tarantula

Praying Mantis - I don't know the specific ID

Masticophis taeniatus - Striped Whipsnake

Twin Falls

We left San Francisco very early in the morning. After 11 hours of driving, we arrived in Twin Falls, Idaho. My girlfriend and I took turns driving, but we were still exhausted when we finally made it to our new destination. Twin Falls is a nice town surrounded by beautiful nature and many waterfalls, including the huge Shoshone Falls on the Snake River. I like the river's name by the way... very promising. 

Shoshone Falls is 65 m (212 feet) high

...higher than Niagara Falls

On the trails around the Shoshone Falls viewpoint we observed some lizards. When I was photographing these little reptiles, I think the people around were confused seeing me crawling between the rocks.

Sceloporus occidentalis longipes - Great Basin Fence Lizard 

We also liked the Perrine Coulee Falls, which you can view from the West Canyon Rim Trail.

Perrine Coulee Falls

We kept looking for reptiles in the rocky area around Snake River. After a little hiking we were succesfull.

Habitat around Snake River

Sceloporus g. graciosus - Northern Sagebrush Lizard

Sceloporus occidentalis longipes - Great Basin Fence Lizard

The highlight was the find of our first snake: a juvenile Striped Whipsnake (Masticophis taeniatus).

Masticophis taeniatus - Striped Whipsnake

Portrait of the same snake