Half a million sandhill cranes pause on the Platte River in Nebraska to fatten up on corn waste, worms, and other food in nearby fields. The break occurs on their spring flight from Mexico and the southern U.S. to breeding grounds in the far north.
In the Valley of Ten Thousand Smokes a stream carves a canyon through rock formed during the 1912 eruption of nearby Novarupta Volcano. The snowcapped peaks are Mount Griggs and Mount Katmai (far right), part of an active system of ten volcanoes surrounding the valley, a hundred miles south of the proposed Pebble mine.
Going underground, expedition members enter Hang En, a cave tunneled out by the Rao Thuong River. Dwindling to a series of ponds during the dry months, the river can rise almost 300 feet (91 meters) during the flood season, covering the rocks where cavers stand.
Photograph by Carsten Peter
Chikuminuk Lake reflects the raw wilderness of 1.6-million-acre Wood-Tikchik State Park. One of the largest state parks in the U.S., it is home to five species of salmon as well as moose, caribou, and brown bears.
Posting the National Geographic Photo of the Day here. I do not claim any ownership of these photos.
