Greg Johnston

@gpjohnston

Retired newspaper reporter and author who loves being outside, hiking, birding, fishing, photography.

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Greg Johnston@gpjohnston· 20d

I’ll offer this moody winter shot of the Giants Graveyard on the Washington Coast, Olympic National Park. #Parkchat #Hiking

A dark gray photo that looks black and white of a row of stone sea stacks under cloudy skies on the ocean.

Greg Johnston@gpjohnston· Jul 13

Fuck everything #Hiking #AltText

Bullfrog laying flat on the surface behind a lily pad, huge eyes and Jabba face, lookin as tho he don't care what you are or was or will be.

Greg Johnston@gpjohnston· Jul 8

The bumbles were really going after the pretty hardhack blossoms at one spot on the morning ramble, cool to witness the relationship between native species. I think this is a common Bombus, a yellow-faced bumble bee. #Hiking #Bloomscrolling #Bees #PNW

A pretty pink cone of a hardhack blossoms, the flower of a bush called Douglas spirea, a pod that looks like hundreds of tiny flowers, with a fuzzy black and yellow bumblebee hovering near it. You can see the bee’s blurred wings and aentenna and the shot is close enough that it shows its furry-fuzzy body.

Greg Johnston@gpjohnston· Jul 8

Don’t fear the creeper! Got a good look at one of my fav LBBs on the morning hike, a brown creeper. #Birding #Hiking #PNW

Closeup photo of a little brown bird clinging to a tree trunk, looking left with a thin curved pointed beak and long tail feathers that support it on the tree. The light is soft which brings out details in its pretty tan, brown and buff feathers sort of cascading down its back.

Greg Johnston@gpjohnston· Jun 27

I saw a cat today too!

A beaver swimming toward the camera, providing a close up of its face.

Greg Johnston@gpjohnston· Jun 22

Glacier Peak, Washington’s most remote major mountain (10,520 feet), a shot taken in autumn from Beckler Peak to the south. #MountainMonday #Hiking

Alt text

A tall classically pointed mountain full of rocky ridges on its flanks, with glaciers and snowfields in the folds. In the foreground is a series of lower, forested ridges between the mountain and the photographer, hazy blue sky above.

Greg Johnston@gpjohnston· Jun 18

A4) Lake Chelan in WA state is as close to that for me, warm weather, deep clear water from the mountains, terrific swimming. Lots of terrific memories. #ParkChat

A guy is jumping feet first from a rounded cliff into the blue green waters of a lake on a hot summer day, where another guys is swimming, having just also jumped.

Greg Johnston@gpjohnston· Jun 18

A1) Nature dictates that for me, when the weather warms and I can kick off my shoes and shirt and the livin’s easy, as they say! Today was good. #ParkChat

Pictures of a pretty river flowing gently through a green forest, blue sky above.

Greg Johnston@gpjohnston· Jun 11

A4) late on this but my favorite is Olympic National Park, which transitions from multiple landscapes/ecosystems, from wild ocean shore to temperate rainforest forests to alpine. That’s on just the west side. #ParkChat

A backpacker with trekking poles pauses to look at the ocean shore and sea stacks ahead.

A hiker making her way along a trail through bug rain forest maple trees draped with long hanging moss, all very green.

A mountain with multiple rocky peaks and small glaciers tucked into its folds. It is a rare view of the south side of Mount Olympus.

Greg Johnston@gpjohnston· Jun 9

Beavers wrasslin' for #AnimalArtTuesday. Saw 'em chasing each other around on yesterday morning's hike at the local wetlands park. #Hiking

Two large beavers, one with reddish fur and the other almost blond, in the water of the stream with their faces against each other, their noses together and in the air, while playfully wrestling.

Greg Johnston@gpjohnston· Jun 6

But yes they can be really colorful in fall when they get a lot of subshine.

A vine maple in autumn lights up a green forest with scarlet tones, pinks and yellows with its tall, delicate foliage.

Greg Johnston@gpjohnston· Jun 2

Critters on this lovely morning’s ramble. #Hiking #GetOutside

A young black-tailed deer buck stands in a meadow of tall grass with its head raised while chewing on leaves and white flowers of a dogwood tree.

A cedar waxwing with the signature black mask across its brown face and fluffy crown on the back of its head, perched in a tree with red berries. Quite an elegant small bird.

Greg Johnston@gpjohnston· May 28

A4) The only decent photo I’ve captured of a common yellow throat fits the bill, in Juanita Bay Park here on Lake Washington. #ParkChat

A small bird that is mostly yellow with a black mask across its face, perched on a limb.

Greg Johnston@gpjohnston· May 28

A3) My local park on Lake Washington can get lit up in oranges if you hit the sunrise right. #ParkChat

A brilliant almost psychedelic sunrise above a lake, with a point of land projecting out into the water.

Greg Johnston@gpjohnston· May 28

A2) Paria Canyon-Vermilion Cloffs Wilderness sure has lots of crazy red rock! #ParkChat

A backpacker wades a muddy stream in a narrow, twisting red rock canyon.

Greg Johnston@gpjohnston· May 28

A1) No special meaning for me but they sure are a pretty manifestation of nature‘s awesomeness! #ParkChat

A woman leans against a tree while photographing a rainbow rising above the sea after a rain squall.

Greg Johnston@gpjohnston· May 23

Cool story, Chinook salmon negotiate many obstacles to swim higher into their natal headwaters than some believed. Doesn't surprise me, I've seen steelhead, for example, above waterfalls I thought no fish could ascend. One reason I'm fascinated by these fish. columbiainsight.org/dna-fingerpr...

Photo of a large Chinook salmon in shallow water of a small stream. From the attached story.

Greg Johnston@gpjohnston· May 14

Camas in full bloom. Camassia is super important plant to the first people, who traditionally cultivated it in meadows they maintained by periodic burning and harvested the bulb, rich in starch/sugar. #Hiking

Several long stems topped by pretty blue flowers, atop a mound in a meadow.

Greg Johnston@gpjohnston· May 8

Crazy wavy clouds as I crawled out to sleep in the tent, just after sunset.

Crazy wavy purple and pink clouds beyond a pasture and above a forested hill, just after sunset and before darkness, horizontally under a fading blue sky.

Greg Johnston@gpjohnston· May 7

Got into some morels this week, so darned tasty! #Hiking #Mushrooms #Fungi