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D-Mad Travel Adventures!

The world through our lens and our fun(ny) experience!

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Top 10

Top 10: Sunrises of the World!

1. Tiger Hill, Darjeeling, India

The most spectacular I have seen so far. It is very hard to beat this one! The play of light starts 30 minutes before the actual sunrise where the Himalayan ranges turn different colors with every passing minute finally displaying the golden peaks of Kanchenjunga and Mt Everest!!! I was very young when I saw this but it has been etched in my memory and I cannot wait to go back to click some digital pictures!

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2. Cappadocia, Nevşehir, Turkey Hike up the Goreme Panorama point to get a 360degree view of the town and watch the hoodoos light up when the sunrises! The icing on the cake is also watching the mass ascension of hot air balloons – spectacular!812795_603494162999653_1385522546_o

3. Mesa Arch, Utah, USA

This sunrise is surreal. The sun lights up the bottom of the arch only and looks like the arch is being set on fire! It is a very short hike from the trail head. You can walk atop the arch but be very careful because if you misstep and fall, you will die.

4. Grand Teton, Wyoming, USA

The famous reflection picture you can click is at Schwabacher Landing. Go early to secure a VIP spot as you will see many photographers flocking there with their tripods!IMG_7574

5. Kanyakumari, Tamil Nadu, India

I was very little when I went to see the sunrise with my parents here and my mom explained to me that the sun rises when they ring a bell, and my jaw dropped to the floor when a perfectly round ball of light quickly scurried up the ocean into the sky as soon as someone rang a loud bell! That was a magical moment and to this day they follow that tradition of ringing a bell at sunrise and sunset! This is the southern most tip of India where you can see both sunrise and sunset!

6. Bryce Canyon, Utah, USA

The sunrise point in the national park is the best spot to catch this.

7.Smoky Mountains, Tennessee, USA

The best sunrise you can see in the national park is from the parking lot of the clingman’s dome. The sun rises behind the mountains through the clouds.

8. Tulum, Quintana Roo, Mexico

This is the place to enjoy a very quiet sunrise by the beach with ruins at your back!

9. Denali, Alaska, USA

Though Denali National Park is famous for its sunset views of the peak, I had to mention this for a reason. In summer the sun almost never sets, it gets dark around 1am and then the sun is back up by 3 am! It is very cool to just stay up all night to see the sunset to sunrise transition!

10. The one sunrise I know to be super spectacular is atop Haleakala, Hawaii, USA. I cannot wait to go there to experience this but this article could not be complete without a mention of this. I am basing this off of some incredible pictures my friends have clicked!

 

Fall is in the air! – My top picks for fall color destinations in US.

Midwest –

1. Upper Peninsula, MI

The drive from Porcupine Mountain State Park to Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore through the beautiful fall clad cities of Marquette and Munising. Check for fall color reports here – http://www.michigan.org/fall/

2. Northshore drive, MN

The stretch from Duluth up north to Lustsen mountain is gorgeous. The view from atop the Lutsen mountain is spectacular! MN fall color report – http://www.dnr.state.mn.us/fall_colors/index.html

Image

Pic: Fall 2012 in Minneapolis, MN

3. Bayfield, Iron mountain, WI

You have so many options other than the above two favorites. Devils lake state park and Door county are equally beautiful if not more. Wisconsin by far has the best travel site which reports fall colors – http://www.travelwisconsin.com/fall-color-report

East Coast –

1. New England

Anywhere and everywhere in New England during fall it’s charming! My favorites – Kancamagus Highway, White Mountains, Acadia National Park and Franconia State Park. To track peak colors use their forecast map – http://www.yankeefoliage.com/peak-foliage-forecast-map/

Southwest –

1. Colorado

Golden Aspens cover the entire state of Colorado and I am going this year to take in the beauty. My plan is to drive around Aspen and Gunnison area and to aid me in this hunt will be this site – http://denver.about.com/od/familyactivities/tp/Colorado-Fall-Foliage.htm

Photography Tip – To bring out the colors, try to shoot during those hours when the sun is not directly above your head.

Email us @ d.mad.photography@gmail.com if you need more info.

-D of D-Mad

Top 10 : Biking Trails within Twin Cities, MN

We took part in MS-150 last year loved it more because we could explore a new biking route for us to train. Here is the list of our Top 10 routes –

  1. Dakota Rail trail – This is one of my most favorite trails as it has less distractions in terms of stop signs and crowd  and most distractions in trms of beauty!
  2. Grand Rounds Scenic Byway – As the name suggests, it is very grand and scenic though very crowded around the lakes.
  3. East River Parkway – This winding route is along the mighty Mississippi River on the east bank where University of Minnesota is.
  4. West River Parkway – This is also along Mississippi River in Minneapolis with beautiful bluffs and has many historic and scenic pit-stops. Image
  5. Lake Minnetonka LRT Reginal Trail – Very beautiful unpaved trail where you can see turtles on the trail and deer running along.
  6. Cedar Lake LRT Regional Trail – This runs between Downtown and Hopkins and is very good training trail.
  7. Luce Line Trail – A very long and scenic unpaved trail!
  8. N Cedar Lake Trail – This runs parallel to the Cedar Lake regional trail and joins Kenilworth trail to meet Downtown Minneapolis.
  9. Midtown Greenway – Double thumbs up to this trail as the trail is maintained year round and you see bikers in both snow and shine! Also it connects most of the trails I have mentioned here.
  10. The Gateway State Trail – This trail originates in St Paul and takes you to the beautiful city of Stillwater!

Write to us @d.mad.photography@gmail.com if you need more details or if you want to join us to explore more routes.

_D of D-Mad

Top 10 : Places to stop on Pacific Coast Highway! (San Francisco to San Diego)

This is my Top 10 list (where 5 and 9 are yet to be checked off) –

  1. Santa Cruz
  2. Monterey Bay & Carmel
  3. Big Sur
  4. Pfeiffer Beach & Julia Pfieffer Burns State Park (McWay Falls)
  5. Pismo Beach
  6. Santa Barbara
  7. Malibou Beach
  8. Long Beach/Huntington/Newport Beach
  9. Dana Point/San Clemente
  10. La Jolla

Email us @ d.mad.photography@gmail.com if you need more info on these places.

_D of D-Mad

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