Photo of the Day – Field of red flowers

by Jeremy Kressmann on

Somewhere in your imagination, there’s a valley like this one, its verdant slopes carpeted with a bursting red patchwork of flowers. Except, in this case, the valley is real. Photo of the Day regular jrodmanjr found this amazing patch of red clover while exploring Oregon’s Willamette Valley. The image’s visual appeal is intensified by the macro focus on a single bunch of the colorful plants in the foreground, a blurred field or red dots stretching as far as the eye can see in the background. Beautiful.

Have any great travel photos to share with the world? Why not add them to our Gadling group on Flickr? We might just pick one of yours as our Photo of the Day.

Six Flags Magic Mountain to add insane Drop of Doom ride in 2012

by Joel Bullock on

Six Flags Magic Mountain recently announced an unexpected and exciting addition for 2012. The park was already able to boast the most roller coasters of any theme park in the World this year and now it looks to claim another record next year. Magic Mountain has unveiled plans for LEX LUTHOR: Drop of Doom. At over 400 feet (40 stories) tall it will be the World’s tallest drop ride.

The park’s Superman: Escape from Krypton roller coaster features two twin 415-foot tall towers. Roller coaster cars are launched from zero to 100 mph down the twin tracks and then up these two spires. Those two skyscraping towers are going to be used as the structure for the LEX LUTHOR: Drop of Doom where riders will drop 400 feet at an unreal 85 mph. After falling for five seconds, which will probably feel like an eterntity, the riders will come to a halt just a few feet from the ground.

To put this insane drop in context, the tallest drop rides in the United States are around 300 feet tall. The view from 400-feet up should be beyond breath-taking. I have to imagine that the wait will be ridiculously long with only two eight-person wide gondolas, but I’m betting that many will gladly wait hours for such an experience. Read more about this new ride at Six Flags Magic Mountain’s LEX LUTHOR: Drop of Doom page and watch the preview video below.



Skate the Mississippi on Red Bull’s Mississippi Grind

by Grant Martin on

The life of a professional skateboarder could make anyone jealous, but now there’s one more reason to consider leaving that office job and running off with your deck. A few intrepid fellas from the Midwest are currently sailing down the great Mississippi river in a customized barge with a skate park built onto the top surface. Making stops along the backbone of the river and in snapshots of the United States, the team is visiting communities, promoting engagement and living the life of Huck Finn from Mark Twain’s infamous book.

Had Gadling Labs learned about this project earlier we would have sent our resident skateboarder, no other than Heather Poole, over to dish with the guys and get some behind the scenes footage. Sadly, since the cruise is almost over we may not have the time.

If you want to catch the tail end of the journey, however, the Mississippi Grind pulls into New Orleans on the 8th of October. You can check the full schedule over on their site.

Denali sled dog pups on national park’s webcam

by Kraig Becker on

Denali National Park, located in the stunning wilds of Alaska, is amongst the more remote and beautiful destinations in the entire U.S. park system. It is well known for its array of wildlife, a single 91-mile scenic road, and as the location of Mt. McKinley, the tallest mountain in North America. What many visitors don’t know however, is that the park has its own dog kennel, which is home to a new litter of sled dog pups on an annual basis.

In late July, pups Tatum, Koven, and Carpe, named for peaks inside the park, joined the Denali pack after their mother, Pingo, gave birth to them. Since then, they have been growing very quickly, as pups are known to do, and after they turned three weeks old, the National Park Service installed a webcam into their kennel giving us the opportunity to peek in on them from time to time. To catch a glimpse of these energetic, feisty, and downright adorable pups, click here.

The Denali sled dogs are no doubt beautiful animals, and thousands of visitors stop by to see them each and every summer. But they also play a vitally important role in park operations during the very long Alaskan winters as well. Sled dog teams provide access to sections of the park that simply can’t be reached by any other means and without them rangers simply wouldn’t be able to patrol the park as effectively. It is for that reason that the park breeds a single litter each year, choosing two strong parents to bring new members into the pack.

Tatum, Koven, and Carpe won’t be pulling a sled anytime soon, but they will be on webcam until they are ready to join the adults and begin their training. Until then though, we’ll get to watch them grow up before our eyes.

[Photo courtesy NPS/Larissa Yocum]

Photo of the day – Colorado hikers

by Alex Robertson Textor on

We’ve all been there, right? We’ve all embarked on a hike somewhat carelessly, having paid only distracted attention to the weather report, only to encounter the threat of really terrible weather ahead–and usually far too late to take normal precautions. Or we’ve done our weather forecast research with nerdy focus only to find that it was all wrong and the weather patterns have changed dramatically.

Usually, this sort of discovery happens during a tame weekend walk through some fields or over a hilly outcropping of rock on the outskirts of a city. In other words, the discovery of unwanted weather conditions happens only rarely in a natural setting as glorious as this one. This image was snapped by Flickr user AlphaTangoBravo in the San Juan Mountains of Colorado.

We’re always excited to add arresting images as Photos of the Day. Why not upload some of your favorite images to the Gadling Group pool on Flickr?