Partners of the Ice Age National Scenic Trail gathered to celebrate the designation of a Glacial Passage Area.

Gnarly and wizened, she can’t compete with Crater Lake’s impossibly blue beauty. Nor does she try as she stubbornly clings to life at the edge of the caldera. They quietly call her the Grandmother Tree but don’t mark the spot where she stands with her name or story.

It likely will take many months, if not a year or more, to repair badly damaged sections of the Blue Ridge Parkway in North Carolina.

Algal blooms have been reported in Lake Powell at Glen Canyon National Recreation Area in Utah and Arizona, prompting a warning to visitors who might come in contact with the lake water.