It's awful, why would anyone want to see this?

Being facetious of course. 

Over the past couple of weekends, I've continued to walk, drive and climb around on some of the prettiest area of the country.  I've ranged from the Olympic Peninsula, out on Oak Harbor and Whidbey Islands, the Cascade Mountain parks and of course, Mount Rainier.  I probably won't get sick of it anytime soon.

One place I really wanted to get back to was the Wallace Falls State Park area.  It had been 5 years ago when I last visited so I had hoped for some really neat little waterfalls.  However, this is summer and those little streams I remember were nothing more than a drip now so that meant I would have to negotiate the rocky trails with my trusty hiking stick praying I wouldn't sprain an ankle on the imbedded rocks.

After a nice hike, I had the opportunity to rest at the edge of the water at small falls about 2 miles up.  Very nice even though I had a lot of visitors doing so.

Another spot was Deception Pass, north of Seattle and separates Whidbey and Fidalgo Islands.  Deception Pass has a dark history, including smuggling Chinese illegals.  Seriously, read about it here.

The tide going in and out through the pass is so strong, it has it's own waves and I could see some smaller boats struggling against the current.

Completed in July of 1935, the Deception Pass Bridge connecting the islands is another steel marvel.

I've long been a sucker for sunsets and small waterfalls.  Yes, the big 100'+ falls are grand but I just love sitting near small falls and hear the rush of the water.  On my way to another spot on Mount Rainier, I found myself stopping often, sometimes crawling up under a low bridge and scooting around on the rocks.

My favorite thing is slow shutter speeds that result in a "foamy" look to the rushing water as it spills over the rocks.

Bridges are everywhere and I can't resist the stop.

 
































Often, you would make a turn just to see another shot at Mount Rainier, sometimes with meadows; sometimes with trees but the presence was always around another switchback.

Over and over again, beautiful falls.  This one is Christine Falls.  There's a bridge above the apparent one that you may not be able to make out here.

If truth be told, the chief reason for going up today was an image I'd seen on the internet called Reflection Lakes.  The article had said to go in July so the flowers would be blooming.  Perhaps I'd not paid any attention to the accessibility that was mentioned.  Somehow, I had in my mind that I was going to have a 3 mile round trip hike for this.

Nope...drove right up to it.  As a matter of fact, If I had so minded, I could have taken this picture from the drivers' seat of the car if all the other tourists would not have gotten in my way.

After picking up a pair of geezers who had hiked up a distance and were worn out, I deposited them a couple of miles downhill at a parking lot.  I pretty much had put the camera away until I drove through the little town of Elbe, Washington.  Here  there was an entire business community of espresso shops, one gas station and a whole train that had been converted into a hotel and inn.  I'm not so sure how many people actually stayed in the thing but for a Sunday after Independence Day, it was wrapped up with motorcyclists, bicyclists and a host of Washington style rednecks with pickup trucks. Yep, I felt right at home. Maybe the Hobo Inn wasn't so bad.

I'm looking forward to Ms Darlene coming out soon to see this.  Thanks, Mr. Jones.

Hope I remember this in August

Blizzard conditions in South Dakota.

Rapid City, South Dakota

Just as I thought I'd get a couple of days off from T or C, New Mexico and do some motorcycling in Louisiana, home office called and had me scrambling for a ticket to Rapid City, South Dakota.

As we were landing, all I could see was something that looked almost as barren as New Mexico only it appeared to be frozen...and it was.

As I soon found out, South Dakota's weather changes ... a LOT.  The wind is incessant and it can be -4° one day and 60°F the next.  It's crazy.

The last time I was in this area was 2½ years ago when Gary and I stopped off in Sturgis for 2 or 3 days on our way to Idaho and Washington.  It was windy then but the temperature was much more agreeable in August.

I did go out to Mount Rushmore to see the presidents.  It's an obligatory thing if you're up here.

This weekend, a friend and co-worker of mine went out in search of wildlife in Custer State Park.  We were pretty excited seeing wild turkeys, Pronghorn antelopes,
















Bison/Buffalo

Mule deer

 
Wild burros

 

and an endless supply of Prairie dogs.

 Then there was the sad reminder of life and death on the prairie a hundred years ago.

A couple of interesting events happened on our trip was when we were on a dirt road, we met several buffalo ambling on the narrow way.   Rather than moving forward,  I thought it best to just stop and let them pass.  As one had passed, a second stopped to peer into the car.  As I began to slowly move past them, the one in the rear gave the car a little poke with it's horn.  Fortunately, it was light enough to not have any damage.

The second incident was similar but this time it was a drove of wild burros.  They too stood their ground in the middle of the road.  Thinking burros probably were not quite as dangerous as the bison beasts, I rolled the windows down.  One burro, on Chris' side became aggressive and for a moment, I thought he was going to try to eat my friend.  At that point, Chris was almost in my lap and that's not a pretty nor an easy thing.

The one thing we didn't see that I was hoping for was a Big Horn Sheep.  Too bad, maybe I can find one before I leave.

Outrageous

The first of May, I blew into Omaha along with a late season snowstorm.  I think they have not seen a snow in May for 50 or 60 years but I managed to be here for it.
 
On my way up to Logan, Iowa, I counted a half dozen cars that had slid off the highway and were waiting on wreckers to pull them out.  On that day, our high in Logan was a brisk 33° with a light wind.  I'm sure the residents sighed a groan when they had to break out the snow shovels but you gotta do what you gotta do.

Ironically, two weeks later, it hit 103° with another light wind.  That's a 70° change in two weeks.

Incidentally, Iowa was my last state on my bucket list.  I now have visited all 50 states.  How about that?

Colorado

I'm here in Denver for a brief time.  I arrived nearly two weeks ago on a Saturday afternoon.  Sunday, I found myself revisiting the Rocky Mountain National Park.  The last time I was near here was 1½ years ago when I was working Boulder.

The chief difference this time was this time, the road to the top of the park was still closed from the snow and basically, I was bound to the lower edges around Bear lake

Here's a couple of Bear Lake photos of the two seasons.  The one on the left was taken in early fall in October of 2010 and the one on the right is from early March of 2012.

 

As usual, there were elk sighting everywhere and you had to be careful not to hit the car in front of you when they stopped (I am guilty too) for a photo of the herd.

This last Saturday, I worked until 2 P.M. but took a quick ride down to Colorado Springs to make a walk through of the Garden of the Gods.  It was nice and warm and found myself taking advantage of a pretty day to get some well needed exercise, walking for a while on designated paths then getting out in the brush to photograph a few sites.  I was ever mindful of the possibility of disturbing a rattlesnake getting in some sun as well.

With the new warm weather, trees were beginning to bloom and with that were bees as well.  Rock climbers took advantage of the spring day to test their skills and enjoy the sun.

The unusual rock formations were incredible and found myself loading up my SD card in the Nikon with multiple shots of the same thing, each of them beautiful in their own right.

Sunday, I felt that I needed to take advantage of my last full day here for a while, so i headed back to Colorado Springs very early in the morning.   I had in mind that I would like to take the cog train up Pikes Peak but the next ticket I could get on the train wouldn't be until 1:30 P.M.  Not wanting to hang around the cog platform for 4 hours, I went out looking for other things.

I found Helen Hunt Falls in North Cheyenne Cañon Park.  The hike to the top is a little less than a mile but is somewhat steep.  It's not a paved trail but it does have log and dirt steps accompanied by log railings.  It isn't an extreme walk but it will get your attention if you are not accustomed to altitude.

Coming down from the hike, I felt it might be more interesting driving up Pikes Peak instead of riding a train.  Over 50 years ago, my parents and I came out to the peak and Dad drove up but I hardly remember much of it.  

Reaching the top, you could see what seemed like forever.  Temperatures were in the low 30s and the wind blew at a nice clip sending shivers down my spine even with a down jacket.

If you look carefully, there on the left side,  I believe you can make out the state capitol in Baton Rouge.  Can you see it?

 I might be wrong.

As the afternoon was beginning to wain, I made my way down the mountainside being careful not to overheat my brakes.  Halfway down, there was a ranger checkpoint stopping each vehicle to check the temperature of their brakes.  The two SUVs in front of me were ordered to pull over and let the brakes cool.  When I approached the ranger, she took a reading of my front brakes, looked up and said, "Good job!", and waved me on through.  I'm such a Boy Scout.

For those who have asked, the recent fire in southwest Denver metro-plex has not be any danger to me or the city but Tuesday afternoon there was a serious smoke plume and the odor filled the air even in our office Thursday.  

It's confined to the hills but is a serious fire that has claimed the lives of at least two people.

As pretty as Colorado is, I'm ready to get home to the family.  I miss them all.