Friday, July 31, 2009

You moose look hard


While in Wyoming we kept our eyes open for moose. They like wet areas like the one above, but no moose here.


Cousin Ken spotted this one on his way down to our camp so we ran up to catch a glance. It took a minute to locate him.


He's enjoying dinner.


He's not so sure about us.


Then he wandered back into the brush and you can now see why they are so hard to spot sometimes!


If you like to look at animal pictures, check out Camera Critters.

Thursday, July 30, 2009

The same sunset....


...from a different point of view. The spectacular sunset in my previous post lit up the shore of the reservoir with a wonderful golden glow. Standing in one place was like bearing witness to two different worlds. I just love nature.

To take a peek at other perspectives from around the world, check out SkyWatchFriday.

Tuesday, July 28, 2009

Sunset over Park Reservoir





To see more water pictures, check out Watery Wednesday or for beautiful pictures with no words you can check out Wordless Wednesday.

Monday, July 27, 2009

Fish or hike? Both or none of the above?


Coffeen Park Trailhead is the entrance to a wild world, literally. It's a gateway to the Cloud Peak Wilderness Area. Spear-O-Wigwam Ranch will take people on horses all the way to Highland Park and beyond. Truly hardy individuals backpack in. It's a place you can challenge the elements and get lost in.

We did a group four wheeler ride up to Coffeen and then split up. The more intrepid of us headed for Rinehart Lake located merely at 9057' (2760m). Ken, Robin and Emma live in Arizona at a much lower altitude but they were willing to take the plunge, so to speak.


There used to be a bridge across the creek back in the day when Gary worked for the Forest Service and built it, but that was a LONG time ago! We had to take off our shoes and wade across an extremely cold creek.


Sydney needed help getting across too.


We all made it across and had our shoes back on when Ken realized they left their fishing poles on the other side! (If you enlarge the second picture, you can see them lying there.) So, he just ran across in his boots and picked them up.


I'm not a fisher. I feel sorry for the fish. I do like to hike and take pictures. I love these woods and the magical green undercover that grows in them. In the heat you can smell the pine.




Rinehart Lake





Amber and Emma take their fishing quite seriously. It looks like Ken is supervising but I think he's catching his breath and admiring the view.


Not so high up or so far down the trail, the kids went fishing down here. I left Rinehart and walked back on my own, then went up to see what these guys were doing. Having fun I think.


That's another day of vacation in the Big Horns. For more possible vacation spots, check out My World Tuesday.

Sunday, July 26, 2009

Lily pads on Sawmill Lake

Macro

Not macro


Two shots, same camera, same lens but different perspectives. So much of blogging is in the perspective too. "Which shot should I post?" "Which of the many shots I took of the same thing will look best?" Since I got back from vacation and have been frantically trying to catch up from two weeks out of town, my biggest question has been, "Now which order do I upload these in?" I've had to redo several posts because the order of the pictures was screwy. How can I tell a story when the pictures are out of order? Or blurry? Or dark? And then there is the writing required to tell the story.

The longer I blog the more impressed I am with the really excellent blogs out there. It is a lot of work and requires time I just don't have which means I'm often putting the post together at night when I'm tired and can't think straight. Can you tell? Or have I hidden it well?

To view more macro shots and perhaps answer fewer questions, check out Macro Monday!

Wild Geraniums


Setting sun at Rapid Creek







The fields of wild geraniums were just stunning!

One evening I drove my four wheeler down the road to Rapid Creek to take some pictures of the geraniums. I thought it was going to be a good time of day but it turned out to be a little late. I enjoyed laying in the flowers and taking pictures anyway.

So is this Scenic Sunday or Today's Flowers? Check them out and decide for yourself. So many meme's, so little time!

Thursday, July 23, 2009

Moose you stare at me like that?



There are lots of critters around our house but critters we don't see very often are moose. Once there was a young bull who greeted me at the entrance to the Flume Trail, but that was several years ago and definitely pre-blog obsession. Anyway, we didn't see as many as usual but we did see a few in the Big Horns.

If you look closely at this Mama Moose, you can see her baby behind her. At first she was grazing calmly, but her ears perked up when she saw me. I went back to the truck after that. Moose are very large, can move very fast and are sometimes aggressive, especially with a baby.

To check out other interesting animals, visit Camera Critters.

Wednesday, July 22, 2009

Sunset and a sunny day








Check out Sky Watch Friday to see many more beautiful skies.

If Gary had a blog......


.....he might post some of these.....He's a really good photographer. It was hard to pick which one of his many pictures to show.


Skipper in the truck as driver, me in the passenger seat



Ken's wife Robin with their dog Sydney wearing her "doggles"


Cousin Cathy and her husband Larry with Ken, Cathy's brother


Cathy smiles willingly for the camera


Me hiking uphill with camera


Group shot!


Ken, Gary and Ken's brother, Randy


Rita and Randy


Keira and me playing bouncy, bouncy


DS frenzy


Yes, Brogan is a big dog; no, we don't put a saddle on him; he's an Irish wolfhound and my good friend


Lauri and Ken


Robin


Jeri's son, Steven

I did post a picture or two of myself from the Yellowstone trip (how short are our memories?) And I am usually behind the camera but peeked out again through someone else's lens. Cheers!