The Vast Pacific Ocean

One of the most impressive sites on the West Coast of Canada is the vastness of the Pacific Ocean and the knowledge that there is nothing out there but water until you get to Asia. If you look carefully at the photographs of the beaches you will always see huge logs, some in impressive piles. This makes you wonder about the power of the waves from that very pleasant looking ocean and what it would take to throw an entire tree trunk many yards up onto a beach. It is much more pleasant to walk around in the bright sunlight and look at the pretty views.

The Far West Coast of Canada

This is about as far west as you can get in Canada. This is the Pacific Rim National Park Reserve on the west coast of Vancouver Island. It is about a two hour drive through the mountains on one of only three roads across the island from the populated east coast. The scenery is overwhelmingly spectacular. This is Long Beach with the tide out. This is one place I would like to re-visit. It is also possibly one of the furthest north places where surfing in popular.

Double-billed Seagull

I was quite surprised after taking this photo that this particular seagull was going to get double-billing in my blog post. It is not uncommon for sea gulls to become famous. Some of my readers may be old enough to remember Jonathan Livingston Seagull. See Bach, Richard, and Russell Munson. Jonathan Livingston Seagull. [New York]: Macmillan, 1970. On the other hand, it is not always convenient to be double-billed. We have to watch this all the time on our own bills to make sure they aren't double billed and double paid. But then again, this seagull isn't likely to worry about his credit cards or being double-billed.

Beachcomber Regional Park, Vancouver Island, British Columbia

This tiny gem of a beach is tucked away in a very small Provincial Park on Vancouver Island, British Columbia. It is called Beachcomber Regional Park and it is located at the end of a small peninsula on the east coast of the Island. It was essentially deserted on the day we visited, as we found many of the beaches to be. I is high tide and the beach is probably somewhat larger at low tide, but this is not a place people would come to surf or swim. It was also a clear day, one of the very few times during our visit to Canada that we didn't have rain.

Chile and Hot Sauce

This photo takes some explanation. It was taken in The Old Country Market in Coombs, British Columbia, Canada. This market is most famous for it grass covered roof grazed by goats. It is known as "Goats on the Roof" around the world and is a famous tourist spot. Inside, it is an exotic collection of food items from hundreds of countries around the world. I was very impressed with the variety of things I had never heard of and had no intention of ever eating. This is a typical shelf in the store. You will have to click on the image and zoom in to read the labels but it is worth the time and effort.

Little Qualicum Falls, Vancouver Island, British Columbia

I feel like I am at the polar opposite of my life in the desert Southwest of the United States when I see something like this waterfall in British Columbia. Notice the tree lodged in between the walls of the canyon. I took this pictures, standing in mud and off and on holding an umbrella from the rain. I am sure the picture would have been different in the sunshine, but we hadn't seen much of that on our visit at this point. I understand that parts of the Vancouver Island get more than 120 inches of rain a year. I haven't seen anything this wet since I lived in Panama. The colors are even more impressive in person than show in any photograph.

Crab in the Sand

We were walking out on the huge tide flats off the coast of Vancouver Island by Parksville, just as the sun was going down. We spotted this tiny crab sitting next to some sea weed. At high tide, the ocean is right next to the steep hill of the shore, but when it is at low tide, 200 yards of very flat sand. It is amazing to see how the tide comes in and out and leaves such a huge expanse of sand. I have seen the same thing in Panama, but there the sand was not a firm and nice to walk on.

Man in the Street

I didn't know that James P. Sullivan (Sully) lived in Victoria, British Columbia. But there he was standing in front of a sushi shop and waving at the people passing by. He looked pretty wet since it was raining quite hard that day.

Victoria Harbor

Victoria, British Columbia is an amazing city for a dedicated desert dweller. Not only is there all this water with large and small boats, but at the time I was standing under an umbrella in the middle of a rain storm. This picture really needs to be seen larger than what you can see in these reduced size photos. Click on the photo to enlarge it and then click again

Japanese Maple

This beautiful tree has red leaves in the Spring and then they turn green in the Summer. It is growing in front of our house in Provo and is going to be one of my favorite trees, I am sure.

A Spring Bouquet

I usually associate Spring flowers with something yellow. When I was in graduate school, I had a favorite notebook with a photo on the cover called "Spring Flowers of the Wasatch." Little did I know that fifty years later, I would be taking my own photos of Spring flowers in the Wasatch Mountains. I think that life has a lot of interesting cycles. I also could not have dreamed that I would be taking those photos electronically and publishing them on an international network. These kinds of facts make life more than interesting.

Long Toes

This is the Greater Earless Lizard (Cophosaurus texanus). Yes, there is a lesser earless lizard. I didn't think that any lizards had ears, but what they mean is that the lizard lacks ear openings. Spring is an excellent time to go out lizard watching. It is just warm enough to have them come out and bask in the sun and not so hot that they seek shade under the rocks. Depending on the time of year, a walk in the desert can be filled with scurrying lizards or there may not be any out at all.

Symmetry in form

The curves and patterns of the eucalyptus tree trunk match almost perfectly with the aloe flowers. There is always an interesting conjunction of color and form when exotic woods are paired with flowers even when the flowers are not particularly showy.

Spring at the Pickett Post

For some, it would be hard to imagine that this is a scene in the middle of the Arizona-Sonora Desert. Pickett Post Mountain in the background is located just east and south of Superior, Arizona. The photograph is taken from the Demonstration Garden at the Boyce Thompson Arboretum. The contrast between the lush green meadow and the trees and the desert beyond is striking. But that is way the desert is. We can live in beautiful green oasis where there is water available. This meadow happens to lie along the Queen Creek, a mostly dry creek bed, but with an abundant supply of underground water. This water is used by the Arboretum to create a huge botanical garden with plants and trees from all over the world.

Mourning Dove

During my life, I have always been surrounded with the low, mournful cry of the mourning doves (Zenaida macroura). This is especially true during those times when we lived without air conditioning in Phoenix. In those days, the city was so much smaller and had so much less traffic, that the sounds of the desert were always around us. Now that we are sealed up in our air conditioning, I only hear the call of the doves when I happen to be outside. It is one of the most distinctive and recognizable sounds I can remember from my childhood, even before I could associate the sound with a specific type of bird. They are common throughout the entire continent of North America and into Central America except the far North of Canada and Alaska.

Do Not Turn???

We had to go back and figure out this one. No, the sign hasn't fallen down. It looks more like they ran out of no right turn signs and made do with a not left turn one.

Bright Summer Yellow

It is already well over 100 degrees here in the desert. I loved these bright yellow Fishhook Barrel Cactus (Ferocactus wislizeni) that are growing in our front yard in Mesa, Arizona. These cactus bloom several times during the year, unlike most of the other cactus in the surrounding desert. A very old barrel cactus can be 8 to 10 feet high, but you hardly ever see one that large. A few years ago, I wrote several blog posts about the myth that you could get enough water to survive in the desert from cutting open a barrel cactus and drinking the contents. This myth is totally false. The pulp inside is very bitter and could cause you to throw up and lose even more liquid. Only the Ferocactus wislizeni is edible, the rest of the barrel-like cactus are toxic. In addition, all cactus in Arizona are protected by law. So don't try this out or you may incur a sizable fine.

The Moon

This is a handheld shot of the moon taken with a point-and-shoot camera. I have reconsidered the need to always carry around 45 pounds of camera equipment and decided to try one of the newer cameras. In this case, the camera is a Nikon Coolpix L830. The camera has an effective optical zoom level of 34x, making its lens the equivalent of a lens with a focal length of from 22.5 mm to 765 mm. With digital zooming added, the camera lens becomes the equivalent of over a 1700 mm lens. Now, the challenge is keeping the camera steady enough to take a photograph at such extremes. I do notice a small amount of lens aberration at this point in a ring of red around the image of the moon. All in all, this opens up some interesting issues about the future of digital cameras and expensive lenses. I am not ready to trade in my Canon D5 Mark II yet however.

The Jungle on Oahu, Hawaii

Reality is seldom as romantic as the advertisements. This particular view of Oahu's dense jungle shows the mountain ridge that runs down the island. If you would like to read a detailed account of the geology of the island, see Stearns, Harold T. Geologic Map and Guide of the Island of Oahu, Hawaii, with a Chapter on Mineral Resources, by Harold T. Stearns ... Prepared in Cooperation with the Geological Survey U.S. Department of the Interior. Honolulu, Hawaii: Printed by Advertiser Pub. Co, 1939. A full copy of the book is available at http://hdl.handle.net/2027/uc1.32106006443052

Walking through this jungle turned out to be a water-soaked slog through mud and streams. We were not especially prepared for such a difficult hike and most of our group quit after just a few minutes of the slippery mud trail.

A Burst of Spring Color

Spring comes early to the Desert. These Hedgehog Cactus, Echinocereus engelmannii, are a regular indication that Summer is practically here and temperatures will start soaring. Although they are quite common in the Arizona-Sonora Desert, they are usually quite inconspicuous. It is only when the burst into bright purple blossoms that you can see them clearly on the rocky hillsides.

A jumbled landscape

Southern Utah and Northern Arizona share common landforms. The free standing formations are usually referred to as hoodoos. One of the most interesting landforms in this area are the so-called "toadstools." If you click on the image, you can see one at the top of the buff colored cliff in the background just left of the center of the photo. The dark brown formation is Dakota Sandstone, most of which has long since weathered away. The Dakota Sandstone is younger and harder than the exposed Entrada Sandstone. The large cliff is composed of Navajo Sandstone. The layers from oldest to most recent are as follows:

• Permian formations
• Moenkopi formation
• Chinle formation
• Moenave formation
• Kayenta formation
• Navajo Sandstone
• Carmel-Page formations
• Entrada Sandstones
• Morrison formation
• Dakota & Cedar Mountain formations
• Tropic Shale
• Straight Cliffs formation
• Wahweap formation
• Kaiparowits fomation
• Pine Hollow formation
• Grand Castle formation
• Canaan Peak formation
• Claron formation

In any given area, some of these layers may or may not be present. This particular photograph was taken in an area just east of Kanab, Utah and about half-way to Page, Arizona along Highway 89. This area is now in the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument. For more information, see the Geology of Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument, by Hellmut H. Doelling, Robert E. Blackett, Alden H. Hamblin, J. Douglas Powell, and Gayle L. Pollock, Geology of Utah’s Parks and Monuments, 2000 Utah Geological Association Publication 28, D.A. Sprinkel, T.C. Chidsey, Jr., and P.B. Anderson, editors

Torpedo Tubes

The reality of crawling around on a World War II submarine is far different than depicted in the movies. It was interesting to see that the sailors sleeping cots were hung in and around the torpedoes. This is a photo of the torpedo tubes and loading racks on the USS Bowfin in Pearl Harbor, Oahu, Hawaii. There did not seem to be a great deal of concern for the safety of the crew or for the ergonomics loading the huge torpedoes. The USS Bowfin went on nine complete tours in the Pacific during the War and was one of the few submarines to survive all its tours. The submarine also served during the Korean War. These are 21 inch torpedo tubes and the ship had ten tubes, six facing forward and four facing the stern. For more information on the submarine, see USS Bowfin (SS-287) Attack Submarine (1943).

Leaking Oil from the USS Arizona

When the USS Arizona was sunk in Pearl Harbor on 7 December 1941, the ship had 500,000 gallons of thick, bunker C fuel oil that was trapped in its tanks. As you visit the USS Arizona Memorial out in the harbor, you can still see the trapped oil bubbling its way to the surface. It is a very visually remembrance of the catastrophe of that day more than 70 years ago when the Japanese fleet executed a planned air attack on the ships in the harbor. During the attack, a 1,700 pound Japanese bomb detonated the ammunition stored on the ship and ignited the 4,000 tons of fuel stored on the ship. Much of that oil did not burn and continues to work its way upward as the hull and compartments of the ship deteriorate. This is an image of the oil slick on the ocean water above the sunken ship.

A Visit to the USS Arizona

In my walking around Arizona, I never dreamed that I would have a chance to visit the USS Arizona as it lies in Pearl Harbor on the island of Oahu, Hawaii. We learned about the sinking of Arizona's namesake ship in grade school, but seeing the place and standing in the Memorial and reading the names of those who died, brings a whole new level of understanding. The USS Arizona was sunk on 7 December 1941 with the loss of 1,177 of her crewmen. Many of those lost still remain entombed in the sunken ship. This is a particularly moving experience similar to the feelings I get when I view the Vietnam War Memorial in Washington, D.C. even though I lived through the Vietnam War and was born only a few months before the end of World War II.

A Double Yolk

Every so often, I am surprised by finding a double yolk in an egg I am frying. Mind you, I am as far from being a cook and a food person as it is possible to be and still have the ability to feed myself on occasion. Peanut butter and eggs are about the limit of my culinary ability. I am glad there are alternatives such as cooking an egg or making toast. That makes life simpler.

Plumeria obtusa – Singapore Plumeria

It may have been the time of year, but these Plumeria obtusa or Singapore Plumeria flowers were very common. They grow on a tree that looks dead, without leaves. Only a few leaves grow at the end of the branches where the flower clusters also grow. They are used extensively in flower arrangements and in Hawaiian leis.

Hawai'i: Waves against the shore

Here in Arizona the desert is almost always just a short distance away. Even if you're living in the middle of a big urban area like Phoenix, reminders of the desert are always present in the form of cactus and the ubiquitous "desert landscaping." In Hawaii, the same is true of the ocean. Not only is the ocean visible as you drive back and forth across the islands, it is always present in the plant life and humidity. The main contrast is between areas where lava flows reach the ocean and the waves crash against the rocks and where there are wide sandy beaches. The rocky shores make for dramatic scenery but are rather inconvenient for swimming or snorkeling.

Provo Rocks

Rock Canyon is a prominent feature of the east side of Provo, Utah. A hike up this prominent rock point, called Squaw Peak, is one of the most popular in the area. A similarly named peak in Phoenix, Arizona was renamed out of a wish to honor a dead soldier and for political correctness. According to the Geographic Names Information System of the USGS, there are about 60 such points in the United States with the same name.

Rock Canyon Angles

Provo, Utah is located between Utah Lake and the steep escarpment of the Wasatch Mountains. One of the prominent background features is Rock Canyon a steep V shaped valley. Both sides of the Canyon are covered in rocks. I has been a popular recreation place for years, but has been under the shadow of private development. The rock outcropping on the right in the image is that part of the canyon in private hands. There were plans to start mining the rock out of the canyon, but fortunately, the City has purchased the property to preserve it from development. I am particularly happy about that purchase since I am moving about a block and a half from the mouth of the Canyon.

Provo Temple and Utah Lake

Most of the communities in Utah Valley, south of Salt Lake City, are concentrated between the steep mountains of the Wasatch Range and Utah Lake. This photo of Provo, Utah taken from the Bonneville Shore Trail, shows this narrow corridor. In the foreground is the Provo Temple of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. In the background is Utah Lake. The larger structure to the left-middle of the image is the LaVelle Edwards Stadium on the Brigham University Campus. The trail follows the shoreline of the prehistoric Lake Bonneville which filled the entire valley. Utah Lake and the Great Salt Lake are remnants of this ancient lake.