True Color

I was fascinated by the light and color of this tree trunk. It was a combination of the lichen and the light outside at the time of the photo. This is really how it looked. As the light outside changed, the colors also changed.

The First Hint of Fall

I call this plant Virginia Creeper. For the years I have lived in the mountains or on the Colorado Plateau, these vines were the first to turn bright red in the early Fall, long before the other leaves began to turn colors. I had almost forgotten this with my long years in the low desert, but was surprised and delighted to see my old friend appear on schedule.

Greet the Day with a Smile

Greet the day with a smile! It may be all you have left.

The First Leaf

This isn't really the very first leaf, but it is the first Fall leaf that I took time to photograph this year. I was walking down the sidewalk on the Brigham Young University campus when I spotted this leaf. I didn't stop and had a class and some discussion after for about two hours or so and when I walked back the same way, I saw this same leaf, untouched on the busy sidewalk. I decided that it was time for a photo if the leaf had stayed out of the way of heavy feet for so long.

Looking Down on a Water Lily

Unless you wade out into the water or are sitting in a boat, you are unlikely to look directly down into a water lily. In this case, there was a wooden pier built out onto the lake that gave me this perspective of the flowers. The flowers seem to grow rather randomly among the tangle of leaves and stems.

Waiting to be fed

This image falls in the category of the abstract. It is very difficult to figure out exactly what is going on here unless you finally see the fish. I am not sure that this photo isn't almost too gross for public consumption, but here it is anyway. I do like the color and the overall texture of the photo, but not especially the subject matter.

The Alaska Pipeline

This is a shot of the Alaskan Pipeline near Fairbanks, Alaska. The pipe in the foreground is a section of the actual pipe used to show the construction. It is hard to get a concept of the size of the project when all you see is two pipes on towers marching across the tundra. See Wikipedia: Trans-Alaska Pipeline System for a more complete discussion.

Paddle Wheel

This is the paddle wheel on the Discovery II, an authentic reproduction of a stern paddle wheel river boat. This particular river boat departs from pier near Fairbanks, Alaska on the Chena River. I was surprised at the number of people the river boat could carry comfortably.

Early Fall Leaves in the Wasatch

As we traveled through the Wasatch Mountains, the leaves were just starting to turn to their Fall colors. We had to be at over 8000 feet before we saw many trees that had turned, but the one that had were in subtle pastels. The Fall leaves in the western mountains are not nearly so spectacular as in the far north or in New England, but they are more impressive in some ways because of the high mountain peaks.

Lone Peak

Lone Peak is in the Wasatch Mountains east of the Salt Lake Valley. It is the prominent peak that is part of the ridge the forms Point of the Mountain, famous for multi-vehicle accidents on the freeway. The mountain seems a lot less remote than it did 50 or so years ago when I used to climb it with my friends. Now, there are subdivisions right up to the edge of the National Forest. It is still a dramatic peak and one that I love looking at every time I am in the southern edge of the Salt Lake Valley.

Storm at Grosvenor Arch

We were racing against time. We started out drive down the slick clay roads to Grosvenor Arch when the clouds were threatening rain and we hoped that the rain would hold off long enough to get to the Arch and return without facing the almost impossible task to climbing mud-slick hills. We got to the Arch just as the storm was coming in and quickly took some photos and then drove back along the road. Fortunately 4-wheel drive and timing got us out the roads before they became treacherous.

3000 Feet Down

The North Rim of the Grand Canyon is much less visited than the South Rim. This is Toroweap at the end of a very difficult 62 mile dirt road. It is a very insecure place if you are afraid of heights. That is the Colorado River, 3000 feet or so down the cliffs. There are no guardrails or rangers here to warn you about keeping away from the edges, but the height does a good job of policing itself.

Poppy

The leaves are beginning to turn here in the Wasatch Mountains and Fall is just around the corner. But before the snow begins to fly, we took a walk through Thanksgiving Point, a huge botanical garden, and enjoyed to beautiful late Summer or early Fall flowers. This yellow poppy was one of a very few still in bloom but its cheerful color caught my eye.

Alaskan Dandelions

There were so many lovely, large yellow dandelions growing in Alaska, I almost came to believe that they were the State Flower. I have always loved dandelions. If you look carefully at the flowers they are exquisitely shaped and rival some of the most beautiful flowers in the world. Their proliferation and consideration as weeds has so damaged their reputation that they are eliminated almost before they achieve their true beautiful potential. If they were a rare flower they would be in all the most prestigious collections, but as weeds they aren't even allowed to grow in a cultivated garden.

River in the Far North

The gradient of rivers in the far North is either show shallow that the rivers show extreme meandering or it is so steep that there are extreme rapids and waterfalls. This image illustrates the meandering river formation. You might note the large amount of silt carried by the river. The huge silt deposits also show that this river is much higher during flood stage.

A Matter of Size

This photo may not seem remarkable, but you need to look a little closer. Right below the center of the photo there is a rock ridge with a few patches of snow. Almost indistinguishable are the tree in the snowfields and along the cracks between the rocks. Now, granted this is close to the tree tine and the trees are quite a bit smaller than they would grow at lower altitudes, but the point is that there is nothing else in the photo that gives you a perspective on the size of this mountain. As you look at the trees, you can begin to appreciate the magnitude of the size of the snow fields and the mountain peak beyond. Just imagine walking over those glacier-smoothed rocks.

Tour Ships in Port: Juneau, Alaska

I don't think I had a concept of the size of the average tour ship before going on the tour to Alaska. I thought this photo gives some idea of a ship that can carry 2000+ passengers with rooms for all and swimming pools, restaurants, stores, and a whole lot more. I really appreciate the amount of organization it took to get all those people off and then on again at each of the ports.

Small Boat Harbor, Skagway, Alaska

Some of the towns and cities along the West Coast of Alaska are cut off from land access to the rest of the state. Skagway has roads and a rail line into the interior of the state. But it is also right on the coast and relies heavily on ship-based transportation. These small boat docks are an important part of the costal communities in Alaska and in some cases provide the only transportation to and from distant settlements.

Rock Billboards, Skagway, Alaska

In Skagway, Alaska, the shipping companies have been painting signs on the rocks facing the dock. This has been going on for almost a hundred years. I supposed if the painting is sanctioned it is not considered graffiti, but it is surprising to see. The railroad tracks run right along the base of this cliff and the distance from the cliff to the water is about 100 yards.