Seattle and Mount Ranier

Seattle, Washington is the antithesis of Phoenix, Arizona. Phoenix is all about wide open spaces and being uncrowded. Downtown Seattle is just the opposite. Without a knowledge of the streets, Seattle is a nightmare. Phoenix has traffic, but there is always the option to drive other streets and avoid the congestion. This might be true in Seattle, but it is not true to someone who does not drive there regularly. Seattle has dramatic views. Phoenix not so much. There is a lot to see and do in downtown Seattle. Again, Phoenix, not so much. The weather in Seattle is cool and very wet. Well, you can guess the weather in Phoenix is exactly the opposite. What is interesting is that people live in both places.

Almost Fake

If I hadn't seen these growing on a bush, I would think they were artificial flowers. I have been enjoying the trees and bushes in bloom. Our daffodils bloomed a little this year and our irises are starting to bloom. The peonies are starting to bud out and will also bloom shortly. I am still not sure that they are a substitute for cactus flowers, but I do like irises. This has been a relatively wet Spring and so the trees are all blooming. The fruit trees are already through with their blossoms but there a plenty of other flowering trees to replace them.

Snoqualmie Falls, Washington

Not all giant waterfalls are sequestered away in the wilderness. This lovely waterfall is a major tourist attraction and located just a few yards from a major highway. The parking lot was full to overflowing and the lookout points were crowded with the typical American tourist types (including us). You can get some idea of the size of the waterfall from the hotel on the rim to the upper left. This was a pleasant diversion from what turned out to be a very long trip by car from Utah to Washington state and then on to Canada.

Spring Snow on Timpanogos

You can see the dramatic difference the change in elevation has on the temperature by looking at the snow on the Wasatch Mountains. Mount Timpanogos dominates the sky to the north of where we live and during the day we see major changes in the quality of the light on the mountain. We can have snow falling at our house and drive down the hill two blocks and have nothing but rain. We didn't get any of the new snow showing on the mountains.

Ornamental Cabbage

I am always amazed at the variety of colors in plant leaves. I also wonder if ornamental cabbage is good to eat? I guess I could look it up online. (time passes) Hmm. I did look it up online and yes, you can eat them, but usually they are grown for their colorful leaves. I guess this is another plant we could grow and eat.

The Burden of Time

This is an image from the old Fort Rodd Hill National Historic Site on Vancouver Island, British Columbia. Fort Rodd Hill National Historic Site is a 19th-century coastal artillery fort on the Colwood, British Columbia side of Esquimalt Harbour, (Greater Victoria/Victoria BC Metropolitan Area). It was first established in around 1870 with most of the construction happening between 1894 and 1897. It was designated a National Historic Site in 1958. See Wikipedia: Fort Rodd Hill National Historic Site.

The fort is no longer in use and was decommissioned in 1956. In walking around the site, you can see how quickly wind, rain and freezing temperatures can begin to disassemble all that we can build. In addition, moss and lichen have taken their toll on the rocks and cement used to build the fort. The passage of time leaves its mark everywhere.

The Fisgard Lighthouse, Vancouver Island

The Fisgard Lighthouse is the first lighthouse constructed on Canada's west coast and it is still operational. It is preserved in the Fisgard Lighthouse Historical Site near the city of Victoria, British Columbia on Vancouver Island. It was built in 1860 before Vancouver Island was officially part of Canada. We visited on a day when the wind was fiercely blowing and it was quite chilly. The amount of drift wood on the shore indicates the severity of the storms that pass this way.

Brilliantly Yellow

My heart rejoices in the beauty all around me. Unfortunately, rather than sit and contemplate all this beauty, I have a very busy and involved life. One of my neighbors was pointing out that we have two comfortable chairs on our patio and we could sit outside and look at the beautiful plants and flowers. Fat chance. But that does not mean that I don't appreciate those few times when I do make an effort to look around and drink in my surroundings. These lovely tulips look like they are individually hand painted.

Beach at Juan de Fuca Strait

The Juan de Fuca Strait lies between Washington State and Vancouver Island in Canada. This was a chilly and very windy day with threatening rain. The beach has a large amount of driftwood with some very large trees thrown up on the shore. This beach is actually right next to the downtown section of Victoria and part of the Beacon Hill Park.

Fields of Tulips

Viewed from a short distance, tulips, like people, merge into crowds. Even when we view both tulips and people in large aggregations, we need to be aware of the beauty of the individual flower or person. Likewise, when we are in crowd, it is easy to get lost and become part of  the background. But when that happens we need to focus on our own individuality. When I take photos of flowers it is easy to focus on the large groupings, but the richness of the experience of looking at flowers and people is to examine their own unique individuality.

Canadian West Coast Surf

You have to go to the edge of the land in Canada to reach the open Pacific Ocean. This image came from the west coast of Vancouver Island on a very windy day. We love the colors and even the wind, but it does make it difficult to stand and take photos. Taking a photo with this much movement requires a steady hand and a fast shutter speed.

Fancy Spring Tulips

The north end of the Utah Valley is the host to the Thanksgiving Point Ashton Gardens. Every Spring there is a tulip festival with over 250,000 tulip plants. I think I took photos of a fairly large number of them and will share my photos over the next few weeks. I thought you might enjoy starting with these extra fancy tulips.

Utah Valley Sunset

We have a winter view of the sunsets over the mountains to the west of us. In the Spring, the leaves come back on all the trees and the view is somewhat restricted. But we enjoy it while we can. If there is a really nice sunset, like this one, I can walk a few feet to the north or south and get a clear view of the horizon. Of course, the sun appears to move north and south with the seasons and so the position of the sunset also changes. In the middle of the Winter the sun is so far south that any sunset is blocked by the hillside right next to my window. So, it is either trees or hill, but I can always make a short trip up the hill and see the entire valley unobstructed.

Seattle's Bubblegum Wall

Yes, this is exactly what it looks like. A wall covered with used bubblegum. This is one of the most popular places in downtown Seattle. I understand that the city comes by and cleans this all off the walls periodically and then it comes back with renewed vigor. This is only a very small portion of the walls. It is on both sides of a narrow alleyway accessible mostly by foot traffic. It is very crowded and I had to wait a while before I could get a photo without someone standing and sticking bubblegum to the wall. Ugh.

Seattle at Night

We had an interesting time in the heavy traffic in downtown Seattle, Washington. Late in the afternoon, we decided to visit the Space Needle. I had gone up in the Space Needle back in 1962. I had been to Seattle several times since then but had not gone up in the Space Needle. The weather was chilly and windy but the air was clear and it was impressive to see the sun set and the lights come out.

Found on the Beach

On Vancouver Island the tides rise and fall up to 3 feet every 12 hours of so. As a consequence, in locations where there is little slope, great expanses of tidal flats appear. In some places, you can walk almost a mile from the high tide level. It is a very interesting experience to walk out onto an enormous flat expanse of sand that is underwater two times a day. I thought these aquatic plants were unusual because they look vaguely like crab claws.

Windfall

As we were walking around in this old growth rain forest, there were a huge number of trees that had been blown down relatively recently. The damage was caused by a severe wind storm after the ground had become fully saturated. The juxtaposition of the new windfall over the older fallen trees demonstrates that this type of event happens on a regular basis. We were glad that we did not experience this extreme weather event first hand.

Flowering Spring Trees

It is Spring and time to leave the desert and go north into the land of flowers. I was really impressed with the shape and color of this beautiful flowering tree. It seems like there is nothing like getting out and walking around to see the beauty of the area.

Superstition Cliffs -- A Study Number Eight

Hieroglyphics are stylized pictures of objects that represent words, syllables or sounds in an ancient writing system. These petroglyphs are sometimes called hieroglyphs, but there is no evidence that these rock carvings are a system of writing. They are sometimes also called pictographs. They are fairly common in the Superstition Mountains, especially around springs.

Superstition Cliffs -- A Study Number Seven

This image shows the variety of vegetation in the Arizona-Sonora Desert. It may not form much of a canopy, but it is dense and difficult to walk in. It takes some considerable time to learn how to walk in this desert without getting stuck with a variety of cactus.

Superstition Cliffs -- A Study Number Six

The steep cliff in the background of this photo is the Anvil, a very prominent landmark in the eastern part of the Salt River Valley. This photo also shows a particularly dense saguaro forest. The fuzzy cactus in the foreground are cholla, know for their extremely sharp spines.

Superstition Cliffs -- A Study Number Five

Walking across the desert like this, in the absence of a trail, is extremely difficult. It sometimes looks like you could just walk over to the nearest hill and you find that the way is blocked by a deep canyon. The distances are also deceiving. It would take a very long time to climb to the top of the ridge shown in the distance.

Superstition Cliffs -- A Study Number Four

The Superstition Mountains were formed from five (or four, depending on the source) large volcanic caldera explosions. Most of the cliffs are Ryolite or welded tuff. Because of the overlapping nature of the formations, there is no clear drainage pattern and the canyons run all different directions. It is extremely difficult to navigate until you become used to the terrain.

Superstition Cliffs -- A Study Number Three

I realize that this series of photos all look about the same, but that is what happens in the Superstition Mountains. Everything looks about the same and many people get disoriented and some die from the heat or exposure. Since it is so close to a very large city, it is a popular place but can be deadly on the late Spring, Summer or Fall. In fact, it is dangerous almost all the time.

Superstition Cliffs -- A Study Number Two

I don't think there is any place else in the United States quite like the Superstition Wilderness Area. It is right next to several large cities and literally begins at the edge of fully developed subdivisions. However, it is truly a wilderness and it takes only a few minutes of walking to realize that you have passed into a strange and very different world. 

Superstition Cliffs -- A Study Number One

This is the first of a series of photos I took on a trip into the Superstition Wilderness Area, east of the cities of Phoenix, Mesa, Scottsdale and Apache Junction. I took a number of photos and decided to upload them one by one. The large cactus in the image are saguaros.

Rugged Mountains in Arizona

The transition from city to wilderness is almost instantaneous in the desert Southwest. You can drive from parts of Mesa and Phoenix into a National Forest or to the edge of a wildness in minutes. If you were standing where I was to take this photo, all you would have to do is turn around to see the huge city.

A Desert Trail

The Superstition Wilderness Area at the east end of the Salt River Valley borders on the city of Apache Junction. There are now several smaller subdivisions and communities to the east of Apache Junction and access to the Wilderness Area is extremely limited. This is one of the few trails that is still open to the public where you can gain access that is not blocked by no trespassing signs.

Pinnacle Peak

Normally, a rock outcropping such as this one would simply be another pile of rocks in the desert, but this pile of rocks is famous because it is located in Scottsdale, Arizona. It is called Pinnacle Peak and has a popular short walking trail around the prominent rock. This peak is visible from many parts of the eastern end of the Salt River Valley and is a destination for local rock climbers.