Tag Archives: hike

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Where to relax

I think this is a pinon jay. I took this up on the Colorado National Monument on Saturday. I was pretty blind in the sun, but got the shot, after I cropped it. That’s a new bird to me: here.

There were tons of junipers in the Monument and some pinon pines. The junipers look like the winters might be a bit hard, with amazing twisted trunks.

They are happily producing berries anyhow and look way healthier than the ones in town.

The pinon pines and the junipers appear to be the local armchairs for the pinon jays. There was a pair flirting, too.

For the Ragtag Daily Prompt: armchair.

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Serendipity

I took this zoom shot of Independence Monument in the Colorado National Monument. I was pretty much blind, but I’ve spend so much time photographing in sunlight on the beach, that I am happy with the composition. I had no idea that I captured the climbers until I looked at it at home.

This is without any zoom.

Zooming closer.

And later along the canyon, we saw the first climber on top. They are both there, but I was shooting blind again.

What an amazing and fabulous day.

For the Ragtag Daily Prompt: off-beat.

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Wild flower

My daughter and her friend R came out on Saturday and we went up on the Colorado National Monument for Mother’s Day. There is not much blooming yet, but this lone flower is out. It was gorgeous most of the day until we got back. Right as we came in, rain and hail. It is wild here!

For Cee’s Flower of the Day.

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Up in the air

I took this hiking Mount Townsend in May, 2017 with my daughter and a friend. Do you see the wild rhododendron in the shade?

The top of Mount Townsend is at 6260 feet, here. It is beautiful switchbacks through woods and then opens up at the top. The altitude gain is 3000+ feet.

The first time I hiked it, in 2000, it was clouded at the top. We were disappointed and ate lunch and napped. When we woke up, the clouds had dropped and we had an amazing view of the Olympic Mountains from the top of the ridge. A marmot kept us company further along the ridge as well.

The rhododendrons look like they are just floating in the woods. Airborne!

For the Ragtag Daily Prompt: airborne!

Ok, this doesn’t fit the mood, but my title makes me sing it!https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b1J8E9dnd5g

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Last on the card, March 2024

For Brian’s Last on the Card, unedited from the two cameras I’ve been using.

The cover one is my Panasonic DMC-FZ150, taken out North Beach on March 29. I thought there might be otters, but no, zoomed in it is mostly mussels. Happy mussels. The tide was way out.

Trees in bloom at church, taken with my iPhone SE.

Happy March and happy April!

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Painted sky

I think the sky and water here are more sophisticated than I anything I can imagine.

After my mother died, I wrote a poem about her and my kids. Her part:

I keep wondering
what the art supplies are like
and if you work on sunsets
or mountains
or lakes

The rest of the poem is here https://drkottaway.com/2021/09/23/painting-angels-2/.

For the Ragtag Daily Prompt: sophisticated.