Gray Skies and Work Things

Skies have been gray all week, but this morning instead of cold drizzle we have pouring rain.

In the photo, Hubby and Jasmine check things out after the worst of hurricane Ivan, September ...

By the time we returned, the power had come back on, making all my elaborate junk food survival plans unnecessary.




Html has changed a lot since 1997, but my knowledge of it has not. I’m hoping that later in the day I can at least figure out how to add links on this page.

If the title sounds poetic, it’s not because I wrote it. I stole it from one of my favorite Lilac Time songs (from the album Astronauts). Except I think they wrote it as Grey Skies and Work Things since they're British.

Georgia

We took the cats to the vet the this week.

"Guess what," the vet said, "George is a girl."

Well we kind of already had a clue, since she had gone into heat. She is only 5 months old, so the vet wanted to wait another 3 weeks until her operation.

So now her name is Georgia, but we're still calling her George for short.

The vet said that Ginger is definitely a male. Hubby kept trying to change his name to Bear or anything else more masculine. Finally I showed him a picture of Ginger Baker, who used to play in a band called Cream. So he was satisfied that a man can have that name, and Ginger gets to remain Ginger.

Dusty is a female, as we thought. So in kitten sexing, we did not do very well: one out of three correct.

The younger kittens were born right around tax day, so they are about three and a half months old.

Jasmine gets along with all of them, except at feeding time, when she thinks that all food is her food.

Shore Birds

One of the pleasures of strolling along the beach is watching the birds. They move in and out quickly with the ebb and flow of the waves. It is fascinating to see how they can time their movements so that they don't get drenched by the waves.











The least bit of movement on my part and they take flight.





This fella (or lady) graciously posed for me, though not for long...

Snowy Again

Storms have dropped fresh snow on the mountain over the past few days. Be sure to check the forecast before you leave home and prepare accordingly. The skiing is improving!

Check out new conditions updates on the Disappointment Clever and Muir Snowfield.

Maple Heaven

WOW.... the Maples are looking nice this year! They have really changed a lot in the past week. A week ago there was barely any color on these ridges, this morning they were blazing with color as the rising sun washed over the forest.

Another Indian Lake Sunset

Friday, August 5th - - As I drove “home” to the campground at Indian Lake after spending much of the day at my “private” beach at Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore, the clouds began gathering. Rain was forecast for Saturday and it looked like it was coming sooner than predicted. I made it back to the campground in time for a stroll along the shore of Indian Lake at sunset.





The ducks (there were others not pictured) were enjoying the water at sunset, bathed in the golden glow of the fading light.



Like most everyone else, I generally take sunset pictures with the camera in “landscape” or horizontal orientation. Because the clouds were so dramatic, along with the reflections in the water, I decided to do a series of “portrait” shots or with a vertical orientation... Enjoy!

Enchantments Traverse

After a weather delay, we were finally able to do the Enchantments Traverse. We spent the day up in mountain goat country. That area is full of snowfields, steams, awesome lakes, granite boulders, slabs and peaks. With our side trip to Little Annapurna, it ended up being an 18 mile hike. The blisters should heal up in about a week :)



At about 2 hours into the hike, we arrived at Colchuck Lake.



A couple of hours later, we made it to the upper basin and started seeing mountain goats.



Then we ran into a few well-camouflaged Rock Ptarmigans.





We couldn't resist standing on the collapsed snow cave.



Ron and Doug ontop of 8,440' Little Annapurna. Mt. Stuart and Dragontail Peak in the background.



Prusik Peak, Mount Temple and several of the alpine lakes.



Little Annapurna as seen from Perfection Lake.




Some people say that this is the most beautiful place in Washington State. We've been to some amazing places. I can think of several that are close, but none better!

Quail

I heard this little scaled quail calling and calling the other morning so went out and took his (or her) photo. First it sat in the old, dead cactus then it made its way to the ground and just walked off. These are called scaled quail as the feathers are supposed to look like the scales on a fish. (dumb) We have lots of these quail here. They are one of the few birds I really like but they aren't that smart or so it seems. They frequently run out in front of cars. If one goes the whole flock goes. I keep water for them in metal hubcaps. They like their water on the ground and not very deep. I tried a deeper pan once and the tiny puff-ball babies drowned. I was so sad I had caused their death. They got in and couldn't get out. Now only very shallow pans for the quail.

Porkypine Canyon

On this day we decided to go to a place we hadn't been to for about five years, Porkypine Canyon, or that is what we call it as the first time we went there we saw a porkypine. This was about 25 years ago. Porkypine was wattling along down the road but when it saw us it went up into the rocks. I don't think it was the rocks I took so many photos of this day but a simular bunch that I didn't get a photo of. I really like this jumble of rocks with an almost square rock sticking up like a giant childs lego block. It was squared off so well it looked like it had been done by a giant machine. We didn't find any porkpines this day but did see a lot of fresh deer and elk tracks.

Cotton

Cotton is a major crop in southern New Mexico. But the drought didn't do the cotton crop any good this year. 1st photo is of cotton still on the plants that were dead at this time of the year. Most of the fields had already been harvested.

Saguaro National Park

After leaving Chiricahua National Monument it was a short drive to Saguaro National Park near Tucson. There are actually two “sections” to this park, East and West, and I stopped for a few hours in the East side park. There is no campground at Saguaro and I was concerned about finding a place to stay for the night. There are trails to hike but I figured I was going to get plenty of desert hiking done at Joshua Tree and Death Valley, so for me, this was a “drive-through” park, something I said I wasn't going to do...

I stopped at the Visitor Center to watch the park video and get their map and then took the driving tour on the loop road. At one stop I noticed a rather large Saguaro a short distance from the road. So with a bottle of water and the camera in hand, I walked off into the desert... perhaps 100 yards!

Here he is. Doesn't look so tall in this picture, but he towers over everything beneath him.

Me and “my” Saguaro.

Now you see how tall he is? I'm 5' 6” so just guessing he is 25-30 feet tall? This was the biggest Saguaro I saw in the short time that I was in the park. Nothing else even came close to his height or his girth. Amazing. As a side note, the camera was propped up against a rock on the ground. It took four tries to get this shot. I was glad that no one else stopped in the area while I was doing this – I sure felt silly running from the camera to the Saguaro - but I am thankful for self-timers on cameras!

I think he had eight “arms” coming out from his main trunk. Huge.

One of his prickly neighbors.

And another.

Photographs taken on March 15, ...

Winter Registration Information

Fall is officially here and winter is not far on its tail. Mother nature has already brought rain, snow and high winds to the Mountain -Paradise received about 4 inches of snow over the past 24 hours and we're expecting both significant rain and snow over the next few days. The National Weather System has put out a winter weather advisory for the next few days; we're expecting 6" - 10" of snow from this evening through Wednesday and then the freezing level is rising to between 8000' - 9000' and we could receive potentially 6" - 14" of rain. Sound eeriely familiar...? Check out some of the photos from blogs on the flood of 2006 to refresh your memory. Let's hope no such catastraphe befalls us this year.

Currently, the road to Paradise closes at Longmire only when the freezing level drops to below 4000 ft and precipitation is expected. The gate at Longmire will begin closing nightly at 5:00 pm once the weather turns toward consistent freezing and snow (usually around Thanksgiving or shortly thereafter). The road re-opens in the morning only after our road crew has come through and cleared the road of snow and then deemed it safe enough to drive. There is a sign on the gate, which states the estimated time of opening that day. During the winter, traction tires are needed for travel in the Park at all times and drivers should always carry tire chains in case of road restrictions during inclement weather. For weather forecasts and/or road updates call the Park's information line at (360) 569-2211 and select #1.

Climbing registration processes also change in the winter. While you wait for the gate to open to Paradise, climbers can register and get updated weather and avalanche forecasts at the Longmire Museum - open daily from 9 am until 4 pm. On weekends and holidays, climbers can go to the JVC II, which is open from 10 am until 5 pm. Self-registration is also available up at Paradise (NOT Longmire), located outside on the porch of the old ranger station. However, it is still preferable that climbers register in person to ensure the park has all necessary information about a climbing party and their itinerary, which allows park staff to respond more effectively in the case of an emergency.

Overnight parking this winter up at Paradise is not yet solidified, but most likely there will two locations - one in the upper lot across from the Paradise Inn by the old station and the second overflow lot will likely be in the lower part of the lower parking lot, facing the center island snowbank (same location as last winter). Check back to the Overnight Parking blog in the Access and Roads section for winter parking updates; and if you still have questions, feel free to ask a friendly ranger at the Entrance Station or Longmire Museum for details on where to park at the time of your visit.

Rangers staffing the Museum at Longmire and the JVC are helpful, informative and eager to assist with your needs, but they may not be a climber. Unfortunately, climbing rangers are not on staff regularly this time of year either, so before you come to the park, be sure to check this blog for updated climbing information and route conditions. For questions and/or issues regarding this blog or related to climbing at Mount Rainier, call the Climbing Program at (360) 569-6009 or contact Mike Gauthier at the email provided at the bottom of this page. Any general inquiries or questions specifically related to park policy or procedures can be directed to the Longmire Museum at (360) 569-2211, extension 3314 or by email at MORAinfo@nps.gov.

Enjoy the Fall while it lasts and since sunset is now MUCH sooner, be sure to start those hikes and climbs earlier to take advantage our limited daylight. See you on the Mountain!

Autumn Sunset, Grand Portage Bay

A recent sunset over Lake Superior. The clouds lately for our sunsets have been spectacular. Nice variety in the clouds and some amazing colors. Definitely better than August's sunsets, which most of the time didn't have a single cloud in the sky!

Sparks Will Fly

Sparks Will Fly, originally uploaded by ParsecTraveller.

As part of a photographic experiment in long exposures, earlier tonight I launched a small shovelful of glowing bonfire embers into the air and onto a very wet, rain-soaked lawn. The end result showed the embers leaving parabolic trails in the air, quite an interesting study of math in nature.

Although, I would hardly call hurling embers a natural occurrence.

Don't worry - the rain was coming down all night and I had the hose handy...no houses burned down in the making of this picture.