Backyard Flowers

After Breakfast, sat awhile under Shady Alder near the RipRat at the Creek...Female Tanager, Robins, Blue Jay, Phoebe, Song Sparrow and the MewMew Bird, which I have blurry pic of, but will try for better to post!...on return, Flower pics, and sighted Mama Doe and Two Fawns...sunny blueblue hothot, thunder clouds sometimes...at Lunch: sat awhile in Owl Woods...Phoebe, Mallard call, Mosquitoes, but endured--really wanted to be outside!!...on return, sighted Mama Doe and Two Fawns threading between the Rooms!..and didn't have camera along...hmmph.

Penstemon

Pic up from Cave Lake State Park, Nevada, hike....Showy Penstemon, I think....no pics today...sunny blueblue hothot...

Bristlecone

Pics up from hike at GBNP...today: shuttled over to the Village on errand...picked up mounting board--trying to enter pics in Fair...paddled back...quiet...sunny blueblue hot....entering pics in the Summertime Fair is something I've meant to do for a long while, but without a car, it was problematic...even with a car, I have to figure out how to get off from work to deliver and pick up pics, and get a Fair day off to go see the exhibits...my workdays always fall on Fair days...anyway, sent in application..have got that far!...

Doe And Two Fawns

At Lunch: sat awhile at Sandpiper Beach..Mama Doe and Two Fawns about...sunny blueblue warm...short post!...sleep debt to pay...report of Buzz Bird perched beside the Merced downriver from Beaver Bend...

Ten Mile River Ospreys

So...Yesterday, having picked up snack, and the Sky blueblue, I was rolling back to Deer Tracks Beach in hopes of getting pics and clips of Osprey catching fish from the Surf...nearing a Long Bridge over the Ten Mile River, I sighted Big Wings, Osprey, soaring over the Dunes on the other side of the Road, where, fortunately, there was a large Turn Out, a staging area for Road Equipment, I think...no traffic behind me, so made a left, parked, took the key out of the ignition (I have no back up key!), got the newer camera, and the binocs, unhooked the seat belt, the straw hat with wide shade brim, and clambered out!!..of course, after all this rigmarole, critters I sight are often out of sight by the time I'm standing!...but Osprey was still overhead, and with Fish in Claws!...Osprey flew over the Road, and over Knoll where I had just been, and down into Tree Tops...Oh! I thought, wish there was some way over there!...returned everything, and myself, into Silver, and Rolled over to the turn out exit, and would have continued North, but saw on the other side of the Road, a spur Road, much hidden by Plants and Trees, that did go the direction Osprey had gone...crossed over, and rolled down aways, and found myself on Road that parallels Ten Mile River, and was sharing Road with Logging Trucks!...and sighted Osprey Nest atop a magnificent Snag...and Ospreys about...tending to Fledgling, I think...clip up is Fledgling on Nest...have pics of Mama Osprey...for sometime soon!...and I was a happy clam...picked up, and went back to the Turn Out, with the thought that maybe over the Dune there was the Ocean, and Ospreys would be fishing thereabout...parked again, and found some signs telling about the area, the Bridge, Ten Mile River, and what was over the Dune--more Dunes!..and an almost Desert Like Terrain with Ocean far in the distance...the rest of the early afternoon I spent exploring hereabout--pics and clips for report soon on Ten Mile River!!!...very cool place!!!...Today: rolled back to the Valley...stopped at Ft. Ross...report for sometime...some sightings, mostly Hawks...one report for sometime from the trips will just be the Hawks I saw...I didn't see many Hawks, but each was in a very distinct, and different terrain!!...sunny blueblue after very early overcast, warm...after dinner, and long visit with friends, paddled back to Creek's End...River down a lot, but still a lot of Water...and Mosquitoes...didn't sit awhile, and returned to Cabin with snack, and snacked, with tv on, computers on, and myself, dozing off!!...sleepysleepy...tomorrowmorrow....

First trip is like journey to the Moon,
Second,  making base camp at Mt. Everest.
Third, almost like home,
Fourth, a commute...

Deer Tracks Beach Ospreys

So, I got up before Sunrise, picked up coffee and mcmuffin with hash brown patty, and was rolling with all the gear, almost...forgot the newest computer, and wanted it with...so backtracked, and finally arrived at Westport around six thirty....grey overcast gloomy cool....sat a long while, wondering if Ospreys leave the Nest in such conditions!!!....after an hour or so, went for a rollabout up a Road, forget name, nearby, that went far up and into the Coastal Hills...overcast up there too...turned back, returned to the Bluff, and proceeded with plans to go down to the Beach and waitwait...and I waited and waited..watched Seagulls, and Pelicans, and Cormorants, and Buzzbirds....tired to sight Little Birds in the Bluff's low growing Vegetation....quietquiet....Beach was a crescent in the curve of the Bluffs...Rocks going out at each Point...picked up and walked about, and found Two Deer Tracks!!!...and very fresh...think Deer must have been about while I was dozing up on the Bluff!!...hmmph...followed Tracks, and couldn't figure how Deer came down to, and left, the Beach...a curio....chased Seagull with Crab...wanted pic of Crab...didn't think to take pic of Seagull with Crab!....had the Blanket with, and folded it up for a cushion, and waitedwaited on a Driftwood Log...several Logs about!....and, finally, One Osprey came flying over head flying South, and following, Second Osprey did a U Turn overhead, and flew North...and, Ospreys were gone as suddenly as appearing!....waitedandwaited...set up the Scope, and watched Seagulls, and Pelican, and Cormorants...quiet....sound of Surf and a Low Grey Sky...scenic pics of Fog moving into the Coast Hills far in the distance....finally, it's getting near noon!!, I sight Osprey in distance, kinda where I first saw Ospreys hereabout, above the Bluff...one quick blurry faraway pic...reviewed, and I see Osprey has a Giant Fish!!!...well...that's that, I say to myself, Ospreys will feast, and goof off the rest of the Day!....so I picked up, and rolled back to Ft. Bragg to get a snack...and just after getting gas, and snack, the Sun came out!!...Sky blueblue!!....so, I rolled back to Westport...and more to report!!..to be continued...oh!...walking up from the Beach to the top of the Bluffs, some New Bird, for me, pics...for sometime soon!!!...tomorrowmorrow, a long roll back to the Valley...I checked the camera time stamp on the Osprey pics today, and from Friday when thereabout...both times Ospreys were about around ten thirty....maybe, maybe that's when Ospreys usually wake up...too..

Klamath River Grey Whale

(Update:  added clip today, Aug. 1...web report reports Whale still by Bridge...7/31) Yesterday, when I came around the Turn approaching the Klamath River Bridge from the South, I was going the speed limit, with a string of cars behind me, as usual, and just as I came around the turn, a traffic cop car's (off to the side) tail lights flashed red--telling me to slow down, I surmised!.... and well I should!, as all along the Long Bridge, were people walking, and looking over the sides....rolling over the Bridge, going very slow now, I was concerned with the string of cars behind, which I surmised were even more annoyed with me now!, so I didn't take in very well my surroundings!!...I just thought, tourists must really like to gawk at the Klamath River from the Bridge!!....Now, this morning, I almost continued North from Crescent City, thought to loop all the way over to Tule Lake and Eagle Road for another visit, but the Ospreys of yesterday were calling, so I rolled South...approaching Klamath, I had been thinking all along to just skip seeing the Ospreys again at the Coast, and going inland, and back to the Valley, but just as I got to Klamath, I sighted  Osprey Nest, with Ospreys flying about, high above the Road on a Tall Snag....very cool!!..pulled over at turnout...pics and clips for sometime....oh!!!..I forgot, in the morning, I rolled over to Pebble Beach in Crescent City, thinking maybe to see Grey Whales...but sign thereabout explained it was wrong time of year for migration..but did take pic of faraway Light House...a bookend to Notch Peak!!!...anyway, back to Klamath...I come around a turn to the Bridge again, and there are even more people lining the Bridge than yesterday, crossing back and forth, and traffic cop cars, with sirens chirping, trying to keep traffic from stopping....I rolled down the passenger window, and asked, 'what's everyone doing!?'....'Grey Whale and Calf'.....I was in the middle of a Whale Jam!!!...one would think, that with all my experience in the Valley with Deer Jams, and Bear Jams, and Bobcat Jams, I would have had a clue!!!....I squeezed into the turn out parking on the Far Side of the Bridge, gathered the gear, and threaded my way with everyone, everyone kinda walking and talking like entering the Summertime Fair, and got some really cool pics and clips, which will have to wait until I return to the Valley...the Calf was about yesterday, but has left Mama Whale, disconsolate I imagine,  lingering about the Bridge, un-persuaded to return to the Ocean, in spite of the incessant pounding of pipes on the aluminun hulls of skiffs and Klamath River open fishing boats....these Boats are special to me...when a kid, I stood with pop at the mouth of the Klamath and fished, casting out a metal lure as far as I could, and reeling it back in...only thing I caught, was the lines, and lures, of the fisherman in boats, piloted by expensive guides--one needed a guide experienced with the tides and currents. at least back then....today, from the Bridge, the constant din of the aluminum pounding I thought at first was some kinda of an Indian Festival...noise had that kinda rythym...and dont know, but upon reflection, the whole episode had a ritual like atmosphere--the atmosphere the concern for Wildlife....anyway, more to report...not just Whale, but Elk, and Hawk, and other sightings of today...(google search: Klamath Whales...for lots of clips and pics!)...oh!!..here's good link to story: http://www.redding.com/news/2011/jul/23/gray-whale-calf-not-doing-well-after-swimming-klam/

Wages Creek Ospreys

Well, whole post up will have to wait...connection keeps dropping...One Day later--to continue (it's Sunday evening now, post started last Evening!): I was in Crescent City last Night...motel was okay, right next to the Harbor, where I sat and watched Seagulls and Pelican, and snacked on Fish and Chips after the long roll from Fort Bragg, with only a couple stops to looksee, Ospreys one stop, another brief one for Faraway Elk near Prairie Creek Redwoods...I was kinda disappointed in not seeing many Critters..but that's what happens rolling along on Narrow Roads...oh!...I did stop for long walkabout at Humbolt Bay National Wildlife Refuge....picked up some free Posters at the Visitor Center...Ospreys were thereabout a few years back...learned this after mentioning Ospreys I saw at Wages Creek (thought it was just Wage last night, and have edited, and 'am somewhat charmed by the name, insomuch as some wages have expended to see Ospreys thereabout!!...and even more, as Tonight, I'm back in Fort Bragg. for two nights, and will be up at Dawn tomorrow for short roll out to Westport, and down to the Beach where I saw Ospreys, and thereabout, I'll waitwait!!)....shortly, I'll try to do Tonight's Post, and tell more of today, Sunday...hereabout, surf motel, there's good wifi, and cabel tv with a jillion channels!! (in contrast to last night, with no Late, or LateLate, Show!!...wait..it was Saturday...one loses track of days traveling!!)....anyway, added the pics meant for last night's post...will try to add clip too...and more report for sometime....oh!!...how I sighted Ospreys!!....Buzz Birds are about a lot along the Coast, and approaching Westport, right by the Graveyard, which is about as fine a final perch as one could wish for!, I saw Big Wings flapping way out over the Ocean surrounded Rocks, and thought, 'that's not Buzz Bird's Wings'....pulled over, and startled Kestrel up from a Tombstone..pic, when Kestrel perched on Power Pole, for sometime...gathered the gear, and tentatively walked out to the Cliff Edge...was walking on like thick succulents, and wasn't sure what was beneath!...anyway, sighted Osprey, and returned for tripod, and for a half hour or so, took pics and clips...have sequence of Osprey just after catching Fish and lifting off (tomorrow, would like to get clip and pics of hover , dive, catch and lift off!)...Osprey farfar away...some hd clips of Osprey flying over the Surf and Rocks...this I'll try to upload to youTube....Osprey with the Fish in Claws (not Osprey rising from Surf--there were at least Three Ospreys!), flew back across Field to Tree Line and Forest of Pines, where Nest must be--I think Ospreys stay near, and use their Nests for Home all the time...have to check...anyway...much fun seeing Ospreys over Ocean!!!

Golden Gate Owl and Hawks

I found one of the Owls in Golden Gate Park...when I got there, I parked Silver in the Museum Parking Garage, and walked over to where I thought Stow Lake is, at the intersection of Martin Luther King, and Presidio (Hwy 1)...thereabout I was diverted by Hawk, Redshoulder call...and sighted Hawk across 1 high in a Eucalyptus..pic up, and clip and more pics for sometime...left off, and found the Lake, which wraps around a Hill...not sure where to look for Owl, but saw group above on Trail sighting...too shy to ask what!!...walked up to where they had been, and looked and looked, but no luck...continued up the spiraling Hill Path, and sighted Hawk, same I thought, even told this to another group which arrived, and feel remiss, as on review, Hawk is Redtail....group was pleased to see Hawk, and told me Owl was ahead...encountered two more groups (guided tours of some sort--local College was one), and with their help, finally sighted one Fledgling Owl...farfar away pics and clips...haven't got the clip editor working right yet...so clip is short...looked and looked for all Four Fledglings, but no luck..Owl I saw flew from one Tree to another..and was sleepysleepy...Trees are Pines like Monterey Pines, and background the cityscape--a fine Roost for Owls!!...left off, and on the way down, Redtail was overhead, riding the Wind, and calling...pic...Park is very cool...lots to see...thought to go to the de Young Museum, but not enough time, and building is kinda intimidating...in fact, I contemplated just why in America, Americans imported the aristocratic architecture of Europe, and continue it with the design of our Museums...well, I cant explain this well in a short post!!...sunny blue with fog hovering over by the ocean...left off from the Park, and rolled all the way up the Coast...well, wait, lost 1 somewhere, and was on 101 all the way to Petaluma...and in heavy traffic...took the Road to Bodega Bay, and then up 1 all the way to Fort Bragg, my present perch!!...wanted to get to Arcata, and from there, make a foray to Prairie Creek Redwoods....will try that tomorrowmorrow, I think!!...more pics and clips from the Park for sometime...Coast Road is scenic, but would take much time to pause here and there, go down to the Ocean, and explore....did take some pics, for sometime too....

Great Grasslands Hawk

Well, now I'm in Half Moon Bay, comfort inn thereabout...rolled in around ten, through smoke coming up Patterson Pass, roadside fire (wish I could have gotten pics--smoke and wind generators twirling, and traffic going west backed up for miles and miles, and just one firetruck, with two fireman pulling their hose along, spraying water on the fireline--in a hurry, as fire still between the east and west bound lanes), and fog on 92--looking in the rearview mirror, I had traffic backed up a bit too!--dont like fog!....anyway, pic and clip up from Great Grasslands National Wildlife Refuge...route I took was 140 to Gustin to catch 5...and GGNWR is just before Gustin....walked out and sat by the Willows....heard Owl!!!..but too many leaves...Hawks were about, and after snack, pastrami sandwich and gator aid, I picked up, and just as I did, Hawk returned to a Willow...and quickly chased off by Mocking Bird, I think...sunny hot blue...got a haircut in Merced...picked up adobe premier and elements 9 (helped with post up!!), and I'll put these on mac too...talked with the garage about Silver's wobble...inspection scheduled for aug. 2...might be brakes...anyway, tomorrowmorrow, I'll see just where I am in the Daylight!!!

Notch Peak

Pics up taken from Baker Village Archaeological Site, which is just outside Baker, Nevada, and at the foot of Mt. Wheeler, third pic from top. I didn't climb Wheeler, not enough time in a one day visit, but John Muir did!


quote


 “we made the assent of the peak just after the first storm had whitened its summit and brightened the atmosphere. The foot slopes are like those of the Troy range, only more evenly clad with grass. After tracing a long, rugged ridge of exceedingly hard quartzite, said to veined here and there with gold, we came to the summit, a thousand feet above the timber line, its slopes heavily tree-clad.” 


unquote


A couple links:

Archaeology at the Top of Nevada:

Geodetic Surveys of 1878-1895

by

Gregory R. Seymour

Trails Past, Inc.

Nevada Archaeological Association

Ely, Nevada April 2007

http://trailspast.com/html/nv_geodetic_survey.html

John Muir in Nevada (SWIP Trip, day 13)

Written by Wild Nevada

Tuesday, 04 May 2010 12:47http://www.wildnevada.org/john-muir-in-nevada-swip-trip-day-13.html

Yesterday's postup:  Arrived in Tuolumne in time to watch Sunset on Mt. Gibb and Mt. Dana, and snack on pizza from the mobil station...pic..at a pullout by Walker River, just south of Topaz Lake, on 395, which was at the end of the Loneliest Hwy (50) roll (actually, Fallon, Nevada is pretty much the end)...at the pullout rest area, I heard what I thought was DownyOrHariy Woopecker Young chirping...and sighted instead Redbreasted Woodpecker....set up for pics, and Mama Woodpecker was back and forth, and a long time  between trips...not much luck with pics, and Baby Woodpecker got impatient, it seems, and came out of the Nest Hole in the Cottonwood!...would have liked to stay to see what Mama Woodpecker made of this, but time....sometimes see Redbreasted Woodpeckers hereabout in the Fall on the Dogwoods in the Backyard...time is a real problem on the rollabouts...time and distance from motel made Wheeler problematic, and Notch Mountain in the far distance, not as far as I rolled, but just as far as I saw!, is on the to do list!!...

Today: walked back and forth to the Village in the morning...errand, lost my id card, and needed to replace it...and napped....sunny hot blue....Silver's front suspension wobble came back coming down the grade to Mono Lake...and I will likely go to Town tomorrow for repair, I think!...gardeners working taking down dangerous Trees ready to topple from Creek's erosion by the Footbridge...have a neat clip, for sometime.. at dinner, talked, listened mostly, with friends about schools we went to as kids (Queens, NY, Chicago, Ill, Garden Grove, CA), and on the way back, and in a reverie, Mama Doe rose up and protested--I almost stepped on Doe!...didn't see Fawns...oh...checking the blog, I see tonight the clips aren't working on all the posts...hmmph....

Redbreasted Sapsucker

Cave Lake Trail

Today, I hiked the Cave Lake Overlook Trail at Cave Lake State Park, which is nearby Ely; yesterday, I hiked the Bristlecone Pine Trail, and the Alpine Lake Trail at Great Basin National Park; tomorrow, I'm not sure where I'll be be!...post ups are short, I dont have a photo, or clip, editor on the newest computer yet, oh, the usual  PC ones are there, but I dont seem to be able to lower the resolutions with them, so difficult to upload--takes a long time!....if I go through a Large Town, I can maybe get adobe's premier and elements...otherwise, editing and posting will wait until I'm back in the Valley, which might be tomorrow!...just going out the Cabin Door was like removing gum from carpet on a hot day!...anyway, everything hereabout is spread far apart, and I've learned that a few hours of day hiking often produces more Fauna and Flora sightings than hundreds of miles, and hours and hours of rolling on the Roads!...in the hike today: some new Flowers, and Butterflies, and Birds--new to me...pics and clips for sometime...and familiar sightings: Flicker, DownyOrHairy Woodpecker Young chirping (couldn't sight), Juncos, Mountain Chickadee, Western Bluebird, Clark's Nutcracker, Coots, Cliff Swallow, Great Blue Heron...two small Lakes near Ely...Cave Lake, and Comins Lakes...most of the effort last evening, and today, was trying to take clips and pics of Ducks, and Coots, with Young...need to put clips together with editor!!...sunny hot blue...letterman show report of Condors at Grand Canyon...yesterday, report of Mountain Lion on Baker Lake Trail at GBNP...and needless to say, wifi connects are problematic, making postups likewise!!...oh..and the nc's touchy touch pad, and odd keyboard sensitivity, is keeing me up too late editing!!!

Steptoe Creek Hawk

Pronghorns

Well, I rolled in Silver as far as Ely, Nevada, got a ramada inn room,with, sheesh, the casino out front of the door!...but room is nice, and will be base camp for next two days...Ely is just short of Great Basin National Park by about 66 miles....went to sleep immediately for a couple hours, so no time to explore Town....Pronghorns aside the Road, and curious about me too...each step I'd take, Pronghorns would bound off, but then, if I stood still, start to come back..farfar away though....other sights, and sightings, for report soon...sunny hot cerulean blue, air hearabout very clear, and evening deep blueness exceptional...Swallows finished the Nest under the Eaves at the Lee Vining mobil station, but not about....

Four Ospreys

Osprey clip from Wednesday, I think...days are kinda blurring together..which is how my eyes are after getting wow (world of warcraft) uploaded, and working, and played most all afternoon...did go for an evening walk back to the Creek after dinner...flashes of color,Grosbeak, Tanager..Woods quiet....overcast, sometimes sunshine, warm...did manage to get to level 2, somehow--most of the time, I'mghost!...oh...Raccoon Tracks at Creek's End near the  Tiki Outlet....looked that Raccoon swam across from opposite Bank...yesterday, Buzz Bird circling overhead at the Village...now, I need to pack, and be ready to roll early tomorrow morning...

Two Top Pine Meadow Views

Well, the Weather Channel has a new show with a photog wandering about with a tripod over his shoulder, and he talks like the Crocodile Hunter....there both from Australia....the Salt Flat pic at Sunset (he's out in Death Valley), is pretty good...and reminds me of my one visit, and at Sunset, out in the Devil's Cornfield...hmmph..."From the Edge", show is called...pics up today are, top to bottom: pic I got from ebay, pic that's in the Museum Gallery at present, both from 1901 or so..I have photogs name for Gallery pic...not sure on the Snow scene....and the bottom pic from my walkabout this evening out in Two Top Pine Meadow....the Pine in the middle middle ground, just left of center, in the old pics, might be Two Top...not sure...and not sure how the early photos were made!...looks like the Walls and Domes were another photograph photoshopped into the pic...the vantage point is from Beaver Bend (Bend in the Merced across the Road from Rocky Point)....for my pic, I should have been over to the right, and back a bit, and one can see in my pic the size relationships...I'll have to go over to Beaver Bend, which was like 200 yards behind me, find the foreground Boulder, and take a pic, and update this comparison!....frittered most of the day trying to get world of warcraft onto the newest computer...the computer doesn't just go to sleep when not being used, it shuts off, which makes doing a nine gigabyte download problematic!!...while on the walk, sighted Mama Doe in the Burnt Forest, didn't see Fawns, and sighted Two Flickers on the Burnt Snag at the Slough, one going into the Hole in the Snag...think maybe a Nest, but not sure...sunny blue hot and breezy...weather has been very nice last few days...Rafting on the Merced has begun...the River back in its Banks....and it seems all the commotion of the Winter storms, and Spring run off, has given way to the Valley's gentile Summertime....

Bunny

Well, I rolled down the hill, and got another laptop...toshiba pc satellite...and the little clip is an experiment...I used the pc's clip editor....and I'm not sure what resolution it rendered at...anyway...after shopping, rolled up hill on Osprey Road...all the Nest Poles, and the One Snag Tree, had Ospreys...Four Ospreys each on two of the Poles....couldn't see too well the other Nests...went for a walk at McSwain Lake...Turkeys, Lizard, Quail...pics and clips...of Ospreys too...for sometime...sunny hot blue...and now to install world of warcraft...friend regaled me with all their characters, and the different realms..and friend has completed the game...but what impressed me was that millions are playing this game, and have acquired a kinda fauna and flora like command of the lore in the game...and skills not unlike the ones I use taking pics...well, I want to play the game to see if some speculations have merit!...oh...Bunny's Ears perked at call of Hawk, Redtail, too far away for pics, or much danger for Bunny!...but I'm surprised Rabbits are about in the open...

Spreading Phlox

pic from yesterday, Phlox was here and there around the Trail Heads to Sentinel Dome and The Fissures....today: more time fiddling with the external drives, on all three computers!...kinda forgot which drives have what....would like to take the old laptop on the rollarounds, but I wrecked the cd drive--put the plastic packaging in by mistake...so to copy things from the internal drive, which is full, to external, I need an external  (or an external cd drive)...oh, wait, I think I might have one...one drive I checked didn't look to have anything on it, and it was one of the small hp portables....the old laptop is a HP PC...the new laptop, is a Mac, and I dont know what other mac users are doing when the internal drive fills up...brb....iphoto onto external hard drive...geez lueez, that links to three pages of forum discussion on the subject...and iphoto is a jealous god!....I have one hp portable xhd with Time Machine backup...(TM is a reallyreally jealous god!!!)...and a new wd elements 1tb drive, which I, from reading above, wrongly formatted in Fat (didn't open on the desktop hp pc anyway!), and should have used the Journaled format....just finding how to format this drive was a task!!....and if I reformat it, I'll have to revisit that puzzle...all of this has moved me near to considering getting one of the new hp laptops...I saw one with 8 gb...and with a pc, I can hook up as many external drives as I want, and work off of them, with any photo editor program I please...I just dont understand why macintosh, which originated the icons that could be dragged and copied anywhere and everywhere, drifted away from that...oh...jealousy I suppose!!!....sunny hot blue...maybe tomorrow a rollaround...maybe...oh..in the evening, paddled over to Sandpiper Beach...a familiar looking New Log hauled up by High Water against the Cottonwoods...continued along the Merced, East Bank much eroded, Big Cottonwood down on the West Bank, to Creek's End, and, yep, Owl Log has floated off to be by the Cottonwoods...cant express how much I'll miss sit awhiles on Owl Log at Creek's End!!...still some Flotsam there, but nothing looking comfortable to perch on...hmmph...and the Woods quiet...one Young Doe about, and Fawn tracks...more iphoto: a blogger found some help, which is here.......http://fatcatsoftware.com/

Moonlit Falls

Well, I fiddled most of the day with the new external drive to back up the new computer, and I just cant get it to work the way I want it to...anyway, while it was copying, I rolled up to the
Rim thinking to try and get a Moonbow pic from that vantage...I dont know if wandering around The Fissures looking for the trail after dark is recommendable, but watching Sunset from thereabout is very cool....sunny hot blue...and my notion that one can get a Moonbow pic from above the Falls on the opposite Wall, or  Rim, doesn't seem to work...Moon was right behind me, and Falls out front...I've seen a daytime Rainbow on Bridal Veil from the Rim, so I dont know!!...oh...I changed from the old editor on Blogger, to the new editor, which brought back the Followers icons....think that's what did it...oh...Fourteen Mallards at Sandpiper Beach...most all I think were Mallardlings almost full grown...and a Lizard...pic for sometime...and while getting midnight snack at the snack machine, Raccoon...didn't have camera with...hmmph...I did have a Headlamp, two in fact, one hand carried....nonetheless, I was careful to note Landmarks and Trees on the way, sometimes taking pics with the waterproof....the little point shoots make a good ball of string....what really helped though was the reflective plates attached above the trail to trees for cross country snow travel...

hiking through the dark
and sometimes moonlit forest
every lamp helps

Cinquefoil

pic up, Cinquefoil, I think, at Big Oak Flat Trailhead above Big Meadow on the Burnt Slope...form July 5 rollaround...no pics today...well, I'm just not ready to rollaround much anywhere tomorrow, so tomorrow looks to be taken up with errands and chores, maybe trip to town to have Silver's belts looked at...mechanic tagged them last maintenance visit...hmmph...but very happy the work week is over....yesterday, traffic coming into the Valley was backed up to Dog Rock...today, gate was closed in the afternoon...only those with reservations allowed through....sunny hot blue....

I've wondered how the PCT (Pacific Crest Trail) hikers have been doing, and found this current blog journal...very cool...lots of snow...

http://www.kernvsoswald.com/blog/....

Mobil Fauna

A must stop on any East Side rollaround is the Lee Vining Mobil Gas Station, for gas of course, but also for the great food....Cliff Swallow pics from Breakfast stop June 21, eggs, bacon, home fry potatoes...Swallow over the entry Door, and too, Swallows flying about outside the Big Windows (most any place with Big Windows is okay by me!)...Hawk, Redtail, being chased by Blackbirds, pic from June 28...afternoon stop for Fish Taco plate...having been disappointed not to see Eagles or Hawks all day (oh, did see Kestrel), I was surprised to see Hawk approaching outside the Windows with Blackbirds in pursuit...tried to ready camera, but no luck, until Hawk and Blackbirds came back into view, and a series of pics....no pics today...sunny hot blue...talked today with friends about Great Basin National Park...everyone agrees a must see...and by some quirk in things, I have two weeks vacation beginning Monday...thought had been to spend all of the time exploring Tuolumne, but much of Tuolumne, at the moment, is problematic...the Store and Grill, while ready, cant open as Snow and Flooding is messing with the tiki piping and water supply....in two weeks maybe open....really wanted to just set up camp in the Campground, and dayhike everywhere so I could carry all the gear...anyway, asked Ranger who just came from Great Basin, if I could do as planned there, and it would seem so....so, post ups might be intermittent in the coming days!!.....the route I would take to get to Great Basin is interesting....Tioga Road 120, makes a jink at the Mobil Station, and starts up again just South of Mono Lake...and there it goes off into the Desert Shrub Distance, and looks to link to Hwy 6/50, and that Road takes one to the neighborhood of Baker, Nevada...."It has about eighty residents...and four restaurants."... 'Well, that'll work!"

Burnt Slope Lupine

no pics today...pics up from Tuesday...Flowers on the Burnt Slope above Big Meadow, which itself isn't burnt, but all around is!...see scenic pic...good time to take pics of the the Flowers hereabout is at Sunset...passing the Lupine, I could see the color, and u turned, back to the turn out, and just a little late!...hereabout, sunny hot not so humid...sighted Mama Doe resting, and Doe behind the Rooms--dont know where Fawns where, but overheard tourists talking of Deer....'Can we get back to the Creek this way? ' 'Yes, that way a Dirt Road, turn right and follow it to the Creek, and the Creek goes to the Merced...be careful, water is high'...and off the tourists with fish poles went, swatting Mosquitoes...'Maybe we should go get some repellent?'...oh...Marmot at Marmot Log, May Lake!