A moon shot from 2018-08-19. The moon is an interesting subject to shoot. With the naked eye we can't see very much detail, but once you can zoom in with a telephoto lens, the moon's terrain becomes much more apparent. Shooting the moon is never tiring because our view of it varies with the atmospheric conditions and because of the Earth's shadow on the moon.
This is a shot facing East as the sun was setting low in the sky. The clouds were amazing looking. If you zoominto the picture and look at the center section where the clouds are darker than those in the background, you will see the clouds in front are producing a shadow on the clouds behind. Again, if you click the photo to get a look at the full-sized image you will better discern what I'm referencing.
These clouds were likely a thousand feet or taller, as you can see the botom of the clouds were only a few hundred feet above the landscape.
Quite amazing how large and alive the clouds can appear in the sky, the changes are often striking.
These lightning shots were captured with a cell phone. It's tough enough to capture lightning with a DSLR and with a cell phone, it's a little more tricky. Even though the pics did not come out the best, they are still not bad. All these shots were captured in the Arizona deserts. The clouds rolled in furiously and the storm was, pun intended, electric.
How often do you see a supermoon? When you do see it, what exactly does it look like to you? In this depiction, the supermoon is peering over the peaks in the Sierra Nevada. Two great shots.
In my opinion there are no more beautiful mountains than the Eastern Sierras.
The mountains in the Eastern Sierras have a natural color all their own. There are so many colors of rock it's amazing. While the Rockies and Appalachians are great as well, there's so much variation and natural beauty in the Sierras.
The above shot was taken in July atop one of the peaks above Virginia Lakes, a couple of the lakes seen below.
Many of the lakes are as still and pure as can be. The scene above is one of the many lakes. As we perused this lake there were several deer eating on the vegetation.
Additionally surprising was the number and variety of flowers growing at elevation.
In the shot above you can see some red on the snow. It's also often called watermelon, pink, and blood snow. The red snow is called Chlamydormonas Nivalis and is a very common snow alga.
The picture above is of a cell from the red snow. The red snow might be edible, but it's best if you don't. The best thing to do is to wipe away the top four to six inches of the red alga, and if you need to eat the snow, do so after the red is clearly wiped away.
The shot above is a snow-drift we came across when we hiked over the top of the mountain to the other side. The drift, from what we could tell, was approximately twelve feet deep. The water in the pool was crystal clear and about six inches deep. An amazing site.
Above is a picture of a couple of the highest lakes on the way to the top of the mountain.
Above, a few of the peaks at the top.
Of course many of the lakes are incredible. What we found really amazing was how many other lakes we found once we crossed over the peaks. Down virtually every side of the mountain was yet another lake in the distance.
It never ceases to amaze me, the numbers of flowers at all the elevations. In this particular shot a bee looking for nectar. It wouldn't be a big deal, but this guy was huge and he had on his winter jacket - see the nice beige neck cover?
Here's another snow-bank we came across going down another side of the mountain. This "snow cave" was about eight feet high and twelve feet high at the largest opening and half this size at the top opening. The white streak you see running vertically in the picture is water melting from the drift. It's crystal clear and we drank our fill.
More high-altitude flowers. These ones were growing in the rocks.
More flowers growing into the pine branches.
More examples of at-altitude flower growth. Life will find a way.
Finally a nice sunset view to cap off a great day of hiking in the mountain-tops.
This weekend was a nice getaway to First Creek just off highway 159 - also known as Blue Diamond Rd and Red Rock Canyon Rd.
The hike up to the springs are about 1.5 miles and reasonably uphill all the way, although the grade is not too bad.
On
the way up the trail the ground is what you'd expect to see, mostly
desert, cactus, and rocks, not very interesting. Once you are about 3/4
the way to the spring you begin to see definite changes if you walk
along the wash.
The picture above features grape vines growing within a cactus. Not too often you will see this and it's very interesting.
The further you move up the more lush the wash becomes. Once there is sitting water the plants begin to flourish.
For
me what's really great is to see pine trees come into the mix. We're
still at a desert elevation and pine trees are reasonably scarce, but
birds must have deposited these seeds many years ago and the sees took
root. Even in the upper elevations and on the other side of the Spring
Mountains you really don't see very many pine trees. There are a few
near springs, but they're very sparce.
Like
at the Spring Mountain Ranch there are some large patches of grape
vines growing wildly. In you look around you will find some of them
actually have fruit. Since these grapes grow wildly they put most of
their energy into their leaves and vines so it's not very often we see
fruit.
There are also a number of old-growth trees, some are dead, but many are surviving as long as the spring continues to run.
First
Creek doesn't look like much of a hike from the road, but when you take
the trail all the way up you will often be surprised by how nice it is.
If you go during the Spring you will often find many frogs throughout as they work on their courtships.
First
Creek is located off of Blue Diamond Rd / Red Rock Canyon Rd just North
of Spring Mountain Ranch. There's a large pull-off on the South Side
(viewing towards the mountains) of the road.
Enjoy First Creek.
The Murphy Ranch is a great hike and has some interesting history. We hiked down one set of stairs and up another - the toll was over 1800 stair steps.
The link for the above picture was taken from THIS link.
Here is a Google Map view with coordinates from the beginning of the trail-head.
And here's a link to the Wikipedia page with some information about Murphy Ranch, originally owned by Winona and Norman Stephens, sympathizers of the "anti-semitic, white supremacist Silver Legion of America". Very interesting.
There are two stairways on the left side as you hike up the road, which is mostly paved. The second set of stairs has a hand-rail but there is quite an amount of overgrowth, you will need to duck in a few areas.
The first set of stairs is easy to manage but there are no hand-rails. Watch your step as you may have signs of vertigo while descending.
Both of these sets of stairs count over 500 steps so be prepared for a rather strenuous ascent.
Murphy's Ranch is a place I would like to visit again when I have more time to venture further. It's well worth the trip and the views of the ocean are amazing.
