This adventure is completed!

My travels in Idaho and the Front Range of the Sierra Nevada are over (scroll down the page for the picture stories) and I'm now home facing what we call 'the Re-entry Problem.' Tons of spam and junk mail, re-stocking food--everybody knows the problem, it's universal.

 

But it does make one wish one were, as yesterday morning, about to drive up Mount Whitney in the Sierra Nevada. The campground near the top (to the right of Mt. Whitney, that high point on the left) is reached by driving up a long switchback road seen to the center right:

 

 

As we approach, the mountain range looms above us:

 

 

Then we roar (pardon me, slowly drive) up the first incline until we reach the big turn:

 

 

Up the southbound ramp to the final turn, where we face the towering peaks and prepare to enter the high forest.

 

 

This is a lovely spot, with a lively waterfall to provide background roar--er, music.

 

 

Unfortunately, my GoPro's battery died up there, so I didn't get the videos I wanted of the exciting ride down the mountain. I'll be back in September to hit it again.

 

Meanwhile, here's the view looking toward Lone Pine in the middle distance, with Death Valley beyond the far hills!

 

 

Home for three weeks before heading out again! Gotta get laundry done!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Day 4--Heh, heh...

In the end, it is true that everything comes to him who waits. Of course, I hate these trips where I have to shoot all of the good pictures in one day.

Today, I raced down to hang out with the swells at the Mammoth Mountain ski run: There are snow-covered mountains everywhere!

Enjoying the rare sunshine, I explored the lakes near Mammoth Mountain. Here is Twin Lakes, a short drive from the ski lift complex, with a nice waterfall flowing out of Lake Mamie in the far distance:

Here is the view looking back across Twin Lakes from that waterfall.

 That waterfall flows from a gorgeous lake, lined with snow-capped peaks--Lake Mamie.

 

Back on June Lake Loop near my cabin in the woods, Silver Lake is one of several we pass while driving along the June Lake Loop road:

 

 

For a change of pace, I went to the South end of Mono Lake where a large complex of mineral formations are known as the Tufa fields. There are hundreds of complexes, so I'll put a full treatment on the web site when I get home.

 

Here , a kayaker paddles on Mono Lake, looking at the formations as he passes them.

 

 

No more til I get home, but then I will have time to process some 13 Gigabytes of images and videos I shot on this glorious day.

 

Pulled out another one! The guardian angels get combat pay!

Sigh. It got even worse...

"No!" you might say. "How could it have gotten worse than Antarctica?"

How about a day of clouds and rain, with but a half-hour of any sunshine at all, even in fast-moving patches. I spent the half hour racing around, trying to take pictures while there was any chance of light on the subject.

 

There are lots of beautiful lakes here, all very close to where I'm staying--again, if only I could get good strong light on them. The mountains are majestic, especially with the freshly-fallen snow draping them and accentuating every crevice.

 

 I'm running out of days, so the next day and a half are the ball game. I desperately want lots of snow-capped pictures to compare with the Fall foliage when I visit in late September. Greedy? Perfectionist? Guilty on both, your Honor.

 

Imagine this shot from Aerie Crag under ideal conditions!:I saw it from a distance in full Sun, but by the time I could get here the !#!$!%!^! clouds had moved in.

 

Nature's colossal grandeur should make us be more understanding of our own insignificance. It's all about us--until you stand in a place like this and realize that we humans taken all together count for nothing when considered on a planetary scale: Where did we get such a high opinion of ourselves?

 

 

 

The morning will do what the morning does. The guardian angels have been struggling, but I persevere.  I have a list, if the weather will ease.

 

Wish me luck!

 

Uh--it's still Winter!...

Well, I leaped out of bed yesterday (Wednesday), full of high hopes in my little cabin in the woods: Thank goodness the cabin has a nice gas fireplace. The night was cold, but it was snug in here.

Ready to start the adventure, I went outside: Uh-oh.

But wait! it got worse!

Stop whining and moaning! Get out there and be positive. Expect the Sun to begin breaking up the clouds. The guardian angels will help you get the pictures.

So, late in the morning  I took a drive to Lundy Lake:

Hey, look at that! Whining and moaning worked! I don't want to make it a habit, but desperate men do desperate things.

Trying to get closer to those peaks, I drove on beyond Lundy Lake up a dirt road.

 

 Near the end was a small pond with a ring of peaks around it:

Always looking for more images, I drove up another canyon to Virginia Lake: There were still a lot of clouds, but this seemed moody enough:

I'm still waiting for clear skies to get a better elevation view of Mono Lake with good Sun on it, but this wasn't the day. This from a small overlook returning from Virginia Lakes.

Hey, guess what? It's raining again this morning (Thursday)!  Will it ever clear? Who knows? It's California!

The guardian angels just asked for a raise....

California welcomes(???) me back for a visit...

As expected, a long day. 500 miles of driving, part of it in driving rain, followed by sleet, snow and a residue of icy slush which had my car sliding to the edge of the paved surface several times.

There are also nearly no gas stations on the long roads , so I was running on fumes halfway here.

Frist, a nice memory from yesterday. Earl from Hawaii, was the cheerful, positive one-legged jumper.

 

I was dumfounded when Earl climbed up on the rail--in the wind--almost fell, but stayed upright and made his jump. I left the road sounds in, which these jumpers shutout to concentrate.

 

:

 

 

Today, after the long drive, I took a quick run around the June Lakes Loop, near Mono Lake and Yosemite National Park, as the rain clouds gathered.

 

At least I'm learning where some of the attractions are, even though the light failed and the rain clouds darkened everything soon after I took this:

 

 

Hoping for better conditions tomorrow. The scenery is beautiful, but will look better in lots of Sun. I'm relaxed, as this is a scouting trip for a September trip, to catch all of these places with the Fall foliage changing.

 

More to come!

 

Day 4, and the winds came...

It began with the jumpers walking up onto Perrine Bridge, thinking about the rising winds, and coming back down. Sigh. Glad we had such good conditions yesterday!

Even the famous Twins of Twin Falls were forlorn. Oh, wait...

The jumpers were philosophical, but even the monument at the site of Evel Knievel's attempted jump across the canyon seemed depressed. Someone apparently stole the plaque in the center. Now that I have seen the Canyon, Knievel's adventure seems totally mad. Good publicity for him and the Snake River Canyon, though.

 

Looking for truth and beauty, as always, I went to the Ritter Island State Park. Like the long-promised water flow increase at Shoshone Falls, nothing opens for the season around here until Memorial Day. The park was closed, but a waterfall and stream on the entrance road was a grand consolation prize. I waited a couple of hours in this gorgeous spot, waiting for the Sun to get high overhead and light them up. It was worth it.

 

 

The entire landscape here seems to have rivers flowing under it everywhere. Something has to nourish the hay which feeds the cows that give the milk, so the farms tap into the water to run their giant circular watering systems.  Those giant watering machines make the view from space geometric  https://www.google.com/maps/@42.5433669,-114.7569174,14626m/data=!3m1!1e3

 

 

When these underground rivers encounter  a cliff, such as here above the Snake River, the waterfalls appear as if from nowhere.

 

 

Below the falls is a placid stream: 

 

 

 

Just as I was finishing here, the clouds moved in. By the time I got back to town it was raining. Whew! The guardian angels saved my pictures again.

 

No jumpers today, but here is a moment from yesterday. As a collegiate springboard diver long ago, I can suggest to this young man that the tuck has to be very tight or you don't rotate quickly enough, and it can ruin your whole day...

 

 

The local jumping club's photographer was standing next to me, and from the look on her face he wasn't intending to land that close..

 

OK, perhaps a more sedate jump?

 

.

 

And remember, when they finish their half-minute flight, they have to lug their gear all the way back up here...

 

 

Off to the Sierra Nevada in the morning tomorrow, so the next blog chapter may have to wait a day or two.

 

Can't wait for the next chapter!

Idaho day 3 means Jump!!...

One of the unique attractions in Twin Falls is the Perrine Bridge, a massive structure which also happens to be among the very few spots where base jumping is legal. I recorded a dozen jumpers of various skill levels, who had come in from across the country and Europe. I'll only show this young lady, who was very poised. the rest will be put up on my web site later because Blogger doesn't like the length of the clips..

 

.Watching the jumpers is a case study in human frailty. Some are overconfident, some almost timid. You can see some of  them realizing in horror that with the cameras around, they can't not jump. Much more on that when I can post all the videos on the web site.

Then, since the Sun was cooperating, I went to nearby Perrine Coulee Falls again, to see if the Sun would light it. Better, but not full Sun:

 

Have you noticed that everything in Twin Falls seems to be named Perrine? Mister Perrine was the founder and leading citizen. His efforts began the success of Twin Falls,  now a busy agricultural and cattle town. Here he is, memorialized in a statue.

 

 

 

    Since I was on a roll, I tried my luck back at Shoshone Falls. Sometimes all it takes is a rainbow to lift one's mood. The Guardian angels hadn't increased the flow of the falls, but....

 

 

As a bonus, I even found another waterfall, across the river from the main falls. The place is blessed with immense amounts of flowing water. Vegas, eat your heart out. Sigh...

 

 

Tomorrow is another adventure! I'm not sure how it will work out, but hope springs eternal.

 

One terrific bonus is that the TV in my room doesn't work. Blessed relief! Oh, wait. I may miss the announcement about the horse being elected president. Can't miss that.

 

Can you imagine jumping off the Perrine Bridge without the chute? That's my new definition of Obamunist policies...

 

 

 

Idaho, day 2.

When last we met, I was so tired I couldn't see straight. Today is better, but then anything would be better.

The sky was iffy this morning, but my guardian angels parted the clouds at crucial moments-- as always. I'll be crushed if they stop. Hell, I'll probably be dead if they stop.

If you like dairy cows and manure, this is your place! Thousands of them everywhere, scarfing down the hay. Yum!

Malad Gorge is a small-scale park, with a couple of nice features. Here's the Gorge:

Right beneath where I stood to take that one, there is the Devil's Punch Bowl (or, to some,
Devil's Wash Bowl).

 

After Malad Gorge, I visited another small but beautiful park known as Niagara Springs. I wonder why?

 

 

 

After Niagara Springs, it was to the other side of town for Balanced Rock. more than 40 tons of stone balanced on a pedestal a couple of feet across. You can see the size compared to the visitors coming back from it.

 

 

Don't be standing next to or under it when it finally goes...

 

I've hardly had a chance to look at anything I've shot, but I think it will work out well from the few I've seen. The weather is going in and out, so the base jumping off the Perrine Bridge could be a big success or a dud.

 

No, I'm not going to stand underneath and catch one. Once they jump off the bridge, they're on their own!

Welcome to Idaho!...(Updated)

After what I will always remember as The Longest Day (I've flown halfway around the world in less time), I'm settled here in Twin Falls.

There are some scenic attractions, such as the heavily-traveled Perrine Bridge: the bridge is enormous for its type, but because there is no superstructure above it, it's almost like another part of the road.

I hope to film the base jumpers there over the weekend--if the weather holds out.

Then there is Perrine Coulee Falls, tucked away on a side road near the bridge:

The star of the show is Shoshone Falls, which they have been promising us will have 'twice as much water flowing in a week or two' when an upstream reservoir and dam releases it. Of course, they've already been promising us that for three weeks...

Thanks, guys! A nice way to treat visitors who have come so far.

Still, it is a beautiful spot. A one-trick pony, of course, but a beautiful place to relax and recover from driving forever. Best of all, there are few tourist visitors for the size of the area. There are several overlooks, and at most of them I was alone.

 

 

After a brilliant clear sky yesterday, it looks cloudy today. Glad I got some work done yesterday, despite the cost to the mind and body.

The guardian angels have their work cut out for them...