It is soooooooo COLD and gray right now....

I want to go back to the mountains.

SkyWatch

If it were a SkyWatch picture from today it would just look gray and COLD!

On Top of My World

My fortune cookie last week said I would be on top of the world.

I felt that I was when I took this picture near the Fremont Lookout.

Some others were closer to the top and had been even closer.





Do you see them?



















How about now?

Approximately ten thousand people a year attempt the summit of 14,410 foot Mt. Rainier.

About half of them make it. the others turn back becasue of weather (not an issue this past weekend when these were taken), altitude sickness, or fatigue. Many go with guide services. Others do the climb with friends. Many do it more than once. It requires proper equipment, training in climbing skills, and determination.

For those forced to turn back because of weather or other dangerous conditions, it may be a disappointment, but the mountain will be there another day. We saw a helicopter airlift an injured climber off the mountain yesterday. He was injured on the way down, so after a successful summit.

And that's the story from the top of my world, where among other things, we shoveled some snow this weekend and marked trails to make them safer for those of us whose top of the world looks more like the first picture.

My World Tuesday can be found here.

SkyWatch--Skies Over Two States

Visit the SkyWatch site to see beautiful skies from around the world.    The skies couldn't make up their minds what to do the day we hiked into Hurricane Creek Road near Joseph, Oregon. Our intention was to snowshoe up this trail into the Eagle Cap Wilderness. If we had driven to the campground, we could have started that hike. But because of conditions, we parked on a turnout much farther down the road and hiked up the road (uphill) to the campground.  By the time we got there, we were ready for a rest and to eat our lunch. We decided to make the Eagle Peak hike another time, either on the snowshoes or in the fall as a hike.

After hiking back down the road, we chained up to travel safely down to where it was plowed. When we stopped to remove the chains, we could see clear to Idaho's skies.

Winter Views After the Storm

Text and photos (c) 2010 by Robert Barry Francos

Most of these photos, taken after the February snow storm, were in a garden scupture shop. I've always loved snow on statues and the like, as they are organically sculpted in their own right by nature. The last photo is of the Broadway Bridge. Photos can be enlarged by double-clicking them.

Winter is Here and It's Going on Two Years Swallow My Pride: A Photo Essay

Text and photos (c) Robert Barry Francos

Since I live in the Prairies of Canada now, people assume it is always cold and always snowy, but actually, the motto here is "Saskatoon Shines!" because we get more sunlight than almost anyplace else in the country. But we do have our snow days, such as the blizzard that flew through a few days ago. Here are some of my shots (photos can be enlarged by clicking on them):

[When opening the front, there was a lip that was against the door]
[The front steps]
[After digging us out]
[Snow "cave" nature-driven sculpture on the back of a car on the street]
[Our back porch; note the height of the snow on the table and benches]


[Frost on our rear upper window; on the second, you can see the snow on the roof of the addition, just past the window]

[The ice coming over the weir as seen from the Railway Bridge, overlooking the South Saskatchewan River, facing south (Saskatoon is also known as the "City of Bridges")]

[Railway Bridge pylon caked with ice, looking straight down]
[Statue at the University that looks cold; I love white snow on a black scuplture]

This Way Thursday

I have discovered a group posting pathways and signs and such under the meme "This Way Thursday." I've not had a specific theme to blog on for for Thursdays, leaving it open to post whatever strikes me, and if nothing strikes me...well, there are postless Thursdays in my past. I may not post a This Way every Thursday, but it's nice to have another inspiration.

This was our way as we hiked Trail 100 at Mt. Spokane State Park last Saturday. The trail turns off of this park road, which obviously leads somewhere by car in the summer--but not for now.

No, not this way...

Not a day for a picnic, and we'd already had lunch and arrived too late in the afternoon for a long hike, so let's head up the hill before we have to turn back when the light starts to fade.

This must have been a "road less travelled" section of the trail--at least for winter hikers. How did we manage to get into this predicament? We found better paths farther up, after a bit of a climb out of the streambed. Was this an offshoot of  Trail 100?

We arrived back at the parking lot just at the same time as the kids did. They had been skiing just a bit farther up the mountain.

Where do your paths lead?

Find This Way Thursday here.

Weekend Reflections--Huh?

So where is the reflection in this Weekend Reflection? Well, come back in July and stand right there. No, maybe you'd better back up a bit as I am standing  ON Reflection Lake to take this picture. The cross country skiers are also ON the lake. In July, you would see the reflection of the mountain right where they are. It's that incredible reflection image you see on postcards. I'm just a little early--or else a bit late?

James does Weekend Reflections every week and invites us to join him here.

Sneaking behind Anvil Rock--SkyWatch

I just caught the plane headed beyond the ridge on it's way to Seattle Tacoma International Airport (I presume). At the left is the remains of, or beginnings of, another lenticular cloud over Mt. Rainier. I couldn't wait till SkyWatch Friday to share the lenticulars we saw on Sunday's snowshow hike. If you missed them on My world Tudsday, scroll down, or have a look here.

See other SkyWatchers here.

Winter - Summer

From Paradise--December above, July below.

From the Nisqually Vista trail--December above, July below

The Tatoosh Range--December, July

Narada Falls--December, August--is that the same red car?

From the Bed of the Nisqually--December, July