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Grand Canyon from south rim, east end of the park
Grand Canyon in mid-July. This was looking out from Desert View.
A rolling desert valley between two sandstone buttes in Arches National Park
Cliff Palace is the largest cliff dwelling in the United States. Located in Mesa Verde National Park.
The Hamilton Princess in Bermuda sports a great view over the harbor . Normally a hot-spot of drunken foolishness in the Summer months, the Princess is calm and serene come Fall.
This is the main water feature of XL Capital, a major financial services company headquartered in Bermuda. The "whale tail" situated above the waterfall adds new meaning to the recent financial climate. "Fail whale tail".
The ACE Building in Bermuda shows off almost all Bermudian architectural themes in form or another, throughout the complex. This side of the building faces Pitt's Bay Road and the Hamilton Harbor.
Technical presentation at Gosling's Wine Cellar.
Hamilton Bermuda is like any other city where prosperous sections are intermingled with fallow areas—just at a much smaller scale. The Arcade was a set of retail shops, nestled between other mixed retail and commercial buildings. While its’ neighbors are still going strong, The Arcade has seen better days.
The Georgia Guidestones are an American Stonehenge situated in a rural field at Northeast Georgia. Although they get a fair amount of interested visitors each year, it is more common to have sunrise all to yourself. Taken with a good amount of fog rolling off of the nearby river.
Since erected on March 22, 1980, the Georgia Guidestones have been a point of interest in North Georgia . In 2008 the stones were vandalized with graffiti of different sorts.
The irony is that the stones, which some call the 10 commandments of the antichrist, in turn have been despoiled.
Sandstone Quarry Upper Cut, Red Rock Canyon
Take a Right
Although this is taken from the "regular" trail, there are some interesting side trips that can be taken where the red sandstone finally gives out to the silica (white) sandstone. A quick scramble up the left side (from this perspective) of the canyon takes you into secluded spaces, not more than a 1/4 mile where the majority of casual hikers stay on the regular trails.
These breaks in the rock formation look like they were chiseled out.
These rocks are like clouds. Many different images can be interpreted in them. I see an old man in the outcropping to the left in the shade.
Various lake property boathouses in early morning mist.
Desert varnish is good for protecting sandstone from weathering. That is, until the weathering takes place from behind the varnish. These are a couple plates on an outcropping about 50 feet above the gully floor.
The closest formation to Las Vegas, the Calico basin area is host to world class rock climbing and some great hiking
During the summer, this path at Ruby Falls will see hundreds of people a week on it. In Fall, once the leaves are on the ground, it is actually quite dangerous when the leaves get wet from the mist of the local falls.
Take just before dawn and just before the moon dropped down over the Rainbow Vista range.
Back country in the Valley of Fire, an interesting transition from white (pink) to red sandstone.
Just beyond this natural arch is "Base Camp", which is one of the stopping points for bushwhacking hikes in the Valley of Fire. At one of the highest points, it is a good location for side hikes and photographic vistas from the old "Parking Lot" back to the White Domes.
A log book (volume 2) is located in an ammo box brought up by the illustrious Shube. That hike his wine bottles were carried by pack mules. If you make it up this way, sign in!
Switching back and forth through cuts on the eastern approach the Top of the World, the sun started to illuminate the formations higher up. While deep in shadow, the first full sunlight started to warm the rock.
Turn up the contrast and saturation! Veins pulse through the various layers of sandstone. It is amazing the amount of layers and changes in mineral deposits you can see. And the changes from red to white to purple and so on. Only then to do realize you’re looking a one foot high sample of a sandstone dome that sits 400’ above the ground, which in turn is hundreds to thousands of feet still buried in the surrounding dirt.
Ms. Terra is one complex lady.
Pear trees line an access road. In the distance in an empty field soon to full of sunflowers.
The Valley of Fire and Points Beyond
Taken from "Top of the World", this looks out North towards White Dome, Duck Rock, and the Morman Mesa escarpment.
Tilting rocks in the morning sun. Taken from high up, this looks down across the Valley of Fire out towards the Mormon Mesa. Lake Mead is hidden between the last two layers of mountains.
Did I mention the wheels aren't attached to the barn?
St. Helena Gold
It will take a couple years to figure out how good the 2010 vintage turns out to be, but spending any time in the wine country is heaven. This was taken literally 50 feet from my good friend's back porch a week before she went for, and passed!!!! the WSET Advanced Level 3 exam. Most houses are within easy walking distance to vineyards in the Napa Valley. And I was assured that walking around the vines was okay. Down in the valley, the view is pretty much rows of grapes and the odd historical or eclectic building. I imagined being hot and thirsty walking to a winery, stamping off the dust, and then heading in for a tasting of wines from previous vintages of the vines I’d just passed.
Golden Gate Mist
Remember the Stephen King story where a mist rolls over a Maine town? Spooky stuff then ensues. I always get that same feeling when visiting San Francisco. I was heading up to Napa to visit a close friend, so started the journey before sunrise through San Francisco to the Golden Gate Bridge. That week the marine layer was thick this morning, and the visibility was limited from the overlook. Crossing the bridge I kept imagining a monster, say Godzilla, suddenly appearing in front of me. Traffic was light heading off the bridge yet most people were still doing 20-25 MPH. I made a wrong turn trying to get to the Pacific side overlooks and ended up as the base on Horseshoe Bay. From down below I could see the bridge extending across to the city. The rest of the bridge was lost in the fog but still lit by the glow of commuter’s headlights. Beside a few fisherman and seagulls, it was a quiet, peaceful morning.
Silvarado Vineyard
I’m used to dreary and overcast days. When the sun breaks through, it is time to get moving. While in Napa I visited the Silverado Vineyards, which has fantastic views from just outside the tasting room. There were palm trees trying to obstruct my view. With the choice of a saw or being creative, I went with the latter. Especially since the grounds keeper was making sure I didn’t some magical saw from my pocket. No coconuts on this palm though, just branches. This is a view towards St. Helena and really shows the Mediterranean landscape and climate. A variety of vineyards can be seen in the distance.
Indian Seats Viewpoint
The Indian Seats is a local vantage point in Sawnee Montain Preserve, located in Cumming, GA. From this viewpoint you can see the tail end of the Blue Ridge Mountains and the beginning of the Appalachain Trail. This HDR image is the cropped version of an eight picture panorama taken near sunset. The tail end of summer is on us and the next set of pictures from up here will hopefully catch Autumn is all it's glory.cumming gahdrhikingindian seatslandscapepanoramasawnee mountain preservescenic
Wine Cart Blues
As I stumbled out of a tasting room, I almost ran into this old wine cart. Not really as I hadn’t drank anything and the cart was well in an alcove and up against a wall. My guess it that others had stumbled on this before and the winery said “enough is enough.” It was neat to see the painting detail and the “olde-tymie” look of this grape-moving vehicle. It would have been a sight to see this in the field during harvest.
Poole's Mill Bridge
One of less than 20 covered bridges in Georgia, Pool’s Mill Bridge was completed in 1901 from land stolen from the Cherokee Indians. It is now a state park with a historic marker. Abundant rain this year provided for a full Settendown Creek, hence the muddy waters. Taken at the height of summer with mosquitos hamming it up to get in the image.
