Here are some more photos from the recent jeep trip up to the top of a mountain. There were wildflowers everywhere. You have already seen the marmot photos, however, I was told they do not bark, they whistle and oddly enough are called "whistle pigs". I seem to remember a saloon that goes by that name.
After it started snowing in Glacier NP, we headed west to Crater Lake. Once there, we decided to head up to Washington and see Mt. St. Helens, and Mt. Rainer. It was typical coastal weather for that area, very cloudy and overcast. Mt. St. Helens was a pretty much complete washout as once we got to the lookout, we were unable to see anything due to the complete cloud cover. We could not hang out for hours waiting for the clouds to clear, so we left for Mt. Rainier. On the way down the mountain we got to see Mt. St. Helens without cloud cover. We had high hopes for a clear Mt. Rainer. We were disappointed at first. Upon entering the park, we could only see parts of the mountain, and lots of clouds. It was upsetting, however we decided to head to the western part of the park anyways. Once we headed west, the skies opened up and we finally got a clear view of Mt. Rainier. Of course, the photos do not due it justice, it is a very majestic mountain!
While scouting wedding locations, we went to Garden of the Gods. There was a wildflower garden near the visitors center that had these gems. I had my old little camera, which is the one I prefer for macro, however I sacrifice photo size. It is also where my new header photo came from.
As I promised in my SPS post, I am now posting photos of the ice in the lava tubes from Craters of the Moon NM. The tubes have no sunlight and are as dark as a cave, I was really excited that the photos actually turned out as awesome as they did. As you can tell, the ground is really rough and having to crawl across rocks is hard enough and even more so with ice covering all of them.
Ice on the floor of the Lava tube, I still have a big lump from when I fell just getting into the tube.
Lava flow field, it really is a strange landscape.
The path through the lava flow to the lave tubes. It is not that easy to walk on, when trying to pass other people.
Alan and I went on a little off roading trip to the top of a mountain last weekend. It was pretty amazing with some great views, and a variety of wildflowers. I, of course, have more photos to share, but these are some general trip photos. The road to the top, his jeep, which works better than mine on off road adventures, some wildflowers, and a little critter found at the top of the mountain that kept chirping at us. We heard from hikers, that mountain goats were spotted in the area, and we saw evidence of shedding goat fur, but no sightings by us. Sad:(
On the most recent road trip, I took a several panoramic photos and have enjoyed them immensely. These are some of my favorites. The first and third ones are of the Grand Tetons. The second is of Two Medicine Lake in Glacier National Park. The first one was taken not too long after sunrise, and the other two were sunrise photos. It is so hard to get up so early when it is cold and there is snow on the tent, but totally worth it. I have more to share, I just took way too many photos!
Alan and I went to Rocky Mountain National Park last weekend. We had a blast, the drive was beautiful, the weather was lovely, the altitude made me ill. We saw a bunch of elk including some bulls right next to the road and some fawns with their mamas. The last of the snow could still be seen, and made it so pretty. Worthy of SPS!
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