Las pasturas verdes del cielo
I went on a little excursion to the open space behind the house the other day, and my camera happened to be along with me. So, I decided to make the best of it and take some pictures of my trip. I know Tanuki has professed an affection for sights of the Southwest variety, and maybe some other people might like them, so here they are.
This was the outset of my trip. I'm pretty sure it's the parking lot of the open space, as there is a bumper of a car in the lower right hand corner of the picture. There was a neat bridge hereabouts as well, but I forgot to take a picture of it.
There were quite a few of these cacti (cactusses?) mulling about, but this was the only real group of them I found. They looked to be having a get together, or possibly a party of some sort. I imagined them all doing different things, but I think my favorites are the two in the far left, I imagined them playing baseball.
There were a few little trails you could take up to wherever they were supposed to go. I took the left path, and found myself here after a brisk walk. There was a very clean path with interesting plants and such, and I decided to take a picture to see how far I had gone, and because it seemed a nice view. I had intended to walk up the hill on my way back, but it was getting late when I began my descent, and I decided against it.
I really liked the way this looked when I saw it. The path disappears off to the left, but I couldn't see it from where I was, and it made the whole experience seem a bit mysterious and inviting. Where does it go? What will I find?
Having lost the path about ten minutes before, I pressed forward towards this interesting collection of rocks. They were quite passable, as there were numerous footholds. Before I started up, it seemed as though it was a waterfall of rocks, little ones and big ones all flowing downwards. The big rocks at the top of the "waterfall" proved to be a bit difficult, however, and I had to try to find an alternate route around them.
After getting past the rockfall, the area flattened out a little bit, and I noticed another hill to my left. I entertained ideas of going up that face, but these pictures belie proportion, and the bush was rather large and a bit too daunting to get around.
This picture was taken at roughly the same area as the previous one, looking behind instead of to my left. It's very hard to see in the picture, but Mt. McKinley is waaaaaay far out into the horizon here, and was capped with snow. There were some larger rocks here, and it seemed a good chance to take a break. It was a bit windy as I got higher up, and I found that basking on one of the larger rocks was rather enjoyable.
When I worked myself further up and turned a corner, I noticed this steep hill off to my right. It was definitely too steep to be climbed, as far as I was concerned. It did look rather nice though, and I noticed that there was still some snow lingering about. I noticed some ice and snow in other parts, and it seemed odd to me, snow having last fallen about a week and a half ago, or so.
I think this is my favorite picture of the trip. I took another break on a large rock shelf, and noticed that interesting rock formation off to my side. After thinking at it for a little while, it began to look like another person had stopped to enjoy the view, and stayed so long they turned into rock. Shortly after deciding this, I began my descent.
It was definitely an enjoyable experience, and I fully intend to do it again sometime, when the weather is again agreeable.
This was the outset of my trip. I'm pretty sure it's the parking lot of the open space, as there is a bumper of a car in the lower right hand corner of the picture. There was a neat bridge hereabouts as well, but I forgot to take a picture of it.
There were quite a few of these cacti (cactusses?) mulling about, but this was the only real group of them I found. They looked to be having a get together, or possibly a party of some sort. I imagined them all doing different things, but I think my favorites are the two in the far left, I imagined them playing baseball.
There were a few little trails you could take up to wherever they were supposed to go. I took the left path, and found myself here after a brisk walk. There was a very clean path with interesting plants and such, and I decided to take a picture to see how far I had gone, and because it seemed a nice view. I had intended to walk up the hill on my way back, but it was getting late when I began my descent, and I decided against it.
I really liked the way this looked when I saw it. The path disappears off to the left, but I couldn't see it from where I was, and it made the whole experience seem a bit mysterious and inviting. Where does it go? What will I find?
Having lost the path about ten minutes before, I pressed forward towards this interesting collection of rocks. They were quite passable, as there were numerous footholds. Before I started up, it seemed as though it was a waterfall of rocks, little ones and big ones all flowing downwards. The big rocks at the top of the "waterfall" proved to be a bit difficult, however, and I had to try to find an alternate route around them.
After getting past the rockfall, the area flattened out a little bit, and I noticed another hill to my left. I entertained ideas of going up that face, but these pictures belie proportion, and the bush was rather large and a bit too daunting to get around.
This picture was taken at roughly the same area as the previous one, looking behind instead of to my left. It's very hard to see in the picture, but Mt. McKinley is waaaaaay far out into the horizon here, and was capped with snow. There were some larger rocks here, and it seemed a good chance to take a break. It was a bit windy as I got higher up, and I found that basking on one of the larger rocks was rather enjoyable.
When I worked myself further up and turned a corner, I noticed this steep hill off to my right. It was definitely too steep to be climbed, as far as I was concerned. It did look rather nice though, and I noticed that there was still some snow lingering about. I noticed some ice and snow in other parts, and it seemed odd to me, snow having last fallen about a week and a half ago, or so.
I think this is my favorite picture of the trip. I took another break on a large rock shelf, and noticed that interesting rock formation off to my side. After thinking at it for a little while, it began to look like another person had stopped to enjoy the view, and stayed so long they turned into rock. Shortly after deciding this, I began my descent.
It was definitely an enjoyable experience, and I fully intend to do it again sometime, when the weather is again agreeable.