waterfalls Archives ~ Page 2 of 2 ~ Rambling ranger

December 15, 2022

Patterns

To understand is to perceive patterns. – Isaiah Berlin

I love photographing patterns. When you practice the Art of Seeing, perceiving patterns is an important skill to have.

Old Man's Beard — This one would have also worked well in last week’s Diagonals post.

Life is a great tapestry. The individual is only an insignificant thread in an immense and miraculous pattern. – Albert Einstein

My all-time favorite pattern image I’ve ever captured are the flowers in the feature shot of this blog, each flower smaller than my little finger. I’ve probably published it in a blog before, but when I think of patterns in photography, this is the image that comes to my mind. We’ve all heard the phrase, “a carpet of wildflowers”. This was such a carpet. Carpets are all about patterns.

The immense and miraculous pattern of life is all around us. Just take a look.

Oregon coast — Everything we see is just a thread in the pattern of nature’s tapestry.

Art is the imposing of a pattern on experience, and our aesthetic enjoyment is recognition of the pattern. – Alfred North Whitehead

Sometimes it’s fun when the pattern transcends the subject. I think this abstract image of a bare-branched tree looks like it could be not a tree, but the pattern in a marble slab.

White Manzanita — Is it a tree or just a pattern in stone?

Find beauty not only in the thing itself but in the pattern of the shadows, the light and dark which that thing provides. –Junichiro Tanizaki

Photography is, of course, all about capturing light in all its variations, and the juxtaposition of light and shadow is one way to perceive and capture patterns. I found a delightful play between my subject and the shadows reflected from it in the water in this image of Bog Bean flowers growing in a pond along the McCarthy Road this summer. Bog Bean looks pretty inconsequential when viewed from a distance, but up close the fringed flowers are exquisite.

Bog Bean flowers — I love the pattern displayed by the flowers and their shadows in this image

Nature uses only the longest threads to weave her patterns, so that each small piece of her fabric reveals the organization of the entire tapestry. – Richard Feynman

Repetition is the only constant that all patterns share, and a major component in why patterns can be so aesthetically pleasing.

Mendocino County, CA — Patterns are aesthetically pleasing, repetition with small variances.

Though at first glance the natural world may appear overwhelming in its diversity and complexity, there are regularities running through it, from the hexagons of a honeycomb to the spirals of a seashell and the branching veins of a leaf. … -Philip Ball

Patterns are universal. Even in the most literal sense of that word. Think of the spirals of galaxies, or the patterns of stars in the sky. Those same patterns can be found in the tiniest things, too, such as the spirals of a snail’s shell or the patterns of wee flowers in a springtime meadow.

Williams, Oregon tree trunk patterns — Patterns in nature can be lines, circles, fractals, spirals…. The possibilities are endless!

“The natural world is built upon common motifs and patterns. Recognizing patterns in nature creates a map for locating yourself in change, and anticipation what is yet to come.” – Sharon Weil

There are patterns in our lives, too, from everyday habits to the grander cycles of the seasons or the progression from birth to death.

Driftwood patterns — The cycle of life, death and rebirth is a pattern.

Finding patterns is the essence of wisdom. – Dennis Prager

The better we are at recognizing and understanding patterns, the more resilient we will be, able to withstand the unexpected changes in our lives.

water patterns Cascade Falls Moran State Park, WA — Understanding patterns helps us go with the flow.

“There are patterns which emerge in one’s life, circling and returning anew, an endless variation of a theme”. ― Jacqueline Carey

People like patterns. They give a sense of order to what otherwise might seem to be chaos.

Abstract patterns — Patterns help us organize our lives.

“Pay attention to the intricate patterns of your existence that you take for granted.” ― Doug Dillon

One of the patterns in my life is seasonal transience, like our hunter/gatherer forbears. I have been living that lifestyle for over 40 years. It is the pattern of life that makes me happy, but it is definitely not for everyone. What are the patterns of your life? Do they still make you happy?

Mesquite Sand Dunes, Death Valley National Park — A seasonally transient lifestyle is one of my patterns, shifting like these sands.

When patterns are broken, new worlds emerge. – Tuli Kupferberg

When our patterns no longer serve us, it’s time to break free and discover new ones. If you answered “No” to that last question, you might want to consider letting go of some of the old patterns in your life.

pattern of Madrone fruit, leaves and sky — Is it time to discover a new pattern?

Thank you so much to Ann-Christine, Leya, for this week’s Lens-Artists Photo Challenge, Perfect Patterns.

What a strange pattern the shuttle of life can weave. – Francis Marion

May your thread in the tapestry of life be beautiful and wonderful. Happy Holidays!

succulent pattern — A little red & green for Christmas – Happy Holidays!

December 9, 2022

Photographing Fall Colors During Fire Season in the North Cascades

When I first arrived in Washington State this October I had plans to travel through the North Cascades, taking pictures of fall colors. It was a somewhat disappointing journey, but not a total loss.

Although there were a few bright spots, it was disappointing for two reasons: one, due to the continued warm temperatures caused by global climate change, very few colors were actually changing, and most importantly, two, for that same reason it was still fire season throughout the Cascade Mountains.

North Cascades National Park — There were a few golden conifers near the top of the pass.

Highway 20

And the smoke was thick. It didn’t seem too bad down in the Skagit Valley one day, so I took a road trip up Highway 20 through North Cascades National Park.

That was a waste of a tank of gas. All the waterfalls were dried up by the ongoing drought. By the time I got to Ross Lake, the smoke was so thick that visibility was close to zero. I couldn’t even see the lake when I crossed the bridge right over it! My original plan had been to take 2 or 3 days and camp at Colonial Creek, the lovely campground situated in the old-growth forest right next to the lake. When I arrived, the smell of smoke was thick, but the air was even thicker. I couldn’t breathe, my eyes burned and instantly I got a screaming headache.

Well, that wasn’t happening! I thought about turning back, but it was still early in the afternoon. Maybe I could get up above the smoke, or maybe it would be better on the other side of the mountains. I really, really wanted to shoot a few scenes with larch trees, those conifers that turn gold with the seasons. Growing up in Colorado where all the conifers are evergreens, larch trees seem kind of magical to me. Since their main habitat is on the eastern side of these mountains, I didn’t want to give up without finding a few.

It did get better – a little. The big scenic vistas were still out – too much haze. But I found a few larch trees – very few. Most of them hadn’t changed color yet.

Mt. Baker Highway

I had a bit better luck further north on the Mt. Baker Highway. I tried to stay low at first – the skies were hazy, and there were plenty of nice spots along the river to walk and photograph. There were even a few waterfalls.

But I couldn’t stop myself. I kept going. I needed to get above treeline and check out the alpine. I’m glad I did. The fall colors up there were phenomenal!

Fall Colors Mt. Baker Scenic Byway — I found a few fall colors!

Yes, the haze was bad. I was above the Mt. Baker Ski Area and I couldn’t even find Mt. Baker! But there are a couple of good things about making photographs in fire season.

I’ve always loved those silhouetted images of ridge upon ridge, outlined against the sky, going on forever. I’ve had my best luck capturing that kind of image in the desert at sunrise or sunset. But during fire season, you can catch that shot in the middle of the day!

And then there are the sunsets. All that particulate matter in the air can lead to some spectacular sunsets. Mt. Baker even showed up right before sunset. It was just an outline. I couldn’t even tell it was glacier covered and all white. But it was there.

We stayed for the moonrise. Although the moonrise was incredible, even better than the moon was the planet Jupiter. As night fell, in concert with the moonrise, Jupiter came up right over the top of Mt. Shuksan, crowning the mountain like the star on the top of a Christmas tree, leading to a very memorable evening.

Thank you to Patti Moed for this week’s Lens-Artists Photo Challenge, Diagonals.

November 25, 2022

The Middle Way

Moran State Park, Orcas Island, Washington

I should never say never, because I always end up eating my words. Last year I spent the month of January in Anacortes, Washington, and found I really didn’t care much for that town. It was pretty, but the hills were too rounded. The sea was too mellow. No ragged jagged crags, no crashing surf. I could see why some people really loved it, but it was too tame. It just wasn’t wild enough for me. I felt stifled.

I’m a fan of in-your-face dramatic landscapes. Landscapes that smack you down and leave you awestruck. As a park ranger I’ve worked in parks that contain the highest and the lowest spots in North America. I live in a park that has more high mountains and more glaciers than anywhere else in the country. You might say I’m addicted to the extremes.

When I left Anacortes, I told myself I would never do another winter housesit in northern Washington. But when an opportunity came this year for a long-term housesit, in an oceanfront property on Orcas Island, I jumped on it.

I occasionally had second thoughts. I love the winters I’ve spent traveling throughout the West, checking out many different fabulous locations along the way. Will I miss my travels? Absolutely!

Petrified Forest National Park — I will miss the colors and textures of the desert, especially the Colorado Plateau.

I will miss the colors and textures of the deserts. I will miss the wild winter waves along the open Pacific coast. I will miss the wildlife extravaganzas I’ve been so lucky to witness in New Mexico’s Bosque del Apache and California’s Piedras Blancas National Wildlife Refuges. I will especially miss following the bloom, enjoying the spring wildflowers as I travel north from the Mexican border to Oregon.

But spending the winter on Orcas has its benefits. I attended one of the best performances I’ve ever witnessed last week, Rafe Pearlman’s Kanu. It was like nothing else I’ve ever seen before. Being in one place for the whole winter will give me the space and time to finish the book I’ve been working on. I can immerse myself in, and get to know, two entirely new ecosystems, both the Salish Sea island environment and the intertidal zone. I’m really excited about that opportunity. One big benefit is that staying here is much kinder to the planet, keeping my carbon levels low. I’ve gone through less than a tank of gas in the entire month of November!

Most importantly, I can try to resolve a lot of chronic pain issues I’ve been struggling with the last few years. That’s something I’ve been unable to do, home in McCarthy, where it’s a 500-mile round trip to see a health professional. On Orcas, I have access to so many wellness practitioners; massage therapists, chiropractors, acupuncture, physical therapy and more. They call Orcas the healing island. There’s a vibe here.

I’ll still be challenged by the lack of those extremes that I love. I’m not alone. A fellow Alaskan I met here said, “I feel too big for this place somehow. I talk too loud, I move too suddenly. I love it here, but I’m too…big.” I understand what she means.

Driftwood textures — It’s a subtle beauty.

Orcas Island has its own beauty. There are lovely waterfalls and noble trees. But it’s subtle. It’s not one of the extremes. You might say it’s the Middle Way.

Following the Middle Way is following the Tao. It’s a righteous way to live. So perhaps for me, for this winter, the Middle Way is the place to be. It’s time to leave the outer journey behind for a time and work on the inner journey. It’s a journey I look forward to. Peace to all from Orcas.

Thanks to Jude of Cornwall in Colors for this week’s Lens-Artists Photo Challenge, Textures.

May 29, 2021May 29, 2021

Let’s Get Wild! Lens-Artists Photography Challenge #150

For this week’s Lens-Artists Photography Challenge, let’s get wild! I’m talking about Mother Nature untouched and untrammelled, allowed to get on with her work without human help or hindrance.

“Those who contemplate the beauty of the earth find reserves of strength that will endure as long as life lasts.”
Rachel Carson

Maybe you’re lucky and have access to some truly wild landscapes. Perhaps you’re not. But give her a chance, and Nature will break free and get wild wherever we let her! Even if your only access to the natural world is the local park, you will certainly find something wild in your world. It could be a bird migrating through on its way north and south, or a wildflower springing up on an empty lot.

I don’t want to see groomed gardens or animals in the zoo. No people or signs of people. I want to see and revel in the natural world in your posts. Where’s the wildest place you’ve ever been? Where do you go to let Mother Nature regenerate your spirit? Please share with us the wild places, plants and beings that are close to YOUR heart!

“But love of the wilderness is more than a hunger for what is always beyond reach; it is also an expression of loyalty to the earth which bore us and sustains us, the only home we shall ever know, the only paradise we ever need – if only we had eyes to see.”
Edward Abbey

Wrangell St. Elias National Park & Preserve — Life in the Wrangells, gateway to the wilderness

The natural world is my passion in life, and I love to share it. A long time ago I decided the most important goal in my life was to wake in beauty every day. Because I’ve made that a priority, I’m more fortunate than most when it comes to being close to nature. With a telephoto lens, this is the view from my bedroom window.

The price for that view is no running water or indoor toilets, and the hard work and logistical challenges of attempting to maintain an off-the-grid homestead. But it’s a price I’m happy to pay, because every morning when I wake up, the angels sing!

I live in the center of Wrangell-St. Elias National Park & Preserve in Alaska, one of the biggest protected wildernesses on the planet. But these days I usually snowbird it and go south in the winter. There are too many beautiful places in the world to spend your life in just one, no matter how wonderful that one is.

I migrate, like the birds.

I used to be a ranger in Death Valley National Park, which has more wilderness than any other national park outside Alaska. Pretty easy to find the wild there.

A nameless canyon in Death Valley National Park

My favorite way to get next to the wild is to get up close and personal with wildflowers. Drop down to their level. Breathe in their fragrance. Get out a magnifying glass to really check out the intricacies of the tiny flowers. Revel in their beauty, but don’t pick them. Leave them living, so others will have a chance to appreciate them, too. I spend March and April most years following the wildflower bloom, first in the desert…

And then catching the spring flowers in the Sierras and Oregon on my way back to Alaska.

And then there’s the sea. Another way to get close to the wild in the world. I have really fallen in love with the seashore in the last few years. What could be wilder than the ocean?

The ocean is so wild it’s like another planet!

“Wilderness is not only a haven for native plants and animals but it is also a refuge from society. It’s a place to go to hear the wind and little else, see the stars and the galaxies, smell the pine trees, feel the cold water, touch the sky and the ground at the same time, listen to coyotes, eat the fresh snow, walk across the desert sands, and realize why it’s good to go outside of the city and the suburbs.”
John Muir

Wild places are important because we need to learn to share our planet with everything else that calls it home. It does not belong to us exclusively, although we all too often act like it does.

Wild places are also important because they rejuvenate our souls. Wilderness is essential to our mental health. What a sad world it would be if we had no wilderness. Celebrate the wild in the world this summer, and please protect it wherever you may find it!

“…the word of the Lorax seems perfectly clear. UNLESS someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better. It’s not.”
Dr. Seuss

Celebrate and care for the wild in your world!

Please join me in this Lens-Artists Photo Challenge and share the wild in your world. Remember to use the lens-artists tag and include a link to my original post.

Next week, Patti will be offering LAPC #151, so be sure to check out her site then! Her theme is From Large to Small. Pick a color and take several photos that feature that color. Start with a photo of a big subject in that color (for example, a wall) and move all the way down to a small subject in that same color (for example, an earring).

Thank you to Tina, Amy, Ann-Christine and Patti for inviting me to host this challenge. It’s wonderful to be part of the Lens-Artists community and I look forward to seeing all your wonderful wild posts this week.

October 31, 2019November 15, 2022

Colorado’s Peak-to-Peak Highway – A Blast From My Past

The Peak-to-Peak Highway is one of my favorite Colorado scenic byways. My recent sojourn down this beautiful road was an incredible trip down memory lane, scenic but also big on nostalgia.

The Peak-to-Peak is the closest access to Colorado’s alpine for folks living in the northwest Denver/Boulder metro area. Since that’s where I grew up, this road was once my favorite way into the high country.

Estes Park, CO — You can sometimes catch this kind of action going on in downtown Estes Park.

Rocky Mountain National Park

The route starts (or ends) in Estes Park, the gateway to Rocky Mountain National Park. I spent 2 summers there in my early twenties, the first mountain town I ever lived in.

In a landscape created by the rubble left behind by ancient glaciers, lumpy ridges and random boulders painted with lichens form the bones of the land. Stately Ponderosa pines and small groves of aspen adorn huge, park-like meadows, superb habitat for herds of elk. Tromping the trails whenever I had a chance, this country crept deep into my soul as I made the transformation from a city kid to a mountain woman.

Shortly after passing Lily Lake south of Estes, there’s a turnoff to reach the Long’s Peak trailhead. Long’s Peak is the northernmost fourteener (mountain over 14,000 ft.). in Colorado It was the first fourteener I ever climbed.

It’s a scramble, not a trail, to get to the top. The climb turned into an epic adventure when we were caught near the summit by a quick-moving thunderstorm. Torrents of hail felt like ball bearings under our feet as we charged down the slippery scree-covered slope. I watched a bolt of lightning break off a chunk of the mountain the size of a small house and send it crashing down on the slope below. Intense.

The Peak-to-Peak provides access to many other alpine adventures. Trails in the Wild Basin area near Allenspark travel along creeks filled with cascading waterfalls to pristine lakes. Climb higher, above the treeline, and immerse yourself in a tapestry of tiny tundra wildflowers.

Peak-to-Peak Highway — Walk by waterfalls in Wild Basin

Indian Peaks Wilderness

The Indian Peaks Wilderness lies south of Rocky Mountain National Park, just a few miles west of the highway. I remember the challenges of my first week-long backpacking trip as I revisit Brainard Lake and gaze at the peaks and passes beyond.

When I hiked the Continental Divide one summer a few years later, the Indian Peaks Wilderness was one of my favorite sections. I recall how we spent the best day of the entire trip here, up near Fourth of July Mine and Mt. Neva.

Indian Peaks Wilderness Area — Brainard Lake gateway to the Indian Peaks

The Towns

At the foot of the Indian Peaks, you’ll find a smattering of old mining camps, towns like Ward, Jamestown, and Eldora, ghost towns turned hippie havens. The friendliest and funkiest of them all is Nederland.

It’s definitely a hippie town. It’s the home of the Carousel of Happiness. Nederland was the third community to legalize pot in Colorado, just after Denver and Breckenridge. The locals call themselves Nedheads.

Nederland celebrates the eclectic and just plain weird. Case in point – the town hosts Frozen Dead Guys Days every March. This festival celebrates the attempt by a local resident to practice a little homemade crionics, stashing his grandfather in a storage shed with a bunch of dry ice, holding out for some future date when the miracles of science could bring him back to life. Some of the fun things to do in Nederland during the festival include coffin races, frozen t-shirt contests, and a polar plunge.

Just past Nederland is Rollinsville. This old railroad town once had a fun bar, the Stage Stop (now a restaurant under new owners). I loved dancing on the timeworn hardwood floor to name acts like Tab Benoit.

Rollinsville also reminds me of my first backpacking disaster. I took my little sister and brother with me to teach them the joys of backpacking. Crossing a creek on an old log, I proceeded to teach them how to prevent hypothermia after the log snapped in two and dumped me in the creek. Then it started to snow. Eventually, the snow turned to rain and came down in torrents. It didn’t stop. In imminent danger of being stranded by flooding, we bailed and hiked out to Rollinsville to beg a ride home.

The Peak-to-Peak is one of the most popular roads in the state when the aspens turn gold. Signs on the highway warn leaf-lookers that they are not allowed to stop in the middle of the road when taking pictures of the fall colors.

The scenic byway ends at the town of Black Hawk. There aren’t many memories left for me here, though. When I was growing up, Black Hawk and neighboring Central City were practically ghost towns, rich in history but with no economic base to support their residents. The towns sponsored a referendum to allow legalized gambling to create jobs and provide some tax revenue for the county. Now there is an economic base. It seems like a new casino opens up every other week here. The facades of a few of the buildings are all that remain of the old towns.

Although the Peak-to-Peak may not hold as many memories for you as it does me, it is still well worth the travel. Views of the Continental Divide, golden aspen groves, access to wilderness and a host of delightful communities are just a few of the treasures you will find along the way.

November 26, 2018

Splash!

Patti’s Lens-Artists Challenge for us this week is Splash! – the magic of water.

Powerful magic indeed. Water – creator, destroyer. The most powerful force in our universe.

Waterfall, Yosemite National Park — The awe-inspiring power of water

Water and time, joining forces, create the landscape we see before us.

Glacial ice carving mountains.

Matanuska Glacier, Alaska — The Matanuska Glacier carves a course through the Chugach Mountains of Alaska.

Rivers cutting canyons…

The crystalline blue waters of the Smith River in Northern California cut a canyon through volcanic rock. — Smith River, California

Waves sculpt rocks, eroding away miles and miles of coastline.

Redwood National Park, California — It’s thrilling to witness the power and fury of a Pacific storm.

Blessed rain.

Rainbow over the Virgin Mountains near Mesquite, Nevada — Rainbows are the perfect union of water and light.

Water is beauty. Water is life – the key ingredient that unifies all life on Earth.

Merriman Falls, Washington — Water is life.

Without it, none of this would exist.

Buddha Beach in Oak Creek, Arizona — Desert reflections

Splash!

Cormorants on the Mendocino Coast, California — Wave Watching

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Tag: waterfalls

Patterns

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