Wash your spirit clean!

Keep close to nature's heart...

and break clear away,

once in a while,

and climb a mountain

or spend a week in the woods.

~ John Muir

Summer Flowers in Big Bear

June in Big Bear, California means thirty days of beautiful weather. Plenty of sunshine, temperatures in the 70s and low 80s and frequent spectacular cloud formations. A mountain paradise just 100 miles from Los Angeles. Beautiful flowers can be found in the forest and in many yards of local residents. Here are a few of my favorites. I've been experimenting with applying textures to many of my images. I love the effect...especially with florals.

This gorgeous Columbine was growing in a neighbor's front yard. While walking through the forest, I came across some more growing wild. The wild ones were much smaller and less spectacular in color but the identical flower just the same.

Don't know what these are, but I loved how the sunlight hit them.

This is a wild rose I came across in the forest. Tiny flowers, not much more than an inch across, they are probably the ancestor of all the spectacular beauties we buy in the nurseries today.

I found these Sweet Peas growing on the fence of a cabin that doesn't appear to have been occupied in years.
Despite neglect, they've managed to thrive on their own.

Another Columbine...it makes me think of some exotic sea creature.

These roses can be found in front yards all over the area.

No idea what these are. Their "petals" seem more like beans.

Fancy Poppies catching the sun.

A field of wildflowers overlooking Big Bear Lake. Isn't this a beautiful scene?
Well, truth be told, there is a large shopping mall right behind where I was standing when I took this photo.

A Few Sage Moments

About three weeks ago, on my last day spent in Big Bear, the clouds in the sky were spectacular. I drove to my favorite spot on the east end of the lake and set up my tripod in wait of the hoped for gorgeous sunset. It was a little early still so I put my new macro lens on my D80 and walked around the area snapping pictures of the brush that grew all along the shore in this area. Now I am terribly ignorant when it comes to plant life and I haven't been able to identify this stuff from books or the internet. So if anyone should look at these photos and recognize it for what it is, please let me know. It's like sage brush but has a decidedly rusty red color. What I do know is that this very simple weeds catches the sun beautifully and is a delight to photograph.
This photo was taken at the northeast end of the Big Bear Valley near Baldwin Lake.

I took this shot a couple days after the big snow storm in February.

These are the images I shot while waiting for the sun to go down.
Believe me, this plant is not actually pink. It's just the sun playing it's light tricks.
The blue in the background is snow.

It's the same plants is each of these photos.
Just the background or the direction I'm shooting has changed.

Okay, so once I'd had enough of pink, I decided to play a little with Photoshop.
This tone was an accident but I liked what I saw, so I left it.
Now if only I could remember what I did, in case I want to try it again.

And, of course, I always have to see what it looks like in monochrome.
The soft sepia tint adds a little pizazz...Don't you think?

Big Bear Snow Day Number 2

The snow we got on Monday seemed like enough to last through Christmas but it snowed again yesterday...all day. I've been coming up here for 20 years and this is the most snow I've even seen. Any local skiers reading this take note...it's going to be a terrific weekend for playing in all this white stuff!

I got my Blazer dug out on Tuesday but along comes the

snow plow again yesterday and now it's buried deeper than ever.

A walk up and down our street reveals lots of icicles, drooping trees and cabins hiding behind massive snow berms.

Yea...Snow Day!!

Greetings from Big Bear Lake, California. It snowed all day yesterday.

We got about two feet which is pretty good for this early in the season.

This is the view from our street...Willow Avenue in Big Bear Lake, California.

Just across the street from our cabin is the National Forest.

This is our little cabin. I have a big job ahead of me...digging my Blazer out of the snow.

Here are the views from inside the cabin.

I went for a walk in the forest but didn't get very far.
Even in snowshoes I sunk in up to my knees.
Hopefully, I will do better tomorrow.

Hike to St. Mary's Glacier

Situated in the Rocky Mountains near Idaho Springs, Colorado lies St. Mary's Glacier at an elevation of just under 11,000 feet. My youngest daughter, Danielle, and her two boys, Clay and Jared, hiked to it the other day and then sent me these photos. Danielle, a veteran hiker of 14,000 peaks, called this a "wimpy hike." Just my style.

Not much of a glacier but, of course, it's had a whole summer to melt away the ice. Just think what it must be like in the springtime.

What's a 14er?

Colorado has more than 50 mountains that exceed 14,000 ft. elevation. Hiking to the summit of one of these mountains is known as a 14er. My two daughters, Marlene and Danielle who live in Colorado, have spent a number of their off days from work doing just that. Why do they do it? Well, of course, because they're there but also to get a lot of cool pictures. I thought I'd share a few with you.

Oh, and by the way girls, there're a dozen 14,000+ ft. peaks right here in California. 

P. S. I can't take any credit for these photos since I live in California and

besides, I have arthritic feet. My daughters and their friends took these pictures. 

1. A tired but happy group poses at the summit of Mt. Democrat. Clockwise: Danielle, Marlene's boyfriend Mike, Jared (Danielle & Kenny's son), Kenny (Danielle's husband), two friends ?, Marlene, Marissa (Mike's daughter) and Titan. 

2. Marlene atop Mt. Belford. Another reward for reaching the summit is the breathtaking view.

3. And at the summit of Mt. Massive 

4. Danielle & Marlene at the top of Mt. Sherman. 

5. Marlene's boyfriend Mike with Titan. You call this a trail?   

6 & 7. Beautiful scenery surrounds you.