Hoar Frost In The Bear Lake Valley

The Bear Lake Valley has a few days each winter when hoarfrost turns surfaces brilliant white.

Frost requires a good source of moisture, like the fog seen behind this tree, and when the moisture condenses directly to ice, frost is created.

As the frost grows larger, it becomes hoarfrost, and it can cling to nearly everything, creating masses of delicate white crystals.

There were several very foggy, cold days this January, resulting in beautiful scenes like this country lane in Montpelier, Idaho.

This is the same tree as the previous photo, taken after the fog cleared, with Old Baldy mountain in the background.  As long as the air temperature is low and there is no wind, hoarfrost can stay for days.

Simple objects like this barbed wire are transformed by a thick coat of hoarfrost.  These photos were taken in temperatures ranging from about -7 to +20 F.  All were taken in early morning before the sun and wind could destroy their delicate beauty.





Arches National Park, Utah

This is a flashback to a trip Linda and I took to southeastern Utah last October.  We were exploring the red rock country from the Green River area to Monument Valley in northern Arizona.  One evening we drove into Arches National Park to photograph the late light.  Arches is located near Moab, which is the perfect place to stay to explore several state and national parks.

It is nearly impossible to find unique photos in Arches National Park.  The place is so beautiful that I can't imagine how many photos have been taken there.  After entering the park, there is a steep hill to ascend, followed by this magnificent sandstone ridge called Park Avenue.  As the sun descended in the west, shadows from another ridge were outlined on the huge formations of Park Avenue.

Continuing on, we soon came to Balanced Rock, another site that has been photographed thousands of times.  As the sun continued to drop in the west, the rock took on a bright glow.  Pretty, but what could be done to make it different from the average tourist photo?  I decided to fill the sky with this rugged old tree as a companion to the beautiful red rock.

We really weren't very far into the park when we turned down a side road to the Windows area.  The scene was changing fast as the sun nearly touched the horizon.  When I got to North Window there was a crowd there watching the moonrise through the arch.  Just a couple of years earlier, I had the good fortune to photograph a sunset here when I had the view to myself.  Anyway, I kind of like having people in the picture to add human interest and scale.  By now, the very low sun had turned the reddish brown rock a glowing orange-red.

Just a few minutes later the glow was gone.  I turned and looked toward the west in time to see the sun disappear, giving me a quick silhouette of Turret Arch to photograph.  Magnificent!

I barely scratched the surface of all there is to see in Arches National Park.  The road goes on for miles past several more arches, and there are trails to many more.  I've learned from experience that this is one place where early or late light is the only way to go for most images.

Firefighter Training, Montpelier, Idaho

I noticed smoke coming from a red metal box in a vacant lot near the edge of town and stopped to see what was going on.

Volunteer firefighters from the Montpelier Fire Department were training in a flashover box.  Sensors showed that the temperature inside was 298 F, while outside it was below freezing with light snow.

A fire was started inside the box and controlled by opening and closing vents.  Notice the fire hose going into the box through a hole on the right.  The men entered the box in full safety gear and learned how to read the behavior of the fire and smoke.  Once in awhile I would hear an alarm go off that meant someone had run out of air, and they would leave the box.

Other fire agencies were invited to participate, and several were there.  These guys are volunteers, and I am amazed at what they do to protect the community.  I want to thank them for allowing me to hang around and take pictures.

Utah Rock Art

Linda and I explored southeastern Utah last month, including eleven sites with Native American petroglyphs and pictographs. Here are a few of the hundreds of photos I took.

Petroglyphs are chipped in the rock, as seen in the images above:

Top - Rattlesnake attack on a large boulder near Moab.
Center left - Kokopelli at Shay Canyon.
Center right - More recent images at Newspaper Rock.
Bottom left - Birthing scene on the same boulder as # 1.
Bottom right - Anthropomorphs at Capitol Reef National Park.


The images on the left are pictographs, which  are painted on the rocks, and since paint is likely to be washed away over the centuries, they are much rarer than petroglyphs.


Top - Sego Canyon, Barrier Canyon style anthropomorphs.
Center - Sego Canyon, more recent Ute style
Bottom - Buckhorn Wash, Barrier Canyon style


Rock art should never be touched.  The oil on our hands will degrade them in time.  Vandalism is a terrible problem, and there are big penalties for anyone caught defacing ancient rock art.  For that reason, many sites are not publicized.


Linda and I have posted more rock art photos and information from this trip on our web site.


http://www.hisandhersphoto.com/Heritage/hhrockartut.htm     -  last three images
http://www.hisandhersphoto.com/Heritage/hhrockartut2.htm   -  first twelve images

Lundy Canyon, California

Lundy Canyon is in the Eastern Sierra region in Mono County, California.  I was there October 6th with Stephen Johnson and Bruce Gregory on our annual fall camping trip, looking for fall color.

The canyon is in a magnificent mountain setting where beaver ponds have been built on Mill Creek in the west end.  The area was named for W. J. Lundy who operated a sawmill that supplied much of the timber for Bodie, which is now a famous ghost town.  The mining town of Lundy was here once, but there is no trace of it now, and a resort is located in its place.

The reflections of the aspens and mountains are magnificent.  The problem is, that fall color in the Eastern Sierra is well publicized on web sites, TV, and blogs, so there are crowds to deal with.  I'm not used to that here in Idaho.  When we drove to a trail head at the end of the dirt road, there were trucks and jeeps parked in every available little space between the trees.

With patience, we could avoid the tourists, and I liked these rippled aspen reflections in another beaver pond.  This image was flipped to provide a base for the scene.

Lundy Lake is in the eastern end of Lundy Canyon.  There was once a small natural lake here, but a dam raised it 37 feet in 1911 for a hydroelectric project.  Today it provides a colorful backdrop for fall photography.

This was an excellent year for fall color in the Eastern Sierra, and especially in Lundy Canyon.  Once again, our camping trip was an unforgettable experience.

Silver City, Idaho

This was a great summer with three trips around the west and little time to update this blog.  So, once in awhile I plan to add a post to share an experience from this last summer.

I visited Silver City, Idaho for the third time last July, while on my annual camping trip with Bruce Gregory and Stephen Johnson.  We camped at Jordan Valley, Oregon and took the road in from the west.  It is a little longer drive from there, but the road is much better than the road from the north.

Silver City has been described as Idaho's best ghost town, but the truth is, it is gradually being restored.  Many of the old buildings are now in great shape and are being used as summer homes.  The massive Idaho Hotel, shown above, has been partially restored and is open for business.


There is still plenty to see in Silver City, including the "world's tallest outhouse."  By walking the dirt streets you can find lots of interesting details to photograph, such as fire hydrants, old mining equipment, a cemetery, and this old fashioned door latch.  The city dates back to the 1860's, and has a wide variety of architecture.

I think the most beautifully restored building is the Stoddard house, seen here as a ghostly reflection in a school window.  I invite you to look at the new Silver City gallery on my web site, below, where you can see the buildings as they are now and as they appeared a few years ago.  The change is remarkable.
http://www.hisandhersphoto.com/ghost/hhsilver.htm

Tadpole Shrimp, A Living Fossil

A recent trip to Utah included a stop at Dead Horse Point State Park where I took a short hike along the canyon rim to an area of potholes.

Recent storms had filled the potholes with water, just a few feet from the edge of the cliff 2000 feet above the canyon floor.

I saw movement in a few of the pools and when I looked closely, saw tiny creatures crawling and swimming in the puddles.  A park ranger later identified them as Tadpole Shrimp from my photo.  They have often been called "living fossils" because they are essentially unchanged from their 250 million year-old ancestors.  These fascinating animals live just 20 or 30 days in ephemeral pools.  They have been known to lay eggs that stay dormant for years until rain fills the puddles long enough for them to hatch.

This photo shows how close to the drop-off some of these potholes were.
Tadpole Shrimp (scientific name Triops longicaudatus, in the order Notostraca. in the class Branchiopoda) are sometimes sold in novelty stores, but it was a thrill to find them in the wild.