Coming into Kamloops at the end of a long day of driving and sight-seeing, a big, orange, lazy moon greeted us, rising slow and heavy, looking much larger than any moon I had ever seen. Is that the altitude speaking or the atmosphere? I don't know...it was fantastic and would not be captured by photo, though we tried.
In the days we were there, we walked....we walked like nobody's business. I don't know how many miles, or kilometres, for that matter. We walked the desert, the buttes(I don't know if these are technically buttes, but I don't know what to call them), through dying Ponderosa Pine forests, along the river, through Michael's old neighbourhood. When walking the buttes here, the sage is so dense that you are constantly being embraced by it. The smell of it surrounds you, and after struggling through its tangles, your clothes and skin are infused with that smell, too. What luxury. We walked right out to the edges of these buttes, toes dangling over the edge, to look across the valley...and just when I tilted the camera down to take a photo of my boots at the abyss, the batteries in the camera died!!!! ARGH!!!!
These trails are endless. You can follow for hours, and we did.
Once again, I cannot express the devastation of the Pine Beetles here. Since we were here last, only this past summer, they have advanced beyond all reason. In the next few coming years, ALL mature pine trees will be lost. All of them.Ponderosa Pine, Log Pole Pine, you name it...gone. No pine over 8-10 years old will survive. Michael's mom's neighbour lost five big trees in their back yard while away on vacation! That fast. Pine represents probably 80 percent of the trees out here. The above photo is HOPE that one day, these hills will again be covered in their glorious blankets of pine. It represents the only future for these trees, as the cold and snow that once held these beetles in check does not come anymore. Global warming is killing the world we know. I must change subjects quickly now or be overwhelmed by a loss I cannot convey in photos or in words.
On a lighter note , this is Emma's cousin, Snoopy. She wishes they were kissing cousins, I tell you. She was in love sweet love with this big galoot.
There were signs of bear everywhere we walked...including Michael's uncle's backyard. They are in town for all the fruit left on the trees...getting ready for their big sleep. Piles of bear poo everywhere! But for all the poo and prints, we didn't see one real live bear. In fact, I have never seen a bear in 'Loops, though I have seen countless signs of them and have even poked my head into a den or two...though very obviously abandoned ones!
Well, that's about it...for now, anyway. One more batch of photos this weekend sometime from our trip across the mountains on our way home. It was an amazing drive on a road less travelled. It has made all the difference. Happy Friday, all. Enjoy your weekends.
Coming into Kamloops at the end of a long day of driving and sight-seeing, a big, orange, lazy moon greeted us, rising slow and heavy, looking much larger than any moon I had ever seen. Is that the altitude speaking or the atmosphere? I don't know...it was fantastic and would not be captured by photo, though we tried.
In the days we were there, we walked....we walked like nobody's business. I don't know how many miles, or kilometres, for that matter. We walked the desert, the buttes(I don't know if these are technically buttes, but I don't know what to call them), through dying Ponderosa Pine forests, along the river, through Michael's old neighbourhood. When walking the buttes here, the sage is so dense that you are constantly being embraced by it. The smell of it surrounds you, and after struggling through its tangles, your clothes and skin are infused with that smell, too. What luxury. We walked right out to the edges of these buttes, toes dangling over the edge, to look across the valley...and just when I tilted the camera down to take a photo of my boots at the abyss, the batteries in the camera died!!!! ARGH!!!!
These trails are endless. You can follow for hours, and we did.
Once again, I cannot express the devastation of the Pine Beetles here. Since we were here last, only this past summer, they have advanced beyond all reason. In the next few coming years, ALL mature pine trees will be lost. All of them.Ponderosa Pine, Log Pole Pine, you name it...gone. No pine over 8-10 years old will survive. Michael's mom's neighbour lost five big trees in their back yard while away on vacation! That fast. Pine represents probably 80 percent of the trees out here. The above photo is HOPE that one day, these hills will again be covered in their glorious blankets of pine. It represents the only future for these trees, as the cold and snow that once held these beetles in check does not come anymore. Global warming is killing the world we know. I must change subjects quickly now or be overwhelmed by a loss I cannot convey in photos or in words.
On a lighter note , this is Emma's cousin, Snoopy. She wishes they were kissing cousins, I tell you. She was in love sweet love with this big galoot.
There were signs of bear everywhere we walked...including Michael's uncle's backyard. They are in town for all the fruit left on the trees...getting ready for their big sleep. Piles of bear poo everywhere! But for all the poo and prints, we didn't see one real live bear. In fact, I have never seen a bear in 'Loops, though I have seen countless signs of them and have even poked my head into a den or two...though very obviously abandoned ones!
Well, that's about it...for now, anyway. One more batch of photos this weekend sometime from our trip across the mountains on our way home. It was an amazing drive on a road less travelled. It has made all the difference. Happy Friday, all. Enjoy your weekends.
8 comments:
Have I ever mentioned how much I LOVE your photos?
That big moon was a perfect harvest moon- perfectly full. I hear it only happens every three years. We were driving that night too. The whole barnyard at the farm was lit up, the tin roof of the house was glowing, the tops of all the neighbour's silos were shiny.
Your train shot is incredible, the composition, the colours, everything. And the ghost town! Heartbreaking and fascinating.
Honestly, I am awe of your photos. I love that you are sharing them with us, it feels as though I am right there with you...
I love your photos...I can never read your post until I have looked at your photos a million times, even then i have to stop and look at them again.
I'm sure by now, David Suzuki is a fan of yours...not just for the photos, but for the whole environmental aspect of your trip. It makes for a really great read. And...does that big dog have one bright blue eye?
yippur, Barb. Snoopy is half Rotty and half Husky, though the only place the husky shows up is in one eye and a curly(black)tail...
I can only hope that David Sazuki would be a fan of mine...he is someone I admire in a grand and mighty way.
and to all who travel with me, thank you for all your compliments...I am thankful for the chance to share my sight(s) with you...it makes me look at things more carefully, and to think of ways to tell you about the things I see in better detail, finer detail, and that makes me remember them more clearly...
I would love to see a bear in the wild. It must have been so cool to see those prints. What you say about the changing habitat due to warming is thought provoking. Sometimes it is reading about the local changes that make it more real than freak weather and the like. I really enjoyed reading about your trip and of course your photo's are as good as ever.
you'd think with all the industry that has been dreamed up that is killing the enviroment, that someone would have figured out how to gain some small control over your pine beetles and our spanworms... easier to distroy than fix i suppose...
aside from that, i love this post. i can't wait to walk wit you someday, it sounds like luxury, smells like it too!
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