two excursions in two weekends - lots of pics

[fizzgig]

i've only entered a few contests, but those entries have always been from my archives and i wanted to shoot fresh for this month, so i enlisted the husband to take me up into the mountains the last two weekends.

three years ago we were in the throes of one of the most destructive fires in state history. i shot these last sunday in the midst of the burn area.











these were taken yesterday at our favorite little picnic spot up the canyon. this about 20 miles up the canyon from the first spot and the fire didn't get up there.

the picnic spot



lunch



upriver



downriver



fussing around

[Blue_In_AK]

2. Beautiful!

I understand Colorado is getting quite a bit of rain this year, so hopefully you won't have a severe fire season.

Alaska has a lot of places that look like your burn area, and we're currently getting more up by Willow where a wildfire is raging as we speak. In 2004 and 2005, 11 million acres burned, and last year we had the Funny River fire down on the Kenai Peninsula which was almost 160,000 acres.

I always try to look on the bright side, think about all the trees damaged by bark beetles that are destroyed allowing new growth, but still a burn area looks really stark for a few years.

[fizzgig]

3. i heard about the willow fire today

it's been wet, but "they" are expecting a normal fire season this year. as long as we don't have a prolonged hot and dry period, i think we should be ok. it's so hard to look at the burn area and remember that fire is necessary for the eco-system. i plan on going to the burn area at least twice a year to track the progress for as long as i am able.

[Dont call me Shirley]

4. Beautiful pics, fizzgig.

I need to grab the family and head up to the NM mountains soon. Thanks for the motivation!

[locks]

5. These are beautiful

Hoping Alaska and California will get some of the great rain Colorado has received this year.

[nikto]

6. To quote ...

“Eventually, all things merge into one, and a river runs through it. The river was cut by the world's great flood and runs over rocks from the basement of time. On some of the rocks are timeless raindrops. Under the rocks are the words, and some of the words are theirs.
I am haunted by waters.”
― Norman Maclean, A River Runs Through It and Other Stories

[TexasTowelie]

7. The lunch photo makes me want to go to the refrigerator

now! Time for a chicken fajita taco with cheese, guacamole and pico de gallo.

[Spitfire of ATJ]

8. Why did I look for bugs on the sandwich?