The Red "Castles"

For this photo trip, I headed to a bit different location than I have in the past and was just driving to see what I could find. As we travel down the road, an old homestead with a new windmill sets in a field of snow and sun's rays give it light in the mist of a snow storm that surrounds it. Just one of the peaceful scenes that fill the area.
I have been this route many times when I wasn't picture taking and as I was traveling along, I saw something I have never seen before. As we were driving along, I looked to a small hill area and in a very small distance along the road you can see into a small bowl in the hill. There I saw what looked like a small stucco castle. So we went in to investigate what it was. Being BLM land, we weren't trespassing but wanted, as usual, to obey the law and so finding a way to the place off the main road was something that took a little effort. Travel is only permitted on existing roads and being an area I hadn't spent much time in, well, it took some doing to get to where we wanted to go.
Well we made it and due to the overcast day, pictures weren't as appealing as they could be. So we set out he next day with a bit of sun popping out between snow flurries. We spent a lot more time in the area and found some very interesting formations which shoot out of the ground and tower above the ground below. These "castles" have a formation rather large in size in the middle of this little funnel shaped cove in the hill. Around the sides of the funnel many formations circle main formation in the center. Rocks of all sorts lay scattered all over the ground and in layers in the castle. Red formations of unknown (to me anyways) mineral deposits cover the area and every step give a whole new look to the design and handy work that is nestled into this little pocket.
Holes from water erosion run around along and down through the formation leaving channels that are carved into the formation and one can only wonder what all call this place home or where all these holes end in the earth below as well as inside the great formations. Many make for hole to pear through into the world behind and all that lay behind the formations against the basin walls.
As I mentioned earlier, every step made for a new and different look which lasted over and over again the entire time we walked the area.
after spending quite some time taking pictures and checking out the formations as well as just taking in the overall scene, it was time to head for home and sadly bring this journey to an end.
One can learn a lot from this adventure, because as many times as I have traveled this road, now I find something new and worth seeing which never before had shown itself to me and allowed me to walk among the "castles".

Tetons From The Western Side

So a beautiful day and a chance to get out and do a little photography. Having visited many of the places I like this time of year and thinking that I needed a change, I talked a good friend into taking a little trip for the day with me (it wasn't hard to talk him into it either). We headed out to a small valley west of the Teton Range. When you see pictures of the Tetons, most of them are taken from their eastern side, and well, it was time for something new. From the western side, you can see the tops of the Tetons over some of the mountain that rise above the valley and in one of the canyons, a very good view of the Grand and three other peaks around it.
Today was great because we spent some time finding different places to stop and take a few pictures. We traveled several routes and found some great picture places. But, not only did we get a bunch of places to see them good, but nature smiled upon us as we got to watch clouds build and blow across the range from peak to peak and some of the effects in which the wind blew them, was rather impressive to say the least. At one point, a cloud came from the furthermost southern peak and blew from it all along the range and when it got to the Grand, it blew around it and as it did, it caught a draw and shot up and over park of the peak then curled down into the canyon below. It was a very impressive scene to watch and enjoy.
Throughout the day clouds formed and blew across the faces of the peaks and created some very cool scenes even if these pictures fail to give you the full effect of what all really happened. You can't really see all the peaks in these pictures very well, except in the first picture. You can barely make out the fourth larger peak just over the mountain in the foreground to the right of the other three. In order to see all the peaks, we had to be so far away that they were "hazed" and there wasn't a lot of clarity to them so I only put a few here to give you a taste of the beauty. The closer pictures where cool but even though they have some beauty, the overall picture isn't complete because of the details that were all around. Shooting these shots are hard for me because I enjoy focusing in on parts of the scene and trying to catch the overall scene as well but usually find one or the other occurs for the most part. Today, more singled out details compared to the overall is what I ended up with. I'm not complaining as I got to see it all anyways but, I guess you'll never know what you missed hehe, sorry. Don't sweat it however, I thing the taste I give you here will be worth visiting my blog and hopefully keep you coming back to see what adventure we take next. One never knows how or where we'll end up in the next photo trip, so don't give up, it's bound to keep you in touch with nature and sampling it's little secrets that await the finding.
After all, it won't be long if things staying as they are and spring will be coming with many more options. Baby animals, more options of locations, greener settings, color and much more. If the signs of the animals this winter is anything, I hope we can see some babies this spring unless they go much higher altitudes to have their young. We'll just have to wait and see but that is one of my favorite things to try and capture, baby animals of all sorts and species. A truly enjoyable time when those little fellows can be seen and watched. One time we were out and a mule deer fawn was laying in front of a bushy tree and we came upon it, about 15 yards away and saw it laying there, and it looked at us, got up and walked around the back side of the tree from us and laid back down. Now keep in mind, it was only a day or two old so it was a real sight and treat to watch it half walk, half stumble around the tree and then just lay back down. I chuckled to myself for awhile over that one and we turned and walked away to let it rest in peace. Just one of the so many things nature provide to those who take the time to enjoy.
Well, we'll end this post for now. Make sure you check back regularly to see what adventures we take on as I try to get the perfect photo of nature's secrets to share with all who find comfort, peace or anything else in the beauty that awaits the exploring. I never know where it may lead or what there will be, but I do know it's gonna be loads of fun and worth every minute. So enjoy the pictures and please come back so we can share our next adventure in finding nature's secrets. Don't give up on us, or your bound to miss some fun times and scenery unseen before. Besides, not everyone can sample nature's secrets from the comfort of their chair, in a warm or cooled building, eating, drinking or just relaxing. And, it's my pleasure to do so. Thanks for visiting! See ya soon...