Sunday, February 28, 2016

Went Wandering

As my readers know every Sunday one of my daughters and I get together for breakfast and a little shopping.  We decided it was time to change things up a bit.

Heading down the freeway it got a little depressing seeing how the open pit mines are growing rapidly and eating up so much land and nature. I understand that it opens up lots of jobs but dang this is ugly stuff. Will they eventually have to move the freeway to make way for more ugliness?

We picked up some food and headed to Madera Canyon for some fresh air and pretty green trees. As we were getting closer to the mountain I spotted snow on the very high peaks. We were excited.

The rising sun was creating lots of shadows on the mountain that constantly change as the sun reaches higher into the sky. 

Lots of folks already up there setting up the larger picnic areas. We drove up to the farthest loop and checked things out. All the parking lots were full as most of the trails start at those points. We headed back down to my dad's favorite picnic spot for out brunch. It was so peaceful there. We sat there for a long time and I told my daughter about picnics there with my dad. We had to get there by 7 am so I  could make breakfast for everyone. In later years some of the food was made at home as it was taking to long for Dad to get fed. haha. Coffee was also made at home and brought up in a couple of Thermos bottles. Oh how I miss those days.

 As you can see there was quite a bit of Haze up on top. But this was the  first sign of snow

The shadows on the side of the mountain as the sun rose 

Another side and more snow
As we were coming back from the upper loop this was a straight view into Green Valley and those ugly mines

 At first I couldn't tell if I was seeing a little lizard as these Dark eyed Junco's were scratching around in the weeds. Now I may be wrong and it could be a Lazuli Bunting so maybe Judy Bell will stop by and give the correct name





Now I am positive about this guy he is a Mexican Blue Jay. They are very large birds and numerous to this mountain range


 I thought I had put out the zoom in this picture but at least it shows the how far away from the mountain I am. The next 2 pictures shows 1/2 the zoom and the last picture is full 50. Unfortunately the haze remained all day



This was the last picture I was able to get as the battery went dead. I had charged it the night before so I am thinking I will need to buy a new battery. Can't believe it went bad like that and they sure aren't cheap. But one must pay in order to play.


Good Night All

4 comments:

  1. I think your trip sounds so much better and more interesting than breakfast in a restaurant and shopping! Too bad about open pit mines - that and fracking in every possible spot is doing things to the earth and places that never had earthquakes before are having them. It's not nice to mess with Mother Nature!

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  2. Nice pictures and glad you had a chance to change things around with your daughter.
    I have two batteries for each of our cameras so that I never worry about it going dead. If you use them low but not dead it will extend their life span. The cheapest place I find them is E-bay then Amazon.
    Be Safe and Enjoy!

    It's about time.

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  3. So glad you got out and about and enjoyed nature. I agree the mines are an ugly scar to the land...The photos are awesome!!

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  4. Hi Gypsy,

    Yes the weather here now is really nice and it doesn't last very long. So have to get out and enjoy it before the heat comes on. Man is the earths worst enemy and they never learn


    Hi Kathy,

    Have tried never to let the battery die and that's why I charged it the night before. It is about 3 yrs old I think and I have used the camera extensively so I guess it lived out its life.

    Hi Sondra,

    We really did enjoy our outing. Maybe we will do more of this while we still can. glad you Enjoyed the pictures.

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