From Landscapes

Pigeon Point Lighthouse

Perched on the central California coast, 50 miles south of San Francisco, the 115-foot Pigeon Point Lighthouse is one of the tallest lighthouses in the country and has been guiding mariners since 1872. The five-wick lard oil lamp and first order Fresnel lens, comprised of 1,008 prisms, was first lit at sunset, Nov. 15, 1872.

Pigeon Point’s original name, Whale Point, was inspired by the gray whales that migrate past the point. California’s boom from Gold Rush to statehood brought many ships to these perilous waters. 

Those who have followed me for some time know I love lighthouses, so you are not surprised about the amount of photos from this place.

How Tall is the Lighthouse?

It is
100′ above ground to the focal plane of the lens.
115′ above ground to the top of the tower.
150′ (about) above sea level to the focal plane of the lens.

The information is from https://www.thatsmypark.org/parks-and-beaches/pigeon-point-light-station-state-historic-park/

Piedras Blancas Light Station

The light house was closed, but we stopped to take a photos first from further away and then at the gate. I have a liking to light houses so they are always a photo opportunity to me, I don’t know if you’ve noticed that 🙂

Piedras Blancas Light Station

Sequoia – Sunset

What can I say; the sunset was beautiful. The sky changed colors constantly and the point of focus changed the tone of the shot dramatically. I was even able to capture stars ( white spots on the photo) with out a tripod.

the soft dusk colors of the sky
I was able to capture stars… without a tripod

Sequoia, Giant Forest

The beautiful redwood trees are HUGE, unless you see them it is hard to imagine the size them. To think that there are people who think they should be cut down. I am blown away of the majesty of the trees. General Sherman is a giant sequoia tree located in the Giant Forest of Sequoia National Park  it is the largest known living single-stem tree on Earth.

Height 83.8 m (275 ft), Diameter 7.7 m (25 ft), Volume of trunk 1,487 m3 (52,500 cu ft), Date seeded 700BC – 300BC

The Giant Forest, famed for its giant sequoia trees, is within the Sequoia National Park. This montane forest, situated at over 6,000 feet (1,800 m) above mean sea level. The giant sequoia tree is the most massive species of tree on earth and they are impressive for sure.

We caught up with a group of people who had a guide with them and so we discovered this three that you could crawl into and you could also see though the tree to the side and the top of the trunk a hollow tree. One more thing to be amazed about.

Memories from 1990’s

Sequoia National Park

We arrived to Three Rivers at dusk so the only thing was to book ourselves into a motel and find a place to eat. There was nothing to take photos at this time.

Next day we are meeting old friends and heading to the Sequoia National Park to see the beautiful red woods, mountains. These are from the way up. I mean really, this is such a lovely place. I have tons of photos from out trip up, so be prepared to be overloaded with natures wonders. Art form that I so appreciate.

On the Road #2

I loved spotting the trees on the rolling hills. Considering I took these from a moving car I think they came out rather good. For some reason this kind of images appeal to me. I often take photos of a lonely tree of few trees? Do you have a favorite topic you come back to?

Tree on a hill

All the rolling hills on this part of the drive appeal to my aesthetic sensibilities 🙂

On the road

My dairy of our trip continues, as we left Las Vegas. We started our road trip first destination was Three Rivers in California. Here are some shot taken from the drive, you quest it, there might be a # 2 and even #3 for this topic too.

We sure were happy that on this Friday we were heading out of Las Vegas as the traffic towards was rather congested. Nice long lines of cars. This was to be our longest drive at one time the following stops we had planned to be shorter. So we listened to music, looked at the changing scenery and I took photos from the moving car 🙂

Lake Mead

Lake Mead, Hoover Dam, Bootleg Canyon were the destinations on one of the days during our visit to Las Vegas. These all happened on on the same day, but I am going to post them one by one, because I have so many pictures to share. I have some great memories or shoud I say memorable memories from Lake Mead, Once we were caught in a sandstorm and hide in the water with just our head out of water. I nearly lost may angles – life during a water ski accident… Yeah I remember this place.

Mount Charleston

This place is about hour and half away from Las Vegas and it baffles me that even the locals do not visit it that often. Lovely , cooler nature sanctuary form the hotness of the town. Mount Charleston, it was on the second day of our trip that we decided to refresh our memories from this place. It was worth the drive. We drove to Mt. Chaleston lodge that is hidden at elevation 7,000 feet among the juniper and sweet ponderosa pine of Kyle Canyon.

Valley of Fire~5

my last post, for now , from Valley of fire. I thought we could do with a splash of warm orange hues, sunshine and warmth that has been in these photos. Sorry for the overload. This also works as my diary I gather my memories here. So these are smaller details, textures from this location and a bird and a lizard.

Valley of Fire~2

Valley of Fire consists of bright red Aztec sandstone outcrops nestled in gray and tan limestone mountains.  The sandstone is from the Jurassic period and is the remnant of the sand left behind by the wind after inland seas subsided and the land rose. Early man moved into southern Nevada as far back as 11,000 years ago. The most obvious evidence of occupation from about 2,500 years ago. Here is the first set of photos 🙂

Valley of Fire~1

Valley of fire in Mojave Desert in Nevada. It had been about 35 years since my previous visit to this colorful place of red Aztec sandstone outcrops nestled in gray and tan limestone mountains.

The area plant community is dominated by widely spaced creosote bush, burro bush and brittlebush. Several cactus species, including beaver tail and cholla, are also common

Cactus

Las Vegas Desert

The second day we where contemplating as what to do. As stated we do not gamble so instead of heading to the casinos we went to see sights. Our first place to visit was Valley of Fire in the Mojave Desert. It is unbelievable that in the middle of the desert you can find these beautiful red rock formations. I will post several post from there as I did take so many photos of this colorful place.

These photos are from the drive through the “normal” Las Vegas desert with the mountains surrounding it beautifully. It does not look that spectacular, but if you look closely you can see beauty here too. What do you think, have I captured beauty of the desert?