| Author | Message | ||
     Jerry_haughton |
Ask Ferris, if'n you don't believe me. well, i dunno about Ferris, but I believe you! nice pix, Dino, very nice. as you know, Yosemite has not been checked off my "list" yet, but your photos tell me it's only a matter of time.  | ||
| Pdxs3t |
You rock Dino! Lookin forward to the day when we can meet, shoot some pics and cut a groove together. Jim | ||
| Dino |
Thanks,guys. Got a couple more from the weekend when I get around to getting them from the other computer. Stay tuned. Jim...I picturing (pardon the pun) you and FB & me riding together, with cameras. Would we get anywhere? Would we have to pick somewhere with absolutely no scenic value whatsoever in order to actually get up to speed before stopping for the next photo op? Be fun to try!  | ||
| Pdxs3t |
Dino, It would be lots of fun to try! Even if we found that spot of no scenic value, I'm sure we would entertain the idea of action shots around some curve! | ||
| Cali_rider |
DINO, Great eye, why is it that everytime I see a vista like that, my pics turn out, well, BLAH... I've been fortunate to have recently acquired a Casa de Montana (mountain house for you anglophiles) in Arnold, Calaveras County. I'm going to leave the M2 for me and the Bonneville for my wife up there so we can explore all of the same roads thru the entire Sierras. We have rode numerous times over Hwy. 88 into Nevada for Street Vibrations, spectacular in Sept. Heading up to Arnold tomorrow, not to ride, but to ski, Bear Valley has 5, yes, count 'em, 5 feet of fresh powder over the past 4 days of this storm. Hopefully our paths will cross in the near future. | ||
| Dino |
Thanks for the comments, Cali. My wife's sister used to live in Bear Valley, up Hwy 4, and now lives in Arnold. I try to ride thru the area on Hwy 49 several times a year. Gonna have to soon...wildflowers should be great this year! Looks to me like there are some cool roads off of Hwy 49 just north of 4. Been on any of 'em yet? Yep, we'll have to get together one of these days. Here's one more photo for this thread. This cool scene is just off of Hwy 41 as you head down out of the mountains toward Fresno.  (Message edited by dino on March 24, 2005) | ||
| Cali_rider |
Dino, Yes, we are blessed living in this great state, haven't yet explored many roads, but can't wait. As mentioned earlier, have gone over Hwy 88 a few times and Hwy. 4 as well, a little tight on those one lane switch backs when I was on my Road Glide, especially when I happened upon a very large bovine standing in the middle of one of those blind corners, that made my backside pucker in a hurry, yikes... Anyhow, looking forward to spending much time up here this year. | ||
| Dino |
Cali - I think that Hwy 4 is the only pass left between Tahoe and Tehachapi that I haven't been over. I have ridden on Hwy 4 from Copperopolis east to Hwy 49 and there's a really cool section in there...like riding a roller coaster. I've ridden up 26 to 88 to 89 to Tahoe...there are worse ways to spend the day! | ||
| Dino |
The sky was a leaden gray this morning and weather radar showed rain nearby. I figured that if I was going to get a ride in, I'd better get moving. I headed east on Hwy 49 toward Oakhurst and then Bass Lake. But just a couple miles from the house I again spotted a waterfall on the mountainside across a river canyon and decided to try to find it. After taking the old road down the mountain, across a tiny bridge and up the other side...success! Sort of. This portion of the creek shown in the first image is visible directly off of the road.  Wend your way downstream thru the forest a bit, struggling to pick a path thru the poison oak with out touching it, you can get to a rock outcropping that provides a view of a small falls.  Now, if you're really brave, you continue on thru even more poison oak to an even larger falls. Sorry, I wasn't feeling that lucky. Well, no picture of the lower falls, but later, back at the house I did get a picture of the last remnants of this year's manzanita blossoms. Small consolation. Very small, in fact, these things are tiny!  | ||
| Dino |
Had to head into town today on some errands and I figured there might just be some nice roadside shots waiting to be taken. Can't let Ferris have all the fun...     Okay, enough of the Lupine shots. My better half recently finished a couple of pastels that are scenes from the Mariposa area. First, a Mariposa sunrise based on the view from an upstairs window...  And driving north out of Mariposa toward Yosemite yields views like this one of the Merced River.  | ||
| Unibear12r |
Nice work! Btw if FB&D didn't tell ya, Sunday Scrubbing has a honored spot on my living room wall. | ||
| Dino |
Couldn't possibly have a more appropriate home! | ||
| Dino |
I took this photo of a flower seed-head in the back lawn this morning. I believe it to be a rare species, probably protected under California state law. I've told the wife that it would likely be a violation of environmental laws should I mow the lawn. Can anyone back me up here?  | ||
| Pdxs3t |
Dino, I love the better half's work, absoultly stunning! If she is interested, have some great photo's she could use for a future project. Jim | ||
| Dino |
Jim, Worth a try. You can e-mail some for her to take a look at. I don't have a clue what triggers her interest. She has never yet done a painting from one of my photos. Hmmm, should that tell me something? | ||
| Shawn_9r |
Dino, WOW, those are some great pics. I was Born and raised in Stanislaus County (Oakdale) but took frequent road trips up to Angles Camp and Bear Valley all the time. I forgot how nice those hills are., Thanks for bringing back great memories. I guess I need to get back sometime soon. I have only been home a couple weeks in the last 8 years. Thanks Again, Shawn (Message edited by shawn_9r on April 18, 2005) | ||
| Dino |
Shawn - Happy to be able to bring back those memories for ya! I drove down 120 thru Oakdale just the other day. Nothing quite like spring in the Calif. foothills. | ||
| Pdxs3t |
Dino, Will ping ya tonight with some pics that Char might like. Jim | ||
| Dino |
I had to go into Mariposa proper yesterday to renew a building permit. As long as I was there I thought maybe I'd take a few shots of sights around town. I usually avoid man made scenery for the natural landscape...here's a few views around this old gold rush town. First up, the county building which houses the building dept. A bit out of place among the older buildings, but a pleasant little area none the less.  Just behind the building shown above, however, is a pretty cool old stone building that houses the office of the District Attorney. I looked around a bit for a plaque of some sort that would give some history...no luck. This is the rear view. Unfortunately the front of the building has been marred with the installation of commercial type entrances.  Down the street we find the Courthouse. The block like structure off to the left side contains detention cells, if I recall correctly.  And a little history on the Courthouse building.  Down at the south end of town is the old church and churchyard.  A shot of some of the tombstones from the late 1800's. One thing I saw in this churchyard I'd never seen before...graves marked by simple wooden crosses. The bases had been ravaged by termites and the remainder of the markers were just lying on the graves.  | ||
| Dino |
Later in the day, Char & I headed in the other direction ... west toward Oakhurst and Coarsegold. Of course the overcast and drizzle that had dampened my morning ride had now partially cleared, providing drier weather and a more dramatic light. I stopped at the location of a big old oak in a field of wildflowers ... but the sun took a powder again ... so no shot. Here's a consolation shot of a nearby hillside.  After the playing in the wildflowers we went on to Coarsegold for a brief visit to a gallery opening, then back toward home. On the way home we took a bit of a detour down Rd. 600 toward Raymond to see the sights. I loved this hilltop tree illuminated with the light of early evening.  Okay, detour over, we headed toward home ... but the possibility of a nice sunset drew us further to the west where we could get a better view of the western sky.  And, with a last look to the north, toward rainclouds gracing the Sierra dusk, we finally did head home.  | ||
| Pdxs3t |
Dino - WOW Love all the wild flowers | ||
| Lornce |
Dino, You're spoiling us! Wonderful views, especially the evening lit hilltop. Superb composition. The foreground could stand impressively on it's own, but the whole just gets more interesting with the forelit top half. Thanks for seeing - and sharing the beauty. best, Lawrence | ||
| Dino |
Lawrence, Hey, I'm especially glad that you liked that one. I was struck by that scene, but my wife, the painter, didn't seem as impressed. Looks a lot better in full res...the yellowish tint that you see around the rock outcroppings shadowed area are actually fields of yellow wildflowers. I took a ton of pictures of that scene, hoping something would come out 'cause I'd left my main camera at home and left my tripod in the car a ways down the road. Dumb. I ran into a guy tonight at an art show opening that owns a ranch just down the road from there. We now have an open invite to photograph on his property. | ||
| Dino |
Jim - Glad you liked the wildflowers...but that was a picture of my wife. Didn't you notice? Here's a crop to help you out.  | ||
| Dino |
Last week, the wife took some vacation and stayed at our place in Mariposa for 9 straight days ... a rare treat. Unfortunately, I had too much to do and was forced to head home on the moto for a couple of days in mid week. A couple hundred miles each way thru the central Sierra on a motorcycle to go to work. That's either a horrible thing to do to a motorcycle ride, or one helluva great way to get to work ... or both. Before my little mid-week work foray, I was sitting out on the deck with Gracie, the African Grey. Got a real sweet look about her, doncha think?  Well, okay, maybe not in that shot. How about this one?  The morning I departed for my brief return to work I shot this wildflower in the front yard/meadow.  And, upon my arrival back in Mariposa a couple days later, Char showed me the pics she took of a visitor to our woodpile. She had looked to see what was going on 'cause the Stellar Jays were going apesh*t. For those of you who may have been confused by a thread on Quick Board a few months back, this is a King Snake. (Completely harmless, by the way ... unless you happen to be a rattlesnake, one of the King Snake's favorite snacks.)  (Message edited by dino on June 07, 2005) | ||
| Dino |
Friday, the day after my return, we headed up the road and into Yosemite NP. Unfortunately, Friday morning, the Valley was pretty much obscured in a thick haze. That was particularly disappointing because my loving wife dragged me up the climb from Tunnel Overlook to Old Inspiration Point, a wonderful overlook on a clear day. The climb up is 1.3 miles and 2,400 ft of elevation. That would be tough enough for someone like me who's old enough to be Ferris' eldest child, even were I not limping on a slowly healing sprained ankle! Apropos to this thread, along the way we found some Mariposa poppies.  and some other wildflowers that I can't identify.  and just to show that we really were way up the mountain (actually this shot is probably most of the way back down...  (Message edited by dino on June 07, 2005) (Message edited by dino on June 07, 2005) | ||
| Dino |
A telephoto shot of Bridalveil, with the haze craftily removed thru digital manipulation. The huge snowpack has been putting on quite a show as it melts and sends torrents of runoff down Yosemite's waterfalls.  A shot at Mirror Lake. In case you're wondering, Mirror Lake is only mirror-like in the morning when there's little wind and the light is coming from the right direction. By now it's afternoon ... no mirror.  And Mirror Lake again, from another spot, a bit later. Still no mirror, but at least the haze has lessened some and there are some nice clouds!  Along the trail back ... did I mention the raging torrents of snowmelt runoff?  | ||
| Dino |
Along the Merced River...  From the same spot, one of Yosemite's famous Dogwood trees. Unfortunately, the bloom was pretty much over at the elevation of the valley floor.  | ||
| Dino |
And then there is the Fen. A marshy meadow near Happy Isles on the Valley floor. I'm not sure a place could possibly be any more drop dead beautiful than this.     | ||
| Dino |
The next day, after running some errands in Oakhurst we went for a short hike up a stream just off of Road 600 - a great sport bike road I've mention previously. A look up the stream...  A wildflower among the rocks along the bank of the stream...  and an amazing place to grow and bloom...  this little succulent is about five feet up on a near vertical rock wall. |
