Norris geyser, Yellowstone

Even if you don't see the gysers before approaching, you smell them a good 100ft. or more before you've approached one.  They give off a sulfur smell, sulfur deposits is what you see around the geyser, or the ring around the geyser.  It smells like deviled eggs that have been left out on the kitchen table too long.

Norris hot spring Yellowstone

Norris geyser and hot spring, one of 10,000 gysers and hot springs thru out Yellowstone. See the boiling water?? the water is hot enough to burn boots and have caused scalding deaths.

Baby Elk, Yellowstone

Two baby elk, part of a family that stopped to take a drink and cool off in the  Yellowstone River.  It was a very hot day at Yellowstone today, everyone was feeling the heat.

Elk in Yellowstone

A family of Elk bathing in the cool water of the Yellowstone River

Here's looking at ya!

Buddy the ringed necked dove sitting near his favorite cow statue.  Aint he cute!

Silly Buddy

Buddy the ringed neck dove has flown to one of his favorite spots in the house.  He's saying "you can't get me from up here!"

The Beasleys

The wonderful and gracious family we stayed with on Whidbey Island, WA.  Richard, Myrna, Devon & Hardley the dog, Mouse, the cat and Buddy, the ringed neck dove.

Another view Deception Pass

A view from the other side of Deception Pass Bridge.  Puget Sound, WA

Deception Pass

One view of Deception Pass, Puget Sound, WA

Whidbey Island, Puget Sound, WA

Deception Bridge connecting Whidbey Island to other lands of the Puget Sound.  I thought this was an awesome looking bridge.

Seattle sky

Pretty typical Seattle sky.  Rainy & dreary. Kind of cool looking though.

Glacial stream

A view of a small glacial water stream.  Driving in Rainier national park

Driving up to Mt. Rainier.  In Rainier national park.  This mt. is more than awe inspiring.

Alpine shot

Another cool alpine shot at Mt. Rainier

Devon

      Our friend's son Devon who accompanied us to Mt. Rainier

Tree base

Pretty cool looking hollowed out base of a tree.

Alpine Ground cover

Some neat alpine ground cover of ivy and mosses.

Summit peek a boo

The summit decided to make a quick appearance thru the cloud cover.  14,410 ft. at its summit, it is the tallest mt. in the contiguous 48 states. Considered an active volcano and one of many chains of volcanoes in the Cascade Mt. Range.   As of today, June 24th, the recovery attempt of a 34 yrs. park ranger has not been recovered. The ranger died on thurs, the 21st. while rescuing 2 climbers who fell into a glacial crevasse. He was part of that rescue team. The climbers/hikers  and other rescuers were all made it back alive.

An Alpine setting

Definitely an Alpine setting. 6,000 ft. on Mt. Rainier

Definitely Brrr.. at 6,000 ft. The snow and not having proper snow hiking equipt. plus the altitude determined how high we went.  Not as much as we would have liked to go.

John found it to be a little chilly at 6,000 ft.

At 6,ooo ft., we decided to attempt to walk further up the mt. with no intention of reaching the summit of 14,000 ft.+   The altitude and hiking uphill in deep snow made it difficult, so we did not get too far.

Nada Waterfall, just one of the many waterfalls from the melting snow and ice on Mt. Rainier. We hiked down a very snowy and muddy trail to obtain some of these shots.

A view of Paradise valley when ascending just one the roads on Mt. Rainier.

David Johnston Observatory

The observatory where I stood directly in front of the north face and shot many of these pics., was named after the volcanologist David Johnston.  Dr. Johnston and 56 others, mainly residents and campers perished from the blast.  Some residents, campers & hikers did not heed the geologists warnings to evacuate days before the blast.  On the morning of May 18th, 1980, Dr. Johnston radioed the last words he would ever speak.  "Vancouver, Vancouver, this is it"! 

The explosion shot ash and rock 63,000 miles into the air and hot smothering gases and debris propelled out of the north lateral side of the mt summit at 155 mph leaving a debris fields for many miles.

A nice view

A view of Mt. St. Helens and just some of the remaining landscape withing the blast zone.  Life has begun to reclaim the land once more that once left barren after the eruption of 1980.

The blast of 1980

The explosion of 1980. Mt. St. Helens lies directly adjacent to this sign.

seismic activity continues

Mt. St. Helens has had alot more seismic activity since the 1980 mega blast.  There have been more incidents of ash and lava flow since 1980, just not quite to the magnitude since then.

On the ride up to the mountain

On the ride up to the mt. & stopped at a viewing point of St. Helens.  The summit is cloud covered in this shot.  The mountain view changes constantly in regards to the cloud cover and how quickly the clouds move over the summit.

Approaching St. Helens & landscape

Typical view of the mudflows and landscape for miles on approaching Mt. St. Helens (the mts. with the big crater in the background). It amazes me how nature has reclaimed alot of the land since the blast of 1980.

New magma dome.

I shot this view of the crater on top of Mt. St. Helens, staning at the observatory located in the direct blast zone.  The volcano blew 1300ft. of it's summit and left a mile wide crater.  However, the magma has been rebuilding itself and has grown significantly in 32 yrs.

Alot of trees like this.

A view from one of the trails adjacent to Mt. St. Helens within the blast zone.

There are debris fields and remnants of mud fields called lahars, that can still be seen all around Mt. St. Helens.  Nature, however, has regained a foothold of the landscape 32 yrs. after the explosion.

Mt. Hood OR, 50 mi. from Portland and one of the many startovolacanoes in the Cascade Range. Yesterday, while we were driving to Portland and looking at the magnificent mountain, I mentioned to John that hikers die every year trying to conquer this majestic mountain.  When we arrived in Portland, the local news reported that a hiker died that afternoon climbing to its 11,239ft. summit.

A view along the Columbia River. Part of the Lewis & Clark trail.  The Columbia gorge is one of the most beautiful places I have ever seen.  Pictures do not do it justice.

One of the many views driving along the Columbia river between WA & OR.

Part of the Columbia Gorge driving along I-84 between WA and Oregon.

Sitting at a construction road stop and watching the wheat grow in Walla Walla WA.  A city so nice, they named it twice...  Walla Walla really a nice town, tons of wineries...

Rest stop in E. Oregon

So, basically one has to either run quickly and watch one's step after you park and head to the restrooms.

This is a rest stop in Oregon along the old OR trail.

Wyoming along I-84 east

Amazing what erosion can do to a rock over time.  There is so much wind in this part of the country, I imagine it only took a few million years to erode this once large hill.  There use to be an inland sea here about 65 m.y.a.

Interesting rock formation

Interesting sandstone formation driving along
I-84 east on Wyoming & Utah border. There are so many of these unusual rock formations along much of WY & UT

Crossing the Continental Divide

Crossing the Continental Divide in Wyoming. Actually, we are starting a descent from an height of 8,000ft. in WY

The windy plains

No pictures to post today since we do not have strong internet connection.   Yesterday's drive along 
I-80W  between Cheyenne, WY & Ogden, UT took 8 hrs. instead of 6.  The winds were between 35 & 60+ mph.  It can be quite tedious watching rolling prarie and sage brush for 8 hrs.  We just took it slowly, driving at times only 45mph.  Alot of tractor trailer drivers pulled off the road for the day. It's sort of difficult to play the "eye spy" game to make the time go by more quickly.  One has several things for choose from.  "Look, there's a sage bush".  "Look!, theres a fence!", "Look"! there's a cow".  "Look, there's an antelope looking thing".   etc......  Southern WY is pretty in it's own right.. Lots of rolling hills, cows, horses, pronghorn antelope things and even a few llamas? Ok, anyway.......

Pat the nice kitty!

This is Midnight, one of the residence of Tiger/Big Cat sanctuary in MO.  She is a panther.

Tiger/Big Cat Sancturay Branson, MO

Even big cats like to take a bath, just like Taz and Loca!  This is Vincent, a bengal/siberian hybrid.

Zipping from Point A to Point B

I have to zip line to that spot?  The guides reassured us that the lines and harnesses can take the weight.  Ok, here goes nothing!

Above the tree tops in Missouri

Standing above the tree tops waiting to hook up to the next line...

Robin, Jeff and Mary Afton getting ready for the Louisville, KY ride for health.  A fun 17 miles on two borrowed biked:  A Lovely new one for Robin and Jeff's 'commute' bike for John.  Together they cost more than John's first new car--lol.

Gearing up for a zip line adventure

All geared up and ready to zip! We wound up completing 7 lines in all about 80-100 ft. high. It was awesome!  I recommend zip lining for anyone, it's not difficult.....Adventure Zip Lines of Branson, MO...

THE BEGGINING OF THE 2012 SUMMER TRAVEL BLOG

Coming in for a landing on the final zip line... Branson, MO