Mid-morning Moon

Walking through the campground I looked up and saw this gibbous moon, framed by several trees.

See more views of skies around the world at SkyWatch Friday, hosted for us by Klaus, Sandy, Wren, Fishing Guy and Sylvia.



UFO?

The Eastern Sierra is a great place to see lenticular clouds.  After a night of high winds the sky had filled with lots of interesting cloud formations. 

See more skies from around the world at SkyWatch Friday, hosted for us by

Klaus, Sandy, Wren, Fishing Guy and Sylvia.

Sunset at Mono Lake

Evening at Mono Lake always brings out the photographers.  This evening was no exception, but many had started to drift away.  The clouds were too low over the Sierra we all thought.  There would be no color this evening we all thought.  But for those who stayed,  the fire of the setting sun outlined the mountains.  Not quite what we had hoped for but worth the wait.

You can see more skies from around the world at SkyWatch Friday, hosted for us by Klaus, Sandy, Wren, Fishing Guy and Sylvia.

Sky Watch--Resurrection Bay

After saying goodbye to the whales (see previous post)  at Cape Resurrection,  we headed back to Seward.  Some of the gulls followed us, perhaps thinking we were a fishing boat and would throw some chum their way.

Find more views of the sky at Skywatch Friday, hosted for us by Klaus, Sandy, Wren, Fishing Guy and Sylvia.

Gray Alaskan Sky

Our first day in Alaska the sky was overcast, just as it was for most of our trip.  We had one and one half days of sun, but that was enough.

You can find more skies from around the world at Skywatch Friday, hosted for us by Klaus, Sandy, Wren, Fishing Guy and Sylvia.

Shadows in the Sky

This could almost be a shadow shot with the cloud shadows in the sky.  It may look like a scene from a movie about the end of the world but it is just the sun setting behind the coast range with a little air pollution adding to the color.  My hill may be only 300' but that is enough to give me a view across the Sacramento Valley.

See more skies from around the world at SkyWatch Friday, hosted for us by Klaus, Sandy, Wren, Fishing Guy and Sylvia.

Feather in the Sky

More beautiful skies can be found at Sky Watch Friday,
hosted for us by Klaus, Sandy, Wren, Fishing Guy and Sylvia.

Above the Falls--A Sky Shot

At Yosemite Falls a group of people were looking up.  That's not unusual, it is a beautiful sight.  It wasn't the majestic fall that had caught there eye, though.

Someone was walking a slack line above the fall!

Here is a closer look.  The walker has a safety line that keeps him or her from plunnging over the fall in case of a loss of balance.

Later after the sun had set the clouds above the fall blazed with gold and orange.

See more skies at Sky Watch Friday, hosted for us each week by

 Klaus, Sandy, Wren, Fishing Guy and Sylvia.

Before the Sun Sets

As the sun falls towards its rendezvous with the Pacific, before it turns the clouds to gold and fiery orange, it brightens the western edge while turning the far side to quicksilver.  A play of light and shadow in the sky.

There are more skies to see at Sky Watch Friday, hosted for us each week by Klaus, Sandy, Wren, Fishing Guy and Sylvia.

Thundering Skies

We had some wonderful clouds last week. I didn't see the lightening but I sure heard the thunder.

I sure do enjoy the view of the sky from my patio!

More skies from around the world are to be found at Sky Watch Friday, hosted for us each week by

Klaus, Sandy, Wren, Fishing Guy and Sylvia.

Western Sky

A spectacular sunset augmented with HDR software.

You can find more skies at Sky Watch Friday, hosted for us by Klaus, Sandy, Wren, Fishing Guy and Sylvia.

Game Over--Sky Watch

We came for pictures in the nearby preserve, most folks came for a girls softball game that finished just as the sun was setting.

You can find more skies at Sky Watch Friday, hosted for us each week by Klaus, Sandy, Wren, Fishing Guy and Sylvia.

Looking Up--Sky Watch

The view from my camp chair.

Sky Watch—Death Valley

See more skies from around the world at Skywatch Friday, hosted for us by Klaus, Sandy, Wren, Fishing Guy and Sylvia.

In Praise of Blue—Sky Watch

We’ve gone off in search of more photos, maybe some blue sky and flowers.

Search out other skies at Sky Watch Friday, hosted for us by Klaus, Sandy, Wren, Fishing Guy and Sylvia.

Sky Above James Marshall

James Marshall discovered gold at the site of a lumber mill he was building on the American River for John Sutter in 1848.

Marshall never profited from his discovery and died penniless. A monument stands above his grave on a hill in Coloma. His statue points to the spot where he discovered gold, starting the great California Gold Rush.
The site is now a California State Park.


Your can see more skies from around the world at Sky Watch Friday, hosted for us by
Klaus, Sandy, Wren, Fishing Guy and Sylvia.

Sutter Buttes in a Pink Sky

Here is my SkyWatch shot. In the evening sky looking to the west is Sutter Buttes, the worlds smallest mountain range, rising from the alluvial plain of the Sacramento Valley.

This is the view from my patio on a clear evening. The buttes intrigue me, beckon me. They are private land, forbidden.

Except, the Middle MountainFoundation has permission to lead hikes on four parcels here and last Sunday I joined them on a wildflower hike.

If you have time, you can join us.

We start our hike crossing this little stream. When summer comes this land will be dry but now it is green with flowing streams.
We see signs that native Americans once used this land.
We see a well dug by the pioneers. I hope they didn't encounter that poison oak, now draped over the edge, when they were drawing out water!
Wild clematis drapes over trees and shrubs.

We walk through stands of Redbud.

There are flowers I don't recall seeing in the past. Did you notice the blue pollen on the Birdseye Gilia?

The Sutter Buttes are the remnants of an ancient volcano. Here we can see the andecite spires from that volcano.

Elsewhere we see the terraces of an ancient lake bed, raised up when the volcano erupted under it.

We end with another sky shot. A view from the buttes over towards the Snow Mountain Wilderness in the Mendocino National Forest.

More skies can be found at Skywatch Friday, hosted for us by Klaus, Sandy, Wren, Fishing Guy and Sylvia.

Morning has Broken

Morning has broken

Like the first morning

Blackbird has spoken

Like the first bird

Words from poem By Eleanor Farjeon.   When I took this photo at sunrise one day, all I could think of was the hymn in my UU hymnal.  I’ve been trying to get the blackbirds to cooperate ever since.

See more skies at Skywatch Friday, hosted for us each week by Klaus, Sandy, Wren, Fishing Guy and Sylvia.

Blue Desert Sky

Reach, praising heaven

giver of rain, giving  warmth

blossoms reach for sky

See more skies at Skywatch Friday, hosted for us by Klaus, Sandy, Wren, Fishing Guy, and Sylvia.

Donner Summit Winter Sky

The weather cleared and we drove up to Donner Summit  Beautiful bright blue skies with high clouds.  Do you see that dark line partway down the mountain?

I’ll enlarge it so you can get a better view.

This is a snow shed for the railroad.  You might have heard that Donner Pass can get A LOT of snow at times.  The snow shed protects the trains from avalanches.

More skies can be found at Sky Watch Friday, hosted for us by Klaus,Sandy, Wren, Fishing Guy and Sylvia.