RHH's photos with the keyword: forest

We live in an area known as Malloy Prairie, an area of grassland and Ponderosa forest. This photo was taken behind our home along an unpaved lane.

We live in an area known as Malloy Prairie, a rocky area of grassland and Ponderosas with a thin soil cover. The area is dotted with long narrow lakes that appear to have been scoured out by cataclysmic floods and the larger area is known geologically as the channeled scablands. This photo was taken along the lane to the east of our home.

This is typical of the area in which we live, grasslands and Ponderosa forests. The soil is thin and not of much use for anything but grazing but the area is dotted with deep, narrow lakes that have attracted homeowners and boaters. The larger area is known as the channeled scablands.

Dowagiac Woods Nature Sanctuary is in southeastern Michigan and is supposed to be one of the few places left that preserve an area which shows what Michigan was like when still untouched by settlers. We were there with our oldest daughter who lives in Belfast, Northern Ireland, and whom we later dropped off at O'Hare Airport. We were all on our different ways home when we visited there for a few hours.

David W. Fischer Mycologist, Author, Photographer, Musician American Mushrooms.com Author, Edible Wild Mushrooms of North America (1992, Univ. of Texas Press) Coauthor, Mushrooms of Northeastern North America (1997, Syracuse Univ. Press)

Photographed in the Okanagan National Forest. I am not absolutely certain of the identification on this. If anyone knows better please inform me.

Taken on Memorial Day hike in the Chuckanuts with son Edward. It was not a very nice day and when finally it began to rain hard we gave it up, hiked out and went to the local coffee shop to warm up. ronaldhanko-orchidhunter.blogspot.com/2013/06/the-chuckanuts.html

Padden Ridge lies between Padden Lake and Interstate 5 to the south of Bellingham, Washington. I hiked there the end of May looking for native orchids, but as always tried to capture something of the "feel" of the area as well. This was one of the better photos taken in a wilder area of the ridge, a popular place for walkers, runners and hikers. ronaldhanko-orchidhunter.blogspot.com/2013/05/lake-padden-and-padden-ridge.html

This picture was taken at the place were Interstate 90 crosses the Columbia River and near the town of Vantage, Washington. The state park there is known for its vast amount of petrified wood, including whole logs, and for the many different kinds of trees that are found in a petrified state, around fifty different species, including the Ginko. It also boasts a collection of Indian petroglyphs rescued from the waters beneath, since the Columbia has been dammed a little below this point. Pictures of the petrified logs, of the petroglyphs and of the park and its area can be found here: ronaldhanko-orchidhunter.blogspot.com/2011/03/ginko-petri... .

I posted this for several reasons, first because it is from a recent hike, a hike I did with my brother along the Baker River Trail in the North Cascades; second, because it shows perhaps better than any picture I've posted, what our northwestern forests are like; third, because like many of the trails we hike, it reminds of the songs from The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings from which the title is taken; and fourth, though there is nothing spectacular about it, it touches something hidden in me, something that the woods and the mountains, the wildflowers and the forest creatures always touch in me, something that the songs from Tolkien's books seem to catch. The song from The Lord of Rings has many different versions in the books, but it is the final version, sung near the end of the story, that I like best: "Still round the corner there may wait A new road or a secret gate, And though I oft have passed them by, A day will come at last when I Shall take the hidden paths that run West of the Moon, East of the Sun." ronaldhanko-orchidhunter.blogspot.com/2012/04/baker-river...

Saturday, May 5th, my youngest brother was in town after working the previous week in Portland, and we, brother Tim, son Edward and myself, decided to go snowshoeing, something none of us had done before. We had been told that if you can walk you can snowshoe, and we found that to be true, and had a wonderful day, though the weather could have been better. Artist's Point is at the end of the Mount Baker Highway and at over 5000 feet elevation provides wonderful views of the surrounding peaks, Mount Shuksan, Mount Baker, Coleman Pinnacle and Ptarmigan Ridge. The three mile road from the ski lodge below is closed during the winter, however, and Artist's Point is accessible only by skis or snowshoes or some very hard work afoot. Mount Baker receives some of the greatest snowfall in the world and holds the world record for snowfall in a season, set in 1999 of 1140 inches (95 feet) / 2896 cm. This year there was well over 800 inches and last summer the road to Artist's Point was never opened because of heavy snow the previous winter. There was still over 20 feet of snow when we were there. The total trip was about five and half miles with a little over 1000 feet gain in elevation. The only disappointment of the day was the weather which was mostly cloudy, allowing only occasional glimpses of the surrounding peaks. The only clear views we had were of Mount Shuksan from the lower ski lodge where we stopped on our way out, but even then the clouds were still rolling in. This photo was taken at the top somewhere near Artist's point, though we could not tell exactly where the parking lot and bathrooms were, since they were completely buried. The view is of Mount Shuksan on the right, just visible through the clouds and Shuksan Arm on the left. We stayed at the top for about an hour hoping the weather would clear and taking time for a drink and a snack before heading down. More pictures can be found here: ronaldhanko-orchidhunter.blogspot.com/2012/05/artists-poi...

This room at the Chihuly Garden and Glass exhibition included a set of his well-known bowls on stands. The information given with the exhibit indicated that these bowls are made of three layers of glass with a lip wrap of a contrasting color. This was the darkest of the rooms and the most difficult to photograph, also because we had to wait for people to move out of the way. ronaldhanko-orchidhunter.blogspot.com/2012/07/chihuly-gar...

The autumn color, especially of the blueberries, is spectacular in the North Cascades. This photo was taken looking back down the Winchester Mountain trail and to the east early in the morning just after sunrise. ronaldhanko-orchidhunter.blogspot.com/2012/10/hiking-in-t... ronaldhanko-orchidhunter.blogspot.com/2012/10/hiking-in-t...

Thought I would post one of son Edward's pictures from our hike in the Twin Lakes area of Mount Baker Wilderness. This picture, taken from the trail to the top of Winchester Mountain, is certainly worthy of being posted and is one of the best photos from our hike. You can see in the picture our vehicle, our campsite between the two lakes and the road (gated) through Skagway Pass to the Lone Jack Mine, an active gold mine. We hiked down the road a ways one evening and found other evidences of mining activity in the area, including an old mine shaft. The photo also shows some of the autumn color in the mountains. ronaldhanko-orchidhunter.blogspot.com/2012/10/hiking-in-t... ronaldhanko-orchidhunter.blogspot.com/2012/10/hiking-in-t...

This was taken looking down and to the north from the top of Winchester Mountain (6,500 feet). We had hiked the trail over High Pass to Pleiades Overlook the previous day. That trail is visible at the bottom of the picture and leads across the ridge of High Pass and up the mountain on the farther side of the pass. We also hiked down to the old abandoned Gargett Mine, the trail to which is visible in the basin in the center of the picture just above the shadows. The old mineshaft on the south flank of Mount Larrabee is in the trees that are visible just above the knob at the bottom of the picture. ronaldhanko-orchidhunter.blogspot.com/2012/10/hiking-in-t... ronaldhanko-orchidhunter.blogspot.com/2012/10/hiking-in-t...

Taken from the trail not far from the top where the trail, having followed along the south side of Winchester Mountain, crosses a saddle and heads up the west side of the peak. The trailhead with cars parked there is visible near the lake. Our camp is also just visible above the reflections of the trees. ronaldhanko-orchidhunter.blogspot.com/2012/10/hiking-in-t... ronaldhanko-orchidhunter.blogspot.com/2012/10/hiking-in-t...

An early morning shot from the High Pass trail as we rounded the shoulder of Winchester Mountain. ronaldhanko-orchidhunter.blogspot.com/2012/10/hiking-in-t... ronaldhanko-orchidhunter.blogspot.com/2012/10/hiking-in-t...