Janet Brien's photos with the keyword: Stout Grove

(+2 insets!) (please view large so you can actually see me!) :D Steve and I have been so busy since we got back from our trip a week ago. We've been working around the house cleaning up, preparing for our next trip and doing errands, all of which have taken my time from processing pictures. However, the past couple of days have been a lot more relaxed so I've been able to focus on a few folders that were really important to me. Specifically, I wanted to make sure I attacked the pictures I took at Jedediah Smith State Park. This lovely place was the first stop on our Oregon Coast trip--though it's not actually on the coast itself but instead a mere five miles inland. Within Jedediah are a number of specific groves, one of them being the magnificent and popular Stout Grove. That was where we decided to enjoy Jedediah's wonderful redwood forest. Stout Grove was awesome. Although it rained before and after our visit, for some lucky reason the downpour stopped about 15 minutes after we arrived and started up again as we headed out a couple of hours later. What are the odds? I would say that they were in our favor because throughout our trip we were blessed by this happening over and over again. We dearly appreciated the amazing luck we had and made the most of our rain-free opportunities! We hiked on lovely trails covered in pine-needles, making our passage a silent one. Far above us we could hear birds twittering and sometimes we'd see one fly by and land on a branch just out of our view. We admired the incredibly lush ferns that were absolutely everywhere, as well as the flowers and other plants along the way. The smell of a redwood forest is rich and instantly recognizable and I reveled in the aroma I knew so well as a kid up at our summer cabin that was nestled in a redwood forest too! Here and there, immense toppled trees lay on the mossy floor, slowly turning into the earth below them. The forest was deeply shadowed and felt very reverent and special. Talking in low tones, we passed only a few other people, all of whom were as awe-struck as we were; they too recognized and honored this ancient forest and its rare trees. We wanted to find the most famous giant of this grove, "The Stout Tree". It was named after Frank D. Stout, a lumberman whose wife donated the tract of land which is the home of Stout Grove. This incredible behemoth is one of the tallest trees in the world at 340 feet and 16 feet in diameter. It is the tallest tree in Stout grove and when we found ourselves standing before The Stout Tree, it literally took our breath away. My picture today was actually taken by my husband, and shows me standing in front of the marvelous Stout Tree. (Since I'd just taken a picture of him in front of another tree and also some other places, he didn't care about having his photo taken and really wanted to take a picture of me in front of it!) :D How convenient that there's a fence here…since after all, today is the day I post my picture for Happy Fence Friday! :D I have also included a fence picture I took within Stout Grove, as well as a picture I took of Steve in front of another truly massive Redwood. Aren't these trees just amazing?! :) (I'll be showing lots of redwood tree pictures in coming days but I don't want to drown you in them all at once!) Pam, I can't remember if you mentioned visiting a redwood forest while you were in California…I think you might have told me you'd gotten to visit Muir Woods? What a place. It's just nutty there, so many incredible beauties to see. What I love about these trees is that they really let you know how small and insignificant you are! Also, it seems that the older the tree, the more I feel their spirits, so walking among these giants is like communing with family that I deeply respect and love. If only we knew how to communicate with them but they're just so different. Maybe someday someone will figure out how to do it. What I would pay to hear their stories. BTW, I've been really enjoying our chats and you've been on my mind so much today! *BIG, BIG HUGS TO YOU MY DEAR!* Explored on 6/7/19; highest placement, #2.

(+2 insets) (view large for the best detail!) It was so pretty this morning with the sun shining brightly and so lovely to be outside as the world was waking up around me. Well, ok--to be honest, when I begin my walk at an early time like today it's 7:30am and the sunrise ship has already sailed away two hours before! But I'm sorry, 5:30am is officially "0-dark-hundred" and that is no time for a sane person to be getting up! At least, not in my mind, anyway! Heh...I'd consider myself a "morning person" now but that only goes so far! Steve and I have been so busy working on the property and prepping for our trip that I've had to neglect my pictures from our last trip. However, today things were much more relaxed so I took the opportunity to get some images finished from our lovely visit to Stout Grove, in Jedediah Smith State Park. This lovely park is nestled in a huge forest of old-growth redwood trees. These magnificent trees include the largest and tallest trees in the world! They only live along a narrow strip in northern California to southern Oregon and are quite the magnificent sight. (I'll be sharing pictures of the redwoods in another post) :) The forest here was also brimming with fern species and I went totally hog-wild with my photography the moment we got out of the car. You may know that I'm a hopeless junkie for ferns, especially when the fronds are unfurling...they are so unbelievably cool to me. :) And so, today's presentation is all about some of the lovely ferns I photographed! The main picture is a close-up of an unfurling Sword Fern and the insets show two other pictures of this super cool species, including their "elephantine" unfurling fronds and a fun shallow dof art shot! I hope you enjoy the show! Explored on 6/5/19; highest placement, #4.

(+1 inset) (please view large for the pretty details/!) (By the way, I'm away on my trip, posting a picture every day but I don't have much time to comment...thank you so much for your visits, comments and stars, and also for understanding that I don't have the time I usually do to give you the attention you deserve in return!) Boy, it's been a busy couple of days! We've really been enjoying ourselves but it's kept me off the computer and away from working on my writing and photo processing. I will need to figure out how to balance that too, but for now I'm doing my best! Yesterday after lunch, Steve and I grabbed our rain gear along with our cameras and headed over to Stout Grove in our truck, leaving the RV at the campsite This remarkable and famous redwood forest sits inside the protective borders of Jedediah Smith State Park. We couldn't wait to see it! The rain was coming down but we hoped for the best. The short drive was accented by unbelievable masses of glowing ferns which were seemingly growing everywhere. As stunning as they were, have you ever seen wild azaleas and rhododendrons in full bloom? I haven't. It was incredible! We couldn't miss the flashes of magenta and purple of these leggy bushes and small trees which peeked out from behind the towering and majestic redwood trees which ruled this place. What a show. Stout Grove sits at the end of a pothole-filled dirt road and we made our way carefully to the trail head and found plenty of parking. We were happy to learn that there weren't many other people brave enough to deal with the inclement weather. Those we met were warm and wonderful people with joyful smiles and glowing spirits. It was nice to share this place with other nature lovers like us. As we took off down the trail we protected our cameras as best we could from the droplets coming down, but as we walked, the rain slacked off and within 15 minutes, it stopped altogether, almost as if it were planned that way! HUZZAH! I went crazy with fern photography. Steve was using the Sony and having fun with that, and after a while we traded cameras and I got some nice pictures of the trees. Heh, a 100mm macro lens really can't take a picture of a towering redwood...unless it's just a tiny bit of it! :D I know I could have brought some other lenses but that's why I had the Sony. At a few points I was carrying BOTH cameras, *shakes head*...I think I may be certifiable! :D Our visit was just fantastic and after we felt we'd seen enough, we headed back to the car. Once we were tucked in, it began to pour again! What are the odds?! :) (I apologize for not including pictures of the redwoods and the ferns but I just don't have time right now, *cry*...I'll be posting plenty of pictures once I'm home and have time to go through them!) After we got back and had dinner, we pulled out a game that Steve's sister sent to us, "Qwirkle". What a fun game! Easy and yet full of strategy, we had a really good time and look forward to playing more games in the future. --------------------- This morning we got everything tucked away and headed out by 10:30, heading out to the coast and then north for a couple of hours to our next campsite on Coos Bay! It rained the entire time we were driving but it was such a lovely drive! Views of the ocean and enormous boulders with waves crashing against them...it was very amazing to see. The lush green of the forests and farmland was a beautiful contrast as we rode along. Once we pulled into our campsite both of us assumed our various roles. It wasn't long before we got everything in proper order, we're really getting used to how to most efficiently get our RV set up. Steve took Molly out to use the bathroom and soon came back to tell me that I just had to come out to see the beach! It was a mere TWO MINUTES WALK from our RV!! The rain, once again, STOPPED when we left to go to the beach! Our luck is incredible...it keeps happening!! The beach. Holy cow. It's just lovely here. Either direction is marvelous. Tide pools one way, miles of beach the other. Tomorrow we'll ride our bikes along the water's edge. I hope to creep around the tide pools and get some cool shots of anemones, crabs, barnacles and other wonderful subjects. Won't it be nice to just relax and enjoy this place that we don't have to drive out to?! We are so happy...this is our favorite campsite this trip, and exactly what we hoped for! Ok, I really have to stop my blabbing! :D It's SATURDAY SELF CHALLENGE! Today's theme is Selective Color, so I picked one of the gorgeous little flowers I found at Stout Grove, kept the flower in color and removed the color in the background. I've also included one view of the jaw-dropping beach that's just a short walk from our RV! Pam, I loved your note about Cannon Beach. Unfortunately it's too far north for this trip but it's on our Bucket List so we'll definitely be visiting at some point down the road. No worries though, there is beauty-galore here that we will show you! :) Steve and I are sending hugs your way! Explored on 5/18/19; highest placement #1.