Glacier National Park 2011

2011 marked my eighth straight year visiting Glacier National Park. There are my favorite photos from that visit.

Photos taken Wednesday, August 10, 2011

Mount Rainier National Park

I've always heard that most people who visit Mount Rainier National Park do not get to see the famed Mount due to excessive cloud cover. As you can see from the pictures below it was a cloudy day during my visit. However, I was lucky in that about 20 miles outside the park I pulled over to take a photo of a waterfall. Upon getting out of my vehicle and turning around, there it was...Mount Rainier. Who knew one had to leave the park to see the main attraction? Within 5 minutes of taking this photo Mount Rainer disappeared into the thick clouds. Below are some of the photos I took on Sunday August 14, 2011.

Box Canyon of the Cowlitz

Bruneau Canyon ~ Idaho

Getting to Bruneau Canyon isn't easy. While in Mountain Home, ID last August I nonchalantly asked a gas station attendant "What is there to do around here?". She told me of a gravel road lined with wild sunflowers and a canyon in the middle of a desert. She ended the description with "It's a little over 50 miles away". Because I had lots of time and was ahead of schedule, I decided to take the time to check out this natural wonder. Besides, what are the chances of ever being in this portion of Idaho again?

As I drove South of Mountain Home on Hwy 51 I didn't see any sunflowers. In fact, I didn't see any vegetation other than sage brush. It wasn't until I saw the first sign directing me to Bruneau Canyon that I noticed sunflowers. The road was in fact gravel and straight as an arrow for 18.7 miles. As you can see above the gas station attendant was correct...the gravel road was lined with sunflowers.

Bruneau Canyon is 60 miles long. The canyon's widest point is 1300 feet and has an average depth of 800 feet.

"Bring me then the plant that points to those bright Lucidites swirling up from the earth, And life itself exhaling that central breath! Bring me the sunflower crazed with the love of light" ~ Egenio Montale

Photos taken Wednesday, August 17, 2011

Raising the Bar

Black Betty...Always helping to raise the bar.

photo taken in Andulusia, AL

www.trainingwheelsnotincluded.blogspot.com

TONGUE RIVER, WY

In early August 2011 I met my brother-in-law Aaron near Burgess Junction, WY to do a little fly fishing on the Tongue River. The year before Aaron relayed stories of countless trout caught on this river that I thought were exaggerated. Who hasn't stretched the truth when it comes to fish stories? Aaron claimed to have caught over 200 trout a day for a week straight. In the back of my mind I thought "yeah, whatever". However, as I thought more about it, even if he was stretching the truth by 50%, 100 fish a day for a week straight would be legendary.

The Tongue River is 265 miles long and is a tributary of The Yellowstone River. Simply stated, the river is beautiful. Lined with pine tress and filled with clear ice cold snow melt, The Tongue River is the type of fly fishing water that you dream about. The river has perfect habitat for trout with an endless supply of pools and rocky runs. Over a five day period we fished 6 miles of the river. The entire 6 mile portion was a trout run.

The Tongue River forms in the Big Horn Mountains of Wyoming and ends 265 miles away in Miles City, Montana.

Over a 5 day period I caught between 150-200 trout a day. I felt my line was tight all day long for 5 days. It's difficult to keep track, but I know Aaron caught more. Each time I looked up or down stream, Aaron's rod was bent from a trout attempting to escape in the strong current of The Tongue River. The plan was to fish for 7 days. I caught so many fish my right shoulder gave out in the middle of day 5 from pulling in rainbow after rainbow.

Below, an early morning view of our campsite from the door of my tent.

Route 261 ~ Utah

State Route 261-Utah, is a state highway located in south-central San Juan County Utah. The route runs 34 miles north/south between U.S. Route 163 and State Route 95. Route 261 is part of the Trail of the Ancients, a National Scenic Byway.

Driving up the steep switchbacks was very nerve-racking. This portion of the route was so narrow that rocks and other debris was falling down the sides of the road hitting my vehicle from another vehicle that was on the switchback above me.

The falling rock and debris was well worth it. The views were incredible!
Over looking Valley of Gods

This is the trail I hiked to get to the view over looking Valley of the Gods.

The space between the rocks...I hiked to that spot to take a few photos.

A view from the top of Route 261...over looking Route 261 on the valley floor.

The top of Route 261.