Picket Post + Peaks and Points

Absolute boredom created a need to go for a ride...

Picket Post Mountain where some of our hiking club

have scaled to the top... (I always hiked the circumference, an

8 mile trek),  but not today it's 109. 

The mountain's unusual name stems from an early 

military camp established at the base of the mountain by 

General George Stoneman in 1870. The soldiers nicknamed

  the mountain “Picket Post” due to its usage as a s

entinel point to guard their camp from attacks.

Picket Post has an elevation of 4378'.

I couldn't resist this shot with the windmill

and when the wind started blowing my iPhone quickly

switched to video mode!!!

As we headed up over Gonzales Pass, towards Superior,

 another Pointed Peak came into view.  I believe this is part

of the Mineral Mountain area This pointed peak has

an elevation of 3241'.

We traveled up over the summit

and down the other side before we made a u-turn

to head back for home after stopping for a quick ice cream.

Don knew there was a geocache off to the North of the highway 

as we headed West. 

"Superior-Experience the Beauty" was the name of the cache.

I hate these tiny ones that have a log sheet that takes some

time to roll up and insert back into it's  minuscule container, 

so I turned around to take a picture of this tall cactus

which was going to seed... 

The clouds started to form over all the points, peaks

 (and valleys) of the Superstition Mountain Range,

which didn't cool us down one bit... We left that to the A/C.

Our last stop was to revisit  the Crested Saguaro at a nearby RV resort.

Scientists once estimated that for every 200,000 normal cacti

there is only one abnormal crest. Originally there were thought to be 

less than 200 of these abnormalities in existence. Contrary to this 

theory, more than 2050 have been discovered.  It is caused by an  

unusual mutation which results in the growth of a large fan-shaped crest 

at the growing tip of a saguaro’s main stem or arms.

And while driving thru the Arizonian RV Resort we couldn't

believe how many home owners had posted this sign on their home.

 Guess they were trying to make a POINT!!!

Our spur of the moment enjoyable outing took  about 4 hours 

of boredom out of this hot day!!!

Looking Back...

When I walk or hike I often stop & turn around and look back.

  That’s because my Dad always told me, “Stop every once in a while to

look back and  become aware of your surroundings, 

so you'll know where you are and how to get back”.

This 12 mile round trip hike started near Soda Springs CA

and we hiked the ridge line all the way out to that "Knob". 

Along the way, I stopped and looked  back to make sure 

Margie and Peggy B were still coming.

  Made it.   Elevation 8948' on top. We stopped at the base for lunch!!!

I use to take photos with a either a multi lens Cannon SLR still camera 

or my 7  lb digital tape video camera.  

In recent years I switched to a small Panasonic high definition

 video camera which has a 46 power  zoom lens.  Yippee

I've  done lots of hiking in the Sierra Nevada Mountains, during the

summer months, with my friends the Alta Hikers ... always on Tuesday!!!

My friend Pal - don't step back.   We're on Hawks Peak which gives

you a 360 degree never ending stunning view.  

It's near Tahoe Donner (Truckee CA) 

On the way down, I looked back because I thought I heard something.

And we were in bear country at over 8500'. 

No one there, just a great view of 2 other peaks where we've 

enjoyed lunch breaks...   Castle Peak on the left, El 9202’  and Frog Lake

 overlook on right 8653’.   We finally  had to quit hiking to Frog Lake Overlook 

because it has an elevation gain of 1600’,  most of it in the last 1/2 mile.  UGH

I've seen more black bears in our yard in Colfax CA (not AZ),

than I ever did hiking in the high country for over 20 years!!!

 (iPhone up close & personal.)

Glad to be inside and able to zoom in on this guy with my

 Panasonic video camera.

This was one of our many stops in 2008 when we took 

 a 6 month/18,000 mile RV trip from CA to AZ via Nova Scotia…

When I looked back, this is what I saw - beautiful

Cloud Lake, Ontonagon,  MI.  

In Nova Scotia, we camped near Peggy's Cove and spent 

days acting like tourists... 

Another phenomenon we stopped to see was the area  of  

Hopewell rocks  to experience one of the highest average tides in the 

world at the Bay of Fundy, New Brunswick Canada. 

You can wander and view the formations from ground level

at low tide...   That's Don in case you didn't recognize him.

However, you want to watch your step, and 

when you see the tide starting to come back in, you might

want to head back up the staircase,

as the high tide can be 52 feet higher than the  low tide.  

Someone was wise enough to provide a wall so you wouldn't 

step back too far at Gooseneck State Park, Mexican Hat UT.  

 It’s 1,000 feet straight down to the  San Juan River 

where you see the results of 300 million years of erosion. 

Black Canyon of the Gunnison, (Gunnison CO),  drops 2722’  

Dec 22 2009 while we took a walk across frozen Nancy Lake AK,   to reach

son Eric's remote cabin... he kept looking at his watch.  

  Finally he said turn around and look back, you'll only see the sun

 from here for 19 seconds today.   Got it!!!

While in AK  another time, onEric’s boat, he looked

 back to tell me it was time to look forward…

I did and was rewarded as a moose went swimming by!!!

My Panasonic video camera is my camera of choice when we go 

 for a ride… because I don’t have to yell “Stop”. I can just shoot video or stills 

out the window on the fly… going 60.  Watch for more rides to come.

 If they don't materialize, I'll look back farther...

Collage

"Collage from the French Coller, "to glue" or to

stick together in a technique of art creation,

primarily used in the visual arts."

This is my second paper college.  I start with a photograph

I have taken (Pahrump NV 2011)  and then... 

 

I look through 100's of scrapbooking samples

of paper, printed, textured or whatever that I think

would  achieve the results I'm looking for. 

Then I put my printer to work.  In this case I only needed 3

different colors for the background.

The bar portion of the kitchen counter is the perfect

height for me, so out come all the tools and supplies I need to

create my design and it's close to the wine!!!

Since I wanted my collage pieces to have a stained glass or mosaic look, I

developed a process where I start with a piece of metallic black acid free 

poster board and cut it to the 9 x 12 size of my purchased frame.

Then I cut out each pattern piece, one at a time,  trim it and

glue it  down, leaving a small area between it and the

previously placed piece so it looks like grout lines.

During the design process, I planned exactly where the Great White Pelican 

would be placed to determine where my black lines would 

intersect in relationship to the Pelican head & wings.

This is a multi-layered collage, as you can see, starting with

the black poster board and then the foreground green area.  As I did

the blue areas, I tucked the lower edge of the pieces  behind the foreground area.  

 Then I cut out the pelican from the enlarged photo I created on my

computer.  It's a lot easier to cut little shapes to delineate the feathers, 

out of pater than doing the process with cut glass!!! 

Lastly non-glare glass is place in the purchased frame 

I've always been fascinated with Pelicans, and took

this photo over 30 years at Pyramid Lake NV which is

one of the 2 nesting grounds for the Great Whites in the U.S.

As I develop  my collages, I combine knowledge I have gained

from other techniques...  tapestry weaving, stained glass, mosaic, photography

and the use of color and design tips to come up with an 

original one-of-a-kind unique piece.

For example the Brown Pelican in Florida became 

the inspiration for this mosaic stepping stone, as well as

this handwoven tapestry tote bag that I wove many years ago.

And when I needed a companion piece for my stained

glass Bald Eagle, I once again picked a Pelican.

Certain Circles

While walking this morning I listened to Dan Seals, 

one of my favorite country artist, 

singing "Certain Circles"  from his album "Make it Home". 

The words were very appropriate for my circuitous route.

(Check it out on iTunes and you'll see what I mean.)

As you can see, there's not much elevation gain around

here... only 41' this morning,

which was in too separate locations - here 

and here.  As you know from prior posts, the rest of the 

walking takes place on paved streets.

I saw a new critter and several other walkers where already 

out before the 5:22 sunrise,  trying desperately to beat the heat.

 It was already 81, headed for 105 today!!!

However it seemed like it was already un"bare"able for others.

'

I made it back, just as Don headed out, and quickly retreated

out back to sit in the shade where I enjoyed watching

 the birds and bunnies, and a few dogs dogs walking their owners

on the path behind our home!!!

Not quite as exciting as watching the more than occasional

black bears out back at our former home in Colfax CA.

Wherever you are today,  Happy Independence Day.  This photo was

taken at Gold Butte Nat'l Monument NV in 2013, and there

certainly was a lot more elevation gain there than around here!!!

The Backcountry Byway, where we were is worth taking

if you are in the area.   It begins 90 miles northeast of Las Vegas 

The 62-mile scenic trip offers opportunities to see desert wildlife,

 red and white sandstone formations, sinkholes, petroglyphs,

 the Muddy Mountains and the historic mining town of Gold Butte,

 established in 1908. The primary extractions 

from Gold Butte were copper, gold, lead and zinc.

Don even did some geocaching when we were in the area.  

Check out the BLM.gov website for more information.