Archive for 2006

Well, I finally got all the pictures up from the Thayer Family Vacation (click here!) and also the pictures from our really beautiful hike up North and South Diamond Peaks near Cameron Pass (click here too!).

This is another shot from that hike. The wild columbine is the state flower of Colorado, but it’s also sometimes considered an endangered flower. Supposedly, it’s protected such that it’s illegal to pick wild-growing columbine. I had never seen as many bushes of this flower growing wild on one mountain as we saw on the Diamond Peaks. It was all over the place. And absolutely beautiful.

Portrait of the family (the hubby, the dog and me) on the beautiful and flower-covered summit of North Diamond Peak. Too bad we never did get the dog to turn around and face the camera. I think she was getting tired.

I took a boat-load of fantastic photos from this hike, and I hope to be able to blog a good chunk of them. I will also add a gallery at some point, check back for a link when I get that done.

Rawahs, Colorado, July 2006.

Took this shot along the highway on the way home from our trip. I love Wyoming so much for this massive emptyness. It seems very often that there are no places left in the world without people. Except Wyoming. Wyoming has plenty of space without people. Just antelope, rabits, fox, and hawks out on the plains. This image is of somewhere between Newcastle and Lusk, Wyoming, July 2006.

Still posting shots from the family vacation last week! Though, this will probably be amoung the last of them. This is a picture from Friday, after my parents headed home and as a huge storm rolled in to the area. Mark and I had kicked around the idea of climbing in this area but the weather dictated other pursuits. There is actually a couple of routes on this formation, but most of them are basically free-solos, and not on our to-climb list right now.

Took this shot on the way down from Harney Peak in the Black Hills of South Dakota. The forests in the area were beautiful. They were full of huge, tall, full, green pine trees, but the forest floor was often open and shady. These forests are often described as looking exactly like the magical forests described in JRR Tolkien’s “Lord of the Rings” trilogy. I now definately understand why. The whole area felt quiet and old… just like an ancient mystical wood should feel.

There were lots of exciting and dangerous looking mushrooms around, but this is the only picture of the fungi that turned out in focus. I think I need a macro lense.

On our second full day in the Black Hills of South Dakota, we got up early and hiked the 3 miles (4.8k) to Harney Peak, the highest point in South Dakota at 7,242 ft (2,207m). This makes it the highest peak east of the Rockies, all the way across the country. Yep, Mt. Washington is only a mear 6,288ft (1,917m).

The 6 mile round trip hike took the whole family about 5.5 hours to complete, but it was worth the trip. The deep forests of the Black Hills are beautiful, and the views from the lookout tower built on top of the peak were simply incredible. The shot below is from the base of the lookout tower, looking generally south.

Keep an eye out for the other hikers on the rock…. waaaay out on the tip. Should give a sence of scale for the photo. The site was amazing.

A shot of the west face of Devil’s Tower at the golden hour. The setting sun was like a giant orange spot-light on the side of the tower.

The route we worked on (Durrance 5.6) was on the south side of the tower, so off to the right of this picture. Still, it was a gorgious evening.

Just got back from a great vacation camping and climbing with Mark and my parents and my little bro Kev. I’ve got almost 300 pictures to sort through, so I’ll be a busy little girl this week. Here’s a shot of an awesome sunset over Devil’s Tower just to keep ya’ll happy.