Sights, Scenes and Musings

Grand Canyon National Park sunset. Spectacular!

An iron fisted rock on the #PacificCrestTrail near Blue Lakes Road in #California holds a tight grip on a tree growing through its palm, For #RockinTuesday. #ECK #landscapephotography #hiking #nature #mountains #WestCoastKin #outdoors #trails

The best way to see the Grand Canyon is on the back of a mule. The edge is closer than it appears.

Somewhere near the Utah - Nevada border on US Highway 50. Pic taken June 2017, so exact location is no longer in my memory bank! #photography #landscape #backroads #travel

A morning #sunrise view out my lodging window in Torla, #Spain last week, looking towards some peaks in Parc Nacional Torla-Ordesa. For #Stunday, and for #ColorADay #OrangeSun with some orange tints on the mountain rocks. #ECK #landscapephotography #outdoors #WestCoastKin #scenery #NationalParks

This squirrel was just posing for tourists. Never moved. Grand Canyon National Park.

Grand Canyon National Park. My pictures don't do it justice.

When in Colorado Springs, you have to stroll through the Garden of the Gods.

#BlueSkyMonday #MountainMonday "Another pretty and pretty certain place to get clear, blue skies is in the high desert of Central Oregon. A more recent picture of my visit to Smith Rock. Ancient and lovely." -mick #Photography #MickPic #WCK #ECK #MickTrip #RoadTrips #Oregon #StateParks #Mountains

Royal Gorge Bridge &Park, Canon City CO. Took the gondola over and walked the bridge back. No I didn't look down from the bridge :)

#ForestFriday #Scape #ColorADay #BWFri A well-trafficked hiking trail through oak trees in San Luis Obispo. #ECK #OakTrees #Hiking #LandscapePhotography #ClassicMono #WestCoastKin #SensoryArt #Traffic

The road less traveled. Rocky Mountain National Park. Old Fall River Road.

Rocky Mountain National Park. From the forest to the alpine and all the beauty in between.

Estes Park CO aerial tram. From 7000ft to 8000 ft. The views are spectacular. And it was 10 degrees cooler than Fort Collins (where we started)

Wisconsin Dells Upper River boat tour. Beautiful sandstone formations. And we got to walk through the witches grotto.

One if by Sea Two if By Land on #Tilghmanisland, #Maryland brings me back to the old soda fountains of my youth. It has become a popular gathering place for #breakfast on both the island and #StMichaels. Miller makes an excellent hash. www.markontheshore.net/posts/?query... #Chesapeakebay #Delmarva

#AlphabetChallenge #WeekFforFilms "We have been to Crater Lake, Oregon several times, and always stunned by its natural beauty. So is Hollywood. From 'Wild' to 'The Crater Lake Monster' they love it as a backdrop." #Photography #MickPic #CraterLake #Wild #WCK #ECK #MickTrip #RoadTrips #Oregon

Clouds that had been orange-red ten minutes earlier were moving towards a pinkish tone during a #sunset over Carson Valley, #Nevada, east of Lake Tahoe near Gardnerville. For #ColorADay #PinkMon. #ECK #landscapephotography #landscape #outdoors #WestCoastKin #travel

#AlphabetChallenge #WeekFforFilms "The Badlands had been on my travel list for many years, and I made a point to visit last year. It is also the setting for many movies. My photo. More info in alt." #Photography #MickPic #Bandlands #WCK #ECK #MickTrip #RoadTrips #Scape #NationalParks #SouthDakota

What is it about pizza and the ocean? They are the prefect combination. While visiting #Chincoteague, #Virginia I stopped at Ocean Deli for a New York Style #pizza. Though not my favorite style of pizza, I really enjoyed this one. www.markontheshore.net/posts/ #Delmarva

This short trail corridor near Sespe Wilderness in southern #California provided many different good photo ops within 5-10 minutes as the light and cloud cover changed, for #ColorADay #YellowThu. Here's one I quite liked. #ECK #hiking #landscapephotography #outdoors #mountains #WestCoastKin #trails

Enjoy 20 seconds from the shore of Payette Lake in McCall, Idaho. #travel #sunset #Idaho

#ColorADay #YellowThu sunrise sky with spooky looking clouds over Carson Valley, in northern #Nevada. One of many shows it put on each morning I was visiting there this past Winter. #ECK #travel #landscapephotography #outdoors #mountains #WestCoastKin #sunrise

For #PalacesAndGardens #PalaceTop "At the top of the Parthenon in Tennessee, is the contest between Athena and Poseidon. She gave an olive tree, he gave salt water. Guess who won? More in alt." - mick #Photography #MickPic #WCK #ECK #MickTrip #RoadTrips #Parthenon #Memphis #Athens

Lake Geneva WI mailboat tour. A fun morning watching mail delivery by boat and the boat never stops. Mostly I enjoyed the houses and history. There are YouTube videos of the whole delivery system. If you are bored, you should look them up.

Some orange dodder grass mixing it up with a variety of plants and other colors along a trail at Daley Ranch Park in Escondido, in southern #California. For #ColorADay #OrangeSun. #ECK #landscapephotography #hiking #nature #outdoors #trails #WestCoastKin

Sunset over some mountains near a #PacificCrestTrail trailhead on Blue Lakes Road, off Highway 88 in the #SierraNevada of #California, a few weeks ago. For #Stunday. #ECK #landscapephotography #hiking #nature #outdoors #WestCoastKin #trails #mountains

Rugged terrain on a hot smoky day. Hazard Creek drainage north of New Meadows, Idaho. #photography #landscape #Idaho

#Sunday #Stunday "Another from the lost files in random order. Lake Cushman in Washington State. A gorgeous drive around the Olympic peninsula. There is no driving through by design." -mick #Photography #MickPic #PNW #WCK #ECK #MickTrip #RoadTrips #WashingtonState #Olympic #NationalParks #Scape

#Berlin, #Maryland is one of the prettiest towns on the peninsula. I took a walk through Decatur Park. The path takes you past St Pauls, probably the finest example of Oxford Movement architecture on the peninsula. It glows in the summer sun. www.markontheshore.net/posts/ #Delmarva

#MountainMonday #AlphabetChallenge #WeekEforEphemeral "Pre-dawn campground, West side of the Tetons. The area was surreal. For half the night the ground vibrated. Not shook, like a quake. Hummed. The caldera was awake." -mick #Photography #MickPic #WCK #ECK #MickTrip #RoadTrips #Scape #Camping

A wayside view of some mountains last March along the Swan River adjacent to Flathead Lake in northern Montana, not far from Glacier National Park. For #MountainMonday and #BlueSkyMonday. #ECK #landscapephotography #landscape #outdoors #WestCoastKin #scape #travel

From a hike I took last week on the Western States trail heading west off Highway 89 north of Tahoe City, #California, the forests had a nice mix of trees, including many with lichen or moss, for #MossyMonday. #ECK #hiking #landscapephotography #LakeTahoe #forests #trails #WestCoastKin

Another trail that I took last week, to Shirley Lake from the tram at Palisades ski area in Olympic Valley, #California, had splendid views of the nearby peaks, carpeted with some pink wildflowers for #ColorADay #PinkMon. #ECK #landscapephotography #landscape #outdoors #WestCoastKin #hiking #trails

Another view on the Backbone Trail in the Santa Monica Mountains of southern #California, this one close to the Zuma Ridge road, before I head out shortly for my last day of hiking on my current trip, for #ColorADay #GreenSat. #ECK #scape #landscapephotography #nature #WestCoastKin #hiking #trails

#Blueskyartshow #Big Another troll, but much closer to home. "Oro the Forest Giant" is a playground structure here in Hillsboro, Oregon. #Photography #MickPic #PNW #WCK #ECK

The iconic Haystack Rock at Oregon’s Cannon Beach for today’s #big #BlueSkyArtShow. #photography #Oregon #PNW

More for #BlueSkyArtShow theme of #Big, but continuing the first harvest theme #Lammas and #Lughnasadh. This corny sculpture is on West bound 80 just before Lime City, Iowa. You could watch a lot of movies with that popcorn. #Photography #MickPic #WCK #ECK #MickTrip #RoadTrips #Iowa #Harvest

I hope it's okay I repost this, my own shot, for the #BlueskyArtShow theme of #Big. You don't get much bigger than the Grand Canyon. Every time I revisit the pictures, it makes me want to revisit the locations. Our National Parks are a treasure.

#Sunset #StormyPacific #Photography Near sunset on a stormy day. Big waves are crashing into the protective sea wall at the famed Children’s Pool in La Jolla, California.

For #ForestFriday, pines, firs, and black oaks at the Cook's Meadow Loop, called Ahwahnee Meadow, and a different angle on Sentinel Rock. I never plan enough days for these trips. #Nature #Scape #Landscape #photography #ECK #WCK #MickPic #MickTrip #RoadTrip #Yosemite #NationalParks #Forest #Trees

Am back at #LakeTahoe this week, but staying on West side - not our usual location here. Gives quicker access to some new trails that I usually don't seek out from other locales. This one from Bear Creek #trail at Alpine Meadows. For #ForestFriday. #ECK #WestCoastKin #landscapephotography #hiking

For #ForestFriday, a journey to the woods on a smoky day. Several days ago a fire flared up to the west of where I'm working in Idaho. I thought the fire was nearby but it turned out to be 50 miles away. The wind and the smoke made for an unsettling experience. #forestry #fire #photography #Idaho

A peaceful wayside in the Hood Mountain Regional Park near the border of Napa and Sonoma counties in northern #California, again for #ForestFriday. Now I'll shortly be heading out for today's hike on the Pacific Crest Trail near Lake Tahoe. #ECK #WestCoastKin #landscapephotography #hiking #trails

Sunset over Payette Lake, McCall, Idaho. #photography #sunset #travel

Yellow wildflowers brighten up the view on a ridge high above Hope Valley, #California, off Highway 88, where I hiked on an obscure forest service road and came upon many inviting scenes, for #ColorADay #YellowThu. #ECK #hiking #landscapephotography #outdoors #mountains #WestCoastKin #trails

A view from a trail in southern Marin County, #California, looking over the Marin Headlands south to the "peaks" of downtown San Francisco, for #UrbanGaze. #ECK #landscapephotography #outdoors #bay #WestCoastKin #scape #California #hiking #trails

Another one of mine for today off Highway 88 in the #SierraNevada of northern #California. This is again from a forest service road, but lightly used so feels almost like a trail, looking back down onto Silver Lake. #ECK #landscapephotography #hiking #nature #outdoors #WestCoastKin #lakes #trails

Castle Rock in St Ignace MI. Some serious uneven steps to get to the top. But the views are spectacular.