Gallery: South Rim – September 9, 2009, Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park, Colorado
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From the category archives:
parks
Gallery: South Rim – September 9, 2009, Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park, Colorado
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Gallery: Canton Lake – Oklahoma, August 29, 2009
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The sun was setting in a sky laden with smoke particles from fire in the Los Angeles area. Canton Lake was the first stop on our 2nd trip of 2009.
The Station Fire (August 26 – October 16, 160,577 acres (251 sq mi; 64,983 ha), 209 structures destroyed, including 89 homes) started in the Angeles National Forest near the U.S. Forest Service ranger station on the Angeles Crest Highway (State Highway 2). Two firefighters were killed on August 30 while attempting to escape the flames when their fire truck plunged off a cliff. The blaze threatened 12,000 structures in the National Forest and the nearby communities of La Cañada Flintridge, Glendale, Acton, La Crescenta, Littlerock and Altadena, as well as the Sunland and Tujunga neighborhoods of the City of Los Angeles. Many of these areas faced mandatory evacuations as the flames drew near, but as of September 6, all evacuation orders were lifted. The Station Fire burned on the slopes of Mount Wilson, threatening numerous television, radio and cellular telephone antennas on the summit, as well as the Mount Wilson Observatory, which includes several historically significant telescopes and multi-million-dollar astronomical facilities operated by UCLA, USC, UC Berkeley and Georgia State University. A 40-mile (64-kilometer) stretch of the Angeles Crest Highway was closed indefinitely due to guardrail and sign damage, although the pavement remained largely intact.
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Gallery: South Rim – Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park, Colorado, September 9, 2009
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Gunnison Point is located just below the park visitor center. This was our second time to visit the park.
Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park
is a United States National Park located in western Colorado, and managed by the National Park Service. There are two entrances to the park; the more-developed south rim entrance is located 15 miles (24 km) east of Montrose, while the north rim entrance is located 11 miles (18 km) south of Crawford and is closed in the winter. The park contains 12 miles (19 km) of the 48-mile (77 km) long canyon of the Gunnison river. The national park itself contains the deepest and most dramatic section of the canyon, but the canyon continues upstream into the Curecanti National Recreation Area and downstream into the Gunnison Gorge National Conservation Area.The Gunnison River drops an average of 43 feet per mile (8 m/km) through the entire canyon, making it one of the steepest mountain descents in North America. In comparison, the Colorado River through the Grand Canyon drops an average of 7.5 feet per mile (1.4 m/km). The greatest descent of the Gunnison River occurs in the park at Chasm View dropping 240 feet per mile (45 m/km). The Black Canyon is so named on account of its steepness which makes it difficult for sunlight to penetrate very far down the canyon. As a result, the canyon walls are most often in shadow, causing the rocky walls to appear black. At its narrowest point the canyon is only 40 feet (12 m) across at the river.
The extreme steepness and depth of the Black Canyon formed as the result of several geologic processes acting together. The Gunnison River is primarily responsible for carving the canyon, though several other geologic events had to occur in order to form the canyon as it is seen today. (Wikipedia)
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Gallery: Bear Lake and Emerald Lake Trails – September 3, 2009, Rocky Mountain National Park, Colorado
Longs Peak, above the lateral moraine across valley of Moraine Park.
Longs Peak (originally Long’s Peak, see below) is one of the 54 "fourteeners" in the Rocky Mountains of Colorado. It can be prominently seen from Longmont, Colorado, as well as from the rest of the Colorado Front Range piedmont. It is named after Major Stephen Long, who explored the area in the 1820s. Longs Peak rises to 14,259 feet (4,346 m) above sea level. Surveys conducted prior to 2002 list the elevation as 14,255 feet (4,344 m). As the only fourteener in Rocky Mountain National Park, the peak has long been of interest to climbers. The easiest route is not "technical" during the summer season, and was probably first used by American Indians collecting eagle feathers, but the first recorded ascent was in 1868 by the surveying party of John Wesley Powell. The East Face of the mountain is quite steep, and is surmounted by a gigantic sheer cliff known as "The Diamond" (so-named because of its shape, approximately that of a cut diamond seen from the side and inverted. As with Pikes Peak, there is officially no apostrophe in the name, although a number of Colorado residents continue to object to this ruling by the Board on Geographic Names. (Wikipedia)
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Gallery: Arches National Park, September 24, 2007, Utah
Arches National Park is a U.S. National Park in eastern Utah. It is known for preserving over 2000 natural sandstone arches, including the world-famous Delicate Arch, in addition to a variety of unique geological resources and formations.
The park is located near Moab, Utah, and is 119 square miles (310 km2) in size. Its highest elevation is 5,653 feet (1,723 m) at Elephant Butte, and its lowest elevation is 4,085 feet (1,245 m) at the visitor center. Since 1970, forty-three arches have toppled because of erosion. The park receives 10 inches (250 mm) of rain a year on average. (wikipedia)
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Gallery: Fern Lake Trail – September 6, 2009, Rocky Mountain National Park, Colorado
Viguiera is a genus of flowering plant in the Asteraceae family. A plant in this genus may be known as a goldeneye. These are herbs to bushy shrubs and they bear yellow or orange daisylike flowers. There are about 150 species native to the New World
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Gallery: Petit Jean State Park and Petit Jean Mountain, Arkansas
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For information on the park and mountain, please see our Petit Jean Information page.
Petit Jean State Park, situated on Arkansas’s Petit Jean Mountain, which rises above the south bank of the Arkansas River between the Ozark and Ouachita mountain ranges, is 3,471 acres in size and was the first park in Arkansas’s system of state parks. Buildings of log and stone, constructed during the 1930s by the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC), are found in many areas of the park and impart a rustic feel. Petit Jean, the “flagship” of the Arkansas state park system, is managed by the Arkansas Department of Parks and Tourism. Petit Jean is Arkansas’ only state park with its own airport.
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Last week we took a short trip to eastern Arkansas and, after that, over to northeast Kentucky.
Our first campground was at Village Creek State Park. The park is located on Crowley’s Ridge, a geologic anomaly of rolling hills in eastern Arkansas’s Mississippi Alluvial Plain.
With five trails totaling 7 miles, we had hoped to spend one day in the park doing some hiking.
Unfortunately, there was some kind of gnats hatching out. After taking one walk the first evening where we couldn’t get away from them, we decided to alter our plans and check out some of the other parks in the area.
The first day, we went to Parkin State Archeological Park and Jacksonport State Park. The next day, we drove over to Memphis and spent a few hours at Mud Island. I’ll be posting more on these as I get the photo gallery set up for each one.
The last evening that we were there and the next morning before we left, we didn’t have much problem with insects at all.
Our next destination was Paducah, Kentucky, so that Karen could go to the annual Paducah Quilt Show. Karen has several posts on her blog from the quilt show:
- The Quilt Show
- More from Paducah
- Second Day in Paducah
- Back from Paducah
- Our Last Day in Paducah (Saturday)
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A couple of weeks ago, we took a drive down to Hot Springs to visit Garvan Woodland Gardens.
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We’ve been in Arkansas for nearly 30 years and this was the first time we had visited this wonderful attraction.
Photos from the visit are included in my newest photo gallery, Garvan Woodland Gardens, Hot Springs, Arkansas.
The Garvan Woodland Gardens is a botanical garden in Hot Springs, Arkansas, USA. The 210 acre garden is owned by the University of Arkansas and open almost every day during daylight hours, for a fee.
The gardens are situated on a wooded peninsula with 4.5 miles of shoreline on Lake Hamilton. The gardens feature rocky inclines reminiscent of the surrounding Ouachita Mountains, floral landscapes, streams, and waterfalls in a natural woodland setting, plus a Japanese Garden with Japanese maples and tree peonies, a conifer border, and various flower and rock gardens. Its collections display hundreds of rare shrubs and trees, including camellias, magnolias, roses, and over 160 different types of azaleas. (Wikipedia)
Gallery: Garvan Woodland Gardens, Hot Springs, Arkansas.
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Gallery: Big Dam Bridge (Pulaski County Pedestrian & Bicycle Bridge – Murray Lock and Dam)
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For more information on the bridge, see, our Big Dam Bridge page.
Opened in 2006, the pedestrian and bicycle bridge built over Murray Lock and Dam between Murray Park in Little Rock and Cook’s Landing Park in North Little Rock is a major addition to the Arkansas River Trail, connecting several miles of hiking and biking trails on both sides of the river.
The project’s official name is Pulaski County Pedestrian & Bicycle Bridge – Murray Lock and Dam—however, it is known as the Big Dam Bridge and is the world’s longest bridge specifically constructed as a pedestrian/bicycle bridge. At 4,226 feet (1288 m.) in length, the bridge rises to 65 feet over the surface of the Arkansas River and 30 feet over the dam. The span over the river is 3463 feet (1055 m.), with the ramps on either side of the river accounting for the rest of the length.
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