Yosemite and More

 My brother Jim took me on a little tour of the North State beginning with the little town of Hornbrook. It's a former major stop for the Southern Pacific Railroad before the Siskiyou Summit. As with most rural areas there are some interesting uses of materials. Before the advent of automatic crossing guards men would stay safe from the weather in one of these waiting to stop traffic from an approaching train. I'm sure without automatic crossing guards or someone controlling the crossing this would work to stop the train. Four dams were removed from the Klamath River. Restoration work is continuing, but for the time being the former reservoirs look  like this. It's recently been reported that a few salmon have returned. Go, See, Enjoy, be Safe and Photograph Dave

Recently took a trip to the area around Mt. Shasta and thought I'd share a few images. I got to Castle Craigs State Park a little later in the afternoon so I didn't have time to take the strenuous hike into the Craigs themselves ; }, but busied myself with a couple of shorter hikes. This guy was pretty patient, If it hadn't flitted around in front of me I probably wouldn't have seen it. Note it's size compared to pine needles. Running through the Park is Flume Creek, never really thought about the name, even though I lived in the area for years, until I saw this. One of the prettiest hikes I took was along Cabin Creek, south of McCloud. I, of course, had to hike the McCloud River Trail. My brother and I went on a road trip that took us around the back side of Mt.Shasta on Military Pass Road. Along the way I took a few photos in Shasta Valley. This is a view that not too many people will see, the road is pretty rugged  but my brother and his truck navigated it well.

 Few photos from the Wawona Pioneer Museum. Never been there before mostly because it's off Highway 41 which is the long way and I don't like the drive. Go, See, Enjoy, Stay Safe and Photograph Dave

 Took a trip to the coast a couple of days ago. Originally planned on photographing around the Monterey, Point Lobos area but the traffic and crowds were horrendous. So I continued down the coast to the Big Sur area. No beach visits but great hikes and my kind of country, forests. This butterfly finally cooperated and stay in one place for a few seconds The feather on the clover just appealed to me for some reason. There were a few flowers, some easier to spot than others, especially if you're color blind. I hate that term Another patient insect. This is a famous waterfall at Julia Pfieffer Burns State Park  because it empties into the Pacific Ocean If you go to the other side of the parking lot and follow the Canyon Trail... Go, See, Enjoy, Stay Safe and Photograph Dave

 Mono Lake is the highest I've ever seen it. Most of the places we used to walk to get photos of are now underwater. And that's a good thing. Hopefully more to come. Walking down the path to the Lake  Note how close the brush is to the lake, it used to be many yards away. We used to be able to walk right up to these Tuffas Go, See, Enjoy, Photograph and Stay Safe. Dave