Redwood National Park, California

The last stop during our California trip was Redwood National Park. We were blown away by the size and number of these huge trees. We did most of our hiking in Prairie Creek Redwood State Park in the southern section of the park. We also visited the Stout Memorial Grove in the Northern Section. Enjoy the photos.

Vine maple below several big redwoods.
Fall colors.
Scott and Angie
Trillium Falls
More fall colors.
Did we mention these trees are massive?
Stout Memorial Grove. The tree in the center of this photo is one of the biggest we saw during our time in the park. The camera just does not convey the scale of these trees.
Scott and Angie in the Stout Memorial Grove.

Yosemite National Park, California

We spent 3 days in Yosemite National Park during our recent trip. Yosemite is an amazing place and photographs just don't do it justice. We enjoyed the reduced crowds of the fall season. We did several day hikes in the valley. Here are a few pictures from the trip.

Scott and Angie below the Grizzly Giant in Mariposa Grove. This tree is massive and is ~2700 years old.
Pine cone!
Abstract photo of the detail of sequoia bark
Scott and Angie on Sentinel Dome.
Twisted pine on Sentinel Dome with moon.
High Sierra from Glacier Point.
Half Dome twilight from Glacier Point.
Scott, Angie, Half Dome.
Scott and Angie in Yosemite Valley
El Cap.
Yosemite Falls
Nevada Falls
Vernal Falls
Vernal Falls...this is my favorite landscape shot from the trip.
Star trails, Yosemite Valley. We watched the big wall climbers headlamps on El Cap from this location. It is amazing that people climb the nearly vertical rock face.
Tenaya Lake
Scott and Angie at Tenaya Lake.

Pismo Beach, California Trip

Angie and I took a week long vacation at the end of October to visit Dad and Sigrun in Pismo Beach, California. We drove from Portland and really enjoyed our trip. Here are a few pictures from the Pismo Beach area. More posts from the trip will follow.

Scott and Angie on the Avila Beach Pier.
Dad and Sigrun
Sea lion.
Pelican
California coast near Avila Beach, CA.
Sunset from Pismo Beach.
Scott and Angie below a cool cloud at sunset.
Pismo Beach Pier at sunset.
Point San Luis Lighthouse at sunset.

Burnt Lake Hike

Angie, Cami and I hiked to Burnt Lake in the Mt Hood Wilderness in early October. We had a beautiful fall day with lots of sun a warm temperatures. We tried to catch some of the brook trout in the lake, but didn't have any luck. There was already some snow on the ground at the lake. The hike was 7 miles round trip and gained ~1500 feet of elevation.

Mt Hood over Burnt Lake
Scott and Angie
Snow...a sign of things to come. This area is already buried under 4 feet of snow!
Mt Hood again with afternoon clouds.
Pretty waterfall along the trail.

Hamilton Mountain Hike

Angie, Kurt, Cami and I hiked Hamilton Mountain in May 2009. Kurt just reminded me the other day that I never posted the photos from the hike.

Hamilton Mountain is located in the Columbia River Gorge on the Washington side. The hike gains ~2000 feet and is 7.5 miles round trip.

Hardy Falls

Angie at Hardy Falls.

Angie and Cami.

Hamilton Mountain.

Wildflowers along the trail.

Kurt making his way up the trail to the summit.

Kurt admiring the view from the summit of Hamilton Mountain.

Veda Lake Hike

Angie, Cami and I hiked to Veda Lake in the Mt Hood Wilderness at the end of September. We headed out of Portland on the last really warm day of the summer (~90 degrees in Portland).

The elevation of the lake is 4270 feet and the hike was 2.8 miles round trip. The fall colors have already started above 4000 feet and will probably peak in the next few weeks. The lake was filled with crayfish and brook trout. We tried to catch the trout with the fly rod, but only had one hit the whole day. The fish were easily spooked by the dry fly hitting the water.

Veda Lake.

Fall color reflection.

Cami watching the crayfish...she almost got pinched by one!

Cami looking happy to be at the lake.

Few-flowered Aster on the shore of Veda Lake. Veda Lake Reflection.

Vine Maple.

Vine Maple.