Wednesday, January 13, 2010

Royal Springs Ridge after a storm

From Jan 2010 Royal Springs Ridge
The last storm rolled through like a pineapple express blasting the ridgetops with gusts topping 100 mph. The trees on the southwest side of the ridge look like they have been pelted by the highway snow blower, with plastered snow all the way up the trunks. At ground level, the snow is soft and shows the tracks of squirrels, birds, rabbits, and what I suspect is a bobcat. Followed the bobcat tracks to a den hole tucked under a fallen tree. Did not stick my head in to investigate.

From Jan 2010 Royal Springs Ridge
This tree has developed on the very ridgetop, tucked in between two lava rock outcroppings. There are no other trees right on the ridge, and this sentinel survives thanks to the protection of the adjacent rock. I sat in this notch and had lunch out of the wind.

From Jan 2010 Royal Springs Ridge
The storm was still swirling around the ridge top but as I dropped down to the meadow level, there was a brief break in the clouds and all these amazing shadows suddenly appeared. As soon as I got my camera out, they started to fade and within a few minutes the gloom and swirl of the storm had descended down all around me as well.

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