Thursday, October 21, 2010

SkyWatch Friday & Looking at the Sky on Friday - McGee Creek and the Beaver Pond, Eastern Sierras, California USA

Click on photos to enlarge!
My husband and I hiked this trail back to a beaver pond that replaced a meadow several years ago.
This is the McGee Creek trail that is quite extensive connecting to other trails in the John Muir Wilderness of the Sierra Nevada Range in California USA.

After 3.5 miles up an uphill climb we finally reached the beaver pond.
I have seen beaver dams before but this one was HUGE!
We didn't see any beavers, though.

They had a great lodge!
It was about 3 p.m. and a storm was brewing over the peaks.
It got windy and colder as the afternoon faded.
It was downhill all the way out so we weren't concerned about it taking us too long to get back to the trail head.


43 comments:

Sylvia K said...

Fantastic captures, Carolyn! Such glorious autumn colors and the stormy clouds just highlight them! Gorgeous place! Hope you have a great weekend! Enjoy! Happy SWF!

Sylvia

Xavi said...

I like these landscapes especially the last photo.
Have a nice weekend Carolyn!!

Bhuvan Gupta said...

Lovely capture Carolyn.... simply loved the place... too beautiful

Thanks for such a wonderful post...

Bhuvan
http://terragendailyphoto.blogspot.com/

http://graceolsson.com/blog said...

the last photo is the best
congrats
http://graceolsson.com/blog/2010/10/the-africa-of-my-dreams-lets-go-kenya/

Randi said...

Wonderful captures!
Love the landscape.

Benita said...

Wow, wonderful photos!

Carol said...

What beautiful images, Carolyn! The yellow foliage is very eye catching. And I love the snowy mountains in the background. I enlarged all of these! That dam IS huge...and the lodge also.

Pearl Maple said...

thanks for taking Sky Watch on tour with you, the hiking trail is so tempting and that sure is one good sized beaver dam

Blondie's Abode said...

Oh my goodness! Such lovely photos. Oh, how I wish I had your view.

Kim, USA said...

This landscape is so pretty!
This week skies

Mary Howell Cromer said...

Such beautiful images, great scenes~

giorno26 ¸¸.•*¨*•. said...

Molto bella la 3° foto !
Buona serata.
Myria :)

EG CameraGirl said...

Beautiful trail to hike and photograph. I've been looking for beavers since last spring. I've seen dozens of lodges and NO beavers! I'll keep looking. I will NOT give up. :)

Eaglesbrother said...

Gray skies but the surrounding landscape makes up for it..awesome scenery and colors.

Anonymous said...

Great landscape! I love the colors! And what an awesome beaver dam!

Scott Law said...

That is a beautiful pond in a beautiful setting. I'm surprised to see that much snow already even in the Sierras. Love the colors.

Anonymous said...

Extraordinarily beautiful views!

Light and Voices said...

Thanks for this wonderful cyber tour. Love it!
Joyce M

Viola said...

Marvellous! What lovely mountains and view!! I would like to pop in and start to walk that trail..! So beautiful with the green and red colors by the water.. :)

Sallie (FullTime-Life) said...

Thanks for sharing this great hike! Those beavers are quite the little workers -- that dam is huge!

Looks like it was a beautiful day for a hike !

eileeninmd said...

Beautiful scenery and photos! The view of the snowcapped mountains in the background looks gorgeous.

Indrani said...

Beautiful scenic shots, the last one will make a beautiful poster.

Anonymous said...

Great photos, Carolyn!I like the idea of the interconnectedness of the path ...

Al said...

Beautiful photos. The skies are certainly starting to look a little threatening there - I know in our mountains storms can form incredibly quickly.

Martha Z said...

Beautiful, golden slopes and snow on the Sierra. It has been many years since I hiked this trail. It was in the fall with a friend now gone, thanks for the memories.

Gaelyn said...

A rather stormy looking sky over a fantastic setting. The fall colors and beaver pond are superb.

Rick said...

Gorgeous, stunning landscapes and colours - really makes me miss the mountains and hiking in them. Love these shots ! I'd probably frame that 3rd one (not that I wouldn't the other 2).

indicaspecies said...

Wow...this is beautiful landscape, and fabulous shots.

Unknown said...

i love the golden slopes. what a picturesque place!

Liz said...

Gorgeous captures!

lazyclick said...

Beautiful views, very colorful.

Tania said...

Wow! Great mountains and shots!!:-)

Dorothy said...

When enlarged, those pictures are just gorgeous!! Makes me wish I was there!

syel said...

it must have been a tiring but well worth it hike! i could do that everyday seeing the lovely landscape! :)

duopastorale said...

What wonderful scenery!

Kay L. Davies said...

Beautiful photos. Nothing beats majestic mountains against the sky, although that beaver dam comes close. I've never seen one that big, either.

Kay, Alberta

Laura said...

carolyn the colors are fantastic!

Ann, Chen Jie Xue 陈洁雪 said...

snow on the mountains, autumn on the trees, What a beautiful sight.

kmoyama said...

These photos made me think of going hiking on some of the mountains in Aso area, where the tree leaves are changing their colors little by little. Great photos!

Joe Todd said...

Wow what a great spot... The snow in the mountains reminds me we will soon have snow here in Ohio LOL

Tammie Lee said...

such beautiful autumn colors and always fun to check out a beavers work!

Johnny Nutcase said...

ohhh...those colors are pretty awesome! Beautiful shots, but you have to stop posting Sierra photos cause it makes me miss it too much! :)

Linnea said...

Such beautiful autumn colors up there! Pretty amazing. It looks quite different down here!