Ford Family Photos

Monday, April 12, 2010

That's My World Tuesday / Hetch Hetchy, Yosemite National Park, California USA

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My husband and I took a trip to Yosemite National Park a few weeks ago.

We took a wonderful drive from Yosemite Valley to the northwest corner of the national park to visit the Hetch Hetchy Valley.

The Hetch Hetchy Valley is a treasure and worth visiting any season.

In the spring, two of North America's tallest waterfalls plummet spectacularly over thousand-foot granite cliffs.

The dramatic domes surrounding these waterfalls add to the grandeur that John Muir compared to the more well-known Yosemite Valley.

In 1870, Muir called Hetch Hetchy Valley "a wonderfully exact counterpart of the great Yosemite."

We walked across the O'Shaughnessy Dam and then through the tunnel to hike along endless trails from this side of the reservoir, which is 8 miles long.

The water extends back and behind "Kolana Rock," on the right, for most of those 8 miles.

We didn't hike a great distance, but far enough to really get a sense of the beauty here.

You have to keep an eye open for these guys this time of year!

They are waking up from their long winter's nap...

We didn't see any.

My brother has a friend who back-packed in this area and finally left because of the bears being such a nuisance.

Preservationists, led by John Muir, wanted the valley to remain untouched.

Today, the 117-billion-gallon reservoir supplies pristine drinking water to 2.4 million Bay Area

(San Francisco) residents and industrial users.

It also supplies hydro-electric power generated by two plants downstream.

Hetch Hetchy is the largest single body of water within the national park.

-downstream hydro-electric plants-

The view from the top of the O'Shaughnessy Dam is incredible from both sides.

I think we should have used a little "fill-flash" here to avoid faces in the shadows...but, we didn't.

This photo means that I was "officially" here!

and...Jerry too!

There is an amazing picture everywhere you turn up here!

We were greeted with this amazing light on Yosemite Valley when we returned from our day-trip to Hetch Hetchy.

From left to right: El Capitan, Half Dome way in the back, Cathedral Rocks and Bridalveil Falls.

That's My World Tuesday

Mosaic Monday / Sweet Peas Create a Maze, Carlsbad Ranch, Carlsbad, California USA

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Sweet Peas

These Sweet Peas are part of a maze at the Flower Fields in Carlsbad Ranch, Carlsbad, California USA.

Oh! Wow! Did they smell divine!

Mosaic Monday

Ellipsis Monday Photo Shoot, Ruby Tuesday / Sweet Pea Maze at the Field of Flowers, Carlsbad Ranch, Carlsbad, California USA

The theme for Ellipsis Monday Photo Shoot is "strange or unusual sights."
This Sweet Pea Maze is at the Field of Flowers at Carlsbad Ranch, Carlsbad, California USA.

There are acres and acres of the Giant Tecolote Ranunculas growing in this field.

A second attraction is this maze of Sweet Peas.

It smells SO good in the maze...heavenly.

I stood on a small platform where I had a great view of what was going on down below.

"I think we should go this way."

"Hmmm, I bet it's this way!"

I like how the sweet peas covered this lady's sunglasses!

Oops, on my part!

The little boy REALLY wants to run on his own!

Mom puts him down AND he's off and running!

...and lost on the first curve!

"Maybe, I should follow my big sister?"

This little girl is getting FRUSTRATED!

Whoa...I saw what this girl did for her boyfriend's camera!

Click on photos to enlarge!

Ellipsis Monday Photo Shoot
A Strange or Unusual Scene

Ruby Tuesday

Sunday, April 11, 2010

Photo Hunter / Vertical

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Vertical reflections of trees in Yosemite Valley, California USA

Photo Hunter

Face of the Week / News Crew at the Poppy Reserve, Antelope Valley, California USA

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The California Poppy Reserve, Antelope Valley, California USA.

A Channel 4 News van was there shooting a segment for the evening news.

The hillsides are covered with our beautiful state flower!

And, what a fun place to spend a day hiking on the 8+ miles of trails.

This news crew spent most of the day here and finally started shooting at about 5:30 p.m.

I think they were out on the trails for several hours too.

Face of the Week

Saturday, April 10, 2010

Camera Critters / Snake in the Poppy Preserve, Antelope Valley, California USA

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This is my husband hiking through the California Poppies in Antelope Valley, California.

There is abundant wildlife, such as; coyotes, bobcats, badgers, lizards, birds, rabbits, insects, butterflies and SNAKES!

It's the snakes we keep our eyes OPEN for!

I came up upon this little guy in the parking lot as we ended our day.

Several people were admiring it and we decided it must be a harmless (I hope)

young gopher snake.

There are RULES while visiting the Poppy Preserve!

One is...You will NOT disturb the wildlife!
Another is...You will NOT step off the trail!
There are about 8 miles of trails in this reserve...It's fabulous!

But, this little guy was crawling across the parking lot and likely to be run over by a car.

With no park ranger around, we decided that someone should move it back into the fields of flowers.

Not ME!
But, a brave man picked it up and walked it nicely to a much safer place.

It kind of looks like the gopher snake pictured on the reserve brochure?

It's definitely NOT the Mojave Rattlesnake which is commonly found...

I can't believe this snake needs to slither across a hot parking lot when the hills go on forever!

You can see a few people out on the trails.
For anyone living or visiting the Los Angeles area...this place is worth the drive this time of year!

Camera Critters

Scenic Sunday / The Poppy Reserve, Antelope Valley, California USA

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We went to the Antelope Valley Poppy Reserve today.

We were NOT disappointed!

My home is on the other side of the snow-capped mountains.

There are about 8 miles of trails along these hillsides that lead in all directions.

You can choose to walk up hill for the panoramic views or stay lower and enjoy looking up.

We did both...high and low!

and...never ran out of flowers.

The best part is that it wasn't crowded.

I took SO many photos...I'll be posting them for the next few days.

These are just the beginning...

-The California Poppy-

California's State Flower

Scenic Sunday

Friday, April 9, 2010

Macro Flowers Saturday, Today's Flowers and Macro Monday / Giant Tecolote Ranunculus at the Flower Fields, Carlsbad Ranch, Carlsbad, California USA

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These macro shots came from the Flower Fields at Carlsbad Ranch, Carlsbad, California USA this past Wednesday, April 7, 2010.

My posts just prior to this one show the 51+ acres of the Giant Tecolote Ranunculus planted in alternating rows of color and some rows of mixed colors!

There was purple and white as well...unfortunately I couldn't get close enough to get a macro of those two colors.

Macro Flowers Saturday

Today's Flowers

Macro Monday

Monochrome Weekend / Giant Tecolote Ranunculus

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A Giant Tecolote Ranunculus at the Flower Fields in Carlsbad Ranch, Carlsbad, California USA

This plant is actually a brilliant pink!

Monochrome Weekend

Color Carnival / Flower Fields #2 at Carlsbad Ranch, California, USA

I visited the Flower Fields in Carlsbad Ranch, California this past Wednesday.

There are 50+ acres of amazing color from the Giant Tecolote Ranunculus flowers.

This is my second posting of them...The flowers are planted in VERY long vertical rows, which I photographed in my first post, which you can see (here).

I wanted to get a cross section of a blend of color for Color Carnival.

Click on photos to enlarge!
There are SO many buds on these plants...it's only going to get better!
This is a very nice way to spend a few hours!

You can see the vertical rows (here).