Looking west as sun lights up the mountains while the foreground is shaded.
"Should we get our bikinis on while the sun hits this rock?."
Golden Rock, a little help from my friend, the sun.
After staying up all night, dancing and drinking, we headed directly to Mount Woodson for our first
hike of the year. One part of the sentence is false. We won’t provide any clues or hints but take a chance
and guess. It was funny arriving at 5:45am at Poway Lake and waiting for the duty officer to open the gates
by 6am. At the time, we asked ourselves if we weren’t a little crazy or perhaps showing too much enthusiasm.
Crazy is good and one can never have enough enthusiasm. Unfortunately, it was another cloudless day. However,
nature never fails to provide a unique set of views each and every day. In fact, we would offer the comment
that the photographs are some of the best we have.
Amazing as we witnessed the sun reflecting off the mist, although a flawed photo. Unfortunately, a mark on a
lense went unnoticed for many pictures.
The subtle coloring was stunning on a day when expectations were low.
We got half-way up in time to catch the sun seconds before rising fully with distant mountain backdrop.
We would like to thank Mark Glickman who helped select a new camera and provide some hints
and suggestions. Mark has a wonderful eye for women…we mean birds. He is a superb photographer and his shots
of birdlife are outstanding. Take a look on Facebook. Talking of Marks, a thank you to our brother Mark
who is providing assistance, too. When we noticed that our first few photographs were very dark, we turned
to younger brother for help. He considered the problem and was able to steer us in the right direction:
‘Try taking off the lense cap’, he suggested. With support from these two fellows, we are well on our way
except for the grime on the lense which caused us to scrap some incredible pictures today.
Once the sun had risen, the colors were withdrawn.
Sun shows off its power on blues, too.
Jenni peaks and looks out to a wonderful world.
With the new camera, we are changing our lifestyle. Because of the larger unit with the various
lenses, cleaning cloth, accessories, oil and grease and power packs, it looks like we are going to give
up either hiking or photography. There are two major problems: Firstly, we are feeling a little bad
watching our editor having to carry all the extra equipment for us. Secondly, when we stop for a photograph,
we have to open the backpack, unzip the camera case, remove the camera, think about which lense to use, take
a snack because of all the thinking and working, attach a lense, remember to switch on the camera and then
think about all the dials and buttons to press, turn and push. Man, it is becoming a challenge. This is, of course,
progress. By the way, we are still carrying the old camera for quicker shots.
Even on a low mountain, one can feel on top of the world.
Iron Mountain, one of the twin peaks
Back to the 'potato chip' or 'surfboard' or as our kids say, "Hanging out or is it over?."
Poway Lake features the last of 'Autumn Leaves'.
While running down the mountain today, we took cheer when two groups shouted, “Runners on trail, stand aside.”
It was a good feeling especially when they saw the age of our lovely editor and then began to clap and hoot. Little
did they know she is in training for the Olympics 2016.
A monster to the north.
Combination of mist and sun provided real beauty at the half-way stage.
We also wish to say farewell as we are about to begin hike-about 16. We enjoyed the company of many of our
friends (missed a few), children and of course, grandchildren. However, as John Muir said, “We hear the
mountains calling” and we must answer the call. So we head out on the 5th, to the 50th state, will stay
in 5 different places and on 5 islands less one. They are Maui, Hawaii, Kauai and Oahu. We look forward
to seeing you from there.
Cheers,
Jenni and Jeffrey
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