James Creek Adventures

James Creek near Winter Park offers a great variety of adventures in the winter as well as the other seasons of the year.

If you hit it at the right time you can get some great macro photography of hoar frost forming on the vegetation along the trail. You will not believe your eyes when you see the uniqueness of all these tiny crystals. I could have stayed and photographed all day but my friends said "Jan - you haven't moved more than an inch or two in the last 10 minutes!"

We were able to both hike or snowshoe over the Thanksgiving holiday in 2009, but the higher up the trail we went the more we wished we had had snowshoes. For the sake of the cross country skiers it's probably better to snowshoe and stay away from their tracks as much as possible to avoid the deep ruts that hiking boots can cause.

See my album on facebook for more photos of mother nature at her best!

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=123142&id=605733800&l=ee7b548a0e

Weekend Excursions in San Francisco

San Francisco has many interesting tourist and local spots to explore. We arrived on a weekend in October armed with a long list of potential places to explore and photograph, but found it difficult to see them all.

The first tactic in planning a trip is to visit your local library and check out as many guidebooks as you can find on the place you want to visit. It is also helpful to ask folks who have either lived there, toured there or were prior city tour guides - most of my San Francisco information was gleaned through chat channels, email forums or on facebook. Of course you should also pick your favorite search engine and "google" online for places of interest. Then take the best combination of all the research and recommendations, noting your key areas of interest, to come up with potential itineraries for the duration of your stay. We went for a long weekend but could have stayed for weeks.

It is also very helpful to grab a San Francisco AAA city map and a highlighter to mark the locations of each photo op, along with notations of points of interest in each area you plan to visit. The most difficult part of our itinerary was figuring out what local transportation would get us to each site. Luckily our hotel had a concierge that was very helpful in telling us which bus, streetcar or cable car (BSC) to hop to each destination. The transit map is quite busy and somewhat difficult to understand and the highly visited tourist areas have jam packed BSC's.




Everyone loves to ride the cable cars on the hilly roads to get a great tour of the city. We really enjoyed getting on at the end of the line and watching the operator turn the cable car around.



There are many choices for great food in San Fran. We stumbled upon a very festive "world famous" cafe near our cable car stop called Pat's Cafe and had a fabulous breakfast before heading out for the day. The walls inside the cafe are filled with artwork and it is a small, friendly place.

We decided to take a ferry to Sausalito and roam around the quaint little town for awhile. Ferry tickets are available at Fisherman's Wharf. We were able to walk up to the ticket counter and buy round trip tickets on the spot for the next scheduled departure. The ferry ride takes you past the famous Alcatraz Island and offers plenty of opportunities for photos of the prison as well as the magnificent Golden Gate Bridge.

When we returned from Sausalito we moseyed over to Pier 39 for some non-stop entertainment and great photo ops of the hundreds of sea lions that hang out and basically take over the place. The Wharf is also a great place to people-watch and find some delicious seafood, as well as plenty of boutique shops. This is a very busy area so have a few options in mind for mass transit if you do not want to wait for a specific bus or trolley to take you to your next destination.

High on my list was to photograph the murals of the Mission District. We had a long, interesting bus ride to the heart of the district but it was worth it. There are some fantastic artists displaying their talents alongside many buildings, garage doors and pretty much any paintable surface. It is a diverse neighborhood so be aware of your surroundings at all times. It was fun to try to find all of the murals - we barely scratched the surface but saw quite a few.

We spent a good portion of one day at Golden Gate Park. There are numerous places to see and plentiful activities in the Park. We spent quite a bit of time photographing the Dahlia gardens - tons of variety and absolutely gorgeous flowers. The Conservatory of Flowers was under rennovation so we did not get a chance to visit. There was also a local fair going on with musicians, craft booths and plenty of food. You can go to the top of the De Young Museum tower for a free view of the city - it is a great place for panoramic shots and to see what is going on in the park as well. The architecture is quite unique and there are many photo ops on the grounds near the museum.

This is just a sampling of the many places we visited over a long weekend. Have a great time if you plan to visit and be sure to drop me a line if you find another great photo location!

Happy Trails!

Jan

Indian Peaks Wilderness - Dorothy Lake

Mountain Harebells Frame the Indian Peaks (C) 2008 Jan Gorski

The guidebook said it was the highest, coldest lake in the state. Since the Indian Peaks Wilderness area is one of my favorite hiking destinations and I have never successfully made it to Lake Dorothy, I decided that this hike would be perfect for the first day of our three day weekend - especially since the weather forecast was the best for Saturday.

Parking at the trailhead is kind of like finding a parking space at the mall on Dec 24th ... the later you arrive the more creative you have to get to find a place to park your vehicle. Next time I'll have to remember to photograph the hundreds (?) of cars along the 1.5 car wide 4WD road that leads to the trailhead.

I'm not sure if it is because it is also a campground or if it is because it is one of the best hiking destinations around, but I suggest rolling out of bed as early as possible to get a legal parking spot. I lucked out this time and got one of the last actual "designated" parking spots at around 8:30am. I would be amazed as I descended the trail later in the day, at the number of hikers still trekking uphill - where the heck did they park? I also chuckled as I neared the end of the road back to Eldora, at the Boulder County Sheriff's vehicle that was headed uphill. The first trailhead you reach (Hessie), on the road to the 4th of July Campground, has even more limited parking and they do actually ticket and/or tow vehicles. This is for good reason, as I experienced a very tight squeeze between illegally parked cars when trying to exit that area in July during prime wildflower season.

Stream crossing - Might get your boots wet! (C) 2008 Jan Gorski

The trail to Dorothy Lake shares the Diamond Lake trailhead for about the first mile. You'll cross many streams and see incredible waterfalls, even in late August. The fields of flowers that mesmerize you in July, are gone by this late in the summer, but the beauty of nature still prevails. Once you turn right at the trail junction and head toward Arapaho Pass, the trail gets increasingly more difficult. (This junction also takes you to Caribou Pass, Arapaho Glacier and other adventures).

Rocky Trail leads to the lake (C) 2008 Jan Gorski

You are teased with a few switchbacks along the way but you quickly reach timberline and a trail that is exposed to the elements, for at least 2 miles to the nearest destination. Be sure the weather is on your side as you catch your breath and climb above 11,000'. Thunderstorms build very quickly and footing across these rocky moraines are not easy to navigate. My first attempt at visiting Lake Dorothy was thwarted by early morning thunderstorms and lots of rain and hail that had many of us doing some fancy footwork in an attempt to escape the imminent lightning.

Rusty boiler at 4th of July mine (C) 2008 Jan Gorski

After about 2 miles you will reach the ghostly reminders of the 4th of July mine. Colorado miners used this trail which was originally established by early Native Americans as a route to cross the imposing Continental Divide.

The trail is a bit wet in places (C) 2008 Jan Gorski

A few rusty pieces of equipment and large holes in the ground appear to be the only remainders of a time gone by, except for the river crossings that still have the orange stain of the mine tailings. Not much to see at the mine, but a nice place to catch your breath before the long desolate climb ahead.

Scenic view from the 4th of July mine (C) 2008 Jan Gorski

Keep your eyes and ears open for the squeak of the busy pika who is aware of your presence, but is gathering food to store away for the long winter ahead. If you are lucky you can spot the "whistle pig" - yellow bellied marmot sitting on a lofty perch trying to warm up in the Rocky Mountain sunshine. The wind picks up as you climb higher into the crystal blue skies, but until you reach the exposure of the pass the cool breeze feels good against your sweating body!

View towards upper Diamond Lake (C) 2008 Jan Gorski

Be sure to stop every now and then to take in the beauty of the peaks and alpine lakes that surround you. I believe that lake in the center of this photo is upper Diamond Lake but the map was not clear. In no time you will reach a saddle where you can get views to the NW of the devastation of the Pine Beetle near Lake Granby. Just below your lofty perch you'll catch a glimpse of Caribou Lake - shown in this photo below. The Continental Divide is just steps away.

View of Caribou Lake (C) 2008 Jan Gorski

Since there are multiple routes once you pass the junction to Arapaho Glacier or Arapaho Pass I asked a few passersby where the actual lake was. Most of the time the alpine lakes are the final destination since many end up below the cirque of a mountain, but up here you have many options for further exploration. After about 4 miles from the trailhead I reached Dorothy Lake. As advertised the wind was blowing steadily and it was quite cool - a nice reprieve from the 90 degree temperatures predicted for Denver. Luckily a large group of hikers were just leaving and I was able to find the perfect rock to enjoy a brief snack in solitude and a bit of entertainment by the side of the lake.

Lake Dorothy 12,061' (C) 2008 Jan Gorski

While I was waiting for the wind to subside so I might capture a reflection of Mt Neva in Lake Dorothy, I was rewarded with a very captivating show. Two brave souls were attempting to climb Mt. Neva via a very jagged ridge. Here is a photo of the general vicinity of these hikers to show you the scale factor.

Macro View of Mt Neva hikers from Lake Dorothy @lunch rock (C) 2008 Jan Gorski

Here is one of the close ups that my magical Nikon P80 Coolpix camera was able to capture (this camera ROCKS!)

Super-duper close up view of Mt. Neva hikers from Lake Dorothy (C) 2008 Jan Gorski

I felt like I could hang out there all day but the clouds were starting to build and the temperature started plummeting as the cloud cover increased. The wind didn't appear to have any interest in stopping to award me with a nice reflection photo so I headed downhill. On the way down I found these beautiful late summer flowers - the arctic gentian. I'm always amazed at how such delicate flowers survive in such rough terrain.

Arctic Gentian (C) 2008 Jan Gorski

As I descended the trail I saw many people trekking uphill to enjoy the beauty of God's country that surrounds us. How lucky we are to have this just a short (1.5 hour) drive away.

If you are interested in joining me on a hike in Colorado's high country I would be pleased to offer that service! Please leave a comment with your wishes and/or email address. We can concentrate on great photos, great locations, followed by gourmet food or all of the above!

Happy Trails!

Jan

Jan, Janet & Joan's Incredible India Adventure

• Lured by tigers, the Taj and travel abroad - Joan, Jan & Janet flew over seas & skies far and wide
• Armed with action packed itineraries and pre-dawn game drives to find the big cats, sleep was a luxury except at Pushkar camps
• Each day brings excitement from seeing new cities to the alarm calls of jungle predator watchers
• The call of nature - "any time, any where" - is answered by porcelain, sandbox and PVC fanfare
• Annoyed by the frequent noise of people, vehicle horns and cell phones, we retreat every evening for whiskey and "chips"
• Families with hearts of gold and Rupees the prize, make power shopping the standard for jewels and textiles
• The fair-haired American maidens pose often for curious Indian photographers, from the Taj to the backstreets of Pushkar Village
• Escorted by Gypsy Jeeps, camel carts and tasseled tempos we strain to understand our Hindi-English speaking guides
• Serenaded by off-key fiddlers, the howls of wild jackals and tiger growls in the night, we shoo away hawkers who cry "Halo Madame, Picture?"
• In the tent of the best dressed and "beloved" camel, "Roger", the flute playing, sari wrapped trio become celebrities for the day and appear in the 11/24/07 Hindi Times
  
• The smells of masala, pollution and dung ingrained in our nostrils, we dream of fresh air, a juicy rare steak and our favorite spirits on ice
• Memories downloaded daily to share special moments, the last game drive just a cloud of dust at 120 km/hr
• With a red fire sunset, we bid a fond farewell, to this country of enlightened souls, mystical temples and magical wildlife
• We cherish the reality that "In India, Everything is Possible"

Thanks to all the Indian guides who made this trip special and stay tuned for photos and more stories on this blog and on Tiger-BurningBright

King Penguin or New Zealand Fruit?

We all had a great chuckle on our Antarctica journey when Photographer Rod Planck did a slide show on penguins and his lead-in shot was a close up of a kiwi fruit. The next shot was one of these guys.

Copyright 2007 Jan Gorski

Do you see any resemblance?

Your journey to Antarctica - the "Great White South" will be one of your wildest dreams - it was for me anyway. Save up your money and do the whole circuit. Do not miss South Georgia and the Falkland Islands. They not only make the travel across the open ocean more pleasant but the photo opportunities are endless. And the moderate temperatures will blow your mind! Oh, and the 1/2 million pairs of King Penguins on one island might stir your interest a bit as well!!

I chose to celebrate the "Real" Millennium rollover from 2000-2001 on a boat in the southern oceans. Cheeseman's Ecology Tours offered the best tour at the time and I enjoyed every moment and almost everyone on the tour. We had a few interesting travelers to contend with, but don't we always :) The boat held over 100 passengers which is a much larger crowd than I tend to like to travel with, but the antics of the Russian crew and the entertaining staff were worth the lines for the zodiacs to shore.

The on-board lectures by noted photographers, geologists, ornithologists, whale researchers, artists, the list goes on - was a truly educational experience. The time on shore to witness the behaviors of the penguins, seals, birds coming in for a landing, etc. was exceptional. Especially the frisky sea lion pups who stood their ground, trying to keep us out of their territory. The photo ops were limitless.

Everyone thinks Antarctica is this god-awful, cold, deserted place. It is not - it is the true icon of the little bit of isolated wilderness left on our great planet. It is one of the crispest, clearest, most refreshingly beautiful places I have ever visited. Even the scientific research stations are a humbling place to visit. Imagine living there through the -100 degree winters!

Luckily we visited in the summer (Dec-Jan) and I dressed in layers, just as I would for a day of skiing in the Colorado high country and felt just fine. The only time I was ever really cold was during a zodiac ride through a bay of "bergy bits" - but that was just for a few hours and my rubber boots were not insulated enough to keep my toes from freezing. But the experience was surreal and worth every nippy toe! The ship itself was actually almost too warm most of the time.

By the way - that cute little kiwi fruit king penguin chick shown earlier goes through a fairly complicated stage of losing his/her feathers .... the feathers they shed line the beaches of the islands they inhabit. The goofy results of shedding are sometimes worth a chuckle or two ...

Copyright 2007 Jan Gorski

But the king penguin chick eventually turns out to be not too bad looking and worthy of a mate!

Copyright 2007 Jan Gorski

What more would you like to hear/see about Antarctica?

Stay warm!

Antarctic-jan

In Search of Rock Art

Happy Fall Everyone!

The cooler temps (and snow in Colorado's high country), mean it is time for us humans to get out in the canyons in search of Rock Art, while the bears are busy snacking on food to last them through the winter. One of my favorite past times is exploring the varnished canyon walls for signs that our ancestors left behind.

If you have never heard of Rock Art, I have a lot of information to share with you. Since I have been spending most of my free time working on the Colorado Rock Art Association (CRAA) Fall newsletter and volunteering as the President, I found it would be easier to blog about Rock Art than Antarctica tonight, so this is a stalling tactic to keep you all interested!
[9 Mile Canyon Bear Paw - Copyright 2007 Jan Gorski]

Petroglyphs (rock engravings) can be defined as pecked or incised images on rock, whereas pictographs (rock or cave paintings) are images painted (with natural pigments) on rock. There are numerous styles of rock art defined in publications based on the specific area in which they are located. Many avocational archaeologists, academians and authors have attempted to interpret what these images might describe, but all information is left up to the reader's curiosity to "believe" or "challenge" since we have little written knowledge on the subject. Search Amazon.com or your favorite library catalog for the plethora of books on rock art around the world.

Colorado has a number of interesting rock art sites throughout the state and you can find more out about CO rock art by visiting www.coloradorockart.org. Be sure to check out the September newsletter and let me know what you think. The annual CRAA meeting will be in LaJunta, CO. next May and promises to be a great time to learn more about our endangered treasures.

Utah, our neighbor to the West has a plentiful collection of rock art sites - many that are open to the public, such as Nine Mile Canyon near Price, UT. It is an outstanding gallery of the best artists from our past, and is in danger of being lost due to oil and gas drilling, that continues to increase in the canyon. The 9 Mile Canyon Coalition is a team of concerned enthusiasts trying to save the gems in this area and they have spent a great deal of effort getting 9 Mile Canyon on America's 11 Most Endangered Historic Places list.

The Utah Rock Art Research Association is holding their annual symposium in Moab, UT. October 5-8th. The symposium is a great place to learn about the latest research in petroglyphs and pictographs, attend a workshop, or participate in field trips that visit these stories on stone. See www.utahrockart.org for more information.

I have written an article with more detail about Rock Art Resources which can be found on pages 7-11 of the URARA February 2007 newsletter.
[9 Mile Canyon Owl - Copyright 2007 Jan Gorski]

Happy Trails!

What Would You Do? Where Would Your Dreams Take You?

If you had all the resources you needed (money, time, food, etc...) what would you do if you had 24 hours left in your life? 1 month? 1 quarter of a year? 1 year?

Are you living the life you want to live? What's holding you back?

How can you take one simple step today to move toward your dreams?

I challenge you to take that simple step!

Himalayan Mtns, Nepal - Copyright 2007 Jan Gorski

Traveling is all about stepping outside your box - it is not difficult and the rewards are plentiful!

Antarctica is all about wide open spaces, wilderness, no-mans land. Do you feel that in your everyday life? Do you want to?

Imagine the life of a penguin - can you? The photos I will share with you in the coming days will hopefully ignite a bit of playfulness... do you remember how to play?

The time is now! Please share your stories!

Stay Tuned for Antarctica!

Chinstrap Penguin - Copyright 2007 Jan Gorski

Sorry for the lag in postings but the vote took awhile to settle out and of course you all chose the trip that was all shot on slide film vs. digital so it will take awhile to scan the good stuff.

The other challenge is that my home laptop will not let me log into the blog to post things - it goes into an infinite loop of google trying to log me in and blogspot trying to get google to respond to my login. I've seen from other folks in the help forums that Firefox has a bug (or google - one of the two) so now I need to upgrade my IE software as it isn't working on the version I currently have installed. This adventure has led to a larger project of cleaning off my hard drive because as we all know, upgrades require elephant sized spaces on your hard drives. That, and the fact that I never delete things is making this a bit of a challenge :)

But, I promise to get a story with photos online sometime in the near future! I've cataloged my 2003-2005 digital photos so I only have a few years left to complete... I also need to figure out how to do a slide show of photos vs. static photos on the right hand side. Any blog expert help is welcome so please leave a comment if you know how to incorporate a slide show in a posting!

Happy Fall and hope you are all out shooting away. I'm off to India in November with grand hopes of great shots of Bengal Tigers and their cubs. Wish me luck on the 13.5 hour train ride to the tiger camp!!

Collabjan

Climbing Colorado's 14ers

View from the Top Of Grays Peak, CO - Copyright 2007 Jan Gorski

One of the favorite pastimes of hikers in Colorado is to "bag a 14er" or two. Colorado (or "Gods country" as my uncle Alex called it) is blessed with over 54 peaks that reach 14,000' or higher and reaching the top of these peaks are coveted by many trekkers. Although I've hiked up 27 of them to date, I stopped 'bagging peaks' quite a few years ago when they became too popular. I enjoy the peacefulness of the wilderness, not a stream of people clamoring up a peak to check it off a list. Getting up at 'o-dark hundred' was another obstacle. But a young Air Force major in my office (my customer) was interested in climbing a 14er before she "PCS'd" out of Colorado, so being an avid hiker, I willingly obliged to help her gain a little altitude before she moved on in her career.

A team of eight hardy souls met in the pre-dawn darkness on August 17th, 2007 to climb Gray's Peak. We all managed to set our alarms and get to the meeting point in time to carpool to the trailhead, which some say can be reached by a normal passenger car. None of us would recommend you take a passenger car up Stevens Gulch road but - we did see a Toyota Corolla up there so I guess if you are a really good driver and don't worry about potentially losing parts of the bottom of your car you can go for it.

We were on the trail by 7:20am and the parking lot was almost full (on a Friday). One poor soul on our team was not feeling well this day so she bailed out as we all pumped up our lungs on the hearty ascent. The rest of the gang made it to the top in record time - thanks to the runners in the group who kept us trucking at high speed despite the lack of oxygen.

We watched the weather with a keen eye during most of the hike, since we started the morning out with lots of clouds (not a good thing for climbing at higher altitudes) - but we managed to skirt the t-storms and reached Grays Peak (14,270' - 9th highest) at 10:15am. Since the black cloud over Torreys Peak - a nearby 14er (14, 267' - 11th highest) had flown on by, I recommended to the gang that they head on over so they could bag two peaks in the same day. Those of us who live in CO know that the weather can change in minutes so we all watched the building storms and were ready to bolt on down the mountain at a moments notice.

The gang of six headed over to Torreys (I had climbed both peaks many times in the past so I stayed behind on the top of the world, to be entertained by a group of guys from MD who were figuring out how to open their bottles of Corona to celebrate their feat). I offered them my knife which worked well as a bottle opener ;) After a nice break and a few photos I headed down the trail to check on our teammate who was under the weather.

Grays & Torreys are the best warm up hikes, in my humble opinion - to train for the myriad of other peaks in CO. The trailhead is close to Denver and the hike is beautiful whether you make it to the top or not.

For more info check out www.14ers.org

Happy Trails!