Posted on by Anne Sandler · 42 Comments

Lens Artists Challenge #357: Into the Woods

Egidio, you hit the bullseye. I love the woods. Getting out of suburbia and into the fresh air is amazing. I especially love the smell of pine trees. I need to get up to the mountains more often. Fortunately, although Sacramento is too low for pine trees, we do have wooded areas around our creeks and rivers.

Let’s start with higher altitude, the forest, specifically Lassen National Park. These pictures were taken from our last visit in 2023. As soon as I got out of the truck, I could smell the forest. It was wonderful being back after a long absence. Unfortunately they were still clearing away the dead trees from the 2021 fire. Our dog was still alive and I enjoyed our walks around the campground. I think he also enjoyed the new forest smells.

Lets move on to a State Park. Calaveras Big Trees State Park. The Big Trees refer to giant Sequoias. They are impressive trees. Not as tall as our coastal redwoods, but they have amazing girth.

Woods change with the seasons. In the Sacramento area, we don’t get too much Autumn color. We photographers have to go up in altitude to find it. I found these in Grass Valley in what we call the Foothills.

While we are still up in altitude, let’s visit Hope Valley and see how fire can devastate our trees. It will take more years than I have left in my lifetime to grow a new grove of aspens.

Down in altitude and in my local area, Dry Creek is a favorite for children in the summer. You walk through wildflowers to get to the creek. Stock Ranch Nature Preserve is located just behind Costco. It is dark and moist–the perfect place for fungi to grow.

And, now for my favorite National Park in California–Sequoia / Kings Canyon. Although joined, Kings Canyon (higher than Sequoia) has mostly cedar trees and a beautiful forest. Sequoia has the larger Sequoia trees. I’m closing with an image of the infamous, well-known General Sherman. You can’t hug this tree!

You can see why I love the forest and its smells and beautiful trees. Thank you Egidio for this trip down memory lane. When you post your response, please remember to link back to Egidio’s original post and use the Lens-Artists tag. Next week, look for Tina’s post since she will be leading the challenge.

In the meantime, stay safe and live in gratitude!

Please see this page to learn more about the Lens-Artists Challenge and its history.

Posted on by Anne Sandler · 28 Comments

Change is sometimes not good: Lassen National Park, part 1

You can’t stop change, and sometimes you don’t like it. I was anxious to get to Lassen National Park again. It had been so many years. So I called the national reservation number and made a reservation. I thought I was so smart because I had a map of the campground which showed all the sites. This was great, a pull through site right near the flush toilets.

I was so excited to be camping and not RVing again. When I opened the truck door, the forest smell hit me. Wonderful pine trees. It was going to be great. But maybe not all that great.

The pull through was not on flat land and there was no ranger in sight. All the sites had reserved signs on them. We had difficulty getting in and out of the trailer because the campsite was steep. We assumed that all the campsites were taken because they had the reserved signs. So we were stuck.

Since I have a few days worth of photos, I’ll continue my rant in part 2. In the meantime, here are some pictures of the Lily Pond trail located at one end of Manzanita Lake. I didn’t go all the way because the altitude was bothering me.

I don’t want you to think that I’ll be complaining throughout this series. We had a great time and there’s more to come!

Posted on by Anne Sandler · 16 Comments

Lens Artist Challenge #167: Colors of Autumn

It’s sort of early here in Sacramento for Fall color which is Amy’s challenge this week. In fact, we don’t get much of our own but have to drive about 2 hours to see the lovely yellows and oranges. So let’s look back on previous years and day trips.

Let’s look at what 2018 brought us when Marlene and I visited Markleevile.

In 2019, Jean and I went on a Fall Color search near the town of Murphys and Calaveras Big Trees State Park. Not much color to see!

The following year, 2020, wasn’t a banner year for colorful leaves. Jean and I went hunting in the Eastern Sierras.

Maybe we will get lucky this year. Laura and I are planning a hunting trip in a few weeks. Wish us luck. Thank you Amy!