Tuesday, June 14, 2016

Castle Crags

After our attempt on Shasta we were tired and a bit sore so we decided to take it easy and just do a nature hike at Castle Crags. There is climbing here too, mostly big trad routes.

Shelley spotted this Northern Flicker just after we started on the trail.

Northern Flicker

We crossed creeks a few times and I indulged my love of photographing water.

water and rocks

Untitled

water reflections

When I was taking these next ones, Shelley wanted to know whether I was photographing her or the flowers. To be safe I did both :-)

flowers and Shelley

Shelley and flowers

I can find endless things to photograph in nature. Luckily Shelley is patient!

pine needles

shadow of pine needles

lichen on rock

There were a lot of lizards. At first, we just heard things running away as we approached. Eventually we spotted what they were, but they were still very skittish. Once you could get them to stop moving and "freeze" then if you were lucky you could approach very slowly. I think they were Western fence lizards (you can see a little bit of the blue abdomen).

lizard

There were lots of these bright orange flowers providing a splash of color among the greens of the forest. I think they are Humboldt lilies.

Humboldt lily

And lots of this flower (perennial sweet pea?) in the sunnier spots.

flowers

These deer seemed more curious than fearful.

deer

For more of these photos, see all 40 as a slideshow or overview

No comments:

Post a Comment