Eagle Peak

Just west of the Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs a range of mountains rises approximately 2,000 feet up (600 meters). One of the peaks here is Eagle Peak, and these are photos I took when climbing it back in late August.

Here is the peak from its base. The trail climbs up a valley on the right of the peak and approaches the top from the back.

The trail is fairly good as it starts off winding through the trees.

 

It gets steeper and more rocky.

A little water starts to appear.

The trees are beautiful, both evergreens and large stands of aspen.

A final very rocky section leads to the top - this picture is of the trail but doesn't give a good impression of the steepness.

Finally, the top is reached and provides some wonderful views, east towards the Academy and west into the mountains. Somebody has planted a flag at the top.

This is not an easy trail, but it is a very worthwhile one.

Skywatch Friday - Changing Snowy Skies

At our altitude, and being on top of a hill, it's not unusual to be near the top of the clouds; we often can see the sun while it's snowing. The weather also changes very quickly. Here's an example of these things from last week, taken from our deck.

Some snow moved through, near sunset. You can see the snow and the sun in this first picture.

Then the clouds started breaking up, and blue sky was still visible while it was snowing.

Finally, by sunset, it was almost completely clear.

As they say, if you don't like the weather, wait 5 minutes.

For more beautiful skies worldwide, visit Skywatch Friday.

Socks in the Mountains

Here's a picture of my little dog Socks on Muscoco Mountain. As I've said before, despite his tiny stature he loves hiking with me and will go for miles.

Blog Format Changes

I've just completed making some format changes to my blog. The idea is to make it more like a photography blog, as opposed to a blog with photos. To that end, the key changes are to move the pictures to the left side of the blog so that they are the first thing to be noticed, and to make them larger. This is my first attempt at directly editing the template provided by blogger, so I welcome any feedback, both positive and negative.

I've gone back and reposted the photos from the few posts so that the pictures will show up in the larger format. I'm not planning on editing all my older posts.

Tomorrow I'll be back to regular photographic posting.

Skywatch Friday - Monument Rock

This picture was taken on a hike in the fall in my local area. It's of Monument Rock, reflected in a pond. More pictures from this hike will be going up before too long. For hundreds more worldwide skies, visit Skywatch Friday.

Chicago - Museum of Science and Industry

One of the better science museums I've seen is the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago. They have many interesting things there, this is just a tiny sampling.

I was intrigued by the new-born chicks - some were still coming out of their eggs.

They also had a massive train set, and having enjoyed toy trains when I grew up I loved seeing this.

And this land vehicle, the Spirit of America, broke land-speed records back in the 1960s, topping out at 539.89 miles per hour.

This museum is highly recommended, particularly for those with children.

Skywatch Friday - Beautiful Sunrise

These pictures were taken yesterday morning just before the Sun rose.

For more sunrises and other sky-themed pictures around the world, visit Skywatch Friday.

Winter Tulips

A few weeks ago we were given a vase of tulips, which provided some much-needed winter color.

Skywatch Friday - Cold Morning

We had some freezing fog and a little snow yesterday, and it was extremely cold this morning (-12F or -24 C when I took this picture). But it made for a pretty pre-sunrise. The ice on the tree didn't show up as well as I hoped, but hopefully it illustrates the beauty of the cold morning.

Chicago - Morning Walk

On our second day in Chicago, we started with a morning walk in the cold sun. The bridges over the river were up!

And here's why - several tall-masted ships were going by.

We went back to Millennium Park, and over a pedestrian bridge...

...which brought us to this marina.

And finally, at the end of the day (after visiting another museum) we went to the Willis Tower, formerly known as the Sears Tower. The line was far too long so we didn't go to the top.