Idaho's seasons

Many people come to Sun Valley, Idaho in the winter to ski.  They're missing out on what I think are the best seasons.  The summertime allows for camping in the cool mountain air, and on the Earnest Hemingway memorial it states, "Best of all, he loved the fall."  Autumn is quite special as well, after the heat of summer has gone and the leaves display their glorious color.

This picture could have been taken in any season, but it shows the Smoky Mountains, to the west of the Wood River Valley.

This surely does look like summertime in the Sawtooth Mountains.  Maybe that is Snowyside Peak in the distance at the right.  There are 216 mountains taller than this in Idaho.

This looks like autumn with the brown grasses, dried at the end of the growing season.

Southern Idaho's autumn is predominantly colored yellow from Aspen and Cottonwood, but the riparian areas and northern Idaho give some reds and oranges in the fall.  This is Freezout Ridge in northern Idaho's Clearwater Mountains, with red huckleberry bushes.

Here's another look at the Smoky Mountains, in the fall.  The aspen are green and gold patchwork in the sagebrush ocean.  The north side of the hills gets enough shade from the sun that evergreen trees can grow.  The southern exposure is too hot and dry for a tree seed to germinate and thrive.

There is a downside to living in a ski resort community.  It snows.  It snows a lot.  You can see my neighbor on his roof, shoveling what looks to be about four feet of compressed snow.  First I would shovel the driveway, then I would get up on top of the snow piles, and shovel the piles away from the driveway.

These are the Boulder Mountains as seen from Galena Summit on a clear morning after a heavy overnight snow.  I saw this view my first week in Idaho.

Bandon and environs

Bandon, Oregon.

It has been a while since I've made time to share more of my Oregon vacation photos. It has been busy at work, and I've relished every occasion to get out and about, so will have more to share on that account as well. But, for now, to return to the story where I left off ...

The campground Cyndi and I visited was near the town of Bandon, and this lighthouse guards the entrance to the bay and harbor.

The Pelicans were feeding, and the Heerman's Gulls were attempting to steal fish from the Pelicans. The Pelicans would fly until they spotted a fish, then plummet into the water, at the last minute folding back their wings and piercing the water like a huge dart.

It was a blustery day, and there were not many people at the beach today!

I can't begin to describe the brisk wind. It picked up spindrift from the ocean and blew it ashore. I was soon shivering before the power of the sea breeze, and retreated to the car to warm up and clean my camera lens.

Even the Heerman's Gulls (the darker ones with red bills) and Western Gulls were hunkered down in the parking lot, all facing into the wind.

Sometimes the fog rolled in, other times the sun broke through. We drove up the coast and explored the many beaches and headlands.

The Beach Pea enjoys the sandy environment doused by salt spray.

We visited Bandon on three occasions and dined there twice.

To escape the chill wind, we drove around behind the dunes to a protected lagoon where this Snowy Egret was watching for fish.

A Raven harassed one of the many Turkey Vultures we saw, hurrying it out of the Raven's territory. Turkey Vultures were just about the most numerous bird we saw ... well, I guess they were easier to count than the myriad gulls.

Wherever the coast provided steep cliffs the Pigeon Guillemot had nesting areas and they clung to the steep faces with their bright red feet.