Around the world with the forum!

[lprof]

Wakey,

I have some cool memories of Whistler and somewhere a few photos, but...

your shots bring on the chill in the most awesome way!

[linne]

Thank you for all the great photoes. I enjoy to come around the world. So many beautiful and interesting places.

Linne

[JnJShaw]

Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Cataloochee Valley

[bubblybrenda]

Sydney Harbour Australia



Windang, NSW Australia
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Minnamurra Rainforest, NSW Australia


Jamberoo Valley, NSW Australia

[bubblybrenda]

Haystack Rocks, Cannon Beach, Oregon


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Southern Washington State
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[California Girl]

I'm loving all these pictures! JnJShaw, your pictures are awesome. Those creek photos look like a painting! And Brenda... beautiful pictures of Australia! That's someplace I'd like to go before I die Where in Washington was that last picture taken? It looks a little like Gig Harbor.

[JnJShaw]

CG thanks for the compliment the first three were my first attempt at HDR photography.

[irbgolfin]

Have enjoyed seeing all the pictures, thought I should add a few.
Let’s start with a one of the mountains in RMNP, a park I’ve visited every few years throughout my life.



Alaska, pick your preferred name: Mt. McKinley, Denali, The Great One
As seen from Stony Hill, 36 miles away.



And zoomed in:



Glacier confluence outside of Skagway, we had just landed and walked around the one on the left a short time before, it was over a mile wide, we’re a few thousand feet up now.



In Japan, Hiroshima Castle (original destroyed by A bomb and later rebuilt) and grounds.



Next is the Prefectural Hall at ground zero, or the hypo center, as viewed from the Peace Memorial Park.



The “A Bomb” tree, which was 1 km from the hypocenter, the closest living thing to survive. It was moved to the Peace Memorial Museum.



Heading into a lock on the Panama Canal, on a boat sized to get an eye level view.



Being inexperienced, and not wanting to lose this, I will split into another post...

[irbgolfin]

And last but not least, one of my favorite trips ever, a cruise! But not the sort of trip that disgorges 1000s of passengers to shop in Charlotte Amalie…It was 15 days on the Colorado River through the Grand Canyon. First, the captain (center with hat and oars) deftly maneuvering his 18 foot boot with 3 passengers… trust me there’s a boat under there…




And it wouldn’t be a cruise without meals and entertainment provided…





Along the way we saw the Red Wall Cavern from the river… It’s BIG! Note the people in the back.



And from inside… Panamora view couldn’t get it all…



This trip was tough to take, nothing but blue, red, and green, mile after mile…



Though we did hike up the canyon for the views, here from the Nankoweap granaries…



And one of the too numerous to count side canyons



Hope you enjoyed them!

irbgolfin

[Ron in South Texas]

The Dig...Atlantis...Paradise Islands, Bahamas



Harbour Island

[bubblybrenda]

Irbgolfin. Wow! Now that "cruise" was something else. I would love that but 15 days would be about a week too long for me.

[California Girl]

irbgolfin - Your Alaska pictures are spectactular, and after just seeing Mary Beth's Grand Canyon pictures, it was cool to see the Canyon from another perspective! I'd love that trip, but I also think it would be about a week too long for me!

[irbgolfin]

Bubbly and Calgirl...

It takes about 2 weeks to do a paddle trip through the whole canyon which is around 225 miles. IIRC, only about 10% of the commercial passengers opt for this choice, due to time and cost, which is directly related to number of days.

Other options:

Split the trip roughly in half, doing either just the upper or lower, including a hike in or out the Bright Angel Trail, which is about 8 miles long with a mile of elevation change - up or down, your choice!

Take a motorized raft trip, which cuts the time in half. This would allow the whole canyon to be done in a week or a partial canyon in just a few days.

If I HAD to choose a shorter trip, I would not choose the motorized since it scares off wildlife. We saw plenty just floating along. I would also choose the lower half over the upper, since you get to walk DOWN the trail, and the bigger rapids are on the lower half.

There is another short option that flies you in and does a day or two close to Lake Mead, but those are out of rapids and the larger portion of the Canyon, would not come recommended by me.

It was fantastic. My then 16 year old son and I went. He says he wants to do it again some day, we'll see. He's just finished college and started working, gets 2 weeks vacation a year. With a couple of days in Vegas and a few days on the rim, ours was a 3 week vacation. I planned it over a year in advance, scheduling the time off and banking my vacation time. My boss thought I was nuts, saying he'd never had anyone schedule a trip so far in advance. Guess I'm nuts!

irbgolfin

[jmq]

JnJ - that top photo of the stream is great, cool lighting. Did you use a tripod & time exposure to get the flowing water to look like that?

Irbgolfin - great that you posted pix of that adventure you first mentioned on the recent National Parks thread. More inspiration to do that!

[jmq]

Crater Lake OR
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/jmq/11972061/" title="Crater Lake by jmq, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm1.static.flickr.com/11/11972 ... b6e911.jpg" width="500" height="332" alt="Crater Lake"></a>

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/jmq/11972059/" title="ORE 118 (2) by jmq, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm1.static.flickr.com/7/119720 ... 67854c.jpg" width="500" height="351" alt="ORE 118 (2)"></a>

somewhere in NE AZ
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/jmq/11981484/" title="azRoadSky by jmq, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm1.static.flickr.com/7/119814 ... f934a7.jpg" width="500" height="329" alt="azRoadSky"></a>