It's International Mountain Day
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SPedigrees
Garden Addicted
Happy International Mountain Day from here in the Green Mountain State! The rain today melted our snow, but snow is still on the mountains around me.
ducks4you
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I am astonished that they left out Mt. Evans, CO!
14,200 ft, it is the Most accessible bc it has the highest paved mountain road, I think, in the world.
Anybody can drive up to the parking lot and hike to the summit.
IGnore the stupid new name. Cannot believe that "blue sky" is native american.
The drive is made of lots of switchbacks, and several level spots like Summit Lake. There are no rangers stopping to check your hot brakes like on the Pike's Peak road.
I will warn you, though, some parts of the road have 4 ft shoulders with a steep 1K ft drop off.
14,200 ft, it is the Most accessible bc it has the highest paved mountain road, I think, in the world.
Anybody can drive up to the parking lot and hike to the summit.
IGnore the stupid new name. Cannot believe that "blue sky" is native american.
The drive is made of lots of switchbacks, and several level spots like Summit Lake. There are no rangers stopping to check your hot brakes like on the Pike's Peak road.
I will warn you, though, some parts of the road have 4 ft shoulders with a steep 1K ft drop off.
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digitS'
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In a small way, I envy people who live where horizons are so broad with no mountains seen to east & west. But then, that means less landscapes are close enough to see and appreciate 
. Those of you living there can think about what it means to see a mountain rising thousands of feet, only a few miles away in front of us, over our shoulders, off to the left, right ... 
.
Envy comes with the limited path of the sun & moon above me. Sure, you have clouds and blue skies varying from sky blue to robin egg blue to turquoise to Pacific Ocean blue. Of course, we can see those broad, broad skies if we climb the mountains. But, the light!
For the first time this month, and after several nice sunbreaks yesterday, I saw the moon
in the western sky when I looked out a window at 3AM. Wow, it is nearly full. Actually, the clouds were such that I couldn't see how much of the moon was in shadows. It was something of a dull glow but there it was!
What was it doing there, out from behind the neighbor's house and tree there to the west? Dang, the sunlight now disappears south of that house and behind their big garage in the backyard. Well, the moon is now rising and setting at its furthest points to the north, on the east and west horizons. For me, it meant looking out that window several times over the next hour before it disappeared behind some low hills and basalt cliffs. (The eastern horizon is more in my "mountain viewing" direction ... well, and the northern, really hilly to the south ... sheesh!) Furthest north the moon will appear in our night skies until 2043! Time and Date explains the astronomy involved.
digitS'
www.timeanddate.com
. Those of you living there can think about what it means to see a mountain rising thousands of feet, only a few miles away in front of us, over our shoulders, off to the left, right ... .Envy comes with the limited path of the sun & moon above me. Sure, you have clouds and blue skies varying from sky blue to robin egg blue to turquoise to Pacific Ocean blue
. Of course, we can see those broad, broad skies if we climb the mountains. But, the light!For the first time this month, and after several nice sunbreaks yesterday, I saw the moon
in the western sky when I looked out a window at 3AM. Wow, it is nearly full. Actually, the clouds were such that I couldn't see how much of the moon was in shadows. It was something of a dull glow but there it was!What was it doing there, out from behind the neighbor's house and tree there to the west? Dang, the sunlight now disappears south of that house and behind their big garage in the backyard. Well, the moon is now rising and setting at its furthest points to the north, on the east and west horizons. For me, it meant looking out that window several times over the next hour before it disappeared behind some low hills and basalt cliffs. (The eastern horizon is more in my "mountain viewing" direction ... well, and the northern, really hilly to the south ... sheesh!) Furthest north the moon will appear in our night skies until 2043! Time and Date explains the astronomy involved
.digitS'
Look Out for December’s Extreme Full Moon
The Full Moon on December 15, 2024, will rise and set at its most extreme northerly points on the horizon.
www.timeanddate.com
flowerbug
Garden Master
Trail Ridge Road via Estes Park (or from the other end in Grand Lake) is a beautiful drive. i've done that several times. probably not willing to do it again, but who knows?
ducks4you
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@flowerbug, the entrance to Chicago Creek Road, which takes you up to Mt. Evans, is the I-70 west exit at Idaho Springs. This is ALL Denver suburban and easy to get to.
Estes Park Is Lovely, but it sits on the edge of the mountains.
Mt. Evans in one of the 14 ers, the list of Colorado Mountains topping 14,000 ft.
www.14ers.com
Estes Park Is Lovely, but it sits on the edge of the mountains.
Mt. Evans in one of the 14 ers, the list of Colorado Mountains topping 14,000 ft.
14ers.com | Home of the Colorado 14ers | Fourteeners
14ers.com is the premier resource for climbing Colorado's 14ers (Fourteeners) and other high peaks. Formed in 2000 by Colorado resident Bill Middlebrook.
flowerbug
Garden Master
[editors note: adjusted and added a date ]
there is nothing remotely like a mountain around here. it is flat, flat, flat...
our hills are measured in 10s of feet. from here to the nearest Great Lake (Huron via the Saginaw Bay) the elevation is only about 25-30ft above that water level and we lose more than half of that a half mile to the north of us).
since i'm looking i'll add notes: the water level of Lake Huron is also the water of Lake Michigan: "The International Joint Commission is an organization that helps to develop policies that relate to the Great Lakes region. Their guidelines suggest that in order to keep the lakes in an ideal state, the elevation of Lake Huron should remain within a range of 570 feet to 577 feet above sea level." and currently this level is a bit above that range at 578.41ft (as of Dec 14 2024 - a few years ago it was over 582ft and that was causing a lot of erosion along the shores) where i am at here is in that dark green region of this map[see below] which shows a cut across the Lower Peninsula (which at one time they considered putting in a canal, but it was never finished) coming from the Saginaw Bay and then across to Grand Rapids. the river about a half mile to the north of us has an elevation of 590ft.
at least when i lived up north there were hills and the canal and views of Lake Superior, but even up there the tallest "Mountain" was not very high above sea level.
often overgrown many hills don't provide much for views or even access - so make sure before you go that it is accessible and has a view.
]there is nothing remotely like a mountain around here. it is flat, flat, flat...
our hills are measured in 10s of feet. from here to the nearest Great Lake (Huron via the Saginaw Bay) the elevation is only about 25-30ft above that water level and we lose more than half of that a half mile to the north of us).since i'm looking i'll add notes: the water level of Lake Huron is also the water of Lake Michigan: "The International Joint Commission is an organization that helps to develop policies that relate to the Great Lakes region. Their guidelines suggest that in order to keep the lakes in an ideal state, the elevation of Lake Huron should remain within a range of 570 feet to 577 feet above sea level." and currently this level is a bit above that range at 578.41ft (as of Dec 14 2024 - a few years ago it was over 582ft and that was causing a lot of erosion along the shores) where i am at here is in that dark green region of this map[see below] which shows a cut across the Lower Peninsula (which at one time they considered putting in a canal, but it was never finished) coming from the Saginaw Bay and then across to Grand Rapids. the river about a half mile to the north of us has an elevation of 590ft.
at least when i lived up north there were hills and the canal and views of Lake Superior, but even up there the tallest "Mountain" was not very high above sea level.
often overgrown many hills don't provide much for views or even access - so make sure before you go that it is accessible and has a view.
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SPedigrees
Garden Addicted
But you have the lake, which is very close to being an ocean. I love mountains, but I also love the seashore and could be happy in a coastal area.
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digitS'
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I imagine that most everyone grows tired of static scenery. Of course, people are making the changes in an urban location.
Views of the ocean with the sky above often changes, hour by hour. Sunlight plays an important role in the rocky canyons and cliffs of somewhere like southern Utah with the shadows and colors.
I once lived in the rolling hills of the Palouse. It is a special joy to travel through them, the views change every minute or 2. Stay in one place day after day — boring!
I can understand how a person could feel "hemmed in" by mountains (ahem, ha! @flowerbug). I have never lived in a mountain canyon; I probably wouldn't like it. Although, I have spent pleasant moments along streams in forested canyons .
At several miles distance, seeing forests and cliffs in every direction lift my spirits. Right now, the sunlight shines on and is reflected by mountain snow
. I appreciate the evergreens but the naked deciduous trees add value in that i can see mountains quite clearly through the branches.
Steve
Views of the ocean with the sky above often changes, hour by hour. Sunlight plays an important role in the rocky canyons and cliffs of somewhere like southern Utah with the shadows and colors.
I once lived in the rolling hills of the Palouse. It is a special joy to travel through them, the views change every minute or 2. Stay in one place day after day — boring!
I can understand how a person could feel "hemmed in" by mountains (ahem, ha! @flowerbug
). I have never lived in a mountain canyon; I probably wouldn't like it. Although, I have spent pleasant moments along streams in forested canyons .At several miles distance, seeing forests and cliffs in every direction lift my spirits. Right now, the sunlight shines on and is reflected by mountain snow
. I appreciate the evergreens but the naked deciduous trees add value in that i can see mountains quite clearly through the branches. Steve
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flowerbug
Garden Master
when i lived in eastern TN for a while it was normal in the winter for there to be still enough air that the smoke from the coal burners would get trapped in the valley. the first winter living there i was wondering why my eyes were burning and my lungs were p.o.'d... then i figured it out.
even in this flatland little valley we can still get smoke from the neighbor's wood burners that will settle in on the still air nights. sometimes it has been enough to set off the smoke detector, but i've replaced that unit so i'm hoping this winter we don't have that sort of thing happening - burned toast on the other hand...
even in this flatland little valley we can still get smoke from the neighbor's wood burners that will settle in on the still air nights. sometimes it has been enough to set off the smoke detector, but i've replaced that unit so i'm hoping this winter we don't have that sort of thing happening - burned toast on the other hand...
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