Happy New Year, Everyone!

Reflections on New Year, Seaport Village, San Diego

Just a simple post to greet the world and everyone a Happy New Year. May 2010 be filled with peace, love, joy and happiness. Hope everyone have a wonderful start for 2010.

Though the picture below is not very recent, this was taken summer of this year, but I am sharing this with you for the peacefulness this picture brings.

Lassen Peak Reflected on Manzanita Lake, Lassen Volcanic National Park, CA

Toadstool Trail, Paria Rimrock Hoodoos, UT

Betchai and the Toadstool :)

In  my previous post at K Ka-Boom at Kelso Sand Dunes, I mentioned that nature has its special way of bringing the child in us. The experience is the same at Toadstool Trail. Seeing and being up close with the toadstool hoodoos tickled the child in us and we could not help it but just simply enjoy what the hoodoos have to offer. There is always something magical with the hoodoos, it was only this year's spring when the hoodoos haunted us back to Bryce Canyon National Park to enjoy the hoodoos wonderland. Never would have I thought that in the same year I would have fun with the hoodoos again.

Toadstool Trail is west of Glen Canyon Dam, between mile marker 19 and 20 in Utah near the Arizona border. The start of the trail is on a sandy wash, however, after a while, the soil becomes firmer and easier to walk on. The hike to the hoodoo garden is short and easy and can be enjoyed by all members of family. It is about 1.5 miles round trip, maybe a little bit more if you explore further the hoodoo garden. There are some parts of the trail that requires a little bit of scrambling, but then, it is a fun type of scrambling, not really difficult. In less than a mile, as you ascend a small hill, you will get your first glimpse of the toadstool hoodoos.

White Hoodoo

The above hoodoo is one of the bigger hoodoos that you will first see as you descend and ascend to the toadstool garden. Hoodoos are pillars of rock left by erosion, and they take in so many shapes and forms, that depending on one's imagination, can be any character.

Hoodoo Garden

It is hard for me to identify the characters I saw in the rock formations above, but somehow, the white one above reminds me of a happy hen, sometimes, a happy poodle, and sometimes, I just say, a happy hoodoo. :)

The more popular hoodoos in the area are that of the toadstools, which are mushroom shaped rocks.

Me in the midst of Red Toadstools

Red Toadstools and Hikers Below

The above toadstool hoodoo is probably the most photographed hoodoo in the park. The toadstool picture that you will see at the trail head is this red toadstool. However, there are so many hoodoos in this garden, looking like mushrooms, of different shapes. Perhaps our favorite find is this mushroom hoodoo,

Toadstool Hoodoo by betchai

You may have seen this hoodoo before in my post summarizing our thanksgiving desert trip. However, this one is probably our most photographed toadstool. The above picture was taken by me, and the picture below was taken by my husband.

Toadstool Hoodoo by Khai

How big is this toadstool hoodoo? The picture below shows my cousin picturing our most photographed toadstool hoodoo.

My Cousin Picturing one of the Toadstools

And here are some pictures from the hoodoo garden in the Toadstool trail.

Hoodoo Garden

When the Sun is Out, the Shadows Will Play

( What Do you see?)

I love these hoodoos, when I first saw them, I happily told my husband, "Look, ducks!" But then, my husband told me, "no, it look like poodle to me", and when I asked my cousin if she agrees with what I saw, she said, "they are more like cute little doggies for me". Oh well, I still call them my "pretty ducks!" :)

Hurry, Hurry, before it gets dark

( my husband and my cousin hurrying to get back to trail head before it gets totally dark, whereas, I can't stop still from taking picture )

One more last look at the hoodoos before I too ran before darkness invades the trail

We were not the last who got in the hoodoo garden, but definitely, we were the last to leave :) Haha! It is hard to let go of the child in us sometimes when we are enjoying so much the artistry of nature that no man can equal.

Holiday Greetings!!!! And the Answers to My Confusing Quiz :)

Christmas Greeting 2009

Sending everyone some warmth from our side of the globe. When most of the country perhaps are being hammered by winter storm, we are enjoying a beautiful "golden" Christmas here in San Diego. The picture above was taken last night, it may be a typical "San Diego" evening, but it is special for me since I took it at Christmas eve. I was actually thinking of making some Christmas greeting picture. However, while I was looking into my winter wonderland pictures, they just did not inspire me to make them my greeting picture. Somehow, it felt cold, and I wanted to make a warm greeting with a typical San Diego touch. Though I have lots of sunset pictures by the sea, but then, I wanted one that is the most recent, so, off to the ocean we went to take a most recent for "Christmas greeting" sunset picture. The one above was the picture I finally settled to make a Christmas greeting among 163 pictures I took :) Here are some more pictures from yesterday.

La Jolla Cove

The picture above is looking North East from the La Jolla Cove. Part of the cliffs that you see at the other side is Torrey Pines State Reserve, you probably see or hear often about Torrey Pines from me in this site. Torrey Pines is to Betchai as probably Cerok Tokun is to Rainfield :) . However, I decided to just simply stroll at La Jolla yesterday because of its proximity to REI since we needed to buy some items from them. Resting on the rocks that you can see below are sea lions, they kept on barking as if singing some "Christmas" song. Winter is pupping season, so you can see here a mom and pup pair, sweet!

Sea Lions

How I wish I know some clip-art, so that I could make one cool Christmas greeting by the ocean, Santa is probably riding a kayak, with the sea lions probably navigating Santa around. However, that is one aspect that I still have to learn. Ratty should watch out if I get to learn how to do that, and my sea lions can become reindeers too like his cute squirrels! Check out Ratty's Christmas post, the Christmas greeting he made with the squirrels as reindeers is really cute!

Walking west from La Jolla Cove is the Children's Pool. If la Jolla cove is to sea lions, the Children's Pool is to harbor seals.

Harbor Seals Resting on shore @ Children's Pool

I probably have written a lot also about harbor seals and sea lions, you can check out my mother's day's post about A Mother Seal's Love here. This is where I shot the Christmas greeting picture I made in the first picture above, only that I was shooting at the opposite direction of these harbor seals. The opposite side of the picture above is looking West, where the sun sets. Whereas, that picture above with the harbor seals is looking East. Here are some more pictures from the vantage point where I shot the harbor seals and the Christmas greeting pictures above.

Christmas Eve Sunset 2009, La Jolla

this was the other greeting card I made

( the 2 rocks you see above are the same 2 rocks in the Christmas Eve 2009 picture, just shot at different angle )

 this shot is almost similar to the Christmas greeting picture I chose above, just wider angle

and this is the beach ( or little cove) at the other side of the rock in the above picture

If it is probably summer, there would be a lot of people in this beach. Though there were still some who gets into the water without wet suits, but I believe they are visiting tourists. For San Diegans, 50s F ( or in the 10s C ) is way too cold to get into the water! I only take a swim and boogie board when it is late summer.

My many thanks to those who joined my kind of fun in my last post and guessed for the answers. I really appreciate your comments and your answers. Especially hearing from Icy, Ratty, Rainfield , Melissa and Rochelle, who I believe had been following since this site started :) But, it is not their fault if they did not get all four correct answers, after all, I posted confusing pictures. The microclimate weather in California makes it even more confusing, when the beaches don't get snow and shows warmth, the mountains and the higher elevation desert are totally different! This is where you probably can enjoy both snowkiing and snowshoeing in the mountain slopes and surfing at the beach in one day.

Here are the answers:

Picture A - @ North Lake, Bishop, California. Picture taken November 25, FALL

Ratty, Rainfield, Rochelle, Liss and AVCr8teur got this one correct. Though the lake is already frozen, but there is too little snow yet on the slopes, at this time of the year, the place must have several feet of snow already.

Picture B. @ Big Sur, Califirnia. Picture taken April 7th, SPRING.

At first, only Rochelle guessed this right, but then, she changed her answer from spring to summer, so now, no one got this correct :) I actually purposely chose this one to camouflage as the summer picture, like what Karen said, because of the fog :) But then, the last summer I was in this place, I did not see any at all, because of the very thick fog, it was like I was walking up in heaven, all clouds! all white stuff!

Picture C. @ Lassen Volcanic National Park, CA. Picture taken June 22, summer!

No one got this correct. Though this looks like a winter picture, but then, the clue here is the trail is open for hiking :) Starting November, or sometimes October, the trail here closes for hiking but is open for snowshoers, and opens again middle or late of June, or sometimes, even July, when the trail can at least be already defined. The place gets very thick snow accumulation in the winter ( several hundreds inches ) that even in the summer where the temperature has already warmed up, there are still a lot of snow left covering the slopes. Though this picture looks cold, but I believe, it was colder last night when I took the sunset pictures without the snow :)

Picture D. @ Toothrock, Poway, San Diego County. picture taken March 7, Winter!

Again, no one got this correct! But a lot were close enough, since March 7 is so close to March 21st, the official start of spring. This probably is really the most deceiving picture of all the pictures above! Along the coast, and the other lower elevation places in California, spring comes early, the hillsides especially along the Southern California coast explodes already starting February! Whereas at the higher elevation, or the mountain sides, the wildflowers peak usually July or even August, which is summer. But then, for me, I call this already, SPRING, if not for the allergies it brings, this could be my favorite time of the year, when life abounds everywhere! Probably the best time to observe wildlife, not only wildflowers.

Again, many thanks everyone for joining the fun and guessing with me :)

We'll be off to LA today, and then, we'll be up in the mountains tomorrow.

'Tis The Season To Be Jolly.....Tra La la la...la..la..la

I felt like having fun right now, after all, this is the season to be jolly, tra lalala...lalala. Though this is not April Fool's Day, but I feel like having a confusing game. But maybe, what I have in mind is not really that confusing, after all, if you have followed my blog well enough, maybe, you will remember very well when these pictures were taken. But then, I am not up to date with my postings, so I know these can still be pretty confusing even if you may have followed this blog for some time already.
This would be like a matching type game, where you will match the 4 pictures with the 4 seasons, whether the picture was taken at spring, summer, winter, or fall.
Picture A - North Lake, Bishop Creek Canyon, California

lake was frozen, and the snow frosted rocky slopes of the Sierras were reflected on the clear ice of the lake

Picture B - Big Sur, California

waves were pounding the shore, the fogs were disappearing to greet a sunny sky!

Picture C - Lassen Volcanic National Park, California

where is the afternoon sun?

Picture D - Tooth Rock, Poway, San Diego County, CA

orange California poppies and blue canterbury bells blend well with the blue sky

How well do you think will you fare in this matching game? Are you very confident with your answers? Which picture do you think is the most revealing and why?

Anyway, I would want to greet you all a Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays, may you all have a blessed and joyful celebration with your family.

K Ka-Boom at Kelso Sand Dunes

Nature has its special way of always bringing out the child in us. There is just so much to experience in our natural world. On our way home from Utah during our last thanksgiving trip, my husband asked if there is another sand dune we will pass along the way that we have not seen yet. Hmmm, sand dunes again? There is just something with the sand that draws us into it, it may be the inspiring artistical ripples wonderfully carved by the wind, or it may be the complexity of how it was formed, or it may just simply be enjoying the different gifts and the many faces of our wonderful world.

Me @ Kelso Dunes, Mojave National Preserve, California

Leaving at about 8:00 am in Utah, we were supposed to get home at San Diego by 2:00 pm. It seems we would have enough time if we stop over another park along the way. After passing Las Vegas and entering the NV-CA border, I searched our GPS for directions to Mojave National Preserve. Thankfully, the GPS did not have a hard time locating the preserve, and as soon as we entered the park, we searched again our GPS for directions to Kelso Dunes.

Kelso Sand Dunes from Afar and Joshua Trees, Mojave National Preserve, California

This turned out to be a wonderful and joyful detour. On our way to Kelso Sand Dunes, we passed by a Joshua tree forest, mixed with cholla cactus, and from afar, we could see the sand dunes and the excitement was growing as we were getting closer and closer to the sand dune's trailhead.

Kelso Dunes ( from the base )

Kelso Sand Dunes is about 600+ ft in height, the 3rd tallest sand dune in US. The hike to the peak of the dune was about 1.5+ mile. From the trailhead, we followed a well maintained trail through desert scrub, and on reaching the base of the dune, anyone is free to make his own trail and go in any direction to the top. At the base of the dune, we saw a family on their way back to the trailhead, but the kids were showing signs of not having enough fun since they still keep on sliding down and rolling whenever they see a slope :)

Kids Not Having Enough Fun with the Sand, Still Sliding even at the base of the dune :)

On the way up was a little bit of struggle, it was one step up, 1/2 step down! We get buried in the sand, and the loose sand slides us back. Can be frustrating when one would think of "but I have to go up the top faster"! But can be fun and enjoying when one focuses on the beauty around while climbing up the dune.

Kelso Sand Dunes from the base

Lady With Umbrella at Kelso Dunes

Family Preparing to Sled Down the Sand Dune

At the top, the view around was amazing. It is different and not something we often see, though looks barren and devoid of vegetation, but kind of stretches our imagination if we are still in the same planet.

Vast Field from the top of Kelso Dunes

However, if going up the dune was a little bit of a struggle,

going down is simply FUN and AMAZING.

Going Down the Dune

Hearing the Sound of Music Sliding down the Sand

Coming down straight from the face of the dune, the sand generates a rumble that can be heard, the deeper we sink into the sand and the longer we slide, the louder is the ka-boom sound! It was my first time to hear a "ka-boom, ka-boom, ka-boom" sound. The sands groaned and rumbled in our every step. And if we would slide together, the sound waves generated became louder and followed a rhythm, like music that BOOMS!

Our Booming Footprints on the Sand

Going down, the child in me was awakened, and there was that desire to go back up again and slide down again! No wonder why the kids I saw close to the trailhead were showing signs of not having enough sand and was still sliding and rolling down despite they were already at the base. No wonder why some family and kids would go up and down, up and down, because of the simple joy of hearing a different kind of music!

Family Having Fun Up and Down the Sand

Going Back Up After Going Down

The Only Way to Hear the Sound Again is to Go Back Up and Slide Down Again

The Joy of Climbing

Not all desert sand dunes produce a booming sound. There are not that many sand dunes in the world that are reported to produce a BOOMing sound. For more about the singing sand dunes, their occurence and the science behind, please visit the site "The Singing Sand Dunes".

Ice

It's a wonderful Friday again, and it's time for our Blogging for Fun Friday, where the topic is A to Z challenge. Though I don't get to join each week because of my schedule, but whenever I get the chance, I love to join. This week is for letter I, and since we just came back from our desert trip last week, I thought of posting something from our trip. While on our way to Kanab, Utah, from Zion National Park, we saw a water sprinkler where the wheels no longer turn because it was deep in ice already.

Iced Water Sprinkler in the Desert

Iced Water Sprinkler in the Desert (2 )

Probably, without the ice in the picture, this place would look warm because of the blue sky, the warm red rocky hills and the almost barren terrain. This picture was taken early morning where the air temperature was 22 degree Fahrenheit ( -5.6 degree Celsius ). It's no wonder why the water freezes as soon as it came out from the sprinkler.
And here is a picture of the road we took inside North Rim of Grand Canyon National Park.