Last year, my Canon G12 died, so I decided to make a gallery of a few of my favorite images that came from that camera. This is my first gallery post.
Just click on one of the small pictures to launch a carousel of higher resolution images. (If you set your browser to full screen (press F11 in Chrome and Firefox), the images should display even larger).
May God bless you.
It’s like in the great stories, Mr. Frodo. The ones that really mattered. Full of darkness and danger, they were. And sometimes you didn’t want to know the end. Because how could the end be happy? How could the world go back to the way it was when so much bad had happened? But in the end, it’s only a passing thing, this shadow. Even darkness must pass. A new day will come. And when the sun shines it will shine out the clearer. Those were the stories that stayed with you. That meant something, even if you were too small to understand why. But I think, Mr. Frodo, I do understand. I know now. Folk in those stories had lots of chances of turning back, only they didn’t. They kept going. Because they were holding on to something.
— Samwise Gamgee
The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers,
(movie version).
Our lives can only have meaning if we are a part of something larger than ourselves. Jesus of Nazareth said, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you had known me, you would have known my Father also. From now on you do know him and have seen him.” (John 14:6-7, ESV).
The pictures are of the same scene along the Bierstadt Lake trail in the Colorado Rocky Mountains.
The mountains are calling and I must go, and I will work on while I can, studying incessantly.
— John Muir.
John Muir was one of the founding fathers of our national and state park systems. The mountains called him, and he worked incessantly so that when the mountains called us, we could enjoy them.
God’s blessings.
“From your lofty abode you water the mountains; the earth is satisfied with the fruit of your work…”
All the quotes are from Psalm 104, ESV.
“The trees of the Lord are watered abundantly,
the cedars of Lebanon that he planted…”
“The high mountains are for the wild goats;
the rocks are a refuge for the rock badgers…”
“O Lord, how manifold are your works! In wisdom have you made them all…”
“Bless the Lord, O my soul!
Praise the Lord!”
The pictures in this post were taken on the Ypsilon Lawn Lake Trail in the Rocky Mountains, at an elevation of about 9,200 feet.
The Scriptures are from Psalm 104 verses: 13, 16, 18, 24, & 35, ESV.
The first post on this blog appeared seven years ago in May 2008 A.D. Happy anniversary Light from Light.
In the topmost picture please notice the mountains behind the trees.
The photos in this post are from Bierstadt Lake in the Rocky Mountains at about 9465 feet elevation.
An anniversary is always a time for reflection.
“He leads me beside still waters.
He restores my soul.” (Psalm 23:2, ESV).
“Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life,
and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever.” (Psalm 23:6, ESV).
God’s blessings to all the readers. Thank you.
There hasn’t been much snow around here this Winter, so in the absence of snowy pictures, I thought I’d post a picture from last Autumn.
The above picture is of the Continental Divide in the Rocky Mountains. The water is Mills Lake, and the mountain between the trees is probably Pagoda Mountain (13,497 ft). I was at an estimated elevation of about 10,000 feet above sea level when I took the picture.
A Song of Ascents:
I lift up my eyes to the hills.
From where does my help come?
My help comes from the Lord,
who made heaven and earth.The Lord will keep you from all evil;
he will keep your life.
The Lord will keep
your going out and your coming in
from this time forth and forevermore.
— Psalm 121:1-2, 7-8, ESV.
The above picture is of the stream leading into Mills Lake.
May God bless you.
Spotty rain clouds were sailing over the peaks while we hiked over the mountains on the Cub Lake trail in Rocky Mountain National Park. Taking photos was a challenge because the sun would come out, then hide behind a cloud, then come out again, and on and on. Often, I saw a shot, took my camera out, turned it on, lined it up, got focus, and whoosh another cloud. This happened repeatedly.
Clouds have their own beauty, and spotty clouds scraping the mountain peaks can be quite breathtaking especially when they cause the sunlight to fall in beams or crepuscular rays. Nonetheless, a cloudy diffused light often doesn’t make the best photograph. I am posting the following two photographs taken only moments apart to demonstrate the difference sunlight can make.
In this top photo, the sun is blocked and diffused by clouds.
In the photo below, the sun is shining through the clouds.
These two pictures were taken almost at the same time and from almost the same spot. As the wisdom of Scripture says, “Light is sweet, and it is pleasant for the eyes to see the sun.” (Ecclesiastes 11:7, ESV).
As a final note, there was a big forest fire around Cub Lake the year prior to this hike. Some careless campers let a fire get out of control, and it burned this entire area. If the tree roots holding the rock and soil in place on the mountain slope rot away before new trees take their place, there could be landslides, and this would become a different place. So far at least as of last Autumn, the trees were burned and dead, but the wood and roots were still solid and strong.
Let us walk in the light, and let us always enjoy God’s blessings while we have them.
The photographs in this post were taken on the Fern Lake Trail in Rocky Mountain National Park, Colorado; September 24, 2012 A.D.
The pictures are displayed in the order they were taken.
Boulders and colorful aspen frame the trail.
One can’t hike the Fern Lake Trail without taking a picture of a fern.
When hiking, it is good to see the small picture as well as the large. By God’s decree, there is beauty everywhere!
The relatively flat trail follows a meandering stream.
The picture above is one of my favorite pictures from the hike.
The trail passes through these rocks.
The yellow orange spots on the pine tree trunk on the right are a clear sign of a pine beetle infestation. The pine beetles are destroying pine forests throughout much of the western United States.
Fall color adorns the Fern Lake Trail.
The trail climbs higher.
The mountain stream reflects skylight.
Actually, it’s called the Big Thompson River, and probably has a lot more water in the Springtime.
Above, a highlight of the trail is a waterfall and whirling waters known as “The Pool.”
The trail ascends up onto the side of the mountains.
The path climbs up through the sun dappled forest.
Fern Falls was the round trip point of the journey. There wasn’t enough time to get to Fern Lake. Hikers on the way back reported that there were two moose up at Fern Lake. Maybe we will see them next year.
The majestic pine forest was the highest part of this hike. Out of concern for rain and darkness and safety, it was time to hoof it back to the trail head.
Back on relatively flat ground, the sun came out, and allowed some time for a few pictures.
Below, the camera looks back to say good bye to Autumn color on the Fern Lake Trail.
The thunder clouds below were cracking with thunder and flashing with lightning. Soon after leaving the trail head, a torrential downpour began high up in the mountains.
At lower elevations, there was a light rain.
A few weeks after these pictures were taken, this area around the Fern Lake Trail and The Pool was burned in a forest fire. The fire burned about 700 acres. As of this writing, the fire is contained, but still smouldering with some open flame. (National Park Service October 2012 news releases).
We should be good stewards of all that God has made, and we should enjoy what He has given us while we have it.
Take nothing for granted.
