[Guyzer]

30 years ago my wife and I used to spend quite a bit of time in this area. We were a lot younger then and besides that her parents used to own a chunk of property right on the lake. They left their land raw and at the time there weren't very many cabins so it was a great place to get away from it all. Trout fishing was great so that was a bonus. In time we moved far, far away and hadn't been back in ions.

The weather in our area has been lousy for what seems like weeks, it's a long weekend and I was going a bit stir crazy so I suggested we go for a drive. I knew the weather was better on the other side of the mountains so off we went. Now despite my wife yippin' about me knowing where we were going the truth is I really didn't have a plan. The cats had enough food for two days, I had cash and cards in my jeans, the camera batteries were charged, the gas tank was full so off we went.

Well... we ended up at the lake... which btw is a 3 3/4 hr. drive one way from our house. The last 18 miles which is off the highway used to be very rough gravel road with a lot of cattle guards along the way. That's changed... today it's pavement which was a nice touch because on the way in all you do is climb, climb, climb.

We arrived at the lake and were absolutely amazed. There isn't a lot left that hasn't been built on. No public park type place so no place to park the car and look around. I suppose we could have stopped at one of the commercial camping resorts but I decided the place has been spoiled so we didn't bother.

On the way back out I did stop and fire off a few shots. Here are some of them................

Out of nowhere spits a waterfall....



At the base of the valley....



And the climb begins...



and goes on.........



... a better view........



We're not done climbing yet..........



This scene can be viewed off Hwy.16 a few miles before the lake road turnoff. I should have taken a panorama sut for some stupid reason it never crossed my mind. If you can imagine the next two shots stitched you'll get the idea. That line across the ridge is NOT a road btw. It's some sort of geological formation of some type.






By the time we arrived home last night we were gone about 10 hours and put on 692km's which is 432 miles. A great way to spend a boring Sunday.

Thanks for lookin'..............

[wowzer]

Nice story Guyzer.

this one is my favorite...

polarizer on the lens or after... or possibly none...

[poochee]

Nice shots folks.

[Littlefield]

Guy, nice find on the waterfall. Looks like y'all had a great day.

[Guyzer]

Originally Posted by wowzer

Nice story Guyzer.

this one is my favorite...

polarizer on the lens or after... or possibly none...

I like that one the best as well. I recently bought a polarizer for for both my lens and have been experimenting with them as much as I could which hasn't been often because of the weather. In this case it was on in all the shots. I don't like how the white clouds have been blown out and have to work on taming that. I also like how it makes some of the colors pop out but at times that's a tad overdone as well and it almost makes them look like they've been done using HDR. I'll keep practicing and in time I'll get it.

[Guyzer]

Originally Posted by Littlefield

Guy, nice find on the waterfall. Looks like y'all had a great day.

We did have a nice day. The weather here was about 12C = 53F, very overcast and dreary and once we got about 100 miles from home it cleared right up. At the top of that drive the temp was 28C = 82F and the air was as dry as a popcorn fart.

The waterfall was a nice addition but I'm still partial to the greenery. Unfortunately one really has to be going up that road to really appreciate the view. Even though I live in the mountains I never get tired of a good valley.

[yes_puleeze]

nice shots great clouds

[Cheeseball81]

Love the pics