Thursday, June 28, 2007

Uinta National Forest ...

On Monday 18 Andi took us up to the Uinta National Forest.
In the evening we were invited to Dale Nish's home to see his magnificent collection of turnings.

You can also link to a blog post by Andi Wolfe of the pics that she took on the same day


Birding up Provo Canyon


















Folds!













A deer! (White tailed deer I believe)


















White water - lots of it in the NW USA!














More


















More birding


















Bridal Veil Falls, Provo Canyon


















Old cableway



















The tree line - looks pretty bleak up there

















Trout in the streams

My grandparents would have 'done their nut'

It reminded me very strongly of trout fishing up at Inyanga in my youth








US Fish and Wildlife Information 'Center' at Uinta












Gigi and Andi birding


















Swallows nesting under the bridge













Strawberry Reservoir in the distance













Beaver dam - first time I've seen one in real life!













Slide where the beaver's move in and out of the water.

I'm more used to larger 'slides' made by hippos in Africa!









The bluebird of happiness!













These are some or other very rare blue birds for which the Fish and Wildlife Service staff have erected nesting boxes - which are clearly welcomed by the birds










A variety of habitats which were quite new to us













The grey sagebrush looked very similar to our Renosterbos in the Western Cape












Birding ...


















at Strawberry reservoir













Fantastic RV (recreational vehicle) camp sites

A pity that these carefree environments are now almost absent from South Africa as crime has become so prevalent here









A Prairie dog - cute

We came to know these well as they occurred widely in the NW states















Swallows collecting mud in the marina for their nests












Whew, the 'bakkies' in the states are big!













These types of vehicles reminded me of South African 'bakkies' of 30 years ago.

The Americans have yet to realize, despite increasing fuel prices, that the time of such huge vehicles is past - long past








They still seem to be living in a fools paradise













Carbon emissions!!!

Having seen the sheer number and size of vehicles that the Americans drive I've suddenly become far less critical of the South African vehicle situation








But here is a good idea that South Africa may emulate to reduce road carnage

In general American road manners are WAY better than found here in SA

They all drive at the same speed (110kph on freeways) and I only noticed one idiot driver in the entire three weeks we were there





Sundance ski resort on the Alpine Loop above Provo - Robert Redford's I believe












A couple of views from the loop



























Snow on the mountains in the background













More snow

Beautiful scenery















Trees flattened by avalanche


















Amazing how much snow there was still in mid-summer


















Gigi and Andi enjoying the views













Lots of people of all ages on Harleys enjoying the fantastic summer weather and the beautiful scenery

















The Aspen trees up on the loop road absolutely blew me away

I couldn't stop taking pics

But luckily for you I'm not going to blog them all








But seriously beautiful nevertheless


















More 'Harleys'

Very cool

All the Harley riders and drivers we came across in the States are so laid back and well behaved it's unbelievable

Nothing like the aggressive morons that drive on the roads here in South Africa










A grouse chick that got separated from its ma!

Andi and I had great fun photographing the miserable chick
















Aspen leaves













Beautiful beautiful Aspens


















Birding in the Aspens



















Gigi and Andi

















Gigi saw her first humming bird near here














And when we returned to Provo and went off to register at the symposium venue we were invited to Dale Nish's home

Stuart Mortimer, Andi Wolfe and Mark Baker the editor of Woodturning













Dale Nish in his study


















Andi looking at part of Dale's collection


















Andi Wolfe, Dale Nish and Stuart Mortimer



















Miniatures by Paul Thode

You can see more pics of this visit to Dale's home on Andi's blog