My freshman year in High School in southeastern PA there was a series of blizzards for two weeks. (I think we ended up missing a total of 17 days of school.) There is a road near my house that is sunk into the ground and small slopes covered with trees on either side of it. The ice had collected on the branches to the point that they had bent over the road and then frozen together with the branches rom the other side. It created a giant ice tunnel that, when I walked through it at 4:30ish with the sun low in the sky, reflected all of the light. It had an eerie glow that extended down the tunnel for several hundred feet. Very National Geographic-esque.
My other one is in Saudi Arabia. At certain times of the year, the moon is larger in the sky. Sometimes it will hang around the horizon and do a good immitation of the Death Star This is amplified by the dust and sand particles in the air which can change the color of the moon to a bronze or a copperish hue.
Just a thought if anyone loves hiking its really pretty hiking back in Kananakis and Banff. I did it once and I got some gorgeous pictures of the scenery. Too bad I don’t have a scanner then I could put some up for you guys. They don’t do it total justice but they turned out real nice.
Too funny that Yosemitebabe and Blueslady posted side by side my two favorite places!!! Thanks for the pictures.
Last week I posted those two places to go in the “what are some cool things to do in the bay area??” thread, and I’ve been obsessing about them ever since. I’ve got to get away to see them.
For a few weeks in late September/early October, the most beautiful place on earth is probably a 25-mile stretch of M-119 highway between Harbor Springs and Cross Village, Michigan.
It’s a narrow, curvy road under a canopy of trees. During peak fall color season, you’ve never seen reds, yellows, oranges and purples so vivid. You are surrounded and enveloped in them. These bits of technicolor cascade around you like some cartoon rain from an unreal world.
Then, on occasion, you’ll emerge from this ‘tree tunnel’ and realize you are on a cliff overlooking a stunning view of Lake Michigan. Vast, fresh water as far as the eye can see. Perhaps a ship serenely making its way across the horizon.
If you’re at Lake Louise, from the Chateau take a walk up to the Lake Agnes tea house (a little lake higher up the mountain that is still half frozen even in the middle of summer). It takes a couple hours but is really worth it.
Driving in to Corpus Christi, Texas through the oil refineries looks pretty darn cool.
The drive into Watkins Glen. Coming down the hill in to the Glen, overlooking the lake. The crystal blue water. Mid to late October. God, it’s unbelievable.
But to me, it’s a toss-up between Watkinks Glen and the area around Old Forge, NY. My wife’s aunt and uncle have a cabin up there and it’s a place I would move in a heartbeat. I don’t care that they get 8 feet of snow at a time.
The Ring of Kerry, southwest of Ireland… you will know why the Irish believe in fairies. The cliffs behind the house my mom grew up in, northwest Donegal… you would know why they could fight to defend their rights to the land.
Yellowstone. After Labor Day. Lower Geyser Basin, Firehole Lake Drive, Grand Fountain Geyser. Magical. I love the names associated with Yellowstone: Hellroaring Creek, Exselsior Geyser, Beryl Spring, Grand Prismatic Spring, Yellowstone Caldera. And the Grand Tetons are just next door.
As beautiful as Yellowstone is, I want my ashes spread along Pacific Coast Highway, just south of San Simeon where the road somes close to the beach. I guess “once a California girl, always a California girl.”
The beach at Tulum, in Quintana Roo, Mexico. It’s perfect, that’s all I can say.
The Galilee in spring, when the wildflowers are blooming, and the hills are green, and there are lots of little streams running under the date trees, and sometimes you’ll see Crusader castles way up high in lookout spots.
When you cross under the Rainbow Tunnel going south from Marin early in the morning and the bay is silvery and everything is beautiful.
Jenny Lake in the Grand Tetons. Maybe it’s just me, I have great memories of a day spent on this lake, but if I recall correctly, it’s a truly beautiful spot.