Nature – Geeky Girl Engineer

Multnomah Falls

Posted on July 27, 2024 by geek

I visited Multnomah Falls today while on a cruise of the Snake and Columbia Rivers. I have seen this waterfall in I don’t know how many pictures because it is rather photogenic, especially with the foot bridge that crosses in front of the upper portion of it. The area around the falls are rather pretty and what most people generally think of with the northwest. It is a 0.2 mile hike up from the first viewing area to the footbridge and not too bad of a hike.

Classic photo of Multnomah Falls with the footbridge across it in frame

Pool at upper portion

Upper falls

Fireweed near falls

Short stream between upper and lower waterfalls

View from pedestrian bridge of creek fall terminates into and viewing platform with Columbia River in background

Seneca Rocks

Posted on June 25, 2022 by geek

As I continued my West Virginia road trip, after Spruce Knob, I made another stop at Seneca Rocks. They are a beautiful rock formation to see. I didn’t do any hiking, but I just wanted to stop and see them. As I love to see any cool geological formation.

Seneca Rocks

Spruce Knob

Posted on June 25, 2022 by geek

I’m taking a leisurely road trip through West Virginia. The main destination is Charleston as this trip will add the West Virginia State Capitol to my list of state capitols, as I am trying to see them all. Along the way though, I am just enjoying the drive and finding detours and stops to make along the way. The first detour in West Virginia was Spruce Knob, which is the peak of Spruce Mountain and the highest point in West Virginia. It is a lovely drive to get there, as long as you don’t mind curving mountain roads including the final part which is forestry road and not actually wide enough for two vehicles. At the top of the mountain, there is a short trail that you can take to give you several wonderful vantage points of the surrounding area. There is also an observation tower of which I don’t understand the point because it provides views of the surrounding trees and that is about it. However, the views from the trail are worth the detour from the road.

Green tree covered mountains and a blue sky

View from Spruce Knob

Jug Bay Wetlands Sanctuary

Posted on June 12, 2022 by geek

I went on a tour of Jug Bay Wetlands Sanctuary today, which sits along the Patuxent River on the east side. I have lived in the DC area for over a decade, and I am still discovering neat places to visit of which I just was not even aware exist. There are lovely forest and wetlands trails to see. Besides educational outreach, they also do scientific research on the wildlife and even archeology. It is a rather busy park really. On our tour, we also were able to go on a pontoon boat ride along the Patuxent River. There were so many red-winged blackbirds and ospreys along with lots of other birds that were difficult to see.

Jug Bay (in the morning while it was raining)

Spatterdock

Spatterdock flower

Jug Bay

Red-winged blackbird among the wetlands plants including cat-tails, wild ride, and spatterdock

Jug Bay Wetlands Sanctuary trail

Mendenhall Glacier Recreation Area

Posted on June 22, 2021 by geek

We spent the say at Mendenhall Glacier Recreation Area, which has lots of hiking trails to see the area. Some of the trails are to provide good views of the glacier, some are for hiking in the woods, and some are few viewing the salmon and the bears when the salmon are spawning. There salmon were not here yet, but we got really lucky and saw a momma bear and her two cubs. The visitor’s center has photos and a film that shows just how much the glacier has retreated. One of the trails we hiked on also has markers showing where the ice used to be, and the retreat of the ice is incredible. The area is lovely, and one thing I liked was how basically anything that was not moving was covered in lichen and moss.

View of the Mendenhall Glacier and Nugget Falls

Mendenhall Glacier

Nugget Falls

Steep Creek. Streams from mountain runoff are everywhere

Steep Creek flowing into glacial lake

Black bear and one of her cubs

Second black bear cub was originally sleeping in the tree before joining mom and sibling

Lichen and moss on a boulder

Lupines

Small waterfall on Trail of Time trail

Small creek

Ketchikan hiking

Posted on June 17, 2021 by geek

Ketchikan has lots of hiking trails, and many of them are close to the town. We went hiking on the Rainbird trail this afternoon. Ketchikan is located in a temperate rainforest, and the Rainbird trail goes through that temperate rainforest ecosystem right to the side of the town. The trail is located in an area that was last logged over 50 years ago, so it does not have the old growth trees, but it is pretty none the less. The northern trailhead warns that the trail is not maintained, and they are not kidding. We lost the trail a couple of times. The southern half of the trail is maintained and is much easier to hike.

Ferns and moss growing on a fallen tree stump

Moss and ferns growing near a stream

New tree growng on top of a fallen tree

Cedar trees and ferns everywhere

Trail through the forest

At the south end of the trail, there are spectacular lookouts

Moss growing on a fallen tree

Berries

Wild flowers

Shenandoah Flowers and Insects

Posted on July 26, 2020 by geek

Last weekend I went to Shenandoah National Park to take photos of Comet NEOWISE, which of course, can only be seen at night. During the day I did some hiking, driving, and took lots of photos. Across from the northern visitor’s center, there is a small field that while I was there was filled with wildflowers, especially milkweed, bee balm, and thistle, and consequently also flying insects visiting those wildflowers. I spent a great deal of time taking photos of the flowers and the insects visiting them, one of my favorite activities. I am not completely positive about the identity, so comments with any needed corrections are welcome.

Field of wildflowers across from visitor’s center

Sunset over the Shenandoah Valley from Skyline Drive

Caterpillar Conga Line

Posted on February 17, 2020 by geek

While on a hike today in Sistiana, Italy, I saw an entire convention of caterpillars. One group was marching in a conga line on top of a wooden fence. The other group was further down the same length of the wooden fence and were gathered together in a mass. I have never seen anything like it. If anyone can identify these caterpillars and state if this is normal behavior, I would be happy to learn about it.

Baja California

Posted on December 30, 2018 by geek

During the short amount of time I was able to enjoy my cruise in the Sea of Cortez, I was able to do a little hiking as well as view some beautiful scenery from the boat. The geology reminds me of Arizona. There are some beautiful red rocks and layered sedimentary rocks. There is also scary but interesting plants including cactuses.

Baja California

Red rocks

Desert landscape

Cactus

Red rocks

Acadia National Park

Posted on August 8, 2018 by geek

While visiting Maine, we took a whirlwind trip though Acadia National Park. The park is spectacular. There are wonderful views from Cadillac Mountain and along the coast. While we were there, a fog rolled in and provided mysterious and obscured views. Based on the views, I have come to the realization that Maine’s coast is just a series of rock outcroppings.