Bluff Spring Journal
December 2011
Spent a few hours climbing back through the woods to Buzzard's Roost Arch on a reconnaissance run. My goal is to photograph the arch at sunrise. And I'm glad I decided to do this practice run. It's just about an hour hike into the arch but getting down to the arch and then back up underneath the arch takes some doing. Plus, I had the GPS coordinates from a web page which were totally wrong. Even my GPS was smart enough to not let me put the coordinates in that were listed on the website. So... I walked around a little and finally found the arch. I'd seen an aerial view and it didn't take me too long to find the arch. By the way, this arch is also called Rainbow Arch. It is 87 feet wide. And, no I didn't measure it but I did find that information in several places.
Buzzard (Rainbow) Arch
This is just a artifact photograph of the arch for reference. The real photo will taken off to the right of this position. The arch is almost due east west.
The sun only rises under the arch during a few days in December. I hope to be there without any clouds!
On my way out of from the arch I ran across this collection of leaves.
We want to wish everyone a Merry Christmas. This year the dogs got in on the act.
Merry Christmas
Dec. 29
The family took some much anticipated time off for some hiking and general laying around. The dogs especially enjoyed the elk as we took our usual tour through the Boxley Valley. The sun was setting just as we approached the Old Mill Pond and I was able to catch some reflections in this old favorite pond.
Old Mill Pond
Dec 30 Rise and Shine
The cabin was on fire with the sunrise coming through the windows. Luckily my precious bride noticed the clouds on the horizon and commented that she thought it was going to be a pretty sunrise. I always pay attention when she comments and set up my camera to capture the scene.
Cabin Sunrise
After this gorgeous sunrise, a muffin and some delicious coffee the only thing to do is to go back to bed for a snooze. Perfect choice.
After a nap we packed up the corgis and headed out for some hiking. They had a great time and even agreed to pose with us for a family photo.
Family Photo
As if the day couldn't get any better my lovely bride grilled some of the most delicious steaks possible. We had lunch on the deck with the sun warming us and the corgis hoping we'd drop something. Quite a day for the end of December.