Stones, rocks, boulders and erratics 2

Here are some very valuable rocks that you can find in abundance in Alaska. Gold!

More pics of Dawn's gardens.

Another.

Another..........

Here are rocks in her yard ready to be used.

Here are some nice rocks near her place with some gorgeous wildflowers. Anyone know what these might be?

And I know these aren't rocks, but I thought everyone would enjoy seeing these great shots of fireweed that Dawn took.

One more backlighted....

Awwww...Karen!..Absolutely gorgeous pictures!!!! I love the log cabin and all the rocks in her garden....Guess she doesn't need to go to a gym to work out! Just beautiful!

I think the blue flower might be a Campanella (sp?)....Nice Fireweed!

I have been to the Grand Canyon, Bryce Canyon, Petrified Forrest, etc...when we took a cross-country drive in 1966. My husband and I--my Mom and our 1 1/2 yr. old daughter. We drove for 3 weeks--stopping here and there for a day or two. The round-about goal was Seattle WA, my Husband's home town.

Thanks for putting this Post back "on the rocks".....:o)

Gita

Wow!!! That's all I can say. She has done a great job!!! Was that a porch on the second floor of the cabin?
great pics of the rockwork as well as the flowers.
jan

what was ronnie doing when your sister was playing with the rocks?

she did a great job - really like the different colored stone

Great shots, nuts.

Gita and Karen.......I think anything about Alaska is pertinent to this thread! After all, we'd have no rocks or erratics here if it weren't for glaciers, etc.! I, for one, always enjoy it when the threads get a bit "off the subject" and wander like good conversations do. No rigidity for me, please! We eventually get back there anyway, so why not digress a bit if there's something interesting to say or show? Karen, I just love what your sister, Dawn, has done with the natural resources surrounding her. What a neat cabin and her gardens and stone landscaping are awesome!

Gita - can you explain more about the Russian Cometary? That looks so interesting!

I Googled "The Eagle Lady" Quite a story thanks for sending me there.

Louise,
More erratic things from Alaska....

and another that takes my breath away because of its simple beauty....

From the cabin that was way back in the middle of nowhere.......

And from the harbor in Seward....

Waterfall over the rocks along the roadside also in Seward...created by glacier melting and runoff.

Ed...wish I could learn to spell.

This message was edited Aug 22, 2008 4:03 PM

From the plane flying into Anchorage. I had been flying for many hours, and thought surely I was landing on an alien planet.

that's it for now...y'all have a great weekend.

Awesome beauty, Sharon! Now, those are ROCKS! The simplicity of that one photo takes my breath away as well!

As I said previously, I don't know how you can get off the subject of rocks when you are talking about Alaska. I wish I had some digital photos from our visit to the National Park at Zion in Utah. Huge! Really huge!!

I agree, Louise...but then I have a passion for rocks, since I grew up with rock cliffs in my back yard there. You would think that WKY would have a few, but nothing like I would like to have right here where I could climb up them.

Fun to see all of them in the pictures...doesn't matter where they are. And I have never been to Utah. That sounds beautiful too.

Gita, no, Dawn definitely doesn't need a gym, though she does have to workout in her cabin in winter, when she is snowed in. It stays below zero for most of the winter, and not much sun. Not my cup of tea! She does get going when the temps aren't too bad doing cross country skiing. She has to break her own trails. She and Ronnie also do some trapping, and my sister makes teddy bears out of fur. She sells them for around $350. She also makes gloves, hats, boots, etc.

Jan, I don't know if that was a porch on the second floor. That cabin was not finished when I visited in 1994. The part below the 'porch' area has been added on. I would like to make a trip up there again. I think it would be cool to go up in winter sometime and maybe see the aurora borealis. I would love to experience what it's like there in the winter.

Victor, thanks for the compliments on the photos, though I can't take credit for them, as my sister took them.

Sharran, thanks for sharing your photos. Awsome aerial shot! Dawn, having the opportunity to fly with Ronnie all the time, takes lots of aerial shots.

Karen

Sharan,

That picture you took from the plane almost looks surreal! And that is some Glacier winding it's way between the mountains.

It almost looks like the "Harding Ice Field". Please Google that!--there is too much to explain here what it is. I won't try......But--we did fly over a small part of it in that 4-seater....
Even if that cost each of us $150 for the hour--it was the most memorable thing to see all that beauty from the air!

Here is ONE picture of the harding Ice Field. The rocky points you see sticking out of the ice are the TOPS!!!!! of the mountains.....!!! This Ice Field is the "Mother Lode" of all the Glaciers that slither down from it (maybe 30-35) and make their way over the centuries to the sea.....
I could dig out all my pamphlets on it and fill you in a bit more--but Googling is much easier.....

Wow, Gita, that is just amazing! Too bad all those glaciers are disappearing.

Karen

Here is a side of a mountain grouping with multi-small Glaciers descending from it and joining the BIG one that is in the valley--ALL destined for the same place----meltdown--rivers--and then out to the Sea.

Makes one seem SO insignificant when you see all this........

DonnieBrook,

I really don't know too much about the Russian Cemetery--except that they had all these little "houses" over the gravesites. I will have to ask my Sister to tell me more.....
It is NOT a "tourist stop"--but many do want to stop and get pictures. My Sister said that you used to be able to walk right up to them--but now the Cemetery is fenced off...

The Old Russian Settlements in AK are very reclusive and private. They live in far-out settlements and have their churches you can see from far away--with the "onion domes"....
They don't want people near them.
They reminded me a lot of the Menonites. The women all wear long dresses (you can see them in the stores)...very plain.....We did not take any pictures of them as that would have been very rude.

This is what the front "face" of a Glacier looks like.....This is the very end/front of it.....
All dirty ice..melting from beneath and sending rivulets of silt and gravel down as a stream....

That is my Sister and our Cousin's husband (from Latvia) standing there......He is a Biologist--and I think this really had an impact on him. How many places can you stand in front of a Glacier--and know that it is disintegrating????

And--here I am touching the blue ice if Ages.....Blue because of it's immense compaction...
This was a, sort of, "wash out cave" on the side of the Exit Glacier--just short of it's front end.

The ice was melting and dripping on my head--Well--it WAS Summer and warm.....

Gita

nuts, Sharran & Gita,
Great pictures!

Thanks, Dave, it was a great place.

We had guests recently who wanted to see the stone construction of our well that was built by our first settler in 1763. While my DH had the grinding stone lid off, I thought I'd try to get a shot of the stones that go down 18 feet. It is just amazing to me how they did this, and equally amazing how well it has stayed in tact for more than 240 years! It was hard to get a great shot, but you can see a bit of it at least. We now have a deep well and no longer use this one, but we used it until about 8 years ago.

Louise - that is so incredible!

Where is that kind of ingenuity today? Nothing built today will be here 240 years from now. We are a throw away society. How sad.

I completely agree, Nance. When we had to replace 3 of our walls this summer, we tried to keep it in perspective......as you said, the fact that this house was even standing after 240+ years, I guess we can't complain!!

Cool, Louise!

Hey, Victor! Pool party this weekend at your house????

Hey Harp. Today was the final day. The water was a bit chilly with these cool nights we've had. I am lowering the level now and will close it in a couple of days after I do a few repairs. Happy day for me!

Oh, Victor, to me it's always a sad day to see a pool close for the season, but then I don't have to take care of it. My sister, who lives with me, had one of those small pools, about 4' deep, with the filter, and she worked constantly to keep it clean, put in chemicals, etc. I told her I couldn't be bothered. I'd only have a pool if I could afford to hire someone else to take care of it for me. I just have too many other things to do, and I don't know if I would use a pool enough to make it worth having.

Karen

Now you know why I'm happy today!

louise, that is amazing!
I'm hoping we get a heat wave still and we are leaving it open for now. We are new at this.