Foto Friday Fun 257

This week’s Foto Friday Fun features images chosen by nine readers including Grand Canyon, the Colorado Plateau, and me as a bride.

Rita chose #7999.  I’ve been involved with the Air program at the North Rim for many seasons and met some really fine artists.  Thankfully some of them like Stewart live near enough to visit occasionally.  Stewart is not just a jeweler, his inspiration comes from nature which he photographs and incorporates with the finished jewelry.

Diane and Nigel chose #203, one in a two image panorama.  From my first rim to rim hike across Grand Canyon in 2008 this view down the Bright Angel Trail as I stopped frequently to catch my breath.  Wasn’t sure I wanted to ever do this challenging hike again, but I did and it got a little easier every time.

Sue chose #1980, “the year St Helens blew, and the day I got married in Moscow Idaho, in the dark at 2pm during the ash fall.”  Funny thing is I paid no attention to that eruption in 1980 while planning my wedding in Illinois.  Then while going to college at WWU 12 years later I began my career as a Park Ranger at Mount St Helens.

Yogi chose #870.  The Colorado River seems to disappear through rock it’s carved over eons of time.  This downriver view is near Page, Arizona where the upriver view is of the Glen Canyon Dam.

Sherry and David chose #746, a Wolf spider seen in the little house I lived in Yarnell back in 2009.  Policy was photograph, capture and release if possible.

Pam and John chose #3020.  They recently visited Fonts Point in Anza-Borrego Desert State Park, California.  I only got here because Lynda and Howard drove the wash there which my rig wouldn’t have done.  These craggy badlands were spectacular at last light and sunset.

Jeff chose #363, “the distance to Sloan Park the spring home of the Cubs, and the only Cactus League park left on my ‘bucket list’”.  Back in 2008, three days after the opening of the North Rim and my first season at Grand Canyon part of spring training still included exploring and learning about the diverse environments.  So I stopped to walk around Greenland Lake which is actually a sinkhole but called a lake around this dry and arid landscape.  Some years it has to water at all.

Donna chose #937, one of five photos in a panorama.  This dinosaur mural is displayed in the tiny but informative Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument visitor center in Bigwater, Utah.  Sadly this national monument may be reduced in size with untold fossils destroyed in the name of “resource extraction”.  Like we need fossil fuels more than fossils?

Sallie and Bill chose #3917, “last of our zip code here.”  Toward the last of the day’s light a neighbor’s dog barking set this coyote running off into the Anza-Borrego desert.  They sure blend in well with the landscape.  Do you see it?

Because I haven’t been taking many photos lately the choice for my favorite came down to a recent sunset in Yarnell.

Thank you for playing along with Foto Friday Fun which allows me to share these photographs and memories.  Please join in next week by leaving a number between 1 and 9999 in your comment below.

Do you have a favorite this week?