Foto Friday Fun 309–every picture has a story

This week’s Foto Friday Fun features images chosen by 14 readers including hiking in South Africa’s Drakensburg Mountains, various animals including a famous bear, and landscapes above and below ground.

Jo chose #2015.  If not for her, I’d never have seen this view of the Eye of the Needle or hiked in the Drakensburg Mountains guided by her son John.  These amazing mountains are in her back yard in South Africa.

I chose the 15 from above.  While attending Western Washington University in Bellingham during the 1990s I explored the area and discovered many beautiful natural places to get my nature fix.  Not far north of town I found this view of Lummi Peninsula across the bay, land of the Native American Coast Salish Lummi Nation.

Tredeuce chose #1854, “The birth year of Oscar Fingal O’Flahertie Wills Wilde.  Irish poet/playwright.”  The beauty of the Drakensburg Mountains could have turned me into a poet had I taken more time.  Hiked in one day and out the next on the same hike as the first image.  A sun lizard about to hop during our Breakfast Creek stop.

54 from the above number.  Lemondrop, an albino ferret and non-native California species illegal to own as pets was confiscated and saved from euthanasia when brought to the California Living Museum where I volunteered in 1989 as an animal keeper.  We couldn’t display her at this educational facility for the same reason so, she became the keeper’s pet.  Exceedingly friendly and curious of nature.

Steve chose #9217, one of two in a panorama of the iconic Wave that is difficult to obtain a permit to hike to.

Lisa chose #121.  The ceiling of the Beehive Room along the tour route in Oregon Caves.  I worked as a Ranger there for five summer seasons.

I chose the 21 from above.  Scanned print from summer 1970 vacation at Lake of the Ozarks, Missouri.  Two weeks of boating, swimming, skiing, and family fun staying in a cabin along the lake and playing on the water all day.

George chose #1319, one of five in a panorama.  A monsoon storm sweeping north in this eastern view from Point Imperial overlook on the North Rim Grand Canyon National Park.

Diane and Nigel chose #103.  A panoramic shot of Spirit Lake from the Harmony Trail at Mt St Helens National Volcanic Monument when I worked there the summer of 1992.

#03 from above, the last cat I owned in 1989 before my current one.  Boney along with her sister Morris (don’t ask) were part of the package with my husband and two step-children.

Jim and Diana chose #1701, “the year my sixth great grandfather, Dr. Henri Lamarre Levasseur dit Belisle set foot alongside Antoine de la Mothe Cadillac on the land that would become Detroit.”  I’ve been to Detroit, a long way from the Ponderosa Pine forests at the North Rim Grand Canyon where I spotted this Northern Goshawk hanging out behind my 5th-wheel home.

Kind of obvious what the 01 from above brought.  1970, I believe this was the first year of the fakes, both the tree and the fireplace which was turned over to gas.

Yogi chose #2019.  Maybe this year I’ll return to White Pocket in the Vermilion Cliffs National Monument along the Arizona/Utah border.  You can see why I’d want to go back.

#19 from above.  During my summer 1992 Ranger job at Mt St Helens, I hiked into Ghost Lake after work with my husband carrying a cooler and met other rangers for an overnighter.  Saw this waterfall on the way through the many dead trees in the 1980 Blast Zone.

Gayle chose #2009.  While ferrying RVs from Yarnell to the North Rim during the spring of 2010 signs of winter still clung to the San Francisco Peaks.

The 09 from above goes back to summer 1970.  Riding in a boat on the Chicago River with me in a cast from dislocating my left ankle and looking at a Jewish temple.

Mary Jo chose #1932, “the year of my mother’s birth.”  2010 was the year of my first trip to South Africa.  This is another view from hiking in the Drakensburg Mountains.

The #32 taken from above is a rather cockeyed view from inside a helicopter at lift off while being evacuated after major flooding destroyed all road access to a remote Forest Service site I volunteered and lived at on the south side of Mt St Helens.  (Read the post)

Rita chose #8791.  The thrill of summer monsoon on the North Kaibab is followed by a rich celebration when Autumn turns the aspen gold.

#91, taken from inside a replica of the Great Kiva at Aztec National Monument in New Mexico.  Visited during summer of 2005 with another Ranger I worked with at Mesa Verde National Park.

Jennifer chose #62.  A couple of hawks in a raptor enclosure at the California Living Museum where I was an animal keeper during 1989.

Jodee and Bill chose #6501.  Look closely for the faint rainbow over Sky Island seen from the Walhalla overlook on the North Rim Grand Canyon National Park.

My #01 choice of Smoky Bear in the Springfield Illinois State Fair parade in 1974.

Sallie and Bill chose #2490.  A reverse sunset over the Colorado River upstream from Tuweep, the ultimate iconic view at Toroweap after a long 65 mile drive on dirt.

The #90 is a straight down perspective of the River Styxy in Watson’s Grotto along the cave tour at Oregon Caves National Monument.

My final choice from last week’s snowstorm.

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?