Wishing Well Overlook and, below, Lake Ponder Barrier-Free Trail , Crowley’s Ridge State Park, Arkansas, May 2009
Gallery: Crowley’s Ridge State Park
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The Green River Ferry ramp is also used as a boat ramp, but the time period for getting the boat out of the water is limited. That’s why the woman is riding in the boat as her hubby drives up and out of the way.
Green River Ferry, Mammoth Cave National Park, May 25, 2009
Gallery: Mammoth Cave National Park
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Cades Cove, Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Tennessee
Gallery: Great Smoky Mountains National Park
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North Windows Arch, Windows Area, Windows Trail, Arches National Park.
Gallery: Arches National Park, September 24, 2007
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September 1, 2009 – From the slope of the terminal moraine, looking up the valley of Moraine Park in Rocky Mountain National Park. The smoke is from fires burning in California. The building in the foreground is the Moraine Park Visitor Center. We were on a ranger guided walk on a short nature trail at the visitor center, which also has a few museum area inside.
Gallery: Eastern slopes – September 1, 2009
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Farmers’ Market in Madison at Wisconsin State Capitol, September 20, 2008
Gallery: Dane County Farmers’ Market on the Square – Madison, Wisconsin, September 13 and 20, 2008, on the streets around the state capitol building
See more of our Image Galleries at Haw Creek.
We had stopped for a picnic on the Gardiner River on the way south after having gone out of Yellowstone National Park into Gardner, Montana. I spotted this guy in the distance on a hillside above the river.
Gallery: Around the Upper Loop, September 13, 2007
See more of our Image Galleries at Haw Creek.
I’ve finally gotten around to completing the photo galleries from Rocky Mountain National Park and the Estes Park area. There is one gallery for each day, to keep the galleries from being too large.
The two newest galleries are Moraine Park Elk and Estes Park area and Fern Lake Trail.
Below is the full listing as it appears on the Haw Creek Image Galleries page:
Rocky Mountain National Park and Estes Park
- Arrival – August 31, 2009
- Eastern slopes – September 1, 2009
- Fall River and Trail Ridge – September 2, 2009
- Bear Lake and Emerald Lake Trails – September 3, 2009
- Moraine Park Elk and Estes Park area – September 4, 2009
- Fern Lake Trail – September 5, 2009
This post is being simultaneously published on Exit78, Haw Creek and Haw Creek Out ‘n About
Continue reading about Rocky Mountain National Park and Estes Park photo galleries
According to major news sources, including the Los Angeles Times, The New York Times, and The Washington Post, major budget shortfalls in Arizona will result in the closure of 13 state parks by June. Eight others have already been closed.
The Los Angeles Times:
The action represents the largest closure of state parks in the nation, although several other states are considering similar moves.
“It’s a dark day for the Arizona state parks system,” said Renee Bahl, the system’s executive director.
“We have 65,000 acres around the state and the majority of them are closing.”
The Arizona parks receive about 2.3 million visitors per year who bring about $266 million into the state, Bahl said.
The Arizona State Parks Board has voted unanimously to close 13 parks in response to budget cuts.
The Arizona State Parks Board is closing some of the state’s iconic Old West landmarks, including the Tombstone Courthouse in one of the West’s most storied towns, and the Yuma Territorial Prison, which housed hundreds of Old West outlaws and was portrayed in the film “3:10 to Yuma.”
The decision also closes parks such as Red Rock State Park near Sedona that draw tens of thousands of tourists a year.
The Legislature has cut 61 percent of the state parks budget since July.
In a Huffington Post editorial, Chad Campbell, the House Democratic Whip in the Arizona State Legislature, describes the reappropriation of a quarter of a million dollars meant for state parks:
GOP legislators recently pilfered a nearly $250,000 gift left by an elderly woman – now deceased – for the Arizona State Parks system.
The severity of budget cuts in Arizona is quite disturbing, but the cuts to State Parks have touched an especially raw nerve. In 2003, 82-year-old Asta Forrest left nearly $250,000 to the Arizona State Parks Board. This Danish immigrant’s gift to Arizona was inspired by her love of its beautiful natural surroundings.
It’s ironic that, in today’s rough economic times, state parks are being closed. During the Great Depression, construction of state parks provided need work for thousands of young men in the Civilian Conservation Corps.
… more than a tad unusual lately, here in Arkansas, as I’m sure it seems to people in a lot of other places.
But, the weather for the next week is…, well…, ah…, it’s Winter!
It’s winter like winter was when I was a kid growing up in Nebraska. It’s cold – and it’s staying cold.
And it’s doing it in a lot of places other than Arkansas.
Something called the Arctic Oscillation has gone into a deep negative phase, where atmospheric pressure in the Arctic is relatively high, while pressure is low in the middle latitudes. In the negative phase, frigid winter weather extends further into the middle of North America than usual.
Hopefully, this thing will moderate soon – but I’m not counting on it.
How’s the weather where you are?








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