This place is amazing. My sister and I set out for a hiking/photo expedition and our expectations were far exceeded! She is in the first photo preparing to ascend one of the several ladders we would encounter. The trip there was adventure enough taking my tiny Lexus IS 250 (NOT 4WD!) on a soft dirt road just to get to the trailhead. The suggestion was to keep going and never stop until you reach the end or you would get stuck. So we decided that this was worth it and that’s what AAA was for! We didn’t need the tow, I’m happy to report But I am considering purchasing a cheap, old 4wd car for future off road adventures.

I will post more pics later, but I just had to put these up to share. We did not complete the “loop” from Ladder Canyon through Painted Canyon but we did do all of Ladder Canyon, which, in itself, might be a challenge physically for those who are not used to the rigors of hiking. Fortunately, my sister Melanie and I are conditioned for this.

The feeling of being deep down in these cool, shady canyons was one of isolation and amazement. We started early so we had the canyons to ourselves. It was silent except for our footsteps and our discussions over which camera settings to use to capture our experience. Upon reaching the top of the ridge, we could see down to the Salton Sea south of us, and San Jacinto to the west. Truly breathtaking all around. We lunched on the ridge amongst a few ants and under a warm sun.

Enjoy and please share any experiences you’ve had with this part of SoCal!

Jen

December 4, 2009

As I was standing in line for the ferris wheel at Disney’s California Adventure, I looked up and noticed patterns of red metal throughout. I have a thing for the abstract, especially with repetitious patterns. We usually see pictures from the ferris wheel in the car overlooking whatever city. I liked the perspective from underneath.

If you’ve never been on this ride, like myself, you wouldn’t know that this was not the usual ferris wheel. Besides the normal cars that go around without incident, there are also cars that are on their own tracks. As the wheel turns, these cars run up and down these tracks creating a swinging motion. This isn’t so bad until you reach the other side and you can no longer see any wheel parts, no bars, nothing. Add to that a full swing and it’s sort of unnerving!

Hope you enjoy this pic as much as I enjoyed the ride!

I will be devoting more time to my hobby in the coming year in addition to adding a description or story of my photographs.  I hope I can convey how I felt during each of my adventures and I look forward to dialogue with anyone who comments or posts on my pages.

Thanks again and Happy New Year to all!

Jennifer