landscape blogs

soul-piercing blue

green shores

blooming sea (2)

a sky within reach

Aigrette garzette

The winding road

Hokkaido, Japan 2010

A quiet place.

17-Mile Drive in Pebble Beach, CA

Blackpoll Warbler

hey hey, weather finally warmed up enough to be back outside. I cant say the squirrels were as excited about this.

Golden Atlantic - Madeira 2026

I was riffling through old photosets this week when I came across the one above and decided to repost it out of pure nostalgia. The photos are of the Mount Rogers National Recreation Area, which spans a rugged, rocky portion of the Blue Ridge Mountains in Southwestern Virginia. Although these mountains are geographically postioned in the Southern Applachians (outside my normal stomping range), the ecology is very similar to that of the Central Applachians, aside from Fraser fir (Abies fraseri) replacing balsam fir as a principal component of the spruce-fir forests at higher elevations. I made two hikes in this special place about twenty years ago, but sadly have not made it back. Maybe next spring. The memories I have are of sudden spring downpours, gossamer mists gently rising up the mountain slopes, dramatic vistas from the grass balds along the southern flank of Mount Rogers, stunted fir clinging to rocky outcrops, boreal forests scented with red spruce needles, and of course the famous (or infamous, depending on your point of view) wild ponies emerging as phatasmal beings from the mist between the spuce and fir. I less fondly remember the mass die-off of the gorgeous Fraser fir, ravaged by balsam woolly adelgid (Adelges piceae), an invasive pest from Europe. The good news is that these firs now appear to be recovering from the initial onslaught as a result of natural resistance and a declining adelgid population.

Texas, 2026