In the mountains with nature

We drove up into the mountains just east of Bountiful. I took this photo on Skyline Drive. The roads are rough, but the view is worth the drive. 

There was still some snow on the ground in spots. The last leg of the tail is closed until sometime in June, so we did not get to drive to the top. We were somewhere around 7500 feet when I took this photo.

The sky was so blue, and the clouds were beautiful. It was very peaceful. I only saw a couple birds, and squirrel, but no other wildlife.  The view however, was stellar.  

The second photo is of the valley. It looks a little hazy. I have seen it much worse. 

I used Snapseed to edit this photo with the help of my granddaughter, Lexi. We had a great time. 

We did have one of those unforgettable moments while we were up on the mountain. Tim, our son, pulled off the road (well, trail) so we could take a few photographs. He put our youngest granddaughter on his lap for a while. We were all getting a little cold, so he decide to turn on the old Ford. 

You know that sounds: the car bearly turns over the engine, then nothing? Well, that was what we heard. What we didn’t know was that our granddaughter turned on the headlights while enjoying his company. We were 45 minutes up the mountain, a very poor signal on our phones, and it was getting dark. It sounds like something out of the movies, right? 

My wife had the best signal, so she text back to family. We managed to find someone that could drive up and give us a jumpstart. We asked everyone that stopped by about jumper cables, by no one could help. With help on the way, we just had to wait. A couple attempts to start it, but nothing.  

After about 15 minutes, Tim tried it again. Much to our surprise, the old Ford started. We called off the Calvary and headed home. Talk about crazy.  

The trip was worth it. We took some great photos. I walked in the Great Strides for Cystic Fibrosis event, we were in Salt Lake for a birthday party for two of our grandchildren. We had a great visit. 

Fight on my dear granddaughter. Cystic Fibrosis  is a terrible thing and we need a cure. Happy Birthday.

~ Rick

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 Prints are available for many of the photos on this site on canvas, metal or glass. They are stunning and you can purchase them for a wall at home. Click the link or the ‘prints and such’ tab.

©2018 Rick Cartwright

Squirrel ... over there

Perhaps they have an attention problem. At one point there was even more of these rusty blackbirds all in this small branch, all looking the same way. Perhaps they were looking at me. :)

~ Rick

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 Prints are available for many of the photos on this site on canvas, metal or glass. They are stunning and you can purchase them for a wall at home. Click the link or the ‘prints and such’ tab.

©2018 Rick Cartwright

Flowers and a sunset

My son (Tim) and I took a little drive so we could watch the sunset on the mountains in Utah last night. It was so beautiful. There is so much rich color in this shot. Deep reds and blues, then the golden hue of the setting sun .. it’s just as I saw it.  

~ Rick  

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Prints are available for many of the photos on this site on canvas, metal or glass. They are stunning and you can purchase them for a wall at home. Click the link or the ‘prints and such’ tab.

©2018 Rick Cartwright

Flycatcher ..

I took this photo while waking along the bike trail along the river yesterday. I saw several species of birds with yellow and black colors. I believe this is a yellow-bellied flycatcher. The beak is too long for it to be a finch. It could be a warbler, but it is too small.  

The birds were super active and very loud. Here is another view of this one: 

~ Rick  

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 Prints are available for many of the photos on this site on canvas, metal or glass. They are stunning and you can purchase them for a wall at home. Click the link or the ‘prints and such’ tab.

©2018 Rick Cartwright

At peace with nature

I could sit in this spot for hours. The birds were singing loudly. The squirrels were playing games in the tree tops. Every so often the geese, and sometimes a duck or two would fly by. This lowers my blood pressure by a good 10 points.

Sometimes you need a place like this where you can be at peace, and be inspired. I hope you can find your magic place where you can be inspired.  

(If you are looking at this photo on Facebook, you will want to click the link to open the web page to see the full image. I left it in its native format).  

~ Rick

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Prints are available for many of the photos on this site on canvas, metal or glass. They are stunning and you can purchase them for a wall at home. Click the link or the ‘prints and such’ tab.

©2018 Rick Cartwright