Ricketsen returned to his cluttered desk, and Missy Fairmont, with two paper cups of steaming coffee. He placed one down on the desk in front of her, and drank from his own as he dumped himself into his chair.

‘It’s not necessarily good coffee, Missy . . . actually, it’s not good coffee at all.’

She managed a half-hearted smile and also sipped from her cup, screwing her nose up as she swallowed the beverage.

‘You can say that again. It’s possibly the most disgusting coffee I’ve ever had.’

The officer chuckled at her reply, nodded his head in agreement, and took up where he had left off.

‘So, you discovered footprints the next day. Any possibility they could have been from your gardener, or the pool guy? Maybe some tradesman you allowed into the yard to do some work for you?’ He sipped at his coffee while he waited for her to think about his questions. She chewed on her lip, considering all options that might have been a possibility to explain away the freshly made footprints, and then shook her head.

‘No. No, they were fresh. There was someone in the garden watching me the night before. I’m absolutely sure of it. I’d bet on it, in fact.’

The police officer was still sceptical about Mrs. Fairmont’s claims that she was being watched, but he’d lived by his father’s lifelong motto: it’s better to be safe than sorry. He pushed Missy for more information.

‘I used to go for a run every morning but I stopped because part of my route was through a small wooded area on the outskirts of the park that I went to. Hikers used the area a lot too.’

* * * * *

Two days had passed and Missy had put the thought of a potential intruder out of her mind. She intended to go about her business as she would if William had not left New York, and drove herself to the park. Keeping her training programme on track was part of her daily routine.

‘Perfect day for a run,’ she said to herself, and got out of the car.

She walked through the car park to the park-proper. There were the usual suspects present – exercise-aholics, wannabe athletes, dog walkers, dog runners, Frisbee freaks, hikers, and primped up women intent on keeping their svelte pre-baby bodies. After going through the motions of warming up, Missy began her ritualistic run through the beginner level hiking trails that led out of the grassy park and through partially wooded areas that surrounded it.

She kept a steady pace, and tossed a casual greeting to the regulars that she passed along the way. It wasn’t until she was about halfway along the hiking trail, where the ground changed from powdery sand to grit and small stones that she heard the footfalls behind her. She was moving too fast to get a good look, but she quickly glanced over her shoulder. She didn’t recognise the runner keeping a slightly slower pace behind her, and his Yankees baseball cap, aviator sunglasses, and shadowing from the morning sun obscured his facial features.

Missy increased her speed, and the man behind her did the same. The thought entered her head that this seemed unlikely to be a coincidence when coupled with the odd occurrence of a few nights previous. Again, she increased her speed, and again, the runner matched her. Now she had little doubt: the man behind her was chasing her, and there really was nowhere that she could possibly lose him. Missy’s only course of action would be to remain as far ahead of him as she could.

She focussed on her speed. Experience and routine allowed her to run without really having to consider the terrain. She desperately hoped that her pursuer didn’t have the same familiarity with the landscape as she had. Missy ran on, only occasionally glancing behind her, runner still in pursuit.

As she rounded the last bend in the beginner’s hiking trail, she looked behind her again. He was gone. Not feeling assured of her safety, Missy continued running at the fast pace she had set herself. Her mission was to make it back to her car and get the hell out of there safely. She prayed that she would.

With the green of the park and the sight and sound of people all around, Missy finally and breathlessly, conceded her sprint to an out of breath jog. As she neared her car, she pulled her car keys from her zipped pocket, only using the remote to unlock the doors as she grasped the door handle. Once inside the car, Missy locked the doors again and took some time to catch her breath.

It wasn’t until she started the engine and put the car into reverse that she noticed the photographs under the windscreen wipers.

* * * * *

‘You don’t happen to have them with you, do you, Missy?’ Ricketsen enquired. Missy pulled a large, bulging envelope from her handbag and handed it to the officer.

‘They’re all in there,’ she replied, ‘and they include the ones from that first night. You can clearly see me drop my glass of wine when I saw the first flash.’

Ricketsen opened the envelope and spread its contents across his desk.

‘There are one hundred and seventy five altogether,’ she said to him.

. . . To be continued . . .

A combination of the premature spring, drought conditions during the summer months, and the sudden drop in temperatures at night has stimulated the leaves to turn to the brilliant autumn colors earlier than normal.  Impulsively we decided to seek out more of luscious reds, flaming oranges, rich burgundies, and sunny yellows of the woodlands.

On our adventure, we stopped to hike the Empire Bluff Trail in the National Sleeping Bear National Lakeshore Park.  The parking lot was empty, and we were the only two people on the trail at the start of our journey.  The trees were still mostly green near the Lake Michigan shoreline yesterday morning; it could be a different story today.  I’ve walked this trail countless times and it’s great for the days when you would like to meander or take a brisk walk to relieve a stressful mind.  The dirt path leads to a wooden plank boardwalk and then onto an overlook on a steep vertical-drop dune with a sandy shoreline quite a ways below.  On the other side of the sitting area, a large log serves as a boarder.  Over the years various visitors have carved their names and miscellaneous messages reminding me of the girl’s high school bathroom stalls; Hello my name is X and I was here or Anna hearts Joey.

PACIFIC PALISADES (CBSLA.com) — Authorities say human remains have been found near a hiking trail in Pacific Palisades.

Los Angeles police said in a department statement that authorities responded to the 500 block of Los Liones Drive after a pair of hikers discovered what appeared to be a human skull.

Officers arrived on scene about 11:15 a.m. Saturday and checked the area.

According to the statement, that’s when they “observed the skeletal remains of a human torso approximately twenty feet from the skull.”

Police said an autopsy is expected to be performed on the remains, which have not been identified.

West Bureau homicide detectives asked anyone with possible information to call them at (877) 527-3247.

(©2012 CBS Local Media, a division of CBS Radio Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Wire services contributed to this report.)

I grew up in the 80′s on Long Island, so yes, I was severely overexposed to the pop twinklings of Mr. William Joel.  Cheesy yes, but very catchy.  Oh pipe down,  I can only imagine what I’d find on your Ipod.

Weekend events are picking up so get out there and enjoy the vestiges of summer (pretty darn hot for vestiges).

A couple of weeks ago I had my first ever west coast visit by my New York brother and his family.  In addition to being an artist and teacher he is quite handy with the camera.  I dragooned him into lugging the Canon as we explored the Ventura River Preserve from each end.   First half of the pics are from Old Baldwin, then a march up Kennedy Ridge.  For fun I threw in a few of my favorite pictures from his website, some juxtaposition for your viewing pleasure.

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One hot day last week, Railguy and I set out to hike the Blue Mountain Trail at Charleston Lake Provincial Park. Although Blue Mountain is within the park boundary, and can be reached by canoe, land access travels across private property. You park your car at the side of the road on Warburton Road, just as it curves south to join Blue Mountain Road. The first kilometer or so of the trail follows a farm road.

At the end of the road, the trail enters a pleasant woodland. The forest is dominated by deciduous trees, especially maples, beeches and oaks, with some grand specimens such as this maple tree, above, on display.

The trail was quite busy on the day we visited. Dogs and bikes are allowed, and ATVs use the access road. We didn’t see anything unusual in the way of wildlife or birds, although along the way we came across a garter snake, frogs and wee toads, and chipmunks and squirrels. This well-worked tree, above, offers evidence of pileated woodpeckers in the area. Here’s a chipmunk eyeing us warily.

There are many lovely tall beech trees with handsome, smooth bark along the trail. I was shocked to see how many had been mindlessly defiled by visitors who felt compelled to gouge ugly graffiti into their beautiful bark. Apart from disfiguring the trees, the wounds leave the trees susceptible to disease. I guess that once one person acts, others feel they have license to follow suit. We actually saw a man with his family in tow working on a tree. He quickly put his knife away and grinned foolishly as we approached, obviously aware that his actions were inappropriate.

Following the trail through the forest brings you to a beaver pond. Mosey Lake, as it is named in Park literature, is a beautiful wetland. You can see the large nests of Great Blue Herons in some of the trees.

There were a number of Canada Geese enjoying the sunny day.

Shortly after reaching the beaver pond, you cross into Charleston Lake Provincial Park.

The trail crosses a well-constructed bridge over a little river and you can stop and watch frogs and spot the beaver dam where the river meets the lake.

Then it’s up a rocky slope. The trail is well-marked and not too steep, but climbs steadily. The rocky terrain is typical of the Frontenac Arch region. The Frontenac Arch is an amazing section of the rugged Canadian Shield that dips down through southeastern Ontario and connects the far north bioregions with the Adirondack Mountains in New York state. The Arch marks an entirely different landscape from the surrounding plains, much more rugged.

Finally, we reached the last clamber up to the top of Blue Mountain.

We were rewarded with a view of Mosey Lake to the south…

…and Charleston Lake to the north.

We sat down for a well-earned rest and the lunch that Railguy had backpacked in for us.

We enjoyed refreshments perfect for hiking long trails.

It’s a bit of a stretch, calling this a mountain. In fact, Blue Mountain reminds me of the movie The Englishman Who Went Up a Hill But Came Down a Mountain. Unfortunately, there was no sign of Hugh Grant.

It was very hot and dry on the open flat. A few little oak trees were dried up and appeared dead and the reindeer lichen on the rock was shrivelled up. There were other common lichens on the rocks though. Here are a couple of samples. Flat lichens that adhere tightly to the rock surface are crustose lichens. Lichens with little leafy growths distinct from the rock surface are foliose lichens.

Soon we were heading back along the same trail. It was dry in the forest, too. I saw very few fungi along the trail, apart from this old log with a good growth of the common fungus Turkey Tail (Trametes versicolor).

I’ll close with this picture of one of several erratic boulders that were located in the woods. Erratics are rocks that were left behind by a retreating glacier as it melted, many eons ago.

The entire hike took us 4 hours, including our picnic lunch.

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A life-sized cutout of a cowboy Eastwood has stood on a trail overlooking a freeway in Glendale for months, but on Tuesday a pair of chairs were next to him, one also a cardboard cutout, the other an actual wooden chair.

They’re a clear reference to Eastwood’s interaction with an imaginary President Obama in an empty chair at the Republican National Convention last week.

Eastwood and the chair have fueled a social media meme that’s shown no signs of slowing.

An artist erected the cutouts of Eastwood and other Hollywood western heroes along the trail in Glendale, but it’s not clear where the chairs came from.

(© Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)

Mind you, that I have lived in Hawaii for twenty full years, and I never hiked this trail before! To get there, you drive up St. Louis Drive, take a right at Peter Street, then a left at Ruth Place. After that you drive into the Wa’ahila Ridge State Recreational Area, and there will be a parking lot. Since it was a sunday, it was a bit crowded, but I was still able to find parking. Right from the moment I got out of my truck, I smelt the beautiful aroma of the Cook Pines, such a sweet scent. I honestly felt as if I were not in Hawaii, for I am used to the more tropical plants that need more moisture in Manoa, where I live. I actually love being in a different environment, because I like a change in scenery.

There are signs, thank gosh, that told me where the trail began. Right from the get go, it felt very woodsy, mystical if you will. The hiking trail was a dry dirt path that consisted of tree roots in some areas, and rocks. Also there were mildly steep stairs in the beginning of the hike, right then I knew this hike wasn’t for everyone. For me I rate it as an intermediate hike, for there is a lot of steep areas in which you have to climb up and down. However, its nothing that people can’t handle, its not a scary hike, yet its not the easiest hike. If someone isn’t too fit, I recommend taking your time, stop and go, stop and go.

About ten minutes into the hike, I seen the beautiful view of the ocean from Honolulu, and Manoa on my left. It was nice and windy, I was expecting it to be scalding hot but I found it much cooler at Mount Olympus. Along the trail, I found there were a lot of strawberry guava trees, and weeds that had pretty small purple flowers sprouting along the way consistently. The paths were so cool, for trees seemed to overlap above, creating an eerie feel. Then I came to a part where the path became narrow for I was on the apex of the mountain. The view is spectacular in this area because trees are not in your way.

What I also like about this hike, is that there isn’t a lot of people, for I don’t like to get stuck right behind hikers who go too slow and what not. I like space when I hike, and this one in particular had just that, hiking space. Another reason why I don’t like highly populated hikes is because I like to let my dog run loose for a bit. Tana, my English staffordshire bullterrier had a blast on this hike, for about 2.4 miles.

When I finished the hike, I rested on the bench tables in the picnic area. I noticed a built in barbecue pit with used charcoal in it, giving me the best idea, to have a barbecue night there one day, I would love to roast some marshmallows over a fire in the mountains! Well, all in all, I really enjoyed this hike, it gave me a darn good workout thats for sure and I am definitely going to be a returnee at Wa’ahila Ridge!

View of Lake Aloha
Location: Desolation Wilderness, South Lake Tahoe, California
Source: Sabrina Brett Photography

This is the day the Lord has made. Rejoice and be glad!

Suwannee Valley Quilt Shop

Trenton’s main claim to fame is one of the largest quilt shops in Florida. The Suwannee Valley Quilt Shop operates out of the old Coca-Cola processing plant and boasts more than 2000 bolts of cloth. as well as tools, patterns, battings and books.  Suwannee Valley has two sister shops, one full of antiques, a tea room and long-arm quilting headquarters is housed in the town’s old ice house. The other is a small block of shops, stained glass, cross stitch and antiques.

Old Train Station

The old train station has been refurbished and the long platform hosts the local Farmer’s Market every Tuesday during the growing season. The tracks have been gone for years but the state has put the trail to good use and the Nature Coast State Trail is used by young and old alike.

Trenton has a weekly newspaper and a small chain grocery store. But one of the most unusual things about Trenton is that several of the building have wall murals. Not just one or two but several businesses as well as just scenes from bygone years.

Gilchrist County is surrounded by fresh water springs both county owned and private, several nearby rivers for boating and tubing as well as restaurants and entertainment in nearby Gainesville.

The slower pace, and friendly smiles remind you that Trenton is one of Florida’s small showcase towns.

It’s late summer.  It hasn’t rained since April, and probably won’t for another two months.  Nothing can possibly bloom in this oppressive cauldron some call Ojai.  I’m just gonna stay in the air conditioning and watch MASH reruns… gee that Loretta Swit’s got nothing on Sally Kellerman, get rid of this Winchester guy I’m a Frank Burns man….

Snap out of it!  Stuff is still blooming and beautiful even if it isn’t quite as heart-rendingly luxurious as mid-April.  You just need a little patience, some extra drinking water and the Rambler guide to tell you where to look.

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Lisa Falls is a small waterfall that sits about 3 miles up the canyon, and a short 100 yards off the road. Sunday evening we drove up the canyon enjoying the instant cool down as we entered between the granite faced canyon walls, and soon found ourselves parking on a pullout opposite the trailhead.

The climb was short with a few steep(ish) but easy to navigate sections shaded by tall trees and plenty of bushes that follow a dry wash to the falls, it opens up onto a large broken granite faced wall where the falls cascade down left to right on a diagonal with some overspill coming down in a thin layer straight down the face of the wall that you can walk right up to and touch without getting sprayed on.

Lisa Falls, Little Cottonwood Canyon, Utah 7 exp HDR @ 1EV with a fader ND filter. Using the Promote Control.

The trail:

5 exp @ 2EV HDR

A wide view showing most of the area around the base of the Falls.

2 shots stitched in an accidental panorama (I didn’t intentionally shoot this as a pano but it happened to work out OK) 7 exp @1EV HDR using the Promote Control.

My wife has started taking more “Behind the Scenes” shots of me lately since I’m never in any of the pictures.

This gives a good scale of the falls, this is the very bottom section that makes up about 1/4 of the falls as you see in the wide angle photo above.

The full falls. 7 exp @1ev HDR with a fader ND filter using a Promote Control.

A head on view of Lisa Falls 7 exp @1EV HDR with a fader ND filter using a Promote Control and converted to Black and White.

Lisa Falls is popular with rock climbers and you can see some anchors that have been left in the rock.

These Anchor bolts go up! 7 exp @1EV HDR using a Promote Control.

Another BTS (Behind the Scenes) shot of me and the kids taken by my wife.

This is pretty typical of what happens when I bring them along, however to really set the mood properly I would have to include the whining sound of “Dad are you done yet?” But they had a good time…I think.

Water overspills a slab of granite in a thin film that has discolored the rock, but is a fun place to walk right up and touch the falls without being drenched in spray.

I got right up next to the wall with my 10-20mm and used 7 exposures @1EV using a Promote Control to make an HDR.

As the sun began to set, we ended up having one of the best sunsets of the year (at least that’s what all my local photography friends said online later that night) we could only see the small area of sky you see in this shot, but we could tell it was a nice one as the light changed quickly and dramatically.
7 exp @1Ev HDR with a Fader filter and Promote Control.

Sunset peaks! 7 exp @ 1 EV HDR with a fader filter and Promote Control.

We took some informal family shots in front of the falls and then made the quick hike back to the car. I’m planning on coming back here in the winter for some frozen falls shots, and again in the spring to see how an increased flow will look over these falls. I always seem to visit waterfalls at the tail end of summer when the water is at its lowest.

Thanks for visiting once again I truly appreciate it, please feel free to leave any comments or questions.

Happy Shooting!

Howard

MILLCREEK, Utah — Unified Police officers are looking at ways to make the Mount Olympus trail safer by including more signage and maps at the trailhead.

There is only one true trail in and out of Mount Olympus. However, hikers have created their own paths over time making the trail confusing in areas, which in the past has led hikers into dangerous territory where they often find themselves stranded or lost.
 
“They get to where they’re ‘cliffed out’ what we call it,” says Unified Police Lt. Justin Hoyal. “To where they can’t get up or they can’t get down safely — it’s beyond their skill level to do so.”

Signs are posted near the top of the summit. But because of events that occurred during recent search and rescues, including an incident that claimed the life of a Utah Highway Patrol trooper, police want better preventative measures.

“Put more signs and some pamphlets down at the trailhead, that have the maps that can guide people along the trail as they go,” said Hoyal.

There is no an exact date as to when the additional signs or pamphlets will be posted at the trail head.

Unified Police urges the public to make themselves familiar with the path before hiking it. They say do not hesitate to call for help if trouble occurs.

Links:

Stranded father, daughter escorted down from Mount Olympus
UHP Trooper falls to death during rescue
Mother, daughter escorted down from Mt. Olympus

It was glassy calm and sunny at Montague in the morning.

From where we were anchored, the marina and other nearby boats presented us with wonderful reflections in the glassy calm water.

Since our focus on this short-distance cruise is on relaxation and enjoying some time out on the boat we decided to spend a second night at Montague. This morning was calm and sunny, and it stayed nice most of the day…except for a moderate southerly breeze that filled in during the afternoon, but laid down by nightfall.

It was a good morning to take care of some small projects on the boat. In the early afternoon, we launched the dinghy (still enjoying the ease of that operation with the new electric winch!), and motored over to the dinghy dock at Montague Harbour Provincial Park (http://www.env.gov.bc.ca/bcparks/explore/parkpgs/montague/). We were anchored at the south end of the anchorage, and the park with its mooring buoys is located at the north end.

We tied up our dinghy among other dinghies at the Montague Park dock. From the dock, it’s a short walk to the park trails.

Looking back from the start of the beach trail at Montague Harbour Park, lots of the beach is visible at low tide. Notice several empty mooring buoys.

We found the moorage rates were unchanged from last year, and the trail still looks good. However, after our experience with all the mud at Reid Harbor, we decided to forgo the Montague hike today, and instead walked over to the north-facing beach of the park, and walked along the beach at low tide.

Exposed rock at low tide on the north beach at Montague Harbour Park. This is looking north on Trincomali Channel.

The crew of Phoenix enjoys a short walk at Montague. Lots of rock showing at low tide on the north beach.

Then we motored over to the Montague Harbour Marina to visit the small store. Had a very difficult time finding a dinghy dock, but finally found a dinghy dock posted for use by visitors to the store. It was along the side of the dock-side end of the ramp, on the south side.

The store and modest restaurant haven’t changed much. They offer a minimum amount of supplies, but still have a very good selection of local B.C. books. We found two Dreamspeaker guides (http://www.dreamspeakerguides.com/) to add to our collection. While we were in the Broughton Archipelago last year, we met some fellow cruisers who had the Dreamspeaker guide for the Broughtons, and it looked like a good addition to our boating library. We have since acquired more of their guides, and enjoy having the additional references along.

While we were at the store, we noticed a sign for ice cream cones…so we treated ourselves to hard ice cream in waffle cones. Very tasty!

We barbecued chicken and had chicken Caesar salads for dinner, enjoying the typical rosy sunset at Montague.

The sun sets at Montague Harbor, Galiano Island, B. C.

Now, I will not tell you specifically why I don’t like Mondays (not enough space or time) suffice to say it seems to be the day of the week when you have a ‘To Do’ list from here to Christmas and every wheel that can come off does, and more!

So……..I am sending my mind on a holiday………..

Figeac, France. Along the way of St. James, hiking the Mediaeval Pilgrimage trail. I think this would be the most wonderful way to spend a holiday. Oh, the sights you will see, such a wonderful place to be with time on your hands.

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