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Wichita Mountain Adventure
September 07, 2006So, somehow...I had a random day off Wednesday. Something about the Labor Day holiday falling on my normal day off, so I get another day off or something.
I don't pretend to understand how all that works, and even the bossman sounded confused. But hey, he says that I'm off.....and I'm gone.
So my girlfriend Courtney and I decided to go to the Wichita Mountains....actually, I decided to go and take her with me. I wasn't really sure if she'd like it or not.
Come to find out...this native Wichitan hadn't ever BEEN to the Wichita Mountains. She'd never seen them. Also, she'd never been hiking....anywhere.
She asked me before we left if it was okay if she wore blue jeans. Not because she wanted to look cute...she actually didn't know if wearing blue jeans and hiking would work out for her. I laughed and told her that yes...jeans were fine.
Anyways, I debated whether or not to even take my camera with me, I typically don't like to work if I don't have to. But I took it...and I was very glad I did. We had an absolute blast.
Here are some of the photos and the stories to go along with.......enjoy.
So this is Courtney and I on the top of Mount Scott. She complained that her ears were popping the entire way up, and I didn't even notice it. The view was awesome as usual...and the setting sun painted the entire area with a warm yellow to orange color....perfect for taking goofy self portraits.
All day long I had tried to find a perfect buffalo shot. I had in mind to find one with the sun sinking below it, all lit up pretty and silhouetted...but it was not meant to be. This one however was a fine enough substitute with me. The fresh green grass looked so good with the sunlight coming from that angle.
Courtney and I were driving along one of the wooded roads around the park when she just kind of pointed out the window at something. She didn't really say anything at first, but then I saw what she was looking at. A group of deer, two females, two young males and two baby spotted fawns in the trees. She was so excited that even with her bad eyes, she saw them before I did. It's also amazing how well a car works as a wildlife blind. Those deer were really close. A lot closer than if I had been on foot.
This is from the top of Mount Scott looking south east. The sun was sinking fast and only lighting up the tops of the rocks in the foreground. It really has kind of a dreamy look to it.
Walking along one of the trails near Jed Johnson Lake, the sun was filtering through the trees at a really low angle (it was about 6 p.m.). For no real reason, these leaves caught my eye the way they were lit up brightly. Random nature makes for great art sometimes.
This was Courtney's fave. from the whole day. It looks like the Prairie dogs were kissing...tee-hee. Seemed like a perfect fit for taking your girlfriend to the mountains for the first time.
Again...random nature. This dead tree was completely in shadows. Kinda creepy looking, but makes for another great piece of art. This one might actually look better in a black and white print...who knows.
I used to have one of these types of spiders growing in my backyard as a kid. The zigzag web pattern makes for a great photo, especially since the spider is so colorful. The background was lit up almost too brightly, but the sun came through a branch and hit the web just perfect.
The sunset at the top of Mount Scott was breathtaking. The tree standing in the foreground only had foliage on one side...I have no idea why. But it made for a great shot with the orange sunset haze over the valley below.
This was the view from the top of Mount Scott as the sun slipped behind the clouds and below the horizon. I'm a huge sunset fan so of course this was a must-shoot for me. But I did stop long enough to sit by my girlfriend and let her lean her head on my shoulder.
All in all...it was pretty much a perfectly fun day. Man, I need more days off to do stuff like this some more.
Posted by Jason Palmer at 02:16 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)
Comments
That's a pretty accurate summary of the day. And it was indeed perfectly fun.
