An Afternoon at the 'Office'

After the morning's rather hurried hike through the western half of the valley before noon, I decided I'd like to go back and explore the eastern half of the valley.

The morning temps and sun had not yet warmed up the air when I first went out with Morris so it was still chilly in the creek bottom.

Cold enough for frost to form on anything just above the running creek water.

It was some of the most delicate 'artwork' that I'd seen Mother Nature do in a long time.

Actually it is no mystery.  The creek is spring fed, and it where it runs swiftly, it is warmer than the air above it. With the humidity at 85% yesterday and the morning temperatures still below 20 degrees, I was hoping to find just this sort of thing.

Here was a small stick.

For these shots I used my Nikkor 40mm micro/macro lens.  It is a nice prime lens and aside from the precarious positions I stood in, or kneeled in to get these shots, it worked well.
Frost is very difficult and in order for me to do it properly, I should have set up a tripod.  As it was, I dealt with the shadows of the valley as best as I could.

My assistant, Morris started to get cold and asked to be carried.  I did carry him until his feet warmed up enough for him to leap from my arms and race up the trail towards home.

But not before I got a shot or two of the little Ice Falls.

Morris and I returned home and after lunch I went back. The frost was gone, the valley had warmed up considerably with the afternoon sun.  A nice day considering the cold temperatures we'd been having.

I visited the Big Spring which never ceases to delight me in any month of the year.

This is actually a 2 second exposure.  The spring water comes from the hillside in the back of the photo and travels through these hodge podge rocks.  When the temps drop drastically the rocks are covered in fantastic looking frost.

The water joins up with the rest of the creek and makes a big entrance, adding to the volume of water traveling east towards Black Bottom Creek.

I noted the abundance of coyote traffic around the spring.  The deer had been there also as well as raccoon.

After standing in the creek to take some longer exposures of the water running, I decided that the day was getting late and I needed to head home.

However, I did have to make a stop at 'the Office'.

I couldn't resist.  This old broken chair has been in the valley for years.
I decided that I liked my new Office, however perhaps a new seat cushion would be in order.

And with that I headed up the wide trail towards home.

And with the sun leaving the valley, the crazy lady in the skunk hat made her exit.

What an extraordinary day.