the art & adventures of tracy durnell

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April 5, 2010

 

Beautiful Outdoors

A few photos of the great outdoors from 2010. River from North Bend, waterfall and moss from Novato in California.

boulder in the middle of the Snoqualmie River just outside Riverbend, North Bend, Washington

Cascade mountain reflected in the Snoqualmie River outside of North Bend

stone wall showing uplift and layers by Snoqualmie River in North Bend, Washington

wild hens and chicks in Novato California

moss and lichen

detail of moss in Marin County, California

shooting star in front of a small waterfall in Novato, Marin County, California

small waterfall in Novato, Marin County, California

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March 12, 2010

 

Quickie Trip to CA

I made a quick hit-and-run trip down to California a couple weekends ago, where we had a grand time visiting the Marin Headlands, seeing family, doing a couple little walks, going to see King Tut and Cartier diamonds at SF museums, and just hangin. Mom and I also made homemade tortillas for the first time - yum!

golden gate bridge from the marin headlands, san francisco behind
marin headlands in dark shadows
crashing surf at cronkite beach in the marin headlands
crashing surf at cronkite beach in the marin headlands
mom and kirby ready to walk!
reverse sunset looking away from cronkite beach
waterfall near IVC

I will not subject you at this time to my photos of moss, because I have been too daunted to edit them myself!

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February 21, 2010

 

Snow Tracking Two

I went snow tracking for the second time this year (despite the junky / nonexistant snow). (First trip of the year.) This time we saw tons of bobcat tracks rather than the majority of coyote tracks last year.

bobcat tracks stepping over a hole in the snow
Bobcat tracks (female?) east of the pass.

solving the question of what this bobcat was doing in such a hurry
running bobcat tracks in snow
What was this bobcat doing in such a hurry?

bobcat tracks on a snow island in an iced-over lake
This bobcat was light enough to walk across the frozen lake, so we couldn't follow it.

maple leaf draped on branches

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February 8, 2010

 

Backpack to Goldmyer Hotsprings

As part of a buildup to my hopeful pass to pass backpack this summer, we backpacked 10 miles in to a natural hotsprings in the Alpine Lakes wilderness, Goldmyer Hot Springs (note: I didn't take any pictures of the hot springs since it was full of 'clothing optional' visitors - flickr photos here).

It was way further than I was prepared to do carrying a 30+ pound pack, so I hobbled out the last five miles. Typically the trail is only 4.5 miles each way, but the road was washed out before the official parking lot by 5 miles.







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January 18, 2010

 

Kauai for Solstice

mom photographing the ocean near Poipu
For Winter Solstice this year, Mom and Dad took Robin, Daniel, CJ and me to Kauai for a week long trip. Hiking, snorkeling, lounging, and hot tubbing was enjoyed by all.

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January 17, 2010

 

Snowshoeing: Hyak at Snoqualmie Pass

showshoeing up the hill
I'm volunteering doing snowtracking with Conservation Northwest again this year, and we had our first day on Saturday, hiking at Snoqualmie Pass.

snow melted at the tips of a young conifer
Our transects went quickly, so we hiked cross country for a bit, then took a well groomed trail up to the top of the ridge, then back down.

snow on a jagged stump

natural log bridge
At one point we spotted squirrel tracks in the snow traveling down one hill and up another, and determined that it was traveling north. Then, on closer inspection, we realized it was actually traveling south - the distance between groupings of four tracks would be longer going downhill!

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October 5, 2009

 

Woods Wander - Foraging!

We went hunting for mushrooms on Sunday up in the North Cascades (off the Middle Fork) and found a ton of chantrelles, as well as some edible boletes and puffballs! There was plenty of fresh (still shiny) elk droppings, and CJ found large cat feces - too small for cougar I'd say, but it'd be a big bobcat... There were also a lot of pretty things in the woods.

striped shelf fungus growing off of a branch on a fallen log

decaying maple leaf resting on a sword fern

Pacific Tree Frog on forest floor
Pacific Tree Frogs have a distinctive "Y" on the top of their heads between their eyes.

swooshing half cedar stump - cj in the background foraging
CJ's in the background foraging. He has an amazing eye for spotting mushrooms!

geometrically pleasing moss- and lichen- draped branches

holding a western redbacked salamander
Tentatively identified as a Western Redbacked Salamander, with a broad stripe of red-orange (perfectly the color of old needles) down its back.

massive cedar stump with exposed roots

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January 24, 2009

 

California Solstice Trip

I forgot that I took pictures when I was home! I went on a bunch of hikes, apparently.

Wow, Photoshop's "Smart Sharpen" tool is amazing! Definitely helps since I have trouble focusing perfectly with my glasses and all.

Dad by the sad dead Big Madrone
Dad by the sad dead Big Madrone.

View of Mt. Tam from Lake Lagunitas
View of Mt. Tam from Lake Lagunitas.

Madrone with a twisted trunk
Future Big Madrone replacement? Yeah, in 200 years...

red leaves under the inkwells waterfall
Dad and I hiked out by the Inkwells, where they'd done a lot of trailwork so it was easy to see the pretty waterfall.

ferns

dad near the inkwells

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June 29, 2008

 

Kirkland New House!

the front of my new house

kitchen before

living room before

bedroom before

kitchen unpacking

living room unpacking

bedroom unpacking

yardwaste

planted garden

tracy surveying her new garden

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