Old Railroad Tunnel No. 6, originally uploaded by ronWLS.

It has been busy as it always is this time of year. Took this almost a month ago now the day after Thanksgiving. Black Friday and it was way more fun than shopping.

Old Pump in Color, originally uploaded by ronWLS.

It’s fun sometimes to find out just how close to the city bits of local history are. The other day we went on a geocache near the old abandoned Yankee John Mine. The most amazing part for me was just how close it was to work and home. We could probably be at the ruins within 20 minutes of leaving work, maybe sooner. It’s a private mine shaft that is no longer working but the land is BLM with easy trails to get there. This was some old rusted piece of machinery (I’ve assumed a pump). Lots of other stuff there also.

Afternoon Light, originally uploaded by ronWLS.

Coming down from the top of the world we stopped at Brandy Creek. The sun was getting low the light was right. Wish I would have had my new tripod at this point but I didn’t. Still I like the light and composition of this.

Top of the World, originally uploaded by ronWLS.

Had a chance last week to catch a ride up Shasta Bally. I was on the top of the mountain about 15 years ago but then we had to walk up from Sheep Camp. It was a 4 hour hike up the road. With a four-wheel drive it was closer to 30 minutes.
It is such a great view from the top. You’re able to see Whiskeytown Lake, Redding, the Sacramento River and Lake Shasta among other points of interest. Since our drive up to the top it has snowed and I would imagine the road will be closed the rest of the winter.

Fireworks 3, originally uploaded by ronWLS.

Like death and taxes the fireworks show always happens. Well usually. This year they didn’t happen till October 18 and I kind of liked it. Seemed like less people were present and it happened earlier in the evening that normal.

Post Rain River, originally uploaded by ronWLS.

Yes. Fall is coming. Well actually it is already here but I don’t really consider it really here till I start wearing long sleeve shirts. The leaves are still green for the most part but a nice rain last weekend has brightened the sky and cleaned the air. Anticipation is in the air!

Day49 - Arrr!, originally uploaded by ronWLS.

Talk like a pirate day! Well I did some of that today and lots of work today. We have a pirate theme at work so it seemed befitting to wear the garb. Hope everyone had a wonderful day and has a great weekend.

Cheers, originally uploaded by ronWLS.

Fort Bragg in August. It is a nice place to be especially when you spend most of your summer in Redding, CA. Redding just gets too down right hot at times and you need a break. We’ve found a nice break to take is the Art in the Gardens at the Mendocino Coastal Botanical Gardens in Fort Bragg. This was our second year attending. Last year worked out better and hopefully next year will turn around.
They stuck us in a second row and there was not a well defined walk-way between us the others in front of us. Next year we WILL have a different set-up.
We we able to rent a house for 5 nights this year and only eat out once. Silver’s by the Bay or something like that. The place is in Noyo Harbor and is a decent place to eat.
Took this shot at sundown obviously. Everyone with cameras were getting out of their seats to take snaps by the windows. We had a window table and I took this photo with the P&S. Thought it turned out well considering.

So Smokey, originally uploaded by ronWLS.

Here is my entry from July 8th the day I took this photo:

Today was the 3rd day in a row that the readings for Redding air were over 250 in the “Very Unhealthy” to “Dangerous” range. The fires have been burning over a month now and even though most are “contained” it is still very bad. Contained just means that there is a perimeter around the fire and that they should spread any further but there are still burning and filling the air with smoke. I just hope that we don’t have to wait till the winter rains before we see clear blue skies again.

It has been a nasty fire season so far. The past week alone it seemed there was one or two fires every day in the local area. We’ve been lucky so far that no fires have happened in our canyon. About 4 or 5 years ago there was a summer that saw about 4 fires down our ridge. The worst thing is that the fire season is really about to start and fires have been raging for over 2 months already.

Threatning, originally uploaded by ronWLS.

Who would thought that the first day of summer in such a dry year would be full of rain and clouds. Unfortunately it was also full of lightning which started about 800 fires in Northern California and now our skies are totally smoky.