One thing that was remarkable was the low river level and its impact on the layout in the Double Ditch area. There were a lot of sandbars I hadn’t known about before, and it looked like a pretty interesting place to try to bring a boat through. Apparently it was a good opportunity to wade out into the Missouri and see what’s biting.
A friend of mine is shooting with this very same lens in Utah right now as he mountain bikes various parks and stuff on his way to Death Valley, California, and said that it’s amazing to be able to take such wide angles of striking scenery. Well, North Dakota has striking scenery of its own, which I plan to post here as soon as things green up.
For a sense of perspective of exactly how wide this lens is, that little protuberance on the horizon is the capitol. Given a high enough vantage point, I can get the majority of Bismarck in the frame. Obviously this is going to be exciting once I get out into some wide open territory. Stay tuned!
The hills above this bridge are riddled with mountain bike trails, one of which was my vantage point for this photo. Parts of those trails, mainly the area above Pioneer Park, were developed by Dakota Cyclery (with the help of some creative grant writing) into a race course later used for the Prairie Rose State Games.
Those trails are quite muddy now, but this spring they’ll provide an ample workout for those looking to get back in shape. See ya there.
As I stood in someone’s snowmobile tracks, I was able to get quite a few of these boots in the frame. There are plenty more behind me as well as over the hill and around the corner. It’s pretty cool, not the only fenceposts I’ve seen, but certainly the biggest contiguous bunch of them.
If you want to see this display, merely point your car/truck/whatever northward on Highway 1804. I don’t know how far north it is, because I usually am just holding the accelerator to the floor and watching for deer. You can’t miss it, though…it’s along a quick left-right pair of corners in the road marked 40mph. If you find yourself in Washburn, you went too far!
There’s a little bit more information at Double Ditch on the Square Buttes, and I was going to share it with you but I decided not to. Instead, I encourage you to head north to the Double Ditch historic site and check it out for yourself! You’ll be pleasantly surprised at this very neat scenic opportunity.
The HOT 99.7 is my current body temp, not a local radio station. Actually, maybe it is a local station, I don’t know; I don’t listen to local FM. Sadly, I find myself still awake at 4am, sipping hot Theraflu (this stuff WORKS) and trying to get Charlie out of my head…which is in Mississippi, by the way, if you’re looking for a music reference this morning. I’ve got a recurrence of “the crud” and am phoning this in from fever land. Thankfully I have a wife who’s a nurse and has a thermometer (and a wonderful bedside manner).
We’re kinda walking wounded at Casa del Clint these days. My wife had a particularly painful tonsillectomy last week, the day after which we discovered we have a 6-week old baby with an infection in both ears and snot in his nose. All it took was a few sleepless nights with PJ to let this nasty bug get a foothold in my sinuses again. The only one having a decent time in our house is Scooter, our bird!
My dear friend Mike Holwegner used to tell a joke when he had a cold: “What’s green and goes backwards?” Then he’d snort back a nose full of gunk. You’d have to know the guy to appreciate his humor, which was a near daily part of my morning until his passing a few short years ago. I’ve got green in my head, but not in my camera; instead, I thought I’d showcase a little local color from a week or so ago.
Well, that’s it. I just slammed the last of the Theraflu…you know, the part where all the nasty bitter grainy stuff is? Bleah. My wife is still on pain meds for her post-tonsillectomy pain, and PJ is on the mend. They’re couch pilots tonight. Scooter’s keeping an eye on us like a responsible bird should. As for this blogger, it’s time to throw down a bottled water chaser and bundle up to sweat this thing out. Have a happy Wednesday, and try to stay clear of “the crud.”
It should be obvious from the nature of my photography that I’m big on landscapes and other such features. That’s why I was actually startled at the view from State Street and Divide Avenue yesterday. While sitting at a stoplight wondering why the punk in the Civic next to me thought I was interested in a race, I glanced out over the south horizon. We’ve got hills dotted with snow, the sky was red with the waning sunset…it almost had a southwestern feel to it! Yet there I was, right in the middle of my home town, facing a view of it that I’d never given much consideration.
This area of North Dakota is hardly the smooth expanse of endless prairie that it’s thought to be; we have hills, rocks, valleys, and other features that somehow seem to escape mention. I’ve found a few such places recently and have had a ton of fun poking around therein. It just goes to show that there’s plenty about our home that we don’t know, it’s only a matter of changing your perspective.
This post contains the return of the Thursday Night Sunset series, a morality tale, and a fitness report. What a treat, huh?
I was in a bit of a hurry to scurry to Mandan, but I needed cash for the five dollar gate fee at Fort Lincoln. As luck would have it, I just got my paycheck from the city (yeah, I seem to work EVERYWHERE). After a quick stop at the bank drive-up I bolted to Fort Lincoln. I grabbed my entry fee envelope with the intent to pay on my way out; the sun was setting quickly, so I needed every spare second.
I zoomed up to the road which leads to the forts, only to find the gates locked! There was a sign saying “These gates closed after dark” but it was hardly anywhere NEAR dark. No problem, right? All I have to do is sprint up the hill…remember, time’s a-wasting!
I bet I panted for ten minutes after I finally reached the top of the hill, due to my lack of exercise and Fort Lincoln’s lack of an established trail. I wasn’t disappointed by the sunset; a really dramatic sunset needs a few more clouds than we had, but this one certainly had no shortage of color.
I hung out for a little bit longer; I was dressed warmly, there were deer and geese hanging out in the area, and I wasn’t exactly looking forward to a long hike down the hill in the dark. I’ve made that hike before, and there are a LOT of noises in those trees! So I swung the camera around and took a few more shots, like this one:
As a dissatisfied customer, I didn’t feel like sticking a fiver in that thing and putting it in the slot back at the unmanned fee station. Nobody would know, and I certainly did NOT feel like I got my five bucks’ worth. But was that really my call to make?
The Christian in me took over, fortunately. I’d pay it on my way out of the park as I’d originally planned. I turned my fuming into fun, jokingly assessing blame to Tracy Potter and thinking, “now there’s another good reason not to vote for him!” Besides, I did come down the hill with some pretty decent pictures.
After I put my five bucks in the slot at the fee station, I left the park with a clear conscience. It wouldn’t hurt for me to exercise more often…then I might even relish a hectic hike to beat the sunset. I’ve learned my lesson, though; I’ll hike in from the walking trail to the north, where it’s free.