joshua tree moon

the ancient beauty of joshua tree national park

in the light that never was

"I had seen it through the eyes of Winnenap, in a rosy mist of reminiscence, and must always see it with a sense of intimacy in the light that never was."

-Mary Austin

Land of Little Rain

Joshua Tree National Park

November 2013

©trryan

it does not sit flatly on the rims of the earth

"Out West, the west of the mesas and the unpatented hills, there is more sky than any place in the world.  It does not sit flatly on the rims of the earth, but begins somewhere out in the space in which the earth is poised, hollows more, and is full of clean, shiny winds."

- Mary Austin

Land of Little Rain

Joshua Tree National Park

November 2013

©trryan

giving compensation

For all the toll the desert takes of a man,

It gives compensations:

Deep breath, deep sleep,

and the communion of the stars.

-Mary Austin, Land of Little Rain

- Mary Austin

Land of Little Rain

Joshua Tree National Park

November 2013

@trryan

like five hundred million little bells

Moon Rise with Stars
Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument
October 2009

And at night I love to listen to the stars.  It is like five hundred million little bells.
- Antoine de Saint Exupery, The Little Prince

The Moon with Milky Way
Newport Beach, California
March 2011

Flight of the Bumblepoles

Flight of the Bumblepoles
Image inspired by a hike in the San Gabriel Mountains
Landscapes of the Shaman series
July 2012

A Hike in the San Gabriel's with the Wise Man of the Mountains

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Ed Young - Wise Man of the Mountains
Greeting an ancient Ponderosa pine

I had the immense honor recently of getting to hike with one my favorite people on the planet.  My friend Ed is a botanist, a tenth-grade science teacher (for 25 years - hero status right there) and a proud member of the Cherokee Nation.  How can you not admire a man that greets old trees like old friends? That's just how he rolls.

 Ed and I graduated from the same Oklahoma high school some 34 years ago but we did not really meet until the 30th reunion and amongst the flurry of Facebook friending that followed immediately after.  It was actually through Facebook that we quickly noticed we shared a mutual love for the outdoors and a reverence for nature likely not matched by many of our fellow '79 grads.

A "like" turned into a comment, a comment into a private message and the next thing you know it's two years later and we are hiking way up north in the holy land of the Sioux and Kiowa -- commemorating our 50th year around the sun with a journey to several sacred spots - Bear Butte, Devil's Tower and Medicine Wheel among them.  Another two years later - and a gig in California last week brought me within an hour's reach of Ed's backyard.   I took two extra days to explore the world that has been Ed's home for more than 20 years - the San Gabriel Mountains, the Angeles and San Bernadino National Forests, the Cucamonga Wilderness and the surrounding chaparral  foothills.   The photos that follow are of our 3.5 mile hike (one-way) to Ice House Saddle last week.

San Gabriel Forest overlook

Ice House Saddle trail canopy

A goodly part of the trail was in the forest deep - a perfect hike for an otherwise hot summer day.  The canopy was flush full of lifers for me - Douglas fir, incense cedar, mountain oak, a type of broadleaf maple.  And at every turn - another question for botanist Ed.  

Biologist, botanist, teacher, healer

Mr. Ed - he know his plants. I know nothing about plants.  I was just like a kid in a multihued candy shop wanting to know the name of every flavor.  Ed's encyclopedic knowledge of the local flora (which is entirely different than anything I lived with in Oklahoma, Ohio or New Mexico) was an incredible part of the trail experience. I recommend that everyone hike with their own private botanist.

Western Fence Lizard

These guys were everywhere and this particular one was very patient with me having to tenderly maneuver into his fight-or-flight space with only an i-Phone to take his portrait.  But forget the lizard, the real eye-catcher is that impossibly beautiful slab of metamorphic rock.  Just look at those swirls and ripples of rock and mineral.  I want this in my living room!

Douglas Fir

My first confirmed contact with a Douglas fir - this one fecund with seed cones and Steller's jays.  Douglas firs get big - some have been recorded at more than 14 feet wide and 400 feet tall.

Mystic Mountain

As often happens when you hang with mystics - nature never ceases to amaze with unexplained marvels.  This strange cloud was definitely putting on a show for two of its biggest disciples.

The Way of the Peaceful Warrior

The way of the peaceful warrior - a perfect description for Ed - he walks this planet with so much respect for its living things.

Columbine

What's not to love about a trail with a solid wall of columbine flowers.  Breathtaking.  And loving what my i-Phone 5 can do.  

Incense Cedar

Incense cedar trees vying for space among the pines and firs and maples and oaks.  Lifer!

Fuschia

Fuschia everywhere - deftly woven into the forest floor and beckoning the many hummingbirds we saw this day.

Mountain Oak?

Lifer oak!  But which one?  Mountain?  Ed where are you?

In order to survive in a modern world - we know to take the Obligatory Selfie.

Quickly followed by the celebratory herkie at the trail's end!  How many 52 year-olds can do this!

Ghost Birds of the San Gabriel Mountains

Ice House Saddle Trail
San Gabriel Mountains
Landscapes of the Shaman Series
©July 2013

Desert Solitaire: Death Valley - Land of Illusion

Death Valley Illusion
©trryan 2011

“Men come and go, cities rise and fall, whole civilizations appear and disappear -- the earth remains, slightly modified. The earth remains, and the heartbreaking beauty where there are no hearts to break....I sometimes choose to think, no doubt perversely, that man is a dream, thought an illusion, and only rock is real. Rock and sun.” 
― Edward Abbey, Desert Solitaire: A Season in the Wilderness

An Afternoon in Death Valley (3)

Starry, Starry Night

May 2011
Newport Coast, CA

An Afternoon in Death Valley (2)

Death Valley
May 2011

The Sheltering Sky

May 2011

Afternoon in Death Valley

May 2011

Evening Shadows

Furnace Creek Ranch
Death Valley
May 2011

The Ghosts of Amargosa in Afternoon Repose

Amargosa Opera House
Death Valley Junction
May 2011

Contemplating a Date at China Ranch

China Ranch - Mojave Desert
May 2011

Rolling with the Tide

Shooting from the hip with I-Phone

at the BCS College Championship
 Rose Bowl Stadium
January 2010
 ©trryan

Sundown at the Salton Sea

Salton Sea
Imperial County, California
October, 2009

Selected as
Nature Conservancy's Photo of the Day
 11.07.09
©trryan 2009