r/NatureIsFuckingLit • u/SingingSkyPhoto • 13h ago
🔥Mushrooms and Waterfalls
Mushrooms and Waterfalls
My forest walk this morning began and ended with more of a standard landscape image that I have been able to make lately. The smoke is much reduced now and I walked a trail with more open views than the dense forests I have been spending time in. I love this view of Window Rock and its neighbor to the south, Palace Butte. If you look closely, you can see Twin Falls dropping down the cliffs.
A constant stream of clouds flowed over the mountains, changing the scene minute by minute. I quickly grabbed photo before a thicker mass of clouds moved in. Now in a Lodgepole Pine forest, The ground was covered in pine needle duff. There are few scents I enjoy more than this. Right along the trail I noticed a single stem of a young Sticky Geranium plant that may very well have sprung up this year. It was just a few inches tall and made a perfect subject for a minimalist image.
The trail became more rocky now as I passed through a segment of trail closer to the steep slopes of Flanders Mountain. Much of the rock here is volcanic in nature, with the characteristic pockmarked surface. I found an interesting line of puffy little mushrooms here and made a few focus-stacked images.
After that I arrived at a small bowl-shaped talus field where I know Pika reside. I heard a few of their alarm calls, but did not see one. I did find a few interesting scenes to make photos of here, including what I believe may be a few Yarrow leaves protruding from the moss, one of which was turning red.
I was approaching Grotto Falls from the lesser used trail, and was surprised to find just one family there enjoying the scenery. I set up my tripod on a log jam and waited for them to meander out of the scene. I was blessed with 15 minutes by myself here. I kind of liked the sort of tunnel view created by the tall trees lining the South Fork of Hyalite Creek and stood there, balancing on wet logs, until the clouds and Sun lined up just right for a photo.
