…in pictures
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Third Runner Up for Picture of the Year: The quintessential theme of the
“Church” is “the Open Road.” This
shot typifies the feeling of distant horizons and miles left to go.
January calls us to stray relatively close to home. The Sacramento Valley offers nearly
year round riding.
The Cosumnes River Preserve is a nice destination with miles
of paved trails through bottomlands populated with migratory fowl.
February of a dry rain year: Let’s see what had been inundated with the construction of
Folsom Dam. This old bridge once
carried traffic from the El Dorado side to the Placer side.
Fourth Runner Up for Picture of the Year: Stuck in the mud,
a more recent artifact may be this slipper. One wonders the tale it has to tell.
March’s longer days invite us to revisit old friends like
the Capay Valley on SR 16 passing old farm houses…
…and, beyond where 16 intersects 20, a great old derelict
truck. There seemed to be a lot of
great old truck photos this year.
April found us exploring the Grand Canyon, having left the
bikes at home. Stunning photos of
this wonder abound, but there was this maiden sitting atop a rock wall awaiting
the sunset. Unless she shows up
every day about the same time, I’m thinking this is a pretty unique shot.
The warmth of May demands more saddle time. Taking turn-offs to places we’d passed
by saying “maybe next time” – like Fiddletown (Amador Co.)
Or revisiting places we’ve come to cherish: Malakov Diggins State
Park...
...via Edward’s Crossing…
And Dutch Flat where the Big Four contracted with Theodore
Judah (in this very house) to engineer the first rail crossing of the Sierra…
…where this critter served as my guide-about-town. (He shows everybody around town, I am told.)
June: the old stompin’ grounds north and east of Chico…
…including the near-mythic Humbug Valley…
…and circling home under Robber’s Roost. There are "Robber's Roosts" everywhere throughout the Sierra. This one is just east of Humboldt Summit (Plumas Co.)
A July family vacation to Colorado prompts me to think I
must return on two wheels.
August sees a return to Modoc County via the in-flames
Feather River Canyon…
…to visit an old friend…
…and enjoy a bit of prairie shared with horses. Nice spot in Modoc, perhaps, the most
western of all California Counties.
North from there found us crossing MacKenzie Pass outside of
Sisters, Oregon.
Staying close to home in September: the high country gold
rush era skeletal remains of Graniteville…
…returning home via the delightful Relief Hill Road. (This is the area from which rescue
parties staged their attempts of save the Donners.)
In October, we broke into Canada, creating an international
incident by having left the passport at home.
Kootenay Lake on the Selkirk Loop in BC offers some nice
sweeping curves and crystal clear views of the Canadian Rockies.
Returning over WA SR 2, the high grasslands and wheat fields
allow lovely panoramas and glimpses of days gone by including this old schoolhouse…
And (second runner up for picture of the year) this great
old Chevy.
As 2012 closed, time claimed yet
another of what Tom Brokow titled “The Greatest Generation.” The Church’s Picture of the Year is an attempt
to record the strength folks of that generation tried to pass unto us.
Most interesting this year was the discovery that the
gentle man who is subject of this photo, while clearly leaving this plane, isn’t
really all that far away.
© 2012
Church of the Open Road Press
Mr. B. Living your namesake - Brilliant indeed. Honored to have been a party to a good share of these
ReplyDeleteI love this blog post and such great photos! A wonderful way to recap the year. Thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeleteVicki