From Flam to Vatnahalsen, Norway -- June 2018

Our port stop in Flam gave us the opportunity to get acquainted with this lovely town and to ride the railway up the valley to Valnahalsen. Here are a few of the pictures from the day we spent here.

 Early morning on the fjord as we came into Flam. The water was so smooth and calm in the early morning.

A couple of view of the town of Flam from our Holland America cruise liner.

View of Flam from the ship.

View up the Flam river valley with the waterfall Brekkefossen in the distance.

Flam river with view down valley toward modern port. The village shown has the old Flam church in the center.

Traveling knee to knee on the Flam railway toward Vatnahalsen.

Views of the wildflowers around Vatnahalsen.

Vatnahalsen Railway Station.

Vatnahalsen Hotell where we stopped for waffles before returning to Flam.

 The deck and pool outside the Vatnahalsen Hotell.

Another view from the Vatnahalsen Railway Station.

Footbridge along path I explored near Vatnahalsen.

Outcrops of banded gneiss along path.

The train stopped for a few minutes at Kjosfossen, a spectacular waterfall with a free fall of 305 feet. My camera got spotted with mist in the bottom photo.

Wildflowers, waterfalls and switchbacks along the route back to Flam.

Brekkefossen near Flam on our way back to the harbor.

Views along Sognefjorden as we headed back out and on to Amsterdam. The top photo has a small horn at the head of a U-shaped glacial valley.

Sights of the Old Clark Ranch, Montana

A few more pictures of our recent trip to Montana. These are from the area around my brother-in-law's ranch. You can view more pictures of Montana on these earlier posts

• Birds at the Clark Ranch
• Mountains of Montana

The old wagon wheel.

Log fence along roadway.

One of the penstemon/beardtongue family members that likes fairly dry locations. I'm not sure of the species. Maybe you can figure it out from this Montana government web site.

Looks like a sluice box used in placer mining on wheels.

The Big Hole River in the backyard.

Unfortunately, the prickly pear cacti were not in bloom yet.

The old wagon is missing a couple of key parts.

 Sagebrush by the river.

The stairway to heaven. Access from the house down to the Big Hole River.

Beautiful Montana!

On my way to some Geological Society of America Meetings in Bozeman, Montana last week, I took the drive from Dillon to Twin Bridges to Whitehall to Bozeman on the way there. And on the way back I drove the road from Bozeman to Norris to Ennis to Virginia City and then back to Twin Bridges. The scenery was spectacular. I can see why the people of Montana love their state. The map below is courtesy of Arrow Real Estate, Ennis, Montana.

Our trip in Montana began along I-15 as we stopped at the rest stop near Lima. The sky was clouding over but I took this shot of the Lima Peaks.

I wondered what the Lima Peaks might look like on a nice sunny day with just a few clouds, so I Photoshopped the sky into this picture. You can see what the sky really looked like in the photo above.

After stopping in Twin Bridges to drop my wife off at her brother's ranch, I headed north toward I-90 and the town of Whitehall. Thunderclouds were gathering, but the sun was leaking through as I passed this scenic spot.

After the meetings in Bozeman, I drove west along Highway 84 towards Norris. The ranches were beautiful, particularly this one with the Spanish Peaks covered in snow as a backdrop.

Even the barbed wire seemed to need a photo.

A bit farther along Highway 84 near the western edge of Gallatin Valley. The farms and mountains were incredibly beautiful.

In Bozeman Pass, I stopped to look at the rocks. I am a geologists, after all. These Precambrian biotite schists were folded and faulted into this interesting pattern.

Coming down out of the pass, I found the Madison Valley to be equally lovely. The Madison Range is the backdrop on east side of the valley.

 On the west side of the valley, the ranches sit at the foot of the Tobacco Root Mountains.

Looking down from Highway 287 towards Ennis in the valley and the Madison Range in the back.

Another view back across the Madison Valley, with Sphinx Mountain in about the center of the photo.

A close up of Sphinx Mountain taken with my zoom lens. I can see why it was called Sphinx Mountain.

Another ranch situated at the foot of the Tobacco Root Mountains near Alder.

A close-up of the Tobacco Root Mountains in the view above.

Central Utah Scenery

Cliff edge near Hell's Backbone, Utah.


Red Canyon, near Bryce Canyon National Park after a fall shower.


Cross-bedded sandstones along Highway 12 near Boulder, Utah.


Cedar Breaks National Monument in October.


Aspens on south end of Aquarius Plateau, Utah.


Morning light at Cedar Breaks National Monument.


Desert rain storm at lower Blues viewpoint near Henrieville, Utah.


Aspen woods, central Utah.


View of Boulder Mountain from Hell's Backbone, near Escalante, Utah.


Scenery near Hell's Backbone, near Escalante, Utah.


Fall flow from Utah's largest spring, Mammoth Spring near Cedar Breaks Natl Mon