Saturday, October 03, 2009

Ken Burns PBS national parks series - last part



I believe photos of Mt. Rainier show up in everyone of the episodes of PBS's series The National Parks: America's Best Idea.

I had seen Mt. Rainier a number of times from the city of Seattle before I ever visited the park.  On a clear day it appears to be floating in the air.  I was surprised by the distance we had to drive before we reached the park.  It looked closer from Seattle.

Our visit was before we had a digital camera (ok because the initial digital cameras weren't that good) so I had to scan these pictures.  
I learned from this Ken Burns series that John Muir had visited Mt. Rainier before it became a national park.  Going to this place on horseback would be a completely different experience.




We hiked over to a waterfall and this bridge made from one of the massive trees was part of the trail.  Coming from Illinois, these trees were bigger than anything I had ever seen.  I know there are even bigger ones in California.
It's great place with wildlife, wild flowers, waterfalls, refreshing alpine air, and a year-round snow capped mountain.




The national parks and monuments are not the only thing covered in this documentary.  Maybe more interesting is the stories of the people involved with the various parks and monuments.


(note for others using blogger and the new editor - I've been having problem with the spacing between paragraphs - anyone notice this too?)

8 comments:

Fantastic Forrest said...

Mt. Rainier is awesome. Like you, I'm originally from Illinois. Living near the Cascade Mountains now, I'm continually amazed at how beautiful they are. Love your shots!

Lisa said...

Truly a beauty and you captured it.

Bill Lisleman said...

@FF thanks for the comment and for prompting me to scan those pictures.

@ocean girl - thanks I hope you clicked on the pictures because it does enlarge it a little.

Robin Easton said...

I lived in Alaska very briefly a long time ago and is it so beautiful. I think it would have been an AMAZING adventure to go there "waaaay back when" on horse back. Or even on foot.

I often felt like I was born in the wrong generation and wish I'd been born when the earth was wilder and unexplored.

The photos here are magnificent. They brought back some good memories.

Robin Easton said...

Oh dear!!! LMFO! Bizarro week is still in full force for me. I just realized I got your post mixed up with one someone else sent right after I opened your site. I did not comment on their's but did want to comment on yours. And I actually read your whole post and love the part about going there on horse back. EXCEPT their post was about Alaska and Mt Denali. So by the time your comment box opened I had moved your Mt. Rainier to Alaska!! LOLOL!!

Ooooh man, it has been one of those months! I kid you not! Please forgive my mental spasms.

Also, unless I'd read it I would never have known the photos were scanned. They are soooo clear.

I once camped in the mountains outside Seattle and just LOVE the area. It so beautiful there.

Thank you my dear friend for having a sense of humor, patience and a good heart.

Hugs,
Robin

Bill Lisleman said...

@robin - thanks for the laugh - I just thought I probably mentioned Alaska somewhere. I've never been to Alaska and now I feel like I should start heading that way.

Born in the wrong generation? Interesting thought exercise but you wouldn't be blogging and sharing those laughs as easily as you do now.
thanks

Siv said...

Hi,
great pictures in this very great blog of yours, thanks for sharing!
take care, best regards,
Siv

Bill Lisleman said...

@siv thanks for sharing such a nice comment here

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