John & Anne Wiley

2011/04/05

Other Way

Filed under: Flying,Happiness,Has Photos,Random,SB Region — John @ 00:44

Looking the other way (South) from near Gibraltar Reservoir, the view across the Santa Ynez Mountains toward Santa Barbara was beautiful in the glow of approaching sunset.

6689 Peak to Pier

6689 Peak to Pier

I breathed another deep sigh looking at that just now. While flying, the rock formations caught my eye of course so I flew a bit closer and snapped this.

6691 Rock Crest

6691 Rock Crest

Any idea how many times I’d need to fly in a 10 mile radius of KSBA to get tired of it? Keep in mind, I’ve probably done it close to 1,000 times already. 🙂

ps-just realized I hadn’t posted any Gibraltar Dam pix here (several on Photo Page & Edhat links in the right column here). So here’s a closer view of the spillway just for you.

6678 Spill Veil

6678 Spill Veil

Looks like the builders left some of the original rock in place, and the veil splits on the second spillway from the right.

2011/04/03

Tooth Tour

Filed under: Flying,Happiness,Has Photos,Nature,Random,SB Region — John @ 00:51

White. That’s what we see out the window today. Much of the day it was white past a couple of blocks away. Right now I can dimly make out a nearby hill. Not once have we seen the mountains. All the happier then, that we decided to take a quick sunset flight up to look at the hills. As you may recall, one of my fav features in our view is “Tooth Rock” aka Cathedral Peak. From here it looks very much like an incisor or eye tooth, sticking up from a saddle going up to the ridge near La Cumbre Peak.

6667 Tooth Territory

6667 Tooth Territory

Above it how it looked in context with the surrounding territory as we approached. Yesterday it turned out we flew directly toward it from the airport because nothing else seemed to draw us. There was already haze forming below about 2,000 feet, so the hills called to us as we climbed high enough to see that they were still in relatively clear air. We’d also wanted to see if there was much snow still on the back country peaks (there isn’t). There are probably other pix from the flight that I’ll share here in the next few days (especially if it stays foggy), but I wanted to share this closer shot of Tooth Rock because although it’s a little blurry due to the fading light and the cave at the base only partly shows in the frame, I really like this angle.

6668 Tooth Essence

6668 Tooth Essence

It really shows the tooth essence I get looking at it from home. It’s actually a relatively thin slab of stone rather than a conical shape as the angle of the light here seems to show, so I like how this retains that illusion while adding the texture and detail missing from back here on the ground (if we could see it today!).

2011/04/02

Quiet Slice

Filed under: Flying,Happiness,Has Photos,Inner World,Nature,Random,SB Region — John @ 00:48

Next to the bustling Bacara resort where frantic zillionaires go (or send/take wives/girlfriends) to chill is a narrow slice of quiet nature from pre-herstory. In those times, the loudest sound you’d hear would be a bird call mingling with the gentle surf and breeze rustling in the trees. Though this is surrounded on three sides by resort, refinery and railroad (with freeway beyond), a slice of quiet somehow emerges as you stroll across the red bridge. Pausing to notice the foliage and wildlife, a calm descends.

6660 Nature Slice

6660 Nature Slice

After that deep breath you might notice the warm drone of a small plane coasting along offshore catching a glimpse back in time. Perhaps you hear the oil tender boat pounding through the waves dashing out toward an offshore platform. Or you might continue walking West to pause at the edge of the resort and watch the free raptor show. Whatever comes next is transformed by that moment. We’ve done this several times, and loved being up close to owls and hawks taken there by trainers to chase away seagulls and pigeons. Seeing them circle, hover, perch and glide, and noting the reactions of all the other birds. Also calming somehow.

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