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Forest Pictures!!

Sheilawisz

Queen of Titania
Moderator
This thread should have been posted several hours ago, but my Internet connection suddenly collapsed, my cat was driving me crazy and after that I had to go to the supermarket... Anyway, now it's time and I want to share my forest pictures with you.

I call it Raven Forest. It's just a thirty minutes drive from my city, the place is wonderful and I love hanging out there with my friends =)

These pictures were taken yesterday, during a visit to one of the forest lakes with my parents:

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First picture: That is part of the hiking and camping areas nearby Cedral lake.

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Second picture: Camping area, a little higher than the previous image. You cannot see the lake in this picture because of the trees. Elevation: 9200 feet above sea level.

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Third: A view of part of Cedral lake, image taken during a brief period of cloudy sky. If you look carefully, you can see one of the zip lines that cross the lake.

More pictures coming tomorrow!!
 

Asterisk

Troubadour
Gorgeous! It must have been so inspiring for you to be there. Forests (especially the ones by rivers and lakes) drive me crazy with the urge to write. I think it drives my family crazy too. XD
 

Sheilawisz

Queen of Titania
Moderator
@Reaver: No problem!! I have loads of more pictures to share.

@ThinkerX: Well, the truth is that Cedral lake has been fashioned as a tourist attraction. That's why it seems so tidy, hardly any underbrush as you have realized... other parts of the forest are wilder, full of underbrush and huge rocks everywhere.

@Asterisk: That's right, you understand how I feel about forests!! They inspire me a lot, and I always have forests in my Fantasy worlds.

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Another view of the lake, taken from the higher camping areas. Do you see that big rock in the distance? I have been up there.

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Here you can see a trail, the lake and also the roof of a little shop. They sell food, beer and other curious things, also renting boats if you want to row in the lake.

More pictures coming soon...
 

Sheilawisz

Queen of Titania
Moderator
Finally, the Zip Line video... Flying across Cedral Lake:

[video=youtube_share;iPkAE9mc8VQ]http://youtu.be/iPkAE9mc8VQ[/video]
 

Chilari

Staff
Moderator
Wow, those are stunning. It looks like such a peaceful place to spend an afternoon. Why are the trees painted white at the bottom though?

Also that is a wicked long zipwire. Very cool going right across the lake like that.
 

Sheilawisz

Queen of Titania
Moderator
Thanks for your comments, Chilari =)

Well, not all the trees are painted white at the bottom, just a few of them. That's not paint really, but a special substance that is used to repel pests like ants and other creatures so they will not cause damage to the trees.

They say that Cedral Lake's zip line is the longest in the entire national park, but I am not sure about that. Dad heard somewhere that they have a project to build an even longer zip line, and if that is true, I cannot wait to take a ride in it too!

The place is perfect for spending the afternoon, but it gets bloody cold at night...
 

ThinkerX

Myth Weaver
The zipline ride looked interesting. My brothers and I tried making one a few times when we were growing up, but we could never get the wire taunt enough - always sagged in the middle. Instead we made tiny 'tree forts' and had some long rope and tire swings, one or two of which took a person way out over the lake. (Homestead is on the shores of a large lake.

And yes, Sheila, of course it would get cold up there at night, that high in the mountains, even in the warm clime you dwell in. Around here, the mountain tops have snow on them even in mid summer...and...hmmm...call it 100 kilometers or so to the south and east of me is an actual ice sheet, a left over from the last ice age. Places like that are cold and windy all the time.
 

Sheilawisz

Queen of Titania
Moderator
ThinkerX, I would really love to see some pictures of Alaska if you want to share, Alaska is facinating.

That's part of the magic of high altitude. My city is a bit lower than the forest (about 8000' here) but that's enough to have cold nights all year, and even freezing nights in Winter even though the latitude here is only 20ºN. The constant wind is part of life too, and I am so used to it now that I would miss the wind a lot if I moved somewhere else.

Do you happen to live nearby Lake Iliamna??
 

ThinkerX

Myth Weaver
ThinkerX, I would really love to see some pictures of Alaska if you want to share, Alaska is facinating.

PM me an email address. I got a few picks I took around here, mostly winter ones.

That's part of the magic of high altitude. My city is a bit lower than the forest (about 8000' here) but that's enough to have cold nights all year, and even freezing nights in Winter even though the latitude here is only 20ºN. The constant wind is part of life too, and I am so used to it now that I would miss the wind a lot if I moved somewhere else.

Figured you were a ways up in the mountains. Didn't know it was THAT high, though, thought maybe 3000 - 4000 feet...1000 - 1300 meters, maybe.

Do you happen to live nearby Lake Iliamna??

East of there. Western Kenai Peninsula, in the town of that name. Folks homestead is about 20 miles not quite due north.

I want to go to Alaska.

Not sure why...but come on up. You probably don't want to visit in the winter, though. Winters here are long, cold, and dark. A foot plus (30 -100 centimeters) of snow on the ground from mid November to mid April, with odd shots of snow before and after. This year, the snowpack hung around until mid May. Temps...+20F to +40F (0C give or take a few degrees with a very high chance of snow (annoying) or rain (very dangerous) at the warm end, down to weeks on end of -15F to -25F (whatever that comes out to in C) and generally clear skies. And DARK - a lot of the time, it is still completely dark at 9:30 in the morning and dark again by 2:30 or 3 in the afternoon.

Which is when and why I write, among other things, as I get to be outdoors in this. Used to do winter stuff (skiing, snow machining, ect), but anymore that'd land me in traction.

Maybe we need to have a Mythic Scribes meetup in Alaska

That could be interesting.
 
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ThinkerX

Myth Weaver
I'd never survive. Winters in Manitoba are bad enough; it's not uncommon to get down to -30 C, or even -40 with windchill. >_<

Actually COLDER than my corner of Alaska...though about on a par with Fairbanks.

But Manitoba is great plains country, and as the saying goes...

'nothing between you and the north pole but a couple of barbed wire fences...and they're fraying'.
 
Love the pics! Must be great hiking there! For me Forests and fantasy are very closely related. Whenever i'm in a forest i feel like i could be in another world. I have made sure to have a forested country in my world, and writing there is always a joy. BTW, Have you ever gone out on the lake?
 
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Sheilawisz

Queen of Titania
Moderator
My Fantasy worlds are always full of forests, Druid.

There is something very strange in that forest up there. My friend Angelica believes that there are things like gnomes or who knows what, and the energy there is so powerful that, when we return to the city, it feels like a travel between different worlds.

In answer to your question, I have been rowing in the lake sometimes. It's not allowed to swim (maybe because the water is cold?) but anyway, after watching River Monsters I would never ever swim in any river or lake!!

More forest pictures coming soon...
 

Sheilawisz

Queen of Titania
Moderator
I have visited at last the Las Ventanas valley of the forest, enjoying its beauty in a one-day travel with my parents yesterday.

The valley (and almost all of the forest) was full of fog, a perfect opportunity to take many pictures. I was exploring the camping and rock climbing areas, but my real intention was to climb all the way up to the Las Ventanas summit, which is perhaps the highest point in the entire national park...

Some pictures to share with you:

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The first picture shows part of the camping grounds, while the two others were taken during my trek up to the higher parts of the valley. The cold, mysterious fog all around me added a magical effect... I was sure that Frodo and Gandalf were about to show up any moment!!

Pictures of the West Summit coming tomorrow =)
 

Sparkie

Auror
I get a feeling of inspiration just looking at these pics. I can't imagine what it's like to actually walk in that forest. Thanks for sharing!
 

Sheilawisz

Queen of Titania
Moderator
Thanks for your comment, Sparkie =)

I can tell you that most of the forest has a very positive, friendly atmosphere. There are other parts that give you a creepy feeling, or so says one of my friends... There are stories about dark magic rituals and stuff taking place at certain parts, but I have never been to those places.

Today, the pictures of the West Summit:

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First picture- After a long walk between the rocky formations, finally the West Summit becomes visible amid the magical fog.

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The view to the South from the West Summit. Do you see the small hills and those white spots in the distance? That's my city.

My Altimeter's reading at the West Summit: 3070 meters- 10073'.

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View towards the North, which lets you see the other rocks, fog between the trees below, the forest road and also part of the valley's camping area.

East Summit pictures coming very soon!!
 
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