[Larry]

[Karen]

was the spookiest place I've ever been. A solo hike a few years ago to a truly gorgeous but sinister place. It was a cloudy, overcast day and there was no one else on the trail. I got to the lake and my first impression was that it was a beautiful spot indeed but I felt immediately uneasy and spooked. I felt like I was being watched. I felt like the place didn't want me there. I couldn't get out of there fast enough. Karen PS The kind of terrain that creeps me out is that second-growth type forest of lodgepole pines where the trees grow so close together they are in the shade, there is no sun, no vegetation, not even a hint of sky. I feel like I can't breathe and I hike through that terrain as fast as I can with the feeling that "something" or "someone" is right behind me. Karen

[Karen]

is near the outlet of Lake Isobel. Last time I was there it had rained, the ground was damp but there was a sleeping bag laying out near the outlet stream that was DRY and nobody else around. I didn't care for THAT and was glad others were with me. Also, it was the WRONG kind of sleeping bag if you know what I mean -- one of those thin, car-camping sleeping bags, not the kind we'd use outdoors. I also get the creeps sometimes when I run into those big blue tarps rolled up behind bushes in some remote place. Another time (in the Teanaway) we were on a faint trail and came to a hunters camp where someone had nailed the skull of a cow or a deer to a tree but that wasn't as creepy as that abandoned sleeping bag at the lake. Go figure. Karen

[Larry]

[Karen]

bizarre photos along as they happen. In the meantime, here is a sane one!! Karen

yellow and orange tulips VG

[Larry]

[El Puma]

On the subject of Tulips (unmodified), here's my latest requisition from the garden. Nikon 5000, manual focus, natural light, 5MP reduced via Photoshop to 20KB. I thought it almost looked like a closeup of some of Karen's tulips - great pix by the way, I like the perception of space!

sR-Tulip

[Karen]

here's another sane photo. El Puma, I like your tulip too. Nice shot. By the way anyone who is interested in photographing the flowers should go BEFORE April 1, the official opening date of the Skagit Tulip Festival. I went yesterday. Karen PS Larry, thanks for the compliment on my photos. I think some of my photographs ARE good but I've seen many photos on this site that are much better than mine, at least in my opinion.

Alone

[Karen]

I dream in color. Karen

WILD Flowers

[Larry]

El Puma: Very nice shot! You homed in on the anthers nicely! Striking photo. Karen: I see blue! You dream in blue? I dream in colors too, but usually the colors are muted.

[Larry]

STUNNING photos, Ulrich!

[Mike]

This is my first post on these forums (although I've been lurking around for some time), and just wanted to share my picture too! I did the same thing to a small waterfall in the Tahoma area of Mt. Rainier. Photoshopped it all in a big red bloom. Just wanted to share!

Old Growth Forest Waterfall (in Red)

[redeye]

I like it.

[Slugman]

The creepiest place I've been to is Anderson Glacier in the Olympics. I was on my first-ever solo backpack, and I took a dayhike up from Anderson Pass to the glacier. It was a weekday in September, totally isolated with a feeling of loneliness and desolation. It was cloudy with fog rolling in and out, around the peaks. The glacier seemed like a giant white corpse, and the dead lake surrounded by jumbled rocks reminded me of Tolkien's descriptions of Mordor! I imagined that if anything lived in that lake, then it was some sort of bleached-white sea monster with dead flesh hanging off of it. I had to scramble across a very large and difficult boulder field to reach the glacier, and I kept thinking about what if I broke my leg out there and had to spend the night, at least, waiting for the monster to come and devour me. Also the fog was thickening, and I felt like I would get lost in the boulder field and wander around hopelessly. I wouldn't have gone for a swim in that lake for a million dollars! I can still, about 8 years later, get a chill just by thinking about it.

[polarbear]

I don't think I've ever been to a creepy or spooky place in the mountains. I have been to places I'd lable forboding in that there was almost too much of a sense of solitude. For some reaons there is a difference between hiking through a flowery meadow, or ascending a ridge versus staring down into a vast closed valley when you are alone.