There's a national park called "Moose Island" in Moscow not far away from my apartment. This is my favourite place in the city, the place where I like to spend a day off work.
@lolien, what a great topic, you just never seem to ro run out inspiration Very nice pics, yours too @bengoshi!
My favorite place here in Bogota is the Cerro Monserrate, a mountain right in the city centre, with a small church and some tourist facilities at the summit. One can get to the top by funicular, cable car or on foot. I do the latter twice or thrice a week. The path only is only 2.300 m long (1.5 miles), but the fact that it's inclined and that you climb about 500 m to reach the top at 3,152 m or 10,341 ft make it a very good exercise. Untrained walkers easily take an hour or more to get there, and are generally supertired. What I love about it is the both the workout and the fact that it's a haven of fresh air, lots of green, and peace and quiet in the middle of the city.
I have really enjoyed seeing your favorite places! Thank you @lolien for starting this thread!
I live in Arizona and there are a great many places I love. However, my favorite is the place I have spent many hundreds of days and nights: Picketpost Mountain. It is about 35 minutes from my home. It is where I bring my telescope to observe the night sky. I love showing up early to bird and just be in the nature. It is where I asked my wife to marry me and it is where I wish my ashes to be spread.
There are a couple of places that me and my family have frequently visited while I was growing up, and both very dear to me.
The first is Rosario Beach, or as we call it, Deception Pass, about an hour and a half drive south from where I live. The first couple pictures were taken three years ago, but the rest are extremely recent, as early as September. If you walk out onto the rocks at low tide, you can see all kinds of little sea creatures--tiny fish, anemones, hermit crabs, and regular crabs too.
And the second is the Big Four Ice Caves, a really easy and local hike to the east. What's cool about these guys is that the caves are always changing--their shape and numbers are all dependent on the way the ice melts each year. You have to be really careful though and not climb over the glacier or go inside the caves, because the melting ice means avalanches and cave-ins could happen at any time.
(Aaaaaand this is the part when I shamelessly link a picture from tumblr to show what the caves are supposed to look like, because when we went last time, in AUGUST, we saw a whole lot of nothing! That summer was pathetically cold.)
My favourite place is near the lovely town of Kuldahar Ilulissat, Greenland. You see, there's this adorable place with a couple of benches at the Ilulissat Icefjord. The polar landscape is especially beautiful in Winter. I shot the photos below in October 2012. Even though the weather that day was below -20° Celsius with an biting wind to match, I still sat there for numerous hours. Depending on the setting sunlight, the icebergs aquire a mysterious golden glow. Which makes getting numb limbs totally worth it.
Hmmmm.... Well, I guess it would have to be sand dunes national park in Colorado. That was the first place we camped on my first trip out to the mountains, and I've been there twice since. Just this summer I summited the nearby Mt. Blanca, one of Colorados tallest 14ers, and one of its most hellish 14er approach trails. It's a road. That call it "extreme 4wd"
The loose, large rocks are not good for feet, but the minivan isn't about to make it up that.
Anyway, here are the actual sand dunes. Right in the middle of the Rockies lies this little Sahara, no joke. It's pretty amazing:
And here is what the mountains above look like. This is the very pass Zebulon pike went through in his expedition west. It was absolutely perfect, especially considering it was a little sun after all the rain and storm we where getting(what we get for vacationing in a desert):
All right, you get the idea. I'm posting way more than my fair share of photos anyway.
@JLee, i like star gazing too, but never have a decent equipment for it. @Nonnahswriter, those peaks are breathtaking, the shore s lovely too. @Kamigoroshi, that's really icy! I love those benches on the first picture! @meagloth: just amazing! I like panorama pictures. I will cheat and share another favourite place of mine. This is in our neighbour country, my family use to go here in every late winter to enjoy some skiing. (Murau, Kreischberg)
Earth is home. Even the Gates of Hell , if you know where that is , is beautiful. Sky at night is beautiful , if that is applicable for your geographic location. Try to stare long enough into a star that is visible enough for you , and you will sense the small differentiations of light around so you can jump onto the other stars ; would be a good trick for those who are stuck in cities. If you can enjoy long sky staring from time to time , you're good , man.
Reviving this ancient thread at the request of another poster.
Just once in my life, I have been to Tahiti. The most magical place I've ever been. Drenched with rain and color. Wild chickens roaming the jungles. Mountains cloaked in greenery and shrouded in fog... ...endless sea and sky... ...and the sunset late in the balmy night.
Great old thread. I have not been that well traveled but NC has some great scenery. Forested mountains, lakes, and waterfalls are some of my favorite. In mountinous Transylvania Co. we have lots of these goodies to visit that are so close to homebase.
This one is about 400' Another closeup at another waterfall
Someone recently died t this one, about 4 or 5 deaths every year at all these falls here, ppl getting too close.
A good hike through the undergrowth of a spruce tree forest, the smell was amazing.
Comments
I like wilderness areas a lot!
My favorite place here in Bogota is the Cerro Monserrate, a mountain right in the city centre, with a small church and some tourist facilities at the summit. One can get to the top by funicular, cable car or on foot. I do the latter twice or thrice a week. The path only is only 2.300 m long (1.5 miles), but the fact that it's inclined and that you climb about 500 m to reach the top at 3,152 m or 10,341 ft make it a very good exercise. Untrained walkers easily take an hour or more to get there, and are generally supertired.
What I love about it is the both the workout and the fact that it's a haven of fresh air, lots of green, and peace and quiet in the middle of the city.
edit: added spoiler tags
I live in Arizona and there are a great many places I love. However, my favorite is the place I have spent many hundreds of days and nights: Picketpost Mountain. It is about 35 minutes from my home. It is where I bring my telescope to observe the night sky. I love showing up early to bird and just be in the nature. It is where I asked my wife to marry me and it is where I wish my ashes to be spread.
Setting up:
Sunset:
Almost dark:
Milky Way + meteor (my avatar):
There are a couple of places that me and my family have frequently visited while I was growing up, and both very dear to me.
The first is Rosario Beach, or as we call it, Deception Pass, about an hour and a half drive south from where I live. The first couple pictures were taken three years ago, but the rest are extremely recent, as early as September. If you walk out onto the rocks at low tide, you can see all kinds of little sea creatures--tiny fish, anemones, hermit crabs, and regular crabs too.
And the second is the Big Four Ice Caves, a really easy and local hike to the east. What's cool about these guys is that the caves are always changing--their shape and numbers are all dependent on the way the ice melts each year. You have to be really careful though and not climb over the glacier or go inside the caves, because the melting ice means avalanches and cave-ins could happen at any time.
(Aaaaaand this is the part when I shamelessly link a picture from tumblr to show what the caves are supposed to look like, because when we went last time, in AUGUST, we saw a whole lot of nothing! That summer was pathetically cold.)
I shot the photos below in October 2012. Even though the weather that day was below -20° Celsius with an biting wind to match, I still sat there for numerous hours. Depending on the setting sunlight, the icebergs aquire a mysterious golden glow. Which makes getting numb limbs totally worth it.
Well, I guess it would have to be sand dunes national park in Colorado. That was the first place we camped on my first trip out to the mountains, and I've been there twice since. Just this summer I summited the nearby Mt. Blanca, one of Colorados tallest 14ers, and one of its most hellish 14er approach trails. It's a road. That call it "extreme 4wd"
The loose, large rocks are not good for feet, but the minivan isn't about to make it up that.
Anyway, here are the actual sand dunes. Right in the middle of the Rockies lies this little Sahara, no joke. It's pretty amazing:
And here is what the mountains above look like. This is the very pass Zebulon pike went through in his expedition west. It was absolutely perfect, especially considering it was a little sun after all the rain and storm we where getting(what we get for vacationing in a desert):
All right, you get the idea. I'm posting way more than my fair share of photos anyway.
I will cheat and share another favourite place of mine. This is in our neighbour country, my family use to go here in every late winter to enjoy some skiing. (Murau, Kreischberg)
And some more for the first place:
Just once in my life, I have been to Tahiti. The most magical place I've ever been. Drenched with rain and color. Wild chickens roaming the jungles. Mountains cloaked in greenery and shrouded in fog...
...endless sea and sky...
...and the sunset late in the balmy night.
This one is about 400'
Another closeup at another waterfall
Someone recently died t this one, about 4 or 5 deaths every year at all these falls here, ppl getting too close.
A good hike through the undergrowth of a spruce tree forest, the smell was amazing.
And made it to the top