Skywatch Friday - Fargo, North Dakota

Sunrise at Hector International Airport - Fargo, North Dakota

Linking to Skywatch Friday - a weekly meme of skywatching enthusiasts from around the globe.

Skywatch Friday - St. Patrick's Day Sunrise

St. Patrick's Day Sunrise - Perham, Minnesota

Linking to Skywatch Friday - a weekly meme of skywatching enthusiasts.

Skywatch Friday - Sun Dogs Up Close

It was dark when I left for my morning drive to the airport a couple of weekends ago. After all, I was on a hunt for a giant snowman.

I watched the sun come up as I headed southeast towards Minneapolis. It was a cold and clear morning, perfect conditions for sun dogs. What I wasn't expecting was to see one literally in front of my eyes at ground level as I rounded a corner. It was in front of the trees and buildings. Oh, what a wonderous sight!

Okay, so maybe there are one or two good things about living in cold weather environments. But I am happy that today is the first day of Spring! Hooray!!

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Skywatch Friday - Winter Sunset

Most of the fish houses were off of the frozen lake when these photos were taken a few weekends ago. The lake is totally devoid of them now that the March 3rd deadline has come and gone. Hopefully Spring is not far behind!

Detroit Lakes, Minnesota

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Skywatch Friday - Fishing at Sunset

Just a month and few days ago, the lake was still open to fishing from boats. Quite the change from today where I see about ten fish houses set up on the now frozen water.

Fishing At Sunset - Detroit Lake, Minnesota

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Skywatch Friday - SOOC Sunset

Straight out of the camera - yesterday's sunset.

Do you see the giant goose flying south for the Winter?

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Skywatch Friday - Burning Sky

Sort of a drive-by shot only I was the passenger in a moving vehicle.

Burning Sky in the Morning - Okanogan County, Washington

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Skywatch Friday - Morning Drive

Drives to work in the morning are much nicer when your day starts off like this.

Perham, Minnesota Sunrise

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Glacier National Park - Part 4

Leaving Logan Pass is when the Going-to-the-Sun Road got white-knuckle scary. It would be especially true if you are traveling from west to east! Luckily for me, I was not on that outside edge looking down. This section of the the road is why oversize vehicles are not permitted. I hate to think about meeting some big motorhome when trying to navigate a tight turn. The posted speed limit is 25 MPH for a reason!

A brief history:

Going-to-the-Sun Road was the first to carry visitors by the lakes, glaciers, alpine peaks, and meadows of Glacier National Park. The 50-mile route, which connected the east and west sides of the park and crossed the Continental Divide at Logan Pass, was surveyed in 1918, and work began in 1921. Progress was slow, however, due to limited and erratic congressional funding and the difficulties of working under extreme mountainous conditions. The road was completed in the early 1930s. (from the National Park Service website.)

Building the Granite Creek Retaining Wall - From the National Park Service website

Not only would I not have wanted to be on the work crew building the central section of the Going-to-the-Sun Road, I simply would not want to be on the snow removal crew either that works to open the road each Spring. Unh-uh. You aren't getting me up there. Period. End of discussion.

Winding, Narrow, Scary, White-Knuckle, You Name It!

Please Don't Fall, Rocks

I think this is referred to as the Garden Wall. Note the Going-to-the-Sun Road near the bottom of the photo.

More of Mother Nature's Beauty

Natural "Amphitheater"

Unknown

All too soon we were down in the valley where the views were hidden by the trees. Our journey isn't over yet, however...

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Skywatch Friday - Big Sky Country

It's been awhile since I've posted to Skywatch, but driving through Big Sky country inspired me. They don't call it that for nothing!



Eastern Side of the Rocky Mountains in Montana

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Skywatch Friday - Red Sky in the Morn

Vibrant! That's the word that comes to mind with this Minnesota sunrise from earlier this year.

Perham, Minnesota Sunrise

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Skywatch Friday - Big Pine Sunset

Sunset over a frozen Big Pine Lake - Perham, Minnesota

Skywatch Friday - December Morning

December Sunrise in the Methow Valley

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Skywatch Friday - North Cascade Panorama

A panorama I put together of the view from Slate Peak. This one is definitely worth enlarging.

North Cascades Panorama

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Skywatch Friday - Chill Out!

Just six months ago, this was the vista before me...high up in the mountains above the Methow Valley in Washington state. So high up that we were above the cloud layer blanketing the valley floor. Since our temps lately have been in the 90's, I thought I would look back on a snowy February day and chill out for a bit. Before long, the snow will start falling at higher elevations in the mountains and we'll be back to scenes like this.

High Above the Methow Valley

Looking Down Valley Towards Winthrop

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Where There's Fire, There's Smoke

There is a large wildfire burning about thirty miles south of me, currently about 6,400 acres. The smoke came up the Methow Valley and made for a beautiful sunrise the other morning. The winds finally changed direction and by afternoon, the skies were clear again. The firefighters are slowly gaining the upper hand on the fire.

Smoky Sunrise

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SkyWatch Friday - Peekaboo

Passing by Rainy Pass high up in the North Cascade mountains on a beautiful sunny morning, this was the view out of my windshield as I drove west on Highway 20.

This was a stop and get out of the car moment

Clouds are clearing somewhat

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Skywatch Friday - Better Hurry

Look closely and you will see three paragliders. They were descending near the Beebe Bridge outside of Chelan, Washington. Behind them was a storm cell that was pushing through the area northwest of where they were coming down. A couple of hours after we passed through, there were a few lightning-caused wildfires reported in that vicinity. I don't know about you, but I wouldn't be caught up in the sky with that kind of weather. We had thunderstorm warnings most of the weekend so it shouldn't have been a surprise.

Better Hurry!

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SkyWatch Friday - Ground Level

Methow Valley State Airport - Winthrop, WA

Looking north from the airport towards the mountains on a cloudy evening.

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