Sunday, June 08, 2008

Alpine Glow, Reflected Light

It's a busy week in our household, as it's the last week of school this year for the boys. They are busy with final exams, presenting senior projects, and saying good-bye to graduating friends. Rylan graduates this week from community college. Friends and family will be arriving soon to help him celebrate this milestone in his education. Many of Brandon's friends are graduating from the university as well, but he has one more year before it's his turn to wear the cap and gown again. I'm not sure how much time there will be for blogging this week, but I'll see how things go around here.

Yesterday we went to the cabin and were surprised to see that the highest points across the ridge from our cabin had fresh, new snow! It was chilly and damp, but fortunately there wasn't any new snow at our place. The two snowbanks that had been blocking the road on the way up are gone! Yippee!


Right before sundown we were blessed by the beautiful lighting on the eastern mountain ridge as the sun set behind the mountain to the right. I believe this phenomena is called 'alpine glow'.

ALPINE GLOW: A sequence of colours seen on snow-covered mountain tops at sunset, sometimes called alpenglow or (German) alpenglüh. The true alpine glow begins when the Sun is still above the horizon. Mountain tops that are illuminated by the Sun become yellow, pink, reddish, and finally purple.


At first the ridge of sunlight beaming on the mountain ridge was a stripe in the middle, but as the sun went down, the light rose higher up the ridge and became more intense.


The camera does not do justice to the complete feeling of being enveloped in color and light that we felt as we observed this from our cabin front yard. From left to right, and everywhere in between, the sky was glorious! How amazing it is to view the reflection of the sunset!


Looking towards the fire tower that is on the table-like rock in the distance. The light becomes diluted and fades as the sun sinks farther into the western sky.

Dusk surrounds the cabin. The greenery is pretty squished and looks dull in the pending darkness. It's interesting how the snow both squashed and protects everything under it.

And. . .Brent thinks it's 'interesting' how his new woodshed became such a safe and cozy haven for a pack-rat family during the winter! He thought he had all the cracks filled with foam and caulking, but there must be more. From the woodshed storeroom came sounds of crashing and bumping around as Brent tried fruitlessly to get the cute little critters to run out the door. Such cute Mickey Mice (truly, they are darling with their beady eyes and huge ears) --- they decided to stay put for now. But, I can assure you, they have met their match!


The end of a quiet and beautiful day. God's colors were written on mountain peaks. Darkness fell --- and it was SO dark! There's something about a forest at night. . .dark and cozy. . or a little unnerving. I'm still deciding. . .

12 comments:

  1. What beautiful photographs of God's Great Earth! Thank you for sharing. I can't believe you are talking about newly fallen snow on the mountaintops as we are sweltering in unbearable heat for the second straight day now, and we were working our booth at an outdoor festival. Wish I were at your cabin now.... even with the visiting critters!
    Nancy

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  2. Thank you so much for sharing! It is so hot here and I have been watching the temps out where you are with great envy. The mountains are just beautiful. Several years ago my children visited us in Seattle in May. We went to Mt. Rainier and were shocked at how many venues were still blocked with snow!

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  3. Anonymous4:36 PM

    Beautiful! It's amazing, as I sit here in 97 degree Georgia weather, that there is still snow in places!
    You're making me want to go there RIGHT NOW!

    Congrats to you and your son, too!

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  4. Breathtaking beauty! Isn't God's creation incredible? I have enjoyed the glory of Alpine Glow in other parts of our Northwest. I always want to sing 'How Great Thou Art' and I often do. Thank you for sharing your beautiful photos with us.

    Congratulations to Rylan. We joined our Rylan on Saturday to watch him pitch his Little League game.

    Blessings to you, my friend.
    ~Adrienne~

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  5. I just love pics from your cabin. The scenery is so beautiful. I would have a hard time leaving!

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  6. Such a dreamy place. It seems so peaceful and quiet in the pictures.

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  7. What a treat to see "Alpine Glow," which I had never even heard of before. You must have felt so blessed.

    (I didn't know that there was such a thing as a "real" packrat either. Goodness! The things I learn here. I just called someone one of those this morning and now I can say that it was a good thing Mickey Mouse ears and all.)

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  8. Such a beautiful phenomenon! I've never seen anything like it. But I am a believer in the amazing beauty of cabin sunsets. Ours in Maine can't be beat! I'm sure that's true for you, too.

    Good luck as things settle down at home after graduations. I'll be interested to see what you decide to do with yourself =) God bless...

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  9. Thankyou for yoru beautiful pictures! It's awesome up there :-)

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  10. How lovely! So neat to hear of your boy's successes too. May God continue to lead them.

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  11. Umm...I can see snow falling on the vicinity of your cabin right now.

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  12. Beautiful photos of the alpenglow. The subtle changes of light and the more obvious ones like this can be truly wonderful.

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