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The ancient Pingyao city wall.
Pingyao is considered one of China's best-preserved ancient walled towns. (From my limited travels around China, I wholeheartedly concur.)
Pingyao's history goes back about 2,700 years. Located about 90 km (55 miles) south of Taiyuan in Shanxi (山西) province, modern-day Pingyao has around 450,000 residents. The ancient town, is enclosed within a stone wall, 10 meters (31 feet) high and slightly more than 6 kilometers (3.6 miles) with 6 gates: north, lower east, upper east, south, upper west, and lower west, that was built in 1370.
Within these walls live 50,000 people. Also to be found are a number of religious institutions including temples - the Confucian temple with the oldest surviving building in Pingyao (Dacheng Hall from 1163 A.D.), the Taoist City God Temple, Taoist Qingxu Guan (temple), and a Catholic church, among others.
Besides the various religious sites, there are museums to the banking industry such as the Rishengchang Museum. (The first draft bank in China was located here in Pingyao), a few art museums, and -- centrally located -- a city tower on Nan Dajie.
Pingyao also has many guesthouses (I chose Harmony Guesthouse on Nan Dajie near the south gate and highly recommend it to anyone who goes to Pingyao), restaurants (western and local Pingyao cuisine), teahouses, bars, massage parlors, and souvenir shops.
By day, the panoramic view of Pingyao is slightly reminiscent of the imperial city scenes at the beginning of Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (perhaps with a creative imagination). As evening comes, the red lanterns begin to dominate the landscape. Alleys, doorways, the main roads, and courtyards all find themselves awash in a red glow.
In short, Pingyao has plenty to offer by day or night. These images are just a small reflection, through my eyes, of Pingyao's charms.
The Lower School hosted a Family Welcome Back Picnic in the Fieldhouse on the Lower School campus on September 11. After a relaxing summer, returning Ross families reunited and welcomed new families who have joined the Ross community for the first time. Students were so happy to see their fellow classmates once again, giving each other big hugs, catching up on their time away and playing in the gym.
The Lower Salmon River from Vinegar Creek to the confluence with the Snake River features 112 miles of Class II-IV whitewater in one of the deepest canyons in the United States. Much of the 53 miles of the river, from White Bird downstream to the confluence of the Snake and Salmon Rivers, is roadless and accessible only by boat. The Lower Salmon is a suitable river for future Wild and Scenic River designation. The BLM recreation sites with provide access to the Lower Salmon are Island Bar, Lucile, Old Lucile, Shorts Bar, Slate Creek, Skookumchuck, White Bird, Hammer Creek and Pine Bar. Be sure to check those sites for more information and amenities for boat ramps or camping. For river maps, authorized outfitters and shuttle services, visit www.blm.gov/visit/lower-salmon-river.
St Margaret, Lower Halstow, Kent
The ancient church of a pretty marshland village just to the east of the Medway towns. The church sits beside Low Halstow creek across to the wharf of the former brickworks, now home to a Thames barge.
My great-great-grandfather George Waters was baptised in this church on 4th February 1849. The font he was baptised in was a large cement dum, but during the First World War it was shattered by the noise of an exploding bomb to reveal an exquisite lead font with figures in relief.
The church is as pretty inside and out, despite the rather alarming east window, a WWI memorial.
Rough Canyon after the abrupt left turn, the tall red cliffs on the left are where the canyon wren could usually be found.
(tech note: this one's a real bastard love child. It's a composite, all multi-shot HDR, part painting and the rest reality)
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Rough Canyon was a favorite when we lived in the area. We hiked it in all seasons; in winter we'd see wildcat tracks, spring brought water to the falls and huge newts, summer inspired the canyon wren to sing, fall brought additional color in the form of yellow leaves which looked especially good with the redrock canyon walls as backdrop.
The upper part of the canyon is relatively tight and high, petroglyphs can be found on the walls near the entrance. About a third of the way down the canyon makes an abrupt left and widens considerably.
Ross Lower School celebrated the United Nations International Day of
Peace Day on September 21 by forming a human peace sign on the soccer
field. The day was dedicated to peace-related activities featuring art
projects, discussions, songs and games.
Coeur d’Alene District, Cottonwood Field Office
The Lower Salmon River from Vinegar Creek to the confluence with the Snake River features 112 miles of Class II-IV whitewater in one of the deepest canyons in the United States. Much of the 53 miles of the river, from White Bird downstream to the confluence of the Snake and Salmon Rivers, is roadless and accessible only by boat. The Lower Salmon is a suitable river for future Wild and Scenic River designation. The BLM recreation sites with provide access to the Lower Salmon are Island Bar, Lucile, Old Lucile, Shorts Bar, Slate Creek, Skookumchuck, White Bird, Hammer Creek and Pine Bar. Be sure to check those sites for more information and amenities for boat ramps or camping. For river maps, authorized outfitters and shuttle services, visit www.blm.gov/visit/lower-salmon-river.
The lower Antelope Canyon is located in Page, Arizona and they let you photograph by yourself for two to two 1/2 hours.
The Drakensberg (Afrikaans: Drakensberge, Dutch: Drakensbergen, "the Dragon Mountains") is the highest mountain range in Southern Africa, rising to 3,482 metres (11,424 ft) in height. In Zulu, it is referred to as uKhahlamba ("barrier of spears"), and in Sesotho as Maluti (also spelled Maloti). Its geological history lends it a distinctive character amongst the mountain ranges of the world. Geologically, the range resembles the Simien Mountains of Ethiopia.
During the Pre-Cambrian Era, volcanic eruptions in the area resulted in lava covering large sections of the Southern African sub-continent. In the Palaeozoic Era, wind and water deposited thick layers of shale, mudstone and sandstone, now known as the Karoo Supergroup, over the ancient primary rock. When Gondwanaland began to break up 200 million years ago, the resultant forces caused the extrusion of magma, known as Drakensberg lava, through fissures and cracks in the Earth's surface. In the Drakensberg region it capped the sedimentary rock formations with layers of solid basalt up to 1400 m thick. Weathering reduced the range's size, and caused the plateau to recede. In modern times, continued erosion has exposed some of the underlying sediment.
Appearance
The mountains are capped by a layer of basalt approximately 1,400 meters thick, with sandstone lower down, resulting in a combination of steep-sided blocks and pinnacles.
Composition
The majority of the range is basalt, as a result of continental upheaval and volcanic activity in the Pre-Cambrian era. Many of the lava flows are characterized by amygdaloidal zones. Many of the primary minerals within the basalts have been subjected to varying degrees of deuteric alteration which has led to the formation of clay, as well as chlorite and zeolite to a lesser extent. Some interstitial glass has also broken down to form clay. These secondary minerals, together with zeolites which occur notably as amygdaloidal fillings, mean that many of the basalts break down rapidly on exposure. The breakdown results from the expansion which occurs when the clay minerals swell on absorption of water.
Highest peaks
The highest peak is Thabana Ntlenyana, at 3,482 metres (11,424 ft). Other notable peaks include Mafadi at 3,450 m, Makoaneng at 3,416 m, Njesuthi at 3,408 m, Champagne Castle at 3,377 m, Giant's Castle at 3,315 m, Ben Macdhui at 3,001 m, and Popple Peak at 3331m, all of these are in the area bordering on Lesotho. Another popular area for hikers is Cathedral Peak. North of Lesotho the range becomes lower and less rugged until entering Mpumalanga where the quartzite mountains of the Transvaal Drakensberg are loftier and more broken and form the eastern rim of the Transvaal Basin, the Blyde River Canyon lying within this stretch. The geology of this section is the same as and continuous with that of the Magaliesberg.
Ecology
Little Saddle
The high treeless peaks of the Drakensberg (from 2,500 m upwards) have been described by the World Wildlife Fund as the Drakensberg alti-montane grasslands and woodlands ecoregion. These steep slopes are the most southerly high mountains in Africa, and being further from the equator provide cooler habitats at lower elevations than most mountain ranges on the continent. The high rainfall generates many mountain streams and rivers, including the sources of the Orange River, southern Africa's longest, and the Tugela River. These mountains also have the world's second-highest waterfall, the Tugela Falls (Thukela Falls), which has a total drop of 947 metres. The rivers that run from the Drakensberg are an essential resource for South Africa's economy, providing water for the industrial provinces of Mpumalanga and Gauteng, which contains the city of Johannesburg. The climate is wet and cool at the high altitudes, which experience snowfall in winter.
Meanwhile the grassy lower slopes (from 1,800 to 2,500 m) of the Drakensberg in Swaziland, South Africa and Lesotho constitute the Drakensberg Montane Grassland, Woodland, and Forest.
SOURCE: WIKIPEDIA
- www.kevin-palmer.com - This is the route to get to the historic cave entrance at Jewel Cave National Monument.
Lower Pine Ridge, east-southeast of Rock River, 41.71891 -105.90910, Albany County, Wyoming, 3 Jun 2021. Allium textile, Gutierrezia sarothrae, Oreocarya thyrsiflora, Lithospermum incisum, Boechera consanguinea, Lepidium, Opuntia cf. fragilis, Oenothera suffrutescens, Pinus scopulorum, Plantago patagonica, Aristida purpurea, Bromus tectorum, Elymus trachycaulus trachycaulus, Poa fendleriana, Vulpia octoflora, Cyrtorhyncha ranunculina, Cercocarpus montanus, Comandra umbellata, Viola nuttallii, etc.