Cactus Flower

A flowering cactus on Fatman's Loop Trail in east Flagstaff. Not sure the species of cactus it is though. Any ideas?....maybe hedgehog cactus?

Yucca

This is part of a yucca plant that was just off of Fatman's Loop Trail. I'm not sure if they are flowers or seed pods or what.

End of a Long Day

Although it's brewed in Fort Collins, CO, New Belgium Fat Tire beer is a Flagstaff favorite. You can find it in pretty much any bar and restaurant in town. It's so popular, in fact, that New Belgium included Flagstaff as one of the several cities that would be the location for the Tour de Fat Bike Festival in 2007. Unfortunately, Flagstaff wont be one of the festivals stops this year. :*-(

Fat Tire just happens to be one of my favorites too and makes for a great way to end a long day. :-)

Fat Man's Loop

This is probably one of the few photos I have ever posted that I am actually in. I hiked Fatman's Loop Trail this morning and set the camera on a rock and set the timer to get this photo of me enjoying the view. East Flagstaff can be seen in the background and part of a cinder cone slowly being cut away as they mine it for cinder gravel. Fatman's Loop Trail is perfect for a easy/moderate day hike. It's about 2 miles long and the last part of the loop gives some great views of east Flagstaff and the cinder cone field to the east of the city. Click here for more photos from the trail, but if you keep coming back to this site, you'll be seeing most of them in upcoming posts. :-)

Rarity

This is something that you don't see everyday... a hummingbird at the feeder while it's snowing! We got about 3 inches of snow here in Flagstaff on Friday. Can you believe it?! Snow on May 23rd in ARIZONA!!! Anyway, we had already hung our hummingbird feeder up a few weeks ago and this brave little guy was out in the worst of it feeding on our deck. Never thought I would ever see this. Crazy!

Looking North

I took this photo a while back, but just never posted it for some reason. It's looking north from the Sky Bridge at the hospital at which I work. The views from there are amazing. Looking south over looks the entire city of Flagstaff. Stay tuned for that photo in the future.

Dead Tree in Sepia

OK, so I may have gone a little crazy with the photo editing on this one, but I was going for a macabre feel with this photo and I think I got it. What do you think? This was taken near Buffalo Park in Flagstaff. Although not apparent in the photo, it was actually a beautiful day with almost perfect weather.

Running

This photo was taken on Red Mountain Trail about 45 minutes northwest of Flagstaff. Since my wife is training for the Imogene Pass Race in September, she ran the trail, while I hiked it and took photos. This part of the trail is very near the center of Red Mountain, which has been eroded into thousands of rock formations called hoodoos.

Hidden Baby

Another photo from McMillan Mesa. I saw this dried-up baby prickly pear cactus near the trail and had to get a photo. All over the mesa there were bunches of cactus enjoying the large amount of sun the mesa gets. Most of them looked to be in better shape than this little guy.

Peaks from the Mesa

This is a view of the San Francisco Peaks from McMillan Mesa in the the heart of Flagstaff. Even though the mesa is located in the middle of town, it's situated so that from most parts of the mesa it's not possible to see any city buildings or homes. You have the feeling that you are in the wilderness even when you are only blocks from town. Amazing! You can see the fresh blanket of snow on the mountain that we got on Monday.

Spring

Hi Folks! I realize it's been a while since I posted a photo and I apologize. My wife and I have been doing some traveling the last couple weeks (for a wedding and then just for fun) and I was also pretty sick for a few days and didn't feel quite up to posting. Again, sorry. But I hope most of you have stuck with me and will keep coming to my site. Anyway, on to the post for today.

So as everyone knows, Spring has arrived to most parts of the US and it is also true here in Flagstaff. Today, my wife and I took a short hike on a trail on McMillan Mesa right in the center of Flagstaff. I took this photo of a Wholeleaf Indian Paintbrush, which was growing just off the trail. This species of flower is pretty common around here and adds a lot of color to the countryside.

Although today is a typical Spring day, two days ago, that was most certainly not the case. The photo below was taken on Monday from my deck before I left for work. That morning we got 3 inches of snow in town and 8-10 in the outlying areas. I guess you never quite know what the weather will do in this town!

Red Mountain Trail 2300a

Red Mountain Trail 2300a, originally uploaded by dustinjblodgett.

A stone formation on Red Mountain Trail northwest of Flagstaff, Arizona.

Shining Through

I took this on Bell Trail, about 2 miles from the trailhead. I caught the sun coming through a juniper tree just as it started to set over the valley carved by Wet Beaver Creek. The dusty path to the right is Bell Trail.

Equipped

All my backpacking equipment laid out before I left for my backpacking trip to Bell Trail. I brought everything except the cat, of course!

A Place to Sit

This is a bench in Heritage Square in downtown Flagstaff. Don't ask me what animal that is supposed to be because I have no idea.

Lesson in DoF

When I first got my new Canon Digital Rebel XTi, I was playing around with the depth of field and took these two photos. DoF is related to the aperture size (or f-number) of the camera, the smaller the aperture size the wider the DoF and the larger the aperture the shallower the DoF. Recently, some friends and family were asking me about depth of field, so I thought I would post these two photos as an example.

This is an example of wide depth of field, where all objects are in focus from near to far.



This is an example of shallow depth of field, where all but one area of the photo is blurred.

A special thanks goes to our cat, Imara, for letting me use her toy in this example. :-)

Flowering Hedgehog

Another photo taken during a backpacking trip on Bell Trail. This is the flower of the hedgehog cactus. Thanks to the website of George and Audrey DeLange for help in identifying this wildflower.

Cathedral by the Stream

This photo was taken at Crescent Moon Picnic Area in Sedona, Arizona. The creek in the foreground is Oak Creek and the red rock formation in the background is called Cathedral Rock and is one of the most famous of the Sedona Red Rock formations.

Caught in the Act

I caught this bee "fiddling around" in this pink desert wildflower during a camping trip on Bell Trail, near Camp Verde, Arizona. If anyone can help me identify this flower, it would be much appreciated.

Stackable

My wife and I went to Crescent Moon Picnic Area in Sedona the other day, and came across this area of covered in little piles of stacked river rocks. We have seen this before in that same area and it's said that people will often create these stacks near a Vortex. Click here to learn more about Sedona's Vortices.

Red, White and Blue

The daytime moon and a red sandstone cliff on Bell Trail near Camp Verde, Arizona.

Spring

Spring is in the air, as evidenced by this dandylion flower I captured in Sedona, AZ.

Lack There Of

I apologize for the lack of postings the last few days. I have been working lots of hours at the hospital this week and have not had time to post anything. Unfortunately, this will continue for the next couples days as well, but please tune back in on the weekend when my time is my own again. Have a great week everyone.

Dustin

Stay Off

This sign is posted near the top of Agassiz Peak where the SkyRide lets people off. Although it warns that no hiking is allowed, I believe there is a trail that passes over the back side of the mountain on its way to the top of Humphreys Peak.

Color of Fall

Fall brings color to Flagstaff. In the Fall, the aspen trees around Flagstaff turn red, orange and yellow. It's the perfect time to visit this city.

Kachina

Kachina Trail in black & white. Probably one of my favorite trails in Flagstaff, Kachina Trail starts at about 9000 ft above sea level at the Arizona Snowbowl and passes through stands of aspen and ponderosa pine trees as well as extensive fern fields.

From the Bottom

A macro shot the trunk of a birch tree in the Fall in Flagstaff, Arizona.

From the Top

The view from (almost) the top of Agassiz Peak. In the summer, you can take the SkyRide at the Arizona Snowbowl, which is basically a ski-lift that takes you to the top of Agassiz Peak. It's a very relaxing ride, if you're not afraid of heights. I definitely recommend going on it if you visit Flagstaff in the summer. The volcanic cinder cone seen in the distance is called Kendrick Peak, I believe.

Setting Sun

I took this photo several months ago during an evening trip to the Grand Canyon. Because the Canyon is so close my wife and I got up there periodically just to enjoy the sunset.

Repetition

The repeating pattern on our guest bed frame caught my eye.