September --a glorious month!!

Welcome to JOYFUL REFLECTIONS. Also welcome to SEPTEMBER. This is a picture taken in September one year when we visited PIKES PEAK, Colorado. Hope you have a month filled with JOY and LOVE. God's Blessings to YOU.

Saturday, March 6, 2010

Waterfalls at Mt. Magazine, AR


Be sure and check yesterday's post (click HERE) if you missed it. Today, I am showing some of the waterfalls we saw on the road up the mountain toward Mt. Magazine. Obviously, there was no hoarfrost here since we weren't high enough in elevation. But--we saw more water coming over the falls than we had seen on several previous trips. Above is Jestice Creek Cascades. George took this gorgeous picture --after he bushwhacked down toward the bottom. More pictures are below!






As you can tell, I stood at the top of the cascades --watching as George hiked down. He took this picture of me ---while I watched him from above!!!






OKAY---since George took my picture, I took his!! You can see where he bushwhacked down to get a great picture --like the one at the top!!!






This beautiful waterfall is named Hardy Falls. I love the way these waterfalls flow down the mountain through all of the rocks. And I enjoy seeing the green moss near the bottom. SO pretty!!!!






This waterfall is named High Falls ---and this time, George had to bushwhack UP the mountain to get a better picture. That is ICE at the bottom of the picture. This falls also 'cascaded' down the mountain. I love the rock formation.






I enjoyed getting up close and personal with Jestice Creek Falls (which was on the other side of the road and above Jestice Creek Cascades pictured at the top).






I took this picture of George standing near the bottom of Hardy Falls. You can tell that the sun was shining brightly here.





Finally, here is a picture of Jestice Creek Falls. As you know, we love all kinds of waterfalls --whether they are big or small. Some of these smaller ones are always favorites for sure, due to the mountain terrain and general area.

Hope you enjoyed seeing some of the Mt. Magazine area waterfalls. We drove to Hendersonville yesterday to check on George's parents... We found them in good spirits although both of them have had winter colds. Mom will be 90 in May and Dad will be 98.

Hope you have a great weekend.
Hugs,

Friday, March 5, 2010

Hoarfrost at Mt. Magazine, AR


On another day during our wonderful Arkansas trip, we drove west from Mt. Nebo to visit Mt. Magazine. Mt. Magazine is the highest mountain in Arkansas and is now a state park with gorgeous overlooks, hiking trails, great waterfalls, a lodge with restaurant, cabins, etc. Mt. Magazine towers over the Petit Jean River Valley to the south, and the Arkansas River Valley to the north. We have been there several times and enjoy its beauty each and every time.

Someone asked how Mt. Magazine got its name---so I did some research. French explorers in the 1600's thought that the mountain looked like a BARN (French word for barn is magasin) from a distance. (Personally, I never think of a mountain looking like a barn---but what do I know???? ha)

This year, we found a fabulous surprise when we got to the top of the mountain. There was hoarfrost all over the trees ---and it was a gorgeous sight to behold. I looked up some information about hoarfrost and here are some of the definitions and information I found:
-Frozen dew that forms a white coating on a surface; also called white frost;
-Ice Crystals forming a white deposit;
-The deposition of hoarfrost is similar to the process by which dew is formed, except that the temperature of the frosted object must be below freezing. It forms when air with a dew point below freezing is brought to saturation by cooling.

Today, I'll share some pictures of the hoarfrost that we took on that gorgeous day at Mt. Magazine. Above is a picture of the trees that we saw---as we got to the top of the mountain that day. Can you imagine how excited we were to see the hoarfrost!! Below are more.





It was interesting to see the hoarfrost clinging to some things --and not touching other things.





The rock shelves and bluffs on Mt. Magazine fascinate me. I read that over time sediment was formed. Then the sediment particles were compacted and glued together to form sandstones, siltstones and shale. Aren't the rocks interesting? I love the lichen which forms the colors also.






Instead of looking at the view of the valley below, I was more interested in taking pictures of the hoarfrost on the mountain!!! As you can tell, the frost was only above a certain elevation.





Here's a close-up picture of the hoarfrost ---which was clinging to only one side of each stem.






We walked down a long set of steps to the overlook ---to get more pictures. Ask George just how COLD it was at that overlook!!!! (Our coats were in the car!!! Duh!)






Here's another close-up picture of some of the bluffs on that mountain. You can also see some icicles toward the left side.





I like this picture showing the 'white-capped' trees ---against that beautiful blue sky.

Mt. Nebo, Mt. Magazine and Petit Jean are all terrific state parks---and we highly recommend them if you are ever in that area.

Hugs,