So far I’ve only found a couple of these beautiful lilies, both were solitary plants growing near the Di Giorgio Road/ Coyote Creek trail in the Anza Borrego desert of southern California. We drove the Coyote Creek trail as far as our vehicle would allow without high centering on rocks, then hiked a distance up […]
First Cactus Flowers
February 26, 2008 by Leave a Comment
We hiked the desert floor west from the Anza Borrego Visitor Center toward the canyon that lies between Hellhole Canyon and the Palm Canyon and spotted the first blooming California Barrel Cactus! In another week the tops of these plants will be festooned with these pretty yellow flowers! More tomorrow, Gail Niebrugge, pointillism paintings
The Desert Begins to Bloom
February 25, 2008 by Leave a Comment
The best wildflower bloom at the moment in the Anza Borrego State Park is along the Henderson Canyon Road where lawn sized patches of the blue/purple Sand Verbena cling to rolling ridges punctuated with spots of the soft white Dune Primrose. Lovely to see. During our visit we heard the yelping calls of two packs […]
California Barrel Cactus
February 24, 2008 by Leave a Comment
These tall, fat, California barrel cactus swell up from absorbing moisture after a rainfall and shrivel during the dry season. When cut open they are a good source of water for the desert big horn sheep, but not for humans because the moisture inside is very alkaline and will cause a greater thirst. I love […]
Borrego Cactus Loop Trail
February 23, 2008 by Leave a Comment
Bob blends into the landscape wearing his camo jacket while hiking among the ocotillo cactus on the Cactus Loop Trail in the Anza Borrego Desert State Park, California. Although rain, wind and cool weather were forcast for today, it turned out sunny and nice and sure beats the weather in Alaska at the moment. The […]
Photographing a Waterfall at Palm Canyon Oasis
February 22, 2008 by Leave a Comment
Our son, photographer Ron Niebrugge, set up to shoot the waterfall at the oasis at the end of the Borrego Palm Canyon trail. This spot is lush and beautiful, fresh water pools among large boulders, lots of desert foliage and a grove of tall palm trees. The trail to the oasis is scattered with the […]
Borrego Palm Canyon Nature Trail
February 21, 2008 by Leave a Comment
Bob and I at the oasis at the end of the 2.6 mile Palm Canyon hiking trail. This hike follows a stream bed and is full of interesting native desert plants and boulders, the stream is often visited by bighorn sheep although we did not spot any on this trip. I plan to visit this […]
Hiking the Hellhole Canyon
February 20, 2008 by Leave a Comment
Bob and I at the Maidenhair Falls in the Hellhole Canyon of the Anza Borrego State Park, California. Our 6 mile round trip hike up the Hellhole Canyon revealed a lot of early wildflowers, and the very beginning of red blooms on the Ocotillo cactus. Near the Maidenhair Falls were several cool oasis with palm […]
Winter Research in Anza Borrego CA
February 19, 2008 by Leave a Comment
Our son, photographer Ron Niebrugge and his wife Janine join Bob and I during a day hike in the Anza Borrego State Park in southern California. We are spending time in the desert this winter anticipating a bonanza wildflower bloom due to the excellent timing of rain in the area. The plants are full of […]
Crevasse Moraine Trail Mid June
August 1, 2007 by Leave a Comment
The Crevasse Moraine Trail system during the last part of June is alive with mosquitoes! We tried the trail a week earlier and spent most of our time waving our arms and swatting the pesky insects as they formed a parade behind our heads and coated the back of our jackets, climbed up our pants […]
Summit Lake Hatcher Pass Road
July 31, 2007 by Leave a Comment
On our third hike up the Hatcher Pass road to the summit we made it all the way to Summit Lake, it was worth every minute. What a beautiful little lake. Great photo research for future paintings! It was a crystal clear morning. The road is now open but at this time of the day […]
Reed Lakes Trail Hatcher Pass 2007
July 30, 2007 by 2 Comments
About three miles down the Archangel Road in Hatcher Pass is the trailhead to Reed Lakes, Snowbird. One early morning in June we set aside two hours to hike, we were not sure how far we would get in one hour outbound. The start of the trail is spectacular with views of a chain of […]
Hike to Erie Lake
July 26, 2007 by 2 Comments
I spent another full day hiking with National Park guides to the iceberg filled Erie Lake on the Root Glacier planning to frame the lake with the glacier in the background to use as reference material for a future painting. Pilot reports said that the lake was full of water, unfortunately it drained out during […]
Hiking the Root Glacier
July 24, 2007 by Leave a Comment
Ranger Marie accompanied me with a guide on an all day hike exploring the Root Glacier and the waterfall at Donahoe Peak in the Wrangell-St. Elias National Park. It was a hot, sunny day, ice crampons worked well in the porous surface of the glacial ice. More tomorrow Gail Niebrugge, Alaska Artist
Hatcher Pass Road Hike Mid June
July 19, 2007 by 1 Comment
What a difference a few weeks makes in the seasonal changes to the landscape at Hatcher Pass, Palmer, Alaska. The last week of May we hiked the closed Hatcher Pass Road, and it was still impassable due to snow drifts. Three weeks later it is gorgeous and I’m surprised the road is still closed. What […]
Fishhook Trail Hatcher Pass
July 13, 2007 by Leave a Comment
One cool summer morning we decided to hike the Fishhook trail in Hatcher Pass, a 1,500 ft. climb to the 4,069 ft. peak of Marmot Mountain. The year round trailhead is located at Fishhook parking lot just before the Hatcher Pass Lodge. We began with low clouds shrouding the peak, and wildflowers blooming everywhere. A […]
Matanuska Peak Trail
July 8, 2007 by 2 Comments
Armed with a fuzzy map without details and some verbal discriptions from friends, we eagerly set forth one morning for our first climb on the Matanuska Peak Trail, Palmer, Alaska. We knew it would be tough, it was 4 miles to the summit and a 5670 feet climb, but we planned to go at least […]
Butte Summit View South
July 6, 2007 by Leave a Comment
Now that we know about the two Butte trails it is fun to run over there when the weather is nice and have a choice. This fine clear, sunny morning we chose the south/east trail and were rewarded with incredible views from the summit and more great research for my original painting reference files! The […]
Fern Mine Hatcher Pass
July 4, 2007 by Leave a Comment
The scenery at the Fern Mine site is gorgeous, I could have spent hours sketching and photographing. I reluctantly parted when I looked at my watch and realized how long it had taken us to hike the five miles to the mine, and we still had to hike the five miles back to the car. […]
Archangel Road Gate to Fern Mine
July 4, 2007 by 2 Comments
Near the end of the Archangel Road a sign on the gate warns “feet only.” That worked for us since we had only our feet, we continued down the trail to the Fern Mine. The Talkeetna mountains in this region are exquisite decorated with patterns of unmelted spring snow. With my camera I explored many […]
