A Hike Fraught with Twists, Turns and Beauty

Click to view slideshow.

I am hiking up West Mountain and the unthinkable occurs, one of my cameras dies   I thought at first it was the battery but it soon became clear it was the camera.  I turned around and headed home at peace with the problem, thankful I took out the 4 yr extended warranty.    The little monster was eating batteries, so broad landscapes will be on hold for at least 10 days.  It is time to refocus my view of landscapes as I did once before during a couple of weeks in 2010. “Beautiful Birds of West and Music Mountains” “Woodpeckers, Chickadees and Who is the Rock Stacker?“

This left me with one camera so after I arranged for repair service with Sony I headed back outside to console myself with photographing Wildflowers.  As readers of my blog may already know I love Wildflowers, so my mission was a wonderful way to spend the rest of my morning.  While I searched the grass for tiny blooms I heard a noise above me, I was not alone.  Slowly stepping back I turned to look up and find the source of the scraping sound.  Peering down at me was a sweet Squirrel whose lovely color was transitioning from winter silver to spring rust.

As I was moving through the park searching for spring flowers when a Cedar Waxwing landed on a Tree in front of me. Soon it was moving off with other birds and I decided to try and follow them.  The truth, I lost ground pretty fast so I ended up on Bath House Row in the park going to see if a favorite Tree had blossomed.

When I reached the Yellow Spanish Style Hot Springs National Park Administration Building  I could see a the large Saucer Magnolia Tree blossoms were beginning to open.  The freeze and snow last weak changed the outer petals from a pink to a pale beige gold.  At first I felt sad to have lost the chance to capture perfect pink blossoms.  When my mind adjusted to the different colors I realized Nature had presented me with a new version of beautiful.  Gold accented the pink making the shape and definition of each blossom a unique floral sculpture.  Spring has arrived in Hot Springs, Arkansas.

Less than a block from my goal I glanced to my side and saw two lovely rows of blossoming Cherry Trees.  To see the spectacular Cherry Blossoms visit my last blog entry “Beautiful Cherry Blossoms Herald An Early Spring“.  You will also see the beautiful wings waiting for me in the blossoms.

Much Love to ALL!
Lee

Filed under: Hot Springs National Park Tagged: Arkansas Birds, Arkansas Wildlife, Birds-eye Speedwell, Carolina Chickadee, Cedar Waxwing, Cherry Blossoms, Cherry Tree, Dandelion, Henbit, Hot Springs National Park, Magnolia, Magnolia Tree, Nature Blog, Nature Photography, Photo Blog, Photography, purple deadnettle, Saucer Magnolia, Squirrel, Wildflowers

Lee Hiller owner of Hike Our Planet is the most followed Nature Photographer on Twitter (@LeeHillerLondon) with over 25,000 followers. To find out why CLICK HERE.

Read more at Lee Hiller’s Hike Our Planet