Matterhorn - Monte Cervino

Materhorn - Monte Cervino

Spectacular Switzerland! This alpine country in central Europe is stunningly beautiful. Sheer cliffs and deep gorges define the landscape while meticulous attention to detail define the character of its people and Swiss society. It's a clean and orderly place, a pleasure to enjoy.

Matterhorn

Among the many mountains that make up the Alps, majestic Matterhorn is a national landmark and an international icon. It is also known as Monte Cervino and Mont Cervin. Kudos to the Swiss for keeping it pristine while accessible. The secret to the area's unspoiled appearance is that cars are off limit for miles around. The best way to experience the peak's stark glory is to drive to Taesch from which only rail is available to the next town. The train from Taesch to Zermatt is modern but from Zermatt to the last stop in Gornergrat the train is vintage open air cogwheel rail.  All trains are electric, clean, and quiet.

Breakfast At Gornergrat

Once in Gornergrat the view, if not clouded over, is spellbinding. This is the final destination for most everyone. The vast majority board the train back to Zermat after enjoying the restaurant at the top of the world, or simply taking in the fantastic view.

Matterhorn Zen Duckies

At this elevation glaciers flow at their geological speed undisturbed by rumors of global warming while man-made duckies are erected and torn down at the relative speed of lightning. Like in a giant Japanese garden with sculptures witnessing the passage of time these zen duckies partake in the ebb and flow of the ages.

Alpine Cross

Wandering further afield away from this small outpost of civilization reveals a rugged, untamed terrain. The occasional sign of man seems like a futile imposition on a cold, foreign world. A lonely alpine cross, for example, looks more like a forlorn attempt than a symbol of redemption, its incongruous setting a surreal expression of humanity.

It's not an entirely hostile environment and in spite of the thin air and cold rock life has a foothold here, however precarious.

Alpine Flower

Yellow alpine flowers bloom impossibly out of the crushed granite.

Blue Flowers of Matterhorn

Blue flower accents punctuate the alpine landscape against exhilarating backdrops while snow blankets distant mountains with pure white clouds floating around in a piercing blue sky.

Matterhorn Ruin

Traces of failed attempts at domesticating this otherwise pristine environment crop up along the trail down to the next train station. On a fine day some may meander station to station ever mindful that the weather may change in an instant. Hiking is moderately hard and an abandoned stone structure, now partially standing in ruins, attests to a difficult land with one rock wall still holding a window into the alps.

Window Into the Alps

Those brave and optimistic souls who know the area venture to fish the few glacial lakes that pool along the way, if not for catching fish, then for experiencing a quiet, peaceful afternoon.

Fishing Lake Matterhorn

It is these lakes gracing monumental mountains with their soft reflection and reassurance of life that make hiking the Alps an inclusive, hospitable experience. The next train stop, though far, is a welcome bittersweet gateway from wilderness back to civilization.

Lakeside Matterhorn

Sagrada Familia Cathedral

Cathedral Spires

La Sagrada Familia in Barcelona, Spain is Antoni Gaudi's masterpiece and it is still being built. It is unique among cathedrals. On the outside the style is hard to categorize, seemingly in disarray because of the continuous construction, but what is immediately apparent is that traditional cathedral expressions can't describe it properly. At first glance it might look ugly. Further scrutiny reveals a flow reminiscent of sand castles dreamed by a precocious child and poured from buckets of wet sand into fantastical shapes. 

New Testament scenes dot the facade like three dimensional dioramas: 

Angel Gabriel Appears to Mary

Angel Gabriel's annunciation to Mary, 

Killing Innocents

the Killing of Innocents, 

Jesus - The Last Day

Jesus bound, and 

Jesus is Crucified

the Crucifixion, to name a few.

Spiral Staircase Descending

One of the spires is accessible via an elevator and descending down the spiral stair case reveals

Gargoyle

Barcelona is heavily guarded by gargoyles.

The cathedral's organic nature is inviting and it's interior inspiring. A kaleidoscope of colors illuminates all and a hushed sense of awe permeates the space:

Blue Stained-glass Window

stained-glass windows cast filtered light onto new sandstone and the immensity of the space modulates 

Organ Pipes

quiet expressions of worship. 

Layered Balconies

Platonic shapes and simple geometries help to create an understandable, user-friendly place conducive to childlike wonder.

Nave and Apse

The Nave and Apse is a promenade of otherworldly columns evoking images of space, both alien and familiar. The colonnade leading to the altar seemingly expands and grows in magnitude halfway there with four columns taking up the bulk of the ornate ceiling. Yet each column is impossibly thin looking more like palm trees than stone. 

Gospel Supported Ceiling

The four columns representing each of the Gospels are discretely named Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, while the ceiling hints of a heavenly host and a multitude of chambers.

The Ascension

The Altar represents the Ascension. Gaudi re-imagined the iconography of the Crucifixion as a vehicle for Heavenly Ascension with Christ appearing to use the Cross while rising to the light above, focusing on a destination, real and divine; slender columns culminate in a brilliant apex on high: on Earth, as it is in Heaven. If a work of Art is to transcend the profane and usher in the sacred, this accomplishes it, however briefly.

Jesus Rising

YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK PHOTO IMPRESSIONS

Getting to Yellowstone National Park is an expedition.  As in days of yore when going somewhere meant careful planning and long time travel the trip to Yellowstone is rewarding, satisfying the need to get away from the hustle of the modernity.

The park is huge.  Covering almost 3,500 square miles, Yellowstone is about the size of Puerto Rico, or Crete; and probably more isolated; certainly less populated.  The best way to get there is by flying to Bozeman, Montana and driving alongside the Gallatin River to the North Gate just past Gardiner, MT.

The Roosevelt Arch to the Park is a relic of days when stone masons would labor to erect a rustic monument in the middle nowhere just to make a proud civic statement.

Driving there is long. but it goes fast.  There is so much to see.  The landscape is vintage Western.  It is mountainous, forested, and overflowing with streams, rivers, and lakes; the wildlife plentiful and primordial.

Before even entering the park you will likely see eagles, deer, elk, moose, and the ubiquitous crows.
The air is freshly pine scented cool and tingly with oxygen.

Occasionally, moose will venture quite close the road and a bull moose may be spotted chomping on riverbed weeds like so much watercress salad.  It is a sight to behold as your eyes are inundated by the sheer massiveness of the antlered beast.  Moose are not funny-looking deer, instead they are bigger and much more dangerous; especially a calving cow, charging with the least provocation.  But on a warm sunny day with a mouthful of wild veggies, a bull is secure in his size and will rather enjoy some gastronomical bliss than attack curious onlookers.

Going inside, the park swallows you into its primeval entrails: it's a new world.  It is pristine and mostly untouched but for a few incredibly spaced, far apart attractions.   This is no amusement park, this is no Disneyland.  The park's sheer size dilutes the steady influx of travelers.  Mere tourists seldom venture into the wilderness, but when they do, they are like exotic birds blown in by a storm.

 

Native birds are making their homes in local trees sheltering and breeding, preying and feeding; ensuring their survival.  Bald Eagles nesting are not uncommon and nobody messes with them, not even the next great bird of prey, the Horned Owl.

Relatively close to the North gate sits the smallest of settlements, Mammoth Hot Springs Hotel and cabins, as well as park training facilities. At  Mammoth Hot Springs the landmark minerals deposited on the rocks by steaming hot eruptions congeal into monumental formations quite similar to stalagmites found in caverns.

Crystalline mineral formations are colorful and appear to be flowing with rich caramel undertones making them seem incredibly yummy.   There are also crystalline white terraces evoking a sense of palatial marble steps in their pure white brilliance.  A Mammoth Hot Springs sunset is particularly compelling with its soft warm pastel colors.

Deep inside the park lay a multitude of boiling pools steaming away like pots of boiling water.  Each hot spring bubbles to a different tune and blushes to a different shade of blue, yellow, or red.  Some have clear hot water and others are stinky colorful "paint pots" wafting sulfurous barrages every which way assailing the nostrils with their mineral fumes.

So much geothermal activity: steaming, hissing, boiling, and bubbling; all the sulfurous emanations and arrested-in-time rock flows impress all the senses with the sudden realization that this is a volcanic caldera so huge and old that nature has been disguising the fact that this is a Super Volcano.  Colorful hot spring geysers abound.

Walking on a boiling cauldron is invigorating and somehow energizing to life all around, including thermal spring-fed grasses.

It is easy to visualize ancient Earth as a couple of wolves traipse past on the horizon eyeing you in their surreptitious way as they vanish into the woods.  Then imagine how they might survive the cold winters.

Or, seeing a grizzly bear foraging on the mountain side a few hundred yards away.  No, it's not Yogi Bear, or Boo Boo.  This is one scary fur ball and you best keep moving right along.  Which is why there are no pictures!

Then there are the Bison.  Of the millions that roamed the North American continent as late as the 1900 only one small bison herd survives naturally in Yellowstone National Park. Bison are magnificent and in their grandeur tolerant of onlookers - not too close - content to graze peacefully as gawking visitors snap countless pictures in perfect awe.  An annoyed bull bison will display his feelings, a warning best heeded.

Bison lives unfold without meddling people just fine.  Their food source plentiful; their energy needs met by the many geothermal pools all during the frigid winters.

Yellowstone Lake, an amoeba shaped body of water central to the parks ecosystem is a favorite with fishermen for its catch and release trout.   Around the lake are situated the biggest facilities such as Grant Village and Old Faithful Inn is relatively close.  The latter is closer to the geyser.  In either case, staying at the park and visiting the lake like it was your own back yard is an entirely different experience.

Old Faithful Geyser is the most famous geothermal feature in the US.  So named because it erupts roughly every 90 minutes shooting between 4,000 to 8,000 gallons of boiling water up to 180 feet.  It is a desolate undertaking oblivious to mankind.  A friendly reminder that the Earth was here before us and will continue long after we're gone.

There are 13 major and 17 minor waterfalls and of the thirty, Lower Yellowstone Falls is one of the most amazing geological features in the park in what's called the Little Grand Canyon. It is as unexpected as it is inaccessible.  The roadside view is magnificent and the scale so grandiose that pictures cannot compare.

Another amazing waterfall is Tower Falls and measuring 132 feet it is probably the most spectacular.  It is easily viewed from the road, and somehow seems more delicate.

The most incredible hot spring is the park is the Grand Prismatic Spring.  It is the largest hot spring in the US and the third largest in the world, right after two from New Zealand.  Nearly 370 feet in diameter and 160 feet deep, it holds about 560 gallons of 160 F degree water coming straight out of the Earth's depths and reflects light in the most beautiful turquoise end of the spectrum.

Aquatic cyanobacteria give the Grand Spring its signature prismatic colors: yellow, green, orange, red, and brown.  It is simply gorgeous.  If you like sulfur, it will smell great too.

At the Grand Prismatic Spring it is plain to see how Yellowstone Park got its name when looking around all you see is yellow in its various permutations and shades.

Leaving Yellowstone is the hardest part.  Once there, you may never want to leave.  But when you do, exiting toward the small town of West Yellowstone is probably the easiest.  It is the quickest the same way that saying goodbye is easiest when done quickly; lest you linger.   And it will always seem too soon; abruptly.

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Art prints of these and more are available at Amazon.

Please visit Romagosa Fine Arts

Thank you,

Juan Romagosa

LAKE TAHOE PHOTO IMPRESSIONS

Starting early Spring driving around Lake Tahoe is delightful.  The shoreline is extensive and rich in aquatic treasures.  Each stop is filled with surprises.  Not only is each locale exquisite in a primordial sort of way, but also the views offer luxurious vistas.  Snow capped mountains and pine forests worthy of Hallmark calendars greet the eye.

Straddling California and Nevada like and opalescent jewel, the lake is the second deepest lake in the US, in fact one of the deepest lakes in the world.  Like Lake Baikal in Siberia, it is pure and crystalline, escaping the worst ravages of modernization.

Approaching the lake from California on Highway 50 reveals magnificent views and the climb down the Sierra Nevada mountain is vertiginous with distant water beckoning from below.  With signature white beaches on the left, encircling the lake soon brings you to South Lake Tahoe, the most urban of settlements in the  region. The small city sits on the California/Nevada state border.  Cross the stop light and you're in Casino country.  The Nevada side of South Lake Tahoe is glitzy with neon and a handful of high-rise hotels, and that's it: a self contained dot on the map with a very small foot print; a testament to high density urban growth, a good argument against sprawl.

Moving along, the Nevada side of the lake disappears for a bit, hidden by state forest.  Soon, the lake reappears where it is particularly stunning in its unspoiled, less traveled state.

Long stretches of lake shore are yours for the taking.  As in taking in the views, taking pictures, and better yet, taking that lunch out of the cooler and enjoying a cool refreshing break.  The best place to picnic is the sand is Sand Harbor Beach.

As the name implies there is plenty of sand to stretch out and roam.

Huge granite boulders were dropped on the North Eastern stretch by the last of the glaciers receding North forever.

With something for everyone: lazy sand, accessible paths for people with disabilities or for easy strolling, and with rocks for climbing by children of every age, including the young at heart, this spot is probably one of the best on the lake.

On to the North shore.  It is cold in the Spring with wind picking up speed across the open water to the South and the snowy mountains to the North exhaling their cold breath down your neck.  But a sunny crisp cold day is invigorating.

Tahoe locals claim "the West is the Best".  Meaning the West shore on the California side.  It may be.  There are numerous beaches, harbors, and cabins, with easy access to ski resorts, which in the summer make excellent hiking destinations.

Best of all, there is glorious camping.  Sugar Pine State Park is gorgeous and offers biking, hiking, swimming, and great spots to pitch a tent.  The park links wooded mountains to the shore as it spans both sides of the highway.

You might stumble onto some woodland surprises while exploring a trail, or two... and discover rare woodland flowers.

The lake is undoubtedly the main attraction.  If you do stay and camp, Sugar Pines State Beach at dusk is yours: the casual tourist is gone.  The lake is beautifully accessible.  Walk a brisk couple of miles from the campsite or drive on the park road and the water greets you with its blue immensity, soon it will be lapping at your feet as it gently splashes on the sandy shore.

The sand is amazingly pure and clean having recently evolved from the smallest of pebbles.  And there's plenty of it, wide and far.  A ribbon of sand invites sinking steps along the way, enticing bare feet to feel it's granular texture.  So seduced, your feet will instantly reward you with a tingly cold sensation so tactile they might as well be hands walking.
Nature permeates everything and gazing across that blue expanse heightens your awareness and soothes the soul.
Strolling, gamboling, walking, or gazing at the water and sky shifting first to yellow, then red and finally to purple sliding to grey is a magical time for playing with giant logs and making driftwood tepees.

Nightfall reveals intricate sand patterns and water channels previously unnoticed, now highlighted by waning light and tenuous reflections.

Heading home you may think the lake has offered all it has, but driving back reveals one last parting surprise.  It is a triple whammy: three treats in one. Small pine-studded Fannette Island lies nestled in secluded jewel-shaped Emerald  Bay, which is in turn fed by Eagles Fall as the water cascades and tumbles down,  This visual trinity emerges from around the bend; island and bay far below the road and waterfall ahead.  Fortunately, there are places to pull over and take in the view, which is breathtaking.

Emerald Bay is a National Natural Landmark, an Underwater State Park, and the area is home to one of the earliest Scandinavian style Mansion, Vikingsholm, offering historical sightseeing in addition to exceptional camping.  That may very well be, yet another adventure....