2024 in Photos

Time just keeps flying by.......how is it December 31st already?

And yes, this means it's time for another edition of the "Linda's Lens" year-end photo recap.  As my regular readers know, I've developed a tradition of highlighting my most memorable images from the year gone by in a final post.  As is my custom, I choose one photograph from each month of 2024 that I feel best represents that month's noteworthy event.  Because I'm always behind on posting events, some of these photos have never appeared on the blog until now.  Of course, some months had several great photos to choose from, and others had me searching for one worthy image.  So, as it is every year, the choices are never easy.  

But now it's time to throw back the curtain, and unveil the twelve photographs that made the cut.  Here are the images I felt best captured my life in the year 2024:

January

Steamboat, Colorado

This year, my buddy Kim and I purchased IKON passes, which enabled us to ski at several North American resorts.  Our first big trip occurred in mid-January, when we flew to Steamboat, Colorado, one of our all-time favorite places to ski.  I had three glorious days on the slopes, and I made as many runs as my legs would allow.  Not only is this resort known for stunning scenery, the charming town of Steamboat Springs was a wonderful place to explore.  (Check out my post about this ski trip.)

February 

Kayaker on the Wilson River

In between winter rainstorms and days on the slopes, I managed to get in a couple of hikes this month.  One of these was a fantastic ramble along a portion of the Wilson River Trail in the Oregon Coast Range.  I love the Coast Range forests in winter - the bare, mossy trees and huge ferns are spectacular.  But while enjoying a break along the river, my friend and I got to witness an unusual sight - two kayakers tumbling through the rapids.  Of course, I had my camera ready to capture all the action.  (For more photos, check out my post about this hike.)

March

Harbor Seals at Yaquina Head

March was one of the months where it was difficult to choose just one photo, because lots of memorable things happened.  But I finally whittled it down to an image I made from a trip to Newport, on the Oregon coast.  I hadn't spent much time here in quite awhile, but when my neighbor Cheri invited me to accompany her on a trip to photograph some of the local wildlife, I jumped at the opportunity.  We saw all kinds of birds - a peregrine falcon, loons, and a flock of Harlequin ducks.  But the harbor seals resting on the rocks at Yaquina Head produced my favorite images of the day.  I was so enamored with Newport that I returned a couple of months later for more exploration.

April

Wooden Shoe Tulip Festival

There's so many things to photograph in the spring months - migrating birds, wildflowers, spring skiing.  Adding to this list is the annual Wooden Shoe Tulip Festival, where huge fields of tulips color the landscape.  This year I decided to wake up early for sunrise.  Not only did I capture some beautiful skies, I also caught the launch of four hot air balloons.  What a perfect photo op - I loved this image of the balloons photographed as they drifted over the tulip fields.

May

Aurora Borealis over Montana

While visiting my son in Montana, I was witness to an unusual event - the Aurora Borealis.  On May 10th, an extremely strong magnetic storm from the sun hit earth's atmosphere, producing colorful auroras all over the world, as far south as Florida.  My son and I parked on a hill above his town and watched in awe as ribbons of colors danced in the night sky.  It was an incredible thing to see, and something I won't soon forget.  (For more, check out this post.)

June

Peak rhododendron bloom near Ramona Falls

Commence summer hiking season!  One of my favorite treks is taking the Pacific Crest Trail to Ramona Falls during the rhododendron bloom.  This year, I actually got the timing right and hit peak flower season.  There's nothing better than traversing a trail lined with huge pink blossoms.  The weather wasn't great - I picked a rainy day for this excursion, but the cloudy skies provided an added bonus as they made the colors absolutely pop.  (Check out this post for more images.)

July

Green heron babies at a local park

I spent a large amount of summer days walking through local nature parks in search of wildlife to photograph.  One of the best places I found was surprisingly the urban park nearest my home (see my post about this place here.)  Not only was there always some type of bird to photograph, this year it appeared the local green herons chose the park to make their nests.  One nest was right next to a very busy paved path that circled the lake.  I had front-row views of four fuzzy green heron babies and enjoyed photographing their antics as they grew into adulthood.  (See my post about the green heron babies.)  As an added bonus, I met quite a few local wildlife photographers.  I joined a great community of photo enthusiasts, some of whom I now run into every time I visit. 

 

August

Wildflowers at Mt. Hood Meadows

Mt. Hood Meadows ski resort is my winter happy place.  But surprisingly during summer months, its slopes transform into a wildflower wonderland.  In the past few years, the resort management has established many hiking trails and now it's one of my favorite places to hike.  This year the wildflower bloom here was off-the-charts amazing - the best I've seen for a long while.  I made three separate fabulous treks here to enjoy the amazing landscapes (See my post here.)

  

September

Gimmelwald, Switzerland

The big event of 2024 was my September trip to Switzerland.  I've been slowly recapping my journey through multiple blog posts, and I hope to finish up in the next couple weeks.  There were so many images to sort through that choosing just one to represent this fantastic tour proved to be a monumental task.  But I finally narrowed down my top photograph to this lovely scene in the storybook village of Gimmelwald (which if you've been following my trip recaps, you'll see again shortly.)

October

Joshua Tree National Park

In late October, I journeyed to Southern California to help my aunt celebrate her 85th birthday.  While visiting, I rented a car and drove out to bag another nearby National Park, Joshua Tree.  Although I'm not much of a desert person, I did enjoy the wide-open views, and of course the fascinating, spiky Joshua Trees.  A blog post about this trip is upcoming, so stay tuned!

November

Eagle Creek Trail, Columbia River Gorge

Early November is when Portland and the nearby Columbia River Gorge reach peak fall leaf colors.  In my opinion, it's the very best time to hike the Gorge trails, and I did just that, hitting as many as I could before the leaves fell away.  My favorite autumn hike is none other than the majestic Eagle Creek Trail, and it won the prize for "memorable November moment."  Although my chosen image doesn't show much leaf color, I loved this capture of Eagle Creek, framed by mossy branches and dying leaves.

December

Early ski season!

Usually every autumn, I anxiously wait for snow to fall in the mountains so I can ski again.  For several seasons, the white stuff has been slow to accumulate, and for the past decade I haven't hit the slopes until well into December (last year my first ski day wasn't until January.)  But not in winter 24-25, my first ski day was the Monday before Thanksgiving.  I think it's been at least 25 years since I've skied in November!  And not only were the resorts open, they were boasting a whopping four foot base.  As you can imagine, I've been a very happy skier this month, logging 9 days on the slopes already, and it isn't even 2025 yet!  Maybe I'll go for a personal record of ski days in a season this year?

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Happily, I've managed to stay healthy in 2024, and enjoyed many skiing and hiking trips.  I traveled to three National Parks, one for the first time, and also visited five other ski areas besides my two in-state favorites.  I also journeyed overseas to the beautiful country of Switzerland.  I made many trips to see family and also enjoyed a few local excursions in the Pacific NW.  My yearly activity tally (so far) stands at 28 ski days and 60 hikes.  Not too shabby!

As always, I look forward to the coming year for more of the same of my favorite outdoor activities.  After my close call with a brain abscess emergency three years ago, I'm thankful for every day I get to spend on this earth, and wake each morning grateful to see another sunrise.  

Thanks to my readers who have stuck with me for all these years.  I mainly blog to keep a record for myself, so I'm always touched (and a little amazed) when others reach out with comments.  I'm glad others enjoy my photos and ramblings.

Here's to a continuation of my skiing, hiking, and photographic adventures in the coming year.  Onward to 2025!

A Rainy Day in Mürren

 (A multi-part recap of my recent September trip to Switzerland.)

As I went to bed on our first night in the charming Swiss village of Mürren, I hoped that the weather forecast for the next day would be wrong.

Sadly, it was right on the money.

Foggy morning in Mürren

Kim and I awoke to find a dense fog cloaking the streets.  Visibility was down to about one block.  There would be no mountain views today!

Walking to the cable car - no mountains in sight

Which was super unfortunate, because today was the day our tour had scheduled a cable car ride to the top of the mighty Shilthorn mountain.  Not only fog, but rain began spattering on the sides of our tram as we ascended up the mountain to our morning's destination.  Adding to our discomfort, temperatures hovered right around freezing.

Cable car station to the Shilthorn

Our guide Tony had scored breakfast reservations at the famous Piz Gloria restaurant located on the Schilthorn's very tippy top.  This necessitated an early departure from Mürren that morning.

Breakfast buffet at Piz Gloria

Piz Gloria was a revolving restaurant located on the Shilthorn's summit.  It was featured prominently in the James Bond Movie On Her Majesty's Secret Service as the villain's mountaintop hideout.

The restaurant seating area rotated

Besides the James Bond movie, Piz Gloria's other claim to fame was its breakfast buffet.  And it was gigantic!  They seemed to have every type of breakfast food one could want and then some.  I gaped at the wide array of meats, cheeses, baked goods, yogurts, juices, breakfast cereals, even champagne!  And they had the best croissants.  Kim and I filled our plates and sat down at one of the tables.  The seating area rotated slowly so diners could take in the views, which were supposed to be fantastic.  Except today there was nothing to see but a bunch of white fog.....oh, and a large construction crane!

There's supposed to be great mountain views here.....

Adding to my disappointment, the summit area was under heavy construction.  A large cable car was being built that would provide a direct connection between Stechelberg in the valley and the top of the Shilthorn (we'd walked through the lower construction area yesterday at the Stechelberg terminal.)  A huge crane towered over the restaurant and due to the construction, many of the outside viewing areas were closed to the public.

But all we saw was dense fog

Oh well, with all the foggy weather there wasn't anything to see outside anyway.  But since we were there, Kim and I decided we had to at least take a gander around the outer walkway.  After stuffing ourselves at the breakfast buffet, we waddled out to the viewing platform and posed for photos at the signed skyline viewpoint just to prove we were there.  I tried my hardest to imagine the magnificent mountain panorama that was hiding behind the clouds.

Foggy selfie

Time to duck back inside.  Kim and I passed through the very expensive gift shop before descending to the building's lower level.  Here was a museum commemorating the James Bond movie that was filmed on this mountaintop.

James Bond Spy World museum

On Her Majesty's Secret Service was a James Bond film released in 1969.  It was the sixth in the James Bond series and the first and only to star George Lazenby as secret agent 007.

Riding the bobsled

The museum had some fun interactive exhibits.  One was a bobsled simulator that had participants riding through a course chased by the bad guys (complete with gunshots and explosions.)  Kim, Lotti and I jumped into the bobsled and tried it out.  The entire thing was filmed, and you could view the video afterwards.  Ours was pretty funny!  I think you could also buy a copy of your video in the gift shop, but Kim saved some Francs by wisely recording the entire playback with her cell phone.  

Here's our bobsled movie!

Another fun exhibit at the museum was a helicopter simulator, where you took a scenic ride over the mountaintops, while trying to evade the villains.

Helicopter simulator

The museum displayed a bunch of movie memorabilia, and there was a large theater that showed clips from On Her Majesty's Secret Service.  Kim and I watched a few minutes of the presentation, and I was racking my brain to remember much of this movie.  It had been many, many years since I'd watched any James Bond film.  The skiing scenes were really cool, so I made a mental note to see the movie again soon, especially since I'd now visited one of the places it was filmed.

Map of the new lift that's under construction

Of course, everyone had to visit the restrooms before heading back down to Mürren, and we were delighted to discover the James Bond theme continued into the WC's.  The place was decorated with spy-type motifs.  Upon flushing the toilet, I was startled to hear the James Bond theme start playing.  Someone else flushed and heard voices from the movie's cast.  A fun finish to our museum visit!

Time to go back down

Unfortunately not all of our tour-mates made the trip up the Shilthorn.  A cold virus was sweeping through the group, and three of the husbands didn't feel well enough to go.  When Kim and I returned to Mürren, we found one of the guys masked up and standing outside the hotel, warning us to stay far away.  He didn't have to ask twice!

We decided to walk to Gimmelwald

What to do now?  Our tour had the entire rest of the day free to explore this alpine wonderland - but it was foggy and threatening rain.  Tour friends Karen and Cindy mentioned they were planning to walk the short distance down to the nearby village of Gimmelwald, and invited Kim and I to join them.  Having consumed many calories at breakfast, we both decided getting some exercise wasn't a bad idea.

Still no views

We were joined by tour-mates Debbie and Dave, a sweet couple from South Carolina.  Everyone grabbed rain jackets and umbrellas (if you had them) and our merry group meandered to the beginning of the paved trail that led visitors from Mürren to Gimmelwald.  The official trailhead was marked with a colorful wooden sign.  It was a mere 1.5 km (or 0.9 miles) and 900 feet of descent downhill to Gimmelwald.

Walking past the outskirts of Mürren

Off we went through the fog!  The path led us through the lower portion of Mürren, past residential homes and their colorful gardens.  The buildings slowly gave way to wooded slopes.

Spiderweb in the rain

It began to rain, first just sprinkles but it soon transitioned into steady showers.  Raincoat hoods and umbrellas went up, and I wrapped my backpack's rain cover tightly around my camera.

Things got wet in a hurry

The paved path continued downhill, past rock retaining walls lining the uphill side of the trail.  In some places logs arranged in a tripod-like configuration contoured the slopes above.  I later learned these aided in stopping avalanches, which I assume could be a problem here in winter months.

Almost to Gimmelwald

The rain and gloom continued as we made our trek downhill.  On a sunny day, I'm certain the views here were spectacular, but today we were lucky if we could spot something 50 feet away.

Welcome sign

My friends and I soldiered on with our soggy shuffle.  We came out of the forest into a wide open green pasture, sloping steeply.  A fence followed the downhill side of the path.  Up ahead, we could make out a few buildings in the fog.  Approaching the nearest building, I spotted a sign affixed to its outer wall.  The sign read:  "Wilkommen in Gimmelwald."  We'd arrived!

We were getting mighty wet!

Yahoo - wet and cold as I was, this was a most welcome sight!  By now I was ready to get out of the rain and warm up with a hot drink.

Adorable wooden building

However, our group still had a bit of walking to reach Gimmelwald's lone tiny restaurant.  We passed by a couple of charming wooden chalets, all with the traditional flower-filled window boxes I'd come to expect in Swiss villages.

Gimmelwald scenes

I passed by a large pasture and got to see my first real Swiss cow, up close and personal.  She was a beauty, with tiny horns, big, dark eyes, and long lashes.  This pretty Bessy even had a traditional large cowbell dangling from her neck.

A real Swiss cow!

The paved path continued its downhill descent, meandering past more wooden houses and barns.  Everything was incredibly charming, which necessitated frequent photo stops so I could capture it all.  Bringing my camera constantly in and out from under the raincover's protection didn't help keep it dry.  Soon not only was my camera wet, so were both sides of my raincover.

Wooden barn

But I continued taking photographs, as I assumed this was probably the only time I'd ever visit this cute little village.  

Can you spot the cable car?

Despite the less-than-ideal weather, I was enjoying my walk through this delightful berg.  Won't you join me for a rainy stroll through Gimmelwald in the next few photos?

Gimmelwald was perched on a steep hill

Artfully stacked wood pile

Lots of colorful flowers at this chalet

Flowerbox close-up

Many of the homes had gardens

Another barn 

More window flowers

Drinking trough for livestock

Our soggy crew

So many lovely flower gardens!

Gimmelwald cheese building

Lonesome bench

Finally the path made one long, sharp switchback and the concentration of buildings began to get denser.  We passed by small, storybook-looking wooden cottage with lot of plants on its porch and tools hanging from its exterior.  I later learned this building was used to store the cheese that was made in Gimmelwald.

Time to get out of the rain at Pension Gimmelwald

At the far end of this path we finally arrived at Pension Gimmelwald, a small hotel and restaurant.  The place had an "honesty shop" at one end of the building.  There was no clerk, customers left money in a designated box to pay for their purchases.

Hotel door

By now we all were soaked to the bone, so this restaurant was a welcome sight!  The entire crew straggled inside and removed wet outer garments.  The warm atmosphere and cozy blaze in the fireplace felt wonderful.  Fortunately, the place wasn't horribly busy and our group was able to claim one of the large tables.

Kim tries the Schwarz Mönch beer

Pension Gimmelwald was known for its famous Schwarz Mönch beer, brewed on the premises.  Although I was looking forward to trying this award-winning dark beer, I first opted for a cup of hot tea.  Not only was I chilled to the bone, all morning I'd been fighting some congestion in my throat.  I kept writing it off as allergies, and hoped that drinking a bit of hot beverage would clear things up.

Our crew, drying off in Pension Gimmelwald

Kim, of course ordered a mug of Schwarz Mönch beer.  It looked so tasty, after finishing my tea I had to try a pint of my own.  I'd completed my last round of antibiotics the previous day, so was extremely happy that I could drink alcohol once again (and yes, my pesky infected zit was finally on the mend.)

Lotti and Elmo trying the local beer

Elmo and Lotti also liked the local brew!

Another view of the Pension Gimmelwald building

We spent a good long time in Pension Gimmelwald, drying off and enjoying food and beverages.  It was such a pleasant little place.  No one was in a huge hurry to go back out in the rain.

Cowbell collection

But finally the urge to move on motivated us all to leave the comfy, warm restaurant and venture back outside.  While passing by again, I did a quick inspection of the honesty shop's wares, but didn't find anything I desperately needed to buy.  

Vibrant petunias

Kim and I walked back uphill to check out a huge collection of cowbells hanging from the eaves of one building, that we'd somehow missed on our initial trip.  Then Kim stopped to pet a friendly local cat.

Kim petting the local kitty

Gimmelwald was such a adorable little village - the place had absolutely enchanted me.  It was hard to leave.  I wanted to stay here all day, just taking photographs of the place.  But the weather finally convinced Kim and I it was time to head back to Mürren and our hotel.  But this time there'd be no uphill walking in the rain.  Since all the mountain towns were served by cable cars, we hopped into the nearby tram with Karen and Cindy, and it whisked us back uphill.

 

Time to ride back up to Mürren

Of course Kim and I hadn't traveled all this way to Mürren to spend the afternoon sitting in our hotel room, so after a quick break, we headed out to visit the shops along the town's main street.

Lots of places to hike!

We passed by this signpost with lots of destinations listed.  So many great places to hike!  Too bad the weather was so lousy, I would have loved to see the views from some of these trails.  I guess I'll just add Mürren to my ever-growing "visit again" list.

Lovely building in Mürren

The rain had slowed down, but showers continued off and on throughout the rest of the afternoon.  I still wasn't feeling great, and my throat was starting to develop a tickle.  Thinking again that a hot drink might help, I convinced Kim to drop in a local coffee shop.  Maybe a hot latte would do the trick?

Colorful flags

Although the latte I ordered was delicious, it didn't do anything to help my throat.  As a matter of fact, as Kim and I walked back to the hotel, it was starting to feel mighty sore.  Oh no.....I made a horrible realization.  I was coming down with the same cold that was plaguing my other tour-mates!

A wet walk through town

Back at our hotel room, I confessed my suspicions to Kim.  We immediately both donned masks to hopefully protect her from catching it too.  I was really starting to feel poorly - not only did my throat hurt, my head was beginning to feel congested.  Ugh - I had just started to recover from my facial infection and now this!

Mürren water trough

Although I'd packed medications for upset stomach and allergies, I didn't include anything to relieve the symptoms of a cold.  Mürren had a small Coop grocery store across the street from our hotel, and I went over there to see if they carried any cold medications.  Nope - the clerk sternly told me they didn't stock such items.  So I was left sucking on cough drops and taking Tylenol for relief.

Artful cappuccino

We'd planned to have dinner with some of our tour-mates, but now that had to be canceled as I didn't want to spread my germs to others.  Although I encouraged Kim to go on without me, she braved dinner with her sick friend instead.  But she wisely sat at the far opposite end of the table, trying to put as much distance between us as possible.

Kim trying to avoid my germs at dinner

Sleep that night was hard to come by.  Although I tried to lay down with my mask on, the combination of the mask and my congestion made it hard to breathe, forcing me to get rid of it.  Kim slept with the window open and head at the foot of her bed, trying to stay as far away from my germs as possible.

Hopefully I'd feel better in the morning and Kim wouldn't become the next casualty of the tour group cold.  Check back for my next post to see what happened.