[Green Ajah Nature Week] Walk Through the Weird

[Cross]

 

 

 

Want to go on a hike?

 

 

 

 

  how about a weird one? 

 

 

 

 

 

I thought so.... we all love the weird lets just face it. And there is plenty odd and curious things on this lovely planet. In fact we'll take a tour of it all. Here's how it works: 

 

YOU pick the destination, be it a state or a country, and I'll find some weird nature in it and take you for a tour. To keep from crowding we'll do ONE location at a time so first come first serve. You can be as specific on the location as you want, you can also try and stump me. But I'm willing to bet that there's something a little odd and curious in any nook or cranny. So grab your hiking stick, get some snacks and lets hunt some weirdness!

 

[Brandie]

One of my favorite places for a hike: Great Smokey Mountain National Park in North Carolina

[Rhea]

Niagra Cave in Minnesota!

[blank]

Oh what a cool thread idea!

 

I'll post a location when you catch up, exciting!

[Ryrin]

One of my favorite places for a hike: Great Smokey Mountain National Park in North Carolina

I so want to go there.

[Ryrin]

Iceland.

[Sooh]

Mt Vesuvius.

[Cross]

Great Smoky Mountain National Park: 

 

everyone have their hiking shoes on? snacks all set? 

 

good, lets get going then, cuz there's TONS of hiking trails around here. now keep an eye to your left and right and take in what ya want, the great smoky's is vast and we'll pass dozens of waterfalls, miles of trails and.......well would you look at that? 

 

there just beyond those trees, down that path overgrown path. i'm afraid we'll have to pass over into tennessee for this but it's worth it. 

 

while nature can be weird enough on it's own, sometimes its the things we leave behind that makes a hike odd and memorable. for instance. find a little known path in the Great Smoky's and you could come across this: 
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/roadtrippers/hiker-discovers-an-abando_b_5927164.html

 

And abandoned town out in the middle of nowhere. what was it? why did people leave it behind? i dunno, but take a look. all it takes is one walk in the woods. 

 

 

 

Niagra Cave: 

ok i personally love caves so lets get going.  *clicks on her headlamp* this way folks. 

 

ever wonder how some caves are discovered? well this one , watch your head rocks up there *points*, was uncovered by pigs....no literally pigs. they fell down a sinkhole and into the cave system. their farmer followed (on purpose) to retrieve his livestock. and even after a 75 foot drop he found them all alive. and well....he found these caves. 

 

perhaps a little ironically, Niagra caves has its own waterfall

 

 

not as vast as its other namesake, still pretty darned impressive.  but not the oddest thing. imagine walking down this cave path and your headlamp hits an odd shape in the wall. looking closer you begin to see ......bones.....seashells.....yes fossils. ancient life stuck right in the wall. life interrupted now viewable as you peer back millions of years. nature preserving and creating a private time machine. 




k no more suggestions till i get these last two done too. dont want to swamp your tour guide.

[Cross]

Iceland: 

 

ok folks, so as many of you may know Iceland is not made solely out of ice. It's actually more volcanic than anything else with active volcanoes lending to amazing hot and mineral springs. but in and of itself thats not too odd. it just comes with the territory. while gorgeous thats not where this hike is taking us today!   

 

who's up for a walk on the beach? 

 

yes i said beach... 

 

nice sandy one. 

 

 

not a white sand beach, or a black sand one. but how about a color changing one? yup. 

 

depending on the time of day that you visit Rauðisandur beach can look either white, yellow, orange, or very red. how awesome is that? 

 

 

 

 

 

It's a veritable Ajah encompassing beach!

[Ryrin]

Ireland

[Rhea]

Niagra Cave: 

ok i personally love caves so lets get going.  *clicks on her headlamp* this way folks. 

 

ever wonder how some caves are discovered? well this one , watch your head rocks up there *points*, was uncovered by pigs....no literally pigs. they fell down a sinkhole and into the cave system. their farmer followed (on purpose) to retrieve his livestock. and even after a 75 foot drop he found them all alive. and well....he found these caves. 

 

perhaps a little ironically, Niagra caves has its own waterfall

 

 

not as vast as its other namesake, still pretty darned impressive.  but not the oddest thing. imagine walking down this cave path and your headlamp hits an odd shape in the wall. looking closer you begin to see ......bones.....seashells.....yes fossils. ancient life stuck right in the wall. life interrupted now viewable as you peer back millions of years. nature preserving and creating a private time machine. 

 

 

 

 

k no more suggestions till i get these last two done too. dont want to swamp your tour guide.

 

Another little know fact is that his cave has a chapel. Yes that's right. As you walk down into the cave you will see it on your left. I know because I was in a wedding there!

[Cross]

Rhea, yeah i saw that when i was looking it up, its so cool. i love caves especially ones you can visit without repelling down. this one is totally on my list for whenever i make it that way

 

 

 

ok back to hiking Mt Vesuvius anyone? 

 

i could take you all on down the volcano to Pompeii, which is awesome and creepy and amazing in itself, but that's a little predictable and not strictly on Mt Vesuvius itself. so wave down there at the ruins cuz thats all we're seeing of it at the moment. 

 

no, this hike we're checkin out mr still active itself. yeah it's still an active volcano alright. but perhaps the weirdest thing to happen on it recently had nothing to do with eruptions, or lava but possibly with ghosts, who knows. this was a wildfire, which happen all the time. (i live in southern california, we get a lot of em) sometimes they're natural other times not. this one is hard to say but its result is otherworldly. especially given the location. really. just consider it, a volcano that wiped out more than one town, trapping people in ash later produces this: 

[Shad_]

Something very foreign that I'll probably never see.

 

Take me to.... Papua New Guinea?

[Cross]

Ireland:

 

ok there's tons to see here, probably too much, the land is awash in legend and myth and beauty and uniqueness.  but for this hike we'll do something that needs a little participation. We'll just take a walk on down the road here, just to that cow gate up there. 

 

natural acoustics are an amazing thing. stand overlooking a canyon or a valley and yell and you'll get an echo. but what about cow country? now if you stand in JUST the right spot, and yell you'll hear an echo. but stand a mere foot to either side and you'll get nothing. odd dont you think? 

 

[Ryrin]

Love those, Cross.

 

Eilat, Israel

[LilyElizabeth]

This is a great thread! You're finding some good stuff. 

[Elgee]

Loving it!

 

If you get a chance, your can do Cape Town, South Africa.

[Cross]

Papua New Guinea:

 

careful on this one folks, we're heading down into an old volcano crater. so dont slip, and keep your eyes on what you're doing. this is very remote and off the beaten path, in fact SO remote that several years ago scientists called it a whole nother world. with possibly as many as 40 previously unknown species. including a species of fish that makes grunting sounds, a frog with fangs

 

 

 

and a rat almost 3 feet long. so heads on a swivel people!! 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Eilat Israel

 

you guys ready to get wet? literally we're going for a dive.

 

it seems Eilat is known for its diving and especially its coral reef. which is alone pretty gorgeous, and not something you'd generally expect to see next to desert

 

 

but lets dive in shall we? 

 

now there's a ton of sealife as with any reef, but in particular this region is known for an abundance of sea slugs....now i know you hear slug and go eww....but really take a look

 

now isnt he pretty? yeah i thought so. not all slugs are plain and ugly now are they? 

[Cross]

Cape Town, South Africa:

 

 

alright peeps gonna stop by to see a rarity here. a cat.

 

 

yes a cat. 

 

thats big coming from me a dog person but we're looking at a cat today. 

 

 

 

more specifically a SUPER rare one that was found in cape town last year. and by rare i'm talking only 35 none to be alive in the world type of rare. PLUS its all super mythical being all werewolfy too....yeah thats right a werewolf cat. it happens due to a gene in some feral cats, but i have to admit it does look like a teeny cute little werewolf: 

 

 

 

 

OOOo!! oooO!O!O!O!!! people people! we get a twofor here!! quick quick look up at the sky.

 

SPACESHIPS!!!    

 

 

 

 

ok so they're lenticular clouds... but come on they look awesome. 

[Dar'Jen Ab Owain]

This is an incredible adventure you are taking us on, Cross. The slug is so bright and those clouds are so much like UFOs. There are so many places in the world I would love to venture someday. At least you are allowing us a peek.

[Cross]

there is something to be said for lounge chair traveling. 

 

 

anyplace you'd like to take a peek at?

[Rhea]

Lounge chair traveling! I love it!

 

How about another favorite place of mine.

 

Napa Valley, California

[Dar'Jen Ab Owain]

And something of Wales after that, if you would.

[Ryrin]

New Zealand.

[Elgee]

That slug is amazing! Who'd have thunk a slug could be pretty :)

 

Oh and btw, I took photos of those weird clouds on my way home one afternoon. Really freaky. There's a believe here amongst the flying saucer crowd that there's a space ship parked on table mountain. I presume a Klingon one with an invisibility cloak ... lol