• Tagged adventure, Alpine Lakes Wilderness, Cascade Range, environment, forest, hikers, lakes, Mount Stuart, mountaineering, mountains, National Forest, nature, The Enchantments, travel, Washington, woods

Alpine Lakes Wilderness consists of 390,000 acres of rugged wilderness spanning the Cascade Range of Washington state and parts of Wenatchee National Forest and Snoqualmie National Forest. There are over 700 mountain lakes and over 300 miles (480 km) of Forest Service class one and two streams. The terrain includes craggy peaks and ridges, deep glacial valleys, granite walls and forests that are picture perfect and ready to enchant visitors &#8212 especially in autumn. It is an adventurers’ delight: nature lovers, backpackers, mountaineers, hikers, photographers. We love these pics, but they are but a tiny slice of this Alpine Lakes Wilderness piece of heaven dropped down on earth for adventurers to enjoy. [38 Photos]

• Tagged bizarre, California, environment, Glass Beach, MacKerricher State Park, Mother Nature, nature, nature laughs last

After man made a mess by dumping trash directly into the ocean, Mother Nature stepped in to turn the area into one of the most unique beaches you will ever see. What was once millions of old glass bottles have been broken down and rounded off by crashing waves and time. Glass Beach in MacKerricher State Park near Fort Bragg, California, is not covered with sand, but with millions of tiny colored pieces of glass. Oh yes, nature reclaimed the beach and definitely got the last laugh. [38 Photos]

• Tagged Australia, Ayers Rock, climbing, nature, New 7 Wonders of the Nature, New Seven Wonders of Nature, rock climbing, Uluru, UNESCO World Heritage Site, World Heritage Site

Uluru, also known as Ayres Rock, is a World Heritage Site and a finalist in the running for the New 7 Wonders of Nature competition. Uluru is considered as the ancient heart of Australia; it’s sacred to the Aṉangu, the Aboriginal people of the area. While many tourists feel like they must climb Ayers Rock before they die, the Aṉangu do not believe in climbing this landmark since it is of great spiritual significance to them. Uluru and Kata Tjuta make up the two major features of the Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park. Some tourists to central Australia feel like this beautiful and ancient heart is the most anticipated highlight of their visit. [41 Photos]

• Tagged art, bizarre, culture, Easter, ethnology, Holy Week, people, photo documentary, photographer, photography, religious

Sometimes we are fortunate enough to find a photographer previously unknown to us but with amazing talent. Jose Pereira is such a photographer. When we came across his attention-grabbing photo documentaries, the images were so compelling, so ‘different’ that we had to look closer. We are surely glad we did, or else we might not have had this look at this culture and ethnological religious expression. Mr. Pereira captured these images of Living Easter of Paradela (Meis), Spain. The photo-documentary spans 5 days and were taken during the Holy Week processions. He said it took “many hours of walking, running down the street, escaping the multitude of the public who attend the events.” Pereira added, “I have spent many years photographing events and ethnological religious expressions in Spain, other countries such as China, India, Russia, etc.” His site, RoughPhoto was a project he initiated. “In recent years for work reasons, I have a bit abandoned it. In recent years I spend more time working in office, instead of taking pictures in the street!” [27 Photos]

• Tagged art, author, fantasy, forest, Hobbits, inspiration, J.R.R. Tolkien, Lord of the Rings, LOTR, muse, nature, people, Puzzlewood, The Shire, Tolkien, woods

All writers and artists have a muse; for some it’s music, for some a person, place or thing, but fiction writers can take a place that is real and twist it until it’s flat-out fantasy. For high-fantasy author J.R.R. Tolkien, Puzzlewood was one such mystical, magical muse that inspired him to create the fabled forests of Middle-earth within The Lord of the Rings. John Ronald Reuel Tolkien was born on January 3, 1892 and died at age 81 on September 2, 1973. On this anniversary of his death, we wanted to pay tribute to Tolkien and Puzzlewood — his extraordinarily enchanted backdrop for Middle-earth. [26 Photos]