How many of you have driven along a road in the country ... or the mountains ... and all of a sudden see a particular rock or boulder that has a shape of ... let's say, an elephant or a fish or even a tree and you just have to stop and take a photo of it?

You guessed it! That's what this page in my website is all about. Occasionally, I have come upon many unusual formations and I let my imagination go to work. Sometimes the shape is quite obvious and other times, I may have to think about what I see.

In either event it is a fun exercise! Try it sometime if you haven't already.

---

Imaginative Formations ...

---

 

We had a heavy snowfall the night before and upon raising the blinds in the morning, there, right outside the window, stood this tree fully laden with snow. Immediately, I called him 'The Abominable Snowman'.

We were returning from a ride to Cherry Lake and rounded a turn and there was this 'elephant' just a little off the road standing there and it seemed to be eating the grass. The lighting was perfect to show all the details of an elephant. Unfortunately, at the time I did not record exactly where it was located. Some day I will have to retrace my ride and see if it can be found. I remember looking back to take a final look...but it was from a different angle so the elephant was no longer there.

There is already a page found under 'Locations' for Pinecrest Peak and Overlook. This and the next two photos were taken at the Overlook. I have named this photo 'Cougar Surveying his Territory'.

This 'Prehistoric Creature' has been resting here for centuries. He is quite scary looking. What do you think?

As you can see, this 'Royal Throne' rests right on the edge of the Overlook. What a view from here!

You have to use your imagination a little more to view this as a fish. But if you look closely at his face, you can see his head is turned toward the camera and you can see its nose and one eye. This big guy was found on Cow Creek Road off of Highway 108. Once again we were at an overlook ... this fish was certainly a long way from water.

During the early spring as the weather warms and the snow melts, the level of the water in Bell Creek rises and becomes a raging torrent over many of the rocks and boulders that are normally above water. Little by little the water carves out portions of these rocks. Here is a perfect example of what happens. I call this 'The Halloween Mask'.

This formation is the largest of The Three Chimneys which can be seen from numerous places throughout the Stanislaus. I have named him 'The Big Fat Bear'. We went back Long Valley Road (definitely only for high clearance vehicles) which is off of Eagle Creek Road just after Thanksgiving in 2008. It was quite cold but a wonderful adventure.

There have to be more imaginative shapes within the Stanislaus just waiting to be discovered. So please revisit this page occasionally for more additions.