2008-11-21 - Mystic Falls

Yellowstone National Park is home to hundreds of breathtaking waterfalls. One of the most amazing is named Mystic Falls. Mystic Falls can be reached from the “Biscuit Basin” geyser area which is near the town of Old Faithful, Wyoming. There is plenty of parking at Biscuit Basin, and the entire hike is a short 3 miles of easy hiking.

When you start along the trail, you will come to a bridge which crosses the Firehole River. Once you get to the other side of the bridge you will reach the Biscuit Basic geyser area. There are plenty of amazing geothermal features in this area, and it is a great place to visit while you are in the park. The trail through the geyser basin is along a boardwalk for the first half mile in order to ensure that you do not get burned by the geothermal geysers.

At the far end of the boardwalk the trail weaves through a section of new forest. This forested area was burned in the fires of 1988, and the trees are only 20 years old at this time. Soon the trail will begin to follow a small river. This river is called the Little Firehole River. Hike along the river for approximately 1 mile and you will arrive at Mystic Falls.

Mystic Falls is well known for the thermal springs which mix with the colder mountain river, causing a “mystical” steam effect. The falls descend approximately 70 feet down from the Madison Plateau. You can get fairly close to the falls, making it a great short outing while on your trip to Yellowstone. This is one my favorite waterfalls within Yellowstone, and I highly recommend visiting it if you are in the area.

2008-11-11 - Notre Dame, Paris

If you ever get an opportunity to visit the city of Paris, France, you will soon learn that there are many great places to visit while you are there. Nearly everyone visits the Eiffel Tower and the Louvre, but one of my favorite places in Paris is Notre Dame. Notre Dame is a gothic cathedral located in central Paris built between 1200 and 1345 AD.

Notre Dame is well known for its beautiful sculptures, stained glass, artwork and its gargoyles. The cathedral was one of the first buildings in the world use the flying buttress, which is an external support arch. The stained glass in the building is very beautiful from the inside as well as from the outside. The stained glass window which is in the photo for today’s blog is dated 1250-1260 and is called the North Rose Window.

If you get a chance to visit Notre Dame, you will have an opportunity to view the inside of the cathedral, which is an awe-inspiring experience. Flash photography is not allowed within the church in order to respect people who are there to worship. The stained glass windows are most beautiful when viewed from the inside of the building.

Notre Dame is located right on the river Seine. If you have time I would recommend spending some time in the beautiful rose garden behind the cathedral. It is a wonderful place to spend an afternoon with your true love.

2008-11-08 - Riverbend Park

In the town of Palisade, Colorado is a very nice park along the Colorado River named Riverbend Park. Riverbend Park is a great place to take your dog for a walk, ride your mountain bike, or just take a stroll with a friend. The park is also features a very nice 18-hole disc golf course, which is said to be the best course in the Grand Valley.

Visitors to the park will enjoy breathtaking views of Mount Garfield and the Grand Mesa. The main trail meanders through groves of cottonwood trees and Russian olives. This is an excellent place to go if you are looking for a brief outdoor excursion in the Palisade, Colorado area.

2008-11-03 - Hanging Lake

Hanging Lake is located deep within Glenwood Canyon on I-70 approximately 7 miles East of Glenwood Springs Colorado. This 2 mile hike is a popular spot for local hikers and tourists who want to catch a glimpse of the Colorado backcountry. The primary features of this hike are Hanging Lake, and two separate waterfalls. In order to get to the trailhead, you must be travelling east on I-70 from Glenwood Springs, Colorado. There is no westbound exit to the Hanging Lake trailhead.

From the beginning of the trail you will follow a side canyon along a mountain stream with small waterfalls and spillways along the way. The trail is moderately steep and continues to increase in steepness as you approach the lake. There are a few switchbacks along the way, as the trail grows ever steeper.

You will next encounter a section of the trail with a metal hand-rail to provide support to hikers. This is the steepest portion of the hike, climbing along the edge of a short cliff face. This section can be fairly scary to some hikers, but is relatively tame. The handrail provides an excellent source of safety as you climb the rock face. Once you reach the top of the steep cliff section, you will encounter a boardwalk which will take you the rest of the way to the lake, and to a secondary waterfall, named Spouting Rock. At the end of the boardwalk you will have arrived at Hanging Lake with its beautiful clear blue waters. There is a mystic waterfall feeding the lake on the other side, and you can see trout swimming in the waters below.

This hike is a very rewarding outing for nearly anyone. If you go, it would be wise to prepare for any kind of weather as the weather in Glenwood Canyon can sneak up on an unsuspecting hiker.

Click to see the Hanging Lake Myspace profile!

2008-10-28 - The San Juans

This photograph of the San Juans was taken while on our trip to Cortez a couple of weeks ago. As you can see there is some early snowfall on the peaks and the aspen leaves are changing.

It was a very beautiful drive from Ridgeway, Colorado up to Telluride. And then from Telluride we traveled over Lizard Head Pass down into Cortez, Colorado.

I used this photograph to create a new MySpace Background.

2008-10-26 - Mesa Verde

We recently took a brief trip to Mesa Verde National Park in southwestern Colorado. Mesa Verde is located near the town of Cortez, Colorado. While we were there, we visited Cliff Palace, which is the largest cliff dwelling in North America. This dwelling was inhabited between the years of 1190AD and 1260AD, according to tree-ring dating. The inhabitants of this dwelling were Ancient Puebloans, and they built hundreds of similar dwellings within the confines of the national park.

2008-09-23 - Cannon Beach

Today’s photograph and MySpace background is based on the work of travelling artist and blogger Melissa Williamson of www.waywardmelissa.com. Melissa took this photograph while vacationing at Cannon Beach on the Oregon Coast.

Cannon Beach is located on Highway 101, also known as the Pacific Coast Highway on the western coast of Oregon. The rocks in this photograph were featured in the film “The Goonies”, which was one of my favorite movies from when I was a young boy.

Cannon Beach, Oregon has plenty of wonderful opportunities for outdoor enthusiasts to explore and search for buried pirate treasure! There are plenty of great trails in the area, and lots of sea birds and wildlife such as a rare Tufted Puffin bird which lives on Haystack Rock, featured in the photograph.

2008-09-10 - Welcome International Visitors!

Hello everyone! We have had some International visitors to the site in the last month. We've had visitors from Spain, Belize, Israel, Germany, Egypt, India, England, France, Finland and Austria within the last 30 days! Welome to the site! If you would like to see anything special, please feel free to contact me at myoutdoorprofile@gmail.com

Below is a photo that I took while on vacation in Paris this summer. This is an image of Sacre Coeur, in the village of Mont Martre. The inside of the cathedral is equally as beautiful as the outside.

2008-07-24 - Flaming Gorge Sunset

Hello everyone! Heads up. I am deep in the process of completing a degree in Software Engineering at this time, and I do not have a lot of time to dedicate to this site. MySpace has also changed their system around, and I have decided to switch to blog-only mode for awhile.

What I can say is that I have some ideas for developing this site into another format within the next year or two. I plan on adding a customized message board to this site so that people can meet other people who are into the outdoors, and as a place where people can get good information about hikes and other outdoor adventures. When I complete the project, the old MySpace layouts will be archived and will still be accessible to anyone.

The picture for this entry is one we took while on a drive up to Yellowstone Park on Independence Day weekend. This is a photo of the Flaming Gorge in Utah at sunset.

2008-05-27 - Fountain of Saturn

As we continue our Versailles adventure we encounter the "Fountain of Saturn." This fountain is of Saturn on the Island of Winter surrounded by four angels. The fountain was created by artist Francois Girardon around 1672. The fountain is also known as the Fountain of Winter, and is one of the Fountains of Four Seasons at Versailles.

2008-05-26 - Grove of Enceladus

We've returned from a wonderful adventure in Paris! I have many great photographs of our visit. Today's layout is based on the "Grove of Enceladus" in the gardens of Versailles. Enceladus was a giant, who attempted to climb Mount Olympus and was buried by the gods as a punishment. The fountain in the photograph was originally created in the 1600's. I hope that you enjoy this MySpace layout! Look forward to more in the coming weeks."

2008-05-10 - Canyonland Spires

Hello there! I just wanted to post an update to the site today. I know it's been a long time coming. Sorry for the extended absence. My girlfriend and I are getting ready for our trip to Paris next week. It's sure to be a great time and I am really looking forward to it. We'll be visiting all of the major sights in Paris, of course. Notre Dame, The Louvre, Sacre Coeur and of course the Eiffel Tower. There will surely be other great places that we'll see on the trip. Our hotel is very close to Mont Martre, which is a well known artist hub. Salvador Dali and Picasso frequented Mont Martre.

Today I posted a new Myspace layout called "Canyonlands Spires." I hope that you enjoy it. It was taken from the top of a rock formation near Needles in Canyonlands National Park in Utah.

2008-04-07 - Canyonlands Park

Today's post is entitled "Newspaper Rock", which is a shot taken near the entrance to the Needles Section of Canyonlands National Park. If you head up that way, definitely check out the "Needles Outpost", as the owners are great people who clearly love their choice of business venture. I completely recommend to visit that area in the spring months as well as he early fall months. The temperatures are quite lower at these times.

We're going to Paris in May. I'll bring the Nikon along with me, so look forward to some great new backgrounds when I return!

2008-04-03 - Teddy Roosevelt

Things have been great lately! I've been having a great time with the ones that I love! Spring is so grand! We went camping in Utah over the weekend. The temperatures in the Western Desert are very accomodating this time of year, before it starts to get hot.

This weekend I was reminded of the vast resources that our nation has. There have been many pioneers who came before us who have paved the way for us. One of those pioneers was President Theodore Roosevelt. who was a major supported of conservationism. Many of our National Parks may not have existed if it weren't due to some help from Teddy. The credit for the sculpture of President Roosevelt goes to Albert Christensen.

On the trip, we met some ostriches. One of them was laying on about a dozen large eggs. The photo below is one of the ostriches that I dared approach. Caution is required when this close to a large bird!

2008-04-02 - House in the Rock

How is everyone? Well I took a little break for awhile... Winter's end can be brutal some times! Anyways, we went out to The Needles Section of Canyonlands National Park, Utah last weekend and camped out. It was a great trip! The temperature at night was pretty good for tenting out.

On the way to Needles, going South from Moab is Hole In The Rock, Utah. It is a great break from being on the road, and there are a lot of great little exhibits there to entertain you and your kids for a little while.

2008-03-07 - Hellroaring Suspension Bridge

The myspace background that I posted today on the site is named "Hellroaring Suspension Bridge." The bridge spans the Yellowstone river in the northern portion of Yellowstone Park, about 1.5 miles from the Hellroaring Creek Trailhead. There are many great hikes and backpacking trips available in that area of the park. I recommend spending some time in the area if you can.

2008-03-06 - Sandstone Locomotive

While hiking last weekend, I took this shot of a rock outcropping in Bangs Canyon. It kind of looks like an old steam train from the pioneer days. I posted a new background using this photo, "Stone Locomotive". Enjoy!

2008-03-02 - Desert Beauty

Spring in Western Colorado is so unpredictable! Yesterday it was 70 degrees and sunny. We went hiking in the Bangs Canyon recreational area near here and it was just beautiful. The snow melt created some amazing waterfalls. My two most recent backgrounds were taken on this hike. "Desert Color" and "Desert Beauty"

So unpredictably this morning there was about an inch of fresh snow on the ground when we awoke. I guess that's why they call it springtime in the Rockies!

2008-02-29 - Mount Garfield

I went out and took some shots of Mt Garfield yesterday evening with my new Nikon Digital SLR. I have been so psyched to use my new camera. The image I used for today's background is from those shots. It's quite hard to get the sky right, and I didn't want to alter the photograph, so I left the sky as it was. "Mount Garfield." I hope that you enjoy this one!

Just a heads up. Since the site hit Google, traffic has been increasing on the site significantly. Thanks to everyone for using my layouts and for visiting the site!

2008-02-27 - Layered Mountain

Today was yet another beautiful day in Western Colorado! The weather has been great. Today's Myspace layout is entitled "Layered Mountain." It is another mountain view seen along the road to Gateway, Colorado.

2008-02-26 - Springtime in Colorado

It's looking a lot more like Spring here in Western Colorado today! I've been riding my new Trek 4300 Hardtail to work each day and I noticed that it is particularly nice at the end of the day at around 5PM after the sun has been warming things up a bit. In honor of spring, I posted a background on the site today called "Mountain Flower." This picture was taken with a small point-and shoot camera on the Promontory in Yellowstone Lake in July 2006. This spring is going to be great! I am already looking forward to going camping in the Needles area of Canyonlands National Park in Late March or April.

As you may know from my other blog listings that I took a trip up to Gateway, Colorado on Saturday of last week. For any of you who may be in Western Colorado, I would recommend making this drive during the spring. Along the way you can get a great view of Thimble Rock, and Driggs Mansion. I've included a photo of this wonderful site for your viewing pleasure!

2008-02-25 - Unaweep Canyon

I've put four new free Myspace layouts on the site in the last couple of days. The first of which is entitled "Spring Waterfall", and was taken of a waterfall in Unaweep Canyon in Southwestern Colorado. The waterfalls this time of year in that area are amazing! I would recommend taking a trip out there to see them. The next outdoor background that was posted is called "Unaweep Canyon" and is a wonderful springtime shot of the canyon.

Many people have shown an interest in the Kaleidoscope background that I created last week. I created "Earth Kaleidoscope 2 " for all of yuo who like that type of background on your page. Additionally, I added another background, entitled "Mountain Vista" which is of a beautiful mountain view from the same area in Southwestern Colorado.

2008-02-23 - Driggs Mansion

Today was a both an awesome day, and a trying day for me. The awesome thing is that I just bought a new Nikon D40 SLR digital camera. My girlfriend and I drove up to Gateway Colorado and took over a hundred new photos. The camera is excellent, and I hope that you will all enjoy the photos! The free myspace background which I added today was taken with the new camera and is entitled " Driggs Mansion." Driggs Mansion is located on HWy 141 South of Grand Junction Colorado.

The trying aspect of today was that my web-hosting provider's electrical power went out, and their backup generator also failed. This took the site, and all of the layouts and backgrounds on MySpace out of service. I apologize for this, but it was outside of my control. Hopefully it doesn't happen again, otherwise I may be forced to host the site elsewhere.

2008-02-21 - Hidden Deer

The site was listed on Google today. Traffic is starting to increase as well. We're expecting to receive about twice as many visitors as last week. I added a new listing, "Hidden Deer" today. When canoeing on Yellowstone Lake in 2006, my friend Ben and I came around the corner to a deer hiding along the shore of the lake. It was an amazing sight!

2008-02-20 - More Backgrounds!

I am not sure about you, but I am ready for Spring! There are little hints of Spring in the air here. It's getting a little warmer for one. The sun is coming up earlier in the morning as well. I am going to miss snowboarding on the weekends, but I want to go camping and head up to Yellowstone again. Ah, sweet Yellowstone! How I miss you!

I've posted 4 new MySpace Backgrounds since my last posting. The first one is "Monument View", which is a shot of the Colorado National Monument from near the Colorado River. The next one is kind of different. It is a Kaleidoscope of a photo that I took while hiking recently, and I call it "Earth Kaleidoscope 1".

I posted two more shots today as well. One of them is another view of the rock formations near Devil's Kitchen on the Colorado National Monument. I call that one "Desert View". And finally, I posted another Sunset photo from my Canoe Trip on Yellowstone Lake a couple of summers ago. This one is called, " Yellowstone Lake Sunset #2". I will be posting more MySpace backgrounds on the site soon. Take care!

2008-02-19 - Black Bridge

I've added two new backgrounds since my last blog post to the site. They are based on photos that I took over the weekend while hiking and riding my new Trek mountain bike. The first of the backgrounds I added is entitled "Desert Texture". The photos were some stone which were at the bottom of No Thoroughfare Canyon in Colorado National Park. The next one is a little bit different. It is a photo of "Black Bridge" which spans the Colorado River near Grand Junction, Colorado. I enhanced the photo dramatically, when I was playing around with some of the effects that Paint Shop Pro has to offer. I hope you enjoy the new backgrounds!

Thank you for viewing my new site! As of Monday morning, the site has been up for 1 full week, and 117 individuals have viewed the site for an average of 17 visitors per day. I was impressed by this as the site was not listed on any search engines until Sunday, when it was listed on Yahoo.com. If you ever have any suggestions for the site, please feel free to contact me at myoutdoorprofile@gmail.com. Thanks again for visiting the site!

2008-02-17 - Devils Kitchen

Over the last couple of days I've been taking quite a few pictures while hiking and on bike rides. You should be seeing some of them over the next few days as I post more free MySpace layouts and backgrounds on the site. One of my newest backgrounds is called "Colorado Collared Lizard". I've also posted a new layout called "Devil's Kitchen". Devil's Kitchen is located in No Thoroughfare Canyon on the Colorado National Monument. I have more backgrounds coming soon! Thanks for reading and for the support!

2008-02-16 - Yellow Columbines

On Friday morning we woke up to snow in Western Colorado. It was a beautiful morning and so I took a few photos of some trees in our neighborhood. I used those photos in my new MySpace layout, entitled "Morning Snow". I also created a new layout based on some photos taken last summer on top of the Grand Mesa, which is a large flat topped mountain near Grand Junction, Colorado. The layout is called, "Yellow Colorado Columbines". Enjoy!

2008-02-14 - New MySpace Layouts

Today I added a couple more layouts to the site. I added "Canoe Trip", which features a photo that I took while on a 50 mile canoe trip on Yellowstone Lake in July 2006. My best friend and I ventured for a week into a very remote portion of Yellowstone called the Southeast Arm. The Southeast Arm of Yellowstone Lake truly gives one an idea of the vastness of Yellowstone, and the amazing beauty within Yellowstone National Park.

The next layout that I created is entitled "Grizzly Bear" and is based on a photo that I took of a Grizzly Bear in Yellowstone in 2007. I hope that you enjoy the new layouts!

2008-02-13 - New Blog

This is the first entry into the blog for www.myoutdoorprofile.com. My name is Shane, and I am the primary designer of the layouts on this web site. I love the outdoors, and I have found it hard sometimes to find MySpace layouts that fit my love of the outdoors. So I decided to start making some of my own layouts and to make those layouts available to the general public. I used to live in Yellowstone National Park, so I have quite a few photos that I took while I was there. You will see quite a few Yellowstone related layouts on this site, but I also will be creating other layouts based on my outdoor experiences and travels. This site was first created on Sunday 2/10/2008. On that day I created the Grand Tetons and Lower Falls layouts. On 2/11/2008, I created the layout entitled, Yellowstone Lake Sunset. On 2/12 I moved away from the Yellowstone theme for a day and created a layout of photos which were taken atop Colorado National Monument, in Grand Junction Colorado. I really hope that you enjoy the website! Please contact me if you ever have any suggestions, comments or ideas! Thanks a lot for your support!