Right in my own backyard

well not my OWN backyard but literally minutes from my house. I decided to go explore Lake Calaveras yesterday, it was a great time but a las the afternoon came with some heartbreak since one of my lenses bit the dust and transitioned into the afterlife. Other than that i considered it to be a very successful afternoon, this was merely an exploratory journey, i took some shots but was more in search of good photos and areas to be in for the next time around. One of the very defining features of Lake Calaveras and the focus of most of my pictures is the center piece of the whole place Mount Calaveras. Its not really a mountain but rather a (and i wasnt aware of this until after i did some research) 22 million year old volcanic plug. A volcanic plug is a mass of volcanic rock that solidified in it's vent and feeding system millions of years ago. When the volcano becomes extinct and starts to erode away, the "plug" is all that is left behind. Mount Calavera is one of only three volcanic plugs in Southern California, so there you go hope you enjoy the photos and hey maybe you learned something too. Enjoy!

P.S.
i manages to pull of a 22 image panorama before the sun went down, hope you enjoy that too :)

ill post some more photos later this week.....