Sietiņiezis Rock
Wake me up when September ends! Time moves. Didn’t even notice where the last two weeks went. Fork.. erm.. forks and things on Steem. Hard to keep up, even when one tries. My excitement about Steemfest is growing day by day. Can’t wait to do all the exploring in the stranger land that doesn’t even exist on my map or in my imagination.
Until then I did a bit of local exploration together with friends. On the right bank of the scenic river Gauja sits the white sandstone outcrops called Sietiņiezis. One of the biggest in Latvia and the Baltics reaching up to fifteen meters high. Last time I visited the place I was still a kid and I have almost no recollection from that time. Strange how our memories fade after a while. In my mind, I imagined them a lot less significant in size.
Sandstone can be affected by temperature and water fluctuations. Sietiņiezis has changed a lot over time. One of the most recognizable sandstone arches is now collapsed. People are not much of a help either. Although it is forbidden to leave any markings on the sandstone, the whole surface seems to be riddled with them. Even at the highest, hardest to reach spots. Caveman instincts? Why is it so important for us to scratch those I was here messages? Because we are so important in the grand scheme of things? Silly. Even those markings will be swept away by time.
Velnala or Devil’s cave
In Latvian folklore, the devil is playing one of the central roles. In many folktales about how certain places came to be, it is due to the works of the devil. When people couldn’t explain the strangeness in nature, they were looking for some supernatural explanations. Sietiņiezis and Devil’s cave was home of the devil himself. One of the sandstone pillars is also named Devil’s heel. That is where the devil jumped across the river Gauja and went on doing his devilish deeds. Except sometimes it didn’t work out because of the roosters. Our devil somehow is always scared of the rooster singing. It is also one of the reasons why many churches in Latvia have metal roosters on top of towers. To keep the devil away.
The scent of pine forest was in the air
Rare sighting of the mud dog
You can find mud dogs anywhere by water. The mud dogs need to find an object to dig around. This fine specimen has chosen a piece of wood as the central focus. You might think she will hide the piece of wood in the ground as some dogs do with bones. Wrong! Mud dogs love the cooling effect of the ground so they just sleep the hole they have dug happily like this one while sharpening its teeth on the wood.
Kalējala or Blacksmith’s cave, Latvia
We also visited the Blacksmith’s cave. It is safe to go inside the cave and sometimes if you visit at the right time, little wing rats are hanging from the ceiling. No bats this time though as they all are migrating and feeding for the winter. There were plenty of moths instead to keep us company. Somehow caves are a bit scary to me as I always keep imagining them collapsing. So I can never be in there for too long. Maybe I am a bit claustrophobic too.
That’s it this time! Thank you for sticking around and hope you enjoyed what I managed to capture!
Sources: Sietiniezis Rock; Devil’s Cave
Song of the day: Massive Attack - Group Four
Until then I did a bit of local exploration together with friends. On the right bank of the scenic river Gauja sits the white sandstone outcrops called Sietiņiezis. One of the biggest in Latvia and the Baltics reaching up to fifteen meters high. Last time I visited the place I was still a kid and I have almost no recollection from that time. Strange how our memories fade after a while. In my mind, I imagined them a lot less significant in size.
Sandstone can be affected by temperature and water fluctuations. Sietiņiezis has changed a lot over time. One of the most recognizable sandstone arches is now collapsed. People are not much of a help either. Although it is forbidden to leave any markings on the sandstone, the whole surface seems to be riddled with them. Even at the highest, hardest to reach spots. Caveman instincts? Why is it so important for us to scratch those I was here messages? Because we are so important in the grand scheme of things? Silly. Even those markings will be swept away by time.
In Latvian folklore, the devil is playing one of the central roles. In many folktales about how certain places came to be, it is due to the works of the devil. When people couldn’t explain the strangeness in nature, they were looking for some supernatural explanations. Sietiņiezis and Devil’s cave was home of the devil himself. One of the sandstone pillars is also named Devil’s heel. That is where the devil jumped across the river Gauja and went on doing his devilish deeds. Except sometimes it didn’t work out because of the roosters. Our devil somehow is always scared of the rooster singing. It is also one of the reasons why many churches in Latvia have metal roosters on top of towers. To keep the devil away.
You can find mud dogs anywhere by water. The mud dogs need to find an object to dig around. This fine specimen has chosen a piece of wood as the central focus. You might think she will hide the piece of wood in the ground as some dogs do with bones. Wrong! Mud dogs love the cooling effect of the ground so they just sleep the hole they have dug happily like this one while sharpening its teeth on the wood.
We also visited the Blacksmith’s cave. It is safe to go inside the cave and sometimes if you visit at the right time, little wing rats are hanging from the ceiling. No bats this time though as they all are migrating and feeding for the winter. There were plenty of moths instead to keep us company. Somehow caves are a bit scary to me as I always keep imagining them collapsing. So I can never be in there for too long. Maybe I am a bit claustrophobic too.
Sources: Sietiniezis Rock; Devil’s Cave
Song of the day: Massive Attack - Group Four
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I have never really been inside a cave, which is weird I think :D
If I remember correctly, there is a famous house with cats (not roosters) in Riga but I do remember seeing the roosters on the spires. Is the devil scared of the rooster's crow because it signals sunrise and the end of the darkness?
That familiar looking mud dog looks like she had a a grand old time in the sand.
Ahaha! Humans are just the strangest creatures. I hate them, but at the same time I am a bit fascinated too xD
Oh! You should visit some caves then! Are there no caves in the Funland? Googles frantically Dude!There are some cool looking caves there. Time to visit! :P
Riga's Cat House hehe! I think there is connection with the sunrise too, because that is when they crow mostly.
She did and then all that sand was all over the house lol
HOW ARE YOU !
Hey Steeminator! Long time!I am GOOD thanks for asking ahaha! Busy times, but that doesn't bother me much. What about yourself?
still same fat and lifeless XD
As always, your photos evoke the depth that makes me desirous to visit those places, but of course I would harp over the portraiture. The cave photo reminds me why I don't try very many either.
Aww that is very kind of you to say @thatkidsblack! Of course it makes me glad you find them interesting and inviting :) Couldn't wish for anything more.
The caves are creepy? What's lurking over there around the corner, and the cold air, and just that fear of being buried. Waaah!
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Oh my! Now I want to make a rainbow cake! ^^ Thank you so much @torico! Your support is appreciated! And big thank you for spreading so much love around to the authors and creatives on Steem! You are simply awesome because of that!
ikr! i was about to snag a piece of that cake yesterday it looked so nommy! as to the rest, tis my pleasure :) thank you for thanking me, that means a lot on a day when i woke up feeling forgotten.
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A tribe for photography! So cool! Thank you for appreciating my photos :) I am by no means a photographer, I just point and shoot, but I really enjoy the process hehe
We think your photographs are wonderful!
Pictures are great! And I love the dog. It's kinda funny to think of the prehistoric cave paintings found in France as being nothing more than "I was here." Heh. :)
Thank you @wwwiebe! Oh the dog is the best! Coolest, kindest and smartest I've met on this Earth so far :)
"the Lascaux Cave was discovered by 18-year-old Marcel Ravidat when his dog, Robot, fell in a hole. " this cracked me up! Robot found the cave! Haha!
Hahaha! See? What would we do without dogs, hm? :)
Wow, these caves are really unique... there seems to be so much character and stories about its existence! And it is so funny that your Devil is afraid of the rooster singing XD But that really explains why some houses have the rooster on its steeple! So interesting :D
Mud dogs ! Aaah, they are really cool !
What a wonderful post <3
And.... yeah, I dont understand why people are so afraid of not leaving anything behind, either. It seems very silly...
Thank you spidey! ^^
The caves are really interesting, I just wish I wasn't slightly afraid of them. Silly human instincts. I just remembered another fact about caves. Such as that people shouldn't smoke in there because the effects of smoke last there for decades due to lack of air circulation and that can harm bats for example.
Ah spidey! I love that mud dog so much and can't wait to see her again! Hopefully soon :)
Guess it is just a scary thought for us to be completely forgotten, our values prohibit us from thinking differently other than that we matter and I guess we do to each other, but on grander scheme of things we are just a drop in the ocean.
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Awesome photos. Looks like a really cool place. It's incredible what kinds of shapes and textures get carved into the rock by nature. I think I would feel the same as you about that cave. That's a bit spooky. I would be afraid of a collapse.
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Thank you so much @leaky20! Thank you for stopping by and reading! :) Oh I love our space ship and all the wonders we can find on it everywhere. Earth is truly fascinating!
If it was solid rock cave maybe I would be less scared, but that's sandstone. I've visited mines before, but that's a bit different, some of them have reinforcements to avoid collapse too so it feels a bit more safe.
Great pictures. The camera really did a great job in capturing this images clean and clear with a sharp focus
Thank you @adedapo-glory! My camera actually was one of the investments I made for creating better content and there is not a single day I don't appreciate making that decision. It is so much fun to work with and creating, capturing the beauty out there :)
Fascinating sandstone cliffs and stories to match.. :-)
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Those look great ^^ I was traveling a similiar region once when I was in czech .. you teminded me of that amazing trip, thanks for that ;) .. have a nice week !
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Very interesting place. Thanks for the pictures!
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Very beautiful and peaceful place with amazing rock! I also like that it's surrounded by a pine forest which makes the place looks refreshing. The story is interesting. Great capture, especially the last photo, it looks like the eye of the evil.....
The dog is so smart. I like the way she did.
Thanks so much for sharing. ;)
Greetings @m31, I was delighted by the way you tell the trip so spectacular and with such natural beauty of the geography of your beautiful country, including a good contribution to be seen from the geological point of view, for the stratigraphy found in the area Like the sandstone you mention.
Thank you for sharing original and quality publications that help give value to the steem platform. Success for your next posts, here you have a new follower @carlos84.
beautiful :D Did you climb any?
Really love the photography and the composition in terms of the maintained color balance. I just noticed that you are one of the users i haven’t put on steemify. I will unlikely miss upvoting your next post. Thanks for sharing! Ps: i wish i could go to steemfest as well. Maybe next year..
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