Wow! Was the end of May really the last time I posted???!!! How time flies when you're having fun...
Here it is 9/14/17 (make that 9/18 now!) and I’m getting
emails from folks wondering if I’ve fallen off the face of the earth. I
haven’t. It’s just that I’m seldom where there is enough cell coverage to post
and I’m spending most of my time outdoors playing. With the long days, by the
time I get a good hike in, get back and attend to evening chores and food,
there’s little time for other things. Maybe as the days get shorter and the
darkness hours longer I’ll do a better job of keeping you all posted of my
whereabouts? No promises. Even my Facebook posts (which take less time and less
cell coverage) are at least a month (or 2?) behind.
It’s clear that it will be quite some time before (if ever?)
I can fully catch up on this blog. But for those of you that have the interest
in reading pages and pages of text to learn what I’ve been up to, without
photos that let you see the wondrous sights I’ve seen, I’ll do my best to at
least get this part of the blog posted at my next opportunity. Tonight I’ll skip to the bottom of this tome
and add some more until my laptop battery runs out. I’m camped in Yosemite
National Park at 8,300’ elevation at the moment.
7/16/17
It is woefully depressing to realize that I am now 2 months
(!!) behind on my blog. Mostly it’s due to lack of sufficient cell coverage,
even with the WeBoost I bought to boost my cell signal and the MiFi I bought to
directly connect me to the internet via cell coverage, with what I hoped would
be more zing that I could get by connecting my cell phone to my laptop with my
“personal hotspot” accessed via Bluetooth. But, I also admit, that when I am in
areas of good cell coverage (e.g., part of the 2 weeks I just spent in Juneau,
Alaska) I’m just having too much fun to want to take time out to catch you all
up on the wonderful adventures I’m living while full time on the road. As I tell people (and have no doubt mentioned
here), the only “stress” in my life is figuring out where to go next. It’s a
“tough” problem to have.
I’m currently feeding mosquitoes in the Rawah Wilderness
Area of Colorado. That is to say, I’m boondocking (free camping) along a
stream, ½ mile from the trailhead of what I’m told by a Coloradan is a “not to
be missed” hike. It took me probably ½
hour to walk down the dirt road to make sure it was passable by my heavy,
front-wheel drive van/RV and then to squeeze between the trees (sometimes
requiring that I fold in my side mirrors to squeeze past) and get backed into
this scenic spot. I made camp earlier than normal and had envisioned sitting
out, enjoying the scenery, and at least catching up on the text portion of my
blog. The voracious mosquitoes (earlier
it was fanged flies) and the rumbling thunder that may bring torrential
downpour may change that plan of sitting outside. But at least with the side
and back screens up on my van I can sit inside and see and hear the scenery
while excluding the majority of the blood-sucking insects. I do have insect
repellent but don’t really want to smear it on my freshly laundered sheets when
I go to bed tonight.
It’s now several hours later. I’ve explored what I can of
the area walking along the stream and had dinner. Now I’ll attempt to at least
explain where I’ve been in the last 2 months, with the hope of posting a few
pictures of the places I describe when I hit good wireless coverage. Or maybe
I’ll settle for verbal descriptions of my adventures. Those of you with access
to Facebook that have friended me will have seen photos of my journey as I go,
since it only takes 2 bars to do an FB post. As of this writing I’ve driven
20,800 miles and hiked about 3,600 miles (I’m behind of my spreadsheet with a
running total of miles hiked and a couple hundred biked).
I wouldn’t have the slightest chance of remembering where
I’ve been in the last 2 months since I left Capitol Reef (my last full post) if
it weren’t for the 1-2-line entries I make each day in my 3-ring tablet of
where I hiked (including distance) each day.
After Capitol Reef, I continued my UT explorations, stopping
at places you likely haven’t heard of – at least they were unknown to me before
I sought them out. Some offered single day hikes, others several days. Some I
knew about ahead of time, others I discovered along the way. Places I visited
included KODACHROME BASIN STATE PARK
OTTER CREEK RESERVOIR/FISH LAKE
GOBLIN VALLEY STATE PARK
WILD HORSE CANYON
NINE-MILE CANYON (LOTS of Petroglyphs!)
FISHER TOWERS/DEAD HORSE STATE PARK IN THE MOAB, UT AREA
At that point, I returned to my explorations of more of the
innumerable ruins that mark a rich history of Ancient Puebloan (aka Anasazi)
occupation. I began with Canyon of the Ancients (one of the National Monuments
that our current administration is considering withdrawing protection from). I
accessed it from several locations and hiked into various ruins. But my real
target was one that has been on my ‘must-see’ list for years – Mesa Verde
National Park, CO. I waited until after Memorial Day so that all the ruins
would be open (except the one closed due to rock fall). What an immense and
incredible collection of impressive cliff dwellings. I hiked all possible trails in the park
before I left, and took a lot of photos.
MESA VERDE NP
From there I went, via Durango, to Silverton and Ouray; tiny
towns surrounded by impressive mountains. I made a detour from a “logical”
route northward to explore Telluride; another tiny town surrounded by steep
mountains. The road dead ends at the town unless you have a hearty 4WD vehicle
to navigate the steep dirt road over the mountains. I didn’t know until I got
there, but my visit coincided with the Hot Air Balloon Festival. It made
finding camping difficult but, wow (!) what gorgeous colorful balloons to be
seen and photographed. I arrived the night before the balloon fest and explored
the town, taking advantage of the free gondola that takes you up the mountain
to the top (ski area) and down the other side to the Mountain Village ski-resort
town. I got off at the top and at the village to explore. That night (a Friday)
I drove 30 minutes out of town to dispersed camping on Forest Service land,
arising at 5a.m. the next morning to get back to Telluride for the launching of
the balloons that would take place anywhere from 6:15 to 7:30 a.m.. It was a
colorful sight to watch the balloons inflate but conditions were not conducive
to launch (little wind). One balloon launched and went the wrong direction
(toward the mountains instead of down the valley) and only a couple of others
launched including one with live radio coverage which described, as it was
occurring, the unexpected and unavoidable loss of altitude and winding up in a
tree. (I didn’t hear the broadcast, just the locals talking about it after the
fact.) The rest of the balloons deflated after it became evident that
conditions weren’t right for flight – festival or not. After the failed launch,
I took a long, scenic hike through town, up to the end of the valley and above Bridal Veil Falls until the snow turned
me back.
That evening was the Glow Fest, in which all the balloons
lined up along main street and, as it got dark, they inflated. The intention
was not to fly, but to show off the myriad of colors when the propane blasts
that normally lift the balloon illuminated the colorful balloons as darkness
set in. Between my hike and walking to where the balloon happenings were, I
walked 15 miles that day. I “cheated” that night. My van was parked in a
commuter parking lot where visitors can park for up to 72 hours while staying
in Telluride. It’s clearly posted that no overnight camping is allowed. But it
was hot during the day so I put up all my sun shades (which double as privacy
shades, blocking the windows). After the glow fest, I snuck into my van and
made sure that no interior lights were externally visible to anyone patrolling
the parking lot (I used a head lamp and ‘hid out’ on my bed instead of at the
table toward the front where light might have been visible around the shades on
the windshield). The next morning, just after I’d brewed my coffee, I heard odd
noises and realized it was hot air balloons. They’d successfully launched from
up valley and were landing in the field by me. I stepped out, with my morning
coffee in hand, and enjoyed the action before heading out of Telluride. I
detoured for some nearby hiking on Lizard Head Pass before heading to BLACK
CANYON OF THE GUNNISON NATIONAL PARK.
I explored both the south and north rims of this steep
canyon; hiking all the rim trails and one of the trails that descend to the
bottom of the canyon and the Colorado River. I’d have thought that, after 3,400-miles
of hiking, I’d be immune to sore muscles, but hiking 1 mile and 1,800’ down,
and then back up again, was the steepest hike I’d ever done (other than short
sections of steep descents like that). My quads complained for 2 days
afterwards and even ‘hair of the dog’ (continued hiking) didn’t ease the ouch
(but it didn’t stop me from hiking 7+ miles each of the successive days).
I did some hiking around SNOWMASS and ASPEN. Nice hikes but
the main outdoor activity in these mountain towns in mountain biking. I kind of
felt like a ‘wuss’ by merely being a hiker. Between all the roads that go up
the ski areas and the many trails in the area, there’s no reason that anyone
that wanted to stay fit would ever have an excuse that there’s no place to go to
get exercise. Life in a Colorado ski-mountain town might be appealing but the
cost of living in these places is outrageously expensive.
As I left Aspen I
drove over Independent Pass (>12,00’ high), which had only opened a couple
of weeks before, as the snow was finally cleared from the road. All my hikes in
the Rockies in the previous days/weeks generally became impassible as I got
above 10,000’ due to snow. It was a surprise to me to learn that people were
hiking up a 14er on the other side of Independence Pass. I learned that from
the campground host where I had landed for the night and the peak wasn’t very
far away; I had to check it out. I was able to hike, mostly up rocks, to get to
the summit of La Plata Peak (14,340’
and 4,173’ elevation gain). GORGEOUS 360-degree views! The way down was more
fun and faster by descending on the snow.
Next up was Salida, CO where I visited 2 sets of friends and
my arrival coincided with the annual Fibark (white-water festival). One set of
friends (Lauren and Bill) live just out of town and the other set (Lydia and
Steve) were visiting (they’ve bought a lot and intend to build); they’d rented
a place along the river, just 2 blocks from all the white-water festivities. I
spent one night parked in Lauren and Bill’s driveway and a few more nights
parked in the condo parking lot visiting Steve and Lydia. I left before the
actual competitions, but what fun to watch the hot-shot white water kayakers
and stand-up paddle boarders practice in the rapids before the competition began.
While I was in Salida, I took an hour’s drive to attempt to
get to the top of Colorado’s tallest peak – Mt. Elbert (on 6/13). It’s an
easier hike up than La Plata but the winds were wicked cold as I got up into
the alpine. I stopped in the lee of a cairn to warm my hands when they were
starting to get quite painful. I almost waited too late; when I pulled off my
gloves my fingers were hard and red. I was able to get them warm and soft
again, and didn’t wait until they hurt before warming them as I continued up. I
was using hiking poles and had micro spikes in my pack. I’d gained 4,075’,
reaching 13,689 when I stepped out onto a fairly solid patch of snow and a gust
of wind almost knocked me over. The
gusts had been persistently strong during my previous hour of hiking. But if
I’d lost my footing on that steep, hard snow patch, I’d have been slipping
rapidly down a steep snowy slope with no way to arrest my slide. Even with
micro spikes on, without an ice axe, once you’re down and sliding, poles won’t
do you any good. If I had slid down that particular slope, my fall would have
ended in a pond. But, once wet, there’s no way I could have made it down the
mountain in that freezing wind without succumbing to hypothermia. There was
nothing but snow above me and I was just 751’ below the summit, but I opted to
turn back rather than push on.
My next mountain town to explore was Crested Butte, with
more great hiking for 3 days and then on to Frisco for a 43-mile bike ride
around Dillon Reservoir, detouring to Keystone
and Breckenridge ski areas.
From there I drove to Denver and was lucky enough to find
camping at a State Park in the “green belt” of the city that would have likely
been a fun place to explore (with a lake for water sports and biking/hiking trails)
but I was too busy getting laundry done and preparing my van to leave it for 2+
weeks. The next morning, I drove to a long-term parking facility, left my van,
and caught a shuttle to the airport to fly to Juneau, Alaska to see friends
(and take care of some business). I’d hoped to join friends in hiking to some
of my favorite mountain-top hikes, but for most of my stay it rained buckets
and the mountains were lost in the clouds. It was sunny the afternoon I arrived
and a perfect night to enjoy a beach bonfire with friends. The rains came the
next day and didn’t let up until 3 days before I left. While there, I partook
in the quintessential Southeast Alaska modes of travel when I took the ferry
boat over to Gustavus and enjoyed a great visit there with Marcy and Geoff for
a few days and then flew back to Juneau in a small plane to go hiking with
Rachel.
The rains stopped and the clouds lifted enough to watch the
4th of July fireworks (that start at 11:59pm on 7/3). The 4th
of July parade persevered despite the heavy rainfall, but thankfully the rains
let up for an afternoon hike. It was so great to see so many friends while I
was there, and share some rainy-day hikes and some sunny hikes. There were lots
of folks I’d hoped to connect with while I was there that I missed; maybe next
time? Many of you that are reading this blog were at the “surprise” 60th
birthday party for Geoff and Marcy. My arrival date in Juneau was set based
upon the date the party was originally planned for, but before I arrived, the
party date had to be changed as a result of plans made by Geoff. I changed my Juneau
departure date to be there for the new party date and 3 days before that was
scheduled to happen, we finally had to tell them about the ‘surprise’ because
Marcy mentioned a potential departure that would have her miss the party. The
only way to guarantee they’d be there was to let the cat out of the bag and
make it a (non)surprise party – the surprise would be the guests in attendance.
It was a great gathering that also let me catch up with a lot of folks I had
hoped to see.
The next morning, I was on an early flight back to Denver. I
was happy to find my van in good condition, though it took 2 days to get the
refrigerator cold enough to keep food in after it had sat in 95-degree heat. I
reunited with my van at 5pm and drove 1.5 hours north out of Denver, heading
toward Rocky Mountain National Park. I stopped south of Estes Park to get gas
and had planned to sort out where I’d stay that night before I left. But, no
need! I’d just finished filling my tank when another Travato van pulled into
the parking lot; they’d seen my van and wanted to stop and say hi. Although I
hadn’t met him, I recognized the driver as an administrator of the Facebook
group for “Travato Owners and Wannabes”. I asked if he was Scott and he said,
“Do I know you?” He’d already done the research and was heading for a good
place to camp, so I joined them. I hadn’t found a grocery store during my drive
so they were kind enough to share their dinner of barbequed cheese burgers and
home-grown (from Arkansas) salad. The next morning, Jennifer and I went for a
nice hike and they shared lunch with me before we went our separate ways. It’s
a seemingly small world, since Travato owners tend to like to use their sporty
‘toy haulers’ to explore the kind of places I like to explore. I’ve made a
number of friends through the FB group and by way of meetings during my
travels. In another week, I’m due to meet up with 3 other Travatos in the
Tetons; 2 whose occupants I already know and one that I’ve heard about but
haven’t met yet.
I made it into Rocky Mountain National Park, the 3rd
most visited National Park, but without advance reservations for camping, I
wasn’t able to get a campsite on the east (most popular) side with the majority
of the hiking trails. I drove over Trail Ridge Road (the highest paved road in
a National Park at >12,000’), hiking the short alpine trails along the way.
I was surprised to find a campsite at the first come first served campsite on
the west side of the park when I arrived at 6pm. I wound up staying there for a
total of 3 nights and enjoyed some great hiking. There was one rainy day when I
did a 12-mile hike (2,100’ gain) in the woods to an alpine lake, taking
pictures of wildflowers and raindrops along the way. The next day dawned clear
and I enjoyed the best hike I’ve done in a while, along the Continental Divide
– a 10-mile round trip with 2,500’ elevation gain (mostly above treeline with
continuous great and endless views along the way!) to Mount Ida summit, with phenomenal 360 views. I did a loop hike on
my way out of the park and spent the night at an RV park just outside of the
park, catching up on laundry and taking a long, hot shower. Yesterday I did a
19-mile day hike that took me back into the park and up to a series of alpine
lakes. Last night I drove about 4 miles down a Forest Service road, passing
many gatherings of dispersed campers (it was a Saturday) before finding a place
with enough room for my van just as it was getting dark.
Today I drove ~2.5 hours (after running some errands) to get
to the Rawah Wildnerness. Even though
this document catches me up (text-wise), until I get it (and some pictures?)
posted, I won’t really feel caught up. After my 14-mile hike tomorrow, I’ll
head toward Laramie WY to see a friend and former colleague. I’ll join Merav
for a bit of fieldwork (live-trapping skunks) at Seminoe Reservoir before I
start heading toward the Tetons, exploring along the way, to meet up with
fellow Travatoans. Life is good!
7/23/17
We didn’t catch any skunks but it was a beautiful place that
we camped at for the field work. WAYYY too hot; reaching into the mid-90s in
the afternoon but we found some relief from the heat by swimming in the
reservoir. I also didn’t meet my fellow Travatoans – they
were moving much too fast for me and got to and left the Tetons long before
they said they would even get there. I’m currently in Shoshone National Forest (Popo
Agie Wilderness Area – pronounced Popo “shuh”[huh??!!!],) camped for a 2nd
night at Fiddler’s Lake. At least at 9,500’ the temperatures are cooler than
the 93 degrees I encountered while driving through Lander, WY. I’ve done a few
nice hikes up here to alpine lakes.
8/8/17 So now I’m
almost 3 months behind on my blog and 11 days and many miles of hiking in
various places behind on my Facebook posts. Such is the way of things when one
chooses to explore places with minimal to no cell coverage. As of this writing
I’ve been in Yellowstone National Park for the last 5 days. But let me get back
to trying to catch up on the highlights prior to arriving here…
Camping in high ambient
temperatures and when I was camping at high altitudes it became apparent that
my refrigerator wasn’t able to keep things cool when it was on propane. Before
I headed into the hills I’d stopped at an RV repair place (2 of them actually,
since the first failed miserably) and got the pressure in my propane system
checked and adjusted higher. But that wasn’t enough to fix the problem. From a
high point (Blue Ridge Fire Lookout in
Popo Agie) I made some phone calls and learned that the fridge isn’t
guaranteed to function on propane above 5500’ (I was at 9500’) but there might
be problems with it if it wasn’t cooling at lower altitudes. I could either go
to the nearest Winnebago Dealer (Billings, MT) or to a certified repair shop
for the fridge (Casper, WY). I opted for
the latter so I left the cool of the mountains and drove across a barren
expanse of WY to see about my fridge. I experienced my first triple digit
temperatures in Casper and was literally seeing stars and felt near to passing
out when I was standing for an extended time in the heat in an area with no
ventilation. The man in Casper had been
at his trade for 40 years; he was a combination of salty and friendly, and
quite talkative (thus my standing without moving in the heat). He assessed the
situation the evening before and apparently got on the phone the next morning
and chewed out the folks at Winnebago and the fridge company about how things
were assembled in my van. Apparently, there could (should?) be a fan associated
with my fridge, that would assist the venting of heat from the propane. There
isn’t one (Winnebago says it’s “optional”). There’s also a large pocket of open
space above the vent for the fridge so warm air from the fridge on propane
doesn’t efficiently vent. Installing a fan would require ordering the fan,
waiting for it to arrive, and removing the fridge to install it. Since I far
prefer to avoid high ambient temperatures, I opted for a (hopefully) simpler,
and far quicker/cheaper, solution – installing a baffle to block off that open
space above the vent and send the hot air directly out the vent. It’s working
better, I *think*. I can’t combat the physics of propane at higher altitudes but
at least the stuff in my fridge is staying cooler, even if my freezer isn’t
freezing things solid anymore. (Post
script – I was wrong. I still have fridge problems but not quite as bad, but
clearly I’ll need to figure out how/where to get it into a Winnebago dealer to
see if it can be resolved -- sigh…)
Fridge problems “dealt” with (I
thought…), I was back in the “business” of exploring. Since I’d come that far
east, I decided to go a bit farther. I left the heat of central WY and headed
toward South Dakota and Mount Rushmore, stopping on the way to explore Wind
Cave National Park. Wind Cave is 2 parks in one – vast scenic prairies of the
Black Hills above ground that are best hiked in the morning before it gets too
hot, and more than 100 miles of cave underground that offer a cool place to be
in the afternoon. I took the 1 ½ hour cave tour. The next day I was going to do
a longish hike before heading toward Rushmore, but not too far out on the trail
I was absolutely soaked by torrential downpour. When it wasn’t pouring, the
mid-thigh high brush that nearly obliterated the trail was good for continued
soaking. But it was low 70s temperatures so not to awful to deal with, though
my leather hiking boots remained soaked for days.
Mt. Rushmore was, no surprise, a
tourist trap. You had to pay $10 just to park. What a surprise when I pulled
into the parking area (on the open, top level to deal with my van’s height) to
see a familiar Travato. The folks I’d run into in CO (and 1 of the 3 I was
supposed to meet in the Tetons) were there. In the interim they’d been to the
Tetons, Yellowstone, and Glacier National Parks, up into Canada, and were
making their way back to Arkansas as their 3-week vacation was nearing an end.
What are the chances that I’d encounter those same people near the beginning
and end of their trip? Crazy!
I parked behind them and left a
note on their windshield. As I was
exploring Mt. Rushmore the thunder clouds were building. It made for more
dramatic photos as the skies darkened. I had finished my explorations and just
about reached my van when the skies opened up and torrents fell. The other
Travato folks had also just reached their van. We exchanged quick hugs and then
tried to chat through open windows from our respective vans while the torrents
ensued. But it was so windy that we were getting soaked. Since they were on a
schedule, they opted to keep driving for a while. I went in search of the
nearest campground. I tried 2 others (both full) before the third (a horse
camp) had room. It was fortuitous that this was where I camped, because it
turned out to be the trailhead for the northern (longer but far fewer people)
hike to the high point of South Dakota – Harney Peak (7,242’). It was a nice
hike with great views from the top. On the way down, I got drenched during a
brief thunderstorm but my cotton shorts and tank top quickly dried out in the
70-something degree sunshine after the clouds passed. Rather than heading a bit
farther east to see Badlands National Park, I opted to avoid the hot temperatures
I’d no doubt encounter there and instead headed west back into Wyoming to Jewel Cave National Park. Again, I did
an above ground hike in the morning and took the longest cave tour in the
afternoon. Actually, I could’ve done a longer “Wild” tour that involved
crawling through very tight spaces, sometimes on your hands and knees for
extended tortuous passages. I opted for the tour that let me stay upright.
From there I went to Devils Tower National Monument; an
impressive large rock tower that stands all alone on the landscape. It has a
great deal of cultural significance to Native Americans and many prayer flags
were tied to trees all the way around the rock. I hiked all the trails there
were to hike there. When I started in the morning the temperatures were cool
and comfortable but it was 89 degrees when I got back to my van. Oof! WAY too
hot. I spoke briefly in the parking lot with another Travato owner whose van
was recognizable from his pirate flags. He was the “Black Pearl” who posted on
the Travato FB group. He’d been watching my Travato and as soon as I unlocked
it he came up to say hi.
I explored 2 scenic highways
climbing up into the cool of the mountains in Big Horn National Forest, WY. I
didn’t have a map for the first highway and just knew I had to be passing up
great hiking opportunities. I stopped alongside the highway in several places
to see if I could hike up to ridges that I could see, but kept running into
fences. The area is used as seasonal
sheep and cattle pastures. I’ve been feeling a little ‘irresponsible’ in that I
haven’t washed my poor van since I’ve had it. The first night that I camped
(boondocked) in Big Horn it turned out to be a popular place for cattle to
graze. The next morning, I woke to my van surrounded by cattle; some rubbing
against the van and others licking it. I took my van to a “cow wash” but they
didn’t do a very good job of cleaning it. They left muddy tongue streaks. Oh
well. On the one anniversary of life on the road in my van I’ll be sure to
celebrate by making a point to find a way to wash it.
I managed to find a map after I’d
traveled through most of Big Horn which directed me to a couple of hikes.
I wound up having to do a marathon
drive as I left Big Horn. My van needed an oil change. I had to go to Cody for
some important mail but I couldn’t find anyone there to do the oil change until
10 days later, so I drove first to Billings, MT for the oil change and then to
Cody via a far more scenic route up over the Bear mountains toward the NE
entrance of Yellowstone before turning east and heading to Cody. I spent the
night in Cody and had to wait until almost midday for my mail to come in and
then spent several hours taking care of business and errands. It was late in
the day when I headed toward the E entrance of Yellowstone. I camped at a campground, 3 miles from the
entrance, knowing there would be no camping options in the park that late in
the day. As a retiree, I don’t generally set an alarm. When the alarm went off
at 6 the next morning I awoke momentarily confused. Where was I and why did I
set my alarm? Ah yes… Time to play camping roulette in Yellowstone. There are
12 campgrounds in the park, 7 of which are first come, first served. But if you
want a site you need to get there very early. I’d gone a short ways into the
park the night before to get the park information. The ranger had suggested
that I come through the gate the next morning at 7. I drove through at 6:30 and
bypassed a number of pullouts that would have offered very nice photos in the
early morning light as the mists were rising. I got to Norris campground, with
>100 sites, just before 8am and had trouble finding a place to park so that
I could join the line of folks waiting to see if there was room to camp. After
a while a ranger came out and asked one from each group to raise their hand and
began his count. When he got to me he asked which of us had gotten there first
(me or the man standing almost next to me). I said he had, and guess what? He
was the last one to get a campsite. I and the long line of folks behind me
headed back to our vehicles and drove off in search of another campground. Two of the groups behind me got to the next
campground before me but fortunately there was room for all of us at Indian
Creek. I stayed there for 3 nights and tackled some killer hikes including an
18 mile and a 22.25-mile hike. Sadly, the view from the peaks I was getting to
the tops of was muted by haze from distant forest fires. I almost used the
reasoning that the view wouldn’t be ideal to talk myself out of the mega hike
to Mount Holmes Fire lookout, but went for it anyway. Sure enough it was smokey up there, so the
view wasn’t as good as it could have been. The fire tower wasn’t manned that
day but often is. The outhouse sported a sign proclaiming it as a memorial to a
fire-spotter who’d had an urgent need to use the facilities during a howling
wind storm. While he was seated on the throne, it came loose and tumbled quite
a ways down the slope. He was bruised and battered but survived the wild ride.
The next morning my alarm went off
at 5:30 a.m. so I could make the drive to the next likely camping spot (Tower
Falls) that would be a good base for more hiking. I was lucky enough to get a
site and by 7:10 was checked into my new site and brewing my 2nd cup of coffee
and preparing for my day. I battled tourists that day, going to must-see sites
near Canyon Village. I hiked up Mt. Washburn early enough to avoid the worst of
the crowds. I cruised up the 1400’ and 3 miles at 3mph to get a good cardio
workout. Before I headed down, I took a spur trail and met up with some big
horn sheep ewes. As I was hiking back up the trail they decided to come down
toward me so I got some good close up photos. After that I dawdled in the
visitors center at Canyon Village, learning about super volcanoes and the
formation of Yellowstone, waiting for (according to the signs) most of the
tourists to be done with north and south canyon rim drives. But the cars, buses,
and crowds were thick at Artist’s Point at the end of the South Rim drive when
I got there. It was a little stressful to try to get my photos of the scenic
sites. A few people were polite, like I was, and waited until others taking
photos were done before they stepped into the prime spot for their photos. But
I was amazed at how many folks, arriving after those that were patiently
waiting, barged right in in front to get their photos with no regard for the
others around them. As I walked away from the lookout area and got out of the
crowds, I could feel the tension ease. I do not like fighting crowds in these
places. If all I saw of the National Parks was the hordes of people at the
must-see sites (as most folks do), and didn’t get out to enjoy peaceful hikes
in gorgeous areas, I’d be inclined to avoid the parks altogether.
By the time I took a 2-mile hike
beyond Artist’s point and hiked to the brink of the upper and lower falls of
Yellowstone River in a couple other sites, the crowds were starting to thin on
North Rim Drive. I dashed down to the bottom of the trails (some descended
600’) to see the upper and lower falls and back up on both rims and checked out
all there was to see (except Inspiration Point – the sun had already set and
the road to the point was closed and I didn’t have time for the rim trail hike
to it). By the time I got back to my campsite it was 9pm. Besides my early wake
up and a fair bit of driving, I’d hiked 15 miles – most of it at a rapid pace.
For some odd reason, I felt a bit
slow the next morning, but when I stopped to consider that I’d hiked 65 miles
in the previous 4 days, I decided it was OK to take things slow that day. I
didn’t emerge from my “lair” until 10:30 and chose to hike trails accessible
without driving. By the end of the day I’d hiked 6.23 miles, but at a leisurely
pace. About half was among many tourists and the other half was a quiet trail,
forged no doubt by fishermen, along the Yellowstone river where I only saw one
other person – a fisherman. I got back to my van and campsite at 3:30 and wound
up starting a peer-review of a scientific paper for a journal. Although I
debated about saying I couldn’t do it when I received the e-mail asking me to
review the paper, I realized that would be a bit selfish. Even though I’m
retired, I suppose my professional responsibilities don’t get to retire
(countless others have reviewed papers I’ve published). I have a month to
complete the review.
That brings me to today 8/9/17. I
got a fairly early start on my drive to Lamar Valley.
It’s late evening on 8/28/17; too
late to return to my review of the scientific paper (due at the end of this
week) so I thought I’d see how far behind I am on my notes for my blog.
Depressing! Too late to start on catching this up either. Maybe I’ll head to
bed early (before 10) and read a book.
9/5/17
And… Here I am almost a month
behind again on the text for a someday (???) blog post – many posts. I did, at
least, get the review of the paper done and submitted 2 days before my
deadline. I’m at an RV park in Northern California tonight for several reasons.
Electricity -- by plugging in I can turn on air conditioning. The last few
nights of boondocking (no electricity) I’ve had all the windows open and both
the side and back door for whatever breeze might flow through to combat the
heat that has remained in the high 90s until quite late at night. It’s still
unpleasantly hot but the large open doors definitely help. But as it gets dark,
the lights inside the van attracts bugs that find their way through the screens
on the door. When I retire to bed and use a Lucie solar light (since my reading
lights are mounted on the back door that’s open and a long way on the other
side of the screen) the bugs cluster around that small light set on my bed
somewhat close to my face. An occasional errant flight hits my face. They’re
mostly gnats but it’s a bit disturbing, nonetheless. So tonight the doors and
windows are shut and the air conditioner is on high. It’s on high cold but
since it’s in the back of the van and I’m sitting in the front I’m still a bit
warm. But not dripping sweat as I have been on recent boondocking nights. The
other reason to be in an RV park were laundry facilities and a shower with
unlimited water. I was also lured by the promise of internet that a review of
the park said was decent but it’s nowhere to be found. So I can’t even catch up
on my Facebook posts which are now about 3 weeks behind.
Let me return to my 8/9 Lamar
Valley hike in Yellowstone as it was quite interesting. The buffalo were in
full rut (mating season) and the traffic in Lamar Valley was brought to a halt
by buffalo on the road. I (and a large number of other vehicles) had pulled off
the road onto a large pullout section. Other cars were backed up going both
directions on the 2-lane road because 2 bulls were facing off. There was a lot
of posturing and deep, rumbling growl-like vocalizations that ended in a head
bashing that I couldn’t clearly see because it happened in front of a car. It
ended with both bulls heading off the side of the road; one clearly the victor
giving chase to the other one for a short distance. I believe it was the victor
that proceeded to roll in the dirt while the loser pawed the ground about 50’
away. Cows and calves were contributing to the traffic jam. After that action
subsided, I drove to the trailhead for Lamar Valley and headed down the trail.
I caught up with a young man that was stopped on the trail a safe distance from
a herd of buffalo in, and on both sides of the trail. “I don’t quite know what
to do here” he explained. I explained that the trick was to not feel fear
(acknowledging that it was easier said than done) because I doubted the bulls
could tell the difference between adrenaline associated with fear and
adrenaline associated with aggression, and you definitely didn’t want to give
the impression that you were a threat to these giant beasts. There wasn’t any
jousting going on; there was clearly one very large bull that (theoretically)
no other hopeful smaller bulls would dare to challenge. There was a bit of
posturing and grumbling going on but not the aggression I’d observed on the
road. I wound up taking the lead and waiting for animals that were moving
across the trail to be sufficiently far away from the trail so that our passage
wouldn’t pose a threat that required defensive action. Because of continual
movement of buffalo across the path, it took at least 15 minutes to move 100’
down the trail when a gap in the slowly meandering, cross-trail traffic
presented itself. I got some decent video of the trail traffic, complete with
recording of the buffalo rumbles.
My fellow hiker and I parted ways
shortly after we got past the herd. I encountered a few other smaller groups
after that. I hadn’t decided how far I was going to hike down the trail, since
there were several other short hikes I wanted to do in the area before heading
back to my campsite for the night. The developing thunder clouds on the horizon
and distant thunder rumblings helped me to decide that hiking to, but not
crossing the ford of Lamar River was a good turn around point. As I sat
alongside the river in the sunshine enjoying lunch, 3 river otters swam up
current. Mom was industriously fishing while the kids were sort of fishing, but
mostly squabbling. One climbed up on a rock and was biting at its sibling’s
neck and head as it tried to climb up. But when mom handed the “king of the
mountain” a fish, it grabbed it and headed to shore to feast. Seconds later she
came up with another fish for the other offspring, and a short upstream chase
resulted in another fish for her. I watched as they ate their bounty and
resumed their journey up stream in pursuit of more fish. What a nice treat for
my lunch break! On my hike back to the trail head, the buffalo were far off in
the distance; the trail was almost boring compared with the challenges of my
earlier passage.
Picking up on 9/14/17, I’ll settle
for summarizing… I hiked a total of 143.27 miles while in Yellowstone between
8/4 and 8/14/17. The northern portion of the park was more about hiking. The
southern portion was in the caldera where all the geysers, fumaroles, mud pots,
and the like are located. That’s where the majority of the tourists are too. I
toured a number of these places with the hordes of people. I didn’t stand at
the edge of Old Faithful to watch it in action (I’d done that years before),
but I did see it erupting while exploring other sites nearby.
From there I went south to Grand
Teton National Park for another 10 days where I hiked 124 miles and saw the
mind-blowing total eclipse. I’d been hiking for 6 days exploring and thinking
about where might be the best place to view the eclipse when the light suddenly
dawned… I was camped at Signal Mountain Campground on the shores of Jennifer
Lake. I didn’t want to drive anywhere on the day of the eclipse. I’d
contemplated biking a 50-mile round trip to the exact center of the totality
(which would have gained only a few additional seconds of total eclipse), or
bike a shorter distance and hike to a highpoint on the Jenny Lake trail. But in
my epiphany moment while hiking the day before the eclipse, I realized I needed
to inflate my kayak and paddle to a small island about a mile across the water from
my launch site (a 2-minute walk from my campsite), where I’d have a lakeside view
of the eclipse with an impressive backdrop of the Teton mountain range. OK, not
exactly a backdrop. The sun was high in the sky – the Tetons were a side view.
I was joined on the beach I’d picked out by other kayakers and SUP folks, but a
small number of folks (probably less than 20) compared to the hordes viewing
from places you could drive to. There was even a dinosaur on the beach with us
(a costume). How many people can say they got to share the eclipse with a
dinosaur??? I had thought about trying to video the eclipse through my spotting
scope but lacked the necessary solar filter. But an extra pair of viewing
glasses was sufficient to be able to photograph with my Iphone. I taped one
lens of a spare set of solar-viewing glasses to my Iphone, and my Iphone to a
tripod, and set the video rolling for a time-lapse of the eclipse. It began at
10:16 and ended at 1pm with just over 2 minutes of totality at around 11:35
a.m.. I didn’t really know what to expect, but the totality part was
mind-boggling. Even as the sun was mostly blocked it was still quite bright
out, but the moment totality began there were muted sunset/sunrise colors on
the lake and the mountains with a very interesting glow to the color. I wish I
could’ve taken those photos of the Tetons bathed in that light with my Iphone,
but it was busy videoing so I used an older point and shoot camera to try to
(inadequately) capture the colors. But mostly I just wanted to stare at the
solar flares surrounding the blocked-out sun. Incredible! I learned some things
while trying to time-lapse video the eclipse so if I ever see one again (and
can remember what I learned – yes, you DO have to keep repositioning the view
because the sun moves a lot in 2 hours), I’ll be better prepared. But I
captured almost all of the eclipse on film except the very last part (because I
convinced myself I shouldn’t be futzing with repositioning the view so I let it
go without repositioning after the totality). For any of you contemplating the
next solar eclipse, if you can possibly get to where totality will occur,
that’s the very best part of this amazing natural phenomena.
I hiked for several more days in
the Tetons after the eclipse. These days I’m doing a 20-22 mile hike at least
once a week. I can’t quite figure out whether I’m ambitious or lazy. I have all
my backpacking stuff with me, but instead (while carrying far less weight in a
day pack) I’m doing very long day hikes and coming back to a comfortable bed
with sheets and blanket, and a crispy salad, fresh fruit and veggies and cold
beer in the fridge. Am I getting soft?
After leaving the Tetons I stopped
in Driggs, ID to get some info at the visitor’s center. I’d figured I’d walk
around town and then head out to wherever I decided was best to go next
(figuring it would be the Sawtooth Wilderness area). I got adopted by one of
the volunteers at the visitor’s center. While chatting we discovered that her
husband had also attended University of Alaska Fairbanks and was a retired
wildlife biologist who had taught at Idaho State University and did research in
Yellowstone for many years. I was invited to dinner and to spend the night. I
wound up spending 2 nights (I’m a low-maintenance guest since I bring my own
guest bedroom). Jane and Don Streubel were delightful. We shared many tales.
The next day Jane and I went for a horseback ride in “the shadow” of the Tetons
on one of her favorite rides (Dry Ridge, just a few miles from their lovely log
home on 30 acres).
In Mackay Idaho I was also adopted
for a dinner with a bunch of fun folks (fellow travelers). Charlotte and Tom ‘chased’ me down when they
saw my Travato. They had one too and wanted to find out what sort of bike rack
I had. It turned out they lived locally in the summer and wintered in
Terlingua, TX – a place I absolutely LOVED when I was there (first impressions
in my brief visit in Terlingua was that it was a great place for unique,
creative people; especially musicians). Charlotte is a musician (cello, fiddle
and vocals) but I didn’t get to hear her play or sing. She and Tom were on
their way to a gathering of folks, some of whom had met while traveling. It was
an enjoyable few hours.
From Mackay I headed out of town to
camp at the base of Mt. Borah; Idaho’s highest point. That was definitely the
toughest high point I’ve done. In just 3.8 miles you gain 5300’ of elevation;
some of it involving class 3 scrambling, including the notorious “Chicken Out
Ridge”. You are advised to start before dawn since it takes most folks an
average of 10-12 hours to do the hike. It had taken someone 16 hours the day I
got there to camp. I hit the trail at 4:45 a.m. and was well into the alpine
before the first hint of sunrise started to happen. I definitely wasn’t going
to tackle the knife-edge, Chicken Out Ridge without full daylight. The sunrise
colors were interesting given the wildfires in the area. I was hiking in fairly
clean air but smoke could be seen filling the valleys below in the vast views I
had as the sun rose. I had good light for Chicken Out Ridge and it wasn’t as
bad as I’d thought it might be. It only took me 3h 29 minutes of moving time
(with plenty of time stopped to take sunrise photos and do some huffing and
puffing) to reach the summit at 12,662’. I spent an hour on the top (chilly
wind, but gorgeous views) and took far fewer photos on the way down, but
stopped a bit lower down for a lunch break since I was on the summit earlier
than I wanted to eat lunch. All told, with many stops along the way, it took me
a total of 10h 10 min but only 6h 21 minutes moving time.
Smoke was becoming an issue due to
fires in Montana, OR, WA, British Columbia, not to mention a few here and there
in ID and CA. It thwarted my hopes if hiking in the Sawtooth Wilderness of ID.
I skirted through the southern part of OR and into CA, hoping for relief from
the smoke and heat by heading to the high Sierras in CA.
En route to the high sierras I
celebrated a milestone – one year on the road as of 9/5/17. That was my
“Vanniversary” (someone on the Travato Facebook group coined that phrase). In that time (according to the app on my
Iphone) I’ve walked 7,873,324 steps, hiked 4,072 miles along with a few hundred
miles of biking and several days of inflatable kayaking. I’ve recorded 2,500 miles
on my GPS (I use my GPS for “serious” hikes; when I’m doing a bunch of small
walks rather than a long hike, I don’t take my GPS). In that first year, I
drove my Travato 24,585 miles and have seen some amazing sights and met some
great people. Life is grand! It’s hard to say how long I’ll stay on the road.
There is so much more to explore. I’ll keep at this until it doesn’t feel right
and then I’ll figure out what I’ll do for an encore; and where…
This seems like a great place to
stop this long tome – at the one-year mark. I’ll get this horrendously long
document posted as soon as I can, for any of you that are crazy enough to want
to read through 13 pages of my prattle.
