Where the Wild Things Are

Olympic National Park, Washington
Glacier National Park, Montana
May 19-22

When Shaun and I decided to tour the National Parks, we quickly realized that there was simply no way to see them all. As much as we would have loved to see Denali in Alaska or Virgin Islands National Park in Saint John (yes please!) we knew we had to be selective. In many cases the choice was easy, like our little detour to Crater Lake on the way to Eugene. Sometimes though, we really debated what to do before deciding on a route. Our expedition to the far north was one of those cases.

I will readily admit that I was the one pushing to skip Olympic and Glacier. We had made it through some fairly cold weather in the Redwoods and Crater Lake and now Shaun was proposing that we go to two parks that were basically on the Canadian border. The drive for each park would take us a full day and we weren't sure there would be much to do when we arrived since most of the North was still snowbound. Also, we didn't have the right equipment for freezing temperatures so camping became a virtual impossibility. (Some would call that a good thing but we were truly enjoying the camping!) We debated the pros and cons for a while until finally Shaun won me over by pointing out that we were unlikely to return to the far reaches of Washington or Montana any time soon. So off we went to Olympic National Park, and I'm so glad we went!

The park Lodges were all still closed for the winter season so we opted to stay in the town of Port Angeles on the North side of the park. Staying in Port Angeles gave us access to many hiking trails as well as the Hoh Rain Forest; a "must see" according to the guidebooks. We checked in at the Olympic Lodge late in the afternoon and we were pleasantly surprised with the hotel. It had big rooms and lots of amenities and was surprisingly nice for the price we paid. We had picked up some local smoked salmon and shrimp at a little fish shop along the way, so we chilled a bottle of white wine and had a nice picnic dinner in the room.

The next morning we went to the Visitor Info Center and planned a hike with the help of yet another nice Ranger. She suggested that we hike the Elwha Valley and she showed us a nice six mile loop along the Elwha River. We packed up our backpacks with the usual supplies and headed out to Whisky Bend, where we would start our hike.

When we arrived at Whisky Bend we got all suited up for the hike and then walked over to the trailhead. Of course, the first thing we saw on the outside of the bulletin board, was a bright orange flyer with a picture of a bear. The sign delivered a stern warning that a black bear had been seen in the area the day before and was most likely still in the area. It was enough to make me want to head back to the car, but fortunately we didn't. We grabbed some good sized walking sticks (left behind by other hikers) and headed into the woods, making plenty of noise to avoid surprising the bear.

Getting started on our hike

The hike was brilliant, probably one of my favorite hikes of the whole trip. From the moment we stepped on to the trails it was a day of stunning beauty and wild creatures. Within the first thirty minutes we heard the strangest noise, like a deep, low, drumbeat and when we came around the corner we saw a beautiful bird. It was grayish brown except around the neck where he had tufts of white surrounding what looked like a little yellow drum! It turns out we had stumbled on a blue grouse and the noise we heard was his mating call! He only stayed for a minute but we stood as still as possible and got a few pictures before he left. Even after he flew up in the trees we could hear him as we hiked on.

The blue grouse, all decked out for mating season

Our next wild encounter occurred at one of the Old Elwha Valley Homesteads. This Valley had been settled as early as the 1880's and some of the old Homesteads have been protected. We were stopped at the first Homestead, a little place called Michael's Cabin when we realized we weren't alone. Off to the side in the trees stood a group of deer who seemed quite unfazed by our arrival. Not wanting to bother the deer, we looked around the homestead for a little while and then continued on our way.

Arriving at Michael's Cabin

One of the deer hanging out by the trees next door

Just beyond Michael's Cabin we came to a meadow where a few folks had set up camp. The bear situation was still top of mind so we asked them if they had seen any bears during their stay. They said they had heard about the bear but hadn't seen him themselves, which made us feel better. We continued on down to the river where we found a nice place to have lunch, secure in the knowledge that we probably wouldn't get eaten ourselves.

As we were eating we saw another deer, grazing down below in the riverbed. We watched him for a while until we got too hungry and then sat down on a log to eat our sandwiches. We were just chatting away when all of a sudden the deer came bounding up over the ridge. Thinking he would be terrified at the sight of us we stood stock still, but it quickly became apparent that this deer had no fear of people! By the time he came right up to me I had to shoo him away, lest he eat my lunch! And I don't care how cute you are-- don't come between me and my lunch!!

This little guy had no fear!

Lunch crisis averted, we continued on along the river. We bumped into another couple who told us we HAD to go out to Goblin's Point. They didn't tell us what exactly Goblin's Point was, and we didn't ask, but it sounded cool so we headed that way. I started to mentally question our choice right away. As we hiked further and further downhill, I knew there was only one way back out, which was uphill. And as much as I truly hate downhill hiking, a long uphill hike at the end of the day challenges even the best hikers.

As we hiked ever downhill, we encountered yet another couple and asked if they had gone to Goblin's Gate. They had, and they agreed that the scenery was worth the hike. And, they added, they had seen the black bear!! Just down the path before Goblin's Gate they had seen him grazing in a field across the river. They gave us a rough idea of where to look and we said our goodbyes. For the first time all afternoon I was no longer scared of a bear encounter. All I wanted now was to see a bear!

It didn't take long to get my wish and the circumstances were great. We spotted the bear all the way across the large raging river. Eating berries appeared to be his all encompassing focus. I loved just standing there watching him, in the wild, but far out of danger. After getting our fill of bear watching, we headed off to Goblin's Gate, which was quite beautiful indeed. We got one more glimpse of the bear on our way back out of the canyon that day, and we walked back to the trailhead exhausted but so satisfied by our day of hiking in Olympic.

The bear was far away and very busy eating, the perfect combination for bear-viewing!

Goblin's Gate was really neat. Basically the river takes a sharp right turn and the water crashes through this narrow gateway between these rocks!

On our way back to the trailhead after a great day of hiking

Our next adventure in Olympic was the Hoh Rain Forest, which was a trip. As any Twilight fan can tell you, Upstate Washington gets more rain than any part of the Continental US. In Olympic, all that rain (up to 12 feet of annual precipitation) produces giant spruce trees and other conifers. The trees tower over this rainforest and when they fall they become giant nurse logs for the other conifers which are still growing.

Shaun among the fallen Spruce trees

But the real draw of the Ho are the mosses. These Epiphytes (plants that grow upon other plants) give the whole rainforest area an otherworldly quality. Everywhere you look gauzy hanging sheets of moss blow gently in the wind. It was all very funereal and haunting. I kept expecting Miss Havisham to come crawling out of the woodwork in a wedding dress made of moss!

A few shots from the Hall of Mosses!

The next day we packed up and started driving again, this time headed East toward Montana and Glacier National Park. The drive between the two parks takes about 12 hours so we decided to go as long as we could the first day and try to get within a few hours of the park before stopping. We drove about 10 hours and finally stopped in Polson, Montana where we ate a quick dinner and crashed for the night. The next morning we woke early and headed to the park. We were both excited and a little nervous about our visit to Glacier. All the guidebooks suggested that this would be an amazing place full of beautiful scenery and wildlife. Unfortunately, that wildlife included a "thriving population" of Grizzly Bears, the much more deadly cousin to the Black Bear.

If you don't know about the Grizzly population in Glacier, you will know as soon as you arrive. The very first thing they handed us was a pamphlet called simply "BEARS". On the front cover stood an angry bear with his teeth bared and, I kid you not, blood all over the fur around his mouth. Inside, the pamphlet lists tips on hiking and camping in bear country. It also contains a note in red that simply states: "Note- People have been injured and killed by bears in Glacier National Park". Along with that heartening brochure came the Glacier Visitor Guide, the park newspaper. Every park has their own newspaper which usually details services and facilities, openings and closings and other pertinent info. In the case of Glacier, the newspaper devoted a third of the space to bear safety information. I think we both knew within 5 minutes that we were not going to be hiking in Glacier. The bears were really winning the mental game at this point.

Welcome to Glacier! Number Nine on our Park tour!

One of the signs in Glacier, at least this guy isn't all angry and bloody like the one in the brochure!

Our first stop after arriving at the park was the Apgar Visitor Center. We had a full day to spend at the park, which would not have been enough in summer, but was fine for the spring when many trails and roads were closed. At the Visitor Center we waited a little while for the ranger to finish his bear safety talk (of course) and then stepped up to chat. The ranger was a neat old guy who had been working in the park service for over 40 years. He spent 20 minutes asking us about our plans and giving us lots of tips on how to spend our time wisely. After learning we were heading to Wyoming the next day he even helped us plan our lodging for the night, giving us suggestions for the best towns to stay in on the route. My admiration for the rangers grows with every stop on the trip.

We started our tour of Glacier on Going to the Sun Road. In the summertime you can take the road all the way across the park, but in winter only about a third of the road is open. Regardless, we really enjoyed the drive. Along the way we passed beautiful McDonald Lake, McDonald Falls and Avalanche Creek. The springtime water barreled down the hillsides, cascading here and there into beautiful falls. We kept our eyes out for bears, but all we heard and saw was the powerful raging of the water.

The glacial waters were so clean and beautiful

Shaun on the overlook to McDonald Creek Falls. The water was roaring so loudly we had to be standing right next to each other to speak.

What kills most people in Glacier National Park is not bears, but the waters. People come to see the beautiful streams and lakes but forget the awesome power of water. One of the coolest things we saw the first day was actually a ranger training course in water rescues. There were about 20 rangers learning how to navigate their way across a river. The current looked somewhat strong when nobody was in the river, but man, when they stepped in you could really see the strength of the current. Even though they only had to cross a few feet, many of them couldn't make it without help. It was easy to see how unsuspecting tourists could misjudge the power of these waters.

This was so cool to watch. It was incredible how hard they had to fight to take each step without going under!

But enough about the things that can kill you! We loved Glacier. The weather was cold the day we visited and it rained off and on, but the clouds just added to the beauty of the mountains. After Going to the Sun Road, we drove the bottom half of the park, stopping all along the way to take in the gorgeous mountain ranges and deep glacial lakes. On the East side of the park we took all of the side roads into the park as far as we could go this time of year. The roads here all have great Indian names like Two Medicine, Many Glacier and Rising Sun. We drove them all and stopped to check out the prairie dogs and big horned sheep and other critters along the way. We, of course, kept our eyes peeled for bears all day. We saw lots of warning signs and places where trails were closed because of previous sightings, but we saw no bears.

Mountains, mountains and more mountains...

...and always water surrounding those mountains.

A huge fire on this ridge left it scarred but still quite beautiful.

What did we see lots of that day? Horses. What, you may ask, is so interesting about horses? People see horses every day in pens and stalls all across the US? Well, these horses didn't live in pens or stalls, they ran free throughout the park! We came across the horses three or four times and it never failed to amaze us to see them galloping down the road, their manes blowing in the wind. And of course, since it was springtime, there were babies! Every third or fourth horse was a colt. We asked a few people about the horses and got different stories but the one that sounds most logical is that they belong to the local Native Americans who let them roam free in the park instead of penning them up. I wanted to believe that they were just wild horses, but I suppose that's just as good. Either way, I'll never forget our encounters with the horses at Glacier.

Just a few pics of the horses...

After a very full day of exploring Glacier National Park, we took the Ranger's advice and headed out the East entrance and South toward Browning Montana. Just outside of Browning we stopped for the night at the Aspenwood Inn. It was another Trip Advisor recommendation. The best thing about Trip Advisor is that you get the good, bad and the ugly. Basically people had said don't judge this book by it's cover, and they were right. The place wasn't much to look at from the outside, but the owners, Teri and John, are really sweet and the room, a big loft called the Grizzly Suite (of course) was clean and cozy.

The next day we got up early, ate a nice breakfast cooked by John and hit the road once again. You may think all the driving was starting to get to us, but truly, driving in this part of the country is a treat. We meandered past snow capped mountains, green sloping hillsides and long vistas that made the whole drive such a pleasure. It was a beautiful reminder of why we took this part of the trip. Our country is such a magnificent place and it would have been a shame to have seen so much of the world and miss the things in our own backyard. So on we drove, down through Montana with a slight dip into Idaho before finally arriving in Wyoming. We had reached the promised land! Wyoming, home of Grand Teton and Yellowstone National Parks!

Farewell Glacier!

A quick visit to Oregon

Crater Lake National Park and Eugene, Oregon
May 17-18

The next stop on our journey was a quick two day visit to Oregon. We knew our basic route North was going to take us through Oregon and we had already made plans to stay with a friend of Shaun's in Eugene. When we left the Redwoods and looked at the map we realized that it would only be a short detour to check out Crater Lake National Park, so we decided to go for it. As I drove, Shaun looked up lodging in the area on his smartphone. We found a little place called the Aspen Inn that got great reviews on Trip Advisor. When Shaun called to book the room he spoke with Heidi, the woman who manages the place, who let him know that Fort Klamath was truly in the middle of nowhere and that we would probably want to get dinner elsewhere since it was also the off season. Grateful for the advice, we stopped for a quick bite on our way.

When we arrived at the Aspen Inn we met Heidi, who was just as nice in person. While Shaun put the bags away she and I chatted for a bit. At one point I jokingly asked her if there were any bears locally and she just stared at me for a moment. "I can't believe you just asked me that!" she said. "I've run this place for twelve years now and although I've heard there were bears at the transfer station, I've never seen one. So there I was, washing the dishes this morning when a black bear runs right across my lawn!!". For those of you keeping score, the bears were definitely winning the mental match against the nervous humans at this point!

By the time we got all checked in it was late in the afternoon so we decided to do Crater Lake in the morning. The weather was beautiful, sunny and warm, and the Inn had a big swing in the yard. We poured ourselves a glass of the wine we had purchased in Sonoma, opened up the cooler and made a little cheese/fruit/cracker plate and settled in on the swing while the sun slowly set.

The next day we packed up and said goodbye to Heidi and then made our way up to Crater Lake National Park. We knew that Crater Lake was at altitude and that very little of the park would be open this time of year, so we planned to do a half day visit to the park and then continue up the coast to Eugene in the afternoon. The drive into the park was peaceful and very pretty. The farther up we went in elevation, the more snow we saw piled up on the sides of the road. When we finally made it up to the visitor center, the snow was halfway up the sides of the structure. In fact, you had to go around to a side entrance where they had built a "snow tunnel" to allow entrance into the building.

The Visitor Center was snowed in!

Inside the visitor center we spoke with one of the rangers who told us our best bet for a quick visit was to take a drive up the West Rim Drive to where it is closed at Discovery Point. From there she said we would see road barriers, but that they were only for cars. She said we could park the car there and then simply walk around the barriers. There would be a good walk that we could do that would give us a few viewpoints of the lake. We hadn't had a ranger steer us wrong yet, so we took her advice and headed up the Rim Drive.

The lake itself is just beautiful. It looks like it was created by a meteorite, but it was actually created 7700 years ago when a massive Volcano called Mount Mazama erupted and then eventually collapsed in on itself. The deep basin filled with rain and snowfall and eventually created Crater Lake, the deepest lake in the United States. After spending some quiet time looking out onto this beautiful expanse, we decided to take the hike the ranger had suggested, so we walked around the barriers and up the Rim Drive.

Beautiful Crater Lake

It was quite surreal actually. Even though it was a paved, two lane road, there was absolutely nobody else on it. And since this is a national park, there were miles of wilderness surrounding us on all sides, which made it virtually silent. All we could hear was the birds and the rustle of the wind through the trees. Of course, we occasionally shouted a bit in case there were bears around, but other than that it was quite peaceful!

It was strange having a whole National Park to ourselves for a while!

After walking for a while, we headed back down the drive and finally bumped into a few other people, including a nice Australian couple. We chatted with them for a bit about the places we visited in Australia and the places they visited in the states, and then said our goodbyes to Crater Lake. It was just a short little detour but we were both glad we had made the trip.

From Crater Lake it was only a few hours to Eugene, where we were staying with Josh and Renee. Josh was an old friend of Shaun's from the Boston Athletic Association, one of a group of three that had trained together for a few Boston Marathons. (The third member of their Trifecta was Simon, who we stayed with in Wellington, New Zealand.)
Josh had moved to Eugene with his fiancee Renee a few years earlier and he was now working at the University of Oregon. If you have any hard core runners in your life, you may know the University of Oregon as the former home of Steve Prefontaine, Bill Bowerman and many other elite runners and coaches. It is basically Mecca for runners. So of course, Hayward Field, the track at the University was our first stop!

The track at Hayward Field, also known as Tracktown, USA. The Olympic Trails were held here in June!

Josh met us at the track and we headed back to the house for the night. The first order of business was a run for Josh and Shaun, while Renee and I did a little dinner prep. Dinner that night was wonderful and I found my new favorite way to cook salmon!! Josh took thick pieces of salmon and placed them on top of grapefruit slices on the grill. Then he cooked them low and slow. The salmon came out perfect, juicy and tender with just a touch of citrus flavor from the grapefruit. It was a delicious dinner and a really fun night. When you are traveling like we have been, it is wonderful to get a little taste of home comfort, and that's definitely what we got from Josh and Renee!

Our fabulous hosts!

Alas, the next day it was time to move on again so we packed our bags and headed out of beautiful Eugene. We headed North, this time as far North and West as we would go on our journey before turning back to the East. We were headed to Olympic National Park in Washington State.

Ode to John Muir

Yosemite and Redwood Forest National Parks, California
May 10-16

Everybody needs beauty as well as bread, places to play in and pray in, where nature may heal and give strength to body and soul alike. -- John Muir "The Yosemite" (1912)

The picture perfect Yosemite Valley

Before Shaun and I left on this part of our journey, we felt it was important to understand the National Park system. We wanted to get a sense of how the parks were created and why, so we went to one of my favorite documentarians; Ken Burns. His documentary, "The National Parks: America's Best Idea" is an absolutely gorgeous tribute to the parks and the people who created them. He starts all the way back in the 1800's as pioneering Americans pressed ever westward, hunting and logging and building along the way. Soon great cities were appearing, but bison and forests were disappearing. One man in particular saw the destruction and realized that we would live to regret it if we didn't protect some of these amazing places. His name was John Muir and he worked tirelessly his entire adult life to get people to understand his vision for protecting places like the Yosemite Valley. So I'm dedicating this post to John Muir, without whom there would likely be no Yosemite National Park, or any other National Park for that matter.

Beautiful Half Dome off in the distance.


The drive from Bryce Canyon in Utah to Yosemite in California is about eleven hours of long, open roads so we decided to find a place to stay somewhere halfway between the two parks. There aren't very many cities or towns along the way, so while I drove, Shaun checked out the route on the map and tried to find a decent sized town that would have a few choices for lodging. We were looking for someplace cheap but with a little bit of character. The Mizpah Hotel in Tonopah, Nevada was exactly what we wanted! Built in 1907, the Mizpah is just a small place with 47 rooms, but it makes up in character what it lacks in size. It has a wonderful old saloon, a nice restaurant and great old furniture throughout the hotel. It even has a resident ghost called the Lady in Red. She was a call girl who was murdered there in the 1920's by a jealous lover, and rumor has it she still haunts the 5th floor, which is exactly where we stayed! Sadly, we did not see the Lady in Red, but we did have a fun night staying at the Mizpah and we would definitely stop there again if we ever find ourselves in Tonapah, Nevada!

After our ghost-free evening, we headed back out on the highway toward California and Yosemite. We were determined to camp in the Yosemite Valley, but so far the only thing we had been able to book in the valley was one night at Upper Pines Campground. We had continued to look online every few days, but there were simply no spots available in any of the central campgrounds. The only available places were way out on the fringes of the park, with upwards of an hour drive to get to the real heart of Yosemite. And those were first come-first served, so we wouldn't even know if they were available until we drove there! That just wouldn't do. So that morning on our drive, I called the good folks at Recreation.Gov and asked if there was any chance that they had had a cancellation for the following two nights. The woman on the phone immediately started telling me how unlikely it was and then abruptly stopped.

"Wow, it looks like there was a cancellation at Upper Pines!" she said. I grabbed my wallet and pulled out our National Parks pass and my credit card and she started booking the site for us when all of a sudden I heard the telltale beeping that lets you know you just lost your call. I called back as fast as I could and Shaun pulled the car over into a rest area. We prayed the spot would still be there and that my signal would hold out for a few minutes more. The next woman who picked up listened to my panicky story and told me she would try to find the available site, but she also warned me that it was highly unlikely it was still there. She said she had worked there for a year and had never been able to book a last minute site in all that time. But lo and behold! After a minute or so, she found the same open site and she told me it was actually available for three nights! I don't know who was more excited! She very quickly booked the site and gave me a reservation number before even taking my credit card info, just in case the call died. We had a reserved spot at Upper Pines Campsite for the next four nights!

Arriving at Yosemite!

We arrived at Yosemite National Park via the East Entrance after stopping for supplies at a little town called Lee Vining. Our first glimpse of the park was of snow-capped mountains over crystal clear lakes. It was cold and quite beautiful but we were anxious to get to the valley so we only stopped a few times on the drive into the park. The drive itself was quite the adventure. Most people enter the park from one of the three West entrances which are much closer to the valley. The drive from the east entrance takes about 90 minutes on Tioga Road, a steep, winding, two lane road with lots of sheer drop-offs along the way. The views are spectacular but it was quite scary at points as you wind your way down from to the Valley. Needless to say, I was pretty happy when we finally arrived at Upper Pines campground.

First stop inside the park. Luckily our campsite was in the valley where it was much warmer than here!

We stopped at Olmstead point where we met this Yellow Bellied Marmot!

After checking in at the campground, we set up the tent and got our site organized for the night. We had to move to our crazy-lucky last minute site the next day, so went pretty minimalist for the first night. After the heavy lifting was done, Shaun went off for a run while I explored the area around the campground and prepped for dinner. Upper Pines was a great place to stay. The campground was much like the one at Grand Canyon, with good sized sites with fire grates and basic bathroom facilities within walking distance. A short drive down the road got us to Curry Village, where there were hot showers, a cafe and a general store that was surprisingly well stocked. Besides the touristy items like T-shirts and hats, they had loads of camping supplies, water and ice and a veritable grocery store with fresh meats, vegetables, dairy, snacks and a pretty good selection of beer and wine. Prices were a little more than what you would pay at home of course, but still a heck of a lot less expensive than eating out.

Our campsite was nestled among the tall trees

We made a new friend right away. We called him Rufus! He seemed to like our fire pit.

The most interesting item at the campsite was the bear box. For the first time on the journey we were in bear country, and there was no missing that fact. When you check in, they actually make you sign a piece of paper promising to keep a clean camp and to store all food and scented items in the bear-proof storage lockers at each site. And it isn't just food that has to go in the lockers. Anything with a scent, including deodorant, lip balm, gum, sunscreen and soap had to be stored in the locker. A bear can apparently pick up a scent from two miles away and if it smells delicious, they will want to eat it. The lockers won't prevent the smells from emanating, but if a bear does come sniffing around they can't open or destroy the metal lockers, so they quickly lose interest. To make the point very clear, they have pictures up at the ranger station of a car that had had the doors ripped off and the interior torn to shreds because some people chose to leave food in their car instead of in the lockers. A 600 pound bear is apparently no match for a Kia.

Shaun packing up the bear-proof storage locker at our campsite

Fortunately for us, the bears at Yosemite are black bears and not Grizzlies. Ask any ranger and they will tell you that the black bears are very shy and a bit cowardly. The advice we got at Yosemite was to obviously avoid encounters if you can, but to be very aggressive if you do happen to come across a black bear. Shout and throw things and make yourself look larger by waving your hands above your head. As long as it isn't a Mama bear protecting her cubs, the bear will most likely turn and run. It all sounded a little scary, but the rangers assured us that most people will never encounter a bear so we ate our dinner, sat by the fire for a while and then curled up in our sleeping bags for a chilly but uneventful night's sleep.

The next day we had to move our campsite, but as luck would have it, our last minute site was right down the road from our original site. We unstaked the tent and literally carried it over our heads down the road to where we were spending the next three nights. Once we had the new site set up, we took the shuttle over to check out Yosemite Falls, the tallest waterfall the United States and the 5th tallest in the world. It was absolutely gorgeous, but it was also packed with people so after spending some time at the lower falls, we headed off to the visitor center to get some ideas for hikes. The ranger suggested a hike called the Valley Floor Loop which would not be very strenuous, but would give us a good appreciation for the layout of the whole valley. The full loop was 13 Miles, but we decided that was a bit aggressive so we chose to do the half loop instead.

Hanging out by the amazing Yosemite Falls




Our hike that afternoon was just over 7 miles through absolutely beautiful country that we had almost completely to ourselves. It's so funny how one minute you are at the falls with hundreds of people and the next you are almost completely alone, even though you only walked a mile down the road. The majority of people who come to the parks only go to the places that can be reached by car, shuttle or the shortest of walks. On the one hand I find it really sad, because they miss out on so much of what makes these places special. On the other hand, the behavior of so many park visitors is obnoxious, so I guess I should be happy they don't invade the trails as well!

Standing in the shadow of "El Capitan", the world's largest Granite Monolith

The hike was beautiful and long but not very strenuous




The interesting thing about our hike that day was that even though it was gorgeous and long (three and a half hours), it was also just a tiny bit unsatisfying and at first I couldn't figure out why. I've always loved walking outside, even when I was a little kid. It's a great way to get exercise, stock up on vitamin D and clear your head all at the same time. Before we moved from Waltham I used to go walking on the Minuteman Trail in Concord for hours by myself, just listening to the wind and the frogs and watching the leaves fall. But somewhere along the way in the last year, something changed. Maybe I've become a "real" hiker? With all it's beauty and scenery, what I missed that day in Yosemite was the climbing. I realized with a bit of a shock that I now get my kicks from battling our way up steep switchbacks or scrambling over things. I certainly still don't like heights and I could do without the sense that my heart is going to burst in my chest, but I love that feeling of having conquered some small thing. I love getting back at the end of the day exhausted and sweaty and full of pride. And I love the fact that I'm doing all this with Shaun. I may not be able to go at the same pace as the Ironman, but I'm definitely staying closer now than I was a year ago. And that is saying something.

The next day we took a drive down to the south end of the park to see the Mariposa Grove that was the impetus for State and later, National Parks. The Mariposa Grove is home to over 500 giant Sequoia trees; trees that are the second largest living things on earth. (The Redwoods are the largest). This particular grove was put under the protection of the State of California way back in 1864 in the time of Abraham Lincoln. That early State protection would pave the way for what would become the nations's first National Park, Yellowstone, in 1872. Alarmed at the continued destruction and development of the Yosemite Valley and the Mariposa Grove under the stewardship of the State of California, John Muir began writing a series of articles to bring attention to the issues and to call for the US government to offer the same protection to Yosemite as it had to Yellowstone. His grass roots campaign worked and as public interest grew, Washington paid attention. Yosemite National Park was created in 1890 and the Mariposa Grove would be incorporated into Yosemite in 1906.

Even the toppled trees were incredible to see!

The Giant Grizzly. I was pretty far back from the tree.





As we walked though this grove of magnificent trees, it was incredible to think that there was once a time that they were in danger of being cut down. We saw this in New Zealand as well. There they have a tree called the Kauri that can live for more than 2000 years and grow to a height of over 50 meters. Up until the 1700's there were massive forests of Kauri throughout New Zealand. By the early 1900's, ninety percent of the mighty Kauri trees had been cut down for ship building timber or resin. It makes me proud of our country that we listened to people like John Muir who had the foresight to see beyond his lifetime and to understand that places like this are worth saving.

Can you imagine wanting to cut this down?





The Mariposa grove was a surprisingly long adventure. We were only there for about an hour and a half before we realized we were pretty much starving and needed to get a shuttle back down to the parking lot. In fact, we probably could have spent the whole afternoon there if we were better prepared for the size of the grove. Either way, it was a fascinating and wondrous experience and something I would not skip if you find yourself at Yosemite. Just pack a lunch so you can stay for a while!

Our third day Shaun and I split up for our hikes. Shaun had already done the Vernal Falls and he wanted to do one of the most difficult, steep hikes at Yosemite, Glacier Peak to Panorama Trail. He left early in the morning with a pack full of food and water for his 13 mile adventure. I had a leisurely breakfast and then headed out to do Upper Vernal Falls. Although the hike wasn't extremely long (about three and a half miles round trip) it was pretty steep and followed the river almost the whole way, with lots of scenic overlooks to stop at and catch my breath. And this was one of the trails that actually had pretty good foot traffic, so I was never concerned about hiking by myself as I might have been in the back country. My big excitement for the day came near the summit, where they were keeping the crowds off the stairs. Apparently someone had fallen and broken their arm up near the top. It was a bit chaotic and I ended up turning back just before the top because of the chaos, but I got to see the emergency crews in action, which was pretty cool.

The Vernal Falls hike

A peaceful moment on my hike

You can see the chaos at the top as they work to get the injured man down

How cool are these guys. They hike in with all this rescue gear strapped to their backs!

That evening, we stopped by the General Store to get a few things for dinner and Shaun went to find something to read. Once I had what we needed, I stopped over to see what he was getting. He showed me a copy of Outside Magazine with the headline "The Terrifying Truth About Bear Attacks". Now, I normally would not tell anyone what they should or should not read, but I was adamant that he should not get that magazine. And when I read the inside headline ("Are Hungry Bears at Yellowstone Attacking Humans for Food?") I was even more adamant that he should not get that magazine. Of course, he got that magazine. As he drove us back to the campsite I started to read the article. "Seriously", I said, "You should not read this article." So that evening as I cooked our nice romantic campfire dinner, Shaun sat down and began reading the article about people being pulled from tents and eaten by angry bears at Yellowstone National Park.

Just hanging out having dinner. No bears in sight!

So here's how that night went down. After our cozy evening by the fire, we settled down to sleep in our little tent with everything locked away as usual in the bear box. I was somewhere deep in dream land at about 3AM when I was awoken by my husband attempting to forcefully remove me from my sleeping bag because he was convinced there was a bear outside our tent. He looked like a crazy person! After I absolutely refused to get out of my sleeping bag he unzipped the windshield and tentatively looked outside and realized it was not a bear, but some ill prepared campers who had arrived in the middle of the night. They were attempting to find their gear in the back of a pickup truck. The combo of them rifling through their stuff and the sleep-apnea victim next door grunting and snorting away was apparently just the right combination of noises. So bear averted, he finally put down the ax (yes, apparently he was planning to bludgeon the bear!) and lay back down for what ended up being a very fitful sleep. I, on the other hand, zipped myself back up and after a bit of grumbling fell fast asleep again. And that was the end of that. Or so I thought. What I didn't know at the time was that that ridiculously frightening article would end up messing with our heads the whole time we were in bear country. And we hadn't even gotten to Grizzly Country yet!

OK so there was a black bear that showed up down the road from our campsite but the rangers had it under control.

The next morning we packed up the car and began our slow, scenic drive out of Yosemite. It was yet another gorgeous day and we were only headed as far as the Sonoma Valley so we took our time on the drive, stopping whenever we saw something amazing, which was often. Once we left the park, we headed North. Shaun knew a great little Best Western in Healdsburg that was inexpensive, had free laundry, was close to a winery and best of all, was highly unlikely to have bears in the rooms. After checking in, we made a quick visit to Seghesio Vineyards, went out for a pizza and then settled back at the hotel for a good night's sleep.

Sad to be leaving beautiful Yosemite...

But happy to be back in wine country!! This pizza was so yummy!!

The next morning we packed up our freshly clean clothes and headed for the Redwood National Forest. The Redwood forest is a perfect day trip. You can literally drive right through it, stopping along the way to look at the incredible groves or take hikes farther in to the groves if you have the time. We both thought the drive was incredible, but to be honest we were a little rushed because we had another goal in mind; Gold Bluffs Beach Campground. We had heard about Gold Bluffs from one of the rangers at Yosemite who said it was his favorite campground anywhere. He explained that it was first come, first served but he thought we would be able to get a spot considering the time of year. So after we finished our drive through the Redwoods, we headed for Gold Bluffs.

Redwood was interesting because parts are National Park and parts are State Park

The fallen trees are amazing here

They leave the trees where they fall and they become "nurse trees" which eventually decay and feed the living trees

To get to the campground, you have to drive 6 miles down a heavily wooded dirt road until you finally come to a little ranger station. There you pay your fee (our most expensive of the trip at $35) and then drive just a little further until you come to a campground nestled among the dunes along a 10 mile stretch of beach. It was foggy and cold that day but still absolutely gorgeous. We set up our tent and started a campfire and made hot dogs and beans for dinner. As we drifted off to sleep that night we could hear the ocean crashing along the shore. It was one of my favorite spots of the trip.

Our campsite with the bluffs behind them

Coffee on the beach in the morning! It was cold and foggy but still lovely.

The next morning we packed up the car and then drove a little further down the beach to the trail head for the Fern Canyon trail. The plan was to go for a long hike, but two things got in the way. The first was the Elk! There were two amazing male Roosevelt Elk hanging out by the trail head. We sat and watched them for what seemed like an hour, taking pictures but also taking care not to scare them. When they finally moved off the trail head, we gingerly made our way past them and onto the Fern Canyon Trail, but to be frank, this time it was my turn to be scared. There were bear warning signs up in the area and this was exactly the type of place they warn you about in bear literature. It was overgrown, with blind corners and loud bubbling brooks all around. Surprising a bear is a very bad thing and I was super nervous. Strangely Shaun was not bothered at all by this and was even going to hike a bit by himself but we ended up scrapping the idea. There was still plenty to see on our big journey and we still had five hours to drive to our next stop in Oregon. So we headed back out the long dirt road and back onto the California Highways headed for Crater Lake.

Our Elk Encounter!!

It was like they were guarding the trail head so we couldn't hike!

That's Shaun in the Fern Canyon. A fine farewell to California!