Great Western Tour 2013

On July 19th we departed Vancouver for this year's edition of our Great Summer Tour of the National Parks of the Western US. We'll be on the road for 2 months...not returning until near the end of September. Plan is to revisit some of the places we've visited and enjoyed before as well as to seek out some of the lesser known little "hole in the wall" National Monuments we haven't seen. 

Joseph, OR

First stop was eastern Oregon and the little town of Joseph. Actually, we stayed at Wallowa Lake about 6 miles outside of the town, at the base of  the Eagle Cap Wilderness. The town is named for Chief Joseph of the Nez Perce - the Indian tribe whose ancestral home was the Wallowa Valley, from which they were evicted by the Army in 1877, setting in motion a 1600 mile running battle as the tribe tried to escape first to Montana and later Canada rather than submit to reservation life. Not the proudest episode in American history.

Did a few hikes while we were there, with our favorite being this one up to a local feature called Ice Lake. It was a gentle uphill excursion thru some pretty meadows, with lots of picturesque photo stops along the way like this double waterfall.

Our lunch stop along the way.

We've met some interesting creatures along the trails during our travels, from Kangaroos, Koalas and Emus in Australia to Kiwis in New Zealand - even an occasional Llama now and then, but this was the first time we saw a "pack goat". His name was Zeke, and he was grazing his way up the trail with his family on a sunny Saturday morning.

One of many pretty mountain meadows. Even had a carpet of summer flowers along the trail.


Ketchum, ID

Next stop was Sun Valley, Idaho, mainly to break up the drive but ostensibly to visit Craters of the Moon National Park about an hour away on the plain below. Turned out that the weather was so bloody hot that the idea of tramping across a volcanic gridiron had little appeal for us, so we stayed in the mountains and found a local hike to occupy our time for the day we were there.

It really is a pretty area. If memory serves Sun Valley was a Winter Olympic site many years ago, and the valley is dotted with ski lifts and other outdoor activities catering to a winter crowd. It's nice in the summer too as you can see.

Great Basin NP

Next up was Great Basin National Park in Eastern Nevada. We were here last year and enjoyed it so much that we decided to return. Stayed in a remote ranch just south of the park itself.

Guess there's been a working ranch here for over 100 years, but they only built accommodations for guests in 1995. Lots of evidence of the old days littering the hidden canyon here.

It had one of those "middle of nowhere" signboards nailed to a  Cottonwood tree, and we were surprised to see that Kauai was prominently mentioned.

Since the ranch is the only oasis of water and greenery within a 30 miles radius it attracts wildlife from all around... like these wild turkeys grazing in the grass. Also had a pretty sizeable herd of mule deer about the place, and lots of jackrabbits hopping around the landscape, especially in the early morning.

The major attraction here was the hiking in the National Park itself located about 15 miles north of us. Some pretty dramatic landscapes as you can see. Since the trailhead was located at the 10,000 ft level and ascended from there, there was a bit of huffing and puffing (actually it was more like coughing and wheezing) involved in negotiating the trails. One of the rewards was a grove of Bristlecone Pines hugging the treeline, some of which were over 3,000 years old.

Closing in on the end of the trail. In the canyon just ahead is the remnant of the largest remaining glacier in Nevada...probably the only glacier in Nevada come to think of it. It really is a terrific National Park - one that's largely overlooked by most people unfortunately.

After a few days here it's off to Cedar City, Utah tomorrow for 4 nights. Plan is to use it as a jumping off point for Zion and Cedar Breaks.