Mt. Rainier

We just returned from a couple of days up at Mt. Rainier National Park - located about two hours north of us here in Vancouver. We hadn't been to that area before even though it's pretty nearby, so when the forecast called for clear weather for a few days we decided to give it a go. Glad we did. Although it was cloudy the afternoon we arrived it started clearing later on and, as advertised, "the mountain was out" (as the locals say) by the next morning.



Here's the view of the mountain from the north-east side, taken on one of our hikes back up into the hills above Sunrise - one of the popular though remote areas of the park. You can just see one or two of the glaciers peeking thru the clouds. The rolling clouds made for some very dramatic scenes as the curtain rose and fell.



By the next morning it was spectacular as you can see from the photo above. This time we set off from the Paradise Lodge - on the south side - which is by far the most visited section of the park. Rainier is located about an hour and a half from downtown Seattle so it's a popular day trip. Saw several tour buses pulling up just as we were leaving after our morning hike.

One of several pretty alpine valleys we passed thru.



Never thought I'd be saying this, but the hikes in and around Mt. Rainier are even prettier than New Zealand or Ireland, which is saying plenty. The combination of the mountain, the surrounding Alpine valleys and the beautiful weather made for one of the prettiest hikes we've ever done. There were even some wildflowers still blooming further up the slope. Although it was mid-September, and with the first snow of the winter only a few weeks away, we actually had to pass by several of last years snow drifts further up the mountain.

Our loop began behind the Paradise Lodge - at around 6000 ft - and wound its way up to the 8000 ft level before heading back downhill along the Nisqually glacier and then the Nisqually River. It was a weekday after Labor Day so the crowds were down as compared to the peak of summer when it apparently gets pretty clobbered. As usual, however, if you just walk 5 minutes up the hiking trails the crowds melt away fast and you have the place - and all of this gorgeous scenery - to yourself.



A rest stop & photo op on the way up the trail.



This was our lunch stop near the top of the pass - just across from the Nisqually Glacier. The waterfall you see passes underneath the glacier below until it emerges about a mile downhill...and forms the headwater of the Nisqually River in the valley below.



As we sat there eating our sandwiches we were startled by this fat little ground hog as he came around the corner, obviously having scavenged some grass to line his burrow for the coming winter. We were just off the well-travelled trail, at the 8000 ft level, sitting on some rocks and so didn't expect to see any wildlife at all. Actually heard him before we saw him. He was a pretty big guy - must have weighed about 25 lbs., and sounded like a person running up the path. He saw us at about the same time we saw him about 20 ft away., and stopped to size us up before continuing (and to allow us time to grab the camera).



This is a view of Mt. Adams from the top of the pass. Off to the lower right you can just see Mt. Hood in Oregon...about 95 miles away.




Stopped on the way back to go on a short hike thru the woods to an Old Growth forest. This Pacific Red Cedar is 1,000 years old and was surrounded by similarly aged Douglas Firs and Western Hemlock trees - all between 600 and 1,000 years old. Really a neat place.

On our way downhill from one of our hikes we came across this little chipmunk chowing down on the seed pods from whatever plant this is. We didn't seem to bother him at all as we stood there on the path about 10 ft away - he was pretty intent on what he was doing. Anyway, he was so cute that Rita shot the footage below as a present for our Granddaughter Makenna.

Crater Lake

Friday the 28th was my 63rd birthday. The weather forecast was favorable so we drove down to Crater Lake in southern Oregon for a couple of nights. It was a little cold & wet when we arrived but as you can see from the accompanying photos it came up sunny and warm on both Saturday & Sunday.

We meandered around the lake most of the morning, stopping to take in the views and take pictures, and also went on a couple of relatively short hikes along the rim of the crater. The first one started at the Crater Lake Lodge at around the 7,000 ft. level and climbed for about 2 miles to the top of a scenic lookout at 8,000 ft. Even though we're in pretty decent shape we were really feeling the effects of the altitude as we made our way up the track. The reward at the top was a glorious panoramic view of the lake and the surrounding countryside. The visibility must have been 50 miles at least.

Crater Lake is one of the deepest lakes on earth - getting to depth of 1950 ft. in the middle. The water is also quite pure, and the refraction of sunlight on the water makes for the deepest blue imaginable on a clear day - really spectacular.

Had dinner at the Lodge on Saturday night - a great meal in a spectacular setting - before driving home to Vancouver on Sunday morning.

Anyway here are a few photos.



Wizard Island from the rim trail.


Old and Gnarly (see if you can tell which is which)


A photo stop along the trail to the summit


One of the features is a formation called the Phantom Ship


Crater Lake was formed when a volcano exploded about 80,000 years ago - apparently the blast was many times greater than Mt. St. Helen's when it blew about 30 years ago. After the mountain exploded the caldera collapsed in on itself forming a giant hole in the ground that gradually filled with water over the ensuing thousands of years. The water in the lake comes from a few springs, rainwater, and snow-melt from the 44 feet of snow they get here every winter. The park roads don't open until June every year, and the park pretty much closes down for the winter by October 12. After that it sees some hardcore cross-country skiers, snow shoe enthusiasts and snowmobilers, but that's about it for 8 months of the year.

The place was discovered by gold seekers in 1853. Before that it was a closely guarded secret among the local Indians to whom it was a sacred area.

Here's a panoramic shot that Rita took from the top of the lookout. See if you can guess how many cups of coffee she had at breakfast.

Victoria

The Fairmont Empress Hotel on the esplanade in Victoria.

The second part of the trip was to Victoria, after a 90 minute ferry ride from Port Angeles across the Straits. The Washington State & British Columbia ferry systems are really quite efficient and make for easy (and scenic) trips across Puget Sound and the Strait. Things have gotten a little more complicated lately with the imposition of a requirement to have passports to reenter the US, and the subsequent more detailed screening by customs & immigration during check-in, but it was really no big deal. Guess it's not unusual to see whales, seals, otters and pods of Orcas during the crossings, but things were pretty quiet for our passage.

Victoria itself was quite a pretty little place - sort of a mini-Sydney, Australia - and we enjoyed it very much. The city spreads around a pretty little bay. Lots of boats and many of the buildings are Victorian era, making for a picturesque scene. Took a harbor ferry tour which lasted for about 90 minutes and generally walked our legs off exploring the town.


Along the inner harbor, just in front of the Empress hotel. You can just see the Parliament building behind Rita.



One of the tourist "things to see" is Butchart Gardens just north of the city and, as it turned out, just a 15 minute walk from where we were staying. Wandered about one day and even had "High Tea" in the dining room.


Lots of nice hikes in the area. There are several Provincial Parks in the region that have spectacular walks along the coast and thru the forest - all within a half hour drive from the center of town. This is from our hike along the Coastal Track in East Sooke Regional Park.

We stayed in a converted boathouse that was originally built in the 1920's, and which was converted to use as a B&B about 20 years ago. Really a neat place and a destination in its own right as you can see from the accompanying photos. The views were terrific. Made it extremely relaxing to sit on the sun porch and just watch the water in the changing light of early evening.








All in all a most enjoyable and relaxing interlude.

Took the ferry from Vancouver Island to Whidby Island on the return, thus making a little circle out of the trip as we drove down from Whidby NAS just north of Seattle. Poked our heads in at McChord AFB to have lunch & check out the Exchange before returning to Vancouver on Saturday afternoon.

Olympic

Just returned from a short trip to The Olympic Peninsula and Victoria, BC. Our first stop was Olympic National Park near Port Angeles. We stayed in a rental property on Lake Sutherland which was quite close to a couple of entrances into the park, which is actually a gigantic old growth rain forest centered around Mt. Olympus. Lots of great hiking, although most of it was at between 5000 and 7000 ft so we were huffing & puffing pretty good by the time the day was over.

First outing was up to the Hurricane Ridge visitor center, where several hikes branched out and into the surrounding hills. This being the most easily accessed part of the park it's quite popular with families and day trippers looking for an easy outing in the hills. As per usual however, once you walk about a half mile along one of the trails you leave the crowd behind and pretty much have the place to yourself.

One of the nice features of the park is that the wildlife have gotten comfortable with human presence and so are not skittish at all. Not tame exactly but nearly so. Lots of ground squirrels, marmots and a herd of resident deer that seems to stay anchored near the parking area grazing on the grass that grows around the visitor center. It's not unusual to round a corner on a hike and find one or more looking back at you, grazing contentedly as you pass close by. Case in point being the photo above which was taken with no zoom on the camera - she really was that close. Later on the hike I noticed a buck coming towards us from up the trail so we stood fast so as not to startle him on the narrow ledge. After about 30 seconds he came upon us & didn't bat an eye...just diverted to the right along a section of pretty steep slope until he had passed us (no more than 10 feet away) then regained the trail behind us & continued on his way.



Was overcast in the morning, burning off later in the day to bright sunshine. We had to drive thru the clouds to get to the top...at about 5000 elevation.





After a couple of hours we topped out along a ridge in the hills where several trails meet. We sat on a rocky outcrop to have lunch and just rest a while before the long trip back. The photo above is the view to the north, down thru a pretty little valley that eventually finds its way to the sea, although the low cloud cover over the Straits of Juan de Fuca precluded a view of it that day.

As we sat there we were visited by a marmot who checked us out from the cover of some rocks, and then Rita saw something moving from right to left below us about 500 yards away. It was a Black bear, and it appeared to be heading to intercept one of the trails just below us which, had it turned up the trail as we expected, would have put it in our laps in just a few minutes. Rita was about to wet herself - preparing flee in terror if the bear had turned our way - and I was frankly looking around wondering how quickly we could evacuate, when the bear continued across the trail and proceeded to what appeared to us to be a nearly sheer cliff, which he proceeded to climb. We sat mesmerized for several minutes before remembering the camera so the picture is necessarily a distant & going-away shot but, trust me, he actually passed a lot closer than that.

Unlike the grizzlies of Montana & the Yellowstone area, the black bears around here are generally pretty harmless and not a threat to people, but seeing our first one while on foot made for a pulse-quickening few minutes in our day nevertheless.




The second day we drove up thru another park entrance, this time to Sol Duc hot springs, which is a mini resort in the mountains and which also has some neat trails up to distant waterfalls. It was a cool, drizzly day however so we cut the walking short and didn't take any photos.

Next up was Victoria and Vancouver Island in British Columbia.

Update

Some Late Entries From the Last Trip

We're leaving tomorrow for a short trip up to the Olympic Peninsula for a few days, then taking the ferry from Port Angeles over to the city of Victoria in British Columbia for another 5 days. During the packing, which Rita usually begins about a month before we actually leave to go anywhere, we came across some photos of our last stop on the recent trip coming home from Yellowstone. We detoured a bit to visit a place called Traveler's Rest on the Lolo River in Montana - a place that figured prominently in the journey of Lewis & Clark back in 1805-06. The Corps of Discovery stopped here twice - once before they climbed over Lolo Pass with their Indian guide in Sept of 1805, then again in the Spring of 1806 on the return trip. They've apparently pinpointed the location of their encampment by detecting traces of mercury in what served as their latrine. Seems that the standard medicinal that Lewis prescribed for the men was a powerful emetic that was laced with mercury, so when they found high concentrations of the stuff in one area of the camp ground they were pretty sure they had found the spot since no one else during that time (or era I guess) had access to the "advanced" medicines that Lewis was carrying.

It was a pretty spot along a "bold running stream" as Clark described it in his journal, and the local State historical society has really done a nice job laying out the site and providing interpretive signage to help visitors tour the old campground, which was popular with Indians and French trappers for hundreds of years before Lewis & Clark passed this way.

Anyway, here are some late entries from the last trip:


Lolo Creek, the "Bold Running Stream" that Clark describes in his journal. Traveler's rest campground is on the right bank.


This is the Clearwater River descending out of the Bitteroot Mountains just west of Lolo Pass...ie across the continental divide. The explorers paralleled the river on horseback until they reached a place further on where they could build canoes and finish the rest of the journey to the Pacific by water. The Clearwater eventually goes into the Snake River, which then empties into the Columbia all the way to the ocean. This is the same route they followed back upstream on the homeward leg in the Spring of 1806.


It was Spring when we passed this way, so most of the early flowers were still in bloom. This is the flower of the Bitteroot plant, from which the surrounding mountains and river take their name. The indians dried the roots and pounded it into flour from which they made a sort of bread, which was a staple of the Shoshone diet. Supposed to be pretty foul-tasting stuff.

We're off tomorrow morning for the drive up to the Olympic National Park. We catch the ferry over to Victoria on Aug. 9 .

Yellowstone

Rita on the Beaver Ponds trail

We're just wrapping 5 days in Yellowstone - this time it was a Spring visit. We were here last September too, which seems to be the better time of year to visit. Most of the park is at an elevation of between 7,000 and 8,000 ft. so Spring tends to come late and leave early. The local saying is that there are two seasons in Yellowstone - 10 months of winter, then two months of tough sledding in July & August.

It was still a little drizzly and cold this week, although the weather cooperated for the most part (ie not too much rain) and the temperatures on the trail (mid 50's) made for pretty nice hiking conditions. There was some mud but not enough to turn us around on any trails, and the water level in the rivers & streams was quite high. There's a lot of bear activity this time of year since they're just emerging from winter hibernation & looking for food. For that reason some of the back country trails were closed, including one of our favorites - the Nez Perce Creek trail near Old Faithful - we hiked it last year and liked it so much we wanted to do it this time too, but after driving 50 miles to get to the trail head we found a sign at the entrance advising that it was closed because of foraging grizzly bear activity in the area. Not wanting to become bear poop we heeded the warning and went somewhere else.

There were lots of lower altitude options (lower than 7,000 ft that is) to choose from so we stuck close to the Mammoth area in the northern part of the park. Here are some photos of the treks.



It being early Spring in the park, the meadows were full of wildflowers. The yellow ones that Rita is standing in are called Arrowhead Balsamroot.




The Aspens were just leafing out too. A little further down the hill the cottonwood trees were sending out their seeds - something they were doing when we left Vancouver nearly two months ago.


On the Trail to the Beaver Ponds


Lots of nice views along the trail, especially those along the high plains on the Wyoming-Montana border



This pretty meadow is usually home to grazing buffalo, elk, and deer



Came across this "Trail Marker" on one of the hikes along the Yellowstone River. This big elk bull obviously didn't make it thru the winter and became a meal for one of the grizzlies.


Creature sightings: we finally stopped taking buffalo pictures because we saw so many, but here are a few animals that we hadn't seen before.


This little guy is a Rock Marmot - usually rather shy, but he popped up to check us out as we passed by on the trail. We were about 5 miles into the back country so he probably wasn't used to company.



This is a Uinta ground squirrel. They're similar to prairie dogs but don't group together quite like the prairie dogs do, although you usually see several together.

During one of our hikes we happened upon a baby ground squirrel that apparently got disoriented and stayed just ahead of us on the trail for several yards as we proceeded on. We stopped to let him escape into the brush and get back into his den, but instead he turned around and approached us - trying to figure out what we were I guess. He actually hopped right up to my hiking boot, at which time I was considering what I was going to do if he made a dash up my pants leg, when he finally lost interest and bolted into the sagebrush. Made for an interesting interlude on the trail.



Saw a LOT of elk this week, including these two cows that watched us pass by one day. Not too skittish, but did move off into the trees if we stopped to watch them.



This coyote was cleaning up some previous road kill as we drove by (and trying not to become road kill himself in the process). We had seen lots of scat on the trails but this was the first live one we saw. They forage near the ground squirrel colonies looking for easy meals. Based upon all of the fur we saw in the Coyote poop they're apparently pretty successful at it.

We didn't complete one of our hikes until after 5 PM after we got a late start one day. We were surprised at the number of animals that were out in what was basically twilight - really had to be careful on the roads, especially since the tourists are famous for just stopping suddenly for no reason (in the middle of a two lane road) to watch whatever critter is nearby. They must have about twenty rear-end collisions a day here. It's as if some of these folks leave their brains at home when they go on vacation.

Heading out tomorrow for the last leg of the trip back to Vancouver. Going to take the scenic route thru the mountains of western Montana & Idaho - along the route that Lewis & Clark passed in 1805 enroute to the Pacific, and which was also the route of the Nez Perce in 1877 as they fled the US Army. Should be home the evening of the 19th.

The Black Hills

Distant View of Rushmore from the Trail

On our last day in the area we took a scenic drive thru the Black Hills National Forest and stopped to visit the Crazy Horse Memorial that's being carved (ie blasted) into a mountain near Mt. Rushmore. The artist has been at it since 1948, and his family is carrying on the work after he passed away several years ago. The intention is to create a monument to Native Americans similar to that recognizing the 4 Presidents nearby. No idea when it's going to be completed. As you can see from the photos only the face of Crazy Horse is complete. Per the model he'll eventually be seen astride his horse pointing towards the lost lands of his people. The Black Hilld were (and are) sacred to Native Americans, and Crazy Horse was something of a spiritual presence among the Indians, so the two are blended here as a suitable memorial to the Indian peoples of North America.


The Original Deadwood Stage on Display at the Memorial

The town of Deadwood is only a few miles north - and is the place where Wild Bill Hickock and Calamity Jane held forth in the 1880's, and where Wild Bill took a bullet in the back while playing poker one afternoon in the local saloon. When he died he was holding two pair - Aces & eights - known ever after as the "Dead Man's Hand". Coincidentally, that was our squadron logo in VS-28 many years ago.

Here's the model for the carving on the Mountain

The scale of the Crazy Horse Memorial is really tremendous - all four of the heads on Mt. Rushmore will fit into the space occupied by Crazy Horse's head!


The Black Hills were gorgeous. The drive took us thru Custer State Park, which was full of creatures large & small. Took us half a day to drive 30 miles because we kept stopping at scenic points along the way. Tried to do a short hike but didn't get too far because of the muddy conditions. Still, we've added the Black Hills to our "return someday" list - it's just too pretty, with numerous world class hikes, not to come back for a longer stay.

Creature sightings: The place was like a little Garden of Eden, with herds of Pronghorns, Buffalo, Donkeys (released years ago), elk, and deer everywhere, along with scores of Prairie Dog Villages along the way. Used to think they were rare, but we lost count of the number after a while - it was pleasant just to watch them scurry around from hole to hole, barking at us the whole time.



The Buffalo had just given birth to the Spring calves a week or two earlier


Lots of Pronghorns, but usually in ones and twos. Didn't see any large herds, but they were everywhere


Must have seen about a million of these little guys


Yellowstone is next. Will be staying in Gardiner, Montana just outside the north entrance. Hope the weather cooperates - we'd like to hike some miles on the beautiful trails we remember from last September.