Jon's Journal | Pictures and notes from on the road

Lake Louise

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The Canadian Pacific Railroad built the Chateau Lake Louise at the east end of the lake late in the nineteenth century to provide an attractive tourist destination on their newly constructed rail line from Vancouver. It has been expanded and updated over the years and even today when automobile and airline travel dominate tourism the Chateau lives on as a vibrant destination hotel.

Our hike started at the Chateau and followed the shoreline halfway around the lake. Then the trail headed up the mountain side to the glacier fields that feed Lake Louise all year long. As the glacier-melt tumbles down the mountain side, it picks up minerals that color the water a unique green color.

Animals Up North

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Wherever we go, we’re always on the lookout for wildlife to photograph in their own native habitat. No zoos or pets, just wild animals being themselves where they live naturally. Montana, Alberta and British Columbia all presented wonderful opportunities to grab some photos that pleased us and I hope will interest you.

Glacier National Park

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On the way to Logan Pass in Glacier National Park, we spotted this fellow on a ledge above the road.Then when we got to the parking lot, we couldn’t find Jafcy so we invited E. Fudd to join us on our hike.Then as we neared the Hidden Lake Overlook objective of our hike, we started seeing mountain goats near the trail and even on the trail.

We even saw some big horned sheep at the end of our hike.

Upper Geyser Basin, Yellowstone National Park

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One of the high points of our trip so far has been the opportunity to hike in Yellowstone National Park with Davey, Grace, Dani, Dave and Suzy. They’re on a whirlwind tour of some western national parks, including Yellowstone. Here they are near the iconic geyser, Old Faithful.

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After parking the cars near the visitor center and taking the above family portrait, we set off at a brisk pace to reach geysers a mile and a half away from Old Faithful. We had referred to the estimated times of eruptions for several of the major geysers and decided to skip Old Faithful which we all had seen on an earlier visit to the park.

Grand Geyser is a fountain type, erupting from a pool of water. It is the world’s tallest predictable geyser producing explosions of boiling water and steam that reach nearly 200 feet into the air. Eruptions occur about every 11 hours and last about 10 minutes each time. We staked out places on the boardwalk (note the boardwalk with people in the lower left corner of the first photo) in time to see a full eruption.Daisy Geyser eruptions only last about 4 minutes but we were able to catch a fine display of its 75-foot plume of steam and water.Riverside Geyser was my personal favorite. It is a cone-type geyser, erupting from a mineral base about every 6 hours. It is across the Firehole River from the viewing area and shoots its steam and water at an angle 75 feet above the river. Riverside Geyser produces a loud thumping sound as it pumps its plume skyward and creates a curtain of “rain” into the river. Its eruptions last more than 20 minutes giving all the spectators plenty of time to view the event from different angles by walking back and forth on the path on the river bank opposite the geyser.In addition to the erupting geysers, we visited several pools, springs and geysers that were “resting” between eruptions. Here are a few samples from the stunning Upper Geyser Basin landscape.We had a day to remember, chasing the eruption schedule from one geyser to another, passing by many unique sights but pausing for just a moment to take a picture or two. Best of all, though, our three-generation team for the day was a delight! The nudge from the younger set drove us to do more than we would have if left to our own devices and the interactions with the youngest team members made the day truly special.

Yellowstone National Park

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Yellowstone National Park is many things. For some visitors, the highlights of the park are found in Lamar Valley which is home to thousands of wild animals including large herds of bison and smaller herds of pronghorn antelope. We haven’t gotten close enough yet to photograph all the types of animals inhabiting the park, but these pictures were all taken on our morning drive through Lamar Valley.Many visitors would count the fabulous hiking trails that they’ve trekked as high points of their Yellowstone visits. Others might say, “No, it’s the geysers that make Yellowstone special!”. The lucky few get to combine both experiences, hiking and geyser-viewing. Here are some photos of our 5 mile r/t hike to Lone Star Geyser early one morning, arriving just in time for one of its few daily eruptions.Yellowstone National Park is centered around the 30- by 45-mile caldera of a volcano that last erupted about 640,000 years ago, spewing out approximately 240 cubic miles of debris. The super hot magma beneath powers all the thermal features in the park including geysers, hot springs, and fumaroles. We visited a few examples of such features the most spectacular of which was the Grand Prismatic Spring. Even the smaller colorful, bubbling, steaming and hissing springs were fantastic.

Snake River Valley, Idaho

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On our way from Salt Lake City to Wyoming, we swung into Western Idaho to follow the Snake River Valley back across the state into Wyoming. Our first stop was at Bruneau Dunes State Park near Mountain Home, ID, where explored some of the biggest dunes west of the Mississippi and also a bit of the Snake River and its tributaries.

Our second stop in Idaho was in Arco, near the Craters of the Moon National Monument. We did some hiking in the volcanic landscape including some exploration of some of the lava tube caves. These formed as the outer surface of lava flows cooled while the molten cores flowed out. In many areas the stark black lava fields were dotted with bright white syringa plants, producing a feast for the eyes and soul.Our final stop in Idaho was at EBR-1, a decommissioned breeder reactor that was the world’s first nuclear power plant. Its location in the middle of the desert in Idaho apparently was selected to minimize any adverse consequences in the event of a catastrophe. As usual, Roberta stuck her nose into nearly everything. We enjoyed our tour of the entire plant led by an extremely knowledgeable guide who explained the whole operation from start to finish.

Grand Teton National Park

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Grand Teton National Park presents some of the most dramatic scenery one can find in the United States. From almost any point in the park one can see the breath-taking vista of snow-decorated peaks. Our hikes to Taggert Lake and Two Oceans Lake on two different days were no exceptions with constantly changing views of the Teton Mountain Range jutting up from the lakes and meadows. This was some of the most enjoyable hiking of our 2014 trip.

Antelope Island, Great Salt Lake

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Salt Lake City, the capital of Utah, presented itself squarely on our route from Moab to Idaho, so we decided to stop there for a few days to do laundry, shopping, and sightseeing. After settling into our campsites at a water park strongly scented with chlorine and serenaded by the sounds of children playing the water attractions, we spent the next day at Antelope Island State Park. The island is in the Great Salt Lake just a few miles from SLC and serves as a historical site and wildlife preservation area. Wasatch1040010 Pronghorn1040026 salty see TinkLake1040067 greatsaltlake lasso

We spent another day at Temple Square to tour some of the buildings and hear an organ recital which took place in the conference center.

Morning Glory Bridge

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The objective for this hike was Morning Glory Bridge in Negro Bill Canyon (some folks call it an arch but it appears to have been formed by running water rather than erosion, making it a bridge). This canyon is in the eponymous wilderness area managed by BLM beside the Colorado River just upstream from Moab, UT and has been the cause of some contention between federal and local groups in the past.

The bridge is a little more than two miles up the canyon which has a perennial stream that makes its way into the Colorado River. The hike follows the stream, crossing it about a dozen times. There are no bridges but many stepping stones. This is a very popular hike and the shade provided by the canyon walls and the vegetation along the stream is very welcome on hot days.

Morning Glory Bridge itself is a magnificent sight, especially when standing directly under it. The height, mass, and bold colors of the rock make this a special destination. In addition, there frequently are tourists rappelling down the canyon wall behind the bridge providing some good entertainment to all.

Needles, Canyonlands National Park

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Canyonlands National Park is just 50 years old, one of our youngest national parks. It encompasses more than a third of a million acres of canyons, mesas, rivers, buttes, arches and other rock formations in Utah’s high desert. Less well known than its nearby older sibling, Arches National Park, and incorporating natural barriers to travel, Canyonlands might discourage some folks from visiting. Two major rivers, the Green and the Colorado, meet in the park and divide it in thirds. Really. You just can’t cross those rivers in the park because there are no bridges. So from the vicinity of Moab to Lake Powell, Canyonlands stretches more than a hundred inaccessible miles with only a few paved entry points. Needles is the southernmost district and is served by a single paved road winding more than 35 miles from highway 191 into the park. So it takes some effort to get there but the rewards are great.

Our visit was for just one day. We had limited time for a hike after driving for more than an hour from Moab and in consultation with a ranger at the visitor center, we decided to hike out to Chesler Park for a close-up look at some needles. All the parks that we’ve visited have had rocks –some called hoo-doos, some arches, some goblins, some bridges, various other fanciful names — but somehow all the rocks are different, unique in their own ways. Colors, shapes, textures, and context all differ and create endless variations. Needles takes its name from the rock formations called “The Needles” and seeing them was the objective of our hike.

Our hike began at the Elephant Hill trailhead. The trail was marked occasionally with cairns but most of the time we just plodded along what seemed to be the most likely path. Once in awhile there were some real improvements to the trail, such as steps on some steep parts, but mostly the hiking was over unimproved slick rock and dirt paths. It was an enjoyable hike and after lunch on the trail, we retraced our steps to the truck for the return drive to Moab.

Mill Creek Canyon

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This hike began at the remains of a 1950’s power plant that was wiped out by a debris-laden flash flood soon after it began operation. The remaining waterfall drops into a small gorge within view of the trail head parking lot. The trail then continues up the canyon alternately following either side of the creek.

Our hiking trail crossed back and forth across Mill Creek many times. This proved to be a fine test of our balance stepping from one (mostly dry) stone to another. About 30 minutes of hiking brought us to the first swimming hole in the creek.

To proceed further we had to backtrack and then climb up onto a ledge on the canyon wall. Just a bit beyond the swimming hole, the trail then rejoined the creek bed. After several more creek crossings and some twists and turns of the canyon walls, we reached a second cataract with a small pool at its bottom. We elected to end our hike there because the canyon walls both crowded in on the stream and we didn’t want to hike up the stream bed itself in the flowing water.

Carona Arch near Moab, UT

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Moab, Utah is one of our favorite places to visit. It is close to two national parks: Arches and Canyonlands. It also provides an abundance of hiking and touring opportunities outside the parks as well as a small town with many interesting little shops, the City Market with its wonderful deli, and services such as barbershops and dentists. Its many campgrounds vary considerable in quality and atmosphere ranging from many tent sites crammed together with ATVs roaring around to reasonably sized sites for RVs and more peace and quiet. We chose the latter at Portal RV Park on the north edge of town.

Our first hike in Moab this year was to Carona Arch which is situated beside the Colorado River on BLM-administered land. Hiking up hill from the parking lot, the first obstacle was the single-line railroad track that runs from Moab to a potash processing plant near Shafer Canyon. I’m not sure how many trains actually use this line today but we heeded the signs and stopped, looked and listened, then crossed the track and started up the dirt path and slick rock trail.

The trail soon presented us with some challenging sections that included a ladder and two cables to assist with otherwise impassable situations. Most of the path to the arch was on slick rock, defined by cairns with no discernible trail or footprints left by others.

The reward at the end of the hike was beautiful Carona Arch. The opening is 140 feet high and 105 feet wide at the base. It is popular with the younger testosterone-filled crowd who enjoy swinging from the top, through the opening, using long ropes. We didn’t see any such activity on our hike but did pass a party of about six twenty-somethings headed up as we descended. The were heavily laden with ropes, sections of firehose to protect the arch where their ropes chafed, and other gear. We were tempted to turn around and hike back up to watch the fun but decided to continue on down to a picnic area along the Colorado River for a staid lunch instead.

Capitol Reef National Park

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Capitol Reef National Park (CRNP) is about halfway between Bryce Canyon National Park and Arches National Park in southern Utah. It was created to protect a unique geological feature called the Waterpocket Fold, formed about 65 millions year ago when tectonic plates rammed into each other lifting the CO plateau and forming the Waterpocket Fold. Erosion over millions of years has revealed a fantastic assortment of red, white, green and orange layers and dramatic shapes.

Our hiking experience was marred only by the ubiquitous flies, both small black ones and larger horseflies. High concentrations of DEET worked well for me, but the other three team members came up with their own solutions. We enjoyed several great hikes including Chimney Rock, Capitol Gorge, Cohab Canyon and Sheets Gulch.

Hike from Kachina to Sipapu

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Natural Bridges National Monument is on Cedar Mesa, Utah, at an elevation of 6,500 feet. Streams have cut two deep canyons and three massive bridges in sandstone from what was once the shore of an ancient sea. At each of the bridges, a trail descends into the canyons from the 9-mile loop road. On the canyon floors, a trail meanders through all three bridges.

After consulting with a ranger at the visitor center, we devised a simple plan for our visit. We would park the truck at the Sipapu Bridge trail head, then instead of descending into the canyon there, hike about 2 miles across the mesa to the Kachina Bridge trail head where we would drop down to the canyon bottom. Then a hike of about 3 miles would take us through both Kachina and Sipapu Bridges and back up the canyon side to our truck.

Bridges are formed by flowing water eroding new channels between meanders of a river over many millennia. This is different from arches which are formed by erosive forces of wind, rain, and temperature changes with no rivers or streams involved. The largest bridge in the world is Rainbow Bridge on Lake Powell. The second and third biggest bridges in the world are Sipapu and Kachina in the Natural Bridges National Monument.

And off we go through the pinon pines on the mesa. Photos are by all four team members.

The descent into the canyon at Kachina Bridge was exciting to say the least. The trail featured many steep and narrow sections, some with railings or ladders installed to help out hikers, but in other cases with no man-made improvements. At one point we almost turned back when faced with a particularly daunting section of the trail.

The bottoms of the canyons at Natural Bridges National Monument are dry although there were a few very large puddles. The streams that formed the bridges are only intermittent, flowing for a short time after significant rainfalls. So our hiking was all in the rocky dry wash or on the sandy banks beside it. The wind and rain washing over all the sandstone cliffs produce huge amounts of sand which make the walking quite taxing in places. Dolly actually poured about half a cup of sand out of each shoe near the end!

Photographing and then walking under Kachina Bridge were the first order of business on our trek up the canyon.

After slogging through sand and picking our way through rocky dry wash for a couple of hours, we came to a fork with one canyon to the right and another to the left. There was no sign telling us which way to go. After consulting the map and considering the presence of water in one of the forks, we picked the right route and were rewarded with a very dramatic view of Sipapu Bridge just about 2 tenths of a mile after the fork. A few steps further on and we were under the arch and could see some of the ladders that would take us up to our truck.

An arduous climb up several ladders, much slick rock and rocky trails took us back to our truck and the cooler full of ice water, lemonade, soda and water. Some of us had run out of water near the end of the hike and what little remained had gotten pretty warm so our reward for finally finding our truck, cold water, was the best reward we could have imagined!

Our next stop was about 150 miles to the west, Capitol Reef National Park. The route there is route 95, one of my personal favorites for scenery as is crosses the Colorado and Dirty Devil Rivers.l

I hope to post some interesting photos from Capitol Reef. Stay tuned!

Fort Pickens, Florida

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Our last stop in Florida was Fort Pickens, the largest of four forts built to defend Pensacola Bay and its navy yard. It is on the western tip of Santa Rosa Island, the long barrier island forming the southern boundary of Pensacola Bay and is now part of the Gulf Islands National Seashore. The original fort was built starting in 1829 and was completed in 1834. Major improvements were made over the years until the fort was determined to be obsolete in 1947 with the advent of aircraft carriers, long-range bombers and missiles. Over 21.5 million bricks were used in the original fort. They were transported to the site of the fort by barge. Workers were skilled African-American slaves from New Orleans who suffered from an unfriendly climate, yellow fever, and heat exhaustion during the project.

In addition to the main fort, Fort Pickens includes several coastal batteries arrayed around the fort.Fort Pickens has a modest but very nice museum with informative displays about Santa Rosa Island and the fort itself. One fascinating multimedia displayed told the story of how granite hills, rocks and mountains in the Pensacola watershed in Georgia and Alabama break down over time and are conveyed to the shore in streams and rivers, producing the white quartz beaches of Santa Rosa Island.

Nestled in the wilds near the fort itself is the campground that was built in the 1950’s when the fort had concluded its useful military role. Our sites backed up to a marsh that seemed to be home to many red winged blackbirds, herons, and ospreys.

It was a very short walk across the campground road to the sand dunes and the beach. Surf was running fairly high during our stay so spent our time on the beach instead of in the water. Looking both ways down the beach, the density of visitors seemed to be about one beach blanket per mile!

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A Stroll along the Florida Coast

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The early days of our 2014 expedition are much different than previous trips. Rather that laying down as many miles as possible each day, zooming along interstate highways, we’ve taken our time to enjoy parts of Florida that we never have visited in the past. We checked out one of the spring-fed rivers with its crystal clear water and then proceeded up Rt. 98 to more or less follow the coastline all the way into the Central Time Zone near Pensacola and then onward to Alabama.

As I write this initial 2014 entry we are drying out from several inches of rain at Topsail Hill Preserve State Park near Destin, FL. Before the deluge we had several sunny and breezy days here to explore the beach and other parts of the park. (You can click on pictures to enlarge them)

Before our 5-day stop at Topsail, we visited St. George Island for three days of sunny and hot weather. ShadySpotStGeorge1050565

We’ll next camp at Ft. Pickens in the Gulf Islands National Seashore with the Gulf of Mexico lapping at the south edge of the campground and Pensacola Bay on the north side. We should have plenty of opportunities for swimming, shelling, kayaking and fishing before we charge off across Louisiana, Texas and New Mexico for our next major stop, Utah.

Nova Scotia

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The pictures below from our 2013 jaunt to the Maritime Provinces were posted in draft folder last year but never published at that time. Sorry about that. We all had a wonderful time in New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island. The high point probably was our time on Cape Breton Island that included a fantastic whale watching trip with hundreds of pilot whales very close to our boat. The Mazurs from E. Longmeadow and the Carons from Nottingham camped with us for several days in Dingwall, NS and enjoyed the whale watching with us.

The welcome center in Amherst, NS must be the best such facility we’ve encountered in our travels through more than 40 states and provinces. It was attractive, well laid out for cars, RVs and trailers, and staffed by cheerful and helpful people. Any time you visit NS, I recommend a stop here to chat with a representative of the province about your planned destination and activities.

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Peggy’s Cove

New Brunswick

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Moncton

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Lubec, Maine

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In days gone by, Lubec was a thriving fishing port with abundant stocks of herring, pollack and cod just offshore in the Bay of Fundy. At one time, there were more than 20 canneries and smokehouses operating in Lubec. But with today’s depleted fisheries, little maritime activity remains but lobstering, some aquaculture projects, and tourism such as whale watching guided trips.

Today, Lubec is a small town with a modest tourism trade and a bridge onto Campobello, New Brunswick, Canada. There are Canadian and USA border crossing facilities, of course, and just a mile or so over the bridge is the international park honoring Franklin Delano Roosevelt and his family. The park includes several of the original dwellings on the estate and nicely maintained hiking trails. It is jointly administered by the USA and Canada, a truly international park.

A view of Lubec, Maine from the visitor center across the bridge in New Brunswick, Canada. The international bridge is at the left of the picture and Mulholland Light is at the right. Click to see an enlargement.

East Quoddy Light is at the northeastern tip of Campobello Island. It also is known as Head Harbor Lighthouse and is accessible only by walking across a bar at low tide. It stands guard on the east side of a channel into Passamaquoddy Bay.

West Quoddy Light is the sentinel on the west side of the passage. Looking east, you can see Campobello Island, New Brunswick across the channel.

We stayed in Sunset Point RV park, a very pretty little place with waterfront sites. Sunrise is at about 4 am and the only campgrounds further east are in Canada. Our four days here allowed us to perform some maintenance chores and tour Campobello to see Sue’s friend Carol’s house and the international FDR park where we toured the 34-room Roosevelt cottage. We also hiked along the rocky shore of the park.

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Bar Harbor, Maine

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Here are some scenes of Bar Harbor, Maine. The harbor supports a variety of activities such as commercial fishing, sight-seeing expeditions, fishing charters, and law enforcement. The day that I took these pictures, a fog bank was drifting in and out of the harbor. Click any picture to see an enlargement.

This sign appears just before Rt. 3 crosses the bridge onto Mt. Desert Island but I think it captures some of the flavor of the place. The following signs appear in downtown Bar Harbor.