Oregon and California

Friday, July 20^th

Well this is probably the biggest post yet and my apologies for the lengthy Blah, Blah…LOL. We are in a commercial campground (rare for us) in Felton, CA surrounded by young Redwood trees. My brother and his wife live nearby and we’ve been spending some time with them, a rare occurrence since as my brother says “we live on the Right coast and they live on the Left coast”. It translates to a long way apart which has kept our face to face time to way too little. He’s my older brother who can still wup my butt!

This post has some great photos (at least I think so) and I hope you enjoy them. Check out the albums for Diamond and Crater Lake; LaPine;Redwoods; Lava Beds; Lassen; Monterey and Boulder Creek.

June 28

Our last day in Bandon. The visit here has been extra special considering who we got to see and the places we saw along with such exceptional weather. A special thank you to Michael and Regan for their hospitality. We had to spend the majority of the day doing mundane things like laundry and fixing the campers hot water heater that required a drive to Coos Bay and a RV dealer for a part. Since clouds and rain had returned it wasn’t a bad day for those things. We had a cookout at our friend’s house and said goodbye to them. They live in a beautiful little town and when I think of Michael’s choice to live here it reminds me of one of the Indiana Jones movies where he finds the Holy Grail being guarded by an old Knight who upon Indy choosing the proper cup says “he chose wisely”.

June 29 thru July 1

We said goodbye to the Oregon coastline and headed inland for Diamond Lake just north of Crater Lake NP. The weather is back to overcast and light rain but in a few days it’s supposed to improve to sunny skies. Diamond Lake is a very popular trout fishing lake and it has 3 different National forest campgrounds with over 300 sites surrounding it. We are camping at Broken Arrow CG on the south end of the lake and the mosquitoes are intense. For many years I camped and fished in Everglades National Park and experienced mosquitoes on a level most folks never want to see but these are baddddd and BIG. We are prisoners in our camper when at the site so we are on the go. We were here for a few days 20 years ago and we don’t remember them being a problem so it was probably drier and colder that year. The north entrance to Crater Lake NP is only about 10 minutes away and we drove up there 2 times. The first day we went up in mostly cloudy skies with occasional sunshine and while driving the rim road had to contend with driving through clouds with near whiteout conditions and the road has no guardrails with steep drop-offs and if you go over that’s it baby. White knuckle time with Linda in the passenger seat going “oh shit”.  On our previous visit in the 90’s we could not go on the rim road due to it being snowed in still but this time about 20+ miles are opened so we are getting a much better view of the lake. Crater Lake is over 1000 feet deep and it has amazing clear water and its cobalt blue color is intense. Diamond Lake has an 11 mile bike path around it and I have looked forward to riding it so we gave it a try even though my bikes rear tire is comical due to its rim having been bent when we had bike rack issues months ago. We didn’t get far due to our flying friends. We ran through numerous swarms of mosquitoes and enough was enough. It’s bad enough to have them bite you but we draw the line at eating them!!

The weather is improving day by day and on day 3 we drove and hiked to 4 different waterfalls here in the Cascades. Each one was special and I told Linda that considering my love of waterfalls a fitting epitaph for my gravestone would be “he never met a waterfall he didn’t like”…LOL. Near one of the waterfalls we stumbled upon Lemolo Lake resort which is small and off the beaten path. We had lunch and chatted with the owner and another couple from Tampa who 5 months ago sold most everything they had and hit the road in a camping rig along with 2 beautiful motorcycles and are looking for “the” spot to live.

To end the day we headed back up to Crater Lake in sunny skies and we were rewarded with beautiful views and color in the Lake.

Insert sunny pics of lake

July 2

This morning we are headed north about 70 miles toward Bend, Oregon to camp at La Pine State Park along the Deschutes River. Skies were very clear last night and the temp dropped quickly and at 5am this morning it was 36 degrees and it’s the 2^nd of July. We are at about 4800 feet and wondering when will we experience summer? I can only recall 1 day since mid May when we saw 80 degrees and that was just for a few hours.

Our prayers have been answered at our new camp ground, hardly any mosquitoes.

In the afternoon we visited Newberry National Volcanic Monument that has many campgrounds, lakes, waterfalls and lava flows and is quite nice. We hiked a trail through a lava flow from the last eruption that was 1300 years ago and it contains a huge amount of Obsidian glass rock. Our friends on the Big Island would feel right at home here. Unfortunately a road to Paulina Peak is not yet opened for the summer season due to snow; the views from there would be nice.

We also got in another waterfall, Paulina Falls, and it is a dandy one.

I forgot to include a photo in the Oregon coast album of the Octopus tree that I included the description plague for so here it is and it will also be in the album. Thanks Steph.

July 3

Another clear night and a nice campfire then this mornings low was 31 but the day warmed quickly. We headed north for Bend with more of the Newberry National Volcanic Monument along the way.  We hiked through another lava field and drove up Lava Butte that afforded great panoramic views.

Once in Bend we toured the Deschutes Brewery, a very informative tour and very good beer. In downtown Bend they have a restaurant at the site of their original brewpub and it was excellent and we followed it up with a walk around downtown in the cool twilight air.

July 4^th

Happy Birthday America!!

This 4^th seems very special having been to some many great places in our beautiful country and meeting so many nice people. We are blessed and while I look forward to doing some travel abroad there are enough glorious places in the US to keep you busy for a lifetime. Spend some money at home supporting your fellow citizens before you go abroad. (note Soapbox entry!)

We headed to a 4400 foot long lava tube in the National Monument and hiked through it at a balmy 44 degrees. Oh, it only got down to 36 this morning at the campground. Would someone find summer pleaseeeeeee. We had a nice early evening campfire and dinner and then headed into the little town of La Pine for a fireworks display that turned out to be quite impressive. I had fun taking photos of them using the manual mode along with a tripod and remote control.

July 5^th

We said goodbye to La Pine State Park, a dandy camping location, and headed for Jedediah Smith Redwoods State Park in Redwoods National Park in the northwest corner of California. California State Parks and the NPS have teamed up here in a rather unique situation. On the way to Redwoods we took another recommendation all the way from Richmond,Va. (thanks Mike) for a lunch stop and went to Beckies just south of Crater Lake NP. What a cool spot in the forest and it has a long history and is VERY popular. They are famous for their pies and we were piggy’s and bought a whole Boysenberry but it goes a long way and is delicious. We even found some small cartons of ice cream that fit in our tiny freezer and have enjoyed a number of desserts and still have some left as I type this on the 12^th.  The trip to Redwoods was scenic and we found SUMMER! In Grants Pass, Oregon it was 90 but an hour and half later in Redwoods NP it was 60. Our reserved campsite was a challenge to get into and as we were trying to find ways to fit when the campground hosts, who have a son that lives in Jacksonville, drove by and saw our dilemma. They arranged for a larger site and we got settled in and it was so late we said to hell with cooking and went into Crescent City and ate at a place in the harbor with a dandy view of sunset.

July 6 and 7

Today marks the start of my 4^th month on the road, it doesn’t seem that long and I honestly don’t miss home and am enjoying the hell out of this. This is what I’ve been destined to do for a long time. We headed out to explore roads and trails in the NP and saw so many giant trees! The Redwoods here are in one of just a few locations left in the world where they grow. They require a lot of moisture and a temperate climate and the earth used to have many areas where they thrived. They receive about 1/3 of their annual moisture from the coastal fog that occurs in this area as the dry hot air from the interior meets the cold air from the Pacific coming onshore. We experienced this every day we where here. Redwoods grow to over 300 feet tall and can be thousands of years old. To stand beside one of these giants reminds me of just how insignificant we, as humans, are in relation to what this planet offers. With that in mind I pray we don’t screw it up too badly but I also suspect nature can heal from our missteps better than we think.

The Redwoods NP stretches over about a 60 mile portion of the Northern California coast and we explored most of it. At a bluff overlooking the Klamath River where it meets the Pacific we were privileged to watch Gray whales feeding, what a special sight. We hiked some trials among more giant Redwoods and even drove through one.

The coastal road, route 101, is scenic and at times scary due to heights and twisty roads. Finding the sunshine here can be challenging due to the coastal fog but we managed to find some.

July 8

We say goodbye to the California coast and the Redwoods and headed inland for Lava Beds National Monument. The roads required to get there where scenic but steep and curvy and it took a long time but what else is new. I worried about getting a campsite at Lava Beds, it is off the beaten path and commercial options are limited, but we got one of our best sites yet. We were in a high desert area and up about 100 feet over the normal area facing east and it was outstanding and the campground was maybe 25% occupied. There are very few small towns around so there is almost no light pollution and on our first night the Milky Way was bright and evident. I was so tired I didn’t setup my camera to capture it and I wish I had since the next 2 nights were hazy due to smoke from a forest fire. 

July 9 and 10

This monument is relatively small but the geology is neat. It has one of the highest concentrations of developed lava tubes/caves in the world. We explored 6 of them and avoided those that required crawling on hands and knees. We are in an area that is very similar to where we were exploring volcanic areas in west central Oregon. We are about 150 miles due south of there and the volcanic history is very similar. On our second day we hiked up an old cinder cone to a fire lookout tower and met a very nice couple who man it from June to October. Thanks to Craig and Wendy for such a nice visit.

Then we headed for Medicine Lake in the Modoc National Forest about 17 miles south of Lava Beds and a few thousand feet higher. The lake sits in beautiful pine forests and we enjoyed a picnic lunch there. Nearby is Glass Mountain that is an old lava flow from the Medicine Lake volcano that contains a large amount of Obsidian glass.

July 11

We are headed for Lassen Volcanic NP about 140 miles south and east of Lava Beds. We attempted to visit Lassen 20 years ago with the kids and camped here but the roads in the park were still closed due to snow and it was mid-June. It’s a different story this time and we will get to see the Park. The night sky here is impressive, we are camping at around 6000 feet with clear air and zero light pollution. If I’m not too exhausted from running around I’ll try and get some night sky photos.  We scored another nice campsite despite not having reservations.

July 12

Despite daytime temps in the 80’s it got down to 41 last night and that’s good sleeping weather. We drove the road through the Park today from basically north to south and did a 3 mile hike to Bumpass Hell, an area of Fumaroles and Mudpots reminiscent of Yellowstone. The hike had some ups and downs and I got a bit warm but a handful of snow under my hat helped cool me down. Snow again and it’s July 12^th!! This park is nice and we plan some more hiking tomorrow above 7000 feet in an Alpine area.

In the next few days we will pass the 14000 mile mark and that is around my original estimates for the entire trip…LOL. I now expect I’ll reach 20000 miles by the time I get home. And every mile will be worth it even though I have to admit I get a bit tired at times but it’s just a matter of recharging my internal batteries and moving forward. There is still so much to see and enjoy within our borders.

July 13

Happy Friday the 13^th, the third one this year and according to ABC Nightly News that’s the most we can have in a year. We are high enough to get a few TV stations out of
Redding, CA. a rare occurrence. Via the recent photos you can see we’ve had very nice weather with clear skies recently even though it’s been warm in the afternoon and today was another gem. We did a hike of 3.5 miles to Echo Lake, an Alpine Lake at around 7000 feet that I had been hoping we’d get the chance to do. We sat there and enjoyed the solitude of being the only ones there. It had about 750 feet of elevation change and that is a workout at our age. I’m happy to report that my knee has responded nicely to the recent hikes, after almost 3 months to the day it appears to be almost back to normal. About halfway to Echo Lake we topped a ridge and were rewarded with our best view of Mt. Lassen yet. We leave here tomorrow and head for Nice, CA where my brother and his wife have a cottage on Clear Lake. He’ll meet us there and show us the area before we head south to Boulder Creek for 6 days where they live. That’s in the coastal mountains just north of Santa Cruz.

July 14 thru 20

We are camping in a commercial campground in Felton, CA a little north of Santa Cruz in the mountains with more Redwood trees. We’ll be here for our longest stay in one place on our trip, 6 days. The drive down from Nice took us through an area that had grapes growing everywhere you looked. We came down Rt 101 and that took us over the Golden Gate bridge. They charge a toll of $6 for a car but our 2 extra axles on the trailer made the bill $24, a ripoff. I then had the pleasure of towing a trailer through part of San Francisco, non freeway, in traffic 3 lanes wide, loads of fun! As we were nearing the campground we wondered if it was the same one we camped in 20 years ago and sure enough we recognized their steep driveway.

We spent the next 5 days visiting and sightseeing. Our main excursion was down to Monterey and a visit to the Monterey Bay Aquarium followed by a drive down 17 mile road that winds around the Monterey Peninsula. I got a special treat when we stopped at Pebble Beach and we walked down to the 18^th green. The end of the 17 mile drive was at the town of Carmel by the Sea and it is neat.

The time we spent with Ken and Lyn was real special and one of the highlights of the trip. It’s rare we get to see each other and we sure as hell aren’t getting any younger. We leave here  Sunday and head for Yosemite for 4 days of what we know will be crowds like we haven’t seen on the whole trip. I want to see the Valley again along with the High Country but if we can see it and get out of the zoo we’ll leave early and head toward LasVegas where Linda hops a plane a week from today.

Thanks for following our adventure and as usual look for the new photos at https://picasaweb.google.com/103943218564105837637

Seattle, Olympic NP, Mt. Rainier NP and Oregon coast

We’ve been in the boonies for the last 2 weeks with no internet access to speak of and spotty cell phone service so please excuse me for another long post. I’m downloading photos from Seattle, Olympic NP, Mt. Rainier NP and the majority of the Oregon coastline from north to south.

June 12 thru 15

Welcome to the big city and the plus and minuses that go with it! The weather is cloudy with occasional showers which seem to be the norm based on my short time under the influence of Pacific Northwest weather but the vegetation is lush with a large variety of plants. The roads I chose have been scenic but I don’t get where I’m going very quickly so I spent most of a day getting into Seattle with a stop at an auto parts store for a set of rear brake pads that I changed upon arrival in my new campsite at Dash Point State Park just south of Seattle on Puget Sound. On a trip like this carrying some essential tools is a must and I had what I needed to do the job in about an hour. I’m in suburbia and the area has beautiful trees and shrubs and their golf courses look like they have fake grass it’s so green and lush but as of day 2 I still haven’t seen the Sun and I’m binging to feel like either a prune or a mushroom. I’m not far from the airport and it’s a big one and is very busy but Linda arrived on time and we headed for downtown Seattle to stroll along the waterfront and go up the Space Needle.

Our timing was bad though as we attempted to leave downtown at rush hour. I have never seen worse gridlock in a downtown area and it was about 1 ½ hours before we escaped. They do road signs poorly up here and the street layout of the city is chaos and with the exception of taking an Alaska cruise from here I will never set foot in this city again.  Watching the weather report is not encouraging and our plan was to head for Mount Rainier NP tomorrow for 3 days then the Olympic peninsula and Olympic NP after that but we are reversing our plan. The forecast calls for sun in about 4 or 5 days and we want sun for Rainier. So we’re off to Lake Crescent on the north shore of Olympic Park and on the way out of town we got some sun and blue sky for the drive that is only 140 miles but ended up taking 5 hours. Lake Crescent is another glacier carved lake and is quite long and over 600 feet deep and it has a deep teal blue color. Our campsite is very nice with a view of the lake through the trees.

With the sunshine giving way to high clouds moving in we rushed up a Park road to Hurricane Ridge and had some fairly nice views. It’s a little over 5000 feet up with views of the Parks interior that has numerous snow covered peaks between 6000 and 8000 feet high with many Glaciers. There are also views to the north of the Straits of Juan de Fuca and Canada. We could see the city of Victoria, British Columbia and even watched a few cruise ships that had departed Seattle that were no doubt on their way to Alaska. The Olympic peninsula has a very remote interior with no roads but it is a backpackers dream come true.

June 16 and 17

The weather is consistent since last night…..RAIN and more RAIN. We are determined to see some more of the Park so we headed for a waterfall trail and with our full rain suits on and proceeded to hike about 3 miles in the rain. The waterfall was worth it.

The next day was pretty much the same weather and we headed for the Hoh rainforest on the west side of the peninsula and headed through a small town that has a lot of fans nowadays, Forks, Washington of Twilight fame. Linda and I know nothing of the books or movies but she was talking with a local shopkeeper who said the business that resulted for the town was a godsend but they also looked forward to getting their town back. The grocery store had a display and many items dedicated to Twilight.

The rainforest is amazing and we were there 20 years ago with the kids. They get over 100 inches of rain per year. Since we were close to the Pacific we headed to Ruby Beach on the west side of the Olympic peninsula to see some Sea Stacks that are basically parts of old shoreline that are of harder rock that the ocean hasn’t eroded away. Seeing the ocean we decided that tomorrow we will pack up and head to an Oceanside campground near Ruby Beach.

June 18 and 19

We packed up in rain this morning after rain most of the night at Lake Crescent. It was so wet for our stay here that we never got to enjoy sitting out by a campfire with the view of the lake. However as we got near the beach campground the sun came out and we had blue skies to go with it. We got a great campsite on a bluff overlooking the ocean and we can see kelp beds just offshore. Since our visit to Ruby Beach was in the clouds and rain we headed back to there for a view with sun.

We finally got to sit by a campfire and threw in a view of the ocean….not bad. As evening approached high clouds returned and rain with them. It rained most of the night but began to clear by morning. Weather systems appear to change rapidly up here. The clouds and rain this morning are heading offshore to the west which seems quite unusual, Linda is watching a line of Cumulus clouds near the horizon that have some very high tops and are staying in view for a very long time due to that height. We are off to explore to our south along the coast. We went to Quinlet Lake and to a Sitka Spruce estimated to be 1000 years old.

We then drove on the beach in the little town of Pacific Beach and stumbled across the Pacific Beach Resort and Conference center that is basically an R&R resort for Military personnel and their families and it’s up on a bluff overlooking the beach and Pacific. The dining room is opened to the public so we got to enjoy a part of the place. It has a long history of Military use dating back to WWII. This evening we were treated to a fabulous sunset that went on for hours as the waning sunlight never seemed to leave the horizon. We sat by a campfire watching it and I kept at it after Linda headed for bed and there was still a glow on the horizon at 11pm while the Big Dipper was shining overhead…..summertime in the higher Latitudes. Tomorrow is the Summer Solicits so the Sun is about as far north as it goes. It got cool overnight with a low of 49 in the clear skies. It doesn’t feel like late June to a Floridian. I’m gonna suffer when I get home!! Check the SPOT link to see where we were.

 myspot
 Latitude:47.60984
 Longitude:-124.37592
 GPS location Date/Time:06/19/2012 22:00:05 EDT

 Message:This is my check-in from Spot. All is well.

 Click the link below to see where I am located.
http://fms.ws/8JefN/47.60984N/124.37592W

 If the above link does not work, try this link:
 http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&q=47.60984,-124.37592&ll=47.60984,-124.37592&ie=UTF8&z=12&om=1

June 20 thru 22

With good traveling weather we say goodbye to Kalaloch Beach and we headed for Mt. Rainier. Mt. Rainier National Park was established in 1899 and was our 4^th NP. As we neared Olympia we spotted the mountain on the horizon and it dominates the view. It took most of the day for the drive with numerous small towns. We have now driven a little over 11000 miles and my original “what if” estimates are a joke, we are 4000 miles over at this point so I won’t be surprised if we make 20000 by the time I’m back home. We are camping at Cougar Rock campground on the southwest area of the Park, the same campground we were in with the kids 20 years ago, it’s not bad and $14 a night is real nice. So is the weather. As predicted we have sunshine and therefore a nice view of Rainier which is still an active Volcano and is around 14400 feet high and has 26 glaciers on it. The blue ice of the glaciers are easily visible in this nice sunshine.

 The morning of the 21^st we headed up to the Paradise Inn at a little over 5000 feet on the western facing slopes of the mountain. Paradise averages 680 inches of snow per year and there is lots of it still here and we decide that we won’t hike here on snow packed trails. We headed down to lower elevations and did some hiking to the Grove of the Patriarchs and Silver Falls. The grove contains numerous old growth trees upwards of 1000 years old.

The weather is supposed to change tonight with rain coming in but for now we are enjoying a campfire and burgers on the grill for dinner. While driving back we passed a Ranger heading up the mountain with the emergency lights flashing and then saw an ambulance a little later. As we sat by the campfire a helicopter passed overhead and I commented to Linda that it seemed out of place and I thought it did not bode well. The next day we would hear that a 33 year old Park Ranger fell 3000 feet to his death while on a Rescue mission to aid 4 climbers who had summited Rainier that day and had then problems on the descent. We are very saddened by the news. I am especially thankful for the folks who choose a career in the Park Service and dedicate their lives to caring for the Parks I love so much.  I have seen many young people who are in the Park Service.

As predicted the rains arrived by morning so we decided to leave Rainier a day early and head for the Oregon coast just west of Portland. We drive thru rain most of the way and have a little stretch of Interstate 5 to speed up our journey but it still takes 6 hours. I’ve intentionally stayed away from the Interstates as much as possible on this trip choosing to drive the “backroads” so to speak in order to truly see America and I have enjoyed it thoroughly. Today’s drive includes a stretch of the north shore of the mighty and wide Columbia River just east of its flowing into the Pacific and there are references to Lewis and Clarks expeditions everywhere. We were fortunate to get into Fort Stevens State Park at the very northwest tip of Oregon for 1 night. Just as we got setup it started to rain and continued all night and as I’m typing this morning, the 23^rd, it’s still raining. We may not get to explore this park and the Fort.

June 23 and 24

We are headed to Nehalem Bay State Park and it’s only a 40 mile drive….yea! I hate to packup the camper wet but we’ll have no choice since the entire weekend (this is Saturday) will be quite wet. It’s supposed to begin clearing Monday so we should get to enjoy the coastline of Oregon.

We only drove 40 miles south but the weather changed dramatically and we arrived in sunshine so the camper got opened to dry out. We later enjoyed a nice Pacific beach sunset and a campfire. We’ll stay here 2 nights and explore the coast a bit. We had some rain showers overnight but it looks like the sun is trying to come back out. The beach here is surprisingly wide and gradual yet nearby there are portions of the coastline that are abrupt cliffs and rocky shoreline. It makes for some beautiful scenery.

We went south along the coast the next day to Cape Mears area where we toured a restored lighthouse that sits atop a cliff on the Cape. It has been replaced by an automated light but is an example of an original style lighthouse that used a Fresnel lens with a magnification of 195 times that allowed an oil based lamp and later a 200 watt light bulb to be seen 21 miles out to sea. The drive south from there proved to be quite scenic and we spent the better part of the day enjoying it with a late dinner of Dungeness crab that we bought in a local market and heated up in our oven in the camper followed by a campfire until about midnight. The weather treated us well for the day but by early morning the rain returned and we had to packup a wet camper once again as we headed south for Bandon, Oregon.

June 25 thru 28

The drive to Bandon took a lot longer than expected. Highway 101 along the coast goes through many towns and it is a windy road so your average speed is SLOW. We stopped in Tillamook and toured the Tillamook Cheese Factory, w also stopped at some overlooks that provided great ocean and coastline views along with some Sea Lions. Based on a recommendation we stopped and had lunch in Newport at the Rogue Brewery Ale House and we could have stayed there all day….goooood beer and they make many varieties. We are camped in another Oregon State Park called Bullards Beach just outside of Bandon and it’s very nice. From what we have seen the Oregon State Park system is the best I’ve encountered in my many years of camping. The stop here in Bandon is special since we get to visit a young man who is the son of some of our dearest friends and we’ve known him since he was months old. He is now the Head Golf Pro at the Pacific Dunes golf course at the Bandon Resort. The resort has numerous courses and sits along the coastline with incredible views of the ocean. Tomorrow I will play one of the courses with him and Linda is going to walk along with us in order to enjoy the location and ocean views. The courses are walking only unless you have a medical need that requires a cart and feeling tired with an achy knee doesn’t count!! But before the golf we headed north with blue sky to a scenic coastal area at Cape Arago that has numerous offshore rocks, a lighthouse, beach areas and a beautiful gardens that was the home of an old sailing ship owner whose captains would bring him plants from faraway places. The majority of the area is a series of Oregon State Parks and is awesome. We finally got to see some tidal pools with Starfish and Anemones.

Later in the day we played the 13 hole par 3 course at Bandon Dunes in a clear blue sky with a light breeze and many folks commented it was the best weather day of the year. The horizon was clear and we watched an exceptional clear sunset with hopes of witnessing the “Green Flash” but did not see it.

June 27

Today we continued our exploration of the Bandon area and its beautiful coastline. We walked on the beach around low tide and were able to see a few tidal pools with sea life and some Harbor seals on the rocks. The stairway down to the beach is heavily protected at the bottom and shows the intensity of the storms that hit the area.

 The harbor area of Old Town Bandon is nice and we walked around and visited some of the shops. We drove south to Cape Blanco and toured the lighthouse and campground, another Oregon State Park gem that if I’m ever back I would go camp at.  I’ll finish describing the area with additional photos in my next post but for now I hope to take advantage of a local coffee shops wifi and issue a new post tomorrow.

Thanks for following our adventure and as usual look for the new photos at https://picasaweb.google.com/103943218564105837637 

Placid Lake State Park,Glacier NP and Lake Wenatchee State Park

June 2

I drove thru a lot of “Big Sky” in Montana and made my goal of Placid Lake State Park near Seeley Lake, Montana and the last 60 miles was through beautiful valleys with wide open grazing land and I kept climbing into Alpine type forests and lake

The lake the Park is on reminds me of the Boundary Water Canoe Area in northern Minnesota. I’m told there is a pair of Loons on the lake and I’ve spent some time sitting on the shoreline in hopes of hearing them. No luck so far. I had an extra night to spend somewhere before Glacier NP so it will be here since it’s so great. I met a special lady and made a new friend, thanks Lois for being so kind. Drop me a note at dave.doub@gmail.com or comment on my blog. I’ll never forget the Seeley Lake area, its special. I had picked out that spot last year as a good intermediate spot on the way to Glacier and after seeing it I know I was drawn there for a reason.

I setup the antenna for my Ham Radio for the first time on the trip and had conversations with folks in Alabama and Arizona. I’ll try for Europe tonight then head for Glacier tomorrow. I have some other entertainment available this evening. I brought my Sirius satellite radio with me and I have a hookup in the camper and truck. This evening Jimmy Buffett is playing in Houston and the Margaritaville channel broadcasts every concert live and as an almost 40 year Parrot head I’ll be listening. Maybe I’ll make some Boat Drinks to go with Taco night!

June 3

Last night I was successful with my ham gear in reaching Europe, I spoke with Alex in Belgrade, Yugoslavia. Not bad for a portable antenna but it got better this morning around 8am MT I spoke with Wayne in NEW ZEALAND!!! That made my day, he said I was weak but he could hear me so my little setup works wonderfully. The road north to Glacier was a treat through Alpine north woodsy terrain and numerous glacially craved lakes and at times I had snow capped mountains to my left and right. I love this type of country, makes me wonder why I live in Florida. Snow=Cold…duh.

Unfortunately when I reached Glacier NP in northwestern Montana it was socked in with clouds and light rain that is forecast to continue through Thursday and be heavy at times. The temps aren’t bad with highs near 60 and lows in the 40’s but my hiking plans look all wet…LOL. The Going to the Sun hiway is only partially opened from both the east and west sides and with the clouds we have now the views are crappy. I may find somewhere else to go before heading to Seattle where my cousin lives and Linda flies into on the 14^th. I spoke with her today and she was in the yard in Jax cleaning up the debris left by last weeks Tropical Storm and it was hot and humid and I’m not missing that weather.

June 4

The weather looked awful this morning with low clouds hanging around the lake and the mountains are totally socked in with occasional light rain showers. But after making breakfast the sun started peeking thru and the clouds retreated so I’m off to do some hiking at what is currently the end of the Going to the Sun hiway on the west side of the Park. It goes basically east/west over the continental divide thru high mountains and glacially carved valleys and it’s been dubbed Americas Alps and I can confirm it looks like them since I was in the Alps twice camping when I was a kid living in Italy. The road was completed in 1932 and is about 50 miles long but I can only go 14 miles from the west right now due to a combination of road work and plowing operations to remove the winter snow. I hope that coming from the east will have more open, I’ll know in a few days when I head over that way and have to drive south around the Park.

I hiked one of the most popular trails to Avalanche Lake, 5 miles roundtrip and 550 feet up then down. The lake is surrounded on 3 sides by steep mountains and the center mountain has a glacier up on it that you can’t see from the lake but the waterfalls make its presence know.

I hope the weather is ok tomorrow for a trip north to Bowman Lake which is on the west side of the Park and only about 25 miles south of the Canadian border. I expect it to be a more remote/quiet hiking area and as such my bear awareness has to be top notch. I have my “bear bells” as well as my bear pepper spray, a very strong mixture just for bears and usually very effective.

June 5

The trip to Bowman Lake was great except for the weather. It was heavy overcast and as I started hiking it was misting and that was actually due to my being in the clouds hanging around Bowman Lake.

On the way there you pass thru the little community of Polebridge , a non-electric spot and the last “town” from there to the Canadian border. The Polebridge Mercantile is a must stop and they are famous for their home baked items. The sticky bun with nuts was to die for! The Mercantile has a long history and is documented quite a bit on the Web.

The road to the lake from there is rough and narrow but the campground at the lake is my kind of place but taking the trailer was a no-no on those roads. I had been reading about Bowman Lake for a few years and was going come hell or high water. I was hoping for some solitude and lack of visitors and I got it. I hiked about 4 miles of shoreline and for the first 2 hours saw no one but a Black Bear who was coming down the trail at me. I was doing the right stuff by ringing my bear bells and calling out and when he heard and saw me he did a 180 and ran the other way. I also had my bear spray on my hip and I’d been practicing my quickdraw. I saw no grizzlies but a few deer and a Ptarmigan. On the way back to the camper I saw a momma Black Bear and her 2 cubs along the road.

I did a short drive to the Hungry Horse Dam south of the park. The Dam is over 500 feet high and creates a lake about 30 miles long in mountainous terrain. It’s also a hydro power plant.

About then it started raining and didn’t stop all night. I had already decided to bugout the next morning due to the weather and it was still raining when I left at 8:30am. The drive to the east side of Glacier NP goes thru mountains and has a pass over the Continental Divide above 5000 feet. As I climbed I could see the snow level coming to meet me and I began to think of turning around and heading south but I really want to see Many Glacier again.

Once on the east side of the mountains the wind was fierce and towing was not fun plus the temp dropped. As you come down the east side of the mountains a dramatic change occurs as you get into the drier zone the alpine trees disappear and rolling plains appear.

The east side is the Blackfeet Nation who sold their share of the land that is now Glacier NP to the Feds in 1885, they consider the park land still theirs and scared. I agree it is scared and I have no doubt they got screwed in the deal.  By the time I reached Many Glacier CG it was in the 30’s and the snow was blowing and the wind howling at 30 to 50 mph bending the trees. I’m sitting in the camper with the heater trying to warm it up and the wind is rockin me! There are only a half dozen campers here and I do believe all of us are NUTS. The forecast is for 3 to 6 inches above 5000 feet and the campground is at 4900 and more rain tomorrow. Looks like I’m back to a thermal undie night and lots of hot cocoa. Dinner will be something in the oven so I can enjoy the heat. The snow isn’t sticking to the ground….. yet. I paid for 2 nights and am betting on Mother Nature not letting me down.

You may have noticed that I don’t have either bed down on the camper. Since I’m by myself and I’m in such prime bear country it’s easier to sleep on the Dinette and be a hard sided camper, otherwise I have to store my food either in the cab of the truck or in a bear food box provided at the site. Either way is a pain. On the way in I saw a grizzly bear about 150 feet off the road and it’s the same road we saw one on as we left the Park 20 years ago. Another advantage is the camper is easier to keep warm without the beds down and here on the east side of Glacier that means something, 32 degrees at 9pm. The photos of inside the camper are with beds folded up and I’ve got one of the heated mattresses on the collapsed Dinette area but with the slideout out I’ve still got plenty of room for one. There’s a 3 burner stove, small oven (Pizza), a microwave and refrig with a small freezer compartment. The toilet area has a shower and sink. Enough goodies to make camping comfortable compared to what we used to do years ago, especially when I used to go backpacking. It turns out the only thing opened here at Many Glacier is the campground. I was looking forward to seeing the old Lodge again that was built by the Great Northern Railroad. No store, no nothing. I’m attaching a link from one of my SPOT messages that will take you to a map of where I’m at.

            

       myspot
 Latitude:48.84816
 Longitude:-114.18614
 GPS location Date/Time:06/05/2012 16:32:39 EDT

 Message:This is my check-in from Spot. All is well.

 Click the link below to see where I am located.
http://fms.ws/88H-m/48.84816N/114.18614W                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           

June 7

Cloudy this morning so I’m cooking a nice breakfast and all of a sudden I see sunshine and a bit of blue sky and by the time I’m done with breakfast and cleaning it and me up the weather is gorgeous. That bet I made paid off. I hiked about 4 miles on the Swiftcurrent Pass trail to a lake and a very nice waterfall. This place is just awesome.

Then later I headed for the eastern end of the Going to the Sun hiway and the St. Marys Visitor Center. The weather forecast is calling for more rain tonight and tomorrow and sure enough around 5pm high clouds rolled in and made the views poor. I did get a neat photo of a snow avalanche that happen either last night or today.  A Ranger told me that the higher elevations got 1 ½ feet of new snow in the last 36 hours.

I’m sitting by my campfire typing todays update and it’s now heavy overcast and its 9:30pm. I’m now high enough in Latitude that evening daylight is extended some. I suspect it will be light until 10:30pm. The last time we were here we continued north into Alberta, Canada and traveled thru Banff and then up what is known as the Icefield Parkway thru the heart of the Canadian Rockies up to Jasper, Alberta. We camped in one of their National Parks that is a prime Elk calving area and they were everywhere. The second day there was July 1^st which is Canada Day, the equivalent of our July 4^th so of course there would be fireworks. We asked where and when and got the “after dark” response. Up there at that time of year after dark was 11:30pm!!

In spite of the weather I maximized the time I had and managed to get in 13 miles of hiking in the last 4 days. It’s much less than I had expected but I had hope to be able to access some of the high country.

I’m planning on leaving here tomorrow if the rain comes as expected and head toward Spokane, Washington and get to a Discount Tire store in 2 or 3 days. As I was leaving the Grand Tetons I lost another trailer tire, one of the Goodyear Marathons and it’s also time to replace the truck tires. Tomorrow starts week 10 of the trip and I’ve passed the 9000 mile mark and at the rate I’m going my estimate of 15000 for the trip is low. I’ve found that living in a small space is not a burden and I could do this for a longer time if I had the financial resources. We have a 19 inch widescreen TV and DVD player that can run off the inverter and I recorded numerous TV shows and Movies to bring along but I have yet to watch one. I don’t miss TV and have only hooked it up for local viewing in a few of the cities we’ve been in. So a cabin in the woods away from the BS of todays world would suit me fine! And after working with phone systems for 30+ years…… no phone!

June 8

As I was hitching up the camper this morning it started to rain so I had only a few regrets about leaving Glacier. It’s very special and if any of you get the chance to see it do not hesitate. The drive toward Spokane was a bit long but it’s important I get the tires taken care of and Discount stores are closed on Sunday so I’m pushing to get in the area today. I’m taking Route 2 thru the heart of northwest Montana and it has some beautiful country with Lakes, Rivers and snowcapped mountains. I’ve picked out a KOA campground about 30 miles north of Spokane and I utilized McDonalds again to find a Discount Tire store and call them to arrange for them to have what I need. It turned out to be a long day, over 10 hours on the road but the Little Diamond Lake KOA is one of the best commercial campgrounds I’ve seen and I’m a big critic of commercial setups and try to stay away from them. The weather improved today at least for my drive time but it started to rain again after dark. I met 2 guys from the Netherlands who’ve been touring National Parks in a 31 ft motorhome they rented. Like me they had just come from Glacier and had left to escape the rain and snow. We may have seen each other before now since their list of Parks is almost identical to where Linda and I have been. It’s great to see folks from other countries taking the time to come here and enjoy our Parks. Makes me appreciate them even more.

June 9

Raining heavily this morning and my drive to Spokane and the tire store is yucky. I’ll be glad to get out of this pattern but I hear it’s the same if not worse at home. The folks at Discount Tire took care of me once again and I’ve got to give them a plug. If you want exceptional service and competitive prices go see them. I’ve had 3 trailer tires blow and they have replaced 2 based on the insurance I purchased and pro-rated the other and then on the new truck tires I bought they gave me a pro-rated discount based on the mileage. So I’ve now had 3 trailer and all 4 truck tires replaced for much less than the cost of 4 new truck tires, I almost feel like I’m robbing them!! While there I checked my brake pads and the rears are history and I’ll change them at my Cousins place in Seattle next week.

June 10

I’ve decided to head a bit south based on the weather forecasts and come into the eastern side of the Cascades due east of Seattle. As I got into Spokane and headed west the weather turned nice for a change and tonight I’m at Lake Wenatchee State Park up in the mountains and about 100 miles east of Seattle. It’s a pretty nice spot and I think I’ll spend 2 nights here and just chill tomorrow and reflect on just how fortunate I am to be doing this trip. I wanted to find a National Forest site and drove about 12 miles into a wilderness area in search of one on the map but the road kept getting smaller and no campground was in site so I finally turned around when I could and came back to the State Park.

June 11

I got rewarded with a beautiful blue sky today and after an overnight temp around 38 it got up to the high 70’s and I got to wear shorts for the first time in about a month. You folks in Florida would kill for these cool temps, wouldn’t you? The lake here was glacier made long ago and it’s picturesque. I thought I must be fairly high up based on the snow on the mountain tops but I checked the GPS and I’m just under 2000 ft so I can only assume there must have been a lot of snow for there to still be some. I’m sitting outside after making sloppy joes for dinner but the mosquitoes are intense tonight even though I’ve got myself surrounded by citronella candles, I’m may have to give in and head inside. I was lazy today and hiked just a few miles and then got on the phone to do some personal business which occasionally interferes with my adventure but the real world does rear its ugly head now and then. Overall I’m am way out of touch with what’s going on and I’m not really missing those things. I need to stop and pinch myself though. I’ve been on the road long enough that I’m starting to take this for granted and forget just how special this is. I know many folks dream of doing something like this and that’s all it ever is, a dream. I may have worked hard to reach goals that allow me to do this but I need to be sure and never lose sight of how fortunate and blessed I am to be here. I hope all of you get to live your dreams at some point in your life.

 So it’s off to Seattle tomorrow and I just realized my losing track of time caught up with me, I thought this was Tuesday so I’ll be getting into Seattle a day earlier than I thought. I may have to see if the Mariners are at home and go catch a baseball game or go ride some of the ferries and explore the islands west of Seattle and do some whale watching.

As usual see the additional photos at https://picasaweb.google.com/103943218564105837637
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Look at the posts for Glacier NP east and west, Placid Lake State Park and Lake Wenatchee State Park