A Bear we saw on a hike you'll read about below. This grizzly was not more than 50' from us!We are on for the first time in what seems like weeks. We've stopped outside Minneapolis just to have a down day and then will head to Chicago for a couple of days. We're meeting friends in Pennsylvania August 18 and then staying with our Connecticut kids. We'll be home around the 21st. So just a hopefully brief summary:
July 26, 2007
Another gorgeous day. We are beginning to see what all the fuss there is about Vancouver. The mountains offer winter (and summer) activities. There are islands that make a long one day trip or stay over at a b & b which we thought about doing but decided against it. The neighborhoods are distinct and interesting though I do find that feeling as if I’m looking over my shoulder in any area but Gastown, Granville and the library is a bit disconcerting. Still – I’m getting it. (I am reading this well after I wrote it. Since we were here there's been horrible gang violence in this city.)
Today we went back to Stanley Park with Hanna and found it amazing. I hate to use that word too many times but as the largest urban park on this continent it truly is something to see and perhaps the reason people love Vancouver. There is nothing you can’t do here. From lawn bowling to enough tennis courts for everyone to the beaches and water play for kids to the amazing bike trails.
We first headed to the totem poles which I enjoyed looking at. We then just biked and biked. We stopped every now and then to read a sign or look at the view. We headed to the doggie area which was a big hit with Hanna (kidding) but we did try. She sort of socialized but was much happier in mommy’s lap
July 27, 2007
We waited 45 minutes at the border but other days we had heard the line was 2 hours. We had a nice chat with the young border patrol officer who asked us about the National Parks. I don’t know if he was indirectly questioning us or just bored but he didn’t give us a hard time at all.
We got to beautiful Whidbey Island and the campground called North Whidbey RV Park. The woman in the office wasn’t all that pleasant but we got a nice site though the sites are close together with a patch of grass on each side. The pavement is narrow.
We headed to catch the 3:00 whale watch trip by Island Adventures. It was super. We saw lots of Orcas which is why we paid $80 each to go! The boat was very nice.
We saw a flying fish, some seals, a porpoise and lots of birds. We saw a bald eagle and two deer on various islands.
July 28, 2007
Today was a tour day for the 3 of us. This is really an adorable island with small town after small town of coastal villages. We started at Deception Bridge and walked down the .3 mile path to the Deception State Park beach. Although rocky rather than sandy the view was beautiful and of course I collected some rocks.
From there we headed south and stopped at Logenberry Festival at Greenbank Farm which was fun. There was a pie eating contest, llamas, jewelry, clothes, homemade soaps, and lots of things for kids. We ate at a pie café that’s on the premises but today they also had food. Elliott got the salmon fish with potato salad, watermelon and ½ corn on the cob. We shared that and a bowl of yummy (buttery) seafood soup.
We continued south and went to the cute “summer” town of Langley. We walked the few streets. There were steps down to a nice walk along the water. Beautiful little town.
July 29, 2007
Today was a great day though the sun only came out for a few moments. We easily got on the 10:05 ferry after paying $10 to park in the upper lot. Hanna was in her Pet Pocket. The ferry was very nice.
We stopped at Shaw’s Island, Lopez Island and then got off at Orcas Island. It was only until we started talking with a man getting off that we learned we were not dropped off in the “town” which is almost 10 miles away! We, like others decided to catch the 12:30 ferry to Friday Harbor. We walked around the Village area at Orcas but there was just a restaurant; a very small park and a couple of gift stores.
We got back on the ferry and after stopped again the other way we finally arrived in Friday Harbor at 2:00. It’s a cute little town with the usual cutesy stores and restaurants. We unfortunately ate at the first one we came to because we were hungry- Friday’s Crabhouse.
We sat by the ferry in an area with benches for awhile and then walked over to The Doctor’s Office where Elliott got a smoothie. I found a used bookstore.
This ferry back was even larger – 700 cars can fit on it. The seats looked like airplane seats but were more comfortable.
On the way home we drove around Anacortes just to see this Island.
Off to North Cascades National Park.
July 31, 2007
I’m writing this on our 2nd day in North Cascades National Park. When we arrived here we pulled into Newhalem Creek Campground. It was virtually empty. We picked a nice horseshoe shaped spot and set up. There’s a nice picnic table and a fire/ring/grill. The sites are large, shady and private. Some are very private.
We headed over to the North Cascades Visitor Center where we watched a 25-minute video – it was very well done. Quite intriguing. I’ve never seen anything like it. The movie focused on the theme of Wildness and Wilderness.
There was an excellent exhibit that you don’t want to miss and a small book store. We spoke with a Ranger who explained that they were asked to make a section of the Park a recreation area. It was done and it’s called Ross Lake National Recreation Area. He didn’t sound too happy about his job and said that it’s hard to get into North Cascades. He showed us in detail on the map. This is now called North Cascades National Park Service Complex. It is the least visited Park in the country with only about 3,000 people coming to Ross and about 70,000 getting into North Cascades, i.e. back country. To do the latter means an overnight (:
We drove a bit and stopped at Gorge Overlook and did the trail at the Power Plant. This Park has electric transmission wires – power lines and towers. The dams and power plant serve Seattle which is great but you can’t get away from it unless you back country. Anyway the trail was fun. We went to a waterfall and just meandered up and down steps and trails. There was a garden and they say though it’s changed it’s still there – NOT. This was Skagit River.
With all this new information we headed to our site only to find a noisy family of 5 set up NEXT to us in spite of the 90 empty sites at this campground.
We made a fire, had salads from Hagen’s supermarket and attempted Jiffy Pop which didn’t work on the fire grill so we made it inside!
The following day we got up late and headed back to the Visitor Center since there was a 1.8 mile loop we wanted to do. It was beautiful and actually can be found via our campground in several spots. It was very easy with a well maintained trail.
We then headed east like we did last night but stopped at the overlooks. We don’t like this park. Unlike the wows of Crater Lake, Mt. Rainer, Acadia and the Blue Ridge Highway, there is nothing spectacular to see. There are some nice views of peak in the distance with snow on it. The lakes are pretty and I guess if one stayed at for example the Ross Resort that might be nice since it's on the lake. They rent boats, kayaks, etc. For us just getting there is a major endeavor especially with only two days and I wouldn’t want to spend more than that. So in my opinion unless you back country or are a water enthusiast and are pulling a boat, skip this Park!
Anyway continuing on we saw Picket Range, Diablo Lake from an overview and Ross Lake. There was one trail we were going to do but a family was coming up and said it was about 2 miles, up all the way and not all that worth it. I wasn’t up for it so we headed out of town to get gas and back to the campsite. We are headed to Grand Coulee Dam and then on to Cascades.
Our neighbors at 6:30p.m started what sounded like rehearsing a kid’s Bat or Bar Mitzvah service – no kidding. They then went to take showers so we enjoyed some nice outside time. At 6:30a.m. they started singing The Sun will Come out Tomorrow – no kidding!
August 1, 2007
Head out of North Cascaded we stopped at Rainy Lake and expected a loop but were looking at the wrong lake. In any case we walked an easy paved path to a pretty lake but some of it was highlighted by the highway and all of it by mosquitoes.
We also stopped at Washington Pass which was nice. We walked up a short but fairly steep and narrow path and got up high enough to get some nice views of the peaks.
We stopped at Winthrop, WA which has been done in the 1880s Western style because it seems whoever wrote the book The Virginian mentioned this town and people. It was cute though about 99 degrees. We got iced drinks and Hanna was told that she was the cutest dog the girl at the counter every saw!
Eventually we got to The King’s Court RV Park.
Coolie Dam really is an amazing feat. I’m not much into dams but we watched three videos in the lovely Visitor Center and walked around the exhibit hall. Then at 9:30 there’s a ½ hour laser show that I was really impressed with. It was the story of the dam down on the cascade of water coming over which they let flow for this show. Elliott might go back for a tour tomorrow. I think I’ll wash my hair!
August 3, 2007
August 2- Elliott went to Coolie Dam. He enjoyed the tour.
The rest of the day was a long driving day. We wanted to get to Glacier National Park that day rather than wasting a day so Elliott drove until we arrived at Glacier RV Park in West Glacier. There are several areas burning around the Park (not in it). So far it hasn’t impacted us. We have smelled smoke a couple of times and at dusk the sky seems a bit hazy.
August 3, 2007
We went through the cute town of West Glacier which seems to be built for the Park. There are restaurants, stores, gift stores and rafting companies. We each bought a t-shirt; Elliott got a cap; we got a bear bell and a hiking book.
We stopped at Lake MacDonald and had lunch at Jammer Joe’s.
From there we drove on the Road to the Sun and got stuck in one place for 15 min. due to construction. There were many waterfalls and a weeping wall though the water level is low so the spray that the literature talks about didn’t happen.
We went to Logan pass and took the Hidden Lake which is considered moderate. The beginning was boardwalk but up and we were already at over 6,000 feet! Then we hit hard packed gravel. Even at 4:00 there were lots of people! We were told Glacier was crowded and it is though not like Yosemite!
We saw big horn sheep on the way up and one large, male mountain goat. As we got to the Hidden Lake overlook we passed a baby mountain goat and at the overlook were a mom and baby about as close to us as was comfortable - actually we were all a bit uncomfortable. We then saw another goat and on the way back we saw even more – probably 7 in total. We also saw either 6 of them going down the mountain or another herd and as we were almost back we saw a whole bunch of big horn on a ledge. They were quite close. There were wires keeping people on the trail mostly it seemed because of vegetation but it was tempting to get even closer though we were close! Great day. Got home at about 8:30!
August 4, 2007
I didn’t sleep last night. It must have been the caffeine in the Diet Coke. I got out of bed twice. Once I wrote two articles and once I read. Finally at about 4:00 I feel asleep and the train and alarm woke me at 6:00 but we both decided to go back to sleep. The trains (They don't run through the park but by it.) are much louder than we thought at first! Anyway I woke up again at 7:00 and we headed to Avalanche Trail. We went to the lake head and then on a bit to a nice beach with waterfalls and wood benches. The water though was horrible. I wouldn’t want to eat fish caught there!
The book says it’s easy. Maybe if you’re 25. It was easy going back - all down hill. Going was moderate. We had to stop to catch our breathes several times. The trail wasn’t all that nice in terms of scenery but it was very well maintained. We were warned many times about mountain lions and bear!
Elliott couldn’t decide if he wanted to do a white water trip or we should stay with our plans to do a scenic float. I really wanted him to go white water rafting. He tried to get on the 4:00 boat but there was no one else going so he’ll go at 10 tomorrow. Hanna and I will hang out in West Glacier. There’s a grocery store and gift shop and with the windows open in the trailer we’ll be fine.
August 4, 2007
Elliott had such fun on the rafting trip. I was so happy he went. He bought 3 pictures – they’re great. He was the only one on the rubber raft behind the raft with lots of people. He got soaked and fell in once. Hanna and I went to the grocery store, sent Dr. Mark a postcard, got a bell, got iced coffee, went for a walk and then went back to the trailer which was parked in the rafting company’s parking lot.
It took us about 1 ½ hours to get to East Glacier. I had spoken with a really nice man at Johnson’s of St. Mary’s campground. We went there and got a full hook up site overlooking St. Mary Lake.
We were just a minute away from the St. Mary Visitor Center so we watched the 15 min. film on the geology of Glacier, got some advice from a ranger re: what to do on this side, saw some ospreys in a nest and then went to the road at Many Glaciers to look for grizzlies. Many people were there and sure enough we saw a mom and her 2 cubs. They were in the distance so though I got pictures we may be the only ones who really know what they are!
August 6, 2007
It thundered last night and I hoped that the rain would have cleared up the smoke but it seems to be getting worse and closer to east glacier. It’s almost funny that we’ve had tsunami evacuation routes, earthquakes routes, mudslide and volcano eruption warnings and now this!
We headed out to the St. Mary/VA Falls trail which was labeled as easy but our hiking book is horrible. He was wrong about the trailhead and offended me by saying that people in good shape or not new to hiking should be able to do 2.5 miles an hour. Anyway it was a nicely maintained trail with a few creek crossings and a couple of bridges. Both falls were very pretty and from there we went to Baring Falls, also very pretty following Baring Creek and seeing the amazing Gorge and then on to Sun Point trail which overlooked the gorgeous St. Mary Lake, turquoise as a glacier Lake. Too bad the mountains weren’t clear (:
We saw a cow crossing the street and deer – white tail.
August 7, 2007
We started out by going to Babb General Store. Today was the clearest day we had and it was just gorgeous.
From there we headed to Swiftcurrent Lake Trail which was a beautiful walk but rather than taking the loop we headed on the Josephine Lake North Trail once I saw the sign saying there was bear activity. We passed the boat dock and about ½ mile from there I saw an animal. My first words were I see a…elk then I said, Elliott, it’s a bear. It was so close I couldn’t believe we were actually seeing a grizzly in our way. I took some shots. He looked me right in the eyes and I said that maybe we should slowly back away. At that point other people came up behind us and with all of us we got bold and got closer. Eventually some others walked by him and he was fine but we headed back not so much because of George but because I had seen what I wanted.
As we headed back to the loop I told a Ranger and showed him a picture which he logged. He told us where we could see moose – maybe. We went to the Many Glacier hotel which is beautiful. Very rustic looking – trees holding up the ceiling and ate in the Interlaken Lounge.
There was one lone ram on the top of a hill by the hotel with a broken horn.
After eating we went to Swiftcurrent Motor Inn which is a strange name. There’s a store there and gift shop. We headed to Fishgap Lake to see moose but there weren’t any. We did see a mom and her doe frolicking in the water. We may have seen moose had we hung around but decided to head back. It’s so windy here – apparently all the time!
August 8, 2007
We went to St. Mary’s Visitor Center to buy tickets for the “pow wow” tonight and then to Two Medicines which proved to be not quite as nice as other places. It was smoky and the trails weren’t that great. The views were nice though. We had started at the triple divide peak and on our way to Two Medicine saw some horses just meandering down the street. We went on the lookout for falls and thought according to our “book” that we’d reach some going to Two Medicine South Shore Trail. Instead that took us to Paradise Point which was a very nice view of Two Medicine Lake with a small area to picnic but the trail was nasty. The forest wasn’t pretty; the trail was narrow and in some places the grass was very high – a little scary. We realized we were at the wrong place and figured out we should have pulled over back a bit where it said scenic overlook.
We found the trail- Mt. Henry – which our book says nothing about that took us to Appistoki Falls. The hike wasn’t much nicer than the previous one since I think the forest was a continuation but the falls were nice.
We went to the Native American show at St. Mary’s Visitor Center. It was excellent. We learned about the Blackfeet people’s culture, dance, relationship to the park and the government. I am sure this is where I lived in my Indian life.
August 9, 2007
We headed to Waterton, CA. I got great pics of Chief Mountain. We got through customs fine on both ends.
We saw lots of wildlife. Our first stop was the bison paddock. Then onto Blakiston Falls for a 1.2 nice walk to some pretty falls. Great overlooks. On the way we saw a 10-antler deer! Very close up.
Our next stop was the beautiful Prince of Wales Hotel whose backyard is just gorgeous. We went into the very cute Waterton Lakes and had bagels at the Waterton Bagel and Coffee Company THE only place that allowed Hanna on their deck. Everything was homemade.
We watched a cute Ranger show and went to the Waterton-Glacier Peace Park Pavilion. Deer walk right through town.
We saw a wild chicken (we think) twice and more cows.
We also saw a juvenile big horn sheep but we couldn’t pull over to get a picture of him.
Our last stop was a scenic highway and Cameron Falls and then Lake Cameron. Beautiful place. I want to move here!
Before heading home I really wanted to see if we could see more bears and sure enough we saw a mom and 2 cubs – our first black bear sighting this trip.
Off to the east tomorrow.
August 11, 2007
Well it’s been a long journey to Minneapolis. We hit a storm last night and tonight. So far all we’ve seen tonight is lightening like none I’ve ever seen. It’s a 360 degree show. Last night we had winds, rain and hail. Who knows what will happen tonight.
We were 8 miles from running out of gas but found a station and then got to Town and Country Campground in Savage, Minnesota. We stayed here 3 years ago. Ron is very nice; Mary Jo isn’t. We pulled in at 10 so I really didn’t see the campground nor do I remember it but there’s a storm shelter – good thing – a pool, rec room, spa and a small camp store. Ron showed us to the site and backed us in. We are here just so Elliott can get work done and I can go through what looks like about 5 00 e-mails and lots of work to do.
My wireless connection isn’t working. I’m calling Dell since we paid 1 for it and Hanna was 1 as well -$34 with Good Sam.
Smokey Granite Mica
