Road Trip WA ID MT WY CO & Back Again- Part 1

My son, Justus, and I embarked on an excursion East.  Part of our plan was to spend some time in Yellowstone National Park, so Adventure Dog had to stay with my mom.  He had a good time too though!  Determined to make this an adventure, we didn’t get any hotel rooms for our trip… we spent two nights enjoying my sister, brother in law and brother’s hospitality and 3 nights in the comfort of my best friend’s home in Fort Collins, and the rest camping. 

Our first full day on the road, we stopped at Lewis & Clark Caverns State Park in Montana.  It’s not far off I-90 and well worth the time.  Rangers have tours going on very regular intervals, the landscape is beautiful and the cave was a blast. Not only did it have stalactites and stalagmites, columns and falls and other rock formations (see if you can guess which ones my sister calls "labia stone"), but it was fun!  There were parts where you had to squat and shuffle, duck, turn sideways and bend, and stairs to go up and down.  It felt almost like we were really spelunking.  There was a cluster of Townsend bats roosting toward the beginning of the cave, but once the ranger pointed them out we weren’t allowed to use our flash in that room, so I couldn’t get a picture.  The whole tour was 2 miles (not all in the cave) and 2 hours.

That night we stayed at a KOA.  We were glad to get a spot to sleep for the night, but I prefer wilder places.  Not only was it full of people and RV’s, but the spot we were given had the lovely aroma of sewage and was so full of mosquitos that I wasn’t sure we’d have any blood left.  I got some bug spray, and we ate and had a decent night’s sleep.  Until 4am.  I didn’t know that there was a peacock in the trees next to where we were camping as well.  Peacocks have a very distinctive cry, which I normally like, but not as an alarm clock!

The next day we went to the Little Bighorn Battlefield.  There was also a memorial cemetery there.  I was surprised how little I remembered about the battle of Little Bighorn from school.  Reading about how the battle unfolded and seeing the markers where the bodies fell, you could practically hear the screams of men and horses, the shouts of the soldiers and native warriors, the deafening onslaught of gunfire.  The soil must have been reddened mud from all the blood that flowed into it that day.  Then suddenly, I wonder… was there a moment of profound silence?  When the last life of that battle had been spend, before the victorious cries, before the birds dared sing like they were on the day we visited.  Now the site is a peaceful part of the rolling prairie, knee-deep with wildflowers, ringing only with the voices of meadowlarks and tourists.  Lemon-yellow butterflies flit from flower to flower among the markers of the long-fallen. 

We ate our lunch at a WY state park- Edness K something State Park, I can't remember the name.  It was a good place to spot birds, I guess.  We saw a deer, sandpipers and wildflowers.

Once in Fort Collins we had good times catching up with our friends and hanging out.  On Tuesday my friend had to go to work, so I went for a hike at Lory State Park.  It was weird not hiking with Cedar.  I had forgotten how beautiful Colorado is.  Blue skies, wildflowers, and a trail so thick with mica it was like walking through glitter was a wonderful way to start the day.  I hiked to a big rock promontory overlooking Horsetooth Reservoir and Fort Collins, called Arthur’s Rock.  I think the loop I did was about 3.5 mi.  Once I got to the top there was a cute little lizard sunning himself on a rock, enjoying the view.  He acted like he owned the place, so I can only assume he was Arthur.  On the way back down there were more wildflowers (see if you can figure out which ones Bradley calls "penis flowers"), including blooming cacti, and a really cool squirrel.  It was a black Abert squirrel and he had huge rabbit-ears.  Very cute.  I wish he had held still for more pictures.  Also a little toad hopped into my path, so I got a picture of him too.  One of his hops away from me, he turned 180 midair and landed facing me again. 

I had such a nice laid-back visit.  It was hard to leave.  Thank you Lalie & family!

Mount Rainier - July 10, 2011

On Sunday a friend of mine, Tracy, joined me in a tour of Mount Rainier.  I didn’t just want to show up in August and say, “hi there, Rainier… I’m here to climb you.”  Visiting ahead of time to get re-acquainted after so long, seemed the polite thing to do.  The day was a bit cloudy, but we were in great luck!  The clouds gathered and cleared throughout the day, providing many beautiful views of The Mountain.

We enjoyed a short leg-stretcher at Grove of the Patriarchs.  I am just naturally a tree hugger.  I like the look of trees, the feel of them, looking way up into their branches and examining the whirls and grooves of their bark and trunk.  There are always a lot of people on this trail, since it is only 1.5 miles round trip, mostly flat, but I highly recommend it.  It is entrancing to walk through the wildflower-strewn woods, cross onto an island in the Ohanapecosh, and then walk around on a boardwalk where you are dwarfed and awed by massive cedar and Douglas fir around 1000 years old.

We had no agenda, so we stopped at almost every pullout with a view, attraction, or critter.  One of the pullouts is Box Canyon.  The Cowlitz River here is white with glacial till and also white where it churns along at the bottom of the deep channel it has carved straight down into the rock.  The distance from the bridge to the water surface is 180 ft.  I think this mountain we could see to the south from Box Canyon was Mount Adams (if someone knows otherwise, please let me know).

Here it was very cool to see this amazing swath of destruction cut by an avalanche.  The distance this force of nature roared down into the valley, wiping out forest as it went, was impressive.

We stopped at many waterfalls.  One of these is Falls Creek Falls, but I can’t remember which! 

This is Christine Falls.  It has two upper parts and then a 3rd lower cascade going down under the bridge.

At Paradise people were all over the snow with their sleds and other snow toys.  There is still a lot up there after a higher than normal snowfall and a late melt.  It was really pretty, and again a view of the Mountain, this time up close.  I am both intimidated and excited to be planning my climb… about 3 weeks to go!

Wildflowers were also plentiful on this trip.  The avalanche lily is one of my favorites up here.

Lake Louise had some snow on it still.

We were lucky to see a beautiful fox.  It was charcoal gray instead of red and stunning against the snow.  I was not able to get my camera out before he disappeared into the trees.  We also saw a several deer, one a doe with fawns.  I tried for a photo of the fawns, but my battery ran out.  It wasn’t my day for photographing wildlife.  I did get this shot of a gray jay or camp robber.

We finished out our trip at Longmire, where we did the little .7 mi nature loop.  Here there are cold bubbling springs, once thought to be medicinal (but they contain some nasty stuff so don’t taste).  The Longmire family sold this water as a cure all and a cabin built by their son still stands.  The nature trail loops around the marshy lake which the springs bubble up in and around.  Some geese were hanging out there, and a beaver was swimming around. 

Here is a cool old tour bus that is kept at Longmire. 

Get out there!