Deck The Halls

I hope that all of you have had a great year and that you're enjoying the holidays.

Depending on how you count it, we're about to start a new decade. It looks to be a consequential one. What will "the twenties" bring?

'Tis The Season

Time to go Christmas tree hunting...

Autumn Leaves

It's fun to help with raking leaves and putting them in a giant pile on the side of the street for pick up by the city. That's how we roll here in Davis

Guess what? I'm excited about moving to a new apartment very soon!

A Splendid Day

Dad and I had a great hike for my birthday at Point Reyes National Seashore, hiking out to Tomales Point. This is the perfect time of year to go. We saw lots of elk and even a coyote, not to mention lots of humans.

Executive Order 9066

In February 1942, two months after the attack on Pearl Harbor, President Franklin D. Roosevelt ordered Americans of Japanese ancestry removed from their homes and sent to "relocation centers" including one near Tule Lake in California. Today this site is a National Historic Landmark, still surrounded by barbed wire.

According to the museum display, people were subjected to a questionnaire designed to test their loyalty to the United States. It contained lots of confusing and "trick" questions. I don't think I would have "passed." And my ancestors came over here on the Mayflower.

Captain Jack's Stronghold

California's native tribes sometimes have the reputation of being easy to subdue. I suspect that that in fact they were quickly overwhelmed by the Spanish conquest and later the Gold Rush. They were really the victims of a swift and certain genocide. (Read up on your early California history, folks.)

Not so in every case. In the Modoc War of 1872-1873, Kintpuash (aka Captain Jack) led 52 warriors in a months long defense of their "stronghold" in the lava beds against several thousand U.S. Army troops, although they were eventually defeated. The Modoc leaders were imprisoned or executed and the survivors dispersed to reservations in Oklahoma.

Roaming through the area, it's easy to see how defensible this place was. If I had been on the other side I would not have underestimated the Modoc. I would have left them alone.

Lava

Lava Beds National Monument. This is a landscape truly forged by Vulcan. Dad and I spent Labor Day weekend exploring this desolate and beautiful part of northeastern California. We even did a backcountry drive through the region of the Medicine Lake Volcano (the largest in the Cascades even though it has no cone). I'm always amazed to think about the fact that we spend our entire lives floating on top of a bunch of magma.

That's Schonchin Butte in the background of the photo.

Hiking Is My Sport

Going for a hike in the great outdoors is one of my favorite things to do. I think I'm pretty good at it too. I have a lot of energy and stamina and I am working on improving my stream crossing skills. We had to rock hop over a few on this trail which led us to the top of North Dome. What a view! From that perspective, Half Dome is "in your face" close up. The cars in the valley, 3,000 feet below, look tiny.

Another great trip!

El Capitan

El Capitan ("The Captain") is another great Yosemite feature. It's the largest single chunk of granite in the world. I once heard that if you quarried the whole thing (oh, please don't!), you could pave a road stretching from San Francisco to New York City. Surprisingly, even though we had Dad's binoculars (thanks Pam), we couldn't spot any climbers from the valley floor. Fortunately, we also didn't see any BASE jumpers (the practice is illegal in Yosemite). Those people are nuts!

Bridalveil Fall

Bridalveil Fall in Yosemite Valley is arguably the prettiest waterfall in California (I think so). It's certainly popular. Dad and I had to park far away and hike up to the viewing platform where we jostled for standing room with a big crowd of visitors. It was like being at Woodstock.

Speaking of Woodstock, we're very close to observing the 50th anniversary of that signature cultural event. It happened years before I was born, but my dad remembers hearing about it as a child. He describes his age cohort as being too young to go to Woodstock, too old for MTV.

Siblings

I recently was paid a visit from my brother Jackson and my sister-in-law Wendy. I was very happy to see them. It had been a long time. I hope I get a chance to visit them in the not too distant future.

Hotshots

We usually make a point of stopping by the California Trail Interpretive Center near Elko, Nevada. This time we passed by a crew cutting sagebrush by the roadside (as a fire break). They were having a great time with their chainsaws and hard hats under the summer sun. Their trucks said that they were the Ruby Mountain Hotshots (firefighters). For some reason all the guys (they were all guys) had long beards so it looked like a convention of ZZ Top impersonators.

I love the smell of freshly cut sagebrush.

Bear Lake

The Utah-Idaho state line cuts right through the middle of this large mountain lake which attracts visitors from around the region for summer sun and fun. It's been called the "Caribbean of the Rockies" due to the turquoise shade of its waters. This place was also a major location for the "rendezvous" of the 19th century where mountain men, Native Americans and fur traders met to do business and socialize.

If you want to find a real estate bargain this place is for you. We saw a sign offering an acre of land overlooking the lake for about the same cost as renting an apartment for a month in San Francisco.

Geography quiz: name another large mountain lake shared by two states.

Answer: Lake Tahoe (California-Nevada).

Bison!

I don't know about you, but I get very happy and excited when I encounter a herd of North American bison (Bison bison). Yes, I know you can't mess with them or get too close, but I think they are the coolest animals ever.

In the picture they are far away, but when we drove by the same stretch of highway later the same day they were very close to the road. We watched them from the safety of the car.

Grand Teton National Park

The last few times I have been to this region the focus was exclusively on Yellowstone. This time we explored the Tetons. We took two big hikes here including an attempt at reaching Amphitheater Lake which lies in the cirque below the Grand Teton (the highest peak in the picture). In the foreground you can see the winding Snake River which flows into the Columbia and out to the Pacific Ocean.

Note to Dad: If you want to hike 10 miles with a 3,000 foot elevation gain, start before noon.

South Pass

It's out in the middle of nowhere today, but South Pass in Wyoming was the main crossing point over the Continental Divide for the Oregon, California and Mormon Trails back in the 19th century. It was "discovered" by Europeans in the 1820s and used by thousands of emigrants (including a few of my ancestors) drawn to a new life in the West over the ensuing decades. Manifest destiny in action.

It was very windy here. Dad had to chase about 50 yards after our picnic tablecloth which was being carried away. It was hilarious. That being said, I'm sure that the early pioneers were grateful that they didn't have to trek over the Wind River Range just to the north of here. This year the high country was snowbound even in late June.

Fun fact: Wyoming is the only state in the Union that has land in all four major western watersheds (Columbia, Mississippi-Missouri, Colorado and Great Basin). We've been in all of them on this trip.

Flaming Gorge Reservoir

This large reservoir on the Green River in Utah and Wyoming is kind of a special place. First, it has a really deep canyon with red rocks (it's called Red Canyon). You can walk right up to the edge, although I don't recommend that for people with a fear of heights. It's 1,500 feet straight down to the water. Secondly, there's a tributary of the Green called Sheep Creek where native species like Bighorn sheep have been reintroduced.

It's good that humans are trying to restore the environments they have disturbed.

Arches National Park

It's actually been a long time since I've visited Arches National Park in Utah. The last time was back in 2006 with my dad and my brother. I was just a kid.

See that rock behind me? It's called Balanced Rock. It looks like it's about to fall over at any moment. It's actually been there for a very long time, but one day erosion will topple it. I just hope I'm not here when it happens.

M.O.A.B.

I'm not sure where the town of Moab, Utah got it's name, but I am guessing it stands for Mecca for Outdoor Adventures on Bikes. The slickrock trails here attract mountain bikers from all over the world.

We had a hotel stay here and got the explore the town. It's a beautiful place.

Protect Your Right To Bears Ears

The two prominent buttes in the background are called the Bears Ears. They overlook Cedar Mesa in southeastern Utah. In 2016 President Obama declared a national monument in this area, named after the buttes. One year later, President Trump shrank the area of the monument by 85%. I'm not really sure why...

Now, I've heard people say that the Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution protects the right to bear arms, but I'm not sure that I'm interested in bear arms (they have claws attached at the ends). I think bear ears are much cuter. They remind me of Pooh Bear.

Perhaps I'm missing something here.

Pack It Out

Unfortunately, one of the consistent features of the spectacular Monument Valley in the Navajo Nation is lots of roadside trash. I noticed this when I was last here in 2015. Doesn't anybody care?

Glen Canyon Dam

Behind me you can see 27 million acre feet of H2O, courtesy of the Colorado River watershed. That's enough to cover the entire state of Tennessee in a foot of water (sorry Tennessee!). This dam is an impressive engineering feat anyway you look at it. Without it, this region would have a much lower population.

We tried to visit the John Wesley Powell museum in nearby Page, Arizona but it was closed for renovation. Powell certainly saw a different Glen Canyon when his crew explored it in boats back in 1869. Very lyrically, he described a world that is now underwater. That part is sad.

Powell did all this with one arm. He lost a limb during the Civil War when he fought for the Union. Remarkable guy.

I noticed he spelled his name a little differently from mine.

Dry Lands

When traveling through the Southwest, especially if you go hiking, here are my top three rules:
#1: Drink water
#2: Drink water
#3: Drink water

And here's a supplementary piece of wisdom: nobody, and I do mean nobody, wants to see your initials carved on the rocks.

Don't Worry About The Government

If you're traveling out in the middle of nowhere and happen to run across a well-built trail or excellent stone masonry in a national or state park, chances are that it was constructed by the Civilian Conservation Corps in the 1930s. It was an elegant solution to a big problem. People were out of work due to the Great Depression, so the CCC was established by the federal government to employ folks to build public works that we still use today. It's too bad that we live in a time when many Americans have forgotten that "we the people" have a government that is supposed to do good stuff for everyone.

This stone restroom behind me has withstood 80 years of fires and flash floods. They don't make 'em like they used to.

Sword Of Damocles

This is my second drive on the Extraterrestrial Highway in Nevada (see Blogpost #77). This time we had rain, thunder and lightning. Scary but exhilarating.

All of the Area 51 and space alien hype is lots of fun, but let's remember that over that ridge behind me is where the early atomic bombs were tested during the Cold War. Sure, our country gained the ability to blow up tbe world several times over and to deter the Soviet Union from attacking, but there was a cost. For example, people who lived downwind in Nevada and Utah suffered elevated risks of cancer.

The Soviet Union fell apart a few years before I was born so I never experienced that sense of dread that others felt, but it sure looks like a mutual suicide pact to me. I hope we humans learn to make peace in the future.

The Water Is Wide

...and I cannot cross over... and neither have I wings to fly...

The West Walker River in the Eastern Sierra is running high this season. In past years when Dad and I have camped here we've been able to dip our toes in the water. Not now. That current is swift and ice cold. In fact there's still so much snow in the high country that the road over Tioga Pass is still closed. That's unusual for mid-June.

I heard that the mountain rescue people are training intensively right now to save folks who do foolish things around rivers. They won't have to worry about me. I'm no dummy. Have adventures but by all means safety first!

Carrizo Plain National Monument

Memorial Day weekend and  Dad and I took a little trip south. This place is quiet and peaceful, but also windy and rainy.

Not very many people know about this place in eastern San Luis Obispo county. It's sometimes called the "Serengetti of California" because a lot of wildlife pass through here. We saw a hawk up really close which was way cool.

Come here but don't tell too many of your friends.

Darwin Falls

A waterfall in the desert? Impossible, you say?

I have a suggestion. Check out the Darwin Falls Trail in Death Valley National Park. It starts by following a dry riverbed which soon has water and trees. If you go all the way to the falls, it's pretty cool. It's important to keep this area clean because the creek supplies water to the Panamint Springs Resort (where we ate lunch).

Death Valley Days

It's a beautiful morning in the desert, and I sure do love sand dunes.

Death Valley National Park

Scary name, but a beautiful place...

Dad, Pam and I are spending a long weekend camping here. We're planning to hit all the cool spots. I'm looking forward to catching up with my old buddies, the Salt Creek pupfish (Cyprinodon salinus). The species is currently listed as "endangered" because it has such a small habitat (basically just one very salty creek, although it has some cousins elsewhere in the desert). If I was a member of an endangered species, I sure would like to live in a protected area where I would have plenty of visitors to value me and keep me company.

Someday All This Will Be Mine

Actually, it already is (although I share it with the rest of the American people). I'm at the Mono Lake overlook on U.S. 395. Most of the land in the background is managed either by the U.S. Forest Service or the Bureau of Land Management. It's our collective heritage, I'm proud to say. I believe that each generation has a duty to make it lasts.

This roadside stop is famous for its epic collection of stickers that travellers have placed on the guard rail. It a favorite of mine.

Go Green

Today is St. Patrick's Day, and I'm dressed the part. It was a beautiful sunny Spring day, great for a hike at the UC Davis Arboretum. Later wecwent plant shopping at Green Acres in Sacramento.

The Sound Of Silence

Today Dad, Pam and I visited the Cosumnes River Preserve as we often do around this time of year. It was cloudy and windy. Then all of a sudden it was sunny. Go figure...

Later we went to Peet's Coffee and there was a large group there having a raucous conversation. Normally, I don't like noisy environments but this time it was O.K. Wanna know why? These folks were all communicating in ASL.

Little Yosemite

I've been to regular Yosemite Valley several times and it's pretty great, but this place is special too. Little Yosemite is located in the Sunol Regional Wilderness in the East Bay.

It was a beautiful day for a hike.

2019

Hey there, everybody!

I think another year just came and went and a new one has just begun.

Dad and I had a really nice Excellent Adventure out to Point Reyes National Seashore today. The sun was shining and the Pacific Ocean was shimmering. You can tell that it's a very long swim to Hawaii. We also saw the Tule Elk herd that lives here.

Happy New Year.