Reach The Beach

Last weekend Dad, Pam and I went to Point Reyes on a beautiful sunny Sunday, hiking down Abbots Lagoon. What can I say? This park is one of my favorite places of all time.

Owed T’ Alex

Labor Day weekend was fun. Dad and I went camping up in the Sierra Nevada near Lake Tahoe. The first night it rained pretty hard on us (luckily we were snug in our tent). It was the same storm that washed out all those folks at the Burning Man Festival.

The next day was still wet, so we drove down to Carson City, Nevada to visit Dad’s friends Jim (pictured) and Janet. It was fun hanging out with them and drying out.

Monday was beautiful so we hiked to the top of Mt. Judah near Donner Pass. All in all, a nice trip close to home.

Eastsiders

California’s Sierra Nevada is considered by many people (including me) to be possibly the greatest recreational mountain area in the world. The southern section of the range is unique because of its several hundred miles of unbroken wilderness (south of Tioga Pass). Unbelievable in a state as developed and populous as ours.

Dad and I are fond of approaching from the east side in Owens Valley because the mountain escarpment rises so dramatically. In July we camped along Bishop Creek (outside of its namesake city) and did some hiking in the high country. There is still a lot of snow up there due to the “atmospheric rivers” of last winter.

The behemoth in the foreground in the photo just outside of Bishop is Mount Tom (13,658 ft.). We didn’t climb to the top this time, but perhaps in the future.

Romeo And Juliet

By our tradition, it is de rigueur to stop by the Greenleaf Restaurant in Ashland, Oregon for marionberry pancakes. (Heavens, they’re tasty!)

We also like to check out the summer offerings from the Oregon Shakespeare Festival. This year’s program features Romeo And Juliet. I’ve heard that this play is about love. I know that there are different kinds of love. There’s family love, which I have in spades. There is love of this world and the precious planet we live on. (We need to see more of that.) There’s also romantic love, which I don’t know very much about but it seems like it can make people both happy and sad. One thing for sure- I would not want to have anything to do with a love where you have to kill yourself at the end of the play.

The Eye Of My Apple

Washington’s Yakima Valley is “home” to my favorite fruit snack- the apple. What I mean is that it’s a major apple growing region, so passing through here felt like a pilgrimage.

I used to believe that the Apple Goddess (health conscious cousin of the Ice Cream Goddess) dwelt at the summit of Mt. Rainier, bestowing her blessings on those of us below. Now, I am pretty sure that her spirit lives here as well as at countless grocery stores and farmer’s markets around the world.

Northern Sky

British Columbia’s Mt. Robson (3,954 m) is the highest point in the Canadian Rockies. It’s quite a sight from the visitor center in its namesake provincial park, so we really didn’t need to hike to it. I’ve noticed that the mountains around here really stand out. There’s no question that you’re in the presence of something really big.

By the way, this spot is the farthest north I’ve been to in my life so far (almost 53 degrees north according to the map). It feels like I’m at the ends of the earth, but in fact I am much closer to Davis, California than to the North Pole.

Athabasca Falls

One of the coolest sights in Canada’s Jasper National Park is this waterfall on the Athabasca River. It’s not very tall but you can see that there’s a huge amount of water flowing through. Kind of a miniature Niagara Falls. The water is a glacier-fed turquoise color. Beautiful!

Mount Edith Cavell

We had a great hike in the shadow of Mt. Edith Cavell (3,363 m) in Jasper National Park. It’s easily the most visible peak in the park and it features the Angel Glacier, which looks to be spreading its wings from certain angles (look it up on Google and you’ll see what I mean). It’s a beautiful and dramatic area.

The peak is named for Edith Cavell (1865-1915), a British nurse who was executed by the Germans during World War I. I’ve noticed while traveling up here that Canada shows many of its British Commonwealth roots. Queen Elizabeth II is on the money and there’s even a mountain named for Winston Churchill. The United States has lots of peaks named after people, but this is the first one I’ve encountered that’s named for a woman. Very progressive.

The Iceman Cometh

O.K., I have something to proclaim. The Icefields Parkway is arguably the most extraordinarily scenic drive in North America. It goes for 233 km through Banff and Jasper National Parks in the Canadian Rockies. Huge glaciers are fed by the magnificent Columbia Icefield (which is behind me in the photo). Some of the rivers fed by all that frozen water flow all the way to the Arctic Ocean.

I urge you to try this drive at least once in your life.

Alberta

Today we entered Canada. It’s the third time I’ve been to this country. I think it’s a great place. We stopped by Head-Smashed-In Buffalo Jump World Heritage Site (cool name) for a repeat visit. I mentioned this place in an earlier post from 2018. Taking a walk around the site, looking out at the boundless prairie was neat. What I really liked was finding wild roses on the trail. They are the symbol of Alberta.

Changes

Wow! The weather in Montana can change on a dime. That’s me overlooking the Missouri River near Helena with scary rain, lightning and thunder in the background. Half an hour before this photo was taken we were drying out our tent and sleeping bags under a hot sun. An hour later, we were driving north under sunny skies with puffy white clouds.

Dad was hoping to catch a lightning bolt in this picture, but alas that did not work out.

The Peaceful Atom

As we drove through southeastern Idaho, we passed through isolated federal government lands of the Idaho National Laboratory. We made a stop at a museum dedicated to the Experimental Breeder Reactor 1 (EBR-I), the world’s first nuclear reactor to produce usable amounts of electricity. It was the early 1950s and the United States had just ended a war with nuclear weapons, engaged in a Cold War arms race with the Soviet Union, and we were wondering what to do next. In 1953, President Dwight D. Eisenhower gave his “atoms for peace” speech in which he called for a new way of thinking about how to use this awesome power.

The museum was cool, but it had an air of boosterism about it. There was a mention of how Three Mile Island actually didn’t melt down, but we didn’t see anything about Chernobyl or Fukushima. Gotta tell the whole story I always say.

Walking On The Moon

Craters Of The Moon National Monument in Idaho. I really liked this out-of-the-way spot as a place to camp and hike. It’s basically a giant lava field that’s many times the size of my other favorite similar spot, Lava Beds National Monument in California. It’s one of the reasons that the Oregon Trail was routed south of the Snake River. That’s because wagons couldn’t handle the terrain, although crossing the river had its own dangers. I was last here in 2005 with my brother and father. I wonder why it took 18 years for a return trip.

As I’m whizzing along in a car, I always think about how the ground we’ve covered in a few days on this trip would have taken the wagon trains of the 19th century many months.

Big City

Boise, Idaho is not a huge city, but it’s growing fast with lots of construction going on in the downtown area. I’m sure plenty of people are moving here from more expensive places. Of course, that will eventually turn this into an expensive city.

Meanwhile, we stopped for coffee and treats at Big City Coffee, one of our all-time favorites.

Oregon’s Outback

We had a great drive through south-central Oregon. It was incredibly scenic with hardly any traffic. Watching rainstorms coming through the area as we drove added to the drama.

In the photo, I’m standing in front of Lake Abert, right next to U.S. 395.

Honey Lake

If Winnie the Pooh had ever visited California, I’m sure this would have been his favorite place. The lake is actually filled with water, but reflections from the desert hills surrounding it give it a honey colored cast. This is true most years, but now it’s bluer due to more runoff after a very wet winter.

River Man

I spent Father’s Day with Dad and Pam hiking along the American River east of Sacramento. It was a beautiful day, warm but not too hot. I was very happy to get out into nature with the people I love. A post-hike stop for ice cream was an added bonus.

As some of my readers know, I often use song titles for my blogposts. This post is named for a song by the great British singer-songwriter Nick Drake (1948-1974) who would have turned 75 years old today.

That’s Amore

I went to the Best Buddies fundraiser at Blaze Pizza. It was fun hanging out with my friends and eating delicious pizza. I think everyone else enjoyed a good time too.

Thanks, y’all.

Total Freedom

Badwater Basin: The statistics tell the story. 282 feet below sea level, the lowest point in North America. A vast salt flat in an endorheic basin made from an ancient lakebed. Besides that, you have the dramatic sweep up to Telescope Peak (11,043 ft.), the highest point in the Panamint Range. We visited at sundown (of course) and the purple evening light reminded me of our encounter with Utah’s Great Salt Lake Desert last summer.

I have a special feeling for this place. Most of the time I have other people directing me and making decisions on my behalf. I don’t mind because it’s appropriate for me. I’m lucky to have caring support staff and a loving family to look after my interests and make sure I have a good life. But out on the salt flats I can run around wherever I want and vocalize at the top of my lungs with my dad a distant speck on the horizon. It feels like total freedom.

We last came to this spot almost exactly ten years ago. I’ve included a picture of me and Dad taken here on March 31, 2013 (my brother Jackson’s 23rd birthday). Dad will thank me for saying that he hasn’t aged at all since then, even though he knows it’s not true.

Zabriskie Point

That’s the title of a weird film made by Michelangelo Antonioni back in the late 1960s. (Dad rented it once and recommends that you take a pass.) It’s also a real place in Death Valley National Park. It overlooks Golden Canyon (which we later hiked through) and has a great view of the snow clad Panamint Mountains across the valley. Lots of people stop and I can see why. It’s a fantastic view.

Dune

Perhaps this is my favorite spot in Death Valley…

The Mesquite Flat sand dunes near Stovepipe Wells is (are?) a must. This time I climbed all the way to the top of the highest dune for a great view of the surrounding mountains. It was a lot of fun. We followed that up with a hike in Mosaic Canyon which was very pretty.

As much as I like sand, I’m not sure I would appreciate an entire planet with nothing else like in Frank Herbert’s novel.

Snowbirds

Due to a snowy diversion, Dad and I ended up approaching Death Valley from the east which we’ve never done before. We drove through the town of Goldfield, Nevada (elevation 5,686 ft.) and had to laugh at the irony of a sign reading “Welcome Snowbirds” as we drove through snow flurries whipped up by icy cold winds. Goldfield is the kind of place where retirees seek a warm and dry climate (at least those who can’t afford Scottsdale).

A little farther south you can see me huddled in my warm sweatshirt by the side of the road with the snow covered Grapevine Mountains in the background. I guess it’s still winter in the desert.