Friday, March 28, 2008
Water
Lots of water in the falls at Yosemite. Now we are in Red Bluff and water is falling from the sky. When was the last time we heard rain on the roof? Tomorrow we will be in Oregon if snow doesn't clog the pass.
Thursday, March 27, 2008
Photos
1. Frog and I at lake in Kings Canyon.
2. Foot of Giant Sequoia.
3. Mirror Lake in Yosemite.
More National Parks
In our endeavor to visit as many Nationals as we can… we detoured on our way home to visit some famous California parks.
Sequoia Someone once told us that it doesn’t matter how beautiful a park might be—if the bathrooms aren’t clean,… Well, Sequoia has the dirtiest bathrooms of any National Park, etc. that we have visited. We stopped for a short hike in the foothills where wildflowers were blooming. But then the road goes up and up and up and any trails in the Sierras are still under snow. There are only a couple of places to stop and the parking at the famous General Sherman tree (biggest in the world) was so limited we were not able to stop. Luckily we kept on going and reached…
Kings Canyon
This little known gem was a breath of fresh air. There was a nice Visitor Center where we saw a video about the canyon (which was still closed for the winter.) Staff was friendly and the bathrooms were reasonably clean. There was plenty of parking (or rather fewer people) to see the General Grant tree and a nice walk through this grove of Giant Sequoias. We didn’t realize how different they are from redwoods. We could at least get a view of the canyon, and drove down to a lake where crowds were totally absent.
Leaving the park was even more of an adventure. We took a “short cut” back to Visalia where we were staying. Hwy 245 has got to be the “twistiest, turniest” road in CA. (even more so than the infamous #49). If we reached the great speed of 25 mph for a few minutes, I cheered. It was a long day.
Yosemite
Luckily we are staying at a KOA outside of the Park. There has been a major landslide and the highway is closed to trailers and vehicles over 28 feet—except the bus which we were able to catch here and ride into the Visitor Center. There is also a 30 minute wait at several construction sites. It was a beautiful fall day in Yosemite Valley, or so it seemed. The air was crisp and clear, and dry leaves covered the ground. We did our obligatory hike to Lower Yosemite Falls. Then we decided to do part of the Valley trail—an 8 plus mile hike which left us exhausted. Even though there was quite a crowd around the Village, we saw few people out on the trail.
We took the truck into the park on our second day to have a more flexible schedule. We did another 9 miles of hiking—around Mirror Lake and up to get a view (but no decent picture) of Vernal Falls. We were not impressed with the campgrounds in the Valley.
Sequoia Someone once told us that it doesn’t matter how beautiful a park might be—if the bathrooms aren’t clean,… Well, Sequoia has the dirtiest bathrooms of any National Park, etc. that we have visited. We stopped for a short hike in the foothills where wildflowers were blooming. But then the road goes up and up and up and any trails in the Sierras are still under snow. There are only a couple of places to stop and the parking at the famous General Sherman tree (biggest in the world) was so limited we were not able to stop. Luckily we kept on going and reached…
Kings Canyon
This little known gem was a breath of fresh air. There was a nice Visitor Center where we saw a video about the canyon (which was still closed for the winter.) Staff was friendly and the bathrooms were reasonably clean. There was plenty of parking (or rather fewer people) to see the General Grant tree and a nice walk through this grove of Giant Sequoias. We didn’t realize how different they are from redwoods. We could at least get a view of the canyon, and drove down to a lake where crowds were totally absent.
Leaving the park was even more of an adventure. We took a “short cut” back to Visalia where we were staying. Hwy 245 has got to be the “twistiest, turniest” road in CA. (even more so than the infamous #49). If we reached the great speed of 25 mph for a few minutes, I cheered. It was a long day.
Yosemite
Luckily we are staying at a KOA outside of the Park. There has been a major landslide and the highway is closed to trailers and vehicles over 28 feet—except the bus which we were able to catch here and ride into the Visitor Center. There is also a 30 minute wait at several construction sites. It was a beautiful fall day in Yosemite Valley, or so it seemed. The air was crisp and clear, and dry leaves covered the ground. We did our obligatory hike to Lower Yosemite Falls. Then we decided to do part of the Valley trail—an 8 plus mile hike which left us exhausted. Even though there was quite a crowd around the Village, we saw few people out on the trail.
We took the truck into the park on our second day to have a more flexible schedule. We did another 9 miles of hiking—around Mirror Lake and up to get a view (but no decent picture) of Vernal Falls. We were not impressed with the campgrounds in the Valley.
Saturday, March 22, 2008
We have plans
We have finally made plans and reservations. We are in Bakersfield tonight where it is about 10 degrees cooler but very smoggy. Tomorrow we move to Visalia about an hour away and from there we will go up to Sequoia NP for a day. On Tuesday we will head to a KOA outside of Yosemite for 3 nights. We gave up on trying to figure out camping in the park. Then we head back to Oregon next weekend and will be back on Guemes with the high tide between the 5th and 8th.
Photos from Needles
Our RV park in Needles was on Old Rt. 66. The prickly pear along the road are blooming.
Friday, March 21, 2008
Flowers
These blue bells (a phacelia) were truly bluely awesome.
Culture, Music, and Wildflowers
We have been in Cave Creek for the past 4 days. There are 33 spots in the campground and 16 people lined up in the overflow waiting--someone was glad to have our spot. A lot of folks will have to wait through the weekend. Easter weekend and spring break in AZ have messed up our plans to visit other public parks. We are on our way home (with a sidetrip, hopefully to Yosemite).
The wildflowers in CC were amazing and we added some new species to our "list" (I don't have a real list). We took lots of photos. We spent the evenings with our friends Paul and Charlotte. The culture was a free talk at the Heard Museum (with wine and cheese) on Native American Jewelry. It was a bit of a fiasco as they had about 3 times as many people show up as they expected. The music though was amazing. Last night we went to a free jazz concert in downtown Carefree. What else can I say. This was a highlight of out trip.
This afternoon we are in Needles. It is 85 degrees in the shade. Kit has gone jogging and I am utilizing the free wireless sitting outdoors in the shade. Tomorrow we head for Bakersfield.
The wildflowers in CC were amazing and we added some new species to our "list" (I don't have a real list). We took lots of photos. We spent the evenings with our friends Paul and Charlotte. The culture was a free talk at the Heard Museum (with wine and cheese) on Native American Jewelry. It was a bit of a fiasco as they had about 3 times as many people show up as they expected. The music though was amazing. Last night we went to a free jazz concert in downtown Carefree. What else can I say. This was a highlight of out trip.
This afternoon we are in Needles. It is 85 degrees in the shade. Kit has gone jogging and I am utilizing the free wireless sitting outdoors in the shade. Tomorrow we head for Bakersfield.
Sunday, March 16, 2008
Plans
We are stopped in a place called Goodyear on the west side of Phoenix. Spent the day visiting our friend Eleanor Conant in Surprise. Our daughter Kirsten is in Tempe not far away but too far for us to bop over. She is visiting Arizona State for a few days.
We plan to head out early in the morning and get in the waiting line at Cave Creek county park. No internet there either. After that--who knows...
We plan to head out early in the morning and get in the waiting line at Cave Creek county park. No internet there either. After that--who knows...
More Photos
Fairy duster--a lovely flowering shrub hiding in the washes. A blooming Hedgehog Cactus. Seeing cactus bloom was a treat. Alas all the ocotillos did not bloom for us.
Photos
Carol on the trail with a monster organ pipe. Kit taking flower photos. We have a LOT of photos.
We're back in the connected world
We did not fall into a black hole. We have been 2 weeks at Organ Pipe Cactus NM—indeed at the end of the known world. No internet, NO TV, no news, no electricity… But we have had excellent cell phone reception so we could keep in touch with some of you. Sunday we expect to stay at a park with wireless internet so I am preparing this brief synopsis of our 2 weeks.
Bloom has been the key word in our March visit to ORPI. The summer and winter rains were adequate and appropriately timed so the wild flowers are amazing. In addition to a greener desert than usual there is a hint of yellow everywhere. Bladderpod mustard is blooming pretty much everywhere. And of course there are those unexpected fields of poppies and lupine and owl clover, etc. The bright yellow brittlebrush is beginning its bloom. We have been working a lot on our macro- -photo skills to get good flower pictures. The most exciting bloom is the Hedgehog cactus up on the ridge that had 10 flowers at one time last week. We had never seen a cactus bloom in the real world.
People are one of the reasons we love ORPI. What other park can you visit and get to know all of the rangers, volunteers… Plus on our late afternoon wander we usually stop to talk with other campers who are out. We always find interesting people here.
Unexpected surprises: Because many of the trails have been closed this year we have been forced off the beaten path so to speak and have explored new places and enjoyed some off trail hiking. On one hike we found Arizona blister beetles—lots of them eating the flowers. On another hike we found a cristate saguaro. Then in an out of the way wash, I finally found some penstamen after looking all over the park. On our favorite of the new hikes, we found an Indian sleeping circle (no artifacts) and brilliant fields of wildflowers. It was like hiking high in the Olympics in July.
Bloom has been the key word in our March visit to ORPI. The summer and winter rains were adequate and appropriately timed so the wild flowers are amazing. In addition to a greener desert than usual there is a hint of yellow everywhere. Bladderpod mustard is blooming pretty much everywhere. And of course there are those unexpected fields of poppies and lupine and owl clover, etc. The bright yellow brittlebrush is beginning its bloom. We have been working a lot on our macro- -photo skills to get good flower pictures. The most exciting bloom is the Hedgehog cactus up on the ridge that had 10 flowers at one time last week. We had never seen a cactus bloom in the real world.
People are one of the reasons we love ORPI. What other park can you visit and get to know all of the rangers, volunteers… Plus on our late afternoon wander we usually stop to talk with other campers who are out. We always find interesting people here.
Unexpected surprises: Because many of the trails have been closed this year we have been forced off the beaten path so to speak and have explored new places and enjoyed some off trail hiking. On one hike we found Arizona blister beetles—lots of them eating the flowers. On another hike we found a cristate saguaro. Then in an out of the way wash, I finally found some penstamen after looking all over the park. On our favorite of the new hikes, we found an Indian sleeping circle (no artifacts) and brilliant fields of wildflowers. It was like hiking high in the Olympics in July.
