National Parks

No Fish on This Reef, Escalante Needs an Escalator, and Hoodoos Shooting Skyward

uniquelytheo1 Comment

I got on the road late morning from Gunnison CO and selected a longer but designated scenic highway to Arches National Park. With minimal traffic, I at times felt like I was the sole individual who preferred to drive scenic highways. There can be such joy in the journey and this day was joyful.

The route put me on Interstate 70 for about 40 miles and per usual I was grateful to get on a beautiful secondary road, one of those roads on my AAA maps marked with ………… designating it as awesome scenery. It would take me through Capitol Reef National Park and Grand Staircase Escalante National Monument. I had visited Capitol Reef in 2016 so opted for a cruise through its magnificence on the way to Bryce via Utah scenic byway 12, aka “Wild Roads.” Escalante was new territory.

Scenic Byway UT-24 (also named Capitol Reef Country Scenic Byway) is more than just a sneak preview to the equally scenic and incredible UT-12. From Hanksville to Torrey on the far side of Capitol Reef National Park, the panoramas and the artists’ palette that painted this area was splendorous. It seemed we had gone mostly from the red “hot” spectrum of colors to a “cold” array of the grey and chocolate hues of our nature world.

The scenery really been to pop around Hanksville, along the Route UT-24 . Factory Butte was grand and was a kaleidoscope of what might be termed as cold colors . Here there is a little something for everybody. Swing Arm City, near Caineville is an OVH recreational area which is intended for off-road vehicles (such 4×4, dune buggies, motocross bikes) but is open to all vehicles. I only drove in a few hundred feet ( there is no road marked) but it felt surreal and a bit like a lunar landscape, with the Factory Butte and the North Caineville Mesa on the horizon.

Heading into Capitol Reef, via the eastern entrance , the light blue, greenish-gray, and off-white tones of the sedimentary rocks was quite remarkable but I also found the solution cavities in these roc k surfaces ( known as honeycomb weathering) notable. These surface holes are caused by the weathering effects of wind, water, and ice but they are only surface.

But it wasn’t long before the vermillion, white, red and pink sandstone formations that are so prominent in most of the southwestern parks began appearing in grand style – one after another, like models on the runway strutting their stuff. Disappointedly , the scenic drive within the park was closed for road work but clearly there was still plenty of scenery..

Heading south from Torrey to Boulder Utah , it was a delight traveling on UT12, as the road ascended through the Dixie National Forest with numerous vista points along the route and to add a bit of fun, it was open range in which cattle are permitted to roamed. .. and that they did. It was 124 miles of scenic exhilaration. .

Once south of Boulder , the diversity of landscape again was evident as I began driving through Grand Staircase Escalante National Monument. This remote section of Utah is a vast and austere landscape with extensive expanses of grey-green photo-hungry rock-forms. I gladly obliged its photo thirst.

If you have followed my travels, you will certainly comprehend why this was “the magic kingdom” experience to satisfy my driving bliss which occurs when traveling twisting , curving roads with switchbacks and hairpin turns. The breathtaking overlooks, sweeping views, and steep inclines pushed my adrenaline into overdrive.

A stop at the Head of the Rocks Overlook was a must. The big sky views over the Grand Staircase Escalante National Monuments showcased this slick rock terrain in its fashionable shades of white, pink, vermillion, tan, chocolate , and grey.

I was in no rush to get to Bryce as I was staying in The Lodge at Bryce Canyon, on a mesa near the canyon rim, and hence no camp set-up or meal prep. I was DONE camping for this trip. Finally I pulled in around 6:30 feeling totally sated by the Capitol Reef and Grand Staircase smorgasbord. After the desk clerk arranged for a ground floor room (since I had been assigned 2nd floor with no elevator), I received all the necessary instructions including the time to go to Sunset Point for sunrise and Sunrise point for sunset. Figure that one out? After checking into my room, I decided on a brief walk along the canyon rim as the sun was beginning its downward slide.

Though I have visited and hiked in Bryce before, my first look was of enchantment and awe. I proceeded to dinner in the Lodge dining room (mediocre) and then a rest up for a fairyland adventure on the ‘morrow.

This rustic lodge like many of the other historic park lodges is constructed of milled timbers, steeply pitched roofs, and extensive stonework. There is the large lobby for socializing, stone fireplaces, and a large dining room. Unlike many NP Hotels, there was internet service but true to form no televisions in the room or cable service…all intended to promote socializing and experiencing the natural world..

If you can imagine rocks as a lyrical poem or dance between weathering and erosion, you might be imagining the process that creates these unique shafts of rock that grow skyward from the bottom of the basin in Bryce to the tip of the hoodoos. Hoodoo means to bewitch! These shafts are so enchanting that they evoked in me a steady stream of wonder and amazement at the deep reds, soft pinks, oranges and creams of these sentinels.

I had already decided I was not going to do a hike down into Bryce Canyon as at the altitude of 8000 feet the thin air was leaving me quite short of breath upon exertion. Brochures kept reiterating you will usually get down in 1/3 the time it takes you to climb up and out. I had hiked down many years ago and it was as magical then as it was today. At some point I would take an easy hike on the rim and focus on the views of “the amphitheater” later but first complete the scenic drive from the hotel out to Rainbow Point before it got too crowded. In retrospect, that was not a worry because there were relatively few cars on this day at any of the view points.

Sunset Point Elevation 8100 feet

Inspiration Point 8100

Bryce Point Elevation 8300 feet

Paria View Elevation 8175 feet

Fairview Point Elevation 8819 Natural Bridge 8627 Elevation

I was nearing the end of this scenic trek via motor car and feeling grateful for this halcyon day and the grandeur of this small but very unique section of our country. The final “push” was views from Ponderosa Point( elevation 8904); Rainbow Point (elevation 9115) ; Yovimpa Point; and a short 1.3 mile hike of the Bristlecone Loop at Rainbow Point.

On the drive back to the Lodge, I was also extremely thankful that so many presidents and congress have had the foresight to make conserving land a priority and thus bringing so much joy to like minded Americans who revel in immersing themselves into so much unspoiled wilderness. I hope I can pass on some of this awe and love to my grandchildren (my adult children already embrace the natural world. )

By far the most iconic section of the park, the Bryce Amphitheater ( so called as it is a bowl shaped area formed by the drainage of seasonal rains and melting snow) is home to the greatest concentration of the irregular rock spires called “hoodoos” and I had explored almost all of the viewpoints along the first 3 miles of the main road except for Sunrise Point. I headed towards the mercantile and visitors center before retreating to the Lodge until sunset and then I walked to the last viewpoint I would be visiting : Sunrise Point. This was another spiritual experience as the sun sank below the horizon behind us but lit up the sky before me.

The only glitch in this otherwise perfect adventure was getting lost in finding my way back to the Lodge’s Sunset Hotel where my room was located. I had stayed on the rim until almost dark and had meandered all the way to Sunset Point which I soon realized was a ways beyond my lodging. I somehow did not recognize the path leading to the lodging and was quite disoriented at first. It was quite dark by now. Once I took the time and got my bearings, checked the map (I always take a picture of it so it is stored on my phone, ), turned on my iPhone flashlight, and hopped on the bike path, I knew I would get “home.” iPhone saves the day! I have done remarkably well on this trip for being quite directionally challenged.

The next morning, it was time to head west and make a beeline for my Oregon home….with one more stop to briefly re-visit Great Basin National Park but not stay and camp as I had originally intended. That “beeline” would take three days. Route 12 took me through Red Canyon but even I balked at taking one more striking picture or red rocks. So I continued on through the Escalante Desert with the several low rise mountain ranges breaking up the vast expanse of relatively featureless desert.

Around three pm I reached the town of Baker in Nevada which was the entrance point to Great Basin National Park. It was early enough to take the drive up to Wheeler Peak which transitions from a massive expanse of the desert of sagebrush I just drove through to the treeless rocky peaks of the South Snake Range. As in several other parks, the drive to the final viewpoint of Wheeler Peak was closed for resurfacing.

With both towns and motels few and far between, I stopped in the town of Ely. Ely is known for the Great Basin National Park, the Lehman Caves… but the websites does not want us to forget that “one of the reasons why people travel to Ely…the gaming.” To game or not to game was the question I posed to myself in this town where I had my first opportunity to partake in Nevada’s gambling-free-for-all everywhere. Clearly gambling is not one of my addictions as my heart did not beat wildly at the thought of this opportunity. So I curled up in my motel, slept well, and headed towards Oregon on U.S. Highway 50 the next morning. Traveling westward from the Nevada border to Fallon (about 60 miles from Reno), US 50 passes through only two towns and one small city (Ely) between Fallon and the Utah state line, over 400 miles distant. It is thus known as The Loneliest Road in America. Rarely was the desert landscape was broken up, except by the Bonneville Salt Flats, a recreation area which is used for land speed racing.

The final day took me through the congestion of Reno and some massive road construction projects, and on into California on secondary roads through Susanville and to Mt. Shasta and the final stretch home on I-5.

I travelled 9642 miles solo through 24 states and 5 Canadian Provinces in 63 days: camped 29 nights though I had planned on more but incredibly awful weather change some of that; motels 21 nights ; and stays with family and friends 13 nights. I visited 9 national parks and completed my quest to finish visiting all 61 of the 63 National Parks in the contiguous states and Alaska. Get ready American Samoa and The Virgin Island for I will be there in 2025.

Should I Treat This Arch Delicately, a Sunless Black Canyon, and Wrathful Storms

uniquelytheo3 Comments

Having now spent three cushy nights in motels, it was time to quit babying myself and prepare to be back in the tent and camping.  Actually I am preferring my cozy sleeping bag and cot in the tent to a motel room and their pillow top beds — except when the rainfly leaks and I get rained on in the middle of the night. A stop at a grocery store on the way out was in order to have enough food for the next four nights of camping in national parks. After a resupply in Colorado Springs, I made my way out of town. and by now I was driving in Garden of the God’s territory  meaning towering red sandstone formations and landscape that became incrementally more beautiful the further southwest I traveled.

One of the downsides of traveling to the national parks now (or most areas as well) is that it is the “high tourist season” as well as the “high road construction season”. Quite often the two clash! Whether it is the turnpikes, interstates, or the secondary roads, there were not many stretches that I traveled where major road work wasn’t a huge barrier to maximizing quality time outside of my vehicle. I was in Colorado headed to the south rim of Black Canyon on the Gunnison National Park via Route 50  and had to wait almost an hour for a pilot car to lead a line of cars through the area being “refurbished.”  This of course was the time when the major road through Gunnison was also getting a shiny thick new layer of black asphalt and this provided a great olfactory experience of the aroma of fresh asphalt which had just been laid on the road about 100 feet from the campground. Most campsites were pretty squeezed but the one I had selected was quite roomy though I opted out of putting my tent on the area designated for a tent pad on the back of the site (more privacy) as it was clay and definitely would be a slick mess to slip and slide around on should it rain.

With many open site, up pulled a “loud family in training” right across from me, meaning there have been worse on this trip but they were practicing to compete for first place. In an amble about the campground I did not hear any other clearly audible conversation. It wasn’t even the ongoing noise that annoyed me (one comes to expect it) but soon the dad strung up several strings of lights running off a portable power pack (no electricity in this campground) . It wasn’t quite as bright as the Vegas Strip , but Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park has been certified as an International Dark Sky Park due to its exceptional skies and lighting practices. This guy was putting so much wattage into the air , that it definitely compromised the quality of star gazing that evening.

Is it all in the name? It’s moniker ” Black Canyon” is not derived from the color of it’s rocks but because the canyon is so narrow and so deep, reaching a depth of 2,722 feet, that sunlight barely reaches parts of the gorge each day (33 minutes), thus giving off an almost-spooky aura. With such an ominous designation, you might guess it is one of the least known and one of the lesser-visited national parks in the country. It ranks 47 out of 63 overall in annual visits. The Great Smokey Mountains has 13.3 million annual visits whereas Gunnison has 357,00

The next morning, I awoke to the patter of rain on tent but, but fortunately it stopped relatively soon so I did not have to figure out Plan B.   I was able to quickly get breakfast and get on the road.  I arrived at the already crowded visitor’s  center and made a plan to drive the 7 mile south rim road and explore most of its different views. But first I wanted to hiked a portion of the Rim Rock Trail before I wore myself out oohing-and-ahhing at the magnificence of this canyon, 7000 ft above sea level.

Hiking the rim from the visitors center to Tomichi Point was but a half mile and though it is described as relatively flat with some stairs and uneven ground, I found it a bit unnerving given the closeness to the “endless” drop of the canyon, so proceeded with great caution. I was stunned by the sheer depth of the canyon walls and narrowness of these canyon walls, the glimpses of the Gunnison River, the canyon ridges and rock spires that jut into Black Canyon, and panoramic vistas of the West Elk Mountains.

Not want to be miss out on any demarcated views , I motored on and began the routine of stoping at each pullout to and hiking each short trail to the viewing platforms. I began to develop a cadre of acquaintances   as I kept running into the same gazers at each pullout.  starting with Pulpit Rock.

Pulpit Rock .

Cross Fissures Overlook

Rock Point

Chasm View

Painted Wall

Standing 2,250 feet tall from the river to rim, Black Canyon’s Painted Wall is the tallest cliff in Colorado and it has been compared to the Washington Monument standing 555 feet and the Empire State Building at just 1,250 feet. Only Burj Khalifa in Dubai which is the world’s tallest building at 2,717 ft. has beat this massive cliff out.. Jackson Polluck and the many other abstract artist definitely were centuries behind the artistry of the natural forces of nature. My imagination went into high gear when coming upon some of the rocks lining the trail out to the painted wall and I started anthropomorphizing many of rocks and seeing cuddly rock creatures. Can you?

Cedar Point Nature Trail

Sunset View and High Point

At the end of the rim road and with plenty of time for additional adventure, I opted to drive the East Portal Road to Gunnison Dam. The road is paved and two-way but windy and steep, narrow and twisty, and tight curves with a 16 % grade in few places. If you have read previous blogs you know this is my favorite kind of driving. My heart beat rapidly with the sheer excitement of this challenging drive. I managed to avoid burning out my brakes. It ended in the Curecanti National Recreation Area. I had intended to dip my toes in the Gunnison but some how was not motivated at that point to do so.

Since I clearly had not had enough of driving twisty mountain roads, I drove down about 5 miles to route 50 to get ice so my groceries would not spoil. The store definitely had character. . 

It had been an excellent day with so much strong and bold scenery. It was time to head back up to settle into camp. Cook. Write. Organize  and enjoy the sunset all the while again inhaling the wafting fragrance of hot tar.

Friday, August 23 I woke another drenching rain.  The tents raincoat (a poncho I had in the car) which I draped over the netting and under the oozing rainfly had kept the inside of the tent mostly dry and me mostly dry.  The rain finally let up and I was able to get breakfast and coffee but figured there was no time for lingering as I wanted to try and break down camp before the rain started again.  It wasn’t to be.  A constant drizzle began so I was resigned to breaking everything down and wrapping it up, mud and rainwater as well.  The tent must have weighed an extra 5 pounds.  I was so very wet and bedraggled and I finally got loaded up and was off by 10:15.  

I did not have a terribly long drive so I decided to take what I hoped was a more scenic route to Arches National Park in Utah.  As I traveled further west the landscape became more desert like and was colored mostly in tans, yellows, and browns etc. My route took me down #143 and   before long I was in canyon lands with massive rock formations of all sizes and shapes and colors. It ran along the Colorado River and curve after curve got more colorful, fanciful and gorgeous.  

I arrived at Arches Visitors Center Friday 23rd around 4:00pm and learned the campground was 19 miles up the scenic road and would slow going and take about 45 minutes.  I was getting somewhat concerned as I saw some rather ominous looking clouds on the horizon and hoped I could beat any impending storm. 

Fortunately, it was still sunny upon arrival at the campground and I set about trying to dry out the tent, fly, ground cover, tent rain coat and any other sodden item. Though sunny I could hear the rumbling of thunderstorms much closer.  So I shifted into fast forward and basically just dumped everything into the tent that I would want for the evening.

Then, first a strong wind gust and then the rain blasted in so quickly that I ducked into the tent  but was wondering if perhaps I should have rode it out in the car.  But there I was in this flimsy nylon cloth shelter with its compromised polyurethane coating, feeling scared (I don’t scare easily) and fearful, since it felt so close I was sure that the lightening and its companion thunder were about to both fry me and deafen me. I was certain a tree would come crashing down on my not so safe place and the tent would sail away with me in it to OZ. Of course, if it had not been laden with me and all my stuff, it would have blown away. This massive storm raged on for at least a half hour or more and the thunder was so loud and so close as was the lightening, all of that time.   Talk about powerlessness. I could not do anything but just sit there and be frightened.  

The stormed moved on over the distance plateau and valley. Mother/Father Nature subsequently pretended it did not just have a out-of-control rage in the last hour but subsequently served up a beautiful sunset as a peace offering.

On Saturday 24th I was up and out early to hopefully get ahead of the crowds hiking the iconic Delicate Arch Trail. It was a halcyon day and I was psyched to commence the most prized hike of the entire trip. Delicate Arch is the largest free-standing arch in the park and so named because it is “the most delicately chiseled arch in the entire area.” But as I made my left turn to head down the 1.25 mile down to the trail head, I was met at the entrance of the access road with a Road Closed sign. A hiker who had walked the road down and was returning said that there was several feet of red dirt/clay across the road from the deluge of the previous evening and it would be 2-3 hours or more before the road would be opened. If I waited until then (it was already 9:00 am) it would be unbearably hot before I finished since I am the tortoise in the tortoise and the hare race.

So my natural choice was to walk 1.25 miles down the road to the trail head, 1/2 gallon of water in hand. I would worry about the 1.25 mile uphill climb after the strenuous hike i.e could hopefully hitchhike back up. Around 30 minutes later I was ready for the 3.2 mile hike on what is rated as a strenuous trail. The beauty of this choice is that there was hardly anyone hiking yet (no crowds like the normal disneyesque size queue hiking here today) so I encountered only a few more adventurous duos passing me by . This was an exposed trail with no shade. As it began it was quite a well defined trail and soon crossed a bridge over Salt Wash. But soon thereafter I encountered steep grades, rock steps, red rock slabs, areas of open slope of steep slick rock with exposure to heights, and for the final hurrah a ledge with steep drop-off.

The final trek down to the Delicate Arch itself was along open relatively steep slickrock and even I would admit it felt quite dangerous especially with a brisk wind. I had gotten this far so I was not about to waiver now . Most of the other hikers were much younger than myself and when I finally made it out to under the arch and turned around, I received a rousing cheer from my hiker fan base and assists.

Hiking out was quite enjoyable, until about a half hour and over half way down, when I could see that the road was open. It would not be long before the  large volume of hikers would be scrambling up the trail. Shortly, a couple of young women who I had been interacting with “up top” came upon me and asked if my car was down at the trailhead or up top on the road. Since their car was up there too, they offered to hike up and get their car and come down and pick me up. I heartily agreed and it wasn’t long before they were back. They did the hitchhiking up so I soon retrieved my car to begin my “Arch Walk” (kind of like an art walk) via auto of other areas of the park.

Much like in Gunnison, I traveled the length of the park road to view many of the acclaimed arches and do what walking my legs would still accommodate, after my so very inspiring Delicate Arch hike, starting with Panorama Point and North and South Windows Trails. Can you see or imagine what the rock formation namers saw in their names of the formations?

Panorama Point

Elephant Butte, the Buccaneer, and the Double Arch on Windows Road

I loved the Windows section of Arches. Many consider it to be the heart of Arches. There is a significant concentration of arches and I found it to be quite a beautiful location in the park to hike about. South window, North Window, and Turret Arch, Elephant Butte, Cove of Caves, and Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden are just a few of the -inspiring arch formation I found on the Windows Trail and Road.

South Window, North Window, Turret Arch, Elephant Butte, Cove of Caves, and Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden

I knew it was about time to drive into Moab Drove to shop for ice, grocery supplies and gas. Having made that decision I was quite pleased that the storms for the day hit when I was enroute through the park.

Upon my return I continued on my mission to visit the vita as many pullouts as possible … how tragic it would be if I missed something truly remarkable.

Park Avenue, Queen Nefertiti, LaSalle Mountains , Three Gossips, Courthouse Towers and Tower of Babel.

Further on down the road and in spite of the ever present threatening weather, I continued my pursuit of additional vistas including the Petrified Dunes, Fiery Furnace, and for some masochistic reason I drove up to the viewpoints for Delicate Arch to get a view of it from the opposite side . I hiked the one mile round trip slightly strenuous steep climb up to the Upper Viewpoint. Most of the other hikers were quite disappointed about the distance to the arch and that it’ is’s separated by a canyon and not accessible to walk to. This day was a 24,000 step and 9 mile day of splendor!

Petrified Dunes, Delicate Arch Backside, Fiery Furnace

By the time I got back to the campsite it was 7:30.   I thought my site had been vandalized but soon realized that it had been vandalizes indeed — by the wind.  Fortunately that was the culprit. It was getting dark out and I still needed to prepare dinner so I opted for the cold variety. Once I piled everything into the car for the night (total disarray),  I retreated to my tent and to then had clean off most everything in tent from a dusting of red sand.  I finally went to sleep with constant gusts of the wind battering the tent.   I must have been totally exhausted to manage to have slept through an extremely gusty night.

Peeking out of my wind blown tent, I could see thunder and storm clouds in all directions.  So I bounded out of the tent and it was clear that the wind had tried to break camp for me. Hoping to avoid the  red mud slicks that would occur and to escape having a tent wet and stained red if it rained (the wind at least had dried everything with its powerful swirls), I had better move quickly .    As the rumbles kept happening and getting closer, I rushed about just flinging everything into car which was already a jumble.  When done I settled down with my first cup of coffee and observed that I had escaped the storms that were all around. They had headed elsewhere to flood some other unsuspecting area. Before I headed on to Bryce Canyon, I thought I would take a “last stand” and hike Devil’s Garden Trail. I was dragging along and I actually acknowledged that I was “burned out” from yesterday’s mega adventure and I best do an about face and get back on the road.

Glamping at Cuyahoga, Singing Sands, That’s Not a Gate, and Unmowed Grass

uniquelytheo2 Comments

It is always hard to leave family especially sinceI  I have fallen in love with the family dog.  Carmel is a black labrador retriever and two years old.  She loves people and I was her person the whole 10 days I was there. She slept with me and followed me everywhere. Needless to say I am in Carmel withdrawal.  But alas, I also dearly miss my son Nick and daughter-in-law Miriam. But I loaded up my piles of gear into Lady Spitfire. Leaving one’s  car parked on a Philadelphia street loaded with STUFF invites a break in so we wisely unloaded everything for the duration of the stay.  I was off by 9:30 and ,as luck would have it for the sake of efficiency, I ended up driving out on the Schuylkill Expressway – the road I have always desperately wanted to avoid due to  its 24/7, 7 day a week traffic jam. But I didn’t have a meltdown and before too long I was on the Pennsylvania Turnpike, watching the ching-ching chang of the Pikes cash register add up the miles and thus the dollars for me to traverse this massive construction project and truck conveyor belt all the way to Ohio.  Of course Ohio has the same idea about commandeering my wallet and letting  the turnpike authority help itself to the contents. All of this wallet opening happened so I could get from A-Z in a bit more timely fashion than taking the secondary roads.   I grit my teeth and grasp the steering tightly but I am not sure how either one of these response helps me navigate this parade of semi-trucks barreling down the highway at 70 mph all the while squeezing me up close to the unyielding cement barriers on my left and their middle line on hugging  right. I try and weave my way from behind to, around to, ahead of these massive vehicles carrying all that “made-in-China”  merchandise we just can’t live without. But I finally made it to Cuyahoga State Park and my lodging for the next two nights was at Valley Overlook.  I am not sure exactly how one defines glamping but this is the closest I haver come to it since I was on a safari in Africa years ago. This extra large canvas tent was a great way to ease back into “camping” after the hiatus of family and friend visits.  It was an almost real bedroom  except for the fact the walls were canvas, there was no electricity, water  or attached bathroom. The bath/shower unit was up a short steep hill and after trudging up the first time and barely “making it, ” I did something I would never in my wildest dreams imagine me doing. I drove up. An added bonus, I could avoid a massive wasps nest needing to be passed a short distance away.

August 14th was a full day to explore and I had not known how best to approach maximizing my experience of Cuyahoga NP. It is a patchwork of many smaller areas including not only parkland designated to protect the Cuyahoga river but interspersed with villages and farms. I had not done any prior reading about the park and its options. Miriam told me about a train ride through the park so I investigated that and booked a ticket on the Cuyahoga Scenic Railroad for late morning. This two hour train ride out from Peninsula Depot to North Akron and back was pleasant enough and the park volunteer shared a fair amount interesting history but perhaps the route is scenic for Ohio but at no point was I wowed by the surrounds. The scene was of pleasant villages and a countryside of mostly forests, rivers and meadows. The upside was it gave me a good idea of some things I might explore further or NOT. The trip back was a bit “sad.” The train tour guide gave almost no additional commentary. I made my way though our train car and I saw most people focused on their phones, others having loudish conversations drowning out anything the narrator might want to add, some sleeping in their seat, and in general not paying much attention to anything out there. Granted we had “been there” but I often find I can glean a lot more on the “second time round.”

After finding a convenience store to get gas and restock the ice in my cooler, I stopped at the Boston Mill Visitors Center to get more information on trails. It was also an opportunity to get close to the winding Cuyahoga River.

I was eager to get out on a hike with the first hiking choice was the Beaver Marsh Boardwalk . I have been told it is definitely an active area for beaver lodges but either my eyesight is totally myopic or on this day, as often happens, they were doing their interior housekeeping in their hidden lodges. But it did give me a short hike on the Erie Canal Path and a lovely mostly shaded walk in  the woods.

Determined to find something more challenging, I decided on hiking at least part of The Ledges Trail.  The Ledges Overlook is touted for its vista of the Cuyahoga Valley and a hike of moderate difficulty. A coin toss (not really) landed me hiking the route clockwise which was probably the wrong choice but from the starting point I saw several couples headed that way.  The distance to the most notable spot was significant longer than if I had chose the opposite direction  of the loop. This is of course in hindsight. I was quite fascinated by the geology of the area and immediately there was an array of sandstone ledges forming sheer cliffs, narrow and deep crevices , moss and lichen covered rocks, rocky and boulder strewn sections  in between sections of gravel path.

I am glad I had the experience of hiking the trail because, yet again in this park, I was totally unimpressed by the vista.  One would need to be a very very tall person to be able see much of the valley over the tree tops.  The biggest rub was when I turned around at the top to find the continuation of the trail, there was a large grassy field and on the opposite side was the parking lot where I left Lady Spitfire. I definitely did not have to work so hard for  this very mediocre view but I can take pride in accomplishing a challenging hike and experiencing the geological formations of this area. 

By now it was well into the dinner hour so it was back to Valley Overlook (which doesn’t really overlook the valley) for the evening repast and a glamperous night. 

August 15th was a travel day, heading to Indiana Dunes National Park. I dreaded getting back on the Ohio Turnpike and its overabundance of big rigs or eighteen wheelers tearing west (or east): flatbeds, tankers, heavy equipment trailers, trailers with removable sides and tarp covers… the list goes on. This is the first trip I have encountered triple trailers as well of course many double trailers. When not long on the road, I got an alert on my phone that due to accidents it was advisable to seek an alternate route rather than the Ohio Turnpike. I had not a clue what that route would be nor had Siri advised me to go a different route so I decided I would just sit in a back-up if that be the case. Fortunately westbound lanes had been mostly cleared and I could proceed on through. However, it was totally gruesome to see the aftermath of three separate deadly crashes leaving four people dead, all involving at least one tractor trailer, a spill of sulphuric acid, and many mangled vehicles. I remained quite anxious and on high alert for the rest of the day. The only upside was that much of the traffic heading west had exited the turnpike so it was mostly truck and traffic free until a couple exits past the exit advisory zone. Prior to today I had been quite grateful that I had encountered only one minor accident in the almost 7000 miles I had traveled. Gradually the traffic built up again to a “frenzy” and it began to rain. I arrived mid-afternoon at the Indiana Dunes Visitors Center, got myself oriented, talked to a ranger about hikes, got my stamp and headed out to Dunescape Campground

What a horrible night. Camping in areas that are scrunched between cities is less than ideal. The South Shore Line, the train that runs from South Bend to Millennium Stadium in Chicago, is but a couple blocks from the campground and quite impolitely announces its arrival at the Beverly Shores Station numerous times a day (about every 20-30 minutes) almost around the clock. It was not music to my ears as I was trying to fall asleep. But that was finally accomplished only to be awakened in the middle of the night by the flashes of lightening and its notorious  companion thunder! I thought I might have repaired my tent leaks with seam sealer but guess either I did a terrible job or the leak is actually not in the seams.  But at least the drip drip was more of a light spatter instead of a ping! So after the ugly drive and the ugly night I was feeling pretty ugly. 

At least the coffee smoothed over some of the rough edges and I decide to get on the road and explore the park. This campground is at the northern end of the park so I settled on a visit to Lake View Beach.  It was still early in the day so there actually were available parking spaces and proximate to the historic homes from the Chicago World Fair.  With relatively few people on the beach it seemed like the perfect time to view the Century of Progress Homes constructed for the 1933 Chicago World’s Fair to show the future of housing and then brought to the Indiana shoreline afterwards. Were these models an accurate depiction of what housing looked like in the future? An aside. They featured the new amenities of garage door openers and dishwasher. When I think about it a whole lot of homes to this day don’t have those.

With temperatures already in the 70’s, sunny skies, and calm waters, I braced my self for very chilly temps of Lake Michigan but the water was actually quite refreshing and not chilling. I decided on a short walk and it definitely seemed a bit incongruous to be in a National Park and see industrial complexes in both directions with Gary Indiana to the west and power plant in Michigan City to the east..For many years I had a preconceived notion that all National Parks were basically in the hinterlands and not easily accessible to city dwellers. Though most are, there are now a cadre of parks that are much more citified (i.e. Cuyahoga, Gateway Arch, Hot Springs) .

The one hike I wanted to do was the Mount Baldy Dune Trail which was the northern most and tallest dune in the park. So I was determined to test it out. I was a bit tenuous as there were cautions all around about the ease of going down the dune but be aware that the hike back up would be a lung buster on the shifting sands. It was a half mile path to the dune apex and when cresting it, the vista was gorgeous and I naturally made my way down the dune face to the waters edge. A short walk east gave a much closer view of the Michigan City Power Generating Station which many mistake for a nuclear power plant instead of a hyperboloid cooling tower. I looked this up min case you thought I was an expert on electrical towers.) Since I am older and wiser than when my youthful endeavors at climbing dunes and mountains were a “timed event, ” I know I do not have to prove anything to anybody anymore so I inched my way a small step at a time and did not have to pant and gasp for air.

Never satisfied until I am bone weary, next up was The Great Marsh Trail. Seems marsh trails have become a theme of my adventures and this one was a sweaty, bug swatting lovely adventure. This was much more proximate to the marsh water as it was basically a built up dirt path through the wetland area often with marsh water on both sides.

The wildflowers were an absolute delight and it showed yet another facet of marsh vegetation.


After dinner at the campsite, it was a relaxing evening and I settled in bed read. But before too long I could hear a rumbling in the distance and what I had not foreseen was yet another thunderstorm heading over to pound my rainfly with a drenching rain and prove once again my rainfly was incapable of doing the job it was designed to do. . Water was pouring down into the tent from numerous spots – which is only possible because the whole upper portions of the tent is net – the better to stargaze through while cozy in one’s sleeping bag. I had never intended to stargaze and had not given the design much thought I will never again get a tent with a net/mesh top.

August 17th  was a driving day…. and once past Chicago, traffic eased up. I   was heading to Carlisle Lake Recreation Area. Thankfully driving wasn’t absolute chaos with fewer truckers, weavers, speeders, pokers,  and tailgaters. I was not in a particularly positive mood after the thunderstorms and the resultant tent debacle of the previous nights. I had already researched motels near that area anticipating another dismal experience because of all my wet and dirt caked gear. But the weather outlook was good and the site I had selected was an A+ selection and just about perfect (except for the barking dog across the way).   It was a large grassy shaded site right on the lake. I spread everything out  and it all dried quite readily and before long I had a camp set up on  this lovely  lakefront spot.

This evening at Carlisle Lake was filled with a  light cooling breeze, the gentle lapping of the waves on the rocky shore, fireflies twinkling about, a  pastel sunset and the moon waxing gibbous and about 98%full and brilliant. It reminded me of my summers as a child at our lakefront home where lakeside evenings were always magical. The only thing missing here was the whistle of a train across the lake. in Topinabee.   But since I had on over-abundance of those train whistle at the dunes, the paucity was a blessing. Now that I am veering farther south, the evenings are not cooling off as much as they had been the rest of this trip so it was time to haul out lighter weight sleepwear and not sliding  down into the depths of my sleeping bag. 

On August 18th I awoke to the shrill barks of the dog across the way – who after putting out the rallying cry, was responded to by several of the fellow canines in the area. I think everyone camping here has a dog as evidence by the chorus of not so sonorous barks. Though wanting to be annoyed, it wasn’t worth the effort and I wanted to be packed up and on the roas by 9:30am( which I accomplished.) I was heading into The Gateway Arch National Park in St. Louis. I discovered that night that the St. Louis Cardinals had an afternoon home game and I was headed to the Gateway Arch which is a very very close neighbor to Busch Stadium. I wanted to get into the city before it got crazy with fans all arriving for the ballgame. I was so grateful I pre-paid for Arch parking the evening before. It was $10:00 . When I got to garage the parking fee was $40.00 for the game.

The Arch is quite an impressive architectural structure. The complex is quite extensive and though I had not intended to take the tram up into the arch, I would not have been able to as it was sold out. I had done the tram many years ago and I disliked it tremendously because of both the claustrophobic cars and the very noticeable sway of the arch I felt at the top.

It was a lovely day and being that this park is right along the river it was quite the enjoyable time meandering along it and taking a gazillion photos of the arch from every angle. My goal was to get on the road and head west once the traffic heading into the area for the Cardinals game cleared. Since the parking garage was right next to the stadium it was kind of fun milling about that area amidst the fans.

When I surmised the worst of the traffic mess was over, I headed out of the garage (which was no easy feat since most exits were blocked off. After taking out a couple of trafic cones trying to wind my way out, I finally came upon the one place one could exit and get on a road out of town. The end point was Columbia MO and since I always feel frazzled by the challenge of executing the complexity of city expressways, I was happy that I had pre-planned a night at a hotel in Columbia MO. Since I had been dining on camp rations, I saw a T. G. Friday’s right next door and though I have not eaten at one in a long time (my recollection was of a menu featuring mostly high fat, high cholesterol, breaded, and fried heart attack inducing foods. I did not want to get back in the car again. So Friday’s it was.

For The next couple of days I was headed into the relatively flatland and featureless areas of the mid-west. Western Missouri and Eastern Kansas had a slight bit of definition to them i.e some mildly rolling hills and trees mixed in with the cornfields. Western section of Kansas did not. It was a bit saddening to be traveling through this area which clearly has suffered from drought and observing mile upon mile of corn fields clearly devastated by it. Stalks were all browned and yellowed except for a very few fields which had the capacity to be irrigated. The one highlight of my traverse through Kanas was a stop at Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve.

Tallgrass Prairie is one of the very few areas that remains today ( less than 4% of the 70 millions of acres) remains intact, mostly in this area, the Kansas Flint Hills. According to the NP brochure “ the preserve protects a nationally significant remnant of the once vast tallgrass prairie ecosystem. Here the tallgrass makes its last stand.” But most noteworthy and exciting for me was to discover there is a resident bison herd and I was again fortunate to be able to observe it off in a distant field. Now these enormously large bovines with their unpredictable temperament were proximate to an identified hiking trail in the preserve and I discovered I could access that trail via an unlocked gate. I wandered in a short distance and I was quite tempted to get a bit closer to these massive elegant beasts but the rational side of my brain won out and I settled on a few snapshots and was on my way.

I had been planning to camp in Marion KS west of the Topeka Kansas area but was not one iota motivated to roughing it. Instead of the campground, I just continued heading westerly and stayed at Comfort Suites in Salina KS. The next night I had a motel reservation in western Kansas but decided to push farther west with the goal being Colorado Springs on August 20th.   In trying to think about what might have been remarkable about today’s drive, terrain wise it was mostly flat until just sort of Colorado Springs.  Lots of dead corn, lots of silos, and lots of windmills.  I know there is a lot of controversy around windmills dotting the landsscape, but there is something I find calming and peaceful about watching them, the blades slowly turning agaist the backdrop of a vast sky. The time sped on along with my car speeding on and soon I was in the eastern part of Colorado Springs negotiating rush hour traffic getting lost, never being in the correct lane, getting  thoroughly turned around, missing exits, and spending about one-half-hour + finding my motel which was originally less than 1 mile away.  Once there and checked in was not going anywhere. 

Murky Skies, Walking the Plank, and “The Loud Family”

uniquelytheo3 Comments

By now it is July 28th and I have been on the “open road” for one month, having left Oregon June 28th. On this day,  I headed for the final destination of this eastward journey, Acadia National Park on the Atlantic. It was time to be up and out, so began the  disassembly of  everything I had assembled two days ago.  I bade goodbye to the tiny bees though I discovered that three of them had hitchhiked with me hoping to start a new colony at Acadia.   I managed to sh0e one out of the car early on but the other two were having themselves a good time buzzing about.  I became less concerned when I realized they really had no interest in me.  Guess I must be quite malodorous  since showers are few and far between. This last campground charged $2.75 for 6 minutes and the shower was not one that I would feel clean from after I finished there. There will be no showers in Acadia. 

Acadia National Park,  the eastern terminus of this grand park tour/ driving adventure, is the 57th park I have visited of the 63 national parks. The quickest and most direct route from the White Mountains would be making my way via secondary roads to I-95.  My need to get there fast was less acute than my need to avoid not only interstates but particularly this interstate.  So Siri wound me through the countryside and small towns with a few  roller coaster roads  thrown in to make it an enjoyable and also fun drive.  Traffic was quite cooperative as there were no slow-pokeys to grouse about, it  moved at a decent clip but not like the world was going to end tomorrow and they need to get off of it.

I arrived at the Acadia National park on Mount Desert Island in Maine. At the Hulls Cove Visitors Center visitors center I discovered that the campground I was staying at was a 25 minute  drive  south on the other side of Bar Harbor. After collecting  ideas of things to do from the Park Ranger,  I headed to Blackwoods Campground.  It definitely lives up to its name as it is nestled in a dense forest of fir trees with minimal sun and is quite damp and humid.   Per usual, I drove in arcs trying to figure out the layout and where in the heck the signs were as to which arc I was on.  But at least I got it on the second go round.  Within minutes I knew the new “Loud Family” was kitty-corner from me. When writing this 4 hours later,  there has been no let-up.  I wonder if they stopped to eat or just took turns between bites to keep the uproar going. My inner guide kept encouraging me to say “Isn’t it lovely what a wonderful time they are having.” I was almost an insurmountable challenge. But in no time I was set up and ready to sit back and relax. One great surprise here was having cell phone service in the campground.  Guess we were close to Bar Harbor towers. So I had my “normal” Facetime visit with son Nick and grandson Luke which felt awesome in the dark woods holding a flashlight on my face.

As I but my head on my pillow I had thought perhaps the sounds of nature would lull me to sleep but instead I listened to a screaming baby down the way, a barking dog in the “block” behind, the chopping of wood for the campfire close by, the cars driving by returning those who prefer restaurant food or a bar to camp food or a beer around the campfire, the loud family having a whale of a time, a cadre of several adults having a rousing game with everyone cheering every minute or so.  I actually fell asleep.

I awoke and thought I might be hallucinating. It sounded like the patter of a light rain on the tent.  I figured it couldn’t be because when I went to bed I had checked the weather forecast and it was for the next two days being mostly sunny and perhaps rain by Wednesday. But it was in the low fifties and spattering rain off and on.  Of course last night was the first night I had left the chair and other things out since for the last few days when checking the forecast it was all positively on the spectrum of a few clouds and sun. I covered my wet chair with a rain cape and managed to enjoy a bit of coffee and oatmeal and decided I might as well be on my way to see the sights.  

The only way to drive the Cadillac Mountain road, One of the “premier” experiences at Acadia is through a reservation system ahead of time.  I had reserved a spot for  the 11:00 am hour.  I knew the prospects were pretty dim for feasting my eyes on some spectacular vista of the harbors and waters surrounding Acadia.  With time to spare, I drove down to Otter Point and though the craggy rocks of the coastline were visible, a shroud covered everything mid-treeline and above. 

But a part of me irrationally thought perhaps the fog would lift or there would at least be a brief break to witness what is describe as amazing vistas around.  NOT!  The fog was thicker, the rainy mist thicker, the wind stronger.  Not to be daunted I prowled around the rock faces, hiked the Cadillac Summit Loop Trail, bracing myself against the wind all the while, and then got in my car, removed my dripping raincoat, found a towel to dry my hair, and blasted the  the heater on high. I was not liking Acadia National park very much. 

Returning to the main visitors center, I could at least get my park stamp and managed to spend some money – an alternative activity when the weather sucks. I heard tell that Jordon Pond is one of the favored activities in the park.  After fixing a sandwich from my trunk kitchen,  I started driving toward there when my car made a hard left turn towards  Bar Harbor.  Well since Lady Spitfire headed that way, it  might be a good time to check it out .  Naturally there were throngs of people on this miserable day,  engaging in shopping therapy to assuage their disappointment in the weather.  I fortunately pulled into a full lot and I knew parking would be a problem as I had witnessed the mile long line of cars parking on the road into town.  I somehow had the good fortune of being almost up to a car whose tail lights went on and  was leaving so I jammed on the brakes and voila Lady Spitfire pulled right in and paid $2.00 for  30 minutes to walk about town.  

The harbor was quite picturesque as was the quite imposing Bar Harbor Inn.  Several blocks on the  main shopping  street hosted the classic tourist shops of souvenirs, fudge shops, restaurants gifts, graffiti donuts, jewelry, coffee shops and most with the twist of lobster, lobster claws, lobster rolls making it uniquely Maine. Thirty minutes was plenty of time to spend having no desire to spend so I headed on to Jordon Pond. 

Of course parking here was an issue as well as all the lots were full and I was about to head back to the campground when right on the main road someone was pulling out of a spot.  I was glad I am good at parallel parking.  So I headed to find out all about Jordan and his Pond.  I had not really had any thought about taking a hike but there was a lakeside trail I thought I might walk a piece.  I did have my walking stick but also my purse which I definitely prefer to leave in the car . Usually there are no shops along a wilderness trail to squander my dollars.  There was a family in front of me with the gramma who appeared to be in her 70’s so I thought I will turn around when they turn around.  Well they kept on going so I kept on going.  The trail was this weird boardwalk quite unlike any trail  I have encountered. Mostly two boards wide with every so often a short 4 board platform to allow for hikers coming the other way to pass.  By now I was committed and was quite enjoying this new challenge.

There were a lot of people going in both direction so I was passing some oncoming traffic, allowing faster hikers to pass me and of course getting lots of kudos for being out there negotiating this crazy walk that mostly the “oh so young” were doing. The boardwalk turned into a bit of a boulder climb and for a short while and then into a bit of a tripping root and  tripping rock trail. 

This was a loop trail so by the time I reached head of the pond (When does a pond become a lake?)  the trail had smoothed out into an ordinary well groom flat trail.  I am sure glad that I accidentally chose bearing left at the trailhead rather than right as the most difficult and challenging part was done on fresh legs. By the time I straggled  back to the restaurant and gift shops I was done so I headed directly to my car but quite proud that  I did the loop hike.

My brain was fogged and I turned the wrong way in trying to go back to camp so I did my drive in circles routine until I accidentally hit upon the road that led me home. Funny how I now consider my tent and my car my home wherever they might be parked.

Back at camp it was as dismal and damp as when I left. I thought then that I did not want to spend another night here between the weather and the high level of noise  and so made a reservation up in Ellsworth  for the following night. It would also make the next days drive a bit less of a distance but not having to break down in the morning easier.  With that decided, in an effort to cheer myself up I decided to build a fire which of course smoldered out pretty quickly.  All the kindling I had collected and laid out the previous day was wet.  But after dinner I decide to give it one last shot and had an old newspaper which I stuffed under the wood and it took off.  Success. So given the less than ideal weather it was nice to have a fire to cozy up to…but not too cozy. 

Since it had unexpectedly rained the night before though not hard enough to drip drip through the rain fly that is supposed to keep me dry, to be on the safe side I found my rain cape and draped it over the part of the tents mesh roof that would keep the rain off of my face and bedding at least. The third day at Acadia, though still damp, cloudy, and foggy over the water and mountains, after the morning rituals I decided I would like to take a nice hike before I headed up mid-afternoon to Ellsworth. A coastal hike on the rugged rocky headlands along the Atlantic would foot the bill. I headed back to Otter Point (no otters there) to hike to the Otter Cliffs  (still no otters) , a popular hiking trail of packed gravel with majestic views of coastline,  rocky cliffs, tide pools,  boulders.    Plenty of eye candy later and with the sun making a feeble attempt to shine down,

I returned to the camp for lunch and my get-a-way. The only regret I had about leaving was that the loud family had departed and there might have been a quieter night at the campground — but then again a new loud family might appear. After a stop to view the Tarn landscape, traveling on, I arrived in Ellsworth and happily roosted in a comfy room for the night though I did have to turn on the heat as the room was frigid.  The air conditioning had been set to 63 degrees. This is the first hotel I have ever stayed at that offered free cups of hot soup from a tureen in the afternoon…  the soup of the day was broccoli cheddar and was robust and delicious.