After a summer in Alaska we took to the road again,
this time further exploring the West.
An outdated Milepost warned the Sea-to-Sky Highway in
British Columbia was fearful (Highway 99 from Cache Creek to Vancouver, 254 miles). We took it anyway, and discovered it had been vastly improved
for the Olympics. The spectacular route through the coast mountains did inspire
a couple of limericks:
A
dyslexic in an RV named IRV
Took
to the highway with verve
Til
she took left for right
And
they sailed out of sight
From
a scenic high-altitude curve.
Bold
RVer Craig had the nerve
To
drive scenic routes and observe
Views
distractingly fine
Til
he crossed a white line
And
drove into the ditch with a swerve.
No catastrophes really happened, just a few quick
corrections forced by scenery ogling.
We made it to Vancouver, BC, where we met our daughters and their families for a baby fest at Camille's home. There were Camille and Alex' 14-month old twins Chloe and Claire, 3 year old Gabriel, and Michael and Willow's 6-month old Rowan, in from their home in Stirling, Scotland.
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| Michael, Craig, Willow & Rowan, Camille |
The reunion with babies and toddler was sweet fun.
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| Craig, Claire and Gabe |
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| Rowan |
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| Gabe, Chloe, Gail, Camille, Claire |
We hated to say good-bye.
Superlative (Trees and Other Things):
Novelty-loving humans find superlatives wildly
entertaining: deepest, highest, oldest, one-of-a-kind. So it’s serious good fun
and fairly easy to seek out and be mind-blown by the rarest trees in the world.
There exist some really gigantic trees
and really old trees.
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| Gail with Sequoia in Sequoia National Park |
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| (Tiny) Craig with Sequoia |
Small is the norm for trees of the far north spruce-birch
forest, named Taiga, Russian for sticks. A lifetime among those rather meager trees can
leave one swooning before merely average robust trees of the temperate zone.
Standing before a giant sequoia (sequoiadendron giganteum), the world’s most massive tree, is confounding. One as easily comprehends their measure as that of a blue whale or the solar system.
We also have found in our travels unheralded, unremarked
trees of staggering stature and great dignity. The marvelous sugar pines in
Yosemite, home of sequoias, receive barely a mention, but this tallest pine in
North America (250 feet – think 25 stories) with its nearly two-foot cones is a giant.
The Sierra’s basic ponderosa is enormous, as are the red and white fir, which
can flutter the heart and weaken the knees.
To the left: Sugar Pine in Sequoia National Park
Ponderosa in Yosemite National Park
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| Craig and Tharp Cabin in hollow tree |
The long fallen sequoia
to the right appears,
at first glance, to be a bedrock
outcrop, beautiful
black stone.
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| Manzanita with red bark, Hetch Hetchy |
The oldest tree, a bristlecone pine named Methusela (age
4,700+ years), sits atop a ridge
at 10,000 feet in the White Mountains of eastern California. A deep, narrow
valley separates the grove from the eastern Sierra Nevada. Bristlecones are arguably the most
picturesque of trees. Dry, high, windy, conditions and miserable soils increase their longevity, and those enduring the most hardship are the oldest and
most lovely.
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| Bristlecone Skeleton |
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| Bristlecone spiral branches |
A common story regarding trees: Less than 1% of the old growth eastern white pines remain
today. There may have been trees
to 8 feet in diameter and over 250 feet tall but most today are just 100 feet
tall. The story repeats itself
across the country, so whether from taiga or LA, one can be dazzled by any of
the old-growth trees, not just the record-breakers.
Striking convergence of superlatives: the highest mountain in the lower 48 (Mt Whitney) is merely 100
miles from the lowest point in North America, (Death Valley), even fewer miles
from the worlds’ largest tree
(sequoia) and a scant few from the worlds’ the oldest tree.
Names of great trees:
We Lilliputians name the big trees after military and
political figures: General Sherman (the most massive tree in the world),
General Grant, Robert E. Lee, Roosevelt, John Adams, General Pershing, and so
on. The spared and fenced titans are named after the victor’s heroes.
What would a sequoia name itself?
What would it name us?
Yosemite Vistas:
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| Half Dome from Glacier Point |
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| Lembert Dome from Tuolumne Meadows |
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| Cathedral Peaks from Tuolumne Meadows |
We left California for a sweet visit to friends Scott and Ann Hinckley in Zion (the most picturesque setting for a home?) and then proceeded to the largest, deepest, widest canyon in the world, no contest, the Grand Canyon.
The North Rim is low-keyed compared to the South Rim, and especially so because we visited during low, very low, season, and there were perhaps 6 visitors there. During mid- November the road in can be closed at any time.
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| Angel's Window near Cape Royal, North Rim |
One of the most beautiful vistas in the world is from
Imperial Point, at 8,800 feet, the highest point in the park. One gazes east to the earth’s curve,
across the Canyon into Navajo
land, the Painted Desert, the Vermillion Cliffs and Marble Canyon.
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| Grand Canyon from the North Rim |
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| Marble Canyon near Lee's Ferry on the Colorado River above the Grand Canyon |
Pros and Cons of traveling in the low season:
Pro: Pick
of the campsites Con: No
campgrounds open
No traffic No or limited services
No crowds Roads closed for winter
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| Moro Rock parking, Sequoia NP |
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| North Rim, Grand Canyon NP |
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| BLM Condor Site |
Lots
of parking
A con: We entered a rare, open no-services National Forest Service
campground to get temporarily stuck in a mire of mud and snow (at dusk, of
course) with not a soul around. Beware “open” signs when all other signs incuding your instincts suggest do not enter.
On a lonely washboard BLM road (IRV's rattling is dreadful) we sought California Condors near their breeding and release site at the Vermillion Cliffs, Arizona.
We saw them!!!
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| Craig with his telescope at Condor Site |
We could see their white tags, their fluffy boa neckpieces and their rainbow heads. In the photo below, for scale, the tiny dots are large ravens. This is a "for the record" photo.
Last limerick:
Rare bird-viewing was one of their themes
As Craig and Gail traveled their dreams.
Over washboard they'd wander
To see the Great Condor,
As IRV's cupboards spilled toothpaste and beans.
Surprises: One evening an enormous, fat raccoon got halfway into IRV before Craig
firmly discouraged it. Luckily
I was out for a walk with Vesta, the still-traveling cat. She would have hated the company.
Dinosaur Tracks just out of Tuba City, Arizona, on the Navajo Reservation range from small to fearsomely gigantic. Navajo guides take visitors into the site where one may walk among many prints, eggs and fossil poop, as well as bones. A worthy stop!
On California’s Inyo National Forest website there is much
helpful information about backcountry travel, such as What to do if you
encounter a marijuana plantation. I know you are dying to know.
First, how to recognize one:
“If you see people standing along roads without vehicles present”
or “a well-used trail where there
should be none.” What to do? What
to do? “Back out immediately. Leave and make as little noise as
possible, but "I.D. the location” preferably with a GPS (and report it, of course).
An argument, I realized, for legalizing marijuana is that
illegal plantations wreak havoc on sensitive ecosystems. Legal plantations could be regulated
for environmental impact.
Favorite name:
“Inconsolable Range” in the eastern Sierra Nevadas.
Favorite road signs: On the steep road going deep into Kings Canyon NP, third
deepest Canyon in North America, Do not drink this water. For radiator use only.
In Yosemite, a world made of granite: Watch for Rocks. But of course.
We enjoyed five days of Thanksgiving feasting and visiting with
friends and family in a gorgeous 18th century restored hacienda
outside of Abiquiu, New Mexico. This area was the home and inspiration of
Georgia O’Keefe and it was a deep pleasure to view and hike in the country of
her paintings.
Views of and from
the 18th century
renovated hacienda (above and right)
Craig and Gail's sister Carol
in a slot near Abiquiu, N.M
We are back in southern Colorado’s marvelous San Luis Valley with
Gail’s sister Carol & brother-in-law David. As we cannot seem to get enough sunshine (is this the fate
of life-long Alaskans?) we will head next for southern Arizona for a spell. 'Til the next time, dear readers........fare well.
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| Sunset from the North Rim, Grand Canyon |
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