Author: searcyf@mac.com

9 October 2016

Today started with a breakfast buffet at the lodge restaurant.  You are always taking you life in your hands when doing the buffet, but this was a good one. The eggs were not rubbery and the view from the window overlooked the valley below.

About 7:45am, our tour director Holley started ushering us to the bus where we met the driver Leonard.  Both were extremely competent and well versed in the culture of the area.  Leonard was especially good at spotting wildlife which included a buck mule deer, turkeys, and an elk.

We first stopped at one of the earliest Pit houses, so named since they were in essence a pit dug into the ground with a roof. This was on the top of the Cuesta (Mesa Verde is misnamed, it should technically be Cuesta Verde because the whole thing slants southward).

From there we bussed to an overlook of Oak House and Mummy House.  Oak because of the presence of an oak tree at the site and Mummy House because a mummified corpse was found inside the house.

We also had a pretty good view of Sun Temple from the overview and later got an up close and personal view of the place.

Next was Balcony House which we would get to tour.  Drew, the temp park ranger who is in actuality an archeologist, led the tour.  He was very enthusiastic about this particular tour.

First, he asked if we were up to a three story climb on a wooden ladder, then a 12 foot crawl on hands and knees through a tunnel, and then two more ladder climbs and a series of steps carved into the rock to get back to the starting point.

We all enthusiastically (some more than others) agreed we were.  We were to regret the enthusiasm.

We first left the Mesa and went down by a series of concrete steps constructed by the Civilian Conservation Corps to an overhang were Drew introduced us to Balcony House.

Next, was the three story ladder climb to the Balcony House itself, home to about 40 people when it was occupied.

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Immediately noticeable were two large kivas or ceremonial chambers.  These normally had a roof over them and the roof would be covered and plastered so you could walk on the roof of the kiva.

Drew did an excellent job of eliciting answers from the 49 hardy souls (and one 7 week old baby) who ventured this far (one person took one look at the ladder and went back up the stairs).

We contined to explore Balcony House and then came the tunnel.  It was apparently built for defense after the house was constructed and you could see it would have been very effective since any enemy would have to crawl through the tunnel one at a time.

Next came another ladder.

Then came the steps carved into stone.

Lastly, there was a third ladder.  Remember the native Pubelos didn’t use the ladders.  It was all hand and foot climbing in the rock.  The only ladders were down into the kivas through the roofs.

We all managed to make the climb and then return to the bus.  The next part of the trip was the main reason for my detouring to Mesa Verde: the Cliff Palace, the largest of the cliff dwellings in Mesa Verde and the one I had studied in college.

Unfortunately, it was closed to the public but we accessed two overlooks that gave you a great bird’s eye views of Cliff Palace.  It goes 90 feet back into the cliff and has 217 rooms and 23 kivas and housed perhaps over 400 men, women and children.

After bidding Holley and Leonard farewell, I started a six hour drive to Taos through some beautiful country.

I arrived at Hacienda del Sol about 6 pm and found I had chosen the Escondida room with a fireplace, heated floor tiles, and a massive bed.

Upon the recommendation of the B&B, I had dinner at Lambert’s in Taos. It was excellent.

Tomorrow, I head for Caprock Canyons in Texas.

8 October 2016

These eight plus hour drives would be getting old except for the scenery you are driving through.  I normally don’t stop for photographs but one place was just too nice to pass up.

I also passed through a really neat little town called Pagosa Springs at the juncture of highway 160 and 84.  It was quaint and not too touristy and in the center of a national forest so there are plenty of opportunities for hiking.

In any case, I made it to Mesa Verde around 4:00 pm, did the visitor center and then headed out for my lodging for the night, Far View Lodge which really is in the middle of the park, so I had another 15 minute drive along the curvy curvy.
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The lodge is really the registration desk with restaurant, and bar but it overlooks the valley below.  The rooms are motel-like, each with their own view and they are quite modern with all the amenities except television which I have probably watched all of 2 hours the entire trip with most of that being Hurricane Matthew coverage.

I’m only here for the night.  Tomorrow I have the “700 Years Tour” from 8 am until noon of the park and I’m hoping that will take me to all the major sites, particularly the Long House.  If not, I have a little leeway in time to go to any site I miss before I head to Taos tomorrow.

7 October 2016

This past March, Nancy, Michel and I snowshoed Bear Lake in Rocky Mountain National Park.  You drive to the lake and the fasten your snowshoes and follow the guide to the lake up a small incline which nearly killed us.  Bear Lake is at an elevation of 9,450 feet.  Most hikers tell you elevation begins to affect you at 6,000 feet.

The walk around the lake is a little over 1/2 mile, but two years ago, we climbed up to Nymph Lake, a 255 foot increase in elevation to 9,705 feet.  We got to walk on the surface of both lakes which had frozen solid.

I wanted to revisit Bear and Nymph Lakes on this trip. Remember, I’ve been hiking at 7,000-8,000 plus feet of elevation on this trip, so I figured I would be up for it.

In getting to Bear Lake this morning, I ran into a traffic jam of elk.  Twice.  I parked in the Bear Lake parking lot with about 10 cars already there. I laced up my boots and was immediately out of breath.

I made the loop around Bear Lake and took in the spectacular scenery and then headed up the trail to Nymph Lake.

The trail is heavily used and as a consequence, the snow had been pounded into mush and then frozen over.  The trail was like an ice rink.  You had to be exceptionally careful in taking a single step.

After making it up the ice trail, I felt The lake looked smaller this time because it was not covered in snow.

From Nymph, you can continue upward to Dream Lake which many consider to be the most beautiful.  Again the ice trail.  I wasn’t too worried walking up but I had a bad feeling about walking down the same ice path.
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Dream Lake is at an elevation of 9,775 feet and even though I was hiking well, taking short breaks; it felt like someone was sitting on my chest.  I couldn’t get enough oxygen into my lungs.

From Dream Lake, a trail led ever upward to Emerald Lake at, for me, a record busting elevation of 10,110 feet above sea level.

It was windy at Dream Lake.  At Emerald, it was like being in a wind tunnel.  All us hikers took a couple of quick photos and then retreated to some shelter to defrost.

The walk down was tricky, tricky, tricky.  I think it took me more time to hike down than it did to hike up. I immediately decided my first task upon getting down off the mountain would be to purchase ice cleats for the boots.  I did later today.

I kept meeting more and more people on the trail and by the time I got to the parking lot, the lot was full and rangers were directing traffic.

The hike up to Emerald Lake was 1.8 miles, so round trip it was 3.6. Add to that 0.5 miles for Bear Lake and I did 4.1 miles at over 9,000 feet.  I feel pretty good about that.

I decided to head to the visitor center at the entrance and the traffic was backed up to get into the park all the way to Estes Park.  I purchased the ice cleats at Estes Park Mountain Shop where we rented snowshoes in March and they were 20% off! I decided to call it a day for hiking and headed to get some lunch.

Tomorrow is an 8 hour drive to Mesa Verde, Colorado.

6 October 2016

For some reason, I couldn’t get to sleep last night.  It must have been the drive I was facing the next day.  I got up around 5 am and after defrosting the jeep which had a coat of ice and snow on it, I was on the road by 7:40 am.

The clock in the jeep was reading 7:01 and then 7:02 and back and forth between the two.  I chalked it down to the cold weather (25F). The GPS routed me through Yellowstone and the Grand Teton which I thought correct.  Just as I hit the road to West Yellowstone Lake, the GPS went haywire.  It had me driving across Yellowstone Lake, cutting across country, and constantly recalculating the route.  It must have really been colder than the 25F reading of outside temperature.  Eventually, I pulled over and cut off the engine and restarted the jeep and everything was OK.

As I climbed to the Continental Divide in Yellowstone, I ran into snow and then a sign that said snow tires required.  I kept going.  Although I don’t have snow tires, they are rated all-weather.  I simply put the jeep in “snow” drive and kept going.

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The drive ended up being 10 1/2 hours and it’s the longest drive I’ve attempted on the trip, yet the jeep kept me very comfortable.  Whenever I got too tired, I pulled off and got out and walked around.

I hit snow in the passes all through Wyoming and then I started highway 34 to Estes Park through  Big Thompson Canyon.  This is a very impressive canyon!  I couldn’t stop since traffic was backed behind me and in front and there was construction on the road.

Tomorrow, I want to head to a bear Lake and rehike that.  The last time I did it was in the dead of winter with snow shoes!

4 October 2016

I really do like the Chico Lodge.  It’s old, out of the way, and a little tacky but they run it like a class joint.  It’s comfortable, the Chico Saloon is friendly with good food, and the staff go out of their way to make sure you are enjoying yourself.  I reluctantly bid adieu around 8 am this morning and headed to West Yellowstone.

Normally, the route would be through Mammoth, but that road is already closed for the winter so I had to backtrack to Bozeman and come in from the southwest instead of the north entrance.  It added only 20 minutes to an already short travel time of a little over two hours.

I drove into West Yellowstone around 10 am, asked about the check in time at the Stage Coach Inn (3 pm) and headed to Yellowstone.

The inn attracted me via a web page and I thought it looked quite a bit like the Wort in Jackson Hole.  It seems the person who built the Wort built the Stage Coach Inn to be like it.  The Wort is much classier and far more high end – one of the top boutique hotels in America, but this one is much cheaper to stay.

I toured Firehole Lake road with its geysers, made my pilgrimage to Grand Prismatic Springs among 10,000 Chinese tourists, all taking selfies, and made my way to Old Faithful and lucked out in that it was due to erupt just as I got there.  I got a good video shot of the eruption that I posted on Facebook.

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It was about that time it started snowing.  It is predicted an accumulation of 6-8 inches tonight.  I’ll find out whether I have to rent snow shoes tomorrow when I head back to the park.

I made one more short stop at Emerald Geyser, just right out of Old Faithful Geyser Basin in a snowstorm and decided it was time to head back to West Yellowstone for the night.

I would like to take several short day hikes tomorrow, particularly the overlook of Old Faithful.  I did that hike several summers ago and it nearly killed me.  I want to see if I really am in better shape this time.  It depends on the snow.   Continue reading “Cross Country Tour – Day 37”

3 October 2016

It’s hard to get used to 80 mph speed limits in Montana,  but if you are going anywhere in Montana, you need to pour on the speed.  I had Carte Blanche most of the way from Whitefish to Pray, Montana. It still took me 6 1/2 hours.

Pray is the name of the little community that Chico Hot Springs resort is located.  This is my second visit here under decidedly different environmental conditions.  The last time I was here was January 12, 2015 with the temperature around 20F and snow on the ground.

This trip is positively balmy by comparison with an outside air temperature of 52F. However, snow is predicted for tonight.  As a harbinger, it rained on me the whole way here.
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The hot springs are interesting.  There is a large pool of varying temperature with the shallow end somewhat cool and the deeper end somewhat warm.  The smaller pool is around 106F.

At the end of every day, the pool is drained, cleaned, and refilled.  As a guest, you get access free but if you want a robe, you have to pay $8.  It’s worth it.  The pool is very relaxing and if you like, you can order from the bar/restaurant right at poolside.

My room tonight is two doors down from my visit in 2015 – part of the old building, but not the oldest part.  The rooms are very modern, clean, and very quiet.

Tomorrow, it’s off to West Yellowstone and then Yellowstone Park!

2 October 2016

I have hiked a lot in 66 years and I can’t think of a hike I enjoyed more than the one today to Avalanche lake via Avalanche Creek and Avalanche Gorge.  It is considered the most popular hike in Glacier and I can understand why.

I got going around 8:30 am by defrosting the ice off the car and heading to Whitefish for breakfast at Loula’s right as you get into town on highway 93. It’s in the basement of what looks like an old bank building.  Whitefish is a neat town where the downtown section never died.

It’s an 18 mile trip to the west entrance of Glacier from Whitefish and then another 12 miles to the Avalanche parking lot.  There weren’t that many cars there at 10:15 am, so I headed out for the Cedars Loop part of the trail which leads to Avalanche Lake.

No sooner had I started than I ran into a closed trail sign.  Fortunately, it was only one part of the loop that was closed for renovation and I started at the exit point and walked the boardwalk for the Cedars Loop.  The loop is so named for the huge Western Red Cedars found in this section along Avalanche Creek.  This part of the trail was approximately 0.4 miles and is wheel chair accessible.

Once you get to the midway point of Cedars loop, you have this wonderful viewpoint of Avalanche Gorge.  It is not a large gorge but the water rushing through is impressive.

From that point, you can opt to return or continue along the Avalanche Lake trail, approximately 2.0 miles to the lake.  The trail is pretty much uphill from that point on until you drop down on the lake.  The good news is the trail is well designed with manageable switchbacks.  Either that or I am finally getting into shape.

Your pathway is through another temperate rainforest.  This one is actually how I pictured a rainforest to be and the understory was rich in mosses, ferns, lichens, clubmosses, and an olio of other plants.  I was in heaven.
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Too many years go, I read a book for young adults (we were called juveniles then) called Freckles by Gene Stratton-Porter. The story is set in the Limberlost Swamps of Indiana where Freckles, who is missing one hand, is hired to protect the tall timber from timber thieves.  He refers to his charges as his cathedral.  That’s akin to how I felt today, walking through nature’s cathedral.

Enough of the religious references! I arrived at the glaciceral lake and it was quite ordinary at the point you exit the trail.  However, if you continue walking around the lake (approximately 0.7 mile) you reach the area of Glacier runoff into the lake. It seems the lake is fed by three waterfalls which you can see of in the distance.  The waterfalls look tiny when you see them but you can hear the roar of water as it comes off the mountain. In reality, the vastness of the mountain diminishes your perception of the waterfalls.

I had lunch lakeside (granola-like bar that Holley had given me) and met a couple from Missoula, Montana and another couple from Spokane, Washington.

It was then back down the trail, thankfully mostly downhill to the car.  I stopped a couple of other places on the “Going to the Sun” road for photos and then headed back to Whitefish.  I stopped in Columbia Falls for diesel fuel and a car wash.  The jeep looked a sorry state from all the road mud and the layers of bugs that were plastered to the front and windshield.  It took about $6 of quarters to get it cleaner.

I then stopped in Whitefish at a local grocery to purchase Windex, paper towels, and a scrubbing sponge to get off the rest of the stubborn bugs.  I also needed to clean the inside of the windows because there was a film build up that caused a glare when you were heading into the sun.

Dinner tonight was at La Cocina Feliz, a good place for tamales.  Desert was at Sweet Peaks ice cream parlor. I kept the Mexican theme with Mexican dark chocolate which had more than a hint of jalapeño in it.

Tomorrow is a six plus hour drive to Chico Hot Springs in Pray, Montana (again with the religious theme). I’ve stayed here before, January two years ago.  I’ll be sure to dip into the hot springs again.

1 October 2016

OK, whatever you doing, stop right now and go online and purchase an airline ticket to Kalispell, Montana and fly in and meet me at Glacier National Park.  Hands down, this is the best national park in the U.S. for scenery.

Every bend in the road (and there a whole lot of them) is more spectacular than the one before.  I’ve never seen such an awesome display of nature, and all I did was drive the “Going to the Sun” road this afternoon. I haven’t hiked one inch yet – that’s for tomorrow. The road is perhaps the most aptly named thing in any of the national parks.  You actually feel like you are heading into the sun.

I drove in from Whitefish, Montana to West Glacier entrance.  This is the steepest climb of the “Going to the Sun” road as it goes through Logan Pass and the continental divide.  Talk about white knuckles! I think my fingerprints are indelibly etched into the steering wheel of the jeep.  It’s a very narrow road and going up to Logan Pass it is a sheer drop off of several thousand feet!

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As I started down the other side, the hail turned to rain and it came down in sheets.  I turned around at St. Mary campground and made my way back.  The entire length of the road is 49 miles, so I drove 98 today holding on tight to the steering wheel.

The return wasn’t so bad since I was on the inside face of the cliffs.  However, you could tell the people heading up the way I first came were more than a little cautious.

If you haven’t been to Glacier, it is a must.  I have no idea as yet what hikes I intend to do tomorrow.  It depends somewhat on the weather, and as I found out today, expect high and low temperatures, sun, rain, hail, and maybe even snow.

30 September 2016

The route to Spokane took me back to Port Angeles then along highway 101, and then surprisingly to highway 104 through a really beautiful community called Port Gamble, then to Kingston and then by ferry to Edmonds.  I had not anticipated the ferry and it was a large one – a double decker.  The efficiency of getting cars and transfer trucks on and off is pretty amazing.

I caught a glimpse of the Space Needle while driving through Seattle and I was also surprised at the number of tunnels through Seattle.  Trees are beginning to get their fall foliage so the drive was especially interesting.

The mountains in that area are great and the road system gets you through without any problem.  Then you hit the long, long stretch on the eastern side of the Casades that misses being classified as a desert by less than 2 inches of rainfall a year. Because of irrigation, it is anything but desert-like – quite lush, actually.  I remember reading about labor unrest in this area during the Great Depression which at times got very bloody and brutal.

I did not anticipate the beauty of eastern Washington.  It was worth the long drive and it reminded me somewhat of Montana.

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I had dinner last night across the street in the Davenport’s Palm Court restaurant.  Their claim to fame is Crab Louie, created at the Davenport and named after the owner Louie Davenport.  It was a huge salad with plenty of Dungeness crab. I highly recommend it.  I’ve seen Crab Louie on the menu at other locations but it was nice to have it where it originated.

Today is a drive to Grouse Mountain Lodge outside Glacier National Park.