Canyon Fever

Our first stop after leaving Las Vegas was at Valley of Fire State Park, north of Lake Mead and named after the bright red rock formations throughout the area. We did a couple of scenic canyon hikes (White Domes & Mouse's Tank trails). There were plenty of petroglyphs along the trails and another very well preserved set near our campsite at Atlatl Rock.

We then moved on to Zion National Park in Utah (west of St. George), a gem that we discovered last year, and one that we will continue to return to. It offers steep cliff walls, attracting the world's best rock climbers, and challenging hikes with dramatic elevation changes and spectacular views from the summits. This year we hiked to Observation Point through Echo Canyon, a 13 km round trip. It wasn't as technically challenging as the Angel's Point hike we did last year but we climbed to a higher altitude and the views were just as spectacular. Dinner at Oscar's (great hamburgers) was a well deserved treat for our efforts.

Then we discovered that the Grand Canyon North Rim road had not yet closed for winter and decided to drive down and check out the view from the north side. Pictures do not do justice to the panoramic views down this gigantic canyon. Unfortunately, other than some short rim trails which we did, the only way to fully experience the canyon is to hike down to the Colorado River and the round trip from the north side is 45 km's and two days (overnight at Phantom Ranch by the river). We weren't sure we were up for that, especially since the return trip is all uphill and had to be completed in the shorter daylight hours at this time of year. Without enough alcohol in the van to convince Rhonda overnight to take on this challenge we bypassed staying at the empty north rim campground (there was snow on the ground, 8500 feet elevation) and drove back to Utah where it was warmer. Our first stop was at Monument Valley where there are striking stand-alone rock formations that have attracted numerous Hollywood film productions (westerns). Then it was on to Natural Bridges NP which has some of the world's largest natural rock bridge formations. I unsuccessfully tried to climb the larger ones for the ultimate picture shot. It was fun trying however. See if you can find Waldo in the 3rd picture.

Monticello, an hour south of Moab, was our next stop, positioning us for some great hiking trips into Arches NP and Canyonlands NP the next few days. However, the overnight temperature dropped to -8C and our water lines froze in the van. With similar forecasts for the next few days we decided that it was best to skip Moab and head back home before we did any serious damage to the van's plumbing system. The Moab area looked lovely.............more red rock canyons to explore, so we will need to return when the weather is more agreeable with our home away from home.

We found a warm return route using the internet but it required a 14 hour drive yesterday from Monticello, Utah to Great Falls, Montana. That only left us with a 6 hour drive today and we arrived home safely this afternoon. It's hard to believe that 7 weeks went by so quickly. Hopefully the memories of our trip will last a little longer but I guess that is the point of keeping a journal (it's not just for family and friends!).

Cheers.

Rhonda's Bucket List Party

OK, this will have to be a short update because what happens in Vegas is supposed to stay in Vegas......but there are a few stories which must be told. First of all we had a fabulous time with our neighbours, Lorne & Sue and Dave & Penny, who flew down to be with us for 4 days to support Rhonda in achieving the first item on her bucket list, seeing Bette Midler perform "live". Her performance matched the build-up and it was a great way to start our 4 day party. The following night we had dinner at Casa di Amore, a small Italian family run place where we all had great meals and some had too much Amarone (on half price Monday it was hard to resist). It was a very entertaining evening, interacting with other guests and the staff, and the recovery time turned out to be significant for 'some' of the group.

We also went to see Cirque du Soleil's Zumanity (a disappointment), spent some time at the Bellagio pool, found time for afternoon cocktails and enjoyed fine dining every night. It was sad parting with our good friends last night but it will give our bodies a chance to recover over the next week.

Low point in our lives?

The SK6ERS concert was great. While they shared the bill with Tyrone Wells the packed bar at Slim's (owned by Boz Scaggs) seemed wired for Stephen Kellogg and they rocked........still can't figure out why they haven't been discovered by more people. While we were in San Francisco we also had time to re-visit Sausalito (where we previously had a wonderful houseboat holiday with our neighbours), and toured around the city by foot and cable car. Then it was off for a quick trip through Yosemite NP and Mammoth Mountain where the ski season was already underway (with limited conditions).

We then spent 4 fabulous days in Death Valley. The daytime temperature was consistently in the mid-20'sC and the night-time skies presented a spectacular star show (since there were no city lights for hundreds of miles) with the milky way very visible. We hiked every day and really enjoyed the myriad of rock formations and colours in the canyons and on the steep walls. Our favourites included Mosaic Canyon (near Stovepipe Wells), the Ubehebe Crater rim trail (near Scotty's Castle which we also toured), Golden Canyon / Gower Gulch, Natural Bridge and Dante's Ridge (near Furnace Creek). We also made brief stops to tour the Devil's Golf Course (salt deposits) and Badwater Basin where the elevation is 282 feet below sea level and it was smoking hot during our short hike....I can't imagine how anyone could spend more than a few minutes there in the summer. It turned out to be a perfect time to visit Death Valley.......great weather, no crowds and our pick of sites in the national park campgrounds. With minimal services available it was just us and nature, and we had a wonderful time exploring and getting in good shape before heading on to our next adventure in Sin City.

Hotel California

The weather remained lovely (sunny and warm) as we drove down the California coast so we made numerous stops for short hikes out to lighthouses and sightseeing. The sea lions and surfers were also enjoying the moment, especially in the Port Arena and Salt Point beach areas. We stopped staying in State Parks once we arrived in California because the daily rates jumped from $12-17 to $35.........with the state nearing bankruptcy Arnold wanted to close some of the parks to save money but protests started and the decision was made to hike the rates at all state parks in order to increase revenues that would then offset the losses. Unfortunately, it has had the opposite effect.......people like ourselves don't see much point in paying more to stay in a state park when they can stay in a RV park where you also get all the services that the state parks don't provide (electrical, water, cable, wi-fi). We can get by without those extra services, and did so in Washington and Oregon in order to appreciate the nicer scenery and hiking that is often available, but Arnold has found the breaking point where it seems to be a lose-lose situation. He has fallen out of favour (with the locals we talked to) and people seem to be looking forward to the end of his term a year from now.
We have spent the last 4 days in wine country. The Russian River and Sonoma areas continue to be our favourites, moreso than Napa. The wineries are smaller and the conversations with the hosts are more sincere which seems to make the wine taste even better........at least for Rhonda on this trip as I continued in my role as DD with some tastings of the sweeter varietals (and perhaps a few others for a taste bud sense check!). Our best experiences were at:
- Family Wineries, near Healdsburg, a co-op venture of 4 smaller family wineries, where we had a very entertaining time with our host Sean and a pair of lifelong buddies from Atlanta (Eddy and Dan). The wines were lovely and we had lunch in their picnic area which had a great view and included a bocci area and a garden where guests were encouraged to pick the flowers.
- Chateau St. Jean in Sonoma, a return visit to one of our favourites. After keeping Rhonda under control for a few days (buying several bottles a day), the Cinq Cepages Cabernet won her heart (I was even able to get a little enjoyment out of a brief taste....an encouraging sign), and a half-case of the 2005 vintage was purchased.
- Jessup in Yountville, a very small winery in the Napa area. Our complimentary tasting, becoming more rare all the time, included a tray of cheeses and dried fruits to pair with the $30-60 wines we sampled, and some chocolate to go with the 2 port style wines that they produce. A bottle of the zinfandel port was acquired to help me along with my taste bud journey.
We have settled in for the night at an RV park a few miles north of the Golden Gate bridge. On Saturday we will drive into San Francisco for the day and walk around the city before heading to the Stephen Kellogg concert in the evening which we are looking forward to. Our next post will likely come from the Death Valley area where we hope to do some hiking (to help work off the chocolate and port).

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Where size matters

Another rainy day in Oregon so we got some laundry and shopping done then settled into Honeyman State Park on the central coast where we spotted a beachful of sea lions and were surprised by the number of massive sand beaches we came across. At the state park one of the campgrounds was at full capacity with ATV / Dune Buggy owners who had direct access to thousands of acres of sand dunes along the beach. It was fun to watch them head out in the morning but they were long gone in the endless landscape of dunes by the time I was able to get out to the end of the campsite trail. If it was a little warmer and drier it would have been worth spending the time and money to rent an ATV for the day.

We continued down the coast with a brief stop into Bandon Dunes........3 beautiful golf courses but not a lot of traffic on this day. Their high rates ($275 a round) are going to cause them problems in this economy when the weather is less than perfect.

As soon as we hit the California border the coastal redwoods started appearing majestically. They were much larger (up to 350 feet) than the large sitka spruce trees that we had seen in Washington and Oregon. Their bark can be a foot thick which makes them very resilient to disease and fire so they can grow for as long as 2000 years.....we saw many that were over 1000 years old....kind of makes you feel like a baby again. The giant sequioas were nearly as impressive. We drove along the Avenue of the Giants (32 miles) which is the old highway 101. The trees keep growing so the road is getting narrower every year and is mostly dark even during the middle of the day due to the canopy cover.

We saw a weather forecast that indicated the temperatures inland were going to be in the low 20'sC and sunny for the next week so we decided to alter our route to take advantage of some steady sunlight.

Once we reached Redding (about 200 km's east of the coast) we followed the Sacramento River south. One interesting diversion was at the Coleman National Fish Hatchery where we had a walking tour of the operation. They raise and release 25 million chinook salmon every year (and another few million steelhead trout). Only 200K of the salmon are able to make their way 200 miles down the river to the ocean and back again 3 years later to spawn (they track by tagging some with microchips), but each of the females can lay up to 5000 eggs of which 85% make it through to the smolt stage so the cycle keeps on going due to the hatchery which harvests the eggs. The last few salmon were still climbing the ladder on their way back home....it was an amazing process to observe.

After several days of sun and a few more nice stops along the way..........the Olive Pit in Corning (free tasting bar) and Clear Lake (lunch by the water) we returned today to the coast and stopped for the evening at Fort Bragg. We'll tour the area tomorrow and head slowly down the coast again before heading into the wine regions north of San Francisco.

Waterfalls & Wine

Our Willamette destination was Silver Falls State Park (approx. 100 km's south of Portland) which is known for their Trail of Ten Falls, an 11 km hike that included 10 different waterfalls. It was a very enjoyable hike which would probably be even more spectacular during the run-off in the spring. It didn't quite qualify however for our Top 10 hikes which we discussed along the way.

At the top of our list would be:

Angel's Landing in Zion National Park, Utah & Crypt Lake in Waterton, Alberta.

After that in no particular order would be:

- Joffrey Lakes, Pemberton, B.C.

- Bryce Canyon, Utah

- Hawai'i Volcanoes National Park, Big Island

- Na Pali Coast / Hanakapiai Falls, Kauai

- Waimea Canyon, Kauai

- Mussolini House trail, Rhodes, Greece

- Oia to Fira cliff hike, Santorini, Greece

- Hike to monastery and seaside cove, Crete, Greece

- Plain of Six Glaciers / Lake Agnes, Lake Louise, Alberta

OK, if you are counting that is 11, so the list needs a little work but we are not done yet.

After Silver Falls we remained in the Willamette Valley to taste some of their world class Pinot Noir's. Acutally, Rhonda did most of the tasting and I was the designated driver (for a change!). Cristom, Sokol-Blosser (Evolution) and Bergstrom were the favourites. During the drive we came across hundreds of acres of christmas tree farms (Noble Fir) which were perfectly manicured. Locals told us that 75% were exported to other states, including Arizona where they were being sold for $100 each.......a very lucrative business if you can wait 7 years for your investment to mature.

From there we headed to Cannon Beach (NW Oregon, 100 km's west of Portland) where we re-started the beautiful coast views, including Haystack Rock which rises 235 feet from beside the shore. From there we drove south to Tillamook and visited their famous cheese factory, a co-op owned by the local milk producers.......110 families who deliver 1.7M gallons of milk per day to produce 168K pounds of cheese every day. They have over 1 million visitors a year who probably consume a portion of that with their free tastings but we did stock up our fridge with some of our favourites.

The next day we did a short walk out to Cape Mears and a tour of the lighthouse followed by a much longer hike today to Cape Lookout (8 km's) and a couple of geocache finds later in the day along the beach at Netarts Bay where we have been staying for a few days.

Looks like rain for the couple of days so we will start driving slowly down the coast.

Sangria Sunset

With a clear sky we decided to stop early in the afternoon at Cape Disappointment State Park, situated at the mouth of the great Columbia River. Following a short hike out to the lighthouse we returned to our seaside campsite to watch the sun go down while enjoying some sangria. I went out to chat with a Colorado couple who were clamming.......the process involves walking along the shore and watching for your foot pressure to create nearby sudden indentations or air bubbles in the sand which indicates the presence of a razor clam digging further down to escape. Then you push your clam gun (a 2 foot plastic / aluminum tube) into the wet sand (it goes down easily) and pull up the sand which hopefully contains a clam. It looks easier to do than digging with a shovel which I had seen previously. This particular couple wasn't having a lot of luck, only 5 clams in a couple of days. The previous day in Westport, I spoke with a couple cleaning their catch in the campground and they had both caught their limit of 15 razor clams (each) in one walk along the coast.......almost 3 pounds worth. With fresh clams selling for $19 / lb. we understood why so many people were out clamming.
The next day we headed inland along the north coast of the Columbia River which turns into a gorge after 50 km's making for a beautiful drive. We hiked up to the top of Beacon Rock, a volcanic creation, where the 360 degree views were wonderful. There was also lots of windsurfing and kitesurfing activity along the very wide Columbia River. About 150 km's inland we crossed over the river to Oregon and drove west along the south side of the river which also had spectacular views and another state park with a waterside campsite. Then it was on to Portland where we spent the day walking around the city........Chinatown, Old Town, Pioneer Square and the International Rose Test Gardens (a highlight with hundreds of different species, many of them still in bloom). We found Portland to be much older looking than Seattle with lots of destitute street people throughout the city. We decided to leave after one day and stay overnight south of the city in Wilsonville where we stayed in an RV park very close to the Xerox facility, the former Tektronix headquarters.......it reminded me of the Xerox training centre in Leesburg, Virgina.........a large campus set back in the woods and not visible from any roads.
Our next destination will be the Willamette Valley, home of over 200 wineries and some nice hikes.

The Wet Coast

After a great Thanksgiving week-end in Whistler (lots of food, marbles and neighbourhood walks) we left the rest of the family in Vancouver and crossed the border to Seattle (via the picturesque Chuckanut Drive south of Bellingham). A walking tour of the city, including a stop at Pikes Peak Market (flying fish, hand-made items), and a visit to the Museum of Flight were the highlights. We then drove up the east side of the Olympic Peninsula and stopped at the north end in Sequim State Park where we had a site right on the ocean and enjoyed a locally harvested dungeness crab for dinner. Intermittent rain turned into a more steady drizzle for the next few days as we explored Olympic National Park. Fotunately, the temperatures remained mild (10 - 15C) so we were quite comfortable doing a couple of hikes in our rainsuits. The rain got the better of us however on the Sol Duc Falls hike when three quarters of the way thru a 10 km hike we had to turn back when it became too dangerous to ford a rushing river (rainwater infused) so we retraced our steps back to the campground turning it into a 15 km adventure.......at least there were some hot springs to enjoy when we got back.
The next day we drove into the Hoh Rain Forest but decided not to try a hike due to the steady rain so we chatted with the ranger and stopped by the marked Sitka Spruce which was 270 feet high, had a 12.5 foot diameter and was over 500 years old.........there seemed to be many others that were not far behind. We continued driving south along the coast and stopped in Westport, a fishing village where we enjoyed some of the local catch for dinner last night.
Heading further south down the coast today and then inland for a few days to Portland.

Off to Whistler for another family Thanksgiving

We have arrived safely in Whistler following another beautiful drive along the Duffy Lake Road. Thanks to Dave & Penny for meeting up with us on Thursday in Field, B.C., bringing along my driver's license and credit cards which I had forgotten at home. We then had a nice dinner at mom & dad's new residence in Kamloops, and drove to Lac La Jeune to spend the evening with Karen and the kids (Jack was away working in Maple Ridge). Their new puppy, a Lab and Irish Wolfhound cross, is very cute with big paws right now but will soon grow to be a very large dog.
The sun is up this morning, and we can see snow at the top of Whistler mountain. Hoping to get out for a hike today.