Wine time!

De De says Pop Pop can have his redwoods as long as she can have her wine in Napa Valley. We drove down the "Avenue of the Giants," a parkway with giant redwoods growing right up to the edge of the roadway, even raising the pavement a few inches where the roots are encroaching on the actual road surface. We arrived at the Harvest Inn in St. Helena, and had time to take a swim, jump in the hot tub, and back and forth a few times, and then shower off in a bathroom that is bigger than our whole room area in several of the National Parks - of course, the price is a bit different also. The Inn is surrounded by eight acres of gardens, and is a lovely place in a very pretty town. After dinner tonight, we remarked that we might look like two blimps if we ate this delicious food too long. Wow! Good wine and good food.

Lots to see

De De and Pop Pop started out the day going to Lady Bird Johnson Grove in the Prairie Creek part of Redwoods. Big trees, but lots more ferns and rhododendrons under the trees and framing the paths. We then took a longer walk with significantly harder elevation changes on a loop past Trillium Falls. This three mile hike was more majestic and beautiful than the Lady Bird trail (but less accessible). Pop Pop's agent got him in two pics today (of course, De De gets the photographic credit). We then travelled to the "Big tree" that is 22' in diameter (over 300' tall and 1,500 years old). It is mind-boggling that a living thing can figure out how to keep on trucking for over a 1,000 years (and some Sequoias live up to 3,000 years). Next, we rode a dirt road 8 miles down to Gold Bluffs along the Pacific coast, and to Fern Canyon. The canyon is very narrow, very tall, and covered with three types of fern everywhere. Don't get caught there in a flash flood, but on a beautiful day (which we had) it is a unique experience. Turning around to go back to our hotel - elk right in front of us - sweet icing on a very special day.

Three different worlds

Today was our most different day. We started at Crater Lake with over two inches of ... SNOW! Why not, it is not yet summer (by two days). Then we travelled to Redwood National Park and took two walks - the first in Stout Grove, and a longer one over the Boy Scout trail. The groves and forest walks are made up of 500 to 1,500 year old living beings - the trees are so majestic and create feelings of privilege, peacefulness, and serenity. The first Redwoods picture is from Stout Grove, the rest from the Boy Scout trail. Notice the scale of people to trees. The final picture is of a downed tree, with ferns and other plants taking over.

Finally, we hit the California Coast and the Pacific Ocean. We started with snow, continued in the rain, and moved on in the fog. BTW, we entered the Park at the Hiouchi Information Center, and saw an extremely informative 12 minute video. We'd recommend it to all who come and have not seen it yet. A small factoid - the giant trees get 1/2 of their annual water from fog, a key reason they are able to grow so tall.

Enjoying the scenery

This morning we awoke with a thick fog enveloping everything, and we thought "We were lucky to arrive when we did yesterday." But the fog burned off, and we had two walks today. The first was a short woods walk in the morning, and we had a longer "rim" walk this PM. The area is spectacular. This is by far the most beautiful Park we have seen (but we have not been to Yosemite yet, and we missed the east side of Glacier). We are also missing the eastern side of the rim drive and the hikes along that side - for the same reason as at Glacier - too much snow there still. The north side of the rim remains snowy, while the sun beats down on the south side - it is quite a contrast. Pictures today include one from the AM walk, two more lake shots, and two over in the north, "looking the other way."

SSW from Rainier to Crater Lake

Today we travelled from Rainier to Crater Lake, in Oregon. Southern Washington holds acres of orchards - apples, cherries, plums, etc. Then we crossed the Columbia River basin and came to what the Zane Grey stories (High Plains Drifter, and Riders of the Purple Sage come to mind) were all about. Looking across the high plains of Oregon are the Sierras -all snow-capped and imposing - Rainier, Adams, Hood, St. Helens, Jefferson, the Three Sisters - it just goes on and on and on - all to our right as we head south toward the former Mt. Mazama (which blew up 5,000 feet of rock six miles wide over 7,000 years ago). Needless to say - a very big boom! The eastern forests are so far away - literally. We have seen nothing but grassland and conifers for the last few days (except for the orchards). It is a fascinating change in environment. Can you imagine riding in a covered wagon in late August or September, seeing those peaks, and knowing your life depended on getting across that range before the first big snows set in? Major anxiety, I bet. Then we arrive at Crater Lake. They claim this is the cleanest air and water in the world - it sure takes your breath away!

Happy Father's Day!

Today Pop Pop got to the glaciers - in Mt. Rainier National Park, not in Glacier. We met De De's sister and husband, Joanie and Jimmy, and had a gorgeous day in Rainier National Park. Several years ago, we were in Alaska and saw Denali, which is topped off with clouds over 90% of the time. Rainier was also topped in clouds, but still very impressive. We also got our first taste of "big trees." All in all, a very happy father's day - and I hope all fathers enjoy the day as well.

A walk in the weeds

Yesterday, no blog due to no internet connection - so hopefully, two today. For the first time on the trip, Pop Pop had a blue funk, but thankfully, only for a little while. We decided on a hike at Bowman Lake, which turned out to be relatively cold, wet, and weedy. Our normal 4' to 5' wide soft paths through the parks wound up to be 18" wide through 3' to 4' tall weeds hanging over the trail due to a steady rain. But that was just the symptom. The real reason for the funk was that we had come to Glacier Park, and had not seen a glacier - the whole eastern side of the park was a tantalizing 40 miles away through Logan Pass, which was going to open June 21st, one week later. They were still digging out 100' snow drifts closing the pass. Bummer! We could have driven 6 to 8 hours to the east side - but decided that was just too much, considering how much driving the trip entailed. In the PM, we came back to the Lake MacDonald area and walked around John's Lake. That picked Pop Pop back up, because it was a particularly pretty walk in some of the same area where we had rode horses the prior day. On this walk, we took a can of bear spray (mace for bears). It did occur to us that this might not be the best spot to walk, but it did majorly calm down my annoyance. Pics for this blog include one from Lake Bowman, three from our PM walk, and one of Lake MacDonald the morning we left.

Yo bear!

We need your imagination today, because we don't have "live" pictures of our horseback ride (we were not allowed to take pictures while on our horse). We were on a relaxing "walk in the woods" horseback ride today, and with 15 minutes to go (after riding for an hour and 3/4) our guide, Page, stopped and with a clear change in voice (that indicated "I'm not in charge") shouted out several times "Yo bear!" A few seconds later, and 15 yards ahead of us, a large mother black bear and a cub crossed the trail and went off to our right to re-emerge about 20 yards away through the forest. At this point, we don't know if there are any other cubs, and whether we are between the mother and any of her brood. Our guide radioed the horse barn, and they said they had seen the bear and only one cub. After a minute, we continued on the trail. Pictures today include De De and Pop Pop in saddle, a trail pic - similar to the one we were riding on - and several views of Lake MacDonald.

Avalanche Lake

Good news and bad. We had our first hike today and it was superb. Bad news: the Road to the Sun is closed until July 1, due to construction at lower levels, and the pass is not yet plowed through. So we won't be able to drive close to the glaciers. However, picking out pictures today is really difficult - we have so many options. We started a short walk (about a mile) on Trail of the Cedars, where at selected parts of the trail they posted Haiku poems. Here is one: Moist Pacific air/ Blocked by Rocky Mountain heights/ Giant cedars thrive./ The second part of our hike was to Avalanche Lake, following a stream of the fastest water we ever saw. The hike was four miles, but totally worth it. While at the lake, and having a snack, we had a visitor. Finally, back at the Lodge, we were impressed by the view over a couple of the cabins.

First view of Glacier National Park

We arrived at Glacier yesterday PM, but a thunderstorm and lack of connectivity in our cabin postponed this blog. On the way, we stopped at a general store and had to take a pic - yes these do really exist. Lake MacDonald and the view from the lodge porch close out our pictures for the day. To keep the trip current, however, here is the text of the Fourth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution: The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, full upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized. I offer the text with a sole comment that the Constitution remains remarkably relevant even today.