Saturday, August 14, 2004

Phila via Seattle and Sequim, WA
Philadelphia
Well we made it safely from WA to PA. It only took several car rides, one ferry, two planes, and a train but 24 hours later, we finally made it! Two days later, and our bodies are still trying to recover. We have more sympathy now for our west-coast friends & family who travel east frequently. The fun part of the trip was seeing meteors Wednesday night from the plane.

Seattle and Sequim ("skwim")
Our first impressions of the northwest coast were some of the simple things: large starfish, cold waters, and city streets like San Francisco. Seattle is a pretty city, but I had to quit my job as navigator - too many one-way streets and no left turns allowed had us constantly going the wrong way. It's more fun to walk the city than try and drive it.
 

On the only rainy day we had in Seattle, we visited the Boeing factory. The largest building in the world by volume. I wasn't sure if seeing the factory where airplanes were made was a wise thing to do days before taking a flight...but it was fascinating, and I didn't see anything too scary. Regarding its size, it is almost too big to fathom. But they gave us a comparison to consider: you can put Disneyland inside the space, and still have 12 acres extra.

The ferry to Sequim was great. They are efficient, fast, and its a beautiful ride across the waterways. It was cheaper for us to take both vehicles on separately, versus towing, so Andy drove the RV and I took the Element. Andy had to park within inches of the wall on one side, and other vehicles inches away on the other side.

We haven't seen much of Olympic National Park yet. Plan to do it upon our return, but we did spend a day at the Hurricane Ridge section of the park. Beautiful views of the mountains...we could see Blue Glacier on top of Mt Olympus and Carrie Glacier on Mt Carrie. Went for a hike, but some "killer bees" took the enjoyment away and we turned around sooner than we would've liked. We've read about some great scuba diving sites in the vicinity - with seals, otters, large octopus, shipwrecks, etc - but with water temperatures averaging a "warm" 45-55 degrees, we think we'll have to pass (we don't think a dry suit would be enough for Andy).

Can't wait to see many of you soon during our travels back East.
9:17 am pdt


Wednesday, August 4, 2004

Coeur d'Alene, ID
One of the difficulties of being here in Coeur d'Alene is trying to remember how to spell the name of the town correctly. I've probably spelled it three different ways, so forgive me. We've been enjoying our stay here even though we haven't played as much as expected. We've spent a lot of our time on the internet taking care of business (bills, blog, pics, research, etc) or making phone calls and other mundane tasks. We do have our plans regarding the car and RV for Seattle which is a relief and the good news is that the local Winnebago dealer will hold our RV for 2 weeks while we're traveling and they're performing some work for us. Free parking!!

Upon arriving in town on Saturday we learned they were having an arts & crafts show. This is by far the largest we've seen - tents were in streets, on the college campus, and in the city park. Two outdoor amphitheatres were set up with rotating bands all day. The downtown area sits right on the Coeur d'Alene Lake and there are beaches, marinas, biplanes, and sailboats all creating such a pretty scene with the evergreen covered hills as a backdrop.


The best surprise we had was visiting the Erlendson Glass Studio with live glass blowing. Their working area is a glass enclosed room attached to the gallery and a coffee shop. So you could have a drink and a seat and watch them work. We watched Steve, one of three artists, make 2 tulip-shaped vases. Steve even brought us into the working area and toured all of the equipment for us. The glass-furnace itself is kept at 2400 degrees, and then there is a working fire pit where they put the object in to re-heat and re-shape. So you can imagine how hot this room was. When he opened the furnace doors to show us, you instinctually stepped back from the blast of heat that came out. No wonder he was dripping sweat as he worked. They offer one-day classes to "get your feet wet" or two-day intensive classes. If the timing was right, we would've taken a class with them - just for fun.


On Monday night we experienced an incredible storm. Warnings earlier in the day alerted us to possible 60mph winds and hail, but what we saw was quite ominous. We were eating at a floating restaurant (the dock and restaurant more or less jerked about than ‘floated’. Andy should’ve taken his Triptone) when over the hill across the lake we saw an orange-brown cloud coming. Its speed was so fast you could see it enveloping the trees and houses in front of it like brown flood waters. Once it crested the hill it appeared to reach hundreds of feet skyward. We decided to get our checks, get on our bikes, and race home to the RV which was, thankfully, just down the road. Amazingly enough, the cloud arrived at our RV the same time we did. We figured that once it hit the lake there was nothing in its path to slow it down. The winds kicked up, the flags in the park went poker-straight, and the RV rocked. Some of the winds were blocked by a big Class A parked next to us, so we were protected somewhat. Apparently the ugly color of the cloud was dust that the winds picked up and carried with it. Luckily the rains and winds weren’t as bad where we were as we saw on the news. But that cloud was something I’ll remember for awhile.

9:53 am pdt


Sunday, August 1, 2004

Moscow, ID to Couer D’Alene, ID
We’re back in civilization! And we had to practically do a full loop to get back to a city with phone service, internet access, etc. Since we left Moscow two weeks ago, we’ve gone to Glacier Nat’l Park and back. To understand our “loop”, Moscow is only 81 miles due south of Couer D’Alene. And when we left Moscow, we had to drive north before cutting East, just 21 miles south of Couer D’Alene. I now have a map on our website so you can take a look at our crazy driving pattern – look for the new “map” page.

Driving From Moscow to Glacier

After leaving Moscow, we stopped at Heyburn S.P. to “get back into nature”. It was a great stepping stone for us. We hiked a couple of miles through woods to an overlook where we could see the lake and valley below. On the trails we got to see deer, with spotted-fawns, and wild turkeys which was neat to see these tall fellows. The second day we rode our road-bikes on the Couer D’Alene Trail, a 73 mile Rails-to-Trails pathway. It was beautiful since we were along lakes, creeks, or ponds almost the entire way. And, as it is with most Rails-to-Trails, the trail was wonderfully flat and easy. The history behind this rail-to-trail is very interesting. This rail line was used during the mining days to carry silver. The rail bed itself was built on mining waste and tailings containing heavy metals. It was further contaminated by accidental spillage of ore. To contain this “superfund” site, they capped it with stones and asphalt to create the trail. It is supposedly a win-win situation. Right? Some local ranchers and farmers dispute this plan, I guess, from several signs posted on private property referring to it as “The Love Canal of Idaho”. Even the city acknowledges that leakage is still occurring – recommendations for being on the trail include: do not step off of the trail or stones; wash your hands before eating; do not drink any of the water in the area; no fishing; etc. Ironically, there were cows drinking water from this Love Canal and fields of wheat being farmed next to this toxic water. Makes you wonder where your beef is coming from…and what our farm animals are consuming…hhhmmm. Our trip was an out-and-back ride totaling just under 43 miles – the longest we’ve had since our once-a-year Mt. Dora’s bike festival in October. A great ride, but our butts wouldn’t agree with that.
   

We took the scenic route to I-90 to our destination, St Regis, MT. We drove via Hwy 3 through white pine forests along a narrow, winding road. Surprisingly enough Diane saw a moose and calf drinking from a pond along the road – but not Hwy 3, they were along I-90. From St Regis we took our mountain bikes out for the day along the Hiawatha Trail. This Rails-to-Trails is another famous one in the area. The portion we did is the most intriguing because you bike through 8 tunnels and over 7 wooden and iron trestles. We could’ve done the 15-mile one-way, with a shuttle back up the mountain, but nooooo, we wanted a work-out. So after 10 miles, we turned around and went back up the 1.8% grade, with a 900’ elevation change. It wasn’t too bad. The most challenging aspect of the ride was biking through the pitch-black tunnels. One tunnel is 1.7 miles long. Try to picture it: pitch-black, your headlight doesn’t help much because your eyes haven’t adjusted from the bright sun for the first mile, you hear water dripping from the walls and running down the gutters on both sides, you feel cold water dripping from above and mud splashing up from below, and it’s probably 50 degrees inside. Now imagine it without a headlight – ha! Andy’s batteries were dead, but we didn’t know until we started the ride. He had to follow my rear red light to stay away from the walls of the tunnel. It was so damp and cold inside this long tunnel it felt more like 5 miles. Our fingers went numb and our teeth were chattering. In another smaller tunnel we came across a deer inside. The poor thing got so scared she tried to climb the rock walls to get away. Along the trail they had interpretive signs posted about the railway and how it went from steam to electric to diesel, about the different types of trains, construction of the rail line, a big fire in 1909 that the train had to outrun to save everyone on board, and some other interesting facts. A great ride that anyone can do – especially if you do it one-way down hill.
   

We spent one night in Kalispell on our way to Glacier. The main thing we did here was wash a very dirty Spirit. Our RV looks brand new again (well, for the moment). It’s amazing how dirty these vehicles get!!

Glacier National Park

Our first view of Glacier coming in from the west was not dramatic. We expected lots of “ooohhs” and “aaaahs” upon our first sighting of the park. We saw lots of trees and a lake and in the distance a haze-shrouded mountain range. Don’t let first impressions shadow your last impression, however. This rare haze was not from air-pollution as we first suspected, but was smoke from fires somewhere in Canada. The color of the water from these glacial lakes is an incredible blue-green and its clarity is crystal clear. The mountains, most reaching 8,000-10,000 feet, are artistically painted with green forests, colorful rocks and white snow fields and are so tightly knitted that you don’t know where one stops and another peak starts.


One rim which caught our attention is called the Garden Wall. It has windows carved into its narrow glacier-carved ridgeline. One of our first long hikes was along this Wall on a trail called the Highline Trail. Then we took the Grinnell Glacier Overlook spur trail that put us literally on top of the Garden Wall so we could look down both sides of the ridge. On one side we could see not just the Grinnell Glacier, but Salamander Glacier as well. (One thing we learned here in Glacier is that they have projected that all of the glaciers will have melted away by 2030 – so you better go soon!) Even though this spur trail was only 1.5 miles round-trip, it was a killer. 800’ elevation change in .75 miles on shale. Going down is no easier. The views were worth it, though. Unfortunately we were minutes away from seeing three wolverines – hikers right in front of us got to see them, but they were gone by the time we reached the summit. What a rare sighting – good for them! Apparently if you are going to see wolverines in the US, it will probably only be in Glacier. We did get to see mountain goats, with some kids who had half-inch long stubs as horns. After passing by the Hikers Chalet (a backcountry lodge), we entered a burnt-out area of the forest from a 2003 fire. What’s interesting in a burn is the patterns fire creates in the trees. You could see distinct lines where the fire burnt black, charred trees then a brief line of red damaged pines, and then green life. In other areas, when looking down from above, you can see swirling patterns of black burned into the green. When close-up, you see how the bark becomes charred into an alligator-skin pattern. Life is slowly coming back. The ferns and wildflowers were starting to come up. At the end of this one-way hike, Diane had to hitchhike back to our car at the other end (this was her penalty for picking this hike). Luckily, 5 other hikers were able to fit in the bed of the pick-up truck with her – so no fear of disappearing forever ;)

   

 

After two nights on the west side we drove to St Mary on the east side. Now, Glacier is a Wilderness Area, so there is only one road that bisects the park – Going to the Sun Road – which cannot accommodate RVs. Heck, with the construction zones it was hard enough to squeeze the Element through some of these barricades. The GTTS Road is a beautiful drive, but if you’re afraid of heights, be warned. The road is narrow (a Suburban touches both yellow and white lines), it is a drop-off on one side and rocks stick out of the wall on the other which made me nervous our kayaks were going to get a chunk removed while driving the inside lane. The road was crumbling in spots and the low 2’ high guard-wall was missing in sections. With all of the snow they get in the winter, they have to use dynamite to move snow and re-survey before plowing. No wonder their roads are in the shape they are in. So, for us to get to the east-side, we had to drive Hwy 2 around the southern end of the park. This was a 99-mile drive versus the 52-mile long GTTS Road. But it was worth it. Driving in from the east side had us ooohing and aaahing. The mountains are much closer and at the base are the rolling, open pastures you might picture when thinking “Montana”. East of Glacier is all Blackfeet Reservation, which is probably why it is still so open and natural.
   

Our initial plan was to spend a couple of nights touring the St Mary and Many Glacier areas, and then spending a few nights at Two Medicine before heading out. But the challenge with Glacier is that to really see it, you must hoof it. So we decided to leave Two Medicine for another trip in order to better see St Mary and Many Glacier. Many of the recommended hikes were 10+ miles long, and our bodies aren’t used to back-to-back hiking like this. We were still recovering from the 13-mile Highline Trail when we did the 10-mile Iceberg Lake trail. This hike, obviously, takes you to a lake studded with icebergs of varying sizes – from hand-size to car-size. We ate lunch lake-side and watched the icebergs slowly move around the lake. The amphitheater shaped mountain wrapping around the lake cast its reflections onto the water. We had to feel the water which was, of course, ice cold. Even the air temperature had dropped over 10 degrees just being on the edge of the lake. The rest of the trail was just as memorable though for its wildflowers. The wildflowers blooming in Glacier are a mix of three regions: the northwest, the plains, and Canada – each reaching their most extended ranges. They were as varied as they were abundant.
 

After a Ranger Talk that evening we walked back to the campground (only ¼ mile from the Visitor’s Center) only to see a Grizzly bear walk out of 12’ high shrubs onto the path about 25’ in front of us. He took one look at us and ran down the path, thankfully away from us. Here we’ve been looking for bears on hikes, clapping our hands, making noises and doing all the right things – and one pops up on us near buildings and people. Well, we started making lots of noise after that. We stayed on the bridge near camp talking with people and had another exciting sighting – a beaver swam under the bridge where we were standing. We were so close and the water so clear that we could see his hind feet pushing off the rocks to propel himself forward – walking more than swimming along the bottom. Our first beaver, and a close-up at that.

Our legs are beat, so we decide to take a day off from “hiking”. So we walked four miles and took a 2 ½ hour horse-back ride. Ok, so that wasn’t much of a day-off for our legs. The horse-back ride was out on Blackfeet land with the Montana Ranch Adventures. We chose them because their motto is “Real Cowboys Don’t Ride Nose-to-Tail”, and of course we are real cowboys (or want to be). What fun! It was Andy, Diane, and Brian our Blackfeet guide. We got to trot and lope (maybe not so gracefully for Diane, but Andy looked great). The backdrop along most of our vistas was Glacier’s mountain range. We rode through Aspen forests and cattle pastures, disturbing a few along the way. Brian talked to us about the trees, plants, cattle, mountains, Blackfeet lore and current issues. We’d highly recommend them.
   

Our last big hike was up and over Siyeh Pass. About 10 ½ miles starting at Siyeh Creek, up to the Pass, and down to Sunrift Gorge. Elevation change on way up was 2240’, and on the way down it was 3440’. Another beautiful hike. I’m starting to doubt there are any bad ones here in Glacier. We did this one with a park ranger – there were seven of us total on this hike. We ate lunch at the Pass, which made you feel like you were on top of the world – so many mountain peaks at eye level – just awesome. We saw two glaciers, several snow-fields, threw a few snow balls, too many waterfalls to count, glacial lakes and glacier-carved valleys. Learned about the rocks in Glacier, wildflowers, how to identify bear scratchings and diggings, about other animals, and whatever other questions we peppered Ranger Richard with during this seven-hour hike.
 

Driving from Glacier NP to Couer D’Alene, ID

It was hard leaving Glacier because there was so much more to do…if only our bodies could take more. We decided on long driving days to get to Couer d’Alene quickly – we have to be in Seattle by 8/12. We took a slightly different route back, to minimize back-tracking on the same roads. We spent one night in a National Forest campground outside Troy, MT. At this point we’ve been boondocking again for over one week. We’re starting to get good at this style of camping. But this also explains why we can’t update the blog as often as other people we know (heh, heh Jim and Chris).