I’m going to start this blog on my last night at my friend Pat’s house in New York (at least for 10 days) and perhaps post it when I get home. I’ll be flying back to Sacramento tomorrow (Monday 8/27) and leaving again to come back here and pick up my car on 9/6, so will probably see some of you in person.
Even though I’ve had a great time on this first leg of my journey, I’m anxious to get home and see my loved ones. I can imagine their excitement too – joyful noise, the loving looks, their cold noses – but enough about my dogs. I miss Naomi too!
Some statistics from my trip: I’ve driven 7679 miles so far (as of my last fillup) and averaged 54.22 miles per gallon. Each gallon has cost an average of $3.03, so I’m spending about 5.5 cents per mile on gasoline. Imagine if I’d driven something less fuel efficient…like my ‘97 Subaru Outback.
On this last day on Long Island Pat and I drove around to the south end of the island and enjoyed a couple of the beaches on the Atlantic side at Montauk and the Hamptons. Despite the high land values, there is still quite a bit of agriculture and a lot of farm stands. We stopped for some fresh peaches and just-made apple donuts. We also attempted a hike but found the trail overgrown and ended up in a thicket of trees – looked like maybe one of the local kids’ party spots.
The weather was a bit iffy, but it cleared up so in the afternoon we went out on the ocean in a motorboat with one of Pat’s friends. The seas were about as flat as they could be, so great boating conditions. Then we took the boat out into the West Hampton village, tied up and had a pretty good dinner at a TexMex restaurant, followed by Haagen-Dasz. Conditions were ideal coming back, even though it was dark – there seemingly wasn’t a ripple on the bay as we headed back to the marina. All in all, one of the best days of my trip. Not a lot of mileage on the legs (I’m just barely over 10,000 steps for the day) but I guess I can afford to rest a bit.
I have a 6:00am flight out of Newark, so we’ll be leaving the house at about 3am. Fortunately for me, Pat has an obligation in upstate New York, so he’ll give me a ride to the airport – otherwise I’d be sleeping in the airport tonight.
Update: sitting here in the Chicago O’Hare airport on a long delay in my connecting flight to Sacramento. Rather than just vegetate, I took advantage of the ‘tinkly lights’ to get some airport hiking in – about 5.5 miles and 1200 foot elevation gain. Pretty good hike for being indoors! [For those who don’t fly United Airlines through Chicago, let me explain the ‘tinkly lights’: United ‘owns’ two whole terminals in O’Hare, terminal B and terminal C. Quite a while back, maybe 15 years ago, they connected these through an underground tunnel and commissioned someone to create an arty display of neon lights on the ceiling. So while you are riding the moving sidewalk (or speed-walking, like I was) the lights illuminate randomly, accompanied by some tinkling space-art-type music. It’s actually pretty cool…] So I took advantage of the flight delay to get some leg-work in. Admittedly, I don’t envy the person who will have to sit next to me on when the flight finally takes off…I should have packed an extra shirt in my carry-on, but I usually don’t do that on the way home.
Second update: flight delayed now for more than 8 hours. I could have slept in! I took further advantage of the delay by actually going outside and attempting to circumnavigate the airport (knowing that I’d have to face the security check coming back in). It was worth it; I didn’t circle the airport but did get approximately another 4 miles in. So I guess I’ll make my target for the day after all! Meanwhile back at the ranch, the home front is not too happy…she took the day off of work to pick me up at the airport and spend time with me, and now I won’t be in until 8pm. Sigh…I think United will be getting a nasty phone call.
Last update: finally made it home. Happy to be here, even though I’ve already been running around doing a million things. Somehow running errands has already added up to 6 miles on my pedometer, although I really can’t call it a hike! Anyway, I’ll post another blog a few days after I get back on the road (flying back to New York on September 6).
Tuesday, August 28, 2007
Saturday, August 25, 2007
I (heart) NY
I’m writing this installment of my blog from the comfort of my friend’s study on Long Island in New York State. As noted in the last blog, I arrived via the ferry and got to Pat’s house about 7:15pm. After decompressing for a few minutes (and showering!) we headed out to one of his favorite haunts for dinner. And what a meal it was: lots of excellent food and drink and a chance to catch up with Pat, whom I hadn’t seen for several months. We loosely scheduled out the next three days of my visit, starting with a daylong sight-seeing tour of New York City on Friday.
We checked on a few train schedules and set a plan to leave the next morning at 5am and take the train with all of the commuters into Penn Station. From there we decided to hit the Statue of Liberty first since it would have the longest lines later in the day. (Pat’s been tour guide for a number of his friends’ visits, so he knows the ropes.) Arriving at the dock around 8am we were able to get on the first ferry and procure the free passes to enter the statue itself. (You can only go into the pedestal area; since 9/11 they no longer let people climb the spiral staircase into her head.) Security was extremely tight and it took us over 2 hours to get through the lines and see the museum in the pedestal. It was interesting and the statue certainly provokes certain emotions, but I’m not sure it was worth the hassle. [Editorial and perhaps somewhat controversial comment: as one lady noted, maybe the terrorists have already won…or maybe we need to be less restrictive. Yes, they could blow the Statue of Liberty to bits, but since it’s just a symbol, would that really make America any less America? Aren’t we, as a people, more pragmatic than that? Isn’t symbolism (and making symbolic statements) really mostly important to the religious extremists?]
Anyway, I left a bit frustrated, deciding that I didn’t have time to spend on Ellis Island and get the rest of New York City covered. So as the boat stopped to let people off at Ellis, I jumped off, stuck a toe onto it, and got right back on the ferry. We wanted to head over to Ground Zero, which we did (lots of construction on the new office building / monument) and grab lunch at Chevy’s, where we had Mexican food served in New York City by a waitress from West Africa (Gambia). The world is getting smaller!
We grabbed a subway to head up to the Empire State building, the first of many subway trips as we spent the day whizzing around NYC (literally – but that’s another story). The security lines were nearly as long as at the Statue of Liberty. I asked about going up the stairwell – I really wanted to climb the whole thing - but was told in no uncertain terms that the stairwell was closed to the public except for one day a year – otherwise they would need to post security at every single floor “to check people for explosives”. As I say, maybe the terrorists have already claimed a victory…
The view from the top WAS stunning and Pat pointed out various landmarks, including Rockefeller Plaza, where were going next, and St Patrick’s cathedral and Central Park. We explored each of these and then took the subway out to Yankee Stadium. Being a lifelong baseball fan, I’d always wanted to see it, although unfortunately the Yankees weren’t in town. I got a pretty good photo of the front of the stadium anyway. Another subway ride took us to dinner at a TGIF in Manhattan. After dinner we were able to walk to Times Square and see it in the dark – looks a little like Las Vegas with all of the lights and video screens. Walking back down to Penn Station we snagged an ice cream and waited for the train back up to Long Island. It was a long day as we got back to Pat’s house after midnight, having logged over 31,000 steps, which equates to at least 13 miles of walking.
Despite his exhaustion, Pat had an obligation to be at a friend’s house at 2am to put a whole pig on a rotating spit so it could cook in time for the big party and pig roast scheduled for Saturday afternoon. I stayed home and slept and then got up in the morning to do an hour of hiking in the green belt behind Pat’s house. This pine barrens area is managed by the Nature Conservancy and covers a pretty good chunk of Long Island in that region. I saw lots of evidence of deer and skunk but no actual fauna.
We ran a couple of errands associated with the party and then I spent much of the afternoon cleaning out the Prius in preparation for it being ‘in storage’ in Pat’s garage while I fly back to California for 10 days. I set the sleeping bag out to be aired out and the ice chest as well. I think I’ve got the car in good clean organized shape for me to start the second leg of my journey when I fly back on September 6…
The pig roast was a blast and I met a lot of new people. Won some horseshoes, lost some volleyball, and ate ‘til I nearly got sick. Tomorrow we plan to visit the ‘other’ tip of Long Island, not the one I ferried in to, and then take a friend’s boat out in the afternoon and evening for some exploration around the island waterways. I’ll post this now, since I have a connection, and then write how that went. Have a great day everyone!
We checked on a few train schedules and set a plan to leave the next morning at 5am and take the train with all of the commuters into Penn Station. From there we decided to hit the Statue of Liberty first since it would have the longest lines later in the day. (Pat’s been tour guide for a number of his friends’ visits, so he knows the ropes.) Arriving at the dock around 8am we were able to get on the first ferry and procure the free passes to enter the statue itself. (You can only go into the pedestal area; since 9/11 they no longer let people climb the spiral staircase into her head.) Security was extremely tight and it took us over 2 hours to get through the lines and see the museum in the pedestal. It was interesting and the statue certainly provokes certain emotions, but I’m not sure it was worth the hassle. [Editorial and perhaps somewhat controversial comment: as one lady noted, maybe the terrorists have already won…or maybe we need to be less restrictive. Yes, they could blow the Statue of Liberty to bits, but since it’s just a symbol, would that really make America any less America? Aren’t we, as a people, more pragmatic than that? Isn’t symbolism (and making symbolic statements) really mostly important to the religious extremists?]
Anyway, I left a bit frustrated, deciding that I didn’t have time to spend on Ellis Island and get the rest of New York City covered. So as the boat stopped to let people off at Ellis, I jumped off, stuck a toe onto it, and got right back on the ferry. We wanted to head over to Ground Zero, which we did (lots of construction on the new office building / monument) and grab lunch at Chevy’s, where we had Mexican food served in New York City by a waitress from West Africa (Gambia). The world is getting smaller!
We grabbed a subway to head up to the Empire State building, the first of many subway trips as we spent the day whizzing around NYC (literally – but that’s another story). The security lines were nearly as long as at the Statue of Liberty. I asked about going up the stairwell – I really wanted to climb the whole thing - but was told in no uncertain terms that the stairwell was closed to the public except for one day a year – otherwise they would need to post security at every single floor “to check people for explosives”. As I say, maybe the terrorists have already claimed a victory…
The view from the top WAS stunning and Pat pointed out various landmarks, including Rockefeller Plaza, where were going next, and St Patrick’s cathedral and Central Park. We explored each of these and then took the subway out to Yankee Stadium. Being a lifelong baseball fan, I’d always wanted to see it, although unfortunately the Yankees weren’t in town. I got a pretty good photo of the front of the stadium anyway. Another subway ride took us to dinner at a TGIF in Manhattan. After dinner we were able to walk to Times Square and see it in the dark – looks a little like Las Vegas with all of the lights and video screens. Walking back down to Penn Station we snagged an ice cream and waited for the train back up to Long Island. It was a long day as we got back to Pat’s house after midnight, having logged over 31,000 steps, which equates to at least 13 miles of walking.
Despite his exhaustion, Pat had an obligation to be at a friend’s house at 2am to put a whole pig on a rotating spit so it could cook in time for the big party and pig roast scheduled for Saturday afternoon. I stayed home and slept and then got up in the morning to do an hour of hiking in the green belt behind Pat’s house. This pine barrens area is managed by the Nature Conservancy and covers a pretty good chunk of Long Island in that region. I saw lots of evidence of deer and skunk but no actual fauna.
We ran a couple of errands associated with the party and then I spent much of the afternoon cleaning out the Prius in preparation for it being ‘in storage’ in Pat’s garage while I fly back to California for 10 days. I set the sleeping bag out to be aired out and the ice chest as well. I think I’ve got the car in good clean organized shape for me to start the second leg of my journey when I fly back on September 6…
The pig roast was a blast and I met a lot of new people. Won some horseshoes, lost some volleyball, and ate ‘til I nearly got sick. Tomorrow we plan to visit the ‘other’ tip of Long Island, not the one I ferried in to, and then take a friend’s boat out in the afternoon and evening for some exploration around the island waterways. I’ll post this now, since I have a connection, and then write how that went. Have a great day everyone!
Thursday, August 23, 2007
nubmer tenn
Hello from Rhode Island, although I may be in Connecticut before I actually post this. I believe I was in Burlingame, Vermont when I last wrote.
After spending the night in Burlingame, I drove down towards the Green Mountains National Forest in southern Vermont. I stopped at a ranger station on the way down and got some information on good hikes and a couple of good places to camp. [Side note: I have been universally pleased with the service I’ve gotten from the US Forest Service centers. They are a tremendous benefit for people who are doing exactly what I am: hiking and camping. My tax dollars at work!] I continued on to the hiking spot, which happened to be a couple of segments of the Appalachian Trail. So now I can say I’ve done another 7 miles of that trail – still about 2000 to go! I stopped at one of the many shelters along the trail, to see what they looked like, and they’re pretty spiffy as far as back-country accommodations go. There are basically a lean-to with shelves, kind of like bunk beds, for people to roll out their sleeping bags and pads, as well as lots of hooks to hang backpacks and food. (Most of it’s in bear country.) I met a couple of people who were doing segments of the trail – one guy was on the first day of a 270-mile trek. One of these days I think I’ll do the whole thing. The hiking is definitely different than in the west – lots of tree roots and rocks right in the trail that we don’t have to deal with. And it seems they don’t do switchbacks; most trails kind of angle right up the slope rather than back-and-forth as we do in Yosemite, the Sierras, Glacier, etc. So the eastern trails are steeper, which is fine for going up (for me) but real bad for going down (for me). I’ll have to get the knees and ankles in shape if I’m going to do the Appalachian Trail, and get the lungs in shape if I’m going to do the Pacific Crest trail…
Anyway, I finished my hikes around 4pm, so instead of staying at the campground that was recommended, which was just a few miles away, I decided to take advantage of the daylight and continue on down into Massachusetts. I looked at the map and found a good-sized state park in the middle of the state and headed southeast.
Bad decision. I’d assumed that most state parks (especially one called ‘Mount Holyoke RANGE’; I’m thinking several mountains) would have camping. But it was not so. I wandered around well past dark trying to locate a place to setup my tent, even finding myself hurtling towards Boston on the Mass Turnpike, finally ending up near a state forest that was supposed to have camping – but I couldn’t find it. The only place I could find was a private campground that wanted $32 to set up my tent – no way! I drove into a picnic site and slept in the car, waiting for that knock on the window at 3am as the state trooper rousted me out of my slumber, but fortunately it never came.
Feeling a bit less than refreshed, I headed towards Rhode Island and some state parks I’d seen on the map. Once burned is twice shy, so I got smart and, as I noticed a local library, I pulled into the parking lot to see if I could scare up some free WiFi (it was 6:30am, so the library wasn’t open, but I figured they didn’t shut down their wireless server, and I was right). I was able to determine that there WAS camping in one of the state parks I’d been looking at, so I headed there – and that’s where I spent last night. They even had a pretty good 8-mile hiking loop. After doing that loop, I went out for a drive and checked out the beach at Narragansett (one of my favorite place names!) and went into Newport. Passed a sign that I should have photo’d, showing the possible future of Sacramento: “No. Kingstown”.
Speaking of signs, I keep seeing funny signs, but I never remember them when I write the blog. I gotta get me one of those pocket voice recorders so I can talk to myself while I’m driving. One I saw a couple of days ago, though, was odd: “Thickly Settled”. I’m thinking they were telling me to slow down because there were lots of people there, but I could be wrong…
The speed limit signs in Massachusetts were driving me nuts. Rather than keeping a steady speed for a period of 5 miles or so, they were constantly changing every mile or two. I understand slowing down in a town, but going from 45 to 40 to 50 in a two-mile stretch is stupid. However, a native Massachusan told me nobody pays attention to them anyway, which may be why I was spreading such goodwill with anyone following me. {:>
As I write this I’m consuming a few more in an apparently endless stream of McDonald’s breakfast calories – because I saw the McDonald’s WiFi sign. Should have known that nothing in McDonald’s is free. Guess I’ll find someplace else to post this – I’ll be catching the ferry in New London, Connecticut this afternoon, so maybe something as I wait there.
Update – no WiFi on the boat, so I’m posting this at a Starbucks on Long Island. This is a well-travelled blog – it started life in RI, then grew up in Conn, and gave up the ghost in NY…
After spending the night in Burlingame, I drove down towards the Green Mountains National Forest in southern Vermont. I stopped at a ranger station on the way down and got some information on good hikes and a couple of good places to camp. [Side note: I have been universally pleased with the service I’ve gotten from the US Forest Service centers. They are a tremendous benefit for people who are doing exactly what I am: hiking and camping. My tax dollars at work!] I continued on to the hiking spot, which happened to be a couple of segments of the Appalachian Trail. So now I can say I’ve done another 7 miles of that trail – still about 2000 to go! I stopped at one of the many shelters along the trail, to see what they looked like, and they’re pretty spiffy as far as back-country accommodations go. There are basically a lean-to with shelves, kind of like bunk beds, for people to roll out their sleeping bags and pads, as well as lots of hooks to hang backpacks and food. (Most of it’s in bear country.) I met a couple of people who were doing segments of the trail – one guy was on the first day of a 270-mile trek. One of these days I think I’ll do the whole thing. The hiking is definitely different than in the west – lots of tree roots and rocks right in the trail that we don’t have to deal with. And it seems they don’t do switchbacks; most trails kind of angle right up the slope rather than back-and-forth as we do in Yosemite, the Sierras, Glacier, etc. So the eastern trails are steeper, which is fine for going up (for me) but real bad for going down (for me). I’ll have to get the knees and ankles in shape if I’m going to do the Appalachian Trail, and get the lungs in shape if I’m going to do the Pacific Crest trail…
Anyway, I finished my hikes around 4pm, so instead of staying at the campground that was recommended, which was just a few miles away, I decided to take advantage of the daylight and continue on down into Massachusetts. I looked at the map and found a good-sized state park in the middle of the state and headed southeast.
Bad decision. I’d assumed that most state parks (especially one called ‘Mount Holyoke RANGE’; I’m thinking several mountains) would have camping. But it was not so. I wandered around well past dark trying to locate a place to setup my tent, even finding myself hurtling towards Boston on the Mass Turnpike, finally ending up near a state forest that was supposed to have camping – but I couldn’t find it. The only place I could find was a private campground that wanted $32 to set up my tent – no way! I drove into a picnic site and slept in the car, waiting for that knock on the window at 3am as the state trooper rousted me out of my slumber, but fortunately it never came.
Feeling a bit less than refreshed, I headed towards Rhode Island and some state parks I’d seen on the map. Once burned is twice shy, so I got smart and, as I noticed a local library, I pulled into the parking lot to see if I could scare up some free WiFi (it was 6:30am, so the library wasn’t open, but I figured they didn’t shut down their wireless server, and I was right). I was able to determine that there WAS camping in one of the state parks I’d been looking at, so I headed there – and that’s where I spent last night. They even had a pretty good 8-mile hiking loop. After doing that loop, I went out for a drive and checked out the beach at Narragansett (one of my favorite place names!) and went into Newport. Passed a sign that I should have photo’d, showing the possible future of Sacramento: “No. Kingstown”.
Speaking of signs, I keep seeing funny signs, but I never remember them when I write the blog. I gotta get me one of those pocket voice recorders so I can talk to myself while I’m driving. One I saw a couple of days ago, though, was odd: “Thickly Settled”. I’m thinking they were telling me to slow down because there were lots of people there, but I could be wrong…
The speed limit signs in Massachusetts were driving me nuts. Rather than keeping a steady speed for a period of 5 miles or so, they were constantly changing every mile or two. I understand slowing down in a town, but going from 45 to 40 to 50 in a two-mile stretch is stupid. However, a native Massachusan told me nobody pays attention to them anyway, which may be why I was spreading such goodwill with anyone following me. {:>
As I write this I’m consuming a few more in an apparently endless stream of McDonald’s breakfast calories – because I saw the McDonald’s WiFi sign. Should have known that nothing in McDonald’s is free. Guess I’ll find someplace else to post this – I’ll be catching the ferry in New London, Connecticut this afternoon, so maybe something as I wait there.
Update – no WiFi on the boat, so I’m posting this at a Starbucks on Long Island. This is a well-travelled blog – it started life in RI, then grew up in Conn, and gave up the ghost in NY…
Tuesday, August 21, 2007
almost to nueve york...
Well, the rain finally went away Saturday in Acadia National Park, so I started hiking about 1pm. It was too late to catch the ferry to the two islands I wanted to explore, but the rain was a benefit as it forced me to do my laundry (ewwww…) and post my last blog. I managed to bag four peaks (as the mountaineers say) although they were a bit smaller than anything to brag about. Still, elevation is elevation – for example on one of the hikes, there are a series of steel ladders to get over some of the steepest spots. The trails were initially wet and a bit slippery, but they dried out quickly. I put in about 10 miles on four different trails and at least got over my target of 25,000 steps (according to my step counter). Have had some trouble meeting my goal since I left Grand Teton…
I awoke early the next morning to catch the 7am ferry to the Cranberry Islands. It dropped me off on Greater Cranberry Island and I spent 2 hours exploring as much as I could get to. There are about 40 year-long residents on the island (vs. about 200 summer residents) and there are quite a few cars – seemed odd for a 5-mile-by-1-mile island. Most are not registered – no need to. And I did see a few mopeds and a lot of bicycles. After the ferry returned I went to Lesser Cranberry, also known as Isleton. There are many more residents on this island although it’s a bit smaller. They actually have a recycling facility, which I was happy to see. Both islands offered a lot of pleasant walking and tidepooling and, of course, lots of artisans. Nice stuff but nothing I’d spend that amount of money on - all I bought was a t-shirt for someone.
I realized I was running out of time to explore New England, as I need to catch an auto-ferry out of Connecticut on Thursday afternoon. So I took off towards New Hampshire Sunday afternoon and found a campsite at the oddly-named Dolly Copp campground in the White Mountains National Forest. When I got up in the morning I was freezing – by the time I turned on the car it said it was 39 degrees outside, but it must have been colder during the night. Can’t believe it’s that cold in mid-August! I definitely need to find the warm weather. Time to head south…
Between shivers I broke camp, and then engaged a 7-mile hike I’d read about. It was listed as ‘moderately strenuous’ but I must be getting old or tired, because it was as strenuous as I’d want to tackle at this point in the trip. Oddly enough, toward the end of my hike, seemingly in the middle of the wilderness, I received a cell phone call about a potential short-term job prospect. (I always carry the cell phone in case of emergencies – sometimes when you don’t have a ‘signal’ you can still access 911.) Despite the pristine and quiet surroundings, I was glad to take this call!
After hiking I drove towards Stowe, Vermont, as I’d heard it was a nice place. On my way there, I passed by the Ben & Jerry’s ice cream factory. Screeeeech! I had to turn around and take the factory tour…which was interesting and provided free samples, of course. I guess I’ll call that lunch.
Stowe was a bit over-touristy so I didn’t stick around. There was, however, a covered bridge I knew about nearby, so I got to snap a photo. Can’t travel through Vermont without driving over a covered bridge!
I continued my drive out to Lake Champlain, which separates Vermont from New York. I’m staying in a motel in Burlington tonight and will hit south Vermont (and some hikes in the Green Mountains, I hope) tomorrow and camp there. [Interesting note: if I’m not mistaken, Burlington has the distinction of being the only place in America to have elected a Communist mayor, back a few years ago…] Wednesday I’m planning to drive through a slice of Massachusetts and all of Connecticut to camp somewhere along the Atlantic in tiny Rhode Island. That’ll put me in striking distance of the ferry for Thursday. Hope the traffic’s not too bad…I have no idea what to expect.
I awoke early the next morning to catch the 7am ferry to the Cranberry Islands. It dropped me off on Greater Cranberry Island and I spent 2 hours exploring as much as I could get to. There are about 40 year-long residents on the island (vs. about 200 summer residents) and there are quite a few cars – seemed odd for a 5-mile-by-1-mile island. Most are not registered – no need to. And I did see a few mopeds and a lot of bicycles. After the ferry returned I went to Lesser Cranberry, also known as Isleton. There are many more residents on this island although it’s a bit smaller. They actually have a recycling facility, which I was happy to see. Both islands offered a lot of pleasant walking and tidepooling and, of course, lots of artisans. Nice stuff but nothing I’d spend that amount of money on - all I bought was a t-shirt for someone.
I realized I was running out of time to explore New England, as I need to catch an auto-ferry out of Connecticut on Thursday afternoon. So I took off towards New Hampshire Sunday afternoon and found a campsite at the oddly-named Dolly Copp campground in the White Mountains National Forest. When I got up in the morning I was freezing – by the time I turned on the car it said it was 39 degrees outside, but it must have been colder during the night. Can’t believe it’s that cold in mid-August! I definitely need to find the warm weather. Time to head south…
Between shivers I broke camp, and then engaged a 7-mile hike I’d read about. It was listed as ‘moderately strenuous’ but I must be getting old or tired, because it was as strenuous as I’d want to tackle at this point in the trip. Oddly enough, toward the end of my hike, seemingly in the middle of the wilderness, I received a cell phone call about a potential short-term job prospect. (I always carry the cell phone in case of emergencies – sometimes when you don’t have a ‘signal’ you can still access 911.) Despite the pristine and quiet surroundings, I was glad to take this call!
After hiking I drove towards Stowe, Vermont, as I’d heard it was a nice place. On my way there, I passed by the Ben & Jerry’s ice cream factory. Screeeeech! I had to turn around and take the factory tour…which was interesting and provided free samples, of course. I guess I’ll call that lunch.
Stowe was a bit over-touristy so I didn’t stick around. There was, however, a covered bridge I knew about nearby, so I got to snap a photo. Can’t travel through Vermont without driving over a covered bridge!
I continued my drive out to Lake Champlain, which separates Vermont from New York. I’m staying in a motel in Burlington tonight and will hit south Vermont (and some hikes in the Green Mountains, I hope) tomorrow and camp there. [Interesting note: if I’m not mistaken, Burlington has the distinction of being the only place in America to have elected a Communist mayor, back a few years ago…] Wednesday I’m planning to drive through a slice of Massachusetts and all of Connecticut to camp somewhere along the Atlantic in tiny Rhode Island. That’ll put me in striking distance of the ferry for Thursday. Hope the traffic’s not too bad…I have no idea what to expect.
Saturday, August 18, 2007
rain, rain, go away...
posting 8/18 am ... raining here in arcadia, maine! doing laundry and internet at the library - supposed to clear up by noon. here's what i wrote up last night:
Sorry, it’s been a while since I was able to blog. I’ve been hiking the Appalachian Trail. Last I left you, I was in a bullet-ridden motel in Michigan. (Well, OK, I exaggerate a bit…)
As planned, I crossed into Canada and headed towards Buffalo. About 40 miles short, though, I came across an Ontario Provincial Park on Lake Erie that looked promising. Supposedly there was hiking there, although that didn’t pan out. Still, I was able to get a few miles in that evening.
At $27.75, the price was a bit steep for what I was getting (no shower, for example), but it was quiet and peaceful. And I was able to dip my toe into #4 of my tour of the Great Lakes. The weather continued to be in the mid-70s, as it’s been for over a week up here. Pleasant, but I’m ready for some summer temperatures.
This provincial park has some 350-million-year-old fossils on the rock shelves along the lakeshore, and there are so many that they don’t even bother to keep people off of them. This was apparently an inland sea at that time and the fossils are from a coral reef. Pretty cool…
I managed to hike all the trail they had and some of the roadway as well, to work off my Pasta Santa Fe dinner. (Truly amazing what they’re doing with freeze-dried camp food these days. And my jet-boil cooks up water in less than 2 minutes.) I got about 4 miles in but didn’t see anything majorly interesting other than the pile of dead fish they’d dumped out along the boundary line. Walking along the lakeshore there was a lot of dead fish, big ones, so I guess they scoop them up every so once in a while. I don’t know my fish so couldn’t say exactly what they were, but I did see something that was like a carp or maybe a catfish. And several others had a snout-nose sort of like a pig. Anybody have any idea what those were?
Instead of crossing the border into New York, I decided to head out along the north shore of lake Ontario hoping to enjoy some good lake views. What I discovered, though, and I’d seen this along Lake Erie as well, is that there is no perimeter road running along the shoreline. Along most major lakes in the US you generally have a road that runs close to the shoreline, allowing access to private homes, B+B, resorts, etc. Apparently not so in Canada. I did manage to sneak out to the Lake Ontario shoreline and complete my ceremonial toe-dipping.
After passing Lake Ontario I continued on up the road as it paralleled the St. Lawrence Seaway. I camped that evening near the Ontario / Quebec border, pitching my tent literally 10 feet from the lapping waters of the shoreline. (The river was 7 miles wide at that point so they called the bulge a lake.) Fell asleep to the sound of the waves hitting the bank…in lieu of a hike (again no trail) I had to walk back to the highway interchange, about 6 miles round trip, and grab dinner. A net calorie gain, I’m afraid; I had a bacon cheeseburger at Dairy Queen.
Crossing the Quebec border, I stopped seeing road signs in both English and French. It seems that the Quebecois are not fond of the dual national languages of Canada! (Frederic, I could have used you, especially driving through Montreal!) I managed to make my way to the small border outpost I’d selected in Maine. Unfortunately it was so small that they hadn’t had their excitement for the day, so for the second time this trip I was detained while they tore my car apart. The border guard (who weighed about 350 lbs – what an embarrassment to people visiting America for the first time! talk about stereotypes…) was quite disappointed he couldn’t bust me for something. I guess I’m lucky he didn’t plant anything, since he wouldn’t let me outside while he searched the car – which I know is a clear violation of Customs rules; I’m definitely allowed to observe – if nothing else, to protect them from accusations of stealing anything.
Anyway, I got through and about 35 miles down the road, managed to intercept the Appalachian Trail near its beginning. Just to say I’d been on it, I hiked about 6 or 7 miles. Now, if I can just find time to do the other 2000…
At the conclusion of my hike, it began to rain buckets. I wasn’t really ready to stay in a motel, since I’d had a shower in camp that morning, but could find no campgrounds along my route. So after a pretty gnarly drive I pulled into Bangor, Maine and found a not-so-cheap motel room. Got cleaned up and a good night’s sleep, and it put me just 50 miles from my next destination, Acadia National Park. And given that it was Friday, that was a good thing – as I’d noted in earlier blogs, the campgrounds really fill up quickly on Fridays and Saturdays, especially near major population centers. Accordingly, I sped down the road and managed to procure such a good spot at only $14 that I decided to stay in the same place for TWO nights, a first for me.
No doubt, Acadia National Park is my second favorite place on this trip, after Glacier. It has tons of hiking, the campsites are pretty cool, and the watery scenery is awesome. As bad as the weather’d been the night before was how nice it was this day. After setting up camp I drove to Bar Harbor and had a deli sandwich for lunch and sat out of the deck. Afterwards I had a fantastic 10-mile hike that just kicked my tail, even though it topped out at about 1500 feet – the way the loop worked, it seems I had to climb most of that 1500 feet several times. I met someone up top that had been coming here for 30 years (his daughter lives on one of the private islands, and he himself “summers in the Hamptons” – I think they’re old money) who gave me some good tips on things to do. As I write this, tomorrow I’m planning to take one of the mail boats out to a couple of the public islands and hike around.
addendum: i just saw an email from the guy who was hiking with me in glacier. he sent me a website with the photos from his trip, which includes the hike we were on. here's the link: http://picasaweb.google.com/jon.hiller/GlacierNP
Sorry, it’s been a while since I was able to blog. I’ve been hiking the Appalachian Trail. Last I left you, I was in a bullet-ridden motel in Michigan. (Well, OK, I exaggerate a bit…)
As planned, I crossed into Canada and headed towards Buffalo. About 40 miles short, though, I came across an Ontario Provincial Park on Lake Erie that looked promising. Supposedly there was hiking there, although that didn’t pan out. Still, I was able to get a few miles in that evening.
At $27.75, the price was a bit steep for what I was getting (no shower, for example), but it was quiet and peaceful. And I was able to dip my toe into #4 of my tour of the Great Lakes. The weather continued to be in the mid-70s, as it’s been for over a week up here. Pleasant, but I’m ready for some summer temperatures.
This provincial park has some 350-million-year-old fossils on the rock shelves along the lakeshore, and there are so many that they don’t even bother to keep people off of them. This was apparently an inland sea at that time and the fossils are from a coral reef. Pretty cool…
I managed to hike all the trail they had and some of the roadway as well, to work off my Pasta Santa Fe dinner. (Truly amazing what they’re doing with freeze-dried camp food these days. And my jet-boil cooks up water in less than 2 minutes.) I got about 4 miles in but didn’t see anything majorly interesting other than the pile of dead fish they’d dumped out along the boundary line. Walking along the lakeshore there was a lot of dead fish, big ones, so I guess they scoop them up every so once in a while. I don’t know my fish so couldn’t say exactly what they were, but I did see something that was like a carp or maybe a catfish. And several others had a snout-nose sort of like a pig. Anybody have any idea what those were?
Instead of crossing the border into New York, I decided to head out along the north shore of lake Ontario hoping to enjoy some good lake views. What I discovered, though, and I’d seen this along Lake Erie as well, is that there is no perimeter road running along the shoreline. Along most major lakes in the US you generally have a road that runs close to the shoreline, allowing access to private homes, B+B, resorts, etc. Apparently not so in Canada. I did manage to sneak out to the Lake Ontario shoreline and complete my ceremonial toe-dipping.
After passing Lake Ontario I continued on up the road as it paralleled the St. Lawrence Seaway. I camped that evening near the Ontario / Quebec border, pitching my tent literally 10 feet from the lapping waters of the shoreline. (The river was 7 miles wide at that point so they called the bulge a lake.) Fell asleep to the sound of the waves hitting the bank…in lieu of a hike (again no trail) I had to walk back to the highway interchange, about 6 miles round trip, and grab dinner. A net calorie gain, I’m afraid; I had a bacon cheeseburger at Dairy Queen.
Crossing the Quebec border, I stopped seeing road signs in both English and French. It seems that the Quebecois are not fond of the dual national languages of Canada! (Frederic, I could have used you, especially driving through Montreal!) I managed to make my way to the small border outpost I’d selected in Maine. Unfortunately it was so small that they hadn’t had their excitement for the day, so for the second time this trip I was detained while they tore my car apart. The border guard (who weighed about 350 lbs – what an embarrassment to people visiting America for the first time! talk about stereotypes…) was quite disappointed he couldn’t bust me for something. I guess I’m lucky he didn’t plant anything, since he wouldn’t let me outside while he searched the car – which I know is a clear violation of Customs rules; I’m definitely allowed to observe – if nothing else, to protect them from accusations of stealing anything.
Anyway, I got through and about 35 miles down the road, managed to intercept the Appalachian Trail near its beginning. Just to say I’d been on it, I hiked about 6 or 7 miles. Now, if I can just find time to do the other 2000…
At the conclusion of my hike, it began to rain buckets. I wasn’t really ready to stay in a motel, since I’d had a shower in camp that morning, but could find no campgrounds along my route. So after a pretty gnarly drive I pulled into Bangor, Maine and found a not-so-cheap motel room. Got cleaned up and a good night’s sleep, and it put me just 50 miles from my next destination, Acadia National Park. And given that it was Friday, that was a good thing – as I’d noted in earlier blogs, the campgrounds really fill up quickly on Fridays and Saturdays, especially near major population centers. Accordingly, I sped down the road and managed to procure such a good spot at only $14 that I decided to stay in the same place for TWO nights, a first for me.
No doubt, Acadia National Park is my second favorite place on this trip, after Glacier. It has tons of hiking, the campsites are pretty cool, and the watery scenery is awesome. As bad as the weather’d been the night before was how nice it was this day. After setting up camp I drove to Bar Harbor and had a deli sandwich for lunch and sat out of the deck. Afterwards I had a fantastic 10-mile hike that just kicked my tail, even though it topped out at about 1500 feet – the way the loop worked, it seems I had to climb most of that 1500 feet several times. I met someone up top that had been coming here for 30 years (his daughter lives on one of the private islands, and he himself “summers in the Hamptons” – I think they’re old money) who gave me some good tips on things to do. As I write this, tomorrow I’m planning to take one of the mail boats out to a couple of the public islands and hike around.
addendum: i just saw an email from the guy who was hiking with me in glacier. he sent me a website with the photos from his trip, which includes the hike we were on. here's the link: http://picasaweb.google.com/jon.hiller/GlacierNP
Monday, August 13, 2007
number severn
Hi all, I’m writing this blog in a motel room in Port Huron, Michigan. It’s the logical crossing point into Canada if I want to shortcut the ‘rust belt’ states to get to New England. I’ll cross the border tomorrow and hopefully get less hassle than I did the other day. Guess I’d better shave tonight…
This is definitely not one of the better rooms I’ve stayed in during any of my travels. For $70 I got a room with a bullet hole in the window (no kidding); it’s in the outer pane so I presume the inner one must have shattered and been replaced and they didn’t bother with the rest of the window. I’m facing a strip-mall type of shopping center so I guess that’s where it originated. I’ll be laying low tonight!
I do have a WiFi connection that came with the room so I’m going to post this straightaway when I’m done. If you missed it, I posted this morning ‘from the shores of the Gitche Gumee’. I actually saw WiFi advertised on a marquee for a Bob’s Big Boy (remember those? We used to have them in California) so I whipped into their parking lot – I’d just had breakfast – and posted that blog from their parking lot.
I fell asleep in my tent last night on the shore of Lake Michigan listening to the coyotes ‘singing’. I guess there has been a huge population explosion in the Upper Peninsula. Lots of ‘evidence’ of them on the lakeshore. It brought back some fond memories of camping in the desert; I’ve always found their yipping and howling to be kind of peaceful. Don’t know whether the Michigan locals agree…of course, back here they have an even more lovely sound: the loon. Now THAT puts me to sleep quickly!
In service to my goal of watching the 49ers on Monday night football (they lost), I drove about 300 miles down the Lake Michigan and Lake Huron shorelines and then took the interstate for about 100 miles across to Port Huron. (I’ve been avoiding the interstate but I was running out of time to make kickoff.) Not too much opportunity to hike, but I did manage to stop at one point along the shoreline and put in about 4.5 miles in just less than an hour and a half. One portion of my route took me into a forested area that was part of a state park. The sign said hunting and trapping WAS allowed, which made me a bit nervous, but after I verified that Dick Chaney wasn’t around I decided to go for it. I don’t think we allow hunting in any of the California state parks…different culture, I guess.
On a travel note, I’m averaging just over 53 miles per gallon in the 5600 miles I’ve put in so far. Pretty happy with the car; it’s a good road car. I stopped off at a 10-minute oil change place today as a reward for it treating me so nicely!
Anyway, that’s about it for now…have a great day!
This is definitely not one of the better rooms I’ve stayed in during any of my travels. For $70 I got a room with a bullet hole in the window (no kidding); it’s in the outer pane so I presume the inner one must have shattered and been replaced and they didn’t bother with the rest of the window. I’m facing a strip-mall type of shopping center so I guess that’s where it originated. I’ll be laying low tonight!
I do have a WiFi connection that came with the room so I’m going to post this straightaway when I’m done. If you missed it, I posted this morning ‘from the shores of the Gitche Gumee’. I actually saw WiFi advertised on a marquee for a Bob’s Big Boy (remember those? We used to have them in California) so I whipped into their parking lot – I’d just had breakfast – and posted that blog from their parking lot.
I fell asleep in my tent last night on the shore of Lake Michigan listening to the coyotes ‘singing’. I guess there has been a huge population explosion in the Upper Peninsula. Lots of ‘evidence’ of them on the lakeshore. It brought back some fond memories of camping in the desert; I’ve always found their yipping and howling to be kind of peaceful. Don’t know whether the Michigan locals agree…of course, back here they have an even more lovely sound: the loon. Now THAT puts me to sleep quickly!
In service to my goal of watching the 49ers on Monday night football (they lost), I drove about 300 miles down the Lake Michigan and Lake Huron shorelines and then took the interstate for about 100 miles across to Port Huron. (I’ve been avoiding the interstate but I was running out of time to make kickoff.) Not too much opportunity to hike, but I did manage to stop at one point along the shoreline and put in about 4.5 miles in just less than an hour and a half. One portion of my route took me into a forested area that was part of a state park. The sign said hunting and trapping WAS allowed, which made me a bit nervous, but after I verified that Dick Chaney wasn’t around I decided to go for it. I don’t think we allow hunting in any of the California state parks…different culture, I guess.
On a travel note, I’m averaging just over 53 miles per gallon in the 5600 miles I’ve put in so far. Pretty happy with the car; it’s a good road car. I stopped off at a 10-minute oil change place today as a reward for it treating me so nicely!
Anyway, that’s about it for now…have a great day!
by the shores of the gitche gumee
Hello from the shores of the Gitche Gumee (or the Gichi Gami, depending on what Indian translation you want to use). Well, that was true yesterday, when I wrote this and intended to post it but couldn’t find a WiFi. Lake Superior was a little like Montana; I couldn’t get away from it, but today I’m camping on the shores of Lake Michigan. Whose Indian name I have no idea…
Last I left you, I was in Duluth. I got a late start out of there, as I had been up until 3am doing various things (including writing the last blog) and then spent some time clearing out email since I don’t have to worry about laptop power any more. As a result, I didn’t make too much progress eastward, maybe about 100 miles, before I stopped at the Apostle Islands National Lakeshore. Since it was Friday afternoon, a busy time, I was told by the ranger to secure a camp spot on the lake before I went hiking, which I did. I did an excellent 9 mile round-trip hike along the lakeshore with a LOT of up-and-down. Exception of the altitude, it was as difficult as any hike I’d done in the mountains during the first week. It was warm, about 88 when I started, and everyone I met was complaining about the heat. Glad I’m Sacramento-proofed.
That evening the stars were as clear and bright as I’d seen in a while, so I went down to the dock to lay down and watch the annual Perseids meteor shower, which was just beginning. (It lasts for 3 nights, so I’m hoping the weather holds.)
Just for the heck of it, I decided to put the rain flap on the tent although the skies were clear, and it was a good thing – in the morning I awoke to raindrops. Getting a bit tired of all of the rain while camping, but I guess I’m just a spoiled Californian…
The next day I was on my way to Pictured Rocks but got sidetracked by an excellent hiking opportunity in the Porcupine Mountains. Blew out a 12-miler (which was supposed to be a loop, but I took a wrong turn, so it ended up being an out-and-back) with a lot of uphill, so I got my exercise in. Managed to grab a shower in the lower ‘developed’ campground, as I was in a 3-spot ‘rustic’ campground up in the forest. Got what I hope were a couple of good sunset shots of the lake…
One of the spots was empty so there was only two of us in the campground. When I got back to the site I started talking to the guy – turns out he owns a resort in the lower part of Michigan. He gave me a brochure and told me I could stay there ‘at cost’ if I come back this way again. The sky was clear and the second night of the meteor shower was starting, so we watched that for a while as we compared notes on our travels. He was there a couple of days in advance of a church group of teenage boys he was going to take into the backcountry. Another in a long list of interesting people I’ve met.
Today I broke camp and did a quick 4-mile hike before rolling out, since I wasn’t sure if I’d get much of an opportunity later. I was again heading towards Pictured Rocks and the charter boat tour of the lake cliffs. Unfortunately, when I got to the dock, the waves on Lake Superior were 8 feet due to the strong wind, so they weren’t going out. Rather than waste some travel time by setting up camp and waiting until the morning (when there was no guarantee), and given the fact that the campsites were several miles down a gravel road (which I’d promised Naomi I wouldn’t drive “her” car on) I simply left and headed south towards Lake Michigan. I’d been told about a hiking opportunity down here, so I tackled that – short but fairly intense – and then found a campsite along the lake where I now sit typing.
My original plan for tomorrow was to cross the border yet again and drive through Ontario and maybe Quebec, re-entering the US either at Buffalo, NY or somewhere north in Vermont or Maine. However, since I discovered that the 49ers are on Monday Night Football, and I’ve had absolutely no information on training camp for my beloved 49ers, I’m going to find a motel with ESPN and stay there. I’m due for a motel anyway. Not totally sure if I could be guaranteed of seeing the game if I’m in Canada, so I may head south and stay somewhere in lower Michigan. As I’ve noted before, though, a Toyota Prius with California plates down in GM/Ford/Chrysler country seems like a traffic ticket waiting to happen, even if I drive perfectly. So I’ll consider my options in the morning…
Hope everyone’s well!
Last I left you, I was in Duluth. I got a late start out of there, as I had been up until 3am doing various things (including writing the last blog) and then spent some time clearing out email since I don’t have to worry about laptop power any more. As a result, I didn’t make too much progress eastward, maybe about 100 miles, before I stopped at the Apostle Islands National Lakeshore. Since it was Friday afternoon, a busy time, I was told by the ranger to secure a camp spot on the lake before I went hiking, which I did. I did an excellent 9 mile round-trip hike along the lakeshore with a LOT of up-and-down. Exception of the altitude, it was as difficult as any hike I’d done in the mountains during the first week. It was warm, about 88 when I started, and everyone I met was complaining about the heat. Glad I’m Sacramento-proofed.
That evening the stars were as clear and bright as I’d seen in a while, so I went down to the dock to lay down and watch the annual Perseids meteor shower, which was just beginning. (It lasts for 3 nights, so I’m hoping the weather holds.)
Just for the heck of it, I decided to put the rain flap on the tent although the skies were clear, and it was a good thing – in the morning I awoke to raindrops. Getting a bit tired of all of the rain while camping, but I guess I’m just a spoiled Californian…
The next day I was on my way to Pictured Rocks but got sidetracked by an excellent hiking opportunity in the Porcupine Mountains. Blew out a 12-miler (which was supposed to be a loop, but I took a wrong turn, so it ended up being an out-and-back) with a lot of uphill, so I got my exercise in. Managed to grab a shower in the lower ‘developed’ campground, as I was in a 3-spot ‘rustic’ campground up in the forest. Got what I hope were a couple of good sunset shots of the lake…
One of the spots was empty so there was only two of us in the campground. When I got back to the site I started talking to the guy – turns out he owns a resort in the lower part of Michigan. He gave me a brochure and told me I could stay there ‘at cost’ if I come back this way again. The sky was clear and the second night of the meteor shower was starting, so we watched that for a while as we compared notes on our travels. He was there a couple of days in advance of a church group of teenage boys he was going to take into the backcountry. Another in a long list of interesting people I’ve met.
Today I broke camp and did a quick 4-mile hike before rolling out, since I wasn’t sure if I’d get much of an opportunity later. I was again heading towards Pictured Rocks and the charter boat tour of the lake cliffs. Unfortunately, when I got to the dock, the waves on Lake Superior were 8 feet due to the strong wind, so they weren’t going out. Rather than waste some travel time by setting up camp and waiting until the morning (when there was no guarantee), and given the fact that the campsites were several miles down a gravel road (which I’d promised Naomi I wouldn’t drive “her” car on) I simply left and headed south towards Lake Michigan. I’d been told about a hiking opportunity down here, so I tackled that – short but fairly intense – and then found a campsite along the lake where I now sit typing.
My original plan for tomorrow was to cross the border yet again and drive through Ontario and maybe Quebec, re-entering the US either at Buffalo, NY or somewhere north in Vermont or Maine. However, since I discovered that the 49ers are on Monday Night Football, and I’ve had absolutely no information on training camp for my beloved 49ers, I’m going to find a motel with ESPN and stay there. I’m due for a motel anyway. Not totally sure if I could be guaranteed of seeing the game if I’m in Canada, so I may head south and stay somewhere in lower Michigan. As I’ve noted before, though, a Toyota Prius with California plates down in GM/Ford/Chrysler country seems like a traffic ticket waiting to happen, even if I drive perfectly. So I’ll consider my options in the morning…
Hope everyone’s well!
Friday, August 10, 2007
numero sink-o
Aaaahhhh…power! Naomi’s second attempt to send me a power cord worked…with no small amount of hassle on both our parts. But I’m back in the saddle again…now where was I?
Oh yeah, in Billings, heading to Wind Cave in South Dakota. I was unaware of one small detail: STURGIS. For those not in the 2-wheeler mindset, Harley Davidson ‘hosts’ a gigantic annual week-long rally in Sturgis, South Dakota – directly on my route. And it was starting the day I was headed through.
Now, I’d been seeing lots of bikers for a few days, but I’d just assumed that it was normal summer traffic. But as I got within about 50 miles of Sturgis I could see a haze that I first thought was a fire. But it was actually smog. (I don’t know if there are emission controls on motorcycles?) Then the traffic started to get heavy – and I’m not exaggerating to say it seemed there were 10 bikes for every car. I’ll be curious to see how many bikes were in the area – I’d have to guess at least 15,000, and they were covering about an 80 mile radius, because Wind Cave had a lot of biker traffic and it’s about 70 miles south of Sturgis. A couple of the towns actually had Main Street shut down to cars – “motorcycles only”.
Anyway, the 360 mile drive from Billings was pretty difficult, because although 98% of the bikers are good drivers, there are about 2% that don’t want to follow the rules. Lane changes, unsafe passes, U-turns in the middle of the highway, running stop signs, not taking turns, etc. Fortunately I didn’t take anyone out and didn’t get any of the Hell’s Angels mad at me {:>
I thought Wind Cave was a relatively new National Park because I’d never heard of it, but in fact it’s over 100 years old. It’s very small, only 44 square miles, with about 30 miles of hiking trails (most of which I did), a small heard of bison (no, that’s not a typo – a couple were arguing noisily all night) and of course, the cave. It’s billed as the 4th-longest cave in the world at 124 miles, all of which is stacked on top of each other below a one-square-mile section of the surface. I took a long tour and it was pretty impressive, like most caves – lots of intricate shapes left by the limestone erosion process.
The signs tell you not to interact with the bison because they’re unpredictable, and they weigh 2000 pounds and run 35 mph. Armed with this information, I went hiking in what I hoped was a bison-free zone. However, a lone bison decided to wander over and use the “people trail”. (Evidence indicates this as a fairly normal occurrence.) I followed him for a while, staying about 100 feet behind him (and he knew I was there) when he decided to lie down and roll around on his back, feet in the air – hilarious. When he didn’t get up after a while, I had to go cross-country through a prairie dog town – cute little critters, but noisy - to get back to the trailhead.
Bad pun time: I encountered a bison carcass on their portion of South Dakota’s Centennial Trail. So naturally, I had to go back and tell the rangers they needed to rename the trail the ‘Bison-tennial’ trail…
Since I was so close to Nebraska, naturally I had to drive down to check it out (and claim another state). Drove down to Chadron (anybody remember Don Beebe? he went to school there…) and then back up through the Badlands to the town of Wall, SD. About 25 years ago in business school, we did a case study on Wall Drug, a family-owned business that survived the Depression by serving free ice water to travelers. They still have free ice water and 5-cent coffee but I was unimpressed with the rest of the operation – everything else was too expensive and hard to find, and they didn’t have the basics I was looking for – paper plates and a couple of Paydays. Guess they’ve gone corporate.
My detour through Nebraska cost me some time, so in order to make progress eastward, I headed up towards the state capital of Pierre, SD (official motto: “le milieu de nulle part”), violating my no-driving-at-night policy for the last 40 miles. (Don’t think I missed much.) I stopped at a state park with the rather clinical name “Oahe Downstream” – it’s just underneath the Oahe Dam on the Missouri River. For a mere $17 I got a campsite under the cottonwoods and a free shower – such a deal. After hiking around the marina and cottonwood forest, I returned to break camp – at which point a large 50-foot cottonwood tree nearby decided to collapse. No wind, no external impetus - the interior wood was rotten and it just gave up. Glad no one was camped under it.
Next day I zig-zagged from Pierre up through eastern North Dakota, stopping at a wildlife preserve for some hiking before crossing the state line at Fargo, ND, into Minnesota. It was getting dark so I camped just over the state line at Buffalo River State Park. It, too, had a free shower with the $23 fee but was a bit grody - I may have been cleaner before I stepped into it.
Due to circumstances involving my power cord, I needed to be at the FedEx site in Hibbing, MN by 5pm so I had to forego a morning hike and start driving. I must have driven past at least half of the ten thousand lakes on my way up there. (As they say, it rains every day in Minnesota, so I can see why there’s so much collected water.) I got to Hibbing a couple of hours early so I did some urban hiking and recycling-collection. Hibbing is now 67 cans/bottles cleaner – but I got some very strange looks; apparently there is not much recycling done up there. After picking up my power cord I continued up towards Voyageurs National Park, in the boundary waters between the US and Canada. All of the campsites are boat-access, but I stayed at a state park nearby and was able to do some more hiking along the Ash River before calling it a night.
This morning I hiked in the Voyageurs park (scaring up a white-tail deer) and then headed up to International Falls, the self-proclaimed ‘coldest spot in the lower 48’. I somehow managed to get myself into line to cross over to Canada before I got to see the falls, so I’ll have to go back some day. The Canadian customs folks were mighty suspicious of me – could have been my scruffy beard, the dirty clothes, the smell, whatever – and they tore my car apart and held me for an hour before letting me pass. I grabbed lunch and decided to take on the 230-mile drive to Thunder Bay, Ontario, and then another 150 down to Duluth, MN. (The US customs guy was much nicer to me!). Lake Superior looks just like an ocean – can’t see the other side. All day I saw lots of beautiful north-woods scenery which I hope I captured on camera.
I needed a relaxing night in a motel and a Laundromat, but found Duluth fully booked for their annual blues festival. I’ve found a rather downscale motel (I’m being nice here!) on the Wisconsin side of the river where I sit as I write this blog. Assuming my car hasn’t been stolen or broken into, tomorrow I’ll find some WiFi and post the blog and then head over to the Apostle Islands National Lakeshore nearby for some hiking. Have a great day!
Oh yeah, in Billings, heading to Wind Cave in South Dakota. I was unaware of one small detail: STURGIS. For those not in the 2-wheeler mindset, Harley Davidson ‘hosts’ a gigantic annual week-long rally in Sturgis, South Dakota – directly on my route. And it was starting the day I was headed through.
Now, I’d been seeing lots of bikers for a few days, but I’d just assumed that it was normal summer traffic. But as I got within about 50 miles of Sturgis I could see a haze that I first thought was a fire. But it was actually smog. (I don’t know if there are emission controls on motorcycles?) Then the traffic started to get heavy – and I’m not exaggerating to say it seemed there were 10 bikes for every car. I’ll be curious to see how many bikes were in the area – I’d have to guess at least 15,000, and they were covering about an 80 mile radius, because Wind Cave had a lot of biker traffic and it’s about 70 miles south of Sturgis. A couple of the towns actually had Main Street shut down to cars – “motorcycles only”.
Anyway, the 360 mile drive from Billings was pretty difficult, because although 98% of the bikers are good drivers, there are about 2% that don’t want to follow the rules. Lane changes, unsafe passes, U-turns in the middle of the highway, running stop signs, not taking turns, etc. Fortunately I didn’t take anyone out and didn’t get any of the Hell’s Angels mad at me {:>
I thought Wind Cave was a relatively new National Park because I’d never heard of it, but in fact it’s over 100 years old. It’s very small, only 44 square miles, with about 30 miles of hiking trails (most of which I did), a small heard of bison (no, that’s not a typo – a couple were arguing noisily all night) and of course, the cave. It’s billed as the 4th-longest cave in the world at 124 miles, all of which is stacked on top of each other below a one-square-mile section of the surface. I took a long tour and it was pretty impressive, like most caves – lots of intricate shapes left by the limestone erosion process.
The signs tell you not to interact with the bison because they’re unpredictable, and they weigh 2000 pounds and run 35 mph. Armed with this information, I went hiking in what I hoped was a bison-free zone. However, a lone bison decided to wander over and use the “people trail”. (Evidence indicates this as a fairly normal occurrence.) I followed him for a while, staying about 100 feet behind him (and he knew I was there) when he decided to lie down and roll around on his back, feet in the air – hilarious. When he didn’t get up after a while, I had to go cross-country through a prairie dog town – cute little critters, but noisy - to get back to the trailhead.
Bad pun time: I encountered a bison carcass on their portion of South Dakota’s Centennial Trail. So naturally, I had to go back and tell the rangers they needed to rename the trail the ‘Bison-tennial’ trail…
Since I was so close to Nebraska, naturally I had to drive down to check it out (and claim another state). Drove down to Chadron (anybody remember Don Beebe? he went to school there…) and then back up through the Badlands to the town of Wall, SD. About 25 years ago in business school, we did a case study on Wall Drug, a family-owned business that survived the Depression by serving free ice water to travelers. They still have free ice water and 5-cent coffee but I was unimpressed with the rest of the operation – everything else was too expensive and hard to find, and they didn’t have the basics I was looking for – paper plates and a couple of Paydays. Guess they’ve gone corporate.
My detour through Nebraska cost me some time, so in order to make progress eastward, I headed up towards the state capital of Pierre, SD (official motto: “le milieu de nulle part”), violating my no-driving-at-night policy for the last 40 miles. (Don’t think I missed much.) I stopped at a state park with the rather clinical name “Oahe Downstream” – it’s just underneath the Oahe Dam on the Missouri River. For a mere $17 I got a campsite under the cottonwoods and a free shower – such a deal. After hiking around the marina and cottonwood forest, I returned to break camp – at which point a large 50-foot cottonwood tree nearby decided to collapse. No wind, no external impetus - the interior wood was rotten and it just gave up. Glad no one was camped under it.
Next day I zig-zagged from Pierre up through eastern North Dakota, stopping at a wildlife preserve for some hiking before crossing the state line at Fargo, ND, into Minnesota. It was getting dark so I camped just over the state line at Buffalo River State Park. It, too, had a free shower with the $23 fee but was a bit grody - I may have been cleaner before I stepped into it.
Due to circumstances involving my power cord, I needed to be at the FedEx site in Hibbing, MN by 5pm so I had to forego a morning hike and start driving. I must have driven past at least half of the ten thousand lakes on my way up there. (As they say, it rains every day in Minnesota, so I can see why there’s so much collected water.) I got to Hibbing a couple of hours early so I did some urban hiking and recycling-collection. Hibbing is now 67 cans/bottles cleaner – but I got some very strange looks; apparently there is not much recycling done up there. After picking up my power cord I continued up towards Voyageurs National Park, in the boundary waters between the US and Canada. All of the campsites are boat-access, but I stayed at a state park nearby and was able to do some more hiking along the Ash River before calling it a night.
This morning I hiked in the Voyageurs park (scaring up a white-tail deer) and then headed up to International Falls, the self-proclaimed ‘coldest spot in the lower 48’. I somehow managed to get myself into line to cross over to Canada before I got to see the falls, so I’ll have to go back some day. The Canadian customs folks were mighty suspicious of me – could have been my scruffy beard, the dirty clothes, the smell, whatever – and they tore my car apart and held me for an hour before letting me pass. I grabbed lunch and decided to take on the 230-mile drive to Thunder Bay, Ontario, and then another 150 down to Duluth, MN. (The US customs guy was much nicer to me!). Lake Superior looks just like an ocean – can’t see the other side. All day I saw lots of beautiful north-woods scenery which I hope I captured on camera.
I needed a relaxing night in a motel and a Laundromat, but found Duluth fully booked for their annual blues festival. I’ve found a rather downscale motel (I’m being nice here!) on the Wisconsin side of the river where I sit as I write this blog. Assuming my car hasn’t been stolen or broken into, tomorrow I’ll find some WiFi and post the blog and then head over to the Apostle Islands National Lakeshore nearby for some hiking. Have a great day!
Sunday, August 5, 2007
numero quattro
Sunday, August 5 in Billings, Montana. (Just can’t seem to clear Montana! Love it here…)
Since my last post I’ve spent 3 days in Yellowstone and one in Grand Teton (English translation: Big Breast). While the scenery is not nearly as spectacular as Glacier, they’re beautiful in their own right.
The drive down from Glacier was very smoky, as Montana is battling several major blazes – one right outside Glacier and another outside Helena. Lots of farm country which I love to drive through – mostly cattle and grains.
I arrived at the North entrance to Yellowstone and headed down to their ‘Grand Canyon’, which someone had told me was the best campspot. Arriving at 1pm I found the campsite full – but was able to snag a spot due to someone’s cancellation. (Campspots in both parks seem to be at an absolute premium this time of year – it’s affected how I schedule my day, as I fight for a spot each day. Hopefully it gets better as I head east.) As I started to set up my tent, a woman in the site next to me asked if I would switch to another site a few spots away so that she and her family could have two adjoining spots. No problem for me, and she made me a turkey sandwich (to order!) and brought it and lunch to my new spot. Now that’s a deal!
That day I tackled a couple of very short, but intense, hikes – each about 1 mile round trip but with 600 feet of vertical (going down into the canyon on each side). The canyon’s spectacular. Next I went on a seven mile loop which was supposed to be relatively easy, with a couple of lakes and some geothermal features. And it was – until it started raining after a couple of miles. I was unprepared and got soaked. As I arrived back in the village area near the campsite, I went inside to warm up and noticed that they were selling t-shirts for $5. Good deal for a dry shirt I thought, so now I have a souvenier! I also found that their cafeteria serves pretty good food – chicken cordon bleu, cheesecake and a hot chocolate for $15. I guarantee I’ve never had hot chocolate on August 1 before!
I was told that although Glacier has tons of moose (and I never saw one) that it’d be unlikely to see any in Yellowstone. But in fact that’s the first thing I saw – three moose crossing the road. Later I encountered a bison crossing, who stood in front of my car ‘posing’ (or evaluating whether he outweighed me!). Lots of deer – I nearly clocked one early in the morning coming around a corner.
Yellowstone is known, of course, for its geothermal features, so the second day I hiked through several of the geyser basins and saw Old Faithful as well. (A bit disappointing after you’ve seen some others, but it’s accessible I guess.) I managed about 15 miles of hiking with some pretty good climbs and took a lot of pictures. Sawa bear track but no bear, thankfully. A very strange place, and a little nerve-wracking – seems it could blow at any moment!
I got rained on again that second day, which I guess is a common occurrence on summer afternoons, but I was prepared with a jacket. I met a local hiker, an older gentleman named Bob, who’d lived in the park for 8 years and was close to completing 5000 miles of hiking in the park. Living my dream!
I drove down to Grand Teton very early the next day to grab a spot at a campground that routinely fills by 9am (it’s tents-only, which holds a lot of attraction for those of us without motorhomes.) I had to drive into Jackson, Wyoming to pick up some equipment, including the power cord for this laptop – which turned out to be the wrong one (so this could be my last post for a while; new power cords are $125). I did a 15.5 mile hike that afternoon to Solitude Lake which took me from 6800 feet up to 9000. What a climb. The lake was beautiful but I’d forgotten my camera, so I’ll need to find some photos on the ‘net.
Yesterday I drove the Beartooth pass, which is supposedly the most beautiful drive in America – and I won’t argue. It goes through scenery like I’d been hiking to, so those people who don’t get out of their cars got to see what I’ve been working hard to see…
Running out of battery. Today I’m heading to Wind Cave in South Dakota and then north through North Dakota and Minnesota. Will post in a few days if I can find an internet connection in some local library.
Ciao! Have a great day!
Since my last post I’ve spent 3 days in Yellowstone and one in Grand Teton (English translation: Big Breast). While the scenery is not nearly as spectacular as Glacier, they’re beautiful in their own right.
The drive down from Glacier was very smoky, as Montana is battling several major blazes – one right outside Glacier and another outside Helena. Lots of farm country which I love to drive through – mostly cattle and grains.
I arrived at the North entrance to Yellowstone and headed down to their ‘Grand Canyon’, which someone had told me was the best campspot. Arriving at 1pm I found the campsite full – but was able to snag a spot due to someone’s cancellation. (Campspots in both parks seem to be at an absolute premium this time of year – it’s affected how I schedule my day, as I fight for a spot each day. Hopefully it gets better as I head east.) As I started to set up my tent, a woman in the site next to me asked if I would switch to another site a few spots away so that she and her family could have two adjoining spots. No problem for me, and she made me a turkey sandwich (to order!) and brought it and lunch to my new spot. Now that’s a deal!
That day I tackled a couple of very short, but intense, hikes – each about 1 mile round trip but with 600 feet of vertical (going down into the canyon on each side). The canyon’s spectacular. Next I went on a seven mile loop which was supposed to be relatively easy, with a couple of lakes and some geothermal features. And it was – until it started raining after a couple of miles. I was unprepared and got soaked. As I arrived back in the village area near the campsite, I went inside to warm up and noticed that they were selling t-shirts for $5. Good deal for a dry shirt I thought, so now I have a souvenier! I also found that their cafeteria serves pretty good food – chicken cordon bleu, cheesecake and a hot chocolate for $15. I guarantee I’ve never had hot chocolate on August 1 before!
I was told that although Glacier has tons of moose (and I never saw one) that it’d be unlikely to see any in Yellowstone. But in fact that’s the first thing I saw – three moose crossing the road. Later I encountered a bison crossing, who stood in front of my car ‘posing’ (or evaluating whether he outweighed me!). Lots of deer – I nearly clocked one early in the morning coming around a corner.
Yellowstone is known, of course, for its geothermal features, so the second day I hiked through several of the geyser basins and saw Old Faithful as well. (A bit disappointing after you’ve seen some others, but it’s accessible I guess.) I managed about 15 miles of hiking with some pretty good climbs and took a lot of pictures. Sawa bear track but no bear, thankfully. A very strange place, and a little nerve-wracking – seems it could blow at any moment!
I got rained on again that second day, which I guess is a common occurrence on summer afternoons, but I was prepared with a jacket. I met a local hiker, an older gentleman named Bob, who’d lived in the park for 8 years and was close to completing 5000 miles of hiking in the park. Living my dream!
I drove down to Grand Teton very early the next day to grab a spot at a campground that routinely fills by 9am (it’s tents-only, which holds a lot of attraction for those of us without motorhomes.) I had to drive into Jackson, Wyoming to pick up some equipment, including the power cord for this laptop – which turned out to be the wrong one (so this could be my last post for a while; new power cords are $125). I did a 15.5 mile hike that afternoon to Solitude Lake which took me from 6800 feet up to 9000. What a climb. The lake was beautiful but I’d forgotten my camera, so I’ll need to find some photos on the ‘net.
Yesterday I drove the Beartooth pass, which is supposedly the most beautiful drive in America – and I won’t argue. It goes through scenery like I’d been hiking to, so those people who don’t get out of their cars got to see what I’ve been working hard to see…
Running out of battery. Today I’m heading to Wind Cave in South Dakota and then north through North Dakota and Minnesota. Will post in a few days if I can find an internet connection in some local library.
Ciao! Have a great day!
Wednesday, August 1, 2007
numero tres
Breathtaking! But enough about the altitude…
Glacier National Park is just about the most visually spectacular place I’ve ever been. Waterfalls. Glaciers. Jagged peaks. Alpine lakes with icebergs. Pristine meadows. And did I mention the waterfalls?
In addition to all of that, there is an abundance of very accessible wildlife. Just the first day, I was within a few feet of marmots, bighorn sheep, mountain goats, coyotes, and blacktail deer. Hiking downhill to Hidden Lake, I encountered a mother mountain goat and her kid coming up the trail towards me. I stepped aside and they passed within arm’s length. (And did I think to turn my camera on video mode? Noooo…) Four bighorn sheep crossed the trail just a few feet from me, although they obviously didn’t want to be near me. The trail I took yesterday, Grinnell Glacier, had been closed for grizzly activity – I took the hike the second day it was re-opened. And sure enough, I encountered a mama and cub (which I was alerted to by some people on a boat near the trail – “hey, there are two grizzlies just ahead of you!”). They were about 150 feet away which was fine with me – but when I returned 3 hours later, they were just 50 feet from me, so I got some good photos (I hope) while I was talking nicely to them.
Had a black bear near my campsite this morning as I was breaking camp, and then saw three black bear cubs snoozing at the edge of a forest next to the road. Didn’t see any moose, which was my only disappointment.
I took three hikes: 7 miles (1400 ft gain) the day I drove in, and 12 miles (1600’) the next day, topped off by a 19-miler today (2700’ gain). The panoramic views are beyond words – the trail goes up very quickly in the first 6 miles and then you walk 4 miles along a ridgetop which is the continental divide. All around is just incredible geographic features – I’m sure the photos I took won’t do it justice. (I met another guy on the trail and he took some panoramic photos, which I’m hoping he’ll send me in email.)
I also drove into Canada (Alberta) after my second-day hike, just to see the farm country. Both Montana and Alberta are very agriculture-oriented – lot of wheat and cattle. Very pretty. I’m not sure what they do during the “8 months of winter”, though.
I’ve met some interesting people. Spent at least 2 hours in camp last night talking with an Economics professor from Durango, Colorado, who’d quit teaching for 5 years to bum around the US and Europe. He’d been to many of the places I want to go, so I got some good advice.
Lots of funny place names and business names – 9pipe, hungry horse, 2-dog flat, and my favorite, 3-dog down (a business selling very warm duck down – I guess it keeps you as warm as a 3-dog night).
I’m currently in Helena, the state capital of Montana, and will head into Yellowstone tomorrow. I’ll plan to spend two days there and hope the experiences are just as good.
Have a great day, everyone!
Glacier National Park is just about the most visually spectacular place I’ve ever been. Waterfalls. Glaciers. Jagged peaks. Alpine lakes with icebergs. Pristine meadows. And did I mention the waterfalls?
In addition to all of that, there is an abundance of very accessible wildlife. Just the first day, I was within a few feet of marmots, bighorn sheep, mountain goats, coyotes, and blacktail deer. Hiking downhill to Hidden Lake, I encountered a mother mountain goat and her kid coming up the trail towards me. I stepped aside and they passed within arm’s length. (And did I think to turn my camera on video mode? Noooo…) Four bighorn sheep crossed the trail just a few feet from me, although they obviously didn’t want to be near me. The trail I took yesterday, Grinnell Glacier, had been closed for grizzly activity – I took the hike the second day it was re-opened. And sure enough, I encountered a mama and cub (which I was alerted to by some people on a boat near the trail – “hey, there are two grizzlies just ahead of you!”). They were about 150 feet away which was fine with me – but when I returned 3 hours later, they were just 50 feet from me, so I got some good photos (I hope) while I was talking nicely to them.
Had a black bear near my campsite this morning as I was breaking camp, and then saw three black bear cubs snoozing at the edge of a forest next to the road. Didn’t see any moose, which was my only disappointment.
I took three hikes: 7 miles (1400 ft gain) the day I drove in, and 12 miles (1600’) the next day, topped off by a 19-miler today (2700’ gain). The panoramic views are beyond words – the trail goes up very quickly in the first 6 miles and then you walk 4 miles along a ridgetop which is the continental divide. All around is just incredible geographic features – I’m sure the photos I took won’t do it justice. (I met another guy on the trail and he took some panoramic photos, which I’m hoping he’ll send me in email.)
I also drove into Canada (Alberta) after my second-day hike, just to see the farm country. Both Montana and Alberta are very agriculture-oriented – lot of wheat and cattle. Very pretty. I’m not sure what they do during the “8 months of winter”, though.
I’ve met some interesting people. Spent at least 2 hours in camp last night talking with an Economics professor from Durango, Colorado, who’d quit teaching for 5 years to bum around the US and Europe. He’d been to many of the places I want to go, so I got some good advice.
Lots of funny place names and business names – 9pipe, hungry horse, 2-dog flat, and my favorite, 3-dog down (a business selling very warm duck down – I guess it keeps you as warm as a 3-dog night).
I’m currently in Helena, the state capital of Montana, and will head into Yellowstone tomorrow. I’ll plan to spend two days there and hope the experiences are just as good.
Have a great day, everyone!
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