After visiting Mesa Verde we spent the night in Cortez. The next morning we drove back to Arches and spent the day there. We probably hiked a total seven miles and saw stunning scenery almost everywhere we went.
I’ll let the pictures tell the story.
Mesa Verde
Mesa Verde National Park is the location of abandoned Native American cliff dwellings.
Although people had lived in the area for thousands of years the cliff buildings were used for less than 100 years. People left the area by 1285 due to a long lasting and severe drought.
In the upper left corner of the picture below you see a dwelling across the canyon from where Barb and I toured “Balcony House” as seen with the naked eye.
Below is with a 300 mm lens (~6X).
Below is a close up of the dwelling in the picture above.
Bryce Canyon
It was foggy when we started our hike through Bryce Canyon. This gave the area a surreal feel at first. But the fog burned off and we got some great long distance views as we finished. The hiking book Barb brought claims the Queen’s Garden and Navaho Loop trail is reputed to be the best hike in the U.S. if not the world. After hiking through almost unbelievable geological formations this is a believable claim.
I’ll let the pictures tell the rest of the story.
Maddy comes home
Maddy came home from South America last night. She seemed as glad to be home as we were to have her home.
Her plane arrived on time and we hoped to meet her as she left security although the official plan was to meet her at baggage claim. She didn’t have cell phone so we could connect if we missed her so I went to baggage claim while Barb and Max waited at the security exit. Barb and Max met her and I was a little late catching up but Maddy still gave me a big hug:
We waited and waited for her baggage. There was an accident on the tarmac and it was delayed. Finally the luggage starting showing up but her backpack wasn’t there. Barb check with the airline and found that it had come in on an earlier flight. We could have been on our way MUCH sooner. No matter. We had Maddy back in the states on time and that was the important part.
She brought home lots of stuff like native grown and processed chocolate, a necklace (worn by male leaders of the tribe), and demonstrated her blowgun for us:
Now I need to demonstrate to her how to use modern guns.
Bainbridge Island Swamp Lake
Last Sunday Barb and I went for a hike on Bainbridge Island. We were meeting friends from the peninsula and as this is about halfway in between our homes and them liking the outdoors as much as we did we decided to go on a short hike through the woods to Gazzam Lake.
We planned to leave at 8:30 AM to catch the 9:35 ferry but we were ready to go at 8:20 and left early. We arrived at the ferry dock, paid for our ticket, and were told we were going to be on the 8:45 ferry. Essentially we arrived just a few minutes before it was scheduled to leave and just had to drive onto the ferry and it took off. Excellent timing! The only problem was we were now 50 minutes early to meet our friends.
Grandson Bryce’s first hike in the woods
Since his parents don’t really care for hiking in the woods Barb and I took it upon ourselves to take Bryce on his first hike. It was a short walk, about 1.1 miles round trip. He walked the entire way except for when I carried him about 100 feet at the place the trail was very narrow with a steep drop off to sharp rocks on one side.
He seemed pretty happy with the whole adventure. He did seem to think throwing rocks in the water was more interesting than looking at the waterfall though.
Photo by Barb
He switched things up a bit by throwing a stick too.
Photo by Barb
All indications are that he had a good time.
Better than a walk around the neighborhood
We weren’t in the mood for an all day adventure so we found a hike that was less than 10 miles away from home and less than three miles round trip with little elevation gain. We ended up selecting Around the Lake Trail.
Lakes are generally nice so there would be a view better than just the trail and the woods, right? Well… generally that is true. But this hiked ended up being, in the words of Barb, “notably non-memorable.”
It wasn’t bad in any way. It just wasn’t anything great.
One of the main attractions of this hike was a short branch of the trail called “Bus Trail”. This was the bus. I suspect it’s history is less interesting than all the bullet holes might suggest.
I’ve seen bigger and nicer ponds than this lake.
I’m sorry. That doesn’t qualify as a “lake”. That’s a wet spot that should be drained and made into a meadow.
A fair amount of the trail was close to being a sidewalk.
Then there was the section of the trail that was fenced in.
This might be fun for kids of the appropriate age but we didn’t bother to check it out.
We did have fun with a short game of “where’s Barb?”
There was some scenery that was pleasurable to look at and it was certainly better than a walk around the neighborhood.
Franklin Falls
It is very hot this weekend and Barb went looking for a hike that wasn’t too long and with very little elevation gain. Franklin Falls met our criteria.
It was crowded and it is easy to see why. The trail was mostly wide and smooth. The trail was shaded and while it was 90 F at home it was 72 F at the trail head. Only at the very end was it a little bit sketchy with a steep drop off on one side:
The actual falls were nice too:
The bridge you see in the upper left of the picture above is the west bound lanes of I-90 just west of Snoqualmie Pass. As Barb said, “I had no idea this was here.”
Cama beach family reunion
Barb and Max left Friday afternoon and I followed after work. The traffic was terrible for me and it took me over two hours. But Barb was waiting for me at the park entrance and guided me through the parking and transportation from the parking area to the cabins about, by trail, 350 yards away.
We visited and went on some short hikes until it started getting dark then sat around the tables in front of the cabins and visited until it was time for bed. Most of the people I talked to asked about Maddy and Barb and I filled them in with the latest stories.
The cabins were close to the water and clean. The walls were very thin though. And the cabins were close together. You could hear people snoring in the cabin next you. We gave Max the bedroom and the large bed. Barb and I slept on the rollaway bed. Every movement was a screech of metal and the wall was so thin my snoring kept Max from sleeping well.
Lots of pictures below the fold.
Sea level to 7000 feet
Yesterday Barb and I were riding a ferry at sea level.
Today (after driving to 6400 feet at Sunrise on Mount Rainier) we hiked to Dege Peak which is over 7000 feet above sea level:
This is the hike we attempted during Memorial Day Weekend.
The views were surreal.