Road Trip 2014

 

A quick selfie and the road trip began

Tradition has it that the first week of August, my lovely wife takes her annual vacation.  Being retired, I no longer have need for vacations; instead I prefer to consider such events as adventurous road trips.

With the car packed with all of life’s essentials, a full tank of gas, and a road maps from Triple A, we headed north.  Our destination was Port Angles, WA, also known as the gateway to Olympic National Park.

The park is massive; in terms of area it is slightly larger than the state of Rhode Island.  The landscape of the park ranges from the coastal beaches bordering the Pacific Ocean to the glaciate peaks of the Olympic Mountain Range.  The park’s west side is home to the lush temperate rainforest where the annual rainfall is in excess of one-hundred inches.  The size of the park and the rugged terrain make this national park seem daunting at times.  No road goes all the way across the park but you can drive completely around it on US Highway 101.

Hurricane Ridge is a popular destination and the most accessible mountainous area within the park.  Located at an elevation of 4,242 feet, it affords the ideal location to view Mount Olympus and the Olympic Mountain range.

Looking south from Hurricane Ridge.  The early morning hazy was caused by the smoke from distant forest fires

Mount Olympus looking west from the Hurricane Ridge

The park’s west side is home to the Hoh Rain Forest where the annual rainfall is measured in feet and giant hemlock, Douglas-fir and Sitka Spruce dominate the landscape.  Even to an old forester who has spent much of his life in the woods, the Hoh is impressive.

Sitka Spruce towering over 200 feet in height

This Douglas-fir is over twenty stories tall and the biggest one I have ever seen

The entire forest is far above your head

In many places, little light reaches the forest floor

The Strait of Juan de Fuca runs east from the Pacific Ocean and is the gateway to Puget Sound and Seattle, WA.  During the summer months, the cold waters of the strait are frequently shrouded in dense fog.

Strait of Juan de Fuca looking north to Canada

 

With Canada just over an hour ride by ferry, we decided to make a visit to Victoria, the capital of British Columbia.  Established in 1843 as a British outpost, the city’s British ancestry is apparent in the double-decker buses, horse-drawn carriages, gardens, and tea rooms.

The ferry ride is also an incredible opportunity to people watch and to meet some very interesting characters.  We shared our seating compartment with two teenage boys who were hitch hiking north to Vancouver, BC.  They were carrying all of their worldly possessions in one small backpack which appeared to hold little more than a sleeping bag, toiletries, and an change of clothing.  I was impressed that each of them had a tablet computer; even when traveling light no man needs to rough it.

I was taken aback by the apparent lack of specifics regarding their travel plans. Their plan appeared to be, “we’ll figure it out as we go along”.  After visiting Vancouver, they were considering hitch hiking to Alaska, if things worked out.  I often wonder if they made it because they  spent their nights sleeping in the brush along the edge of  a darkened road.  At this point in my life, that’s just a little too much adventure!

Victoria’s Inner Harbor with the Empress Hotel looming in the foreground

 

The opportunities for sightseeing in Victoria are nearly endless.  We chose to spend this visit leisurely walking about as we have seen the majority of the attractions on previous trips.  No visit to Victoria would be complete without at least a quick walk through the lobby of the Empress Hotel.  The Empress is massive, with 477 rooms, it is one of the oldest and most famous hotels in British Columbia.  To many, the Empress is the iconic symbol for the city itself. 

A tradition at the Empress is the serving of afternoon tea, which is a time honored British ritual.  We considered it until we learned that the cost was $59.95 per person.  To be fair, the price includes scones, fresh fruit, and fancy finger sandwiches. 

Leaving the Empress, we walked eight blocks to Victoria’s Chinatown and enjoyed some of the best food this side of the Pacific Rim.  We also stumbled onto a small shop that specialized in gelato, after reading the menu it appeared there were no bad choices!

We began our day with breakfast in the States, travelled to a foreign country by ship for lunch, and returned back home to the States in time for dinner.  That’s a feat that will likely never be repeated!

So now the question is where will Road Trip 2015 take us?

The End of An Era

 

I observed a moment of silence on July 23rd at approximately 6:45 PM PDT.  At that moment, I laid my trusty companion to rest.  No, it wasn’t the passing of the family dog; instead I retired my Motorola cell phone.  It’s served me faithfully for ten years, but all good things must eventually come to an end.

You are probably thinking that I am a little technophobic but that thought would be incorrect.  I would best described as extremely cheap! 

I have crossed over to the dark side and now own an Apple iPhone.

A Moody Sunrise

 

Life is what happens while you are busy making other plans.    John Lennon

I have been incommunicado from this blog for seven months, I have definitely been busy but not necessarily making other plans.  Perhaps I will expand upon this topic in a future post.

I was out early Sunday with my camera and captured the sun rising over the Columbia River while a ship sat quietly at anchor.  The colors are a little “moody” but it seem to fit the occasion.

Giving Thanks

I was out for my afternoon walk on Wednesday when I encountered one of our local homeless men sitting in front of the book store.  We have become acquainted over the years as he hangs out in the local coffee shop I frequent in the early morning.  As I greeted him, he interrupted me and blurted out, “I hope that you have a happy Thanksgiving!”

As I continued my walk, I reflected on how blessed my life has become.  Despite that fact that there are things I want on a daily basis, there is nothing that I truly need.  It doesn’t get much better than that my friends. 

The Fall Celebration

 

As a kid, the month of October was always one of my favorite months.  The trees in New England would be ablaze with color, the lawns were encrusted with frost, and Halloween candy was abundant!

Last week I captured some of the fall colors that I found while walking around Astoria.  Not exactly the range or intensity of colors you might see in New England but they were still cause for a celebration.

Road Trip 2013

I have never been considered a spontaneous person; by nature I am a planner who appreciates order and purpose.  So it came as a surprise to my lovely wife when I recently announced that I was going to make a road trip while the weather was still agreeable. It has be a long held desire to visit the historic sites along the Lewis and Clark trail that passes through Idaho and Montana.  So in the predawn hours of September 3^rd, I departed home with my traveling bag, camera, and a road map and headed east.

I had decided that this trip would not be destination driven; I was going to enjoy the journey as it unfolded.  As I passed east of Portland, I decided to travel up the Columbia River and through the Gorge on the Washington side traveling state highway 14.  I knew this would be a slower route but time was not a concern; a different route seemed like a good choice.

My first stop was just west of what was once known as Cascade Rapids.  At this point, Lewis and Clark and the Corp of Discovery portaged their canoes around the last section of white water on the Columbia River.  It was also at point that the river’s waters began to be influenced by the tidal effects of the Pacific Ocean.  Lewis described this portion of the river in his journal entry dated November 2^nd 1805:  “At this place the first tide-water commences, and the river is consequence widened immediately below the rapid…. and at some distance from the hills, stands a high perpendicular rock, about eight hundred feet high and four hundred yards round the base; this we called the Beacon rock.”

The Columbia River with Beacon Rock in the distance

Leaving the Columbia River and turning northeast, I continued across the Columbia Plateau as I passed through the southeast corner of Washington State.  Just before sunset, I arrived in Lewiston, Idaho which sits at the junction of the Snake and Clearwater Rivers.   Lewis and Clark canoed down both rivers on their way to the Columbia River and the Pacific Ocean in 1805.

From Lewiston, I traveled Highway 12 which parallels the Lochsa River.  The river is designated as a National Wild and Scenic River and has remained much as it was when the Corp of Discovery passed by in 1805.  In the late spring, the river’s flow is swelled by the runoff from the melting snowpack creating incredible conditions for white water rafting.

The Locsus River near Powell Ranger Station

On their journey to the Pacific Ocean, the Corp of Discovery was led across the Bitterroot Mountains by a member of the of the Shoshone tribe.  Following the trail used by Native Americans for centuries, they slowly moved westward.  Lewis describes the trail on September 12th as follows:  “The road had been very bad during the first part of the day, but the passage of the mountain … was very painful to the horses, as we were obligated to go over steep stony sides of hills and along the hollows and ravines, rendered more disagreeable by the fallen timber…“

Lolo Pass looking north

Lolo Pass is the highest point on the trail the Corp of Discovery used to cross the Bitterroot Mountains.  The day they crossed the pass, they were assailed by rain, hail, and snow.  The afternoon I crossed, the skies were clear and the temperature hovered near eighty degrees.

Descending east from Lolo Pass, you enter the great State of Montana, aka as Big Sky Country.  Montana is the fourth largest state in the union so it’s not just the sky that’s big.  My ultimate destination was Helena, the state’s capital and the Missouri River. 

Looking north from the outskirts of Helena, MT

The Corp of Discovery spent the winter of 1805-1805 encamped along the Missouri River at Fort Mandan which is in present day North Dakota.  Continuing their upriver journey in early April, over three months would pass before they encountered the Great Falls of the Missouri River near present day Great Fall, MT.  In total, a series of five waterfall makes up the Great Falls of the Missouri and each one required the Corp to portage their boats and equipment in order to gain passage.  With the Great Falls behind them, Clark set out on foot in search of the Shoshones people in order to purchase horses for the trip over the Rocky Mountains. Lewis continued by boat up the Missouri River.

On the evening of July 19^th, Lewis and his party encounter a canyon that appeared to have forced it way through the immense body of solid of rock for a distance of five and three-quarters miles.  Lewis comments as follows:  “… from the singular appearance of this place I called it the gates of the rocky mountains.”

The Gates of the Rocky Mountains as seen from the Missouri River looking south

Lewis went on to describe this portion of the river as follows:  “… these clifts rise from the waters edge to the hight of 1200 feet. every object here wears a dark and gloomy aspect. the towering and projection rocks in many places seem ready to tumble on us…”

The limestone cliffs continue to tower high above the river

When Lewis passed through, he spent much of his time attempting to find a flat spot along the river’s edge large enough to camp out for the night.  I on the other hand spent a leisurely hour and a half floating the river while be totally amazed by the surrounding beauty.

After five days and nearly a thousand miles traveled, I returned home with hundreds of photos and a new appreciation for the hardships faced by Lewis and Clark and the Corp of Discovery.  I am also looking forward to my next road trip!

Clearing Skies

 

Clearing Skies

Since Friday, the north coast of Oregon has been pounded by three powerful Pacific storms which produced record setting rainfall and wind gusts that exceeded fifty miles per hour.  Needless to say, we were not wanting for fresh air.  It was also wet, my rain gauge recorded nearly eight inches during the storm’s.

It was with great joy that I found clearing skies while visiting the beach this morning to check out the surf.  Hopefully we will see more of the sun as the week progresses.