Day 25 - Great Smoky Mountains

Saturday, June 30, 2007

The word "verdant" is thrown around a lot these days, but it would be hard to imagine a setting where it is more justified than in the Great Smoky Mountains. Compared to the other mountains I've seen on this trip, these are certainly the greenest. The "Smoky" name comes from the natural mist -- a combination of organic compounds and water vapor -- that constantly drapes the mountains.

I started the day with a drive to Cades Cove loop, which was a slow-going "scenic" drive without much scenery. Honestly, it was like someone had taken the traffic from L.A. and dropped it in the Tennessee mountains. This took about 4 hours and, frankly, I could've done without it.

My next stop was Clingman's Dome, which is the highest point in the park. Unfortunately, with storm clouds swirling and the mist extra thick, it was hard to see anything.

I think I'll be coming back to this park. It's not that far from where I live now and I think that there is more to see than what I did today. With it being a weekend in the peak season, the crowds were out in force and, at the end of my trip, I just didn't quite have the motivation to pack it out away from them. I wandered on the Appalachian Trail for about a half hour and, even then, I could feel a marked difference in being away from the lazies. Maybe I'll go back one day and hike the leg of the AT that crosses through the park. I saw a woman at Clingman's Dome who was patching her feet with duct tape; she looked like she was on an AT thru-hike. I think it will be quite a while (read: infinite time) before I try that. But, you never know. It definitely sounds like a great experience and I could probably be talked into it pretty easily. So, I guess what I mean is I probably won't be doing it on my own.

Anyway, after leaving the Smokies, I drove straight to Santee, my hometown. The trip was absolutely amazing, but it feels good to be home.

Day 24 - Mammoth Cave

Friday, June 29, 2007

I suffered my worst injury of the trip this morning. No, I wasn't mauled by a bear and I didn't fall into a cave hole. I burned my bottom lip with hot coffee. I guess this goes to show you that you are probably more likely to get hurt doing everyday things than by a wild animal.

Today, I visited Mammoth Cave, one of the largest caves in the world. It has been formed by millions of years of erosion washing away the limestone beneath a hard sandstone layer. Unfortunately, it was not quite as exciting as some other caves I've visited in the past, such as Carlsbad and Luray. It was, however, an interesting tour and it did make me want to try spelunking someday. That will have to wait for another trip.


The tour ended near a formation called Frozen Niagara. It looks like what you are probably imagining: a stone waterfall. Like most cave formations, it has been slowly formed by water dissolving limestone and then re-depositing it. The time scale of these formations is perhaps the most impressive thing about them. When you're imagining something this size forming from slowly dripping water, it's difficult to wrap your mind around just how long it would take.

After leaving Mammoth, I started my journey to the final destination of my trip: The Great Smoky Mountains. After driving through the worst weather of my trip, I finally made it to Pigeon Forge and Gatlinburg, two towns on the outskirts of the park. Basically, imagine that Myrtle Beach has been transported to the mountains. These two towns are essentially sprawl, stretching out from the base of the mist-covered mountains. It's sad to think that one day the haze that gives the Smokies their name might no longer be natural mist, but smog instead.

Tomorrow, I'm planning on leaving early and heading into the park to see as much of it as I can in one day. I know I want to stop at Clingman's Dome, the highest point in the park; but, other than that, everything is up in the air. Once I'm done, I'll be driving the rest of the way to Santee, SC.

This trip has been wonderful and in many ways I'm sad to see it come to an end. On the other hand, the past three days of nearly non-stop driving have been exhausting and I'm looking forward to not being behind the wheel for a while.

I've seen so much on this trip that I may never see again and that I might never have seen otherwise. I would adivse anyone who ever has the chance to drive across this country to take it and make the most of it. Perhaps I'll be able to talk about the sum of my experiences on this trip in a more coherent way when I have had a few days to let everything settle. For now, I will put such musings aside in favor of flippant remarks and simple observations:

Caves are awesome. But they are not as good as mountains...

Or bears.

I'm not sure when I'll be posting the entry for tomorrow's adventures or the highly anticipated epilogue. But, dear readers, rest assured that you will not have to wait too long.

Day 23 - The Long Drive

Thursday, June 28, 2007

I spent all day today driving. I left Omaha around 9:30 and just got into Bowling Green, KY at about 10:30. It's been a long day and not too exciting. Unfortunately, most of the drive was through pretty boring grasslands. When it comes to driving, it's true what Jack London, The Doors and that kid from Into the Wild all said: The West is the best. The West is also behind me, as today I crossed the Mississippi River.

Anyway, I don't have too much to report from the day, so I'll just give a few random notes in lazy list format.

Agent Orange made it safely back to New Jersey.

Wilco's new album is not that great.

M.I.A.'s album drops Aug. 20 (can't remember if I already mentioned it; but it's worth noting twice).

I covered over 700 miles today, so I'm hitting the hay soon. Tomorrow, I'll be heading out to Mammoth Cave in the morning and then driving toward Great Smoky Mountains National Park (the final stop of the trip) in the afternoon, most likely. Since I don't have much to say about today, I thought I might reflect on the trip as a whole. But then I thought, "No, I won't." In fact, I'll save that for an epilogue I'll write when the trip is completely over. So, make sure you keep reading, even after the final day's entry is posted.

I've enjoyed my first blogging experience. It's definitely added something to the trip for me by forcing me to reflect everyday on what I've seen and done. Now, I'm sure many of you are thinking that these reflections are on about the level of a third grader describing his first viewing of Lord of the Rings: "Awesome!" "Spectacular!" Well, keep in mind I've been writing these things at the end of long days, in crappy hotel rooms, and without a professionally trained editor, secretary, or valet. Just wait until you read the Epilogue. Then you can judge me (but most likely you will be stunned into amazed and reverent silence).

Also, let me say thanks to everyone who has emailed me to tell me how much they're enjoying the blog. More people have faithfully followed my ramblings than I had anticipated and hearing from you has kept me writing instead of packing it in after the first weekend. In fact, I've even discovered that I have at least one reader who I have never met in person. So, I'm pretty proud of that.

Anyway, if you are enjoying the blog, it's always nice to see comments in the comments section. It helps me prove to other people that this isn't entirely an exercise in narcissism (although it mostly is) and that I actually do have readers.

Maybe I will keep writing about my adventures even after the trip is over. And if the day-to-day minutae of my life can't sustatin such an undertaking, I'll just start making things up.

Day 22 - Live Free or Die Hard

Wednesday, June 27, 2007

Agent Orange and I started the day with lunch at one of the crappiest Indian restaurants on record before heading over to the Rapid City Carmike to watch Live Free or Die Hard. Now that’s a movie. If you like watching one man kick ass while the bureaucrats fail over and over, then you’ll like this. It reminded me of old Westerns, with one man having to step up when the system fails.

After the movie, I drove to Rapid City Airport to drop Agent Orange off for his flight back to New Jersey. I was only about ten miles away when he called to tell me it was cancelled. So, he’s shacked up at the Rapid City Radisson tonight, waiting on a 6:30 am flight, while I’m down in Omaha, staying in a surprisingly nice-for-the-price motel. There’s one drawback, however: I’m in an adjoining room and I can hear almost everything the couple in the room next to me is saying. I can’t exactly make out words unless I press my ear to the door (as if I would do that). I wonder if things will get interesting later. From the sound of the cough that guy just let out, I’m guessing it’s not that kind of night. Regardless, I have ear plugs.

Tomorrow will be a full day of driving. I’m trying to get close enough to Mammoth Cave in Kentucky that I’ll be able to see it Friday morning. I covered approximately 571 miles today. Considering I didn’t leave Rapid City until about 3:30, I think that’s pretty good. I’ll be trying to cover around 693 miles tomorrow; but I do have all day to do it.

Day 21 - Badlands National Park

Tuesday, June 26, 2007

We left Wall early this morning and headed to Badlands. This park is situated in the midst of formations of rock layers formed by erosion. There are some nice views that are kind of reminiscent of The Painted Desert. It's a pretty harsh environment, without a whole lot of wildlife to view. The exception, however, is the prairie dogs. In one section of the park, they're everywhere. It's called Roberts Prairie Dog Village and the small animals and their burrows were everywhere you looked.













Also, there's a spot where they're doing an archaelogical dig called The Big Pig Dig where they're extracting fossils of an extinct, pig-like animal called Archaeotherium. Here, we talked to a ranger for a few minutes who explained some of the history of fossils in the park.

Afterwards, we drove back to Rapid City for dinner. I had read somewhere that M.I.A's new album was to come out today, so with our time to kill we drove around and looked for it. Unfortunately, I found out later that it doesn't come out until August 20. That was pretty disappointing. I thought it was going to give me something to look forward to over the 1200 mile drive I have coming up over the next two days.

I'm taking Agent Orange to the airport tomorrow here in Rapid City. We've had a really great time and I've still got more to come. Hopefully, I'll be at Mammoth Cave in Kentucky on Friday, but it's going to be two days of hard drivin'.

One other interesting note from today: as we were driving down an unpaved farm road leaving Badlands, a grasshopper landed on the windshield and crawled down onto the wiper blade. Even though we were driving 50-60 MPH, he managed to hang on. Even as we stopped to get gas, he didn't move. As we got onto the interstate, we figured 80+ MPH speeds would blow him off; but somehow he stayed on the windshield wiper. At one point, we slowed to about 45 for construction, and he crawled down under the hood from the top. We figured we would never see him again and he might be cooked by the heat of the engine. So, we forgot about him, drove for probably another half hour and had dinner. After dinner, we drove to the movie theater in Rapid City to see what time Live Free or Die Hard is playing tomorrow so we can catch it before we have to drive to the airport. When we started to drive away, the grasshopper was on the windshield. Keep in mind, nearly 4 hours had passed since this insect had jumped onto the car. As we pulled away, he hopped off. It was pretty incredible. If we see him on the car tomorrow when we're leaving the hotel, I'll be a little freaked out.

Day 20 - Mt. Rushmore & Crazy Horse Memorial

Monday, June 25, 2007

We started out this morning with a trip up to Mt. Moriah Cemetery in Deadwood, where Wild Bill Hickcok and Calamity Jane are buried next to each other. A lot of the "characters" from the HBO show are buried up there.




Next, we headed over to Mt. Rushmore. I had been looking forward to this stop on the trip and it was definitely a sight worth seeing. However, I think I thought it would be bigger or more impressive in some way. Maybe I'm just getting jaded by all the amazing things we've seen on this trip. It was interesting, though, to learn about how the statue was carved. Apparently, after years of working on the mountain, the explosives experts were able to blow the rock apart within inches of the actual finished surface. The pavilion leading up to the main viewing area is nicely set up, with the flags of all 50 states flying along a pathway that leads to an overlook with a view toward the mountain. We had to try over and over again to find someone who could take a decent picture of us. For some reason, everyone we asked took pictures either without the mountain in it at all, or with heavy focus on the ground.

Continuing on our tour of mountain monuments, we headed to the Crazy Horse Memorial. This is a giant statue of Crazy Horse that has been under construction for about 50 years and is being built entirely with private funds. It's much bigger than Mt. Rushmore; in fact, the entirety of the Mt. Rushmore monument would fit inside Crazy Horse's head. We also saw some Indian dancing, which was kind of entertaining. I wish we could've seen them dynamite part of the mountain, but it didn' happen while we were there.


We stopped in Rapid City, SD tonight and watched Evan Almighty. It was pretty disappointing. I guess it's a fun family movie; but it's really not very funny. There is a funny baboon who dances, though.

We're staying in a town called Wall tonight in South Dakota before we go to Badlands National Park tomorrow. This town is a real dump -- probably the worst town we've stayed in on the trip! This kind of got me thinking about what towns we've been in that were surprisingly good or bad. As I've said before, Fresno, CA; Medford, OR; and Wallace, ID are three of the squattieset places. But, we've also had some nice surprises. Eureka, CA was a great town with a quaint, relaxed feel. Jackson, WY was a nice litle resort town that seems like a fun place for a weekend vacation. Deadwood, SD was also a really fun place to spend a day. I think anyone could easily spend a weekend there and have a great time gambling and checking out the historical sites.

Unfortunately, Wall, SD is not one of the better places. But, tomorrow we should be seeing some great terrain. I think Badlands will be a little different from the parks we've been visiting recently, so hopefully it'll be a fun change.

Day 19 - Devils Tower & Deadwood

Sunday, June 24, 2007

We headed out this morning for a scenic drive through Wyoming's striking terrain, marked by the different layers of rock made visible over millions of years. I should also note that this is the first time on the trip I've been a little drunk as I write this.

After driving for a few hours, we reached Devils Tower. This was another "wow" moment as we drove over a ridge and suddenly the tower came into view. It's definitely a striking piece of terrain: a tower of igneous rock exposed by ages of erosion. It's easy to see why the local American Indians consider it to be a holy place. In fact, they have a legend about how it was created that involved a girl who knew bear medicine changing into a giant bear and chasing other members of the tribe until a rock and a tree grew to give them a safe haven.













We took a 1.3-mile hike around the tower, which affords some nice views of the six-sided columns that, depending on your perspective, were created either by crystallizing rock or a giant bear's claws. There are tons of bikers is these parts. Apparently the Black Hills of South Dakota are some kind of huge attraction to them and Devils Tower is another gathering point for their rallies.

After leaving the tower, we headed to Deadwood, South Dakota. It's another Palm Springsesque spot, although more rugge than either the Springs, Jackson, or Couer D'Alene. Despite having plenty of casinoes and cowboy re-enactments to rope in the tourists, some of its citizens still look like they could be heading out to work a claim in the morning.

After dinner at the Number 10 Social Club, we went to watch a "play" re-enacting the trial of Jack McCall, the man who killed Wild Bill Hickok. The play wasn't that great, but Agent Orange got cast as one of the witnesses. Seeing him attempt a Southern/Dakotan accent was definitely the highlight of the play.

Next, we headed to the Number 10 Casino/Saloon, which is the actual place where Wild Bill was shot and killed. We gambled for hours on $2 minimum tables and finished up about even. Unlike my last trip to Vegas, $2 hands are pretty chillaxed and I didn't have to deal with the constant pressure of feeling like I could be cleaned out at any moment. The pit boss also looked like he might've been around in 1876, when the town started up.

Day 18 - Grand Teton National Park

Saturday, June 23, 2007

We slept a little later than usual today and then wandered around Jackson for a little while, trying to find a spot for breakfast. I really think Jackson is a cool little place. It has a Western feel to it in the fake, tourist sense without seeming too fake or touristy. There is also a place called The Million Dollar Cowboy Bar, which basically lets you know the place rules.

We spent the rest of the day in Grand Teton Park. Our first stop was an old homestead where a guy name Meron had set up a Ferry back around the turn of the century. We ran into a ranger who spontaneously took us on a tour and told us all about the two Meron brothers. They basically lived in a one room shack and made a living by charging people to take them across the river. What I took from this is that in those days you really had to be self-sufficient. These guys came out here, built a house, and then set up a ferry. They weren't professional builders or anything; but in those days you had to know how to do everything. I have no idea how to build a house. Or a ferry.

Later, we took a hike to a place called Hidden Falls and another called Inspiration Point. Much of the day was spent searching out views of these spectacular mountains. We also drove to the top of Signal Mountain, which gave some great views of the surrounding valley. We were hoping to spot a moose, but we never found one.

Also, a couple days ago a jogger was mauled by a Grizzly Bear just outside the lodge in Grand Teton Park. Today, we saw the trail where it happened. Apparently the bear was protecting an elk carcass that she and her cubs were feeding on. They've said the bear won't be put down, as this is normal behavior, but the area has been closed off until Elk calving season is over.

We drove through Cody, Wyoming as we began our journey toward Devils Tower. Apparently, this town is all about Buffalo Bill Cody, as there are five museums and five dozen businesses named for him. There was also a rodeo going on.

Day 17 - Yellowstone and Grand Teton

Friday, June 22, 2007

After breaking camp, our day got started quickly when a black bear crossed in front of my car not more than 10 minutes after leaving camp. He walked right across the road in front of us, probably only about 25 yards ahead. We pulled up alongside him to snap some pictures as he headed into the meadow. We were probably within 10 yards of him. Trying to respect the rules of bear encounters, we didn’t stop for long.

Our big project today was a hike to the top of Mount Washburn, about a 6.5 mile hike that gains 1400’ on the way to the 10,000+’ peak. At the top there is a fire lookout station where some ranger apparently lives by himself for about five months out of the year. From here, you get a nice perspective of the variety of the park’s landscape. In fact, Yellowstone is the world’s biggest active volcano and its caldera surrounds much of the park. From the summit of Mount Washburn, you can see the canyon, the mountains, and even steam rising from some of the geysers.












On our way out of the park, we came across another bear jam. This was another Grizzly, foraging on a ridge next to a herd of bison who were keeping a watchful eye on her, forcing her further and further away. The whole scene was pretty distant, but we did get a good look at the bear through the viewing scope of a very friendly couple. The enthusiasm of these wildlife watchers really shows in how readily they offer up their equipment and insight to a couple of road-weary vagabonds.

Once we left Yellowstone, it was only a short drive to Grand Teton National Park, where we drove down the John D. Rockefeller Parkway, with great views of the mountains to the west. We didn’t do a whole lot of stopping today, because we’ll be going back through tomorrow. We did get some more great views of bison, however.














We’re staying in a hotel in Jackson, Wyoming, which is kind of like Palm Springs, but in Elk Country. There are lots of restaurants and cowboy bars, which is pretty cool. This would be a great spot for a group trip, with lots of opportunities to wander down streets that resemble Western movie sets and drunkenly say things like “pardner.”

Day 16 - Yellowstone National Park - Day 2

Thursday, June 21, 2007

We started today by catching another eruption of Old Faithful before heading up toward Canyon Village. We spent most of the day viewing wildlife and had some pretty great sightings.

Our first sighting was a smaller group of 3 bison hanging out in a forest clearing. We stopped the car and were able to get within about 30 yards of them before they sauntered off into the woods. It’s worth nothing that, in Yellowstone, the guidelines for wildlife viewing are 100 yards for bears and 25 yards for other animals. This was an exciting encounter, but it was just a taste of what we would see later.

As we continued on our journey to the northern part of the park, we passed great herds of bison, probably numbering between 30-75 head. It wasn’t long before we reached a long lineup of stopped cars, looking out into a broad valley. We stopped to see what was going on found out that a Grizzly was just down the ridge, probably about 100 yards away. We waited a short while, and sure enough, a 3 year-old female Grizz was foraging down in the meadow. We watched her for a while as she rooted around. From a distance, it was hard to tell how big she was, but I got the feeling she was relatively small, especially compared to the big males which can reach 10 feet in height. If I had to guess, I’d probably say she’s stand about five and a half feet.

Once we left the Grizzly behind, we came across two bison walking about 5 yards off the road. We slowed down to take pictures, matching their speed. Suddenly, the two of them locked horns and then bolted toward the road. They pounded across the pavement right in front of us, leaving us to wonder what they might have done to my car if they had decided to take a different course. As far as wildlife encounters go, this was pretty exciting.













Eventually, we reached Canyon Village and took short hikes on Uncle Tom’s Trail – a long staircase with a great view of Yellowstone Canyon and of the falls – and Artist Point, which is where one of the most famous renderings of Yellowstone was created. Yellowstone Canyon is somewhat striking. Most of the landscape in Yellowstone is broad, hilly meadows, surrounded by forest and bordered by mountains in the distance. So, it’s somewhat surprising to see such a large canyon right in the middle of the park. The colors of the walls are most likely what gives the park its name.













As we headed north, hoping to find a campsite, we came across another “bear jam.” This time, it was a black bear, about 25 yards off the road. We stopped the car and joined the crowd of onlookers. It wasn’t long before the bear decided to go on the move and actually started moving closer to the road. At one point, he was probably no more than 15 yards from us. Per the ranger’s instructions, we tried to keep our distance from him; but, as we headed back to our car, there wasn’t much we could do. The ranger stopped the two of us and a young family and gave us a little bit of a lecture about keeping our distance from bears. I think he should’ve given the lecture to the bear.









Next, we headed into the Lamar Valley, where we picked up a few more wildlife sightings. We were within 10 yards of a bighorn sheep, saw a group of goats grazing, and even got a distant view of a wolf through the binoculars of some friendly wildlife watchers.









After taking a sidetrip to Mammoth Springs, which was a little disappointing, we finally made it into the camp. With no threat of rain here, we were able to keep the rainfly off the tent and sleep with a view of the night sky.

Day 15 - Yellowstone National Park - Day 1

Wednesday, June 20, 2007

When we hit the road this morning, I was the most tired I’ve been on the whole trip. I think I coked it up (Coke Zero, that is) a little too much last night as we pushed to Helena, so I didn’t sleep very well. That combined with the canoeing and hiking yesterday must’ve taken a toll (not to mention my butt bones are really sore from sitting in an aluminum canoe). Either that, or two weeks on the road is starting to add up.

We made it into Yellowstone, the first National Park, around 16:00. After a quick stop at the visitor center, we started checking out some of the geothermal phenomena of the park. Our first stop was a spot called Fountain Paint Pot. This was a half-mile trail on raised wooden planks through an area of steaming hot springs and bubbling mud pits. The stench of sulfur is thick in the air around these openings, which reach deep into the earth.

The next area we checked out was Midway Geyser Basin and Prismatic Spring. The interplay of colors in the pools is pretty impressive. The water is especially blue because of microscopic particles suspended in it, and the underlying ground is colored green and orange by different species of thermophilic bacteria.

On the way to our next stop, we saw a couple of elk. We stopped for a few pictures and they actually started walking toward us, until they were within about 5 yards. We had seen elk before at Redwoods; but this was a much closer encounter and we could really get an appreciation for the size of these animals.

We also got a distant look at a bison. Hopefully, we’ll get some closer looks at these before we leave. Speaking of bison, Agent Orange had it for dinner. I don’t understand why anyone would want to eat these majestic creatures, especially in a sanctuary dedicated to preserving them. It’s the same complaint I have about zoos and aquariums serving meat. Why is it when people look at animals, the next thing they want to do is eat them?

Our final stop for the day was at Old Faithful. We sat and watched for about 30 minutes before the geyser slowly started bubbling and then erupted in a powerful gush reaching probably close to eighty feet. It’s almost unsettling to think about the activity under our feet that can produce something like this (and certainly much more).

We’re staying tonight in the Old Faithful Inn, which is a National Historic Landmark. It’s basically a giant log cabin (and smells just like The Cabin), one of the largest wooden structures in the world. The rooms are pretty rugged, in a sweet way. We had dinner in the downstairs dining room, which was also pretty nice.

Day 14 - Glacier National Park

Tuesday, June 19, 2007

Around 1:00, Agent Orange woke me up because he thought he heard some kind of breathing outside the tent. Turns out it was probably me breathing inside the tent. We both stepped outside about five minutes later and neither of us were eaten. About 4 hours later I decided to pee in nothing but boxers, which was probably more dangerous considering it was really cold. It's amazing just how quick you can start shivering. Getting back inside that sleeping bag really felt great.

We broke camp a little late -- around 9:30 -- and headed over to Eddie's for breakfast. Huckleberries are big here and we had some Huckleberry yogurt with our huge breakfast, which was quite good. Next, we rented a canoe and headed out onto Lake MacDonald. It took us a little while to get the steering figured out, but eventually we got the hang of it and had fun exploring the lake. I was a little annoyed that the rental company gave us boundaries on where we could take the boat and that there is a law about wearing life jackets (they don't even have sales tax here, what do they care about laws?); but it was a great way to spend the morning.

Next, we headed over to the other side of the park -- St. Mary -- which took about two hours. Here we took a hike up into the high country to get a view of a glacier. The ranger we spoke to beforehand warned us that we'd be in territory where Grizzlies are often sighted. So, we had to be sure to make plenty of noise as we hiked the trail. Luckily, we had recently memorized the lyrics to Hoo-Yip, the song from the closing credits of Grizzly Man.

The trail essentially follows a stream until it moves above the trees and into some steep meadows that look exactly what you would picture a Grizz rolling about in. All the way, there are giant mountains rising up out of the valley, with snow scattered all over them. At the end of the hike, we realized that it's not that easy to identify a glacier compared to other big deposits of snow. I'd say we most likely saw the glacier we set out to see, but it's hard to say for sure at this point.

After finishing the trail, we drove the leg of Going-to-the-Sun Road that is open on this side of the park. It was shorter and less scenic than yesterday's drive, but still had some great mountain views.

Finally, we exited Glacier and started the drive to Yellowstone along winding roads through farmland where horses and cows have gotten fed up with being fenced in and sometimes wander right out onto the road. After stopping for dinner at a Subway in Blackfeet Indian territory, we pushed on for Helena, the capital of Montana.

Day 13 - Glacier National Park

Tuesday, June 19, 2007

We drove through some light snowfall this morning as we left Idaho and entered Montana. Despite a full day of driving yesterday, we still had a lot of road ahead of us this morning. Finally, around 15:00, we rolled into Glacier.

Glacier is about as beautiful a landscape as one could imagine. The forests are deep green, the lakes perfectly teal and the grey mountains are covered in white snow. Unfortunately, as we pulled in, it started to rain heavily. Thankfully, it didn't last long and we were able to set up camp under fairly clear skies. With it being late in the day, we decided to start our time in Glaicer with a drive on the famous Going-to-the-Sun Road.

Going-to-the-Sun Road is an approximately 60-mile long path that winds around the lakes and through the mountains of the park. It's an engineering marvel with spectacular vistas around nearly every corner. The road is closed about 27 miles in, where it has yet to be plowed, but I think we probably got to see the best parts. The trip ended next to the Weeping Wall, which is a steep rock face where water seemingly flows out of nowhere, through cracks in the rock. Also, on the ridge far above were a couple of mountain goats; but, we could only get a glimpse of them through the binoculars some lady loaned to us.












After grabbing dinner in Jammer Joe's near the park entrance (they actually serve Fat Tire, prompting 3rd Stop nostalgia), we headed to our campsite at Fish Creek. It doesn't get dark this far north until about 21:30. Still, we were setting up camp in near total darkness. We stashed our food and other scented items in the bear locker and stuffed ourselves into my 2-man backpacking tent, which is significantly smaller than a double bed. After some initial discomfort, we actually got a decent night's sleep.

Day 12 - Mt. Hood, Lake Coeur D'Alene & The Long Drive

Sunday, June 17, 2007

We left Portland this morning and headed onto the Mt. Hood Scenic Byway. After driving through some thick fog, we finally got above it and rounded a corner onto a great view of the summit of Mt. Hood. It's over 11,000', but for some reason I thought it was bigger (over 14k'). From the ski lodge where we stopped, it didn't look that as intimidating as I'd pictured. It's a very prominent peak, however, with no other peaks nearly that high anywhere to be seen.

After leaving Mt. Hood, we headed out onto Columbia River Scenic Byway, which was a nice surprise. The river was really choppy, almost like a bay. Across the river, there were rolling, treeless hills stretching off to the distance, and walls of rock rising up on the side next to us.

We made into Washington, which was basically just miles and miles of hills as far as we could see. It was nice scenery and we made good time from there until we finally made it into Idaho.

We stopped for a few hours at Lake Coeur D'Alene to have dinner and check the place out. It's kind of like Palm Springs, except instead of being in a desert, it's near a lake. There were a lot of people hanging out at the resort that we stopped at, but it's hard to figure out what they were really doing there (chillaxing, probably).














After Coeur D'Alene, we planned to drive into Montana. But, seeing that the road was tough to drive at night, we decided to stop a little early in a town called Mullan. Unfortunately, the only hotel there was one that looked like it was straight out of Vacancy. So, we turned around and headed back to a town called Wallace. We filled up with gas at one of the three remaining stations in America that doesn't allow you to pay at the pump, and perhaps the only station in America with a camoflage-wearing family of wanderers hanging out in it.

The hotel we ended up in is actually pretty nice. Tomorrow, we'll be driving into Glacier and most likely camping there tomorrow night. Today marked the first day in the trip that I was actually getting closer to home; so, that's something.

Day 11 - Portland

Saturday, June 16, 2007

Today was a pretty chillaxed day. We slept kind of late and did some much-needed laundry before heading into the city after lunch.

We started with a trip to the Rose Test Garden and Japanese Garden. Portland is known as the City of Roses, which is obvious when you're in the Rose Test Garden. It's a very nice park. Next we headed into the Japanese Garden. This was a bigger slightly nicer version of the Tea Garden in San Francisco. Although, one Tea Garden is enough for a trip like this, so we didn't spend too much time in this place, even though it was a relaxing environment.












In fact, Portland is a very green city and seems like it would be a nice place to live. It's big enough to feel like a real city, but small enough to be easy to get around and it doesn't feel oppressively crowded. We spent a little time wandering through Pioneer Square, which is basically a nice mall in the center of the city. We also saw the Portland building and the statue of Portlandia, which is the second largest bronze statue in the United States, behind the Statue of Liberty. Apparently this building is renowned for being the first major postmodern building in a downtown area.

Tomorrow, we start the long drive to Glacier National Park in Montana. In fact, tomorrow might be the first full day of driving without actually reaching the destination. Although, we do have a couple scenic stops along the way in Mt. Hood and Lake Coeur D'Alene in Idaho. After nearly two weeks on the road, I'm a little fatigued, so I'm glad we had today to kind of recharge before the long drive.

Day 10 - Crater Lake

Friday, June 15, 2007

We put Medford behind us at about 9:30 this morning as we headed for Crater Lake. After driving through the dense, green forests on the way to the park for about 60 miles, we started to see snow on the ground. At first, I suspected they were just isolated patches, but there turned out to be quite a bit of snow, so much so that the eastern half of the park was closed. This was disappointing, because it meant we couldn't climb Mount Scott -- the highest peak in the park -- or take the boat ride to Wizard Island. However, the disappointment didn't last long.

Crater Lake is one of the most breathtakingly beautiful sights I have ever seen. It is hard to imagine a more calming sight than an almost totally still, perfectly blue lake surrounded by snow-capped mountains and vibrant green trees.

After staring out at the lake for a little while, we had dinner at the Crater Lake Lodge. This is a quant little hotel right on the rim of the crater, with spectacular views. I'd really love to stay here one day. It's hard to imagine a more relaxing location.

Once lunch was over, we headed out for two short hikes. The first was about a 2.5 mile round trip on the Garfield Peak trail. The path to the summit was snowed over; so, after crossing one snow field on our way to a point overlooking the Phantom Ship (a rock formation rising out of the lake), we headed back to the Lodge area.

Next, we hiked over to a rocky outcropping with a beautiful view of the entire lake. We sat here for probably half an hour and I think it was probably one of the best moments of my whole life. Crater Lake more than met my expectations.

After leaving the park, we decided to push for Portland, and that's where we are now. We'll be staying here tomorrow night as well and hopefully having a chance to relax after covering a lot of miles in the last two days.

Day 9 - Redwood National Park

Thursday, June 14, 2007

We started the day with an hour-long drive up to Redwoods National Park. This is an amazingly lush forest, especially compared to the Southern California photos I’m used to. There’s so much moisture in the air, which is key to these trees’ habitat. Like the Sequoias, these trees are strikingly big. We did a 2.5 mile hike through one of the groves, and found a dead tree that was somehow hollowed out all the way to the top, like looking up into a chimney. Also, at the trailhead, we saw about ten elk. These things are huge! Males weigh up to 1000 lbs., according to the rangers we spoke to, who were infinitely more helpful than the Yosemite backcountry rangers.

After driving north to the town of Klamath, we stopped at a privately owned redwood grove that was a little too touristified for my taste. The highlight, however, was a cable car ride to an ~800’ summit overlooking the ocean and the forest. “Neat” is probably the right word to describe it. Exiting the park, we passed some nice coastal scenery, with craggy rocks jutting up from the waves.

I’ve been traveling in California for nine days; but, today we finally entered Oregon. We stopped in Medford for dinner, which was an utter disaster. First, we tried Abby’s pizza. The pizza was totally wrong and equally disgusting. Next, we stopped at some fish restaurant, where the manager told us they had plenty of vegetarian dishes. Of course, what he meant was that they would take the meat out of any of the pasta dishes on the menu. This was nothing compared to what was to come. At a Denny’s clone called Shari’s, I ordered some kind of Western BBQ burger, with a garden patty substituted for the beef. Of course, I guess I should’ve also mentioned I didn’t really need the three strips of bacon on top of it! I mean, why would you put bacon on a veggie burger? Why!?

I’ll be glad to brush the Medford dust off my feet tomorrow morning when we head up to Crater Lake. I’ve been looking forward to this park for a while, so hopefully it’ll live up to what I have pictured.