SEA STAR TRAVEL LOG

"THE GREEN TABLE " MESA VERDE NATIONAL PARK July 27-31, 2011

noreply@blogger.com (Dan and Kathy Chevalier) — Sun, 09 Oct 2011 14:34:00 +0000

Mesa Verde

The Green Table. Mesa Verde National Park, COLORADO.

“On a snowy December day in 1888, while ranchers Richard Wetherill and Charlie Mason searched Mesa Verde’s canyons for stray cattle, they unexpectedly came upon Cliff Palace for the first time. The following year, the Wetherill brothers and Mason explored an additional 182 cliff dwellings.”

“ June 29, 1906, President Theodore Roosevelt established Mesa Verde National Park to "preserve the works of man," the first national park of its kind. Today, the continued preservation of both cultural and natural resources is the focus of the park's research and resource management staff.”

Mesa Verde preserves the artifacts and homesites of early Indian settlers, the Ancestral Pueblans, formerly referred to as Anastasi People, and others who came after. These people lived and farmed the high mesas (therefore the name Green Table) of the four corner region of what is now Colorado, Utah, New Mexico and Arizona. Three groups are represented there; the very earliest people were called the Basket Weavers but they were not the builders of the cliff dwellings. The following NPS website explains the history.
(if you choose to check the link, you will navigate from this blog-I don't know how to insert the site and bring you back to blog without reloading)

National Park Service - Mesa Verde

Puebloans and their world

They left behind the interesting sandstone brick homes, bricks made one at a time and buildings to as tall as three stories in height, and more questions than the scientists or Park Rangers can answer. Through ongoing research by archeologists and scientists, Rangers try to dispel myths- one of which concerns the difficulty of Ancestral Pueblan lives and in the same vein, the need for protection from other marauding tribes. While walking the cliff house dwellings with a Ranger we are told these were probably non-warlike people; farmers who despite the lack of steady sources of water and too hot or too cold climate, coped well with their environment. Due to archeological finds of decorated basketry and sophisticated pottery, it is assumed they had access to trade and leisure time.

Our visit included climbs and long walks to three major Cliff Dwellings in the park, Balcony House, Cliff House and Long House- fabulous ruins and examples of the larger dwellings built, some with over 150 rooms. The Rangers say the houses are not reconstructed in any way but “stabilized” by a few metal beams and monitored. As the homes fall, and they do, the old beams are saved and the hand- made bricks piled and saved.

In Mesa Verde there is a comprehensive museum to assist the visitor in understanding what can be ascertained about people who lived so long ago. Beside the artifacts; tools, clothing (surmised from current practices of today’s Indians), in 1930 during the Civilian Conservation Corps maintenance in the park, artists completed large dioramas to demonstrate what the lives of the three groups of early peoples’ might have been like. Dan and I found the museum information; explanatory movie, the exhibits of brick making, use of naturally occurring grasses and foods to enhance the enjoyment of the park.

There are two paved roads throughout the park that allow visitors to access the hikes and visit exhibits. After a day on the east side of the park, Balcony House, Cliff House and views, we camped in the park and decided to see the Long View House. Few tourists visit the western part of the park where Long House is located, so we decided that was the place we should ride to. The road would climb up to the top of the mesa in a series of hairpin switchbacks, so it would be fun if there were little traffic. Unfortunately, when we arrived at the locked gate to Wetherill Rd. rather early there were already some cars in line. We kinda worked our way forward so Dan could immediately follow the Rangers as they drove up to the site of Long House. Actually, Dan wheeled to the front of the line of visitors, then slipped in line behind the woman Ranger who was driving. Whahoo! She proceeded to wind her way up the mountain at a perfect speed for us to wind up at a reasonable speed behind her, both of us leaving the waiting cars and pickups behind.

When the others arrived we all rode a shuttle bus for a short trip to the path to Long House and we hiked behind the Ranger down the winding paved path to the cave dwelling; Long View House. He told us about the use of yucca for shoes, and basketry and that a yucca fiber rope of 900 ft. length had been found at LVH. He pointed out the row of finger and toe holds the cave dwellers used or chipped, along with yucca rope ladders, to enter or leave their homes to the mesa high above. Under the ledge of the cliff overhang above the housing structure was built a grainery room for storing the corn, squash or beans grown for food. The Ranger suggested that much is known about the daily life of the people because they basically threw the refuse over the edge of their cliff, including the dead.

We looked into one of the many Kivas, a round hollowed area in the lower level probably used for ceremony as well as daily life. The Kiva fire is central to the circle. In front of the fire, oriented south is a vent column open to the top, a vent outlet is at the base and a deflecting stone helps keep the entering fresh air circulating around the circle. The entry would have been by ladder through a hole in the wooden beam circular ceiling, through the hide-coated roof structure, directly over the fire circle.

The archeologists over time have discovered more about the materials used and that these people fired beautifully decorated functional pottery, made arrowheads and stone tools and fashioned decorative items like beadwork and jewelry. From these items they’ve surmised that the people of the cliff dwellings had leisure time and did not engage in warfare. As the Ranger said, “The people did not ‘vanish’. People do not just vanish, they may have moved farther south to what is now New Mexico as there are 22 Indian tribes along the River.

Tribes of Mesa Verde

Returning after our tour, a walk and birding on the Wetherill west road, we were coasting our way back down the mountain when we saw right in front of our eyes, possible disaster. We saw a very young black bear- ON OUR SIDE of the road! We heard each other gasp but it was too “late” to stop or to change course. Dan slowed as much as he could but I just held on to the bike and focused on the cute little animal just standing there. It looked like we could pass it; then it started across the road right in front of us. Dan swerved then sped up to straighten out- (luckily there were no ascending cars at the moment) and we missed that cub by inches! I could have touched his little furry back- ‘cause I wasn’t driving. Around the next bend Dan pulled over to breathe. He had seen the Mama bear close to road in the bushes on the side the cub crossed safely to. That was a close call, I guess for all of us -except Mama Bear, who might not have been in a good mood had we run over her cub….. and maybe dropped the bike!

See my 3 internet chosen -copied pictures to illustrate.

bear black

Anyway, all was well and we had quite a story for our last real day of the west trip that had started mid April. It was now July 31, 2011 and we were hearing of bad weather heading toward Florida. After visiting Mesa Verde, one of our personally favorite National Parks, Dan and I strapped the bike on the trailer and headed for Florida. Thanks to the kindness of the cruisers on our dock at Titusville all was well with Sea Star when we returned three days later. We arrived in time to hear that Tropical Storm Emily had not developed further and then was disintegrating before troubling Florida.

Editorial comment from Kathy:

The Parks are way beyond “beautiful” and, in my opinion, areas for the young to hike and explore are essential to coming generations understanding of the American Experience. The resources, the geology, biology; plants, birds and animals were noted as essential by forward thinking scientifically-minded citizens, as well as Native Americans who encouraged their preservation. Some Presidents have been more convinced of the importance of natural lands than others. My hope is that the fight to preserve and protect will not succumb to desire for the riches.

Enjoy my last slideshow from our “Go West”, _____Man and Woman” scratching the surface of some National Parks in the USA and Canada.

Mesa Verde

This is Mesa Verde, Colorado - we camped here.

View Sea Star Trip Path in a larger map

ROCKY MOUNTAIN RIDING ROUTE July 25-28, 2011

noreply@blogger.com (Dan and Kathy Chevalier) — Fri, 07 Oct 2011 04:44:00 +0000

Leaving the Tetons and Gros Ventre, in Wyoming we had another long ride, with some desired stops, on our way to Mesa Verde National Park in southwestern Colorado. The route we took retraced our steps to 287E through Arapaho Indian controlled area along the Wind River, and toward Lander, stayed overnight at the Maverick Motel, drove over the historic Overland Stage Route of the Oregon Trail and the town of Rawlins. Along the highway were beautiful painted cliffs similar to the dessert. We stayed in Lincoln campground in Medicine Bow at the end of a long day.

The next leg of 130 mountain miles, brought us to route 130 and over the Snowy Range Pass at 10,847 feet and Medicine Bow Mt., even taller, until we crossed the border into Colorado at Tie Siding.

Poudre Canyon and Poudre River, where we took a campsite at Kelly, were along the next section on route 14 then west to the Arapaho Wildlife Preserve. The Preserve route, 125 then 40, 70 and 91. Route 91 runs close to the scenic road, 24, described below. I could see the 14,000s as we continued on the highway that ran over and through heights of 6000' to 8000'. I love my Subaru, but it struggled even with the trailer empty! Dan, of course, had a much easier time driving the mountains. He was cold, but the bike was the way to go- only he had to slow considerably to allow me to keep up as we hadn't discussed the route. Leadville was the place we found a hotel and planned the rest of the trip.

Information on the 14,000s Scenic route 24 is from internet research. We rode rt. 91 but it was from north to south. The description below is from south to north. There is no doubt the mountains are amazing. It's fun to see their Collegiate names now. At the time we rode through they were just "the Rockies".

"One of the scenic drives in the Rockies is a section of US 24 called the Highway of the Fourteeners, because it passes a total of ten 14,000 foot peaks on either side of Buena Vista. There is no other stretch of highway in the U.S. where you will see this many of the highest peaks together nor be able to view them so closely. The pointed summit of Mt. Princeton first appears, later you have the first full view of Mt. Princeton, a massive mountain with great shoulder peaks on each side of the summit. Following Princeton in succession to the right are Mts. Yale and Columbia. You then sight the sharp peak of Mt. Harvard (3rd highest peak in the Rockies), and to its right Mts. Missouri, Belford, and Oxford, all higher than 14,000 feet. US 24 goes through the town of Buena Vista and for another 3 miles north of town, the road passes 3 or 4 miles from the Fourteeners and you have a close up view. After Mt. Yale look for the beautiful view up North Cottonwood Basin to the Continental Divide, with the pointed Birthday Peak at the far end, standing on the Divide about 10 miles away."

As Dan and I emerged from the mountain and our view of Mt. Princeton, we turned west and were on a much less traveled road on our way to "The Million Dollar Highway", another famous biking highway and on our way past Durango, CO toward Mesa Verde.

Quotes mostly from Wikipedia

"The original portion of the Million Dollar Highway was a toll road built by Otto Mears in 1883 to connect Ouray and Ironton. Another toll road was built over Red Mountain Pass from Ironton to Silverton. In the late 1880's Otto Mears turned to building railroads and built the Silverton Railroad north from Silverton over Red Mountain Pass to reach the lucrative mining districts around Red Mountain, terminating at Albany just eight miles south of Ouray. The remaining eight miles were considered too difficult and steep for a railroad. At one point a cog railroad was proposed, but it never made it beyond the planning stage.

In the early 1920's, the original toll road was rebuilt at considerable cost and became the present day US 550. The Million Dollar Highway was completed in 1924. Today the entire route is part of the San Juan Skyway Scenic Byway. "

"The Million Dollar Highway stretches for about 25 miles in western Colorado and follows the route of U.S. 550 between Silverton and Ouray, Colorado. It is part of the San Juan Skyway Scenic Byway. Between Durango and Silverton the Skyway loosely parallels the Durango and Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad."

Looking south toward Red Mountain Pass.

This section of the route passes over three mountain passes:

Coal Bank Pass, elevation 10,640 ft

Molas Pass, elevation 10,970 ft

Red Mountain Pass, elevation 11,018 ft

The origin of the name Million Dollar Highway is disputed. There are several legends, though, including that it cost a million dollars a mile to build in the 1920s, and that its fill dirt contains a million dollars in gold ore.

and from Wikipedia a really good description:

"U.S. Route 550 though the entire stretch has been called the Million Dollar Highway, but it is really the twelve miles south of Ouray through the Uncompahgre Gorge to the summit of Red Mountain Pass which gains the highway its name. This stretch through the gorge is challenging and potentially hazardous to drive; it is characterized by steep cliffs, narrow lanes, and a lack of guardrails; the ascent of Red Mountain Pass is marked with a number of hairpin "S" curves used to gain elevation, and again, narrow lanes for traffic—many cut directly into the sides of mountains. During this ascent, the remains of the Idarado Mine are visible. Travel south from Ouray to Silverton perches drivers on the vertiginous outside edge of the highway. Large RVs travel in both directions, which adds a degree of excitement (or danger) to people in cars. The road is kept open year-round. Summer temperatures can range from 70-90 degree highs at the ends of the highway to 50-70 degrees in the mountain passes. The snow season starts in October, and snow will often close the road in winter."

Enjoy the slideshow of as many pictures as we have of this terrific riding area; great scenery and lots of thrills. Nice country.

Poudre to Molas, Red MT 20

THE BEARTOOTH, YELLOWSTONE and GRAND TETONS July 20-24, 2011

noreply@blogger.com (Dan and Kathy Chevalier) — Thu, 06 Oct 2011 03:49:00 +0000

MONTANA to Wyoming Yellowstone National Park, Grand Tetons. July 20-26, 2011

Moving on to Yellowstone National Park

Eureka, Montana was a day drive away from our next target. Beartooth Highway at the border of Montana and Wyoming. We had to travel from NW Montana to SE Montana and enter Wyoming. Dan was a bit fatigued from the week of daily 2 up riding in Canada and decided to rest for two days by using the trailer for the bike until we were closer to Beartooth Highway.

We began to repack everything into the car and after food shopping and clothes washing and sorting, packing and sleep we returned the bike to the trailer and set off. Using the major highways we headed south, then east on rt. 90 to 212- the Beartooth!

There was a lot of motorcycle road to cover on the way from Glacier to Yellowstone. Dan had met various bikers along the way who said “ Don’t miss the Million Dollar Rd,” or “If you go into Yellowstone from the East, you should first find the Beartooth Highway. You ride through the Absaroka Wilderness area in Targhee Forest. Best road I ever rode on!”

A full day was necessary to cross Montana and the next night the town of Red Lodge was as far as we would travel. So after dinner in Red Lodge we looked for a place to stay and found a Forest Service campground. As we set up the tent the wind was howling and there had been rain while we ate Mexican food at Red Lodge. The creek we had to pass over to arrive at the campsite was raging as were most of the Montana mountain creeks we passed. Snow cover in the Rockies was said to be higher than normal, with temperatures colder recently, so as the sun and temperatures were increasing, so were the creeks rising. Next morning after breakfast we kept on Beartooth for the 69 mile trip.

BEARTOOTH HIGHWAY

Wikopedia says, "The Beartooth Highway has been called "the most beautiful drive in America," by late CBS correspondent Charles Kuralt.^[1] Because of heavy snowfall at the top, The pass is usually open each year only from mid May through mid October because of heavy snowfall at the top, weather conditions permitting.^[2]

The Beartooth Highway is the section of U.S. Highway 212 between Red Lodge, Montana and Cooke City, Montana. It traces a series of steep zigzags and switchbacks, along the Montana-Wyoming border to the 10,947 ft high Beartooth Pass. The approximate elevation rise is from 5,200 ft in 12 mi in the most daring landscapes.

When driving from the east to the west, the highest parts of the Beartooth Highway level off into a wide plateau near the top of the pass, and then descend to where the Beartooth Highway connects to the Chief Joseph Scenic Byway near Cooke City, which forms the northeast gateway to Yellowstone National Park. En route, one passes numerous lakes typical of the Absaroka-Beartooth Wilderness Area which borders the highway along much of its route.

The highway officially opened June 14, 1936.

Because of the high altitudes, snowstorms can occur even in the middle of the summer and the pass is also known for strong winds and severe thunderstorms. Plan on a driving time of at least two hours for the 69-mile long trip from Red Lodge to Cooke City.

The Beartooth Highway passes through portions of Custer National Forest, and Shoshone National Forest and near the Absaroka-Beartooth Wilderness."

Dan agreed with Charles Kuralt and other riders who either told us not to miss this road or whom we met enjoying the view along the road. It was certainly one of his favorites. Our day was sunny and dry, but a bit windy. The mountains were high, but the road was well kept and traffic not a big issue.

Yellowstone National Park

Our lunch stop in Cooke City finished, we grabbed some ice, a few groceries, and entered Yellowstone National Park from the NE. After the winding driving concentration required during the morning on Beartooth Highway, Dan was pretty tired but we had to drive miles late in the day to find a campsite. There aren’t too many choices for camping near the entrance we used. We drove by the three campgrounds and they all had signs “Full.” It was now summer and Yellowstone is the National Park with highest visitation.

In tired frustration we spoke to a Ranger who had just left work at the Ranger station. Somehow he felt sorry for us when I related the “campground full” story and he suggested that because Dan was on a bike, we could try the hiker/biker section of the Tower Falls campsite, a special section reserved for hikers or bikers since they have fewer options than car campers. We did go to look, and low and behold there was one unoccupied spot and enough room to park. This was much better than driving out of the park and re-entering in the morning, at least 25 miles one way which was our next option!

It turned out to be a great spot! Dan and I went for a little walk, binoculars in hand, and were able to see three Mule deer, one a large male, and, rustling in the bushes near us we looked down and saw…a black bear. It very slowly ambled away from us, but I backed away from it back up the hill. Dan kept watching it.

That evening we talked for a long while around the campfire with a young man who was bicycling the Beartooth the next morning. He was telling us the places he had biked; some of the mountains we had ridden, but with two strong motors. He was in very good shape, obviously, but bicycling the Beartooth? Since he left early and was going the opposite way, we wondered after how he had done!

In the morning we lurked until a nearby camping family left, grabbed and paid for the now vacant site for a night, so we could go out and explore the park and have a place to come back to. We left the car and set off down the rough campground road to the main loop heading west.

Yellowstone has miles of paved road to explore, the road makes a large loop around the park and off toward the various park entries, meaning to go the entire way around would be many miles on the bike. We headed to Mammoth Hot Springs at the North Entrance and would continue around toward Old Faithful, unless we didn’t get there. There were many turn-offs and vista to stop and explore.

Unlike many of the National Parks we visited where we did not have the roads to ourselves, but…the traffic wasn’t too bad, EVERYBODY wants to be in Yellowstone, making the traffic abominable. RV’s, trailers of all sizes, a gazillion cars, pickups, 4X4’s and even other motorcycles clog the turn-offs, crowd the roads and parking lots as they crane their necks to spot the prolific wildlife, especially the Grizzly bear or Elk then they/we steer off the road in unapproved places, cameras, scopes and binoculars in hand. Bison and Black bear can be seen sometimes, too.

Leaving the campground we bought breakfast at the historic landmark Roosevelt Lodge and Horse Stables, viewing meadows of tall grasses stretching to the base of low mountains and, at Indian Camp, Alpine meadows containing small ponds, each pond with its own fly fisherman. The groups and couples enjoying these lessor peopled places appeared tranquil because people were taking time to walk and engage with the surroundings in a different way than the more frantic auto traffic.

I knew Yellowstone was famous for Old Faithful Geyser but there are a lot more than the one geyser in the park. Yellowstone SW road has many places where the ground spews steam over a crusty ground. We found the “hot and steamy” side of the park very interesting with its plumes of steam and incredible pastel rainbow colors. There was even a bubbling caldron of white mud with bubbles bursting six inches above the ground level called the Paint Pot. Geothermal anyone?

The day was hot, the ground was hot, and the motorcycle was hot especially wearing all the gear, so we headed back to camp for the day arriving late in the afternoon, and not reaching Old Faithful. The following day we started around the loop the opposite way, up the mountain to Dunraven Pass at 8900ft. There were some RV’s on this twisty, steep mountain road. They couldn’t climb the mountain and held up traffic. Passing, even on the bike, was difficult. We headed now south to Canyon Village, Lake Village, Yellowstone Lake, a beautiful thirty mile glacier lake where apparently many types of Salmon and other fish live and the local people and tourists fish with local guides. In some places hunting is allowed in the park, too. There were just as many places to stop and explore or walk –we never made Old Faithful—but that’s OK as we thought we may have to stand around for a long time, as long as 90 minutes, to see an eruption.

We left the Park by the South Entrance and headed for Grand Teton National Park, just 60 miles away, much less traveled and another park filled with fabulous sights; snow covered high mountains and lots of buffalo. At the end of two days in Grand Teton we left the park and camped at Gros Venture which involved a twenty mile gravel and dirt road for Dan and a rattletrap jarring for the trailer and me in the car.

Dan and I were off to western Colorado and our to be last stop; Mesa Verde National Park.

YELLOWSTONE INFORMATION

Established in 1872, Yellowstone National Park is America's first national park. Located in Wyoming, Montana and Idaho, it is home to a large variety of wildlife including grizzly bears, wolves, bison, and elk. Preserved within Yellowstone National Park are Old Faithful and a collection of the world's most extraordinary geysers and hot springs, and the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone.

Did You Know?
Yellowstone contains approximately one-half of the world’s hydrothermal features. There are over 10,000 hydrothermal features, including over 300 geysers, in the park.

An active volcano
Approximately 1,000–3,000 earthquakes annually
Approximately 10,000 thermal features
More than 300 geysers
One of the world’s largest calderas, measuring 45 by 30 miles (72 by 48 km)
Thousands of petrified trees in northern Yellowstone
Approximately 290 waterfalls, 15 ft. or higher, flowing year-round
Tallest waterfall: Lower Falls of the Yellowstone River at 308 ft. (94 m)

YELLOWSTONE LAKE

131.7 sq. miles (35,400 hectares) of surface area
141 miles (177 km) of shoreline
20 miles (32 km) north to south
14 miles (23 km) east to west
Average depth: 140 feet (43 m)
Maximum depth: about 410 feet (122 m)

CULTURAL RESOURCES

26 associated American Indian tribes
Approximately 1,600 archeological sites
More than 300 ethnographic resources (animals, plants, sites)
More than 24 sites, landmarks, and districts on the National Register of Historic Places
1 National Historic Trail
More than 900 historic buildings
More than 379,000 cultural objects and natural science specimens
Thousands of books (many rare), manuscripts, periodicals
About 90,000 photographic prints and negatives

Internet Website: www.nps.gov/yell/

Did You Know?
There were no wolves in Yellowstone in 1994. The wolves that were reintroduced in 1995 and 1996 thrived and there are now over 300 of their descendants living in the Greater Yellowstone Area.

Enjoy our slideshow of Beartooth Highway, Yellowstone and Teton National Parks

Yellowstone & Grand Teton

DO THEY REALLY SKI UP HERE? GLACIER NATIONAL PARK

noreply@blogger.com (Dan and Kathy Chevalier) — Wed, 05 Oct 2011 04:08:00 +0000

The end of the week on the bike. To the USA and Glacier National Park - return to Eureka, Mt. July 16-17, 2011

Dan and I arrived at Glacier National Park on July 16. We had ridden (still the BMW) quite a few miles that morning without finding breakfast or, more importantly, coffee- and were certainly ready for both when we saw a small coffee shop and stopped. The waitress was lovely and friendly with everyone, but just did not wait on us. Meanwhile we overheard another customer being told the coffee maker was not working. It took us a while, but we finally walked out and continued down the road towards Glacier Park to the closest town, St. Mary’s. We did find a nice place to have breakfast and I was even able to purchase a new CF card for my camera so I could take pictures at Glacier and save my old card to upload pictures when I returned to Florida. Good thing, too. When I tried to download, I had lost many pictures.

Soon Dan and I drove into Glacier Park and were told that indeed the Road to the Sun road had just opened! That was the good news; the bad news was that there was quite a bit of construction going on. Although there is the cute, red, Park Shuttle, Dan wanted to take the bike so off and up we rode. Compared to Banff and Jasper the snow had melted off and the landscape was much greener, lakes and river were more accessible. In Park literature, however, we were warned that due to climate change these glaciers were melting and in perhaps as little as twenty years the Park glaciers would probably be gone!

Our assessment was that even after the majestic splendor of Banff and Jasper, Glacier was still different and a great visit. Most memorable for me was the glacial run-off causing the ash blue water to blast over the rocks we stood on. The construction and limitation of where you could safely stop to snap a photo was a drawback.

Road to the Sun, the main driving road and only road through the park provides many long vistas to marvel at as you drive up over the mountains through the park. There are places you just can’t stop to get a picture, but on the back of the bike, I could sometimes grab a picture while moving along. We stopped at the Visitor Center at Logan Pass, the highest point, and were amused to see the skiers coming down off Logan Peak after walking up with gear to ski down. They were so “cool” in shorts or no shirt and ski boots! Hikers and bikers were plentiful and tourists like us filled the parking lot. High on a rocky steppe above the parking lot we were able to spot a bighorn sheep looking down.

We continued down the mountain road, twisting and switchback coasting to the beautiful glacial blue river raging at the bottom, and a campsite. Whew! We were back to being able to have park entry fees waived, and paying half price for a campsite due to our having a National Park Pass. Back to the $10.00 per night campsite and buy wood for $6.00. Much better-so we went out to dinner at the tourist town near Lake McDonald walking distance to our campsite at Apgar. In the morning we would be ready to head to Eureka, the Ksanka Hotel and a soft bed by evening.

Here are some pictures of Glacier National Park, Montana

Glacier National Park

BEAUTIFUL WILD CANADA.July 10-15, 2011

noreply@blogger.com (Dan and Kathy Chevalier) — Mon, 26 Sep 2011 01:45:00 +0000

Banff, Jasper, Waterton National Parks

Eureka, Montana July 10-15, 2011 Invermere on route 93/95 to Banff, Jasper, Lake Louise, Waterton Glacier

Dan and I were driving along an excellent biking road in Idaho having driven the Cascades Highway rt. 20. when we stopped at Bonner’s Ferry Campground to rest. It was then that we discussed the possibility of taking only the bike into Canada to Banff National Park, then Jasper National Park for about a week. As we figured out what we would absolutely need to camp, and bring all our riding gear, we thought the plan was do-able, so we used the picnic table we were sitting at and started to refold our tent, sleeping pads, sleeping bags and other “stuff” to their original small sizes. Yes, we could, with difficulty, get it all to fit including the new, velour blanket I had insisted on buying a few campsites previously. The next part of the plan was to find a place to leave the car and trailer for the week. We found such a place, the friendly Motel Ksanka in Eureka, which put us close to the US / Canadian border at Kalispell.

The border crossing was quick and straightforward; “How long will you be in Canada? Have you been here before? US citizens? Show passports." Done.

So July 11 found us following rte. 93/95 N, a slightly winding, very scenic road we followed to the town of Invermere, the first place we could change money, and then, before I even realized it from my perch on the back, we were in line to enter Banff. The Ranger asked, "How many days will you be spending in the park?"

After getting over the shock of $20 a day for Park entry, plus $27.00 daily for a campsite and $8.00 extra for a fire ring (wood included), the very most we had spent camping on our trip, (especially since US Parks allow us to enter for free), we zipped into the Banff National Park for at least two days, and immediately began to enjoy the high mountains behind greenstrip scenery and the deer frequently seen along the side of the road. The road signs suggested more wildlife to come; signs for elk and bear and warning signs for drivers to be watchful for wildlife came into view.

Our heads swiveling like bobble-head dolls, both watching for critters, as we enjoyed the open view from the bike. Banff and Jasper both consist of mountainous terrain with glaciers, icefields, dense coniferous forest and alpine landscapes. The Icefields Parkway extends from Lake Louise and connects with Jasper National Park in the north.

Mt. Rundle, seen from the town of Banff and Castle Mountain are a few of the named mountains within the overlooking cambrian cliffs, rising high above our heads. Our exploration took us past Kootenay Hot Springs, Attrude Creek and to Tunnel Mountain Campsite for our first night in the park, where I read there actually is no tunnel through Tunnel Mountain. A mining company wanted to put a tunnel there but never did.

We were close enough to the upscale tourist recreation town of Banff to ride in for a pizza, then return to set up camp and start the fire to keep mosquitoes at bay. We met and shared our pizza with a BMW rider from Maui, thinking it was strange that we met two BMW GS riders on our trip and they are both from Maui! The second one told us he was only aware of two GS bikes on Maui, his and a silver one. I wondered if it was Pats'.

Next morning we awoke to cold, probably low 40's, so we stayed in the tent awhile, then drove into Banff town again and sought out breakfast since we had no cooking supplies with us- not even coffee! Fully geared up against the cold, we followed rt. 1A, the Icefield Highway, all the way to Jasper Park, along the way stopping at intriguing overlook and pull-offs, awed and gasping at the size and then increasing size and isolation of these massive Rocky Mountains, their bases running with icy streams, sometimes gushing torrents, of melting snowfall; a wonderful, smoky-looking new-to-us shade of grayish-aqua. On our previous travels on Sea Star we met astounding hues of blue, and here was a completely new one.

We drove down a dirt road and explored a small part of the Columbia Ice Fields where tourists may walk, or take an ice shuttle to get a better view of the many glaciers. There were signs showing us the extent of glacial movement in previous years. We walked with bus loads of other tourists to Athabaska Falls, a spectacular waterfall below the Athabaska Glacier and then headed for a new campground, in the area of Jasper National Park-even less traveled than Banff. Exhausted from a long day of riding, we went to the closest place we could for dinner, a mile away Jasper Mountain Lodge. Jasper Lodge while quite attractive was, like many of our hotel choices in or near the parks, prohibitively expensive for a room. Typical tourists we figured might pay $150.00 per night to stay inside, so we were glad we had brought our gear with us. People camp with RVS or pop-up campers and they made up most of the campers we saw. We did learn that there are hostels and even some other accommodation choices that serve tourists who bike, hike or climb more cheaply.

In the morning, a late start again as we had to go to Jasper town to eat, we traveled even more carefully because of fog and then pouring rain, back over the mountain passes, this time using route 1 to Banff, then on toward Lake Louise, where we wanted to camp. Along the way, in the rain we met and talked to two kinds of recreational tourists. The first young woman turned her bike into the pull-off where Dan and I were under a semi-shelter, and joined us. She was part of a mountain street bike trek, freezing and waiting for a van pick-up to bring her the last 7 miles to Columbia Icefield- an RV was there that she would stay in for the night. The second tourist was a man our age who was also bicycling to the Icefield. He had an older bike, was dressed in a typical poncho and carried his tent, etc. He chatted with us a bit and off he went. That evening he would sleep at a hostel near the Icefield, because of the wet. He did his own planning, used no high tech clothing or technology. I was impressed, because even on the BMW we were still barely surface covering the parks. More time, more time is needed.

When the rain stopped, well, actually it didn’t, we were soaked, but we continued on toward Lake Louise. After a bit of confusion about where the camping was, we put up our tent and built a fire. Now was the time to dry our riding clothes and boots over the fire. Lake Louise town and wild areas were having some problem with black bears. It was Spring there and the bears were coming out. To cope with bears that might come in the campground smelling for food, the fence encircling the campground is electrified. We had no problem and only saw roadside bears as well as elk and black tail deer.

Leaving the Parks we headed for a road on the map that Dan thought “looked interesting” and perhaps it would have limited traffic. He was correct on both counts. Driving rt 11 then 40 through Kankanasus Wilderness Road allowed some great wildlife sightings and was more fun motorcycling- even given driving cautions to warn drivers that the creatures could easily be running across the road, which we learned we had better heed. Kankanasus area included fabulously green, stick straight expanse of evergreen trees and aspens. Acres of flowers infused the alpine meadows. The roadside information podiums tell of the unbelievable age of the stunted trees and meadow vegetation.

After crossing a place named Highwood Pass at about 10,000 ft., where wild mountain goats were grazing, then many more miles of travel, we found a tiny store where we had a yummy supper of microwaved cheeseburger, and Klondike bars, found a roadside campsite where we were the only campers. The cotton plants were exploding pollen everywhere and ground squirrels were as plentiful as ants but our spot on the river was very pretty.

Next morning we headed on towards Waterton. We passed lots of interesting sights. We tried to visit the Buffalo Preserve as we came back in sight of the Montana Mountains. It was pretty but, unfortunately, we did not see buffalo. It was strongly suggested that motorcycles not enter the preserve. I wonder why?

Waterton National Park is the Canadian portion of the combined Waterton Glacier Peace Park. We camped one night in the Canadian section, then drove the bike back into the US so we could enter Glacier National Park from the east. We had been without our internet or phone while in Canada and wondered if the Glacier National Park Road to the Sun had yet opened for the season. If it had not we would have a long drive to return to Eureka, Montana and the car. We would have to check later, closer to the Park entry.

Some Canadian Park, information from internet sites or maps we were given.

"The contiguous national parks of Banff, Jasper, Kootenay and Yoho, as well as the Mount Robson, Mount Assiniboine and Hamber provincial parks, studded with mountain peaks, glaciers, lakes, waterfalls, canyons and limestone caves, form a striking mountain landscape.

In the fall of 1883, three Canadian Pacific Railway construction workers stumbled across a cave containing hot springs (these natural hot mineral springs are among the top attractions in the Canadian Rockies. Banff Upper Hot Springs offers a splendid historic bathhouse located in Banff National Park. Radium Hot Springs in BC’s Kootenay National Park is famous for its canyon setting. Jasper National Park contains Miette Hot Springs with the hottest mineral water in the Rockies. - we visited none of these-very commercial).

From that humble beginning was born Banff National Park, Canada's first national park and the world's third. 2,564 square miles of valleys, mountains, glaciers, forests, meadows and rivers, Banff National Park is one of the world's premier destination spots.

Banff National Park is divided into units based on vegetation, landforms and soil. This system of land classification is used to identify and inventory similar regions within the park in order to better manage park ecosystems. The park is classified into ecoregions, which are further divided into ecosections and ecosites. There are three ecoregions in the park: montane, subalpine, and alpine.

Jasper is the gentle giant of the Rockies, offering visitors a more laid-back mountain experience - with equal options for adventure, discovery and relaxation.

As one of Canada’s oldest and largest national parks, established in 1907, Jasper was once seen as an island of civilization in a vast wilderness. More recently, it has become a popular getaway from urban life, and a special place to reconnect with nature.

Jasper National Park is the largest of Canada's Rocky Mountain Parks and part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site with 4335 square miles of broad valleys, rugged mountains, glaciers, forests, alpine meadows and wild rivers along the eastern slopes of the Rockies in western Alberta. There are more than 660 miles of hiking trails (both overnight and day trips), and a number of spectacular mountain drives. The largest Dark Sky Preserve on the planet, there are endless ways to enjoy the magic of Jasper National Park.

Jasper joins Banff National Park to the south via the Icefields Parkway. This parkway offers unparalleled beauty as you travel alongside a chain of massive icefields straddling the Continental Divide. The Columbia Icefield borders the parkway in the southern end of the park.

Large numbers of elk, bighorn sheep, mule deer and other large animals, as well as their predators make Jasper National Park one of the great protected ecosystems remaining in the Rocky Mountains. This vast wilderness is one of the few remaining places in southern Canada that is home to a full range of carnivores, including grizzly bears, mountain lions, wolves and wolverines.

In such a large and spectacular area, there are many sights to see and plenty of stories to be told. A few of the highlightes are listed here:

The highest mountain in Alberta, Mt. Columbia

The hydrographic apex of North America (the Columbia Icefield) where water flows to three different oceans from one point;

The longest underground drainage system known in Canada (the Maligne Valley karst);

The only sand-dune ecosystem anywhere in the Four Mountain Parks (Jasper Lake dunes);

The northern limit in Alberta of Douglas-fir trees (Brûlé Lake);

The last fully protected range in the Rocky Mountains for caribou (Maligne herd);

The most accessible glacier in North America (the Athabasca).

Waterton-Glacier Park

The park's variety of vegetation communities provides homes for many animals, including more than 60 species of mammals, over 250 species of birds, 24 species of fish, and 10 reptiles and amphibians. Large predators include wolf, coyote, cougar, grizzly bear, and American black bear. The grasslands are important winter range for ungulates such as elk, mule deer, and white-tailed deer. In the fall, the marsh and lake areas of the park are used extensively by migrating ducks, swans, and geese. Some animals found here are considered rare or unusual eg. trumpeter swans, Vaux's swifts, and vagrant shrews.

Waterton Lakes National Park also has global importance because of several key international designations:

Waterton-Glacier International Peace Park (1932) - The Peace Park was originally created as a symbol of peace and goodwill between the United States and Canada, but has now evolved to also represent cooperation in a world of shared resources. Both parks strive to protect the ecosystem through shared management, not only between themselves, but also with their other neighbors.

On December 6, 1995 UNESCO designated the Waterton-Glacier International Peace Park as a World Heritage Site because it has a distinctive climate, physiographic setting, mountain-prairie interface, and tri-ocean hydrographical divide. It is an area of significant scenic values with abundant and diverse flora and fauna.

Criteria (revised in 2006)

(vii) Both national parks were originally designated by their respective nations because of their superlative mountain scenery, their high topographic relief, glacial landforms, and abundant diversity of wildlife and wildflowers.

(ix) The property occupies a pivotal position in the Western Cordillera of North America resulting in the evolution of plant communities and ecological complexes that occur nowhere else in the world. Maritime weather systems unimpeded by mountain ranges to the north and south allow plants and animals characteristic of the Pacific Northwest to extend to and across the continental divide in the park. To the east, prairie communities nestle against the mountains with no intervening foothills, producing an interface of prairie, montane and alpine communities.

The international peace park includes the headwaters of three major watersheds draining through significantly different biomes to different oceans. The biogeographical significance of this tri-ocean divide is increased by the many vegetated connections between the headwaters. The net effect is to create a unique assemblage and high diversity of flora and fauna concentrated in a small area.

Waterton Biosphere Reserve (1979) - As Canada's second biosphere reserve, Waterton was the first Canadian national park to take part in this UNESCO program. Biosphere Reserves are created to achieve a better understanding of the relationship between humans and the natural environment by integrating knowledge and experience from both natural and social sciences. Major goals are to support information exchange, research, education, training and improved land management; largely through cooperation and shared projects with local private landowners and government agencies.

Enjoy Canada's beautiful, and protected scenery and maintained National lands and Reserves:

16 Canada Banff, Jasper wildlife reserve

CASCADES WASHINGTON - EUREKA, MONTANA

noreply@blogger.com (Dan and Kathy Chevalier) — Sun, 25 Sep 2011 14:40:00 +0000

(Route 20 Cascades Highway,WA- route 2 IDAHO- route 37 MONTANA)

Mt. Rainier Park was a wonderful one-day trip, and of course it could have more days. Dan and I had made a decision that although there are hundreds more places to visit in the United States, Dan remembered a trip he took as a college student to Banff and Jasper National Parks in Canada, and he wanted me to see them, too.

Our friends back in Florida were assuring us that all was well with Sea Star, our sailboat, but you really can’t leave Florida during hurricane season if you own a boat without worrying about the fickle weather. Sadly, we needed to bring our fantastic travel vacation to a close. “pretty soon.”

Dan had made some great choices; when to begin our trip to have decent weather out west, (the temperature hit 100 degrees only a few times while we were in the desert), to move relatively quickly to maximize the places it would be reasonable to visit in a few months, to take the car and trailer to back-up the bike, allowing days of rest or more 4X4 adventure and air conditioning! So I allowed him to make a few more- we were indeed going to travel to Banff and Jasper Parks and we could pack our gear and camping equipment efficiently enough to drive to those parks, adding Glacier National Park to make a loop back to Montana, and use only the bike- an R 1200 RT with two saddle bags and a Givi Case. But we were not in Montana yet. We had 400 miles to go! It would be a great and scenic drive though.

Fife, Washington on the southeast side of Seattle was where we were. We did not go into, but near the city of Seattle staying on route 5 and headed north to the town of Burlington. I knew we were missing city stuff, especially the Seattle Space Needle, but "you can't do it all". We traveled the busy highway, Dan on the first day of his brand new motorcycle tires, in the fog and rain Seattle is known for. The rain continued as we turned onto rt. 20 heading east on the Cascade Scenic Highway.

State Route 20 is the northernmost route across the Cascade Mountain Range in WASHINGTON and is part of the Cascade Loop, a 400-mile driving tour through the Cascades. We, unfortunately, were only heading east , not riding the loop. We knew we would pass through an area of high mountains on both sides of the road, starting with Baker Mountain, 10,781 ft. in North Cascades National Park. We would also be passing through Newhalem where there were three campsites. That night, we were awoken with a blasting horn at about 2:00 AM. We found out the next morning as we passed Diablo that the noise was a warning the nearby dam was about to discharge excess water. So on through Okanogan and Coville National Forests, also Pend Oreille and the Kalispel Indian area- to the Idaho border.

From Cascades Information:

What is known today as the North Cascades Highway was originally the corridor used by local Native American tribes as a trading route from Washington's Eastern Plateau country to the Pacific Coast used for more than 8,000 years. After the California Gold Rush of 1849, white settlers started to arrive in the North Cascades looking for gold as well as fur-bearing animals. What they encountered were the rugged, remote peaks of the North Cascades, just east of Washington Pass. Building a road was thought to be too difficult at the time.

The Cascade Pass route began to be roughed out in 1897 and shortly afterward, state highway maps showed the road as either State Highway 1 or the Cascade Wagon Road. In the following years, floods on the Cascade River took out most of the work completed on the road and led Washington's first State Highway Commissioner to report in 1905 that almost all the money appropriated for the road had been wasted. The Spring melt run-off undermined the road, just as may happen today, (but the Spring thaws from Baker and other mountains creates the fabulous cascading waterflows the area is known for.)

By 1936, increased population and interest for a northern route over the high Cascades, again persuaded highway promoters to try a route across Rainy and Washington Pass. In 1953, the North Cascades Highway Association was formed with politicians, lobbyists, and business owners pushing Olympia harder to move forward on the highway plan. Companies requested sales of old-growth timber from along the highway corridor. The timber requests were used to support the need for a highway.

The State of Washington decided to build a highway from the town of Diablo to Thunder Arm, a southern arm of Diablo Lake. Funds were also available to improve access roads on both sides of the North Cascades and construction on this section of the highway began in 1959. Over the next nine years, construction of the road would continue along with the signing of the North Cascades National Park bill by President Lyndon B. Johnson in 1968. With this bill, the hope of using the highway as access for high-dollar timber sales was quashed. Businessmen and residents on both sides of the North Cascades were hopeful and supportive of the tourist dollars that were anticipated when the Highway would open.

At Burlington where we turned on, we followed the city's streets around the Cascade Mountains to Washington Pass; Jagged peaks, deep valleys, cascading waterfalls, and over 300 glaciers are in North Cascades National Park. The cities of Winthrop and Twisp are off the road and the route continues down the eastern slopes of the Cascade Mountains. Republic and Kettle Falls are on the route toward Colville before reaching the final destination 1000 ft at the Washington/Idaho State Line.

North Cascades National Park, Ross Lake, and Lake Chelan are National Recreation Areas. These protected lands are part of Stephen Mather Wilderness. People had told us the road was a possible place to see mountain goats. For one long day of driving we watched people enjoying the excellent bicycling along the Cascades road. There were groups dressed alike and in the best gear, a peloton blasting at top speed up the mountain and just vacationers and families enjoying the day. We rarely saw other motorcycle riders, but there were a few that day.

Dan and I crossed into IDAHO and a few hundred miles later,entered MONTANA again, heading for the town of Eureka.

Pictures of the area of Cascades Road to Coville National Forest

16 Cascade rt. 20

MT. RAINIER NATIONAL PARK July 6, 2011

noreply@blogger.com (Dan and Kathy Chevalier) — Thu, 22 Sep 2011 03:21:00 +0000

Hurricane Ridge on the Washington north coast had been fabulous and the coast a nice visit with the Pacific Ocean. We had recently decided not to head off toward Vancouver in British Columbia-just not enough time- so onto the road leading toward Tacoma, and Seattle, and and Mt. Rainier National Park, WA July 6-7

On Dan and I traveled, car and bike, to the town of Fife, south of Seattle, WA, where a BMW dealer is located. Dan needed a service visit on the BMW. The trip to Fife allowed us to drive more of the north coast before heading south toward the city. When we arrived near Tacoma and had to use rt. 5, our leisurely pace of travel ramped up a bit.

While the bike was serviced- Dan needed new tires and an oil change- we took the car to Mt. Rainier National Park on the recommendation of a barber who cut Dan's hair in Fife. Another "You're so close, don't miss it", attraction.

So, rather than sit around the Motel 6 for the day we headed off to get closer to Mt. Rainier; we could actually see the top part of Rainier from Fife.

INFORMATION from MT. RAINIER'S website

Mount Rainier has five developed areas: Longmire, Paradise, Ohanapecosh, Sunrise, and Carbon/Mowich. Although the level of development in these areas ranges from basic -little more than a campground and picnic area- to extensive -hotel, restaurant, visitor center, campgrounds and picnic areas- each can serve as a base for exploring the rest of the park.

Mount Rainier National Park encompasses 235,625 acres on the west-side of the Cascade Range, and is located about 100 kilometers (50 miles) southeast of the Seattle-Tacoma metropolitan area. Mount Rainier National Park is approximately 97 percent wilderness and 3 percent National Historic Landmark District and receives approximately 2 million visitors per year.

At 14,410 feet, Mount Rainier is the most prominent peak in the Cascade Range. It dominates the landscape of a large part of western Washington State. The mountain stands nearly three miles higher than the lowlands to the west and one and one-half miles higher than the adjacent mountains. It is an active volcano that last erupted approximately 150 years ago.

The park is part of a complex ecosystem. Vegetation is diverse, reflecting the varied climatic and environmental conditions encountered across the park's 12,800-feet elevation gradient. Approximately 58 percent of the park is forested, 23 percent is subalpine parkland, and the remainder is alpine, half of which is vegetated and the other half consists of permanent snow and ice. Forest ages range from less than 100 years old on burned areas and moraines left by receding glaciers to old-growth stands 1,000 or more years. Some alpine heather communities have persisted in the park for up to 10,000 years.

Species known or thought to occur in the park include more than 800 vascular plants 159 birds, 63 mammals, 16 amphibians, 5 reptiles, and 18 native fishes. The park contains 26 named glaciers across 9 major watersheds, with 382 lakes and 470 rivers and streams and over 3,000 acres of other wetland types. Of these vertebrates, there are 4 federally listed threatened or endangered species known to occur in the park, including 3 birds and 1 fish. Four other species historically occurred in the park, but their present status is unknown including: gray wolf, grizzly bear, Canada lynx, and Chinook salmon.

For our trip we went south from Fife to rt. 401 and entered the park at White Water to make sure to see Sunrise Point . In checking the website, the road to Sunrise was recently opened. The climb in the carwas to almost 7000 feet with one stop at a lake overlook, and then continuing on up. There were plenty of cars at the Point parking lot. I played with a family whose kids were sliding on the huge snowbanks.

After this visit we drove on down the mountain and continued on through and around Steven Canyon, then ascended to Paradise. Paradise has a restaurant and hotel andf is the place, other than Sunrise, where most teams of climbers begin their ascents. Their was snow at Paradise, too. We drove by three of the foxes in the pictures and met, thanks to two tourists who spotted them, the Horey Marmots. With window open we heard their whistle-like piercing noise, but did not know what had made it.

By now it was late enough for dinner. We continued on our semi-circle on the south road around the mountain toward Longmire and the lodge for dinner, then returned the 80 miles or so to Fife.

Many people visit this park intending to climb to Rainier's Summit. Here is some data about climbing.

A PARTIAL LIST OF CLIMBING STATISTICS from website

Year Number of climbers Number successful

1852 (a) 4 0

1854 (a) 2 2

1857 5 0

1870 (b) 5 4 The first recorded successful conquest of the mountain

Year Number of climbers Number successful

2000 13114 6083

2001 11167 5171

2002 11313 5553

2003 9714 5295

2004 9251 4951

2005 8972 4604

2006 9154 5787

2007 8976 4707

2008 10180 5682

2009 10616 6438

2010 10643 4920

(a) Reported in Mountain Fever, Haines

(b) First recorded climb of Mount Rainier

Some of those who attempt the hike are turned back by weather, preparation and other factors. Rainier has a fully trained and experienced Ranger staff.

THE LOG OF SEARCH AND RESCUE 2010

Highlights

The weather was the leading factor in 2010. Until late March, the snowpack at Paradise was about 75% of normal. It was

looking like it may be an early climbing season. April, May, and June were much cooler and wetter than normal. The

snowpack recovered and eventually topped out around 200%. Weather and avalanche conditions curtailed many climbers’

summit plans until late June. However, after the fourth of July, the weather became more stable and climbing operations

were normal after that.

There were an unusual number of search and rescue incidents this season, especially lower down on the mountain. This

can partly be explained by the unseasonably cool and wet weather. Poor weather leads to many of the major incidents on

Mt. Rainier. The cool weather also pushed unstable winter and spring-like climbing conditions (the physical snow and ice

conditions) into a period of higher use where the conditions are normally more firm, stable, and reliable. There were 26

search and rescue incidents in 2009 (19 climbing related). In fiscal year 2010, there were 41 search and rescue incidents (20

climbing related).

The climbing program had not replaced two supervisory rangers for almost 4 years. These two positions were filled in the

spring of 2010. These two positions are on-hill and high camp supervisors for the climbing ranger program and act as the

district ranger in his absence.

Climbing rangers began their summer season on April 5th

, almost 5 weeks sooner than normal. Climbing activity usually

increases almost exponentially after mid-May, which makes it difficult to conduct training. The early start date made it far

simpler to train in core skill areas.

A comprehensive training program was coordinated for the climbing rangers which included a 5-day technical rope rigging

class, an EMT refresher and skills test, ski patrol litter training at Crystal Mountain, aviation refreshers and trainings with

the military, Incident Command System, GPS, and Operational Leadership – to name a few. This helped prepare climbing

rangers for an intense season of climbing and also rescue operations.

There were three international entities that came to Mt. Rainier to experience our climbing (and rescue) programs. Ang

Tshering Lama, a Nepali national, volunteered with the climbing rangers at high camps Muir and Schurman. Climbing

rangers also hosted representatives from the Seoul Mountain Rescue Association for several days. Climbing rangers also

coordinated with the US State Department for a day-visit of professionals from Chengdu, China to tour our climbing

program. These visits help Mt. Rainier develop its image as a leader in climbing management around the world.

International Mountain Guides part-owner, George Dunn achieved his 500th summit on Mt. Rainier (the current record).

George’s experience, cooperation, and leadership are instrumental in creating an exceptional work and climbing environment at Mt. Rainier.

The Mountaineering Ranger District

The mountaineering ranger district is approximately 70,000 acres of Mt. Rainier’s 250,000 acres, or roughly everything

above tree line up to the summit. Aside from an area of roughly 1 acre that includes Camp Muir, the entire district is

designated wilderness. There are two management policies that affect wilderness management in the park.

The Organic Act (1916) established the National Park Service. It dictated the NPS’s mission which stated that its purpose is

to, “… conserve the natural and historic objects and the wildlife therein, and provide for the enjoyment of the same, in such Mount Rainier National Park Mountaineering Report 2010

manner and by such means that will allow for the enjoyment of future generations.”

And the Wilderness Act (1964)

established that, “ … A wilderness, in contrast with those areas where man and his own works dominate the landscape, is

hereby recognized as an area where the earth and its community of life are untrammeled by man, where man himself is a

visitor who does not remain.” Four principles were defined, roughly summarized; 1) where the imprint of man's work

substantially unnoticeable; (2) where the land has outstanding opportunities for solitude; (3) is composed of least five

thousand acres; (4) may also contain ecological, geological, or other features of scientific, educational, scenic, or historical

value.

It is for these management directives that our climbing program exists as well as to provide for visitor education,

information, and resource protection.

Wilderness visitor use in the mountaineering district is disproportionate to its size. Most of Mt. Rainier’s overnight

wilderness (both climbing and hiking) is associated with climbing.

Roughly 10,500 climbers attempted Mt. Rainier in 2010,

as opposed to 9,500 people who used the lower regions of the park for overnight backpacking. The extent of day use is not

well-known as there have only been intermittent studies at various trailheads, but summer day-use into the alpine zones is

probably very comparable to day-use into the backcountry zones.

A simple study done with a trail counter at Pebble Creek

(1/2 way up to Camp Muir) in 2010 roughly compared traffic entering the park to passers-by at Pebble Creek, which on

some days was roughly 10% of the entrance station volume!

The Mt. Rainier climbing program attempts to manage the alpine zones consistent with these service and resource

management policies. It seeks to preserve the wilderness character, maintain solitude, discourage and eliminate impacts,

and help users understand its purpose and intent.

The Climbing Program and its Rangers

On no other mountain in the United States, are there so many people in technical glaciated terrain for so many days. This

creates management responsibilities the National Park Service must address.

On top of managing wilderness, the climbing program seeks to promote visitor education and safety by registering,

contacting, and providing information to climbers before, during, and after their visit. It is required by US law (36 CFR 7.5)

to register for (and check out of) each climb. Of the approximately 4,500 climbers who are associated with the commercial

guide services, the remaining 6,100 people require some level of briefing or interaction during the registration process.

Click here to see a map of the Rainier National Park and its Glaciers - but you will lose the blog so maybe go back to the map later.

http://www.nps.gov/pwr/customcf/apps/maps/showmap.cfm?alphacode=mora&parkname=Mount%20Rainier%20National%20Park

Scenery of Mt. Rainier (14,411’) and some of its twenty-six named glaciers

Washington,Rainier National Park

GO WEST, MAN! Cape Flattery July 1-4, 2011

noreply@blogger.com (Dan and Kathy Chevalier) — Tue, 20 Sep 2011 02:33:00 +0000

Washington to Cape Flattery and Neah Bay, Hurricane Ridge July 1-4

Washington Coast

Lots of Oregon left unseen; Columbia River, Columbia Gorge Scenic Road among them, Dan and were now in Washington State and ready to continue north along the coast of the United States. In Yachat Oregon, the owner of a BBQ restaurant had taken an interest in us having a good time in the West and he had taken the time to write an itinerary he had done to enjoy the coast of Oregon and Washington. Dan and I would use his suggestions to stay on rt. 101 and see the Willapa Bay Wildlife Refuge and continue on to the Hoh Indian Tribe’s National Park campsite, after Astoria.

Huge Trees in their natural habitat

Willapa Bay Refuge was closed when we arrived and too remote to stay overnight, so we continued on rt. 101 to Quinault (I think) where in the Quinault Indian area, forests have been allowed to grow un-timbered. As a result there are huge, live trees of spruce and cedar to be admired and photographed and hikes to take farther into the Olympic National Forest. Hopefully the trees will remain for a long time to come. There were signs along the road either advocating for or anti someone’s plans to allow some cutting.

Hoh River Camping

After the tree hike we went on to the Hoh campsite; an 11 mile detour off the main road, along the Hoh River. It wasn't too isolated as there is a camping store with clothing, camping items and tour/trips there and a small deli where we bought wood and ice. There, because it was nearly the Fourth of July and a weekend, it was quite crowded. At night large, four or five inch brown slugs came out of the damp, grassy areas and were everywhere, even one crawling on the tent, leaving a slime trail as it moved. Flick-goodbye! As the sun became warmer they vanished or evaporated into a tiny pool of gunk. I didn’t think to get a pic until the sun had scared most of the BIG ones away. Later when looking over the information I had on the Old Growth trees we had visited, the brochure mentioned a bright yellow 6” long slug-so I guess we were lucky to have the brown baby brothers in Hoh.

"Go West, man"

We packed up after the tent dried from heavy dew and we were off. I’m hazy on what we did next but I do remember we were both driving as usual probably on rt. 113, when Dan stopped to check the map. A young motorcyclist thought we might be in some kind of trouble and stopped to help. He was a local rider who suggested that we were almost to the furthest West point in the US, Cape Flattery, we shouldn't miss that. and he and some rider friends were going there so, “why don’t we come along?”

Well, why not-good idea! I parked the car and trailer at a nearby parking lot, grabbed a few things, put on my helmet and hopped on for a zoom out to the cape, rt.112. We kept up with “the kids” for awhile, but then slowed down a bit to enjoy the ride-narrow, twisty road with close cliff face on one side, Pacific Ocean on the other.

At the turnoff for Cape Flattery we parked and walked the mile or so, meeting “the kids” on their way back- on the wooden walkway to the overlook. This area is accessible to the public and runs right through Makah Tribe land. On the coastal shore, a scenic road shows in the Atlas followed by undeveloped road or places where there is no road paralleling the coastline through the Indian Territory and Olympic Wilderness National Park. We accessed the Cape on the northern route.

It was exciting to think that leaving from the east coast of Florida, our stop in Key West in November "didn’t count" now, but that had been even farther south. Dan and I were now at the western-most point of continental US. Pretty cool-so we took pictures.

The Indians and others fish for salmon in the waters here. If we weren’t on a motorcycle, we might have bought some fresh fish to cook. We enjoyed a spectacular walk down to Neah Bay and incredible view from the overlook of this usually windy, dangerous for navigation, rocky coastal area of Washington. We spoke to a sailor, however, that races in the area, so at times the wind is not so strong or variable. The Coast Guard from the Columbia River training facility spends a lot of time between the river and this Cape.

Next Camp- 4th of July

We rode toward Seattle along the northern coast, stopping at the town of Joyce. Happy Fourth of July. Campgrounds are full. We found a private one with one space left and grabbed it. Quite the lush accommodation. For the toilet there was one old, nasty trailer with one RV type toilet available for twenty campsites, most with tents! . We did meet a nice couple who fed us and shared their fire ring as we chatted. They have an RV but want to go sailing permanently, too so we had a bit to talk about.

Riding Hurricane Ridge

Dan wanted to ride another road he had heard about, named Hurricane Ridge. The Olympic National Forest off of rt. 112 is where this 17mile up mountain, twisty is located. In winter it is a ski area with the reputation that one can surf and ski in the same day. We zipped through Port Angeles and on to the visitor center, arriving at the gate sometime in the afternoon. We pulled in in time to grab a campsite in Heart O’ the Mountain campground and returned to Port Angeles for dinner. The next morning we climbed up the paved, winding, scenic road to the snowy mountain top viewing area, with Ranger Station, snack bar, gift shop at the top.

Part of the downhill road was still closed due to snow ,so we retraced our earlier 17 miles to the campsite.

Enjoy the slideshow of this outstanding part of the coast and Hurricane Ridge:
You may have noticed better resolution in the photos. They may need a little more time to load.

14 WA trees, CFlattory, Hurricane Ridge

RIVERS, RAFTING, RAIN , RESERVE and RENEGE

noreply@blogger.com (Dan and Kathy Chevalier) — Sun, 18 Sep 2011 05:48:00 +0000

A World of Scenic Green June 17- 26 2011

(Idaho to Oregon Coast)

The world around us became greener and greener as we drove through Idaho. Cool and sunny weather greeted us from the fabulous summit of Galena mentioned in my last blog entry, to Montana, still some 160 miles north. We were in the mountains however, and our daily temperatures were more comfortable now that we were not in the desert environment, perhaps 70’s or lower-and what was this precipitation falling from the clouds above mountains and along rivers? We encountered our first appreciable rain since leaving Florida!

SALMON RIVER

Passing alongside the swift moving Salmon River through the center of Idaho we were able to photograph one of the most popular tourist activities; the rafting trips. In bright colored rubber rafts all ages of tourist suited up in helmet and preserver, perched either in front or behind a single guide who manned the oars. I hoped these adventurous folks were wearing neoprene under the outside clothing because it was not apparent that people were really protected from such cold water, and people had said the river was running higher than normal.

The Sawtooth Mountains, a majestic sight of conifer green, were seen from rt. 75 as we started our trip for the day. We passed through the town of Challis and by the Yankee Fort Historic Area where mining operations are displayed as a museum. The Salmon River Scenic Byway, length of 162 miles, rt. 93 contains sights of the Salmon River and its forks, so important for the health and survival of wildlife and for the livelihood of people who live and work in these areas. (see river information below taken from www.rivers.gov/.

We drove through the margins of the Salmon –Challis National Forest in areas once the original home of the Nez Perce Indians. Indians still live throughout the area and are instrumental in providing the care and monitoring of the wild areas in conjunction with the National Park Service. The mountains of Montana were visible to the northeast and, we later discovered, provided a magnificent backdrop to modern life in the small area of Montana that we visited and camped.

The Salmon River was called the River of No Return when Lewis and Clark were sent to explore the West to discover a trading route to the Pacific Ocean, accomplishing their journey into the wilderness on river and horseback. Nez Perce and other Indians helped them on their journey by befriending the men and showing trails, providing food and carriers for the collections they would bring back to President Jefferson.

The area referred to in the following is shown on a map of the Nez Perce Historic Park and while traveling we had a paper copy in front of us.

“For countless generations, the Nimiipuu or Nez Perce have lived among the rivers, canyons and prairies of the inland northwest. Despite the cataclysmic change of the past two centuries, the Nez Perce are still here.” www.nps.gov/nepe See the Historic Park map here.

Along the Scenic Byway, the short, cold rain did not really interfere with our travel. Dan was happy to report that the faring and the form of the RT was quite protective, and we moved on enjoying the sight of rafts full of people floating on the Salmon and mastering the rapids. People also were salmon fishing for chinook. , trout fly fishing and running kayaks through the rocks and rapids in the freezing cold waters.

RAFTING

Dan and I, each in our own vehicle, excitedly pulled off to the side of the road to watch some rafters. Dan had been considering a raft trip himself and had just asked me what I thought about going on a guided trip, when we, along with a small group of spectators, saw the yellow raft lose two of its tourist riders! As you will see in the pictures, in a fast-running rapid filled with rocks and around a concrete abutment , two people fell out of the raft. The raft flew on without the people- who presumably were able to crawl out of the river and up the steps as we all stood wondering what the plan for rescue might be. We left without knowing how the rescue turned out, but pretty sure we would not be on the raft tour in the morning!

RIVERFRONT PROPERTY

We drove many curving miles along the river, seeing many different rafting groups, fishermen and women and started visiting the riverside campsites to see what they were like. All of the Salmon River Scenic Route National Park campsites had some sites bordering the swiftly moving water. Camping and outdoor activities like hunting, fishing and hiking were very popular pursuits. Camping areas were filled with smaller RVs, pop-up campers, lots of pick-up trucks and a few tents. Around the sites were families and lots of men with beards and flannel shirts Many folks looked like they had been in the camp and would be in the camp for a long time. I wondered if, when the kids get out of school, families spend their free time in the woods. It looked like that to me.

At “Three River Junction”, we found a nice campsite right on the river and the next day climbed a 4X4 road toward a waterfall we were told was “something to see.” The weather was good, the sights were amazing; we saw two different kinds of butterflies in huge, fluttering groups ahead of us on the road. In a few hours Dan picked up the bike at the campsite and headed to the main highway. Our plan was to use rt. 12 heading toward Oregon on the Lewis and Clark Trail.

MONTANA

We continued driving and stopping along the Salmon River, and soon, well 80 miles later, we crossed the border into MONTANA. After a two day tour into Montana, awestruck by the beauty of the mountains, and visit to the Les Metcalf - Bitterroot Wildlife Reserve. Parts of it were wet and flooded but the roads were open. It is spectacular! While there we saw many Osprey, some Yellow headed blackbirds, deer, turtles, colonies of ground squirrels . We enjoyed our extremely peaceful hours exploring the reserve and the excellent Visitors’ Center there.

LEWIS and CLARK

We had started building a campfire most nights. It was cold and buggy so smoke was necessary for awhile each night. Now that there was wood available, we had to think about the problem of dry kindling. Dan bought a hatchet as it was really necessary for splitting wood for camping. We then used the Lewis and Clark rt. 12 heading east and crossed the Lost Trail Pass, elevation 6995 ft., the name referring to historians’ lack of knowledge of exactly where Lewis and Clark’s expedition passed through.

RENEGE

Yikes! Now we were riding in the rain. We saw snow in the hills as the pictures show, six feet behind us in plowed piles- then more rain came as we drove on to the higher elevation Lolo Pass on the border of Idaho and Montana. We stopped into the visitor center at the summit and were again reminded of the sad fate of the Nez Pierce Indians and their champion Chief Joseph. The road that we had just travelled on was a forced march for eight hundred Indians in winter because the US Government broke a treaty with the Nez Perce when gold was found on their reservation. They were removed from the land and the land re-claimed to be distributed by the US Government. Read Chief Joseph’s speech on my pics.

Now winding down the mountain in the rain, unfortunately behind a RV dragging a boat, we made it to the commemorative twin towns of Lewiston and Clarkson and after spending the night in Clarkson , ID near the border of Washington State, we located a road a BMW rider in Montana told Dan about that would bring us through great mountain scenery on excellent, twisty roads. First was rt. 129 and then 3. We headed on toward Wallowa Lake and the town of Joseph. The old Chief Joseph was buried in this beautiful area in which he lived with his people. The young Chief Joseph was the Indian who spoke the words of surrender to the US Goverment. I wanted to stay in Joseph for a rodeo that was to happen on the weekend, but that was a few days away.

Hell's Canyon Wilderness

We moved on and took a ride through Hell's Canyon Road, Oregon, which had just been opened to traffic for the season. A campground we found in that wilderness area was unkempt because the Rangers had not yet opened it up meaning move the winter kill limbs, trim and rake out the campsites. We drove on a little farther; this was only one of the times when after losing Dan for a bit, being a slower driver, I happened to make a wrong turn down a narrow one lane road and couldn't turn the trailer around.

When I didn't show up, Dan retraced the route and with little difficulty, got me turned around and down to the campsite. We only had one other neighbor in the whole thirty site camping area and at night we were pleasantly surprised when a doe walked right into our area and browsed not five feet from our campfire. She had lovely big brown eyes and moved quietly, like a floating ghost. After direct eye contact with two startled campers, she just went along with her business in the light of our fire then disappeared as quietly as she had appeared. I think in season elk, deer, and bear hunting are allowed. Fishing I guess can be anytime.

In the morning it was off to Devil's Canyon Overlook and then Devil's Canyon Dam, thirty miles in off the main road and then out again, on great roads for Dan -twisties. Paved, but old surface so a little bumpy, but not too challenging for him or noisy for me with the Trailer.

Beside being bothered by the fate of the Nez Perce as I gazed on their lost land, a flashback to Edward Abbey's thoughts on dams; important but destructive to habitat, river and canyon. Here, on a Sunday on the way to Hell’s Canyon Dam on rt. 86, were many people recreating on the Snake River. There were even a few small sailboats, along with the cabin cruisers, fishermen before the dam and canoes, rafts and kayaks after. No swimmers yet way too cold. The informational signs decreed "water usage for all." Hell's Canyon dam is one of three dams in the 200 mile section of Snake River which does communicate with and so is part of the Columbia Watershed.

Near the town named after the famous fossil beds, John Day, we took a slight detour to see the Thomas Condon Paleontology Museum containing fossils that were found and dated in the John Day beds. The name John Day came from the name of a nearby river. "Thomas Condon, a missionary in the area in the 1860s recognised the value of the finds in the area to science. In 1899, John C. Merrill, University of California began to organize the finds into their geological, chronological, and paleoecological context. " The National Monument was established in 1975. The exhibits contain "40,000,000 years of the Age of Mammals, and visitors can watch researchers from aound the world do their work behind the viewing windows. The area consists of many sites that can be visited on the 20,000 square miles of exceptional fossil-yielding areas. Some sites have picnic facilities. It is unlawful to remove any rock from the study areas.
On rt. 26, then 126 to coast road 101, we headed for the Oregon Pacific coast at Florence

Some information that may be of interest copied from these two websites: http://www.rivers.gov/ and

www.nps.gov/nepe.

If you visit the websites, the sections on history and 38 sites to visit may be of interest. Dan and I traveled on the roads in Idaho, Montana, a bit of Washington and Oregon-Canada-then later at Yellowstone in Wyoming. There is a great deal of wilderness area to hike and explore that we did not do. The Nez Perce Trail is about 1200 miles. Most of it is contained within the protected NPS and is accessible by roads.

Bear Paw Battlefield (Montana Rockies)

On September 29, 1877 800 men women and children made camp on Snake Creek, forty miles from the Canadian Border. At dawn the next day, the U.S. Army attacked the camp, beginning a siege that would last until October 5, when Chief Joseph ended the siege. This quiet and compelling site is sacred ground for all who fought here and looks much the way it did in 1877. The Nez Perce National Historical Park consists of interconnected scenic roads providing access to 38 areas of historical, or spiritual significance to that tribe.

“Congress passed the National Trails System Act in 1968, establishing a framework for a nationwide system of scenic, recreational, and historic trails. The Nez Perce (Nimíipuu or Nee-Me-Poo) National Historic Trail stretches from Wallowa Lake, Oregon, to the Bear Paw Battlefield near Chinook, Montana”.

The river areas in the center of Idaho to the area of Yellowstone Park to the southeast in Colorado and Wyoming, southwest to Oregon, northwest into Washington, north to Canada and northeast to the Nez Perce Reservation, Rocky Boy, are managed jointly by four agencies entrusted with their care. USDA Forest Service, USDI Bureau of Land Management, USDI National Park Service and USDI Fish and Wildlife Service.

Rivers are classified as wild, scenic, or recreational.

• Wild river areas — Those rivers or sections of rivers that are free of impoundments and generally inaccessible except by trail, with watersheds or shorelines essentially primitive and waters unpolluted. These represent vestiges of primitive America.

• Scenic river areas — Those rivers or sections of rivers that are free of impoundments, with shorelines or watersheds still largely primitive and shorelines largely undeveloped, but accessible in places by roads.

• Recreational river areas — Those rivers or sections of rivers that are readily accessible by road or railroad, that may have some development along their shorelines, and that may have undergone some impoundment or diversion in the past.

Regardless of classification, each river in the National System is administered with the goal of protecting and enhancing the values that caused it to be designated. Designation neither prohibits development nor gives the federal government control over private property. Recreation, agricultural practices, residential development, and other uses may continue. Protection of the river is provided through voluntary stewardship by landowners and river users and through regulation and programs of federal, state, local, or tribal governments. In most cases not all land within boundaries is, or will be, publicly owned, and the Act limits how much land the federal government is allowed to acquire from willing sellers. Visitors to these rivers are cautioned to be aware of and respect private property rights.

The Act purposefully strives to balance dam and other construction at appropriate sections of rivers with permanent protection for some of the country's most outstanding free-flowing rivers. To accomplish this, it prohibits federal support for actions such as the construction of dams or other instream activities that would harm the river's free-flowing condition, water quality, or outstanding resource values. However, designation does not affect existing water rights or the existing jurisdiction of states and the federal government over waters as determined by established principles of law.

As of July 2011, the National System protects 12,598 miles of 203 rivers in 38 states and the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico; this is a little more than one-quarter of one percent of the nation's rivers. By comparison, more than 75,000 large dams across the country have modified at least 600,000 miles, or about 17%, of American rivers

http://www.rivers.gov/

Enjoy green scenery slideshow from this part of the trip
click to open.

12 Mt, Oregon, Joseph, Nez Pierce, Devil Canyon

ISLAND IN THE SKY AND SHAFER to WHITE RIM ROAD June 14-15, 2011

noreply@blogger.com (Dan and Kathy Chevalier) — Tue, 13 Sep 2011 01:01:00 +0000

500 miles through Beautiful Utah into Mountainous Idaho..... The Moon and Beyond!

BACK TO CANYONLANDS NATIONAL PARK

Islands in the Sky

Our third exit and re-entry to the Canyonlands Park was the district furthest north called, descriptively, Islands in the Sky-the confluence area of high mesa between the Green River and Colorado Rivers. As I mentioned in a previous post, we had to leave Canyonlands Park to access Islands in the Sky district, and Moab and Arches lay conveniently on the way, so we visited those first, entering Islands in the Sky on rt. 313 from the north.

Early arrival at the camp area was strongly suggested and we came in at about 10:30 in the morning to set up camp, then zoom off on road exploration on the bike. This area provided more stunning colors in deep, really deep, canyon scenery along the main road, turnoffs, a fabulous 4X4 drive on Shafer Road and a great campsite.

Returning to our camp later in the day now with our water and wood we noticed workers were just installing wooden lattice sunscreens over the picnic tables, which helped keep the temperature down considerably during the day. The campsite was treed minimally and sparsely; sinew-like branches barely tall enough to be overhead and a few gnarled juniper bushes. Dan found it photogenic, as I climbed to the top of a cliff suggested by a beemer riderwe met in the park.

The downside of the campsite was lack of water available and the bugs. Despite repellent, we needed a fire to keep the mosquitoes and gnats away. The decision was made not to stay another night when we both noticed the itching and red bites the next day. At first we thought mosquito bites, but after checking on-line- gnats! Vicious little biters; the effects were felt for weeks after. Incredible!

Shafer to White Rim Road and back

Still, there was lots more exploring to do at Islands in the Sky, so we filled our water bottles, leaving the bike at the campsite, signing up for another night anyway, and started for Shafer Road in the Subaru. Shafer road falls precipitously toward Shafer Canyon, and on toward the White Rim, a horizontally oriented white limestone rock edge. We knew we would have to turn back sometime as the road was closed up ahead due to a rock slide. Down the dusty, steep road we went.

Dan had seen the road from the overlook and watched a jeep blasting back up in a cloud of dust and figured he could make it in and out also. We continued down the dirt road until it leveled off and branched; left toward the town of Potash where I read we could see a potash mine and great scenery, but needed a really high clearance vehicle. If you drove that way theoretically one could return to Moab on this 4X4 road. All the books said you could. We did have extra water, a pump and a real spare tire instead of the "donut" the Forester is sold with, but we had had a slow flat after a ride in Big Bend so we were cautious.

When the time came we continued right at the fork and then farther into the canyon. The first stop on what was going to be 15 miles of downhill hairpin turns, rocks and narrow ledges was at Gooseneck Overlook, a wide area to park and where we walked over slickrock and up a rise to look into the Colorado River as it snaked through the canyon below. The famous Cataract Canyon rapids run through this district but we did not see rafts the day we drove there.

Beyond the overlook, continuing on past stone-wall cliffs, hundreds of feet of towering rock face above the rocky, dusty road, Dan drove until, when we walked ahead ,we saw the road, narrower, and much closer to the canyon rim overlooking the river and struggled to find a place to turn the car around! I walked back toward where I had seen a small indentation and Dan backed to it, successfully turning around so that after the 30 miles or so trip we could be back up to Shafer Overlook ,the visitor center ,and our Willow Mesa campsite.

Looking back up toward the entry we had used and worrying just a little about the capability of the Subaru, we had some thoughts of driving back to the junction where the road went left and our map showed it ended in Moab. We did need fuel and ice and seriously considered heading that way, but weren't sure enough of the conditions. We continued back the way we came knowing it was steeper and rockier than we had anticipated. All went well and many bumpy miles later we were approaching the last mile. We came through the new construction and scaled the last hill, covering the patch of loose sandy soil and in our own generated dust cloud we were out of the canyon. We pulled over, drank some water ate our banana and tuna late lunch and thought ahead.

Now considering our need for fuel in the car and ice before the next part of our trip north towards Idaho, we needed to return to the closest town, Moab before heading on in Utah. Poor planning on my part but Dan drove back to Moab on the main road to 191and I drove back while he dozed and we returned to our campsite for another night, happy for the Shafer adventure, and exhausted.

Enjoy the Canyonlands-Islands in the Sky slideshow

10 UTAH Island in Sky, Shafer Rd. 4X4

Western Mining & Railroad Museum- Helper Utah

Moving on the next morning on rt. 191/6 Dan riding, me driving we made our way through the areas I was to find out had been the most active mining areas historically, the town of Price and onto rt 6. Our rest stop in the historic town of Helper was just by accident. Driving in I saw a sign for a Mining Museum and since we had skipped a recommended mining museum in Jerome, Arizona, and not being as tired as Dan, I decided to make a quick stop. Quick it was, but for a small space the Western Mining & Railroad Museum was great!

I basically ran through the museum, camera in hand, picked up the useful brochure gave my $5 contribution, and joined back up with Dan for lunch in Helper- but since then I've been thinking about the information. We got back on the road, this time rt. 15 to Sandy City, below Salt Lake City, for a checkup on the BMW. Dan thought it had been burning too much oil, but supposedly not.

Staying the night in Sandy City we moved on toward IDAHO still on the hair-raising main highway. Driving is not my forte. I don't like to drive, especially in traffic- now add the trailer! Dan had no real problems driving the bike, but found himself always waiting for me. Duh, he has a motorcycle.

To the Moon- Craters of the Moon National Park

Happy to reach another border, Idaho, even though it was raining gently and a bit chilly for Dan we moved on towards Pocatelo and Blackfoot, then onto rt. 26 the next day, probably. Out of curiosity we made a short stop at the next National Park we came to, Craters of the Moon. The lava information given on the short walk was interesting. Such black, black soil and crusted and jagged formations. Formidable landscape.

Enjoy the slideshow of the Western Mining and Railroad Museum, entering Idaho and Craters of the Moon.

And beyond

Before we rested this second day we had to cross some of the highest mountains in IDAHO; Sun Valley ski area where melting snow increased the water and volume in narrow mountain streams and the swirling snowy summit at Mt. Galena. Continuing around and down into the valley below, we found a nice, wild campsite complete with pronghorn and deer. Our area was a bit wet under the pine needles. We made a big fire, early to bed and were cold but ok!

11 UTAH Helper Museum to Galena Summit Idaho

IN and OUT of CANYONS, NEEDLES, MOAB, ARCHES June 8-June 12, 2011

noreply@blogger.com (Dan and Kathy Chevalier) — Sat, 10 Sep 2011 03:43:00 +0000

ENJOYING MORE OF UTAH'S SPLENDOR June 8-12, 2011

(UTAH Monticello, Canyonlands-Needles, Needles Overlook, La Sal loop, Moab, Arches)

MONTICELLO

Dan on the motorcycle and I in the Subaru, with the trailer following dutifully behind me had to decide what to do next.  I suggested a town, comfort and shower were in order and as we approached the UTAH town of Monticello all that looked possible. We passed a few obviously touristy motels, knowing the price would be more than we wanted to spend. We drove through town, and spotted a very pretty private campground. I noticed the sign said, "Free Internet, free showers, tent spaces." We pulled in and saw the soft, lush grass we could put our tent on, the site had a picnic table... - and so sold! We moved in for $12 versus hotels which were in the $80-$100 range. That left budget for restaurant!

It had been a while since we could shop, especially to restock the liquor cabinet-err, plastic bucket in the backseat. We had been out of our Sundowner favorites since Grand Canyon, so we started to look for the Liquor Store we were told was on Main Sreet in town. I drove by once, then turned to try again, finally asking, then after one more miss I found the tiny hole in the wall white painted sign -on a white building- to purchase what we wanted. Yes, said the proprietor, this is the way it is in Utah. Lots of places are "dry" and many smaller towns do not have sales of liquor at all. So, showered and well stocked we enjoyed our Sundowner and found a restaurant; Tex Mex, I think.

OFF TO CANYONLANDS

The morning came and we struck off for Canyonlands National Park still following rt. 191. Canyonlands covers a large area located in southeastern Utah with the confluence of two major river systems, the Green and Colorado rivers creating the center of the park. The spectacular area of 527 square miles, most still wilderness with a few 4X4 roads, was established as Canyonlands National Park in 1964 by President Lyndon Johnson. It became the thirty-second National park. The park is the largest of Utah's five national parks, with a total of 337,258 acres for all. It is known for its rivers, canyons, mesas, pillars, standing rocks, grabens, and arches. All the rocks in Canyonlands are sedimentary origin.

Canyonlands was home to the Fremont people and the Anasazi. The Fremont people left records in the form of pictographs and petroglyphs in Horseshoe Canyon (far west) and Salt Canyon. The Anasazi, now referred to as Ancient Pueblans) built several granaries,(storage built of cut sandstone bricks) probably in the twelfth century. Ute and Navajo Indians subsequently occupied the canyons until the late 1800s. They were eventually pushed out of the area by cattlemen. In 1869 and 1871 John Wesley Powell explored the Green and Colorado rivers as his expeditions traveled through Canyonlands. Today, the park is divided into three districts, Island in the Sky, Needles, and Maze-Standing Rock.

The Canyonlands three districts are not connected by inner roads and figuring out where and how to visit was a bit confusing. At this point Dan and I had to repeat the mantra we all know well, "you can't do it all." To make the map of the area even more confusing we saw the Needles Overlook- 40 miles off the main road, and another overlook accessed by a 19 mile gravel road a Ranger warned us would not be easy on the bike. We saw on the map that we must leave the park to enter each district. In several areas, especially the Mazes, the park is not developed, and many of the sites can be seen only by hiking. Headquarters for the park is in Moab, with visitor centers, providing Ranger programs, movies of history or geologic formation and campgrounds that could fill up by late afternoon located in each of the three districts.

The Maze-Standing Rocks District is located west of the Colorado River after its confluence with the Green River. This section is known for Elaterite Basin, Elaterite Butte, the Maze, Standing Rocks, the Doll House, the Fins, and Ernies Country. We did not visit there as there are no paved roads in.

NEEDLES DISTRICT

Dan and I headed left onto the access road toward Needles rt. 211. This southern district, is the area east of the Colorado River. Angel Arch, Druid Arch, Paul Bunyan's Potty, the Grabens, Elephant Hill, and Needles are common attractions. This area contains most of the remaining artifacts from the Fremont people and the Anasazi in Salt, Davis, and Lavender Canyons. We stopped at a spot to see some of these special "writings" , a place called Newspaper Rock, a twenty foot by fifty foot protected spot on a cliff face covered with signs and symbols. Then continued on into the park seeing red and purple cliffs along the road interspersed with private cattle farming lands and old corrals. Miles before the entrance we saw incredible shapes off in the distance; tall rounded mounds with what are called fins, also towers and spires or evenly squared off rocks on top of spires or towers of sedimentary sandstone.

Our goal was to enter Canyonlands early and grab a campsite at Squaw Flats . We selected a beauty! Temperatures for Needles are said to be 80-100 degrees in the summer. It was a little less than that in early June, and the nights were a bit more than the possible 20s to 40s. When we arrived, however, the sun was blazing and Dan was roasting on the bike. Up on our ledge behind our camp we found shade until it cooled down enough to set up camp later. We set off in the car to explore one of the back roads, driving as far as we could toward the Colorado River and Elephant Canyon.

Another exploration was to take the bike along the popular paved road and stop at all the attractions; from the Visitors' Center to Big Spring Canyon Overlook. Two walks we took were to Cave Springs with the underledge Cowboy exhibit and ladder access to the higher mesa. The overlooks were fascinating, but we decided to water up, you need to carry gallons, get on the hiking shoes and head out about five miles to see the Needles Grabens close up.   What's a graben you might ask? I have copied the information but I still wouldn't be able to explain. I do know that oil and gas explorations study the rocky make-up of this park.

"Needles District of Canyonlands National Park,
first crosses the Shay graben near Newspaper Rock and then slowly climbs the gentle west flank of the Monument Upwarp. The road slowly crosses down-section through rocks of Triassic and Jurassic age, as it approaches the axis of the Monument Upwarp, and ends in the Permian Cutler Group at the Needles
District near the crest of the huge anticlinal structure. In the Needles District proper, interfingering of the white Cedar Mesa Sandstone with reddish-brown arkose of the Cutler Group forms banded spires, eroded from fractured terrain at the crest of the uplift. Beyond The Needles, arcuate fractures formed by
collapse of rocks above salt in the Paradox Formation, and down-dip gliding toward Cataract Canyon are forming The Grabens, even today. The primitive road into The Grabens from The Needles is limited strictly to four-wheel drive, high clearance vehicles."

NEEDLES OVERLOOK

After our hike we had to leave the park to get to the next place. Needles Overlook put us miles away from our hike, but the road after and during the 40 mile ride provided a hawks eye view of where we had been now that we were overlooking from around 6000' elevation. We could still orient ourselves by the La Sal Mountain Range in the distance.

We took a back winding mountain road, verdant green shady and lovely with spring blooming flowers near mountain lakes, a nice difference after pink, white and purples, dry ground, rocks and cactus, and were soon back to Monticello and on our way north to Moab back on rt.191.

LA SAL LOOP

Well, not so fast. The La Sal loop is a road winding from the footlands, to high mountains just made for motorcycles we heard, and that road would be prettier, and more scenic though not as direct route to Moab. La Sal Mountain range is the range seen in most of the canyon pictures where you see tall mountains in the distance (some to 12,000 ft) with snow capped summits. The ride was spectacular; we were lucky to find a campsite up there as the camping at higher elevations was just opening for the season. There was no Ranger to take our money, and we were somewhat relieved when one fellow camping family with two children moved in to share the ambiance. To save money, they were going to travel to Arches National Park from the mountain, quite a long drive of 60 miles over mountain roads.

In the morning we finished the La Sal loop arriving on the flat narrow road along the Colorado River. The temperatures had been warming and the mountain snow melting. Parts of the Colorado were raging rapids and overflowing the banks nearer the town of Moab. The string of campsites on the river were officially closed due to high water. We drove in, found a motel and settled in for a few days. I had explored the camp options in town and there were some, but our motel was not too expensive and the private campgrounds were quite expensive- and campsites don't have air conditioning! I can't show you any downtown shots of Moab because even though I took some, I just don't seem to have them anywhere.

EDWARD ABBEY

Dan and I would like to recommend a book to readers or anyone who is planning to visit the National Parks, especially in the West. The book is by naturalist /author Edward Abbey and named Desert Solitare. He wrote many other books, also. Dan and I had read Desert Solitaire and his more militant environmental ideas in The Monkey Wrench Gang. About forty years ago Abbey spent a summer as a Ranger in Arches National Park before the park was popular, or had paved roads. He wrote his powerfully descriptive book about his experiences in the natural areas around the Canyonlands and Arches canyons and mesas. In particular he wrote of the devastating changes in the natural environment and the Colorado River when the dam was built at Glen Canyon. In lively story form he described his last trip on the river , floating and exploring with his friend, as the Colorado access was closed and water diverted, making Lake Powell.  As a young Ranger, Abbey climbs and hikes in parts of the canyons that we now have some knowledge of from looking in from the road. He spent time learning slowly that he could survive alone and described his life- changing experiences relying on no one but himself. Abbey, the lone Park Ranger at that time, advocates leaving the natural areas inaccessible except at some expended effort by the would-be park visitor.  Abbey also suggested cars not be allowed in the parks, not practical but we both saw the negatives he expected as a result.

MOAB

Moab as many other western towns was known for its mining at one time. Prospectors, Mountain men (and women?) went about their business and supplied up in the town. Abbey in 1970, would go to Moab's only bar when he went into town for infrequent supply runs.  Now Moab is known for ArchesPark, adventure expeditions, canyoneering, mountain climbing, running rapids, trekking and is filled with motels and tourists as Arches National Park is one of the most visited, famous and fabulous parks. It was fun to walk the streets, look in the shops and people watch.

ARCHES NATIONAL PARK

Unfortunately it was Sunday when Dan and I headed into Arches National Park. We were early enough to avoid the crowds at the entrance but as the day progressed the parade of RVs, and trailers grew. We took off down -canyon on a 4X4 ride to a less visited area, saw some other overlooks and came back into Arches Park on Monday.

I haven't explained that because Dan is a holder of a special entrance pass that a person needs to be 62 to qualify for, entrance throughout the United States National Parks and treasures are free or reduced for him and others in the same vehicle. At Arches and other major attractions the entry of $25 was waived. After entry, campsites are then half price. Sometimes campsites cost $22 and we pay $11. Sometimes at the primitive sites if they cost $6 we pay $3. We returned to the park and enjoyed our hikes and walks to the fascinating areas where arches have formed and have been given names.

Below you will see a slideshow of the areas described above. Again pictures show only a small slice of the surroundings at a time and the views are 360 degrees.

9 UTAH Canyonlands, Needles, Moab to Arches National Park

Island in the Sky is the northernmost district. It is a high and extensive mesa located in the area between the Green and Colorado rivers. Some of the popular attractions in this area are Upheaval Dome, Shafer and White Rim Trails, Grand View Point, and Monument Canyon.

Hoodoos, Sleeping Rainbow, Bridges over troubled Waters May 31-June 7

noreply@blogger.com (Dan and Kathy Chevalier) — Thu, 01 Sep 2011 01:13:00 +0000

JUST TRAVELING

(UTAH -Bryce Canyon National Park, rt 12 to Capital Reef National Park, rt. 95 to Natural Bridges National Monument, Valley of the Gods)

BRYCE CANYON NATIONAL PARK

After our few days of rest in Kanab, I just mean on a bed, we're all packed up and riding/driving rt.89 north to Bryce Canyon National park. Along the way we saw quite a bit of flooding in the sreams and creeks along the highway as we made for higher ground. Arriving early in the day we traveled past Red Canyon, and on to t Bryce Campground, which, even in the early afternoon was filling fast. We set up camp, made a fire and enjoyed the cool evening talking with a fellow camper.

The next day was spent riding the bike to explore the overlooksand do a little shopping at the concession camp store the Parks may have. We bought more of our favorite camp food. Made and packaged in Oregon, Mountain House brand dried dinners, yummy-kinda. The following day we hiked into the canyon to see, up close, the strange formations that eroded a special way in Bryce and vicinity and are named Hoodoos.

Geologically speaking from Ask.com: Hoodoo

"The big geologic dictionary says that only a tall formation should be called a hoodoo; any other shape—a camel, say—is called a hoodoo rock. The defining feature of either one of these is that its shape is bizarre or fantastic. And a proper hoodoo (the word is the same as voodoo), it seems, must look like an image of the spirits that populate the voodoo cosmology—that is, it needs to be spooky. That's a curious eruption of folklore in a scientific glossary, and just another reason to love geology."

Our long walk and hike back out was a highlight and well worth the hours of effort. We started from an overlook point called Sunrise, entered the Queens Garden and regained the rim at Sunset Point. The parks often offer Ranger led or self led excursions. We opted to self-guide and take our time walking at our pace. Since I stop frequently for pictures, that allows a relaxed approach. Still, tourists were everywhere. I especially noted, as we passed them on the hike up, some Chinese? tourists who were just not dressed appropriately; fancy nylon dresses but especially the womens' high-soled flip-flop type shiny gold or sequined platform shoes!
They were warned by the Ranger but they made the climb anyway.

Leaving the park after the walk and a coin-operated shower we made a nightime stop somewhere, but in a nice hotel, and moved on in the morning to see Capital Reef, the next Natioal Park on our treck east and then north heading towards Moab.

CAPITAL REEF NATIONAL PARK

The Native American name for Capitol Reef, the "Sleeping Rainbow," seems to me more picturesque than the name Capitol Reef National Park, which takes its name from a segment of the Waterpocket Fold, a geologic form, with many domes of white Navajo sandstone over red Wingate sandstone cliffs, infused with purples and hints of blue and yellow and white that apparently resembled the domes of the U.S. and other capitol buildings to the namers.

This one hundred mile length of north-south upthrust ridge of slickrock called the Waterpocket Fold reaches from Thousand Lake Mountain to Lake Powell. The area of the National Park that can be explored by paved road is probably about 20 miles. There are some graveled roads leading farther into the canyons now being built, so there was some construction. We drove through I think on a Sunday, so we avoided the construction. Like every day in Texas, Arizona and Utah so far- no rain and warm in the daytime. Nights however can be cool and they were in May-June.

Before the fourteenth century, I read, the now Fremont River area was occupied by prehistoric people known as the Fremont Indians, who scratched petroglyphs and painted pictographs on rock walls near trails and waterways. In 1878 Franklin D. Richards, a Mormon settler, established Fruita ,an orchard where park headquarters is now located. Visitors can explore the farmhouse, a museum and see the non-producing older orchard areas. The feel of Capital Reef was friendly with a large picnic and play area provided for family usage in the park. There was a bit of road construction apparently going on but not on Sunday.

We left Capital Reef behind, its campground was full, not knowing how far we could get to or where we could camp. Only a few towns were listed on our map and the road actually was quite deserted away from the park, but scenic. We pulled into a Bureau of Land Management campsite, and although it was a nice site, it was close to the road and we didn't feel comfortable there, so we moved on. The landscape changed to what I can only describe as the same cliffs and canyons that we'd seen other places in Utah, but now they were all shades of grey and certainly formidable looking- knd of like pictures of a lunar landscape.

We headed into the town of Hanksville toward evening and pulled both of our vehicles into a Rodeway Motel. There were no other vehicles there, but when I spoke with the manager she said they were "all full." She went on to explain that once a year, and this was the time, the town hosts a Robot festival where teams arrive from major Universities around the country; MIT was there and other technical colleges, to have robot competitions out in the desert! In the middle of nowhere is a good description.

Anyway that one motel was full and so was another closer in to the -three buildings and a gas station town- but there was a private campground mostly filled with RVs and trailers. They had tent space and bonus, a nice restaurant, and although we would have loved to see what was going on in the desert, it was not an open event and the few people we talked to just ignored the whole thing. Later the teams returned from the desert to the restaurant and we heard noise until 3:00AM.

EASTWARD to Natural Bridges National Monument

We headed off in the morning after breakfast at the restaurant, east on rt. 24 to rt. 95 and about 60 scenic miles later arrived at our Natural Bridges National Monument. Natural Bridges is an area of canyons and mesas where, due to the raging rivers, fabulous formations have developed over time by running water through the sandstone. In Natural Bridges, we learned that bridge formation and arch formation are similar but there are many more arches formed. Bridges are formed over water and arches can be formed anywhere water has been.

Bridges National Monument is famous for three named bridges a visitor can view from overlooks or they may hike to examine them, taking care not to hike into canyons in the Spring when the snow is melting quickly from the high mountains so flash floods are likely.
The three naturally formed bridges viewed off the paved 8 mile loop road are the Sipapu Bridge, Kachina Bridge and the one we hiked a mile to see, Owachomo Bridge- meaning rock pile. In a restaurant not far from the Monument there is a picture I tried to find a copy of on-line ; a group of mounted cowboys; men whose names were famous in the area as well as government troops posing on the Owachomo Bridge. There were as many as fifty people on the span in the picture. Today no one is allowed on the bridge for safety reasons and to prevent damage.

Here are some pictures of the Bryce Canyon, Capital Reef and Natural Bridges with some driving scenery before and in between.
Dont forget to explore the photos with zoom.

8 Bryce , rt 12, Natural Bridges Monument, Mexican Hat

VALLEY OF THE GODS- MEXICAN HAT
Mexican Hat is a town and a motorcycle ride we were told about by another biker from New Mexico. We visited the area using the car in a quick one day visit. The maps showed construction on the road over the mountain and a dirt road to explore Valley of the Gods- which sounded like a wonderful place to visit. Leaving our camp at Natural Bridges we traveled down, around and around the mountain on rt. 261. At the botton of the canyon was the seven mile gravel road called Valley of the Gods. It is said to remind people who have visited both, of Monumant Valley where Dan and I did not visit. We marveled at the fabulous formations, monuments if you will, we could explore for all sides from the dirt road. Even the road was fun to drive because of steep rises and plunging falls as we passed some of the formations, old washes, dried creek beds. After a few hours of exploration on the 7 mile road, we continued on to the town of Mexican Hat. The rock formation definately showed us we were near the town of under 100 inhabitants. We drove in to the one gas station, saw tourists ready to ride/float the San Juan River, ate at a small local cafe and discovered the Polygamy Porter brand of beer; low on alchohol at 4.5% alcohol content but fun to read the label! (Remember the Pipe Springs hiding of the extra wives at the fort)

Dan and I were literally blown away when we exited the cafe and headed, head down to avoid the dust and wind, to our car. Soon we arrived at the entrance road to Gooseneck State Park and the meandering San Juan River, spent a very short time there and headed back to 261 and Natural Bridges. When we arrived there was still lots of wind at the campsite. We noticed we had more than a bit of fine, red sand in our tent, covering sleeping bags and stuck in the mesh of our tent! We cleaned it up but the wind still blew all night and we needed to clean up again in the morning, as well as refill our water bottles three miles down hill at the visitors' center and off we headed east to rt. 191 and the town of Monticello, Utah.

STILL IN UTAH and headed South next.

UTAH- GRAND VISTAS and RED EARTH May 29- June 1, 2011

noreply@blogger.com (Dan and Kathy Chevalier) — Sat, 27 Aug 2011 04:12:00 +0000

May 29- June 1, 2011
(Kanab, Zion National Park, Pipe Spring Monument, Toroweep GC)

We drove out of the Grand Canyon North Rim past the towns of Jacub Lake, and Fredonia using 89A through the Vermilion Cliffs and headed on toward UTAH. Our next park was to be Zion National Park in Utah. After the cold nights (low 40s) at the North Rim and camping through the Grand Canyon we were ready for a bit of comfort. We found a small, out of the way motel called the Sun and Sands Motel in the town of Kanab, checked the rooms for cleanliness and decided the price was right and what the heck we could stay two nights for the price of one. Not only was Sun and Sand affordable, but the friendly manager Wayne, was knowledgeable about the sights in the area.

After a bit of research, we realized there were many places we wanted to visit in UTAH. Utah has many areas and acres of land designated as National Parks. Confusingly the name usually has “canyon” in it, in fact we found Zion National Park was also referred to as Zion Canyon and contained an area called Kolab Canyon. Then there was Canyonlands National Park and Red Canyon, Moab, Arches, Natural Bridges….too many to name, much less figure out a route. Well, tomorrow’s plan would be Zion National Park.

ZION National Park

In Zion, park elevations range from 3600 to 8700 feet on the Colorado Plateau, and so provide many different habitats for many different critters; tiny pinon mice, golden eagles, mountain lions have their niches. As we heard at the Grand Canyon, there are Condors nesting above the canyons, as well as Peregrine Falcons. There are areas of Ponderosa pine, Aspin, cliffrose, a lovely pink bloom, and mesquite. The trailheads to the rim environment, into the canyons and along the Virgin River allow heartier humans to immerse themselves fully into the exploration. Zion’s special formations are water formed due to freeze, thaw multiple times over time and river erosion. Because parts of Zion have been used in the past for grazing and farming this park is not “pristine,” but still has a lot to offer.

We entered the park, with a short line of other cars, from rt. 89 and traveled rt. 9 to the East entrance. In Zion there is a 15 mile road heading north on which tourists (like us) take a free shuttle bus to visit the eight river-carved viewing areas through the bottom of the Zion Canyon. The canyon walls become higher and higher as the bus moves slowly to the Virgin River and the Narrows riverside walk.

Returning to the car and the main road, just outside the park road to the west, are restaurants, hotels, and gift shops selling native crafts and other souvenirs. We drove through the area, stopped and checked out the birds at a very nice town park rested on a picnic table for awhile and continued on another 80 miles on Indian land to Kolob Terrace Rd. to Lava Point and Blue Springs Reservoir where it was too muddy to 4x4) wanting to move away from the crowds.

It worked. We needed the 4x4, but the red, dirt road was well maintained. It passed through private farms outlined with fences and over cattle guards (metal road grates to prevent free-ranging cattle from leaving their usual area), high onto the plateau above Zion Canyon. We kept on on the private road and found the Blue Springs Reservoir where the locals fish, camp and cruise in small boats.

Here are some pics from Zion. These pictures are from Dan’s camera. My battery was dead; one of the drawbacks to camping.

Zion National Park

We were lucky to have our options in transportation. Sometimes we found too late that we shouldn’t take the bike to some of our destinations. Today, according to Wayne, was one of those times, we would be on dirt roads, so we headed to the Pipe Spring National Monument by car on rt.389 finding ourselves going through a time warp as well as a one hour time change and back in Arizona -on land managed by the Kaibab Band of Paiute Indians.

The visitors’ center was staffed by casually-dressed Paiute tribe members, as opposed to the usual green formal ranger gear we had become accustomed to. We absorbed information about the pre-Paiutes, the later Mormon settlers and the use of this important water source area as a frontier fort as well as a Mormon tith farm.

PIPE SPRING National Monument
Paraphrased from visitor literature

The area of the Arizona Strip, located between the Grand Canyon and Vermilion Cliffs has limited but important water resources. The groups known to have been located in this area were the Ancestral Puebloans until about 3000BC the Paiute Indians until the 1700s, when missionaries and explorers like Jacob Hamblin 1858 and John Wesley Powell in 1870 visited the area. Mormon settlers from Salt Lake City settled and farmed the area before and after that time. Water, the Spring, being crucial to the before friendly Indians, caused the Fort to be built in 1868 by the Mormon Militiamen. In 1870 Brigham Young and Anson Winsor paced off the new ranch that would be built as a tith ranch (at that time Mormon farmers gave 10% of their livestock to the church).

Later , about 1890, the Park Ranger guide in the “Winsor Castle” explained to our small group, how the wives and children of polygamists were often hidden from Federal Marshals to avoid testimony against their husbands.

By 1907 while the farm was still privately owned, the Paiute Reservation was formed around it. Water rights problems continued long after. The Paiutes could not find enough game to live and Mormon settlers all over Utah were displacing them from their traditional gathering and farming lands.

In 1916 the National Parks System formed. Steven Mather, the first National Park Administrator, saw the value in the Pipe Spring area as a rest spot for Americans who visited the Canyons Parks and acquired it for the National Park System. A railroad brought the tourists and In 1923 President Warren G. Harding signed the Proclamation to preserve Pipe Springs as a National Monument.
The story of acquisition of other National Areas with the laudable goal that these special “highlights” become part of the heritage of the United States seem to be similar to the issues at Pipe Spring. The road maps show reservation lands for the various Indian tribes. At the time the new land possession model must have been incomprehensible to the tribes involved.

As you enjoy the slideshow below, please pause to read the two views of “Land Management” that illustrate differences in philosophy between the two groups –Paiute and Mormon settlers led by Brigham Young- understandably causing tension.

Then we're back to the Grand Canyon-narrative below the slideshow

Kanab, UT, Toroweep Rd. to GC

In Kanab the next morning at the included breakfast, great coffee, bread, donuts and muffins and fruit, we met a couple who had taken the road to Toroweep, another access to the Grand Canyon, and raved about the 65mile trek in their Toyota Tacoma. Wayne also recommended we not move on without visiting Tuweep-the Indian name for the area. Well, why not, we agreed and off we drove, again in the Subaru.
Toroweep Road and back to the Grand Canyon ( the “less traveled” road..)

LOTS MORE UTAH TO COME!

ARIZONA May 13-29, 2011: Cactus, Coyotes and Canyons

noreply@blogger.com (Dan and Kathy Chevalier) — Sun, 21 Aug 2011 05:25:00 +0000

(Arizona canyons, to Grand Canyon National Park)
BIRD WATCHING IN THE CANYONS

Leaving Texas behind, we drove/biked into ARIZONA. We chose to use
rte 10, hoping to be visiting the canyons in the southeast during the spring bird migrations, as VENT (Victor Emmanual Nature Tours, does. There is a great website for birding in Arizona and we used it to plan our trip for the birds and scenery available in the southeast canyons and mountains. www.sabo.org (Southern Arizona Bird Observatory)

Some places we explored were Miller Canyon with its hummingbird feeders at a private home, that allowed us to view perhaps six or seven species at once. There was Carr Canyon,where we 4X4ed to the fabulous Ponderosa Pine campground on the top spotting our first Stellar Jay , Sawmill Canyon where we hiked and located the Elegant Trogan and saw a Painted Redstart in display.  At Garden Canyon and Fort Huachuca there were Pronghorns, Mule deer and trees dripping with beautiful Western Tanagers. Check the pics of some very dangerously placed Pronghorn Antelope. (see slideshow below)

CHIRICAHUA
Dan knew that, unfortunately, Arizona Chiricahua region was engulfed in a fire that did not allow travel to Portal, a famous birding spot we had planned on visiting. In the Sawmill Canyon we met some birders with their guide, and the guide told us that it was still possible to see another part of the Chiricahuas entering from the west. That was good news so we prepared to take that trip.

Along the road towards the Chiricauas is Ariavaipa Canyon Road and some other scenic but unpaved roads.   The bike went back on the trailer we bounced our way along the rutted dirt road through private ranch lands into the canyon. A good sighting there were the Common Black hawks in their nest in a tall tree in an orchard. We drove down the canyon to the trailhead as far as we dared, then returned back to the main road and travelled on. An unexpected surprise was the beauty of the Chiricahua National Monument park area where we marveled at the unbelievable rock formations towering above us and the surrounding mountains. While walking, we saw a Western bluebird up at Rustler Campground and when birding above 7000ft. Dan was lucky enough to spot***

As we drove the Chiricahua Mts from the western side we saw and smelled the raging fire in the distance. A Ranger in a pickup truck approached us and said that the road would be closing if the fire continued to spread with the wind in our direction. I was all for turning around right then but Dan wanted to go on further and felt we had plenty of time before the road would close. We continued on for quite a way but found we could drive only as far as the town of Paradise, where amazingly, just as we needed to turn around because the road up ahead was closed we found George Walker House, a private home and B&B with multiple birdfeeders drawing in the local birds active in their yard. We were invited to stop and have a soda and watch the feeders before heading back over the mountain the way we had come. They were very welcoming and we were glad for the rest. At the feeders we saw Lazuli Buntings, Mexican and Scrub Jays, Black headed Grosbeaks, Acorn Woodpecker and more. We then turned back over the mountain.

We were able to stay at our campsite another night without mishap and the next day continued our journey toward Tuscon. The Monument National Park terrain was forest. We now headed to lower elevations and the desert plants similar to those we had seen in Texas. I say similar because we were now in the area of Saguaro cactus, a plant often as tall as a one story house with a diameter on its one stalk of twelve to fourteen inches, very impressive and vaugely familiar from cowboy or Mexican movie scenery.

Just north of Tuscon, Dan found a road on the map to ride and so up and around the smooth corners we went. The overlooks provided a great view of the city and surrounding areas. This road was also used by bicyclists who chugged their way up Mt. Lemmon and went screaming down.

ARIZONA-SONORA DESERT MUSEUM
A very special place we visited in Arizina near Tuscon was the Sonora Desert Museum. The museum grounds contained and displayed well kept growing specimens of hundreds of varieties of desert plants. The natural settings provided a non-zoo-like atmosphere to see live desert creatures; mountain lions, bobcats, the wolves, coyotes, a bear, javelina, lizards, snakes and small ground animals. A special touch was the exquiste, lifelike bronzes of those same animals in natural poses. The bronzes were so well done they enhanced the exhibit especially if the real animal was hard to spot. Very educational.

As we entered, a volunteer was holding a Harris Hawk and explained where they live and how they hunt, sometimes in groups. We spent quite some time listening to lectures on the plants oand their historical uses in the desert and then went into the aviary where many species of birds from songbirds to hummingbirds to doves , quail and ducks were pearched, flying, standing or walking often within a few feet of the path and easy to spot from the many shaded benches.

We camped near the museum at a close to deserted campground. We camped near a couple we had met in Sawmill Canyon. They had been hiking and shooting pictures with a local bird guide then, and the man was talking about a shoot he would do later with the snakes and reptiles at the guide's home. I wish I could have seen that! We again met at the museum and they again put their super lenses to good use photographing birds and animals. It was unexpected and fun to meet up with them again.

Soon we continued our trip north to Flagstaff to visit the South Rim of the Grand Canyon National Park.

HEBER BMW RALLEY

We travelled over the winding rte. 77 over the Pinal Mts. to the town of Globe, where we met a fellow BMW biker who was on his way to the town of Heber and a ralley. A BMW ralley- that could be fun, so we headed off through the White Mountain Apache land toward Overguard and Heber. The weekend was fun, but very cold. We had to wear most of the layers we had brought while we ate hot chili and cornbread in the open fronted building, and it was good. Of all the crazy entertainments, the organizers have a history of inviting belly-dancers to entertain! We watched for awhile as the beautiful young ladies gyrated up and down the aisles, barefoot on the concrete floors wearing flowing, lightweight, minimal gowns. We enjoyed our time there and met one biker that we later ran into again in Grand Canyon Park.

Leaving Heber toward Payson on rte 260, our next stop was after the tourist town of Sedona, one of the upper mountain campsites, then on through Flagstaff in the morning and onto the road to Tusayon, the south entry to the Grand Canyon National Park.

GRAND CANYON NATIONAL PARK

Our guidebook said "the Grand Canyon, sculpted by the Colorado River is over 277 miles long, and Americas number one natural wonder. A vast panorama of pyramidal buttes, loney mesas, rust colored cliffs and shadowy side canyons. It's ten miles from the South Rim Village to North Rim Lodge. Scientists estimate the canyon is relatively young at 5 to 6 million years old but the rock layers at the bottom date back some 2 billion years and the rock on th rim where you stand is from the 270 million year old Permian period."

The guidebooks and pamphlets taught bits and pieces of the science. Speaking about the age of our Earth, for me is impossible because time on the geologic scale is incomprehensible. I can recall my High School studies on the forces and results: volcano, eruption, water flowing, erosion, cold temperatures and freezing/thawing cracks and fissures- but in gazing into the canyons, how rocks "land" the way they do and the stratas in the canyons seen on this trip, were more of a visual feast; beauty, starkness, grandure, shape or color than understandable to this humble human. I think the early Indians and the settlers of the mesas and valleys did fine without intellectualizing their piece of the Earth.  So although I stood and dutifully read the helpful geologic information I remained boggled, and kept returning my eyes and attention unconsciously to the sight before me.

After the Grand Canyon we headed into UTAH.

Dan and I hope the reader will enjoy our pictures. The names of the canyons and overlooks are available in the on-line maps of the parks. Again, if there are errors in identification I apologise.

There are pictures in this slide show of Arizona. Enjoy! 124 pictures. The canyon shots are improved by using the + viewer on your browser.

Arizona's Desert, Sonora Desert Museum, Vermilian Cliffs, Grand Canyon S+N

Now the BMW Ralley May 19th and 20th, 2011

Beemer Rally

APRIL 19, 2011 The West Tour Begins :Go West Baby Boomer!

noreply@blogger.com (Dan and Kathy Chevalier) — Sat, 20 Aug 2011 05:20:00 +0000

PLANNING to Land Cruise
(Texas to Carlsbad Canyons)

FLORIDA
Usually, when a cruiser couple ties up on land, perhaps puts a "For Sale" sign on the boat aand begins to drag their personal effects off by the duffel-bag load it is called "burying the anchor." It usually happens after a great deal of soul searching and agonized decision making as well as a plan for the next steps --on land.

For us, Dan and Kathy, the owners of IPY440 hull 16 named Sea Star we simply took a vacation from sea travel after close to three years. We tied up in Titusville, FL and planned a land trip. Neither of us had seen the United States west of New York except for drive throughs so we decided to visit some of the National Parks in the West and into Canada. Dan's dream also included getting back into motorcycling after quite a number of years without riding a bike. We thought about that for a long while and bought a R1200RT BMW and began to ride again in Florida. To brush up on skills he took a driving class. That worked out well, we were both excited about riding, so we started equiping the bike for the long haul we were planning to take.

We decided that we had been tent campers when younger and anyway only a tent would do for a motorcycle trip so by purchasing the latest and greatest new lightweight equipment, we would be good to go. After all, we both had become addicted to internet motorcycle forums like BMW Owners and Adventure Rider so we were thinking -just bungee on the equipment and ride away.

For us, things didn't pan out like that. The piles on the boat floor were growing as we read about the absolutely needed equipment. I think the final straw was the strong suggestion that to enter the Western parks, a minimum of five gallons of fresh water and ice would be needed. How do you carry a five gallon igloo cooler on a motorcycle? We thought-maybe we need another option.

We had recently bought a Subaru Forester All Wheel Drive vehicle to get around the dock and to the East coast. We had a trailer hitch put on, fit a light-weight Aluma trailer to carry the bike, loaded up the car to the ceiling with all the carefully selected gear, oh so carefully strapped the bike down, and drove off in the car to the Texas Hill Country.

THE INFORMATION ON THIS TRAVEL BLOG IS TO THE BEST OF MY RECOLLECTION AND DEPENDENT ON WHAT RESOURCE MATERIAL I KEPT OVER THE THREE MONTHS. IF THERE ARE GLARING INACCURACIES PLEASE LET ME KNOW. I ESPECIALLY APOLOGISE TO OTHER BIRDERS FOR NOT INCLUDING ALL OUR MAJOR SIGHTINGS WITH SPECIFIC LOCATION.

Also, I've upped the resolution on my photo uploads. They will probably take a few more seconds to load, and for captions to appear. If you can't see the pictures clearly, press pause and allow a bit of time for photos to load.
Sometimes after 50 pictures a new page appears.

TEXAS HILL COUNTRY

Dan felt it was important to beat the heat in the West, and it took us awhile in Florida, longer than we had hoped, to begin the trip. We arrived at Neils Lodges on the Rio Frio in just two days. There Dan removed the bike, started riding in this area known for great motorcycling and never looked back.

Riding and birdwatching were our main pursuits for about a week as we walked on back roads at Las Maples along the Rio Frio and open fields in quest of the Black -capped Vireo, a secretative bird with a distictive call, which we never did see, but heard. I've try to recreate our list here. The blackboads in the pics were posted at Las Maples. We were told stories of where the elusive Colima Warbler was recently located at Big Bend National Park, and watched the nightly show of birds at the drip spout on Neil's property.

One evening after reading a description of the event we joined a small group at the entrance to a private road
for the nightly Frio Bat Cave display, which was amazing! Three million, we were informed, Mexican freetail bats pour from a small opening in a cave to feed, and return by morning. In the bats' emergence from the cave the predators such as Red tailed hawks and Perigrin Falcons have learned to stalk their dinner of juicy bat. Here are some pics (slideshow) around Texas Hill Country and video of the bat extravaganza.

April 25- Texas Hill Country

NOW TO TEXAS BIG BEND

Great start we thought, and next we were off to Big Bend National Park by way of Marathon, TX., me in the car with the trailer and Dan on the Beemer. We usually met up a few times during the traveling day at rest stops or for lunch. I got pretty good at catching a glimpse of his neon green jacket and making the stop. I had to learn to find places long enough to park and turn with the trailer but since RV's and much larger trailers abound out west it was doable almost every time.

I had been following a blog of the local Big Bend area birds written by employees at Marathon Trailer Park. We talked to Heidi and Matt, set up our new Nemo 3 person tent for the first time and spent a few days around Marathon, specifically the Post Park,at Matt's suggestion, before heading on to Big Bend. We entered at Panther Junction, Dan on bike and me with car, trailer and the five gallon container filled with ice. We carried lots of water, and some food.

Our eyes simply popped out of our heads at the canyon scenery along the way and, sooo different from New England. Soon we arrived at Rio Grande Village, selected our campsite from many, ours had a concrete pad with roof over a solid picnic table, and a soft spot under Cottonwood trees for a tent. We were home for the next few days.

Near the campsite was a five foot by three foot deep metal box with front opening doors, our first introduction to "the bear box", designed to keep food and gear from attracting unwanted visits from hungry bears, and another animal new to us, the Javelina. The Javelina, or peccary, looks like a wild pig, has tusks and dainty, little feet but can be a worse nuisance than a bear. Lots more birds and animals came onto the list, like the Golden-fronted Woodpecker that landed in my still warm from eggs frying pan, Roadrunners, huge Jack rabbits, cottontails, deer and coyote.

Daily we rode the paved roads exploring on the bike but we used the car a bit, too. Big Bend has many marked and maintained 4X4 roads that we could explore. We bumped a loong 4 wheel drive to Pipe Springs, learning what our car could do,(or not do with its ground clearance) and had a few special days of zooming around on the BMW staying on the pavement as it was pretty dusty, not to mention windy. We never did track down the Colima Warbler there in the park.

One evening and night at the campsite the wind came up suddenly and became very frightening to us as it swirled every which way, kicking up dirt and throwing branches at our little tent home. We couldn't cook and that night we stayed in the car trying to sleep as the noise of the wind rose and fell, thinking about the large branches of the Cottonwood OVER our tent. In the morning the park service had small bulldozers removing debris from the camp!

In a few days and after a wonderful, twisty ride to Santa Elena Canyon on the bike, we picked up the tent and gear and headed toward another part of Big Bend, the Chisos Basin Campground. We we fortunate to meet two other couples riding BMW's and had a few fun evenings sharing stories and places to "not miss." Dan and I admired the other folks ability to have all their needs on their bikes. (By that time we had learned that ALL the parks have running water available at what they designate as 'developed' campsites (like where we camped.) Developed sites also usually have flush or pit toilets-no showers but in Big Bend showers were available at the General Store for a small fee. The General Stores in Big Bend are concessions and sell many camping necessities, blankets, tents, pegs. They also stock water, ice, beer, wine and limited food supplies.)

Here are pics from Big Bend. Enjoy the slide show. It might take a bit to load the 80 pictures.

Texas 4 BIG BEND-Guadelupe CarlsbadCavern

After Big Bend we planned a route towards Arizona by way of Davis Mts, where we actually saw the destruction and blackening caused by the recent fire there. The wildfire had burned more than 300,000 acres and threatened the McDonald Observatory which reopened by the time we arrived, so we were treated to a night of exploring the Texas skys on their smaller telescopes. The larger telescopes had been removed for their safety and were not available to the public yet.

To our surprise we met the same couple riding a Beemer whom we had seen at Big Bend at a campsite in the Guadalupe Mountains. The next day we decided to take a day motorcycle trip with them to NEW MEXICO and the Carlsbad Canyons, only about 40 miles. The day was great, a litttle windy, but the Caverns were magical. We walked over a mile and a half into the mountain on concrete walkways. Then, we were expected to take the elevator out because of the time we entered. Well, OK!

ARIZONA Mid May 2011- next log section.

There are dots on the map in the Western states to illustrate the route of our trip. To access the correct spot on the map, use the left and arrow up or down buttons to find the orange dots.

TITUSVILLE MUNICIPAL MARINA and BUSY February – April 14, 2011

noreply@blogger.com (Dan and Kathy Chevalier) — Wed, 13 Apr 2011 02:48:00 +0000

TITUSVILLE MUNICIPAL MARINA and BUSY February – April 14, 2011

Titusville continues to hold lots of possibilities for exciting and full days! The marina has already proven itself a safe place for Sea Star when while we were away during a thunderstorm a few wind gusts of 74 knots blew through without mishap. It was because of our dockmates that no harm came to our boat. Titusville Municipal has great staff and friendly cruisers, and those like us who have cruised some (or even for years) and have decided to stop for awhile.

So what has changed since I last reported on February 14th after Bonaire? Well, we are doing a bit of driving in our all-wheel drive Subaru. Two trips to New England; one to visit and the other…. I’ll get into THE SECOND TRIP soon enough.

Merritt Island Reserve

Beside the long trips we needed to take to New England, it’s great to have a non-water vehicle again and drive to the grocery store or to the hardware store, never getting lost because of the car GPS unit. One of the exceptional places we can drive to is Merritt Island Wildlife Reserve, a short five miles away where we are like little kids, agog at seeing alligators, their shiny scales, long, swishing tails, and very beady eyes ominously appearing many times when we’ve stopped to use our binoculars to achieve a better view of some new to us birds. In the Reserve we can usually see a Bald Eagle high on its nest on a radio tower, Scrub Jays, an endangered species quite lovely with subtle blue feathers, many shore birds and ducks; Plovers, Grebes and four varieties of Herons; Great blue, Little blue, Green, Tricolored all available on excellent paved roads – without going more than twenty feet from the car unless we want to. I walked up the road only twenty feet to grab these poor pictures of Roseate Spoonbills. I wish you could see all of the birds through binoculars- some pics of Jays and alligators didn't come out at all so I can't post them.

The spotting of shore birds is very easy, low Florida scrubby bushes, no trees to get in the way when checking the banks of canals for what they may provide, or scanning wide open grassy marshes for the hawks or harriers swooping or riding the air currents. There are many sightings of Bobcat reported in the park, although the Reserve closing at 5:00PM makes seeing these elusive creatures difficult. We have not.

THE SPACE PROGRAM IS ENDING

Titusville is on what is called “The Space Coast”, obviously because of Cape Canaveral and the part of the US Space Program at Kennedy Space Center involving the Space Shuttle located on the same island I just described! The two times we witnessed rockets being launched from Cape Kennedy the importance to the community and entertainment value of the launches were obvious. The volunteers at the Reserve suggest the wild life and the rocketships can co-exist just fine.

The morning Sea Star was to enter the marina back in November, Dan looked up into the sky while I was pulling in our anchor because he saw people pointing and he heard voices from the boats anchored around us. We saw a small trail of smoke growing larger in the early morning sky until what was a rocket had loudly boomed a few times, then trailing the launch signature white, puffy smoke, the sight mesmerized us until it disappeared and the smoke evaporated slowly. A pretty spectacular Florida arrival, we thought at the time after our long, cold slog up the coast from Key West after crossing from Isla Mujeres on Thanksgiving Day.

Another evening just at sunset we and others were sitting outside on the bows of our boats when an even more impressive rocket was launched into orbit. We certainly watched and listened but we had already been spoiled when we saw Discovery launched a few weeks earlier.

The largest extravaganza was when Discovery was being sent to the Soyuz Space Station. That was an incredible local event with people invading the area from all around filling the hotels and restaurants, some crowding to line up along the pedestrian walkway of the newly opened Space Bridge (adding a new 66 foot bridge for travelers on the Intracoastal Waterway) to gawk at the trailing smoke, hear the massive engines roar to life and feel the vibration from the huge booster rockets as the staging fell and Discovery was off for the very last time. There was a 20 minute delay, but basically all went as planned. The crowds yelled, clapped and partied ‘til late all around town. We boaters had almost “the best seats in the house”. From the comfort of our own lawn chairs on the decks, we could enjoy the spectacle.

ECONOMIC ISSUES IN FL

All is not well in the Titusville area and the Space Coast. I’ve heard over the past months and especially now, thousands of space employees are losing their jobs as the Space Shuttle completes its last launch in April. The devastated economy is seen in the amount of Real Estate that is available with prices already low. Homes, condominiums and businesses are for sale with no prospects. Obviously this is the “coffee shop” talk all around us. Dan went for a haircut and the barber was moaning about his business dropping, “fewer haircuts and nobody gets a shave.” Apparently some private corporations are coming into the area, one aircraft builder, I think from Brazil, that may be able to employ a few of the highly trained workforce, but many will pack up and move to where ever there are jobs. There are not many jobs in Florida with its 8% unemployment figures.

In walking distance from our boats are local parks. Nice places for the tourists and locals to enjoy the Florida sunshine. Dog runs, ball fields and climbing structures are provided. Last weekend there was the Indian River Festival at the park nearest our marina. I guess it was like a mini fair with rides, events like bull riding and go-cart races; just a nice family event.

Daily Florida temperatures have risen since our arrival back and today and yesterday I felt like I was in Guatemala with temperatures reaching the 90’s! Beaches are open. We haven’t gone swimming yet as the locals say the water is too cold but it’s no colder than the best days at Block Island, RI in the heat of the New England summer, so basically it’s very confusing. What do I get up and put on in the morning? Right now it's cool at night, very cool early morning then the sun starts to beat in on the hatches so we close them and go onto air conditioning about 2:00Pm if we're about the boat. We broil til about 6:00PM and then it's often very cool by bedtime, 10:00PM or so. Bugs have not been bad but I hear they may get worse soon.

DAN’S NEW ADVENTURE

Our SECOND trip to New England was planned around two things. Dan had a specific day for continuing education for a contractor license and we went to AJ’s Cycle shop to pick up our new BMW motorcycle, that was ready for us March 26th.

Somewhere out in Panama, Dan started thinking about how much he missed riding on a cycle; the wide open feel and surroundings, as well as the need for speed after Sea Star’s average 6knots with just a little acceleration in wind gusts! He wanted to ride again, and I agreed, as I had not yet seen any of the western US and friends told us we were missing a lot. For this adventure, we needed to return to the United States and find a safe place for Sea Star as she is our moving home base.

So here we are in Florida now with the new bike after trailering it here from New England. Our plan includes a visit to Texas, probably to Big Bend National Park. We will drive out on route 10, trailering the bike and see where we decide to explore. We’ve read about some VENT birding tours that travel to where we’d like to go, so we will include our interest in birding along with the renewed motorcycling experience. We have light weight gear for camping and we’ll try that again, too. Here we will be in the middle of RV land, but on the ground. Unless we choose to use a hotel for greater comfort sometimes.

The last few months have been spent “gearing up” and the last few weeks practicing the riding; first, no gear on the bike- just Dan, then add Me and get used to cornering and stopping/starting with the extra weight. Next we added the side saddle bags and made our two helmets connected so we can speak with eachother and Dan can hear the GPS traveling directions. Soon we’ll add the top rear case, which we need for “stuff” because I have no interest in a bike of my own so that we could carry even more gear.

It’s exhilarating to ride again. Here the roads are open and straight unless you look for the “twisties” or “sweepers”. It’s been 31 years, however, so we are conscientiously practicing starts, quick stops, U turns and “wigglies”, like S curves. Dan even took a class to refresh his riding skills and said he learned a lot of tricks to improve his riding.

Dan and I are connected by an intercom in our helmets, guided by GPS and entertained, (should we care to use it while driving) with FM radio, Sirius radio or Ipod, so there has been a bit of learning curve on those items, too. Today we spent two hours on the phone straightening the intercom issues out and downloading new software for our Scala Rider Power sets. Very high tech but wearing full face shields, we really can't just holler to each other. We've read a lot and despite the lax helmet rules in Florida (many wear NO helmet, just a tee shirt and many girl passengers are seen in fip flops) Dan and I will wear full protective gear.

Dan and I keep up with the blogs of friends we met cruising. We hope to keep hearing their news and about the exciting places they are roaming. We miss Braveheart (now off their boat) on newly purchased farm land in West Virginia, Tregoning on their way by Morgan sailboat to Hawaii after just leaving the Galapagos Islands, Windsong living and climbing in Korea while teaching there, friends living and playing in the Bay Islands of Honduras, Cormorant maybe still in Italy, so it goes on.

Soon we’ll be on our way again too -and our sailing blog will become a trip report like other motorcyclists write, if and when there is time and internet.

Enjoy the three types of pictures: Around the marina, family visiting and the new BMW, and the long trip back to Florida.

Around Titusville Marina

Christmas away- then Titusville to Bonaire Jan.12-Feb.14, 2011

noreply@blogger.com (Dan and Kathy Chevalier) — Tue, 22 Feb 2011 05:02:00 +0000

Dan and I left Sea Star at Titusville Municipal Marina and headed home to MA for Christmas and New Years with family. While there we visited friends, refreshed our memories about snow and cold, visited our doctors and drove back to Florida to begin our next adventure. We had been asked to house sit and take care of a sweet little cat for ex-cruising friends on the small Dutch Island of Bonaire while they traveled. Lucky us! The home was gorgeous with great views from the patio and swimming pool and cooling breezes off the ocean throughout the night.

Here is a picture of the kitty!

From Bandit

HEY MOM AND DAD,
I'M HAVING A PARTY!
LOVE, BANDIT

Bonaire is the "B" of the A, B, C islands about 60 miles from Venezuela. The others are Aruba and Curacaio.

Bonaire is well known for its excellent scuba diving. The diving has been listed as "Best" in many catagories in Scuba Magazine for over five years although diving opened in Bonaire many years ago when "windows" to the reefs were opened from many different sites from the shore.

Dan and I, and our visitors enjoyed our water time out of the pool by snorkeling many shore sites. Red Beryl, Andrea, Tolo, 1000 Steps are some famous names. Reef fish such as huge Parrot Fish, French Angels, and so many others I can't list them, along with octopus, Moray Eels of many types and sea turtles were easily seen. We really didn't even have time to consider grabbing a boat to Klein Bonaire, a smaller uninhabited island ringed with reef.

In the month we stayed in Bonaire we explored any drivable road on the 30 mile long island, went into and around the Washington Slagbaai Park by rental truck and had an incredible time. We watched flamengos and saw areas where the ancient Indian tribes inscribed pictorial language.

Here are some tourist- type pictures. The water is a fantastic color of blue with shallows green-blue. Corals show somewhat brown from the surface. Although we saw herds up to fifty of the wild free ranging goats, I didn't take a picture, darn.

click for slide show

visitors Bonaire

Bonaire is a very dry island, and the temperatures are very warm. While we were there the day temperature was 84 degrees with water temperature about 80 degrees on the surface where we snorkeled. The landscape often shows trees bent by the wind, underfoot are sharp and deadly coral rocks. The early Europeans brought goats and donkeys to the island where their decendants still roam freely. To protect themselves the low, scrubby bushes, trees and shrubs these introduced animals constantly feed on have developed deadly weapons, THORNS, which my pictures will show you. Thorns make it difficult for people living on the island. One problem they have and we had to watch out for, is flat tires due to the thorns that grow on bushes but fall to the ground- sticking in the tires. Like a nail in a tire, when the thorns are removed the tires lose air.

Enjoy these Bonaire pictures These are the ones that try to show the difficulty for animals, birds and people to live on these islands. My own collection of Bonaire thorniness! Not only do thorns and cutting coral rubble liven up the landscape but follow the wiki link to see the deadly tree. You can't touch it, eat the fruit Or stand under it in the rain. The result can be skin blistering!

click for slide show

Thorns

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/92/Hippomane_mancinella_%28fruit%29.jpg

To all our friends and Blog readers. Dan and I are no longer international. We're back in Florida with Sea Star but will be heading out on a new adventure probably in the Western USA by motorcycle as soon as it arrives. We are not selling Sea Star, just doing something else we want to try. We love to hear from our cruising friends and hope you will continue to email and contact us!

Key West to Lake Worth - Intra Coastal to Titusville, FL Dec. 4-8, 2010

noreply@blogger.com (Dan and Kathy Chevalier) — Thu, 17 Feb 2011 05:50:00 +0000

Key West was definately the United States. There were exciting things on the shelves of markets like the right size screws, aselection of tools, cleaning supplies for the boat that had been unavailable, and of course a real marina with electricity and clean water. Best of all I hadn't seen a laundromat since....?

The crews of Braveheart, Mystic Moon and Sea Star had a wonderful dinner in town and stopped to play pool at a local watering hole before returning to our boats for the evening. In the morning we met at famous Pepe's for breakfast--so in between the nine hour days of work on Sea Star we had fun.

Key West was not very busy in December but I could see the attraction when the weather was better in the outlying islands and reefs. Everybody has a boat, or charters a boat for sailing, fishing, diving and zooming around.

After our boat was ready and tested, Dan and I moved out of the expensive marina and picked up a town mooring. Bad idea! It was windy and the moorings were on short lines. They did not provide a bridle for your boat and there did not seem to be a way to slip a line from the boat through the tiny loop at the top of the mooring ball. Each time I tried something dreadful happened; first I bent the brand new boatpole and dropped it into the water(luckily it floats a bit and we got it back), then I lost the old boatpole as it was pulled out of my hands as I tried to capture the mooring ball-- finally a nice man, a cruiser, arrived through the surf in hid tiny dinghy and put the line through the loop for us.

Key West web

The next day we left the mooring field, without paying as noboby came out to us and we weren't going to put the dinghy down, thinking we would meet uo with Jimmy and Donna on Blue Water Cat in Marathon, Florida- one of the anchorages in the Keys.

Conditions were right to keep on going rather than stop, to beat an approaching cold front. We were quite anxious by now to arrive at Titusville, some 350 miles away. We sailed the Hawk Channel, avoiding the many crab pots during the day and just hoping to miss them at night as we moved along for all day and night. By 2:00AM we were crossing Governer's Cut where the big guys play.

We were surrounded by cruise ships, tankers, and all manner of boats wating to go into Miami. Sometime in the afternoon we were approaching our goal; the Lake Worth Inlet where we had crossed to the Bahamas from on Thanksgiving of 2008, our first year cruising. Our arrival at the inlet was just in time. The front had arrived, roiling the sea and the winds were increasing as we passed through that narrow cut and into the much calmer water within.

The anchorage in Fort Worth was fine for us, but others had run aground getting in there. Tow Boat US basically was sitting in the anchorage entrance and just waiting like a vulture. We were able to get some sleep before starting off again at 6:00AM. Dan had decided that the rest of the trip would be "on the inside" meaning in the Intracoastal Waterway. The weather was just too cold and windy for another day in the Atlantic.

In the Intracoastal there is always a lot to watch out for so it isn't relaxing at all. We knew we would have to go under many bridges per day and that movement had to be timed to the bridge's schedule. Our mast is 63 1/2 feet and the most clearance you get is 64 feet on the fixed bridges. Some areas of the ICW are shallow, or the waters are contained in a channel and a passing motorboat might "wake" you with a tidal wave sized plume of water, and it was Saturday and many boaters were out. Oh, and did I say it was cold? The temps went into the 40's at night.

One full, long day mostly hand steering from 6:00AM to 6:30PM brought us to Vero Beach Mooring Field, where we rafted up as required with another boat. Jim was a new cruiser but he had the idea. As we tied up to his mooring he asked if we wanted some Jerk Chicken! Totally yummy. We had a few beers with him and collapsed, waking to start out again at daylight.

The ICW can be lovely. There is wilderness, some of the lovliest homes in Florida, animals, birds, Manatee if you are lucky and many many red and green markers to go between in the dredged channel. The trip would have been more enjoyable had the temperature been warmer. Dan who was driving couldn't get or stay warm. Check out his pictures wearing everything we had on board.

cold

By dark we were still pushing on toward Titusville. We went through the last two bridges in the pitch dark and anchored outside the marina for the night. There were as many as twenty cruising boats in the anchorage and it was soo cold!

That night as we were anchoring there was a huge noise and we were thrilled to watch a rocket take off from the Space Center and shoot brilliantly into the darkness. We slept well knowing we we basically there and could begin to plan to drive home after we picked up our new car waiting in Tampa. We worried a bit about Patti and Gary who left the Rio a week after we did. Their weather was really rotton and they were heading to Titusville, too. We had left Braveheart in Key West at the marina for the military and Mystic was preparing to leave their boat for Christmas, too.

In the morning we tied Sea Star to her new home and prepared to be landlubbers for awhile.

Leaving the Rio Dulce, Graciosa to Lighthouse Reef, Belize November 3-10th, 2011

noreply@blogger.com (Dan and Kathy Chevalier) — Mon, 10 Jan 2011 07:03:00 +0000

BEAUTIFUL BELIZE
Sea Star's last visit on the Rio was to Texan Bay Marina for our last Texas chicken fried steak. We left the Rio for Bahia Graciosa after lunch at Ak' Tenant Restaurant and picking up our exit papers from Raul in Livingston. Dan and I motored the 11 miles out the sea bouy over the shallow Livingston bar then across the bay to Graciosa where we spent a quiet night tucked in behind an island while the wind blew 25 knots from the west. Sea Star, and Braveheart left the Rio in what we hoped was a short weather window that would allow us to begin our trip through the country of Belize and then on towards Mexico.

A bit of rain did come but our memory is not of winds, but phosphorescence around our two boats in the evening. By morning we did move on. As we left the protection of the Bay, the wind was still strong and we were able to move along slowly by motor until we managed to change the sailing angle and head more into the shelter of the mainland Belize after a rolicking sail.

Our first night in Belize was in the harbor at Placencia where a quiet night was had after a rather slow and careful entry into the lagoon. We did not enjoy that friendly town of funky and fun restaurants because we were flying our Q flag. We had decided to move quickly through the country. Cruisers had reported being charged a daily per person fee and increased and unpredictable fees for having a boat in Belize.

Moving through Belize we anchored at Sappadilla Lagoon, Bluefield Range a beautiful spot between two islands where I saw a lazing manatee. Unfortunately, the hurricane had destroyed the little fishing camp resort that had been on that island.

We visited Rendevous Cay and snorkeled while trying to chart a safe way by GPS out of that reef strewn area and to the deeper water and out to the atolls; Turneffe, Glovers and especially for Dan and I who were looking forward to what we had been told was the gem of Belize,- Lighthouse Reef.

We decided to split off from Braveheart who wanted to go toward Cay Corker and needed fuel. We had a great fish dinner on Braveheart when a local came by and asked us if we could use some fish. For a reasonable price of seven dollars we all ate, and Dan and I returned to Sea Star, leaving via the English Channel in the morning with the tiny sailboats the locals use to travel to and fish the reefs.

LIGHTHOUSE REEF
We did make the thirty nautical mile trip to Lighthouse and it was a highlight of the trip. We were able to snorkel a few times and see for ourselves what had caused other friends to be so enthusiastic about this area under the water and visit nearby Long Cay where there is a Red-footed Booby bird rookery. The water was extremely clear. On beginning our entry into the recommended anchorage to the south of the island we didn’t think we could make it! The water was so incredibly clear that 8 or 9 feet looked like 2 or 3 when moving oh soo slowly over the corals and rocks! We followed the waypoints and after an hour of crawling over and around coral heads we were able to enter the anchorage Well, we had been supplied with a set of waypoints from a dear friend and they worked perfectly!

The water was very inviting and we had missed the ocean while we were in the Rio Dulce so that we went swimming right away, and managed to snorkel two more times when the wind allowed it. The fish were plentiful and some quite large hog fish and snappers. We found huge coral heads and healthy soft corals making for exciting snorkeling. We didn't spy a lobster, though. Sea star was the only boat in the anchorage for those few days. When locals arrived to chat, they did have a few lobsters or conch to trade or sell. In this way I tried to mimic a recipe the same friend who gave us their waypoints had served to us-fried conch. Yummy!

As we were leaving Dan approached a local boat to ask to buy cleaned conch and lobster. Through that man we heard of a local spearfisherman who had been diving out on the outer reef and who had his foot bitten by a shark. The boat was looking for a motor launch to bring the man to Belize to the hospital. We never heard how it turned out but that is an example of how alone these hardworking fishermen and divers are.

We stayed a few days, visiting the surrounding islands. On a little nearby island there is a bird rookery where we climbed an observation tower and I was able to get a few fun pictures of Red-footed Boobies and the Magnificent Frigatebird on display with its red chested display. The island had seen some damage from the hurricane but we enjoyed a walk with the dog who lived full time on the island and a chat with the Ranger. The caretakers of the preserve and rookery come and go, but the dog stays. He had just been removed from the little island a few weeks earlier as a named storm of hurricane force had moved over the island and toward the Capital of Belize, Belize City, causing damage and destruction. The Caretaker had been cleaning up the island ever since. Trees had been snapped or pushed over, but it appeared the birds were alright and breeding.

Enjoy a slideshow of our walk.

Lighthouse Reef

From Lighthouse we waited for a decent weather window and headed for Isla Mujeres, Mexico, where we knew we would have to wait for weather appropriate to cross to the US. We began to wonder if we were going to make it back to MA for Christmas.

Two weeks after we were there, Doris and Tom on Footloose and Gene and Brenda on Queen Mary arrived at Lighthouse and spent a month there, and there may have been more boats, also. I'm sure they all had a great time in this very special place!

We could not stay at Lighthouse Reef until our friends on Footloose could arrive. The weather was not conducive to other boats leaving the Rio. Dan and I made the decision that an overnight trip to Isla Mujeres could be accomplished if we left right away, so we spoke with Braveheart by radio. We found they had been having engine problems and had put in to Puerto Aventuras, Mexico for repair. Jack was able to make a fix but for security we thought we could catch up to them in Cozumel before Isla Mujeres and go in together.

That was not to be. Sea Star did sail out onto the Chinchuro Banks where we were surrounded by squalls alternating with wind shifts. We sailed into Cozumel only to feel surrounded by cruise ships the size of cities next to us. We were not comfortable among them in our small sailboat and didn't like the anchorage as it was too open. As we moved back out into the channel, the wind was very strong and Sea Star was moving along at what felt to me a breakneck speed. The water was rushing under us and the motion was causing strange and loud noises below in the salon where I was trying to rest. Between the wind and the favorable current throughout the night we zoomed into Isla Mujeres approach in the dark of night and had to wiggle our way into the anchorage after a few hours of waiting for light to improve.

ISLA MUJERES, MEXICO
Isla Mujeres was great fun. We anchored out one night and then moved into the Isla Mujeres Marina with Braveheart and some recently met cruisers, John and Kathy on Mystic Moon, a Selene trawler. We also met Kathleen and Roy on Islander, another trawler at the dock and the fun began. We walked, explored the town, shopped and Kathleen and Roy lent us their golf cart to shop for food and see the sights. We found the island interesting and a great place to visit. Entering the country of Mexico at Isla Mujeres was reasonably easy. An agent from the marina would have done the entry process for $100 plus the fees for Port Captain and Immigration. We did not use the agent and the process was easily accomplished. We did choose to use the agent as we left Mexico to be sure all was in order.

Thanksgiving Day 2010 was the day we decided was right to leave for the USA. We are trying to make it to Titusville, Florida so we could drive to MA and see our family for Christmas.

Sea Star, and Braveheart left the Rio in what we hoped was a short weather window that would allow us to begin our trip through the country of Belize and then on towards Mexico.

Our first night out was spent in Bahia Grasiosa in a shallow, protected area to avoid forecast strong westerly winds. A bit of rain did come but our memory is not of winds but phosphorescence around our two boats in the evening. By morning we did move on. As we left the protection of the Bay, the wind was still strong and we were able to move along slowly by motor until we managed to change the sailing angle and head more into the shelter of the mainland Belize.

Our first night in Belize was in the harbor at Placencia where a quiet night was had after a rather slow and careful entry into the lagoon. We did not enjoy that friendly town of funky and fun restaurants because we were flying our Q flag. We had decided to move quickly through the country because cruisers had reported being charged a daily per person fee and increased and unpredictable fees for having a boat in Belize.

Moving through Belize we anchored at Sappadilla Lagoon, Blue Ground Range where we visited Rendevous Cay while trying to chart a safe way by GPS out of that reef strewn area and to the deeper water and out to the atolls, Turneffe, Glovers and especially for Dan and I who were looking forward to what we had been told was the gem of Belize- Lighthouse Reef.

We decided to split off from Braveheart who wanted to go toward Cay Corker for fuel. We had a great fish dinner on Braveheart when a local came by and asked us if we could use some fish. For a reasonable price of seven dollars we all ate, and Dan and I returned to Sea Star, leaving via the English Channel in the morning with the tiny sailboats the locals use to travel to and fish the reefs.

We did make the thirty nautical mile trip to Lighthouse and it was a highlight of the trip. We were able to snorkel a few times and see for ourselves what had caused other friends to be so enthusiastic about this area under the water and visit nearby Long Cay where there is a Red-footed Booby bird rookery. The water was extremely clear. On beginning our entry into the recommended anchorage to the south of the island we didn’t think we could make it! We could see huge coral rocks just under our keel. It looked like there was no way into that anchorage without taking off the bottom of the boat. Well, we had been supplied with a set of waypoints from a dear friend and they worked perfectly!

Soon we were anchored and in the water. The reef fish were large and plentiful, the coral colorful, and looking incredibly healthy. When locals arrived to chat, they did have a few lobsters or conch to trade or sell. In this way I tried to mimic a recipe the same friend who gave us their waypoints had served to us-fried conch. Yummy!

Another day we headed out to the rookery and had a nice chat with the caretaker/ranger.

He had just been removed from the little island a few weeks earlier as a named storm of hurricane force had moved over the island and toward the Capital of Belize, Belize City, causing damage and destruction. He had been cleaning up the island ever since. Trees had been snapped or pushed over, but it appeared the birds were alright and breeding. We learned how alone these hardy fishing souls are when a local in a cayuco related to us how a passing sailboat of fishermen were trying to return to Belize City as quickly as possible and had been asking other locals who had motor boat transportation to take an injured friend to a doctor. The young man had been spearfishing and a shark had severely bit his foot. We did not find out how that story ended.

We could not stay at Lighthouse Reef until our friends on Footloose could arrive. The weather was not conducive to other boats leaving the Rio. Dan and I made the decision that an overnight trip to Isla Mujeres could be accomplished if we left right away, so we spoke with Braveheart by radio. We found they had been having engine problems and had put in to Puerto Aventuras, Mexico for repair. Jack was able to make a fix but for security we thought we could catch up to them in Cozumel before Isla Mujeres and go in together.

That was not to be. Sea Star did sail into Cozumel only to feel surrounded by cruise ships the size of cities next to us. We were not comfortable there in our small sailboat. As we moved back out into the channel, the wind was very strong and Sea Star was moving along at what felt to me a breakneck speed. The water was rushing under us and the motion was causing strange and loud noises below in the salon where I was trying to rest. Between the wind and the favorable current throughout the night we zoomed into Isla Mujeres approach in the dark of night and had to wiggle our way into the anchorage after a few hours wait for light to improve.

Isla Mujeres was great fun. We anchored out one night and then moved into the Isla Mujeres Marina with Braveheart and some recently met cruisers, John and Kathy on Mystic Moon, a Selene trawler. We also met Kathleen and Roy on another trawler at the dock and the fun began. We walked, explored the town, shopped and Kathleen and Roy lent us their golf cart to shop for food and see the sights. We found the island interesting and a great place to visit. Entering the country of Mexico at Isla Mujeres was reasonably easy. An agent from the marina would have done the entry process for $100 plus the fees for Port Captain and Immigration. We did not use the agent and the process was easily accomplished. We did choose to use the agent as we left Mexico to be sure all was in order.

Thanksgiving Day 2010 was the day we decided was right to leave for the USA. We are trying to make it to Titusville, Florida so we could drive to MA and see our family for Christmas.

BACK IN THE USA! ISLA MUJERES to KEY WEST Nov.24-27, 2010

noreply@blogger.com (Dan and Kathy Chevalier) — Mon, 10 Jan 2011 05:20:00 +0000

Landfall USA

Enjoy a few shots of Mexico's Isla Mujeres or Island of the women. Holly, Kathleen and I did some sightseeing by golfcart where, from the back facing seat I took most of these shots.

Isla Mujeres web

Sea Star and Braveheart set off sailing from Isla Mujeres, Mexico on 6:00AM Thanksgiving morning to begin our expected 40 to 44hour passage across the Yucatan Channel and the Gulf Stream. To be determined by weather was whether our first landfall would be the Dry Tortugas National Park at Fort Jefferson, or the funky islands off Florida’s Southern extreme, Key West. If we chose the Dry Tortugas we would be taking a slightly shorter route to land, but landing in a more remote location. Dry Tortugas is well known because, as it a park, no spear fishing is allowed within the park boundaries but the snorkeling is superb. If we chose Key West we would continue to travel for about 80 miles more, would miss the stop at Tortugas but we would truly be back in the USA. We could complete the necessary clear-in procedures and visit restaurants we both remembered from previous visits. Something I as cook was looking forward to.

By 7:00AM Sea Star was motor-sailing along at about 7 knots in six foot seas with swell from the East and winds of 20 to 22 knots. We made our way out of the harbor and flats that protect Isla Mujeres and finally over the shallow bar entering the deeper channel and the way out to the Yucatan Channel and the expected current boost we hoped would help us travel in a northeasterly direction . We had plotted a few waypoints to hopefully take advantage of an expected .5 to 2.5 knot northerly, then northwest current, expected to improve our speed through the water toward the tiny islands either 270 nautical miles to the Dry Tortugas or 350 miles to Key West.

For the first thirty miles we bounced along, popping in and out of deep troughs with water cascading down both side decks, sailing along with staysail and main. The forecast was for the wind to slowly abate and become a comfortable 15-20 knots by mid afternoon. We were able to add the jib and we sailed along with the benefit of 1 knot of current. By the end of sixty miles and 10 hours the seas had subsided a bit. We heard the weather report from our new cruising friends on the Selene trawler, Mystic Moon. They mentioned that Chris Parker, our weather guru, warned of a period of higher winds coming quite soon, so Chris thought it best that Mystic forgo the stop at Dry Tortugas and move right on toward Key West, so by Saturday afternoon they would be in port. From then on our course was set toward Key West. Mystic Moon, a beautiful 45 foot Selene Trawler set out from Isla Mujeres about eight hours behind us.

Dan and I relaxed as the wind slowed a bit, reefed the main and jib for night sailing, checked the current and continued on through the night with about two hour shifts on watch. We saw a few targets on the AIS system but they were not too near. That night was warm, the stars were brightly lit overhead, and the moon was close to full. We could see the tricolor light of our buddy boat, Braveheart, with Holly and Jack and their dog, Charlie, aboard. We had radio contacts with the two other boats on schedule and we all were moving well.

Moving well means we were traveling along on course, the boat was acting correctly because there was enough wind to sail a course, but neither of us had to touch the wheel. “Auto” does it all and we just push a button to correct minimally right or left. At 4:00 AM Dan called to me to come out to the cockpit because we had “lost” our autopilot. “Auto” was not able to keep on course and was not reading the correct heading. We had in fact strayed somewhat off course and Braveheart, who were able to see us, called on the radio and asked if anything was wrong -as we were shining our biggest lights on the sails and were apparently sailing erratically for awhile. We told Jack what seemed to have happened and he and Holly stood by to see what we would need to do.

The problem meant that Dan had to go into the deep, dark lazarette to try to discern the trouble and I had to hand steer the boat, which I find difficult to do with sails up. We furled the jib and I held the course while Dan climbed into the large locker to check the arm on the autopilot. He soon emerged; nothing was obviously wrong, but he thought it was possible we might have to hand steer for the next two days! Not a fun contemplation as it does take energy to steer in rough, confused seas. Dan tried a few different things to see if the autopilot would work. He did something, maybe a reset, maybe a vodo dance, and we found we could hold the course again. The gauges weren’t reading correctly but we could steer a compass course. What a relief!

It’s always best on passage when morning arrives. Usually we are both awake, we have a coffee, (which can be an adventure to make on a rolling boat) and one can see any ships approaching from a distance and what the sails are doing. This day we were still under sail alone and within a favorable current, but the wind was variable now and we needed to start the motor which we ran all day. It’s hard to remember exactly when but after we shut off the motor, the next time we needed it, after a run of about four hours, the engine temperature had risen- not to a dangerous level but Dan was concerned and shut it down. So we sailed on as best we could in even less wind until we just had to start the engine again. This time we were able to use power assist for even less time before the over-heat. Finally after more sailing and again the wind decreasing, we ran the engine for only one hour before needing to cool it down. Uh, oh now what to do?

Now, in the early morning , we had come over 300 nm from Isla Mujeres but still had about 60 miles to go to arrive at Key West. There was absolutely no wind and the ocean was smooth; without a ripple and we were going nowhere. In checking the weather forecast- there was no wind coming for days, but the Selene was out there somewhere. Just as we were wondering where the trawler was in relation to us, Kathy and John called us on the VHF radio and they were quite close; within a mile! They pulled up close and transferred a doubled 300’ line they had attached to a bridle from their stern. We attached the line as a bridle to our Island Packet and carefully John took up slack. We were moving and moving along well under tow.

Yes, Sea Star, our beautiful sailboat was embarrassingly under tow toward Key West. The Selene pulled us over twenty miles, where we met the Tow Boat US boat, Ranger. After about six hours, after dark, we were safely nudged onto the dock at Conch Marina, Key West.

Thank you Mystic Moon, Tow Boat US and all the friends who met us at the dock to help get us into a safe berth. It took three working days to fix the Yanmar engine. We needed a new water cooling pump, impeller and lots of patience along with our great mechanic who struggled to work on our very inaccessible engine.

After a week we were able to move on from Key West.

A Weekend of BIRDWATCHING at Hacienda Tijax October 2010

noreply@blogger.com (Dan and Kathy Chevalier) — Sun, 31 Oct 2010 23:25:00 +0000

A Weekend of Birdwatching at Hacienda Tijax October 2010

In my last posting I mentioned seven cruisers, including Dan and me had spent a great four days exploring Tikal, Yaxha and Flores. While reading our local paper, a website called Chisme Vindicator that provides news of happenings on the Rio in English, we read that there was to be the Second Annual Workshop Birding in Guatemala by Tour Green Caribbean right at our marina, Tijax!

Should we attend?

Actually, we wondered why we hadn’t yet heard about the workshop weekend as it was already Wednesday of the week and the program was to begin Friday afternoon with 3:00PM registration and 4:30 to 6:30 guided bird identification walk. The article mentioned the names of the attending bird guides and another man, Esvin Chacon to email for more information. I first emailed Eugenio Gobbato, the owner of Hacienda Tijax, to see if the workshop was meant for any interested birder(such as us) and if the offerings would be in English, because sadly, our Spanish just would not do for a lecture situation.

While deciding about the weekend, of course other activities happen around the Rio. The first of the boats are beginning to leave and this huge power boat with only a single screw engine was struggling to leave his tight slot at the marina dock. He had to move his boat 90 degrees in no space at all. He was shoe-horned out of Tijax by a combination of dock guys (in the small launcha), who pulled him sideways, then by the stern backwards to the open river. We cruisers were all giving advice and monitoring the spiderweb of lines to the remaining boats while staying close to defend our own, should anything go wrong with the plan. Eventually the owner-driver Ray of Sweet Mellisa was able to leave without a scratch. A fine mornings entertainment with our coffee!

Another event that was held on the Rio was a fund-raising event for a local Mayan vocational training school, Ak Tenamit. To raise money cruisers paid an entry fee and dinghied around the Rio to the various marinas picking up one card for a poker hand and sampling the free or reduced fare offered at each stop. Then at the end, at Mario’s Marina, Jim, the owner served everyone All you can eat- Tacos while the hands were played by the people with the best cards. Now- I wonder- HOW did they get the best cards?? Yep, chase other people, bribe, exchange cards- saying “It doesn’t matter, ‘cause it’s all for the kids” Enough money was raised for two kids to attend school for a year and some new materials for learning projects. Tourism is one of the offerings at the school.

Here are a few pics of Mellisa and our Poker Run fun afternoon.

Oct. Poker run

We were pretty busy with the above but we received our answer from the Bird Tour Organizer almost immediately, that yes, the offerings would be in English and that Esvin was already on Tijax property at the restaurant. We missed him there, but soon a knock on the hull of our boat produced Esvin, a young and friendly local Guatemalan who was the organizer of the birding weekend. This was a way of introducing interested eco-minded tourists to many other natural sites quite close to the Rio but not included in the “usual attractions”, like Tikal and Antigua.

After chatting a bit, receiving a nice gift of a cd of birds matched with bird calls and filling him in on our birding experience at Tijax, Tikal and other places we’d had the opportunity to explore, he described how the groups would be formed for the tours. The bird experts Leo Donabo, Bryan Mendez and the head scientist from the Nature Preserve of Cerro San Gil, Miguel Ramirez were scheduled to attend.

Very excited, Friday 3:00PM, still a hot, sunny day Dan and I suited-up; our new Tilley hats, hiking shoes, binoculars and headed up to the Tijax Restaurant to register. We mentioned we had a birding scope and Leo encouraged us to bring it, saying “we can get a boy to carry it for you”. Ok, super. I ran back down the dock to grab the scope and our third binocular for a friend to use.

Friday’s Walk

Dan and I alone were assigned as “the group” with the very experienced but Spanish speaking Miguel Ramirez, the most experienced guide, and 19 year old Bryan who is an English speaker.

The rest of the attending participants of two more adult cruisers, a 10 year old and 13 year old brother and sister; two lively cruiser kids but very serious and interested, and at least four Guatemalans; two men and two women went out with Leo and Esvin. Among that group some needed coaching in use of binoculars and some did not bring any, and had brought cameras instead. They made their way a bit slower than our group and returned to the start earlier than we did.

The four of us, with Dan lugging the scope began to slowly climb the winding, well-cared for path to the upper trail. It was a comfortable evening cool with a breeze and not many mosquitoes. We walked quietly and many of the regular birds we see often when we walk at Tijax were spotted as well as some migrants as this is the time for the Northern birds to arrive in Guatemala- a few Yellow Warblers and a Magnolia Warbler we captured in the scope as well as Blue-gray Tanager, Yellow-winged Tanager, two ? parrots and a Collared Euphonia. All of the last were located on one far away bare-branched tree and the birding scope was helpful to see them clearly. By this time, Bryon offered to carry the scope-so I took his job of logging our sightings in the official record and he carried the scope up the hill and over the two sections of hanging, swinging bridge we had to cross (60 feet above the ground and maybe 150ft across!) By the time we reached the top of the hill, the light was fading so we started back. Miguel was amazing in his ability to hear and identify bird calls or find both the male and female of the species and if the bird was juvenile or adult. He was very personable, but many times Bryon had to translate. It was obvious that Bryon looked up to this older man and enjoyed learning from him as we did.

Here are some pics of the "crew"

Oct. bird worksop

In comparing notes later, at the end of Friday’s hike, Leo’s large group had logged many of the same birds as we did, but not everyone could have seen them all. Dan suggested that the following morning we all go together, as the group was not too large and the others could access the birding scope, also. I think Dan enjoyed getting the scope on the bird quickly so others could line up and see the parrots, a Grey Hawk, Woodpeckers, and the Tanagers among others. We heard but did not locate a Trogon in the woods, but where was he seen later? Right outside the workshop palapa where we were drawing birds!

Learning to Draw

For me there were two highlights from this interesting weekend. First was when we arrived back from our early AM Saturday walk, the quiet Bryon was the workshop leader. He is also an artist. His helpful technique that I’m sure will help many of us not truly versed in bird anatomy was to pass out paper and pencil and step by step give oral directions and model the drawing of a generic “bird” on a white board, with Leo translating for the Spanish speakers. It was engaging, starting with a rectangle for the body and a square to mark the head then using a mark on the first third of the rectangle to locate the wing and the second third for the legs which then clamp onto a branch. He patiently drew crucial anatomical bird parts for a birder to try to see, to distinguish among similar species in the field, naming them in English and Spanish. The next phase was to draw and see slide pictures of types of beaks. We found about fifteen different types. When you see the shape, length or thickness of the beak you know what the bird eats and its main habitat. We did the same with feet and types of tails!

By then we were ready for a break and a group of us shot over to a favorite restaurant across the Rio for prime rib Saturday special! Yummy!

Saturday’s Interruption

Although it was fun and relaxing to pursue an interest with like-minded people we were not to be able to relax for long. Even hiding in the Rio Dulce, a daily task is to check what’s going on in the Caribbean weather. A tropical wave, had become a tropical storm named Richard, near Honduras by Friday, and we were beginning to become nervous. According to four of the seven computer models supplied by NOAA, there was a possibility of the storm swirling along the coastline and curving west into Puerto Barrios or even Livingston at the mouth of the Rio Dulce, before continuing on to go ashore in Belize near Placentia.

We of course were not sure what would happen, but assumed the wind and rain usually associated with a large storm would be a problem for Sea Star, tied to a dock and possibly bouncing around, chafing lines or even pulling from the dock. Even the workshop leaders were concerned that a local stream would rise precluding access to the preserve, so cancelled a birding trip to a Nature Preserve, Cerro San Gil, scheduled for Sunday. Dan and I would have gone, but not when the weather was so unpredictable.

As the caretaker of the boat, your house, a cruiser just doesn’t know what action to take. Primarily we worry and check the internet regularly. There are many sites on the internet that show satellite pictures, are updated as often as every half hour but still it’s hard to know what to do and when to do it. In our case we were thinking – not safe tied to the dock in wind. We could go out on anchor and perhaps drop another anchor, or even two, but then we’d worry about loose boats that do drag, dragging into ours. We could drive the bow into the mangroves, drop an anchor and tie off to trees, but where exactly? What’s the depth and would we be in some trouble with scratching or grounding the boat? But maybe it won’t come here, we hope, so we should stay put. We’d feel a bit silly if we over-reacted.

So what happened was “Captain talk”, beers, showing each other the latest weather reports, and more thinking, watching and worrying until the storm was closer and the reports clearer. By Sunday mid-morning the storm was tracking more Northerly toward Belize and had become hurricane strength going ashore as a category 1 storm but in Rio Dulce we had not a breath of wind nor any rain or surge!

Not this Time- Again!

We had “dodged another bullet” as we often say. We do feel badly for the people of Belize where the storm did go ashore. We heard later that there was no loss of life, so that’s good, but of course there was damage.

Soo..Back to the Birds

We could see on the computer that the track had shifted. We stayed on the dock AND before the professional birders left the second best part of the weekend happened. Esvin came out to the boat to tell us they had located the Tijax mottled owl and we should come and see it. Dan was off the boat with binoculars in a flash, I followed behind with the scope. Dan saw the bird easily as it was in a tree outside of one of Tijax’ small cabins, and went back to the boat for his camera. Well, it was really a pair of owls and here are some pictures that resulted. We finished our birding weekend on an exciting note! Here are Dan’s pictures of the Mottled owl pair at Tijax.

mottled owls Tijax

Some emails to use if you would like to contact Esvin for more information or to arrange a trip to Cerro San Gil or one of the other “off the beaten track” locations. We were told that due to terrain in some places in the nature preserves you would need a guide. esvinchacon@gmail.com

Time to Go to Sea

The major storms supposedly have passed now according to averages and dates, November 1 is the date when some insurance companies relax a bit about “coverage for named storms.” Sea Star seems ready with oil changed, new fuel, filled water tanks, repacked lockers, newly finished teak and waxed hull and lots of food. We are more serious about leaving the Rio and heading North to Florida. We have two boats to travel with, increasing security for all. We’re inviting our older and newer cruiser friends for dinners and last chats. We’re in the mode that is so hard for cruisers --goodbyes to good friends who aren’t going your chosen route.

Next week we should be ready, so this is my last posting until probably USA, possibly Mexico, Isla Mujeres, although there will be other stops in route to break up the trip until the last push over the gulf stream to Dry Tortugas, Key West and Titusville Marina, our ultimate sailing destination for awhile.

TIKAL and Yaxha, Guatemala October 16-19, 2010

noreply@blogger.com (Dan and Kathy Chevalier) — Tue, 26 Oct 2010 15:33:00 +0000

TIKAL and Yaxha, Guatemala October 16-19, 2010

Majestic! Magical! Awe inspiring!

How did they get the stones up there?

I don’t think I can climb another temple!

Were they peaceful or war-like?

So how did the civilization fall? Why?

Gotta come back here!

These are all thoughts overheard from various tourists talking whom we encountered at the fabulous Mayan ruins of Tikal. They echo my own amazement and impressions in this my third visit to the archeological site of the ruins that once were the largest city state in the Mayan world.

FIRST Visit

Back in 1971 Dan and I drove through the US to Mexico and then to Belize and Guatemala, camping on the back of our white new Toyota pick-up truck. The road to Tikal from Belize was incredibly bad with huge pot-holes and large rocks. It took forever to arrive there. We chugged and bounced and made it to Tikal to camp. I can still remember the lightning bugs, the size and weight of locusts, that kept hitting our tent and us. First visit to the jungle! The ruin was mesmerizing! At that time there were many scientists and archeologists on-site. I don’t remember an official tour guide- but there was a village of Mayan people and they would offer to guide as well as sell local woven handicrafts --and some offered parts of the yet to be excavated temples or artifacts, guaranteeing the authenticity! We strolled through the entire site, climbing and birdwatching for a few days at least. There were toucans, huge flocks of turkeys, lots of monkeys—the whole place was magic, but the sounds at night and in the waking morning were indescribable- loud buzzings and chirps. Oropendolas nests hung like teardrops from the branches of the Ceiba tree. Scary howler howls while crashing through the trees screeching parrots and a full orchestra of chirps.

SECOND Visit

Then in 1998 Dan and I returned with our two boys aged 18 and 14. We had traveled to Rio Dulce by boat, our original Sea Star and we made our trip over the bumpy roads to Tikal by bus. We were excited as parents to share such an experience with our family. Because of road washout we had to wait by the side of the road for about an hour for the construction crew to allow our tour bus to pass through. We stayed at the then primitive Jungle Lodge within the ruin site and attended either an early morning or an evening sun ceremony from Mundo Perdido, enjoying every moment of the jungle’s sounds and smells. We watched the spider monkeys playing in the trees near us, heard the howler monkeys and other jungle creatures.

The temples in the main Plaza were excavated and maybe a few more at each of the larger groupings were visable through the forest growth, but the kids and we were able to climb every one on the original steps carved out by the Mayans. The archeologists were digging inside of temples to check for artifacts and tombs. The Mayan villagers clustered around the large entry tree, the Ceiba, to ask us to buy their handicrafts. A fantastic and memorable family experience. On the way out of Tikal our bus brought us to another ruin, hardly excavated at all where we were able to look around and climb just one temple up a rickity wooden staircase, that provided a panoramic view of the surrounding area.

THIRD Visit

In 2010 Dan and I are a bit older. We are back on the Rio Dulce on sailboat named Sea Star and this time we wondered if we really wanted to return to Tikal; what may have changed from our first magical visits? Cruisers returning from their visits to Tikal reported enjoying the trip and visiting the nearby town of Flores. Some other cruisers knew we were considering going and they wanted to go, too. Our transportation could have been bus again. Comfortable, air-conditioned buses now run a few times a day from Rio Dulce, Fronteras to Tikal and the nearest town to Tikal, Flores. In Flores, an island situated on Lake Peten, there is an airport with connections to Belize and Mexico, and a bus station where buses from Guatemala City and Antigua bring in tourists daily, and there are lots of restaurants and air-conditioned hotels. The hotels in the site of Tikal are limited in the time they run their generators for electricity. It can get hot and some tourists are put off by that problem.

Because we were a group of seven people, we rented an air-conditioned van with a sane driver (as opposed to the typical bus driver) who, for a reasonable fee, brought our group to and from Fronteras, and to and from both the Tikal and Yaxha ruins. We choose to stay in Flores to enjoy the restaurants and see the town and Lake Peten. Dan and I were torn about staying in town or in the jungle. To keep the group together we chose to stay in-town. To accommodate us and our desire to get into Tikal as early as possible the group arose at 4:00AM to arrive at the National Park of Tikal by entry time at 6:00AM. We had to sit in the van for ½ hour while waiting for the gates to open as the sun came up, and we realized that although we did our best to hurry, even forgoing our included full, hot breakfast and taking a box breakfast from our hotel, we would still miss sunrise in the jungle:(

Already behind us (our van was first at the gate) there was a line of buses, collectiveo vans and private cars. As about fifty buses decended into the park behind us, Dan and I entered the Park area , bought our $20 each tickets and quickly grabbed a coffee and headed out to walk to Mundo Perdido where, we were told by the guide the others hired, there were the most birds to be seen. As we all began the walk to the main gate we passed a certain small flowering tree. I did remember that spot because as we looked up- a Toucan, and Collared Aracaris squawked while eating the berries.

We started toward Mundo Perdido (The Lost World) and by the time we walked away from the main plaza and its temples we could see only one other tourist on our path. Terrific! He had a nice camera with a telephoto lens and was photographing monkeys! As the spider monkeys swung above our heads and we heard the howler monkeys somewhere else in the park, their deep barking sound resonating through the park; we began to relax and enjoy being at Tikal again.

We chose a temple to climb because it was in the sun and shaded by the folliage nearby-a good place to check for the early morning birdlife. While on top of the temple we caught a glimpse of what we hoped was the Orange breasted Falcon sitting in the tippity-top of a very tall tree barely in our binocular view. Turns out it was! Also in the same tree in the plaza near Perdido we were able to observe all three toucan species together- the elusive Emerald toucanet, the Collared toucan (aracari) and Keel billed Toucan as well as other birds flitting in and around that tree.

Still magical although changed.

Some changes were certainly for the better. In 1979 UNESCO took over the administration of Mayan ruins all over Quatemala and Tikal and others were named World Heritage Sites. Serious about conserving these national treasures the looting was stopped and although the Mayan village at the gate to Tikal was relocated, it makes a nicer, in my mind, visit when the hawkers of all the crafts and their child labor salespeople are not allowed to follow the tourists. There are more museum areas and craft sales areas where a tourist can browse without being accosted.

More excavation has opened up another temple, Temple V, with a new wooden, sturdy stairway to access the undercomb area at the top of the 46m climb. Guatemala received the funds for that part of the excavation from the country of Spain.

Tourists may no longer climb on the original stairs on the most popular temples. Apparently two tourists fell to their deaths from temple IV, so some restrictions were made. I can see how that could happen as tourists, for a better look at the top comb of the temple, used to be allowed to climb up about 50-60 feet more than now allowed, up where the falcon pair now lives. On many temples, original stone stairs have crumbled a bit from wear. The access is made more safely by the wooden staircases with sturdy railings placed in shady areas on the sides or back of the temples when possible. The exciting view down from the top still remains. Fortunately for me I did not have to climb down the steep stone stairway as before, scared to death, way too hot and feeling about to topple!

Evidence of ongoing excavation is seen in the tall scaffolding, and heavy plastic tarps covering large areas of ground around the base of some temples. Disappointingly, erosion has taken a toll on many, probably most of the stelai(large carved stone monuments telling the history of the rulers of Tikal) , but new information continues to be discovered from the carvings as the language of the ancient Maya is deciphered.

During our time in Tikal, one long day, Dan and I and the others climbed as many temples as we could possibly manage , walked miles on the ancient causeways and through the jungle on marked paths. We saw toucans, arricaries, Emerald Toucanet , Crested Guan, (now that’s a big bird) Montezuma's Oropendolas, lots of smaller birds, oscillated turkeys, coatimondi, pretty good sized spiders, spider monkeys and howler monkeys and a Squirrel Cuckoo—but the best find of all was the Orange breasted falcon that lives on the crest of temple IV.

The next day we took our van to see the ruin of Yaxha. Dan and I are pretty sure that may have been the ruin we saw twelve years ago that was just the unexcavated site with one large temple to climb up on rickety wooden steps. Now it is a fantastic place to visit, with broad walkways to the four cardinal directions on the old causeways past partially excavated smaller temples. Although growing in popularity, this Mayan site sees few tourists. The plazas are quiet open spaces and bench areas are provided to sit and commune with nature. Dan and I were atop a temple and near the back we were lucky enough to spot two great birds; a Blue crowned Motmot of which I took terrible pictures and an Bright rumped Attila. We spent a morning at Yaxha, then ate at a local place the guide, Rubin, brought us to nearby.

Our trip took three nights and four days. But soon we were back on the Rio.

Here are my pictures of Tikal and Yaxha. They are a combination of all our friends on the trip, with thanks! To access information about the Maya whose civilization seemed to just disappear about 900BC just type Maya history on Google as my link didn't work.

Click to see four different slideshows.

ENJOYING THE SLOW PACE OF THE RIO DULCE-Sept. 16-Sept. 30, 2010

noreply@blogger.com (Dan and Kathy Chevalier) — Wed, 20 Oct 2010 23:51:00 +0000

Enjoying the slow pace of the Rio Dulce

So I'm one blog behind. Next post Tikal and Yaxha, Guatemala.

Sea Star and Dan and Kathy have been a bit sedentary. We’re retired and it’s allowed I guess. We kicked ourselves out of the boat one morning, without even having our coffee, with the birding scope and the mount that allows pictures to be taken through the telescope. We hadn’t given the system a trial since the mount had been purchased. We took a walk along the main path out of Tijax and here are some of the pictures we managed with Dan’s Nikon. It will take lots more practice, we think. We were verry far away from the subjects.

click to see pictures taken by Dan through birding scope- Nikon D300

Scope birding pictures

We have started to watch the weather more seriously as there have been a series of weather fronts and lows that could have amounted to problems for us had we not been in the sheltered river area. One of those low pressure areas developed into Tropical Storm Matthew and kind of ruined a planned weekend at the second Full Moon party at Denny’s Beach. About ten boats sailed or motored into Lago Izabal on Wednesday, Sept. 21. We were treated to happy hour and hospitality by Denny and his welcoming and friendly staff, then an excellent surf and turf menu selection of steak and shrimp. The rain began to fall as we headed back to our boats, the wind picked up across the lake causing “good ol’ rock and roll” all night.

Our neighbor boat, Lorelei, with Patty and Gary aboard had been having a string of boat issues, one of which was repeatedly gluing their dinghy, but having it just go flat again. To a cruiser, having a non-functioning dinghy is a disaster. Dan and I had just fixed ours before the trip. It had been getting soft about every second day, so that was manageable. If you have no dinghy you have no transportation, thus no groceries, no dinners out and it’s like your car is in the garage until somebody can fix it properly. Well Gary glued, and stuck patches on the under two year old! dinghy but when inflated, it just blew out and was dead and flat! Disaster.

Denny loaned the couple a shallow, hard-bottomed dinghy to get back and forth with their dogs to shore. In the choppy anchorage, at night, the little borrowed dinghy flipped over with Gary's motor still on it! Luckily one of them heard the dinghy hitting the hull of their boat. Patty radioed their distress to the boats in the anchorage but no one heard her call. There had been lightning and some of us turn off any electronics we can, so if we are struck less damage will occur, so we were not monitoring the radio. That was a mistake. Finally Gary and Patty roused Denny, who roused his launch man and the man dragged the dinghy back to shore, but upside down, with the motor under the water. Probably not good! The time of this fiasco was 3:30AM.

Now Patty and Gary take this kind of doodoo in stride. The next morning there were no recriminations that no one in the anchorage saved the dinghy, and they had not had much sleep. The wind was down but it was still raining. Other boats started to leave because tropical storm Matthew was supposed to be coming right for us in one of the NOAA models. I bailed our dinghy twice to keep the water from sinking it as the rain pored down.

One of our plans for the day had been to go to the nearby Mayan ruins of Quirigua. The other was horseback riding. No one had signed up for the riding as it was obvious the trails were wet. Then we cancelled the ruins trip that morning. Dan and I were not too excited when checking our weather on the internet. Dan didn’t think we were in for more than rain, and really didn’t expect the storm until the next day. We decided to be prudent cruisers and one by one the boats slid away to return down river and to the safe marina slips, as the now glorious sun appeared.

Sea Star arrived uneventfully back at Tijax a few hours later, but once again, Gary and Patty, the last to leave Denny’s because the guys fixed Gary’s outboard, lost their alternator on the way back. Gary just happened to have a spare and replaced the alternator as Patty motored and they traveled, appraising the fleet of their progress up the river.

The day was not over for them yet. Patty, who loves to take pictures and write stories for the Chisme Vindicator, the Rio cruiser’s newspaper, realized she had lost her camera. It was later recovered but the tension was high for awhile.

The end of that saga is Patty and Gary located and bought a bigger, stronger, faster dinghy and their motor is fine. Buena Suerte!

I have no pictures of Denny's this time, however here are a few more pics. The first two are of a little bat who I think fell out of our sail when we furled it. We thought we killed it in the boom brake but it was fine and we saw it fly away.
The others are another walk on Tijax property. My battery gave out just as we approached the sixty-foot high swinging bridges. What a beautiful canapy tour they have. I'll try another day.

click slideshow

end Sept. Dulce

IN RIO DULCE, GUATEMALA September 15, 2010

noreply@blogger.com (Dan and Kathy Chevalier) — Fri, 17 Sep 2010 21:11:00 +0000

In Rio Dulce, Guatemala September 15, 2010

Today is Guatemala’s official Independence Day marking the liberation of Guatemala from the Spanish Crown in 1821. It is celebrated by fiestas in the town squares with Guatemalan families dressed in their finest clothing, and school children performing practiced skits, or playing musical instruments and dancing. Dan said he saw many women dressed in heels and their Mayan best, climbing nimbly out of cayucos at the town dock. There was quite a bit of flag waving, and of course FIREWORKS!! The celebration was after dark so we chose not to go.

The Not- so- Nice
Guatemala has not provided peace and prosperity for all of its citizens; to this day Human Rights violations go unpunished and the police are said to be corrupt and not available to the people to discover facts concerning crime. The United States, historically, has had a hand in repression and land grabbing in the country- from the United Fruit Company and its banana growth to supporting repressive government regimes which forced the descendents of the indigenous Maya to work for the fruit companies for low wages, while violently quelling any uprisings for higher wages and better working conditions

I'm just learning about links. Click each of the links (words in blue) you care to. Be sure to explore more fully the Frutas del Mondo links at a'medicine" near the bottom.
ENJOY!

history has a short history which may be of interest. Also, a scathing statement of United States involvement in Guatemala is to be found in links on the website inrioduce.com. A local expat wrote the material.Keven Given the reported “facts” I guess it should not come as a surprise that US expats who moved here for the low cost of living sometimes find it hard to feel part of the Guatemalan community. Stories of bribes needed and unavailability of assistance when something happens are rampant.

Tourist Warnings for September 2010
Tourists are warned that Guatemala can be a dangerous place if you go outside the regular tourist haunts where the newly formed tourist assistance groups ASISTAR do not police the areas.
Official Tourist warnings
Last week while reading on-line about road closing because of the mud and landslides blocking major highways throughout Guatemala, where a least one full bus was swept away in a slide, travel ,you realize that not only do locals have graft and corruption as a way of life but they cope with an ongoing stream of natural disasters of earth tremors, volcanoes, and washouts simply due to the rainy climate. Their country is very dangerous in another way with only 2 percent of reported crime ever being investigated. This is the reality that one is warned one must face when a tourist visiting this otherwise gloriously beautiful country!

BUT A Very GOOD Thing-and so far Good things for us!
A few days ago Dan and I joined eight other Gringos and visited a very special Finca. Tavel is a bit tough, but we all ten and Kevin and driver crammmed into the van. We met Dwight,the owner of the business, Frutas del Mondo, who began his work in Guatemala in the 1970’s as a volunteer in the Peace Core. He saw the deforestation of the hillsides for farming ;the slash and burn agriculture and is trying to assist Guatemalans with reforestation. To that end he has searched the world for plants, especially fruiting ones, that grow well in the climate and provide food or a “crop” that can support a family and provide a small business income for the local farmer, while replanting impoverished, barren hillsides. Part of what Dwight has been able to do with plants is propagating from roots and clippings, but he has been very successful in grafting trees which apparently are able to grow and mature to fruit-bearing much faster than what might be typical for the plant.
Here's how to grow Noni and Rambutan

Noni & Ramaton

An informative tour (Anything I write here is best of my recollection and there probably are errors in naming. It was mind-boggling)
Our tour led us from fruit tree to fruit tree while walking on a peanut ground cover. Dwight would put his pruning pole up and snip us off a juicy new fruit to try-, smell or be told the medicinal qualities of, thus our tour was called “The edible fruit tour”.

While munching, learning to peel the crazy looking outer shells and watching the nursery occupations going on around us, Dwight fascinated us with his knowledge. He grows the “hottest pepper in the world” from India. I’m too scared to use the pepper I brought home in cooking! On internet sites looking for a recipe I found WARNINGS that say to wear a mask, gloves, don't touch your eyes and be careful the next day.

From pepper

Bhut Jolokia - Ground Pepper #1155 1.5 oz $ 16.95
WORLD'S HOTTEST - Bhut Jolokia Ground Pepper!
It is so hot you can't even imagine, when you eat it, it's like dying. It's the "poison chili" in some areas, the "king of the chilis" in others. It so hot it's COOL. 1,000,000 scoville heat units. All Natural.

He showed us how black and white pepper grows and suggested that it could be a very lucrative crop with an established market. On the farm he served us a lunch of fish; freshly caught Tilapia from his own pond where the fish is raised, with fresh picked vegetables, limeade and maracuya fruit drink and let us all sample three varieties from other countries of a fruit that grows wild in Guatemala and which he has helped other local farmers to plant for profit and brought in two other varieties that are growing well.

An exciting new concept
The local Guatemalans who believe in the reforestation and great eats are encouraged to use some of the trees and plants for their landscaping, and while enjoying the fruits or selling their harvest, to keep the area natural.

As we toured, felt, smelled and ate we saw large and amazing trees. One *had old cd’s hung from branches of trees to keep pests away; we were given natural lemon-grass insect repellant as very few pesticides are used. We saw solar panels feeding storage batteries at the houses, of course not new to us as boaters, a gravel and sand water purifying system, composting facilities and composting toilets, a tree grafting project where wax holds the newly grafted limb securely, and all that luscious fruit.

Everything looked clean, orderly and well cared for, but there was one practice that made Dan and I cringe. Apparently woodpeckers like one of his fruits and will peck a hole in every one, ruining it for sale. He mentioned it to one of his workmen. That workman considers woodpecker a delicacy and he sits under the tree, shoots every woodpecker and his family eats them. I’m not sure that’s too healthy for the woodpecker population.

We didn’t really have time to go into the medicinal plants available in the rainforest which are plentiful and which he has had some sucess raising on his farm. Two we did talk about were the insect repellent above and the Noni, an ugly, nasty tasting plant known by many names. It’s white, soft and lumpy. Well, who knew it is a miracle product. I know I’m sending folks off to lots of websites this month but give this one a try. medicine
AND LOTS OF PICTURES ON THE FRUTAS DEL MONDO FARM

Frutas del Mondo

A few more activities this month.

Vista Rio

At a different time at Vista Rio Jim, the owner had a benefit for the local Bomberos (firemen) They had saved Jim's boat from sinking with their powerful pump.
I tried to get in a picture from our local internet newspaper but it didn't work. You can picture this I think. First you grab shoe polish and if you want to write a name of a particular person, place or thing to bash you do that. A few macho Gringo guys swung mightily at lights, windows etc- then passing locals were invited to play. Children, women and elderly were handed the sledge and told to wail away. They raised 5,700 Quetzales or $712 for the cause!
Many of the local Rio Dulce residents, having never experienced a benefit car or van "smash", were understandably impressed and perhaps a bit confused by the event. But they had fun watching the crazy Gringos beat up a reasonably nice looking van with a big sledgehammer.

And another day......

Catamaran

DENNY’S BEACH, LAGO IZABEL, GUATEMALA 8-20-2010- 8-25-2010

noreply@blogger.com (Dan and Kathy Chevalier) — Wed, 25 Aug 2010 22:00:00 +0000

DENNY’S BEACH, LAGO IZABAL, GUATEMALA 8-20-2010- 8-25-2010

Ranging from mangroves on both the Pacific and Caribbean coastal areas, and sweeping pine and cloud forests with plots of farmland; maiz, sugar cane, vegetables within, Guatemala is often referred to as the land of eternal spring; the climate being ideal to cover the forests in lush green during her rainy season.

try this link to see a picture: flower

The national flower is the Monja Blanca or White Nun Orchid. There are over 600 species of Orchids that can be found throughout the country. There is an abundance of animal, fish life and plant life throughout Guatemala. The country is home to 19 ecosystems that include over 250 species of mammals, over 600 species of birds and over 200 reptile and amphibians species along with many varieties of insects, spiders, moths and butterflies.

Lago Izabal is the largest lake in Guatemala. It is thirty miles long and eighteen miles wide at its widest. It is relatively shallow; about fifty-five feet in the center and twenty feet deep in most parts. This is a freshwater lake from which the Rio Dulce meets the ocean waters at Livingston. Lago Izabal is surrounded by the "Sierra de las Minas" mountain range to the South and the Santa Cruz Mountains to the North. The winds channeled through these mountains to the shallow Lake can cause significant chop and a cruising boat to drag at anchor. There is a nice map of the lake on the mayaparadise.com website under Lago Isabal -maps -overview

map Lago Izabal<>http://www.mayaparadise.com/izabal/izmap1.htm

One of the main attractions is the fresh water sea cow or Manatee which can weigh up to 2,000 pounds. In danger of extinction, these Manatees represent the largest mammals in Guatemala. Also there are reports of crocodiles, otters and other mammals and reptiles in the less-developed areas where other rivers feed the lake.

THE PLAN
The attraction for twelve boats of cruisers and their guests this week was a trip to Lago Izabal, affording an opportunity to stretch our boats’ legs for a bit. The entry to the Lake is only a few miles from Tijax, past the narrows and the Castillo. One of the Mario’s cruisers, Jimmy on Blue Water Cat, wanted to visit the Restaurant and Bar at Denny’s Beach, an establishment known far and wide for its Full Moon parties. Another set of cruisers, Patty and Gary on Lorelli wanted to visit the far end of the Lake and the River Oscuro, which can be accessed by dinghy after an 18 mile sail to the west of the Lake from Denny’s Beach. A plan was hatched. There would be a sailboat race to Denny’s Beach at the time of the full moon. After a few days at Denny’s, anyone who wanted to go to explore the rivers to the west would move on down the Lake together. There can be safety in numbers when heading to some of the outlying areas off the beaten tourist path.

Jimmy wrote to Denny at Denny’s Beach and suggested the plan below. Denny responded with the altered plan and the boats began to sign up for the race.
Here's the SCHEDULE for the full moon party suggested by Jimmy, after checking with Patty, Gary and Roy
Friday - August 20
Flotilla - Marios to El Castillo - leave Marios at 11 am
Sailboat race - El Castillo to Denny's Beach (no motors) - Race starts at noon

Saturday - August 21
7-8 am Morning Hike
8-9 am Breakfast at Denny's Restaurant
9-10 am Frisbees
10-noon Horseshoes
noon-1 pm Lunch at Denny's Restaurant
1-2:30 pm Kayak Races
2:30-4 pm Volleyball
4-6 pm Happy Hour at Restaurant
6-8 pm Dinner at Restaurant - Reservations required
8 pm till ? Campfire on Denny's Beach

Here we have DENNY’S suggested schedule: so Sea Star who had been vacillating was hooked!

SATURDAY
8 to 9 am - Bloody Marys
9 to 10 am - Breakfast (If you feel like it, if not more bloody marys)
10 to Noon - Kayak Races (Or rather chugging beer competition)
Noon to 1 - Lunch (Once again optional.)
1 to 4- Beer and Rum drinks. Margaritas, Pina Coladas, etc. permitted
4 to 6 - Happy Hour (For those still conscious, beers and cubas 10Qs) {That’s US $1.50}
6 to 8 - Buffet ( Can you believe he is going to play for us?)
8 until - Rum. Beer, Sex on the Beach, the latter not being a cocktail, if you will excuse the pun. If we remember there will be a beach fire. Roy can play cards. Gary can take some of his blue pills and chase the pigs around again.
Midnight on - Huge storm on lake. All boats lost.
Sunday all day - Drown your sorrows at Denny's Bar. Rent rooms.

Denny wrote:
Now I don't know what you all think of this restructured itinerary, but it seems much more realistic than thinking that cruisers are actually going to get up and go hiking at 7 in the morning and throw frisbees. We cruisers are highly-trained individuals and I think my itinerary contains a much more practical plan for the day which will draw on all our years of sailing experience.
I would appreciate your feedback on this.
Will look for some pics of the full moon parties of the past, but did not own camera in those days.

From Lago Izabal -August 2010

SHALL WE GO?
As part of the deliboration Sea Star, now looking especially spiffy with her newly finished teak, thought long and hard about giving up her newly acquired sun awning , air conditioning and comforts to be out at anchor again.

Dan and I invited our neighbor boat from Tijax, Braveheart, with Holly, Jack and pero Charlie, to climb aboard with us as they couldn’t move their boat off their dock. They attached their dinghy to the back of Sea Star and off the Tijax dock we went. Precisely at noon on August 20th, Sea Star and many other boats lined up all across the river off of Blue Water Cat, organizer Jimmy’s boat, and the six mile RACE to Denny’s WAS ON!!

From Lago Izabal -August 2010

RACE TO DENNY'S BEACH
The wind was howling out of the NE --at 5 knots! We may have seen 8 knots for a short time in a few puffs so the race was quite low –key. In anticipation of low winds three boats had rigged their spinnikers, lightweight and colorful sails. Sea Star did not rig her spinnaker because the race was ten miles and that seemed a lot of work for little gain at the time, anyway we knew we couldn’t win, we were dragging a dinghy for Braveheart.

But boys will be boys and competition feels good! Jack steered and Dan trimmed our main and jib and kept us in the race - even with such adverse conditions (did I mention we were pulling a dinghy?) and so many lighter craft than the 35,000lbs of Sea Star. With Holly out on deck calling the best wind available and the guys hand steering and making sail adjustments Sea Star held her own.

Then came strategy time. Why were eleven boats closer to that point of land than we were? The wind seemed better away from the land where we were, and so we kept far outside of everybody else, riding the puffs when they came. Pretty soon the other boats needed to tack out toward us to make the turn for Denny’s Beach.

Sea Star sure looked like she was in the lead (and did I mention we had been pulling a dinghy like an anchor?) We were all so tense and the concentration everywhere was heightened. Lots of boats thought they had a chance for the two free dinners to the winner at Denny’s- the pack was closing in as we all were heading toward the Beach.

The lightweight tiller-steered Calliope was gaining on us fast, but we had the right of way, we weren’t going to move out of her way! Jack verbalized our right of way and with not too many feet to spare, as Jack held fast to his course, Calliope did a jibe and sailed away.

Someone from Denny’s came on the radio to tell the boats exactly where the finish was. We were almost to the red buoy! We were amazingly on course and perhaps moving at 4.3 knots toward the area of the finish (still dragging the dinghy) when we started to worry about stopping the boat and a too hard approach to the red buoy. Jack got the boat over the line and we quickly veered off to take in sails.

DID WE WIN?

In our minds we had won—in the Denny’s Beach guys minds, the ones who counted and in the picture they SAID they had, despite a 30’ tri-maran crossing the line ahead of Calliope, Calliope was the winner, the tri-maran was second and Sea Star third(even with the handicap of dragging the dinghy!)

All the while the last half mile jockeying for position was proceeding, NOW the wind was building up. The sky darkened and as boats scurried to find a good spot to drop the hook -it started pouring. Poor, open cock-pitted Calliope had no engine and had a really hard time getting attached to her mooring in the now howling wind. The guys from Denny’s helped them and gave hints to the rest of us on good places to drop the hook or how much chain to use.

I think we pulled in at around 2:30 PM. After about two hours when we all thought the rain was manageable the crew of Sea Star headed into Denny’s to find out the official results. All of us on Sea Star felt we had been cheated-they say they have a picture showing the results but we haven’t yet seen it-( and after all, we were dragging a dinghy and we deserved a break!)

The race was on a Friday, and Friday night Holly, Jack and Charlie went ashore and took an air conditioned room at Denny’s. We all ate at the restaurant after Happy Hour and a guy who was traveling played guitar and sang with Gary from Lorelei. We were really glad to be at Denny’s again, rememboring good times after our visit twelve years ago, and it seemed a long way from the dock at Tijax although it was only a few miles.

WE ARE THERE!
We went to bed thinking about the morning’s activities- but Dan and I overslept- no 7:00AM hike for us. We drove our dinghy in for breakfast at about 9:00AM to find the dinghy a bit soft. Apparently when we cleaned off the green river slime in preparation of leaving Tijax, we popped a tiny pin-prick hole in it. Oh, well. We will need to pump air in regularly and fix it when we go back.

Dan and I were eating breakfast when a guy named Chris who was crewing aboard Lorelei for a chance to go to the Lake, paddled up in Lorelei’s kayak. He had been out since first light paddling on the lake and didn’t want to miss the upcoming kayak races.

At 9:00 the kayak races began; tandem kayaks with strong, Heavy wooden oars. Four sets of three Kayaks went out separately to round the three placed buoys and retun to shore. Big surprise -the really in-shape maybe forty year old Chris won every heat -and he was in all three heats after spending his morning paddling. Then, at about 10:00AM the races were over and all who wanted were given a winner’s prize; a shot of tequila. Chris was now on to teaching a pretty young woman to windsurf. We always try to find out but never can, how people so young can afford to be out cruising full time!

FULL MOON- actually was on the 24th
So Saturday was a busy day for shore activities; swimming, kayaking, hiking, bocchi ball, horseshoes and finally volleyball and Mahjong (board game). There were arrivals by lancha and dinghy of more partiers both Guatemalsn and Gringo. Then Dan and I took a quick rest before Happy Hour, Full Moon Party with an amazing buffet of King Mackerel, chicken, barbequed pork, salad, potato salad, and cake, then more music from Jerry, Gary and Doris, a lot more rain, thunder and lightning , beautiful bonfire and finally sleep. We did get a bit of wind and thunder and lightning that night which woke me, but Dan slept just fine.

RIDING ON THE TRAIL
Sunday’s plan was to lay low -but Denny has some Guatemalan farming neighbors with horses who were not using them on that Sunday, and trail rides could be hired for only 100Q US12.00 for a half a day and Holly and I were game. Twelve riders including me, Kathy, set off for the fields, a cave, fresh river pool swim, and hills at 9:00AM with one old Guatemalan guide, two little girls, maybe seven and nine years old in flip-flops walking behind the entire five mile walk while the Gringos rode, to close the pasture gates and switch recalcitrant horses with a green sapling branch.

After the ride and on Sunday night I was soooo sore and tired. It was definitely worth it, though. The scenery was really spectacular. The poor horses had to walk first UP what seemed to be dry stream beds with strewn rocks; quite steep and narrow, and then back DOWN a different path, equally rocky and difficult for the horses to keep their footing and for a Gringa to keep her large butt on a slippery saddle! Walking through the low streams with the horses splashing was fun and could cool you off a bit. We had to watch the barbed wire as we passed through the fences though, the horses might get too close and you could hit your leg. I was really frightened when the horse in front of mine just stumbled and went down on its two knees. The poor Gringa fell forward over its head and just got out of the way while it struggled to its feet again. She had a few cuts on her hands and arms but was ok.

WESTWARD TO THE RIO OSCURO
Monday morning Holly, Jack and Charlie along with Dan and Kathy on Sea Star, Gary, Chris and Patty on Lorelei,and Jimmy on Blue Water Cat set out west across the Lago to Rio Oscuro 18 miles away. On the way we saw a bit more of the thirty mile long lake, but also we saw many, hundreds maybe, of dead catfish just floating on the surface. What was killing them, no one had any idea- maybe the Lago was smothering the oxygen for some reason? Maybe the Lago was too heated? Maybe sulfur under the water? We just didn’t know why there were so many fish dying- but at Denny’s one of the help went out daily to collect the carcasses so the beach area was clear. Didn’t make me feel like swimming but we went in a few times for a did because it was soo hot.

We then dinghied up the Rio Oscuro and another River for a leisurely three hours until Braveheart ran out of fuel, Lorelei was low on fuel and the bugs were beginning to come out. The current into the river was strong and we used more power than usual to move each boat. Then we floated out with the current ,checking for birds and creatures as we moved along. I think a most interesting thing was seeing the huge, circular swirls of what I later was told are Tarpin (large fish more than 100lbs ). In the swirl I occasionally saw the ridge of a curved back and an extended fin, shorter than but similar to a shark. Since we were looking for crocs I was hopeful, but knew what I was seeing was a fish. Dan was disappointed in the bird-life. It could have been the time of day, probably was. We all gathered at Blue Water Cat for a potluck. It was very comfortable stretched out on the trampoline of the large catamaran.

REAL WILDLIFE
Since we had little fuel for the dinghies we moved on the next day, after a rainy night to Finca Paraiso, a hot spring-fed waterfall and tourist attraction. While preparing to go, Jack who had been helpfully bailing water out of our dinghy and his, was startled to be in HIS dinghy with a snake! It wasn't a large snake, just a brownish, green non-descript color and longer than a long nightcrawler, as thin as a pencil. He removed it from his dinghy, flipping it over the side with his air pump handle. The strange thing about this was that we had just been laughing at the words of our guidebook that said that you needed to be careful when the Rios have hydrila floating around, which there absolutely was, because snakes, iguanas and small animals get stuck on the stuff and bail out when they find "land"- this time the security of Jack's dinghy. We don't know what it was and my picture didn't come out, either.

Enjoy our extensive slideshow-some pics are from Jimmy

Lago Izabal -August 2010

HOT WATERFALL?

We arrived at Finca Pariaso at about noon and all eight of us and three dogs bounced in a cart behind a tractor, sun glaring down and broiling, to the steep root and soil stairs which led to the shade and rocks and pools below the falls. RELIEF! The current in the pool was verrrry strong! I had to swim my hardest to reach the waterfall, then couldn’t get up on the rocks as many teenagers were under the jacuzzi-like HOT falls. Well, who cares because it was too hot for me under the waterfall I managed to reach, and farther away the river was actually cool and refreshing.

After an hour in the water we went back on the tractor and then to our boats. Not trusting the weather (EVER on Lago Izabal) we moved to a more secure anchorage where we were safe from all directions except the west. Where did the wind and rain, thunder and lightning come from that night? If you said west…… but we did not move and all did ok. The three anchors held and after sleeping late we started back to the Rio Dulce marinas.

THERE'S NO PLACE LIKE.....

We are again snuggled up to the dock at Tijax, with full use of air conditioning, ahhhhhhhhhh.