Death Valley National Park–A Site To See

We recently enjoyed a few days in one of the most scenic and surprising places we’ve been lucky enough to visit.   Death Valley National Park is vibrant, colorful and diverse…even if it is the hottest place in the world.  We only covered a portion of the 3,000,000 acres, but we sure did get our eyes full of spectacular scenes. 
We chose to spend our time in the southern area of Death Valley, taking in that section of the canyons, views of the valley and mountains and interesting history and geology. We camped in Furnace Creek Campground where there are water and sewer hookups available at a reasonable price of $18, only $9 for us Golden Age pass holders.   From there we were conveniently located for the sites we chose. (Oh, BTW, if you see a promo for this national park, look for us at the information kiosk at the visitors center.  They filmed us as we used the self-help presentations for the park.)
To start off our Death Valley exploring, how about seven miles into Echo Canyon?!  Ole Yeller carried us easily over the mushy gravel trail as we were enjoying being out in the open again.  There are wind and rain-carved, colorful walls all the way through the canyon, displaying the results of millions of years of earth movement and exposure of the layers of minerals.  Sunshine and 60s made it a pleasant morning, ending with our lunch back at the entrance to the canyon with the valley stretched out in front of us. 
Our next path was through Twenty Mule Team Canyon with its caramel-looking mountains.  Some people describe them as mudhills. (Below)  We were curious about the makeup of these chalky-looking hills. They have a high clay concentration. When you grab a piece it crumbles in your fingers.  We could imagine the mule teams pulling the wagons of borax during the mining period in the late 1800s.  In the Death Valley Museum in the park we saw examples of the large wagons and other equipment used in mining and processing this product in these hills.
The next destination we chose was the Artist Drive located about 20 miles down another highway within the park.
Wow! The name of this four-mile road tells the story.  It winds through a continuous array of shades, almost as though an artist was gathering various paints for a piece of work.  At one point a road sign points to the Artist Palette where you can stop to view the mounds of greens, tans and rusty-reds of this volcanic formation.   As it turned out our timing was just right.  We came through between 3 and 4 pm, ending our drive just as the sun dropped behind  mountains to the west.  The natural lighting was bringing out the best in those shades of nature. Then, as we stood watching the lights went out and all the colors were subdued.
On another day in the park we decided to take the 52-mile-round-trip up to Dante’s View.  This was stupendous!    The view is breathtaking. (That’s the first photo as I began this post.) At the top you are 5500 feet above it all, with a view of the mountains sloping up from the valley.   But there is definitely a scary and chilly feature of this location.  We were battling very strong winds with a 15-20 degree drop in temps as we tried to stand at the viewpoint. Here I am trying to hang on to my hat and keep my footing at my wonderful hubby tells me to stand next to the “keep back” sign. But it was exhilarating and fun up there.  
From over-the-top to the underside – our exploration went to the Devil’s Golf Course, where the evaporated lake formed crusty mounds of salt down in the bottom of the valley.   These crustaceans are so eerie and unique. We just had to touch those rough, frozen,  mounds to sample the salt.  Lastly, we traveled about five more miles down the road to Badwater Basin, 282 feet below sea level. There we took a walk out on the expansive salt floor. Here the erosion from the surrounding mountains has formed a 9,000 ft. basin of sand, silt, gravel and salt.  This is yet another unique experience, standing on a solid, smooth, foundation of what appears to be packed salt.  Occasionally a pond will survive after a rain and provide a home for small creatures that can somehow live in the saltwater. Today there was a small pond bubbling at the edge of the salt flat.
We were very impressed with Death Valley National Park, even though we took in only a portion of what’s there to enjoy. This is, for sure, a place we would revisit.  Below is a shot of the mountains as we stood at the Devil’s Golf Course.  In the foreground you can see just a small part of the dry lake bed of the valley that forms sharp, crusty, salty towers as the wind and rain do their thing over thousands of years. 

Thanks for spending some time with us in Death Valley.  Stay safe!

Tiny Hyder Is An Eye-full – Alaska Adventure 2010

Aug 17 –19:  Some say Hyder is the place of all places to watch the bears. They also say that the Cassiar spur leading there is an exceptional drive. Since our plan was to go south on the Cassiar Highway on our way back to the lower 48 anyway, we decided to make it our last destination for the Alaska Adventure. The small town of Stewart, B. C. and the even tinier town of Hyder, Alaska, population 100, are about two miles apart along the Portland Canal, that forms the natural boundary between Canada and Alaska. 

 

 

 

  As you drive out of Stewart on the two-mile stretch toward Hyder, you pass unnoticed by the Canadian customs office and the Welcome to Hyder, Alaska sign greets you.  There are about two city blocks, dirt road that is,  of the town of Hyder. The businesses include the Glacier Inn where people are “Hyderized,” the Sealaska Inn, a few gift shops, two “general stores,” and Camp-Run-A-Muck.  Yes, Camp-Run-A-Muck became our home for three nights.  It’s a clean and friendly establishment that’s the closest place to the bear-viewing location.  The water and electric hookup sites are $22 and we had a shady spot in the pine trees to keep the refrigerator happy.  We enjoyed our stay.

Our three days in Hyder included bear watching, halibut eating, limited shopping, bakery sampling, glacier viewing and mountain road driving. Did I forget to mention “The Seafood Express”  in my description?  Oh yes, there is one more block of businesses. Off the main drag in Hyder is this fabulous converted vehicle where Diana makes the best deep fried halibut and scallops ever.  We know other menu items have to be good too, but we were getting our fill on our favorites. Diana’s husband is a commercial fisherman who brings in the supplies.  They own the fish processing facility next door.  She’s been making her fresh dishes for 12 summers now, ever since she tired of hearing their processing customers say they thought they were coming to a restaurant.  Loved the place! (See photo below.)

Taking in the surrounding Tongass National Forest  and the ambiance of this little piece of Alaska was a great way to fade out of our Alaska Adventure.  Each photo below tells a bit more of the story of our time in Hyder.  If you would like to get the picture,  just run your cursor over your choices for a few more details.

Junior is cleaning up the scraps.	Our choice of restaurants in Hyder.
Grizzly Mom enjoys salmon while cub plays.	Beauty of the Tongass National Forest
	The Toe of Salmon Glacier
Wise warning in Stewart, B. C.	Fish Creek, 3 miles west of Hyder, where many bears come to get their fix of salmon in August and September.
Black bear says: “Yummy, which one will I choose?”	When the bears finish, the birds feast  on the spoils.

Hyder Post Office	Camp Run-A-Muck
Fireweed at Salmon Glacier	Hyder surroundings

Thanks for sharing our Alaska Adventure.  Talk to you soon.

Haines, With a Splash of Skagway – Alaska Adventure 2010

Aug 7- 12:  What happened to the last six days in Haines?  You know how it goes.  First you have coffee. Then you check email, etc. and have some more coffee. Maybe you make a little breakfast. Oh yeah, there’s the time it takes to discuss the blogs your hubby’s been reading since he got up four hours before you. Some days start by picking up where you left off on the book you were reading as you fell asleep last night.  Of course, there’s the Jeep to get washed, the windows to clean and the floor to sweep.  And, how about the days when both of you just quickly get dressed and go out to explore the town.  Occasionally you have an appointment to keep, such as the ferry across the inlet to Skagway. That’s where the six days went!

We’ve been comfortably situated at the Elks Lodge in Haines since August 6.   The full hookup sites are very reasonable at $20 (lowest we’ve paid for hookups in Alaska) and the location is quiet. Even though the lodge is on “Main Street,” there just isn’t a great deal of traffic.  The most activity in our area is when the lodge has their Friday Feed, hamburger night, and Tuesday Taco night. We sampled the $8.00 tacos along with four of our rv neighbors the other night.  The food and the company were great.  We enjoyed talking with the four solo rvers traveling together through Alaska.  I should say, they are caravanning together.  Two ladies have Class C’s and one lady and one gentleman each have their own motorhomes.  They are from four different states and became acquainted through their singles rvers group.  You can imagine the kinds of stories we all had to share. 

This small Alaska town is adding a few favorite stories to our list.  But if you crave the metropolitan lifestyle, Haines could disappoint you. The population, including the entire borough, is 2300 (some say that count is high).  We arrived by way of the only road to town, the Haines Highway, that leads directly to the shores of North America’s deepest fjord. For those who aren’t sure, a fjord is a long narrow waterway cut through bedrock by glacier activity.  This one is called the Lynn Canal, about 2000 feet deep and 90 miles long.  It channels the inside passageway from Haines to Juneau and Skagway. Haines is surrounded by glacier-topped mountains rising from the sea and rivers.  You might say this is a picturesque place.   Duh!!  Again, as in other isolated Alaska villages or towns, it’s one of those places where you find a fair share of hardy, independent and self-sufficient individuals.  People that enjoy the close-knit community where everyone knows your name, but where you might also get lost if you wish. The weather during our visit has been a mixture of cloudy and sunny, temps in the high 60s to low 70s. They say there is plenty of snowfall in the winter for all the winter sports enthusiasts. Get the picture?  That’s what we like doing. We find it nice to wander around, see what’s where, listen, talk, observe and just gather the feeling of these towns and the surroundings.

So, I guess I answered my own question about where the last six or seven days have gone. Let’s see, I’ll list a few of the ways we’ve wiled the time away:

--Drove out to Chilkoot Lake State Recreation Site to see the bears feeding on the spawning salmon. But our timing wasn’t that great.   So we watched the many fishermen casting for salmon, perched on there own chosen rock or choice spot in the swiftly flowing river.  A grizzly and her cubs were there just before us.

--Ate scrumptious halibut lunch, twice that is, from Big Al’s Salmon Shack, the trailer-type restaurant we found parked across the road from the wine store.  After tasting the halibut we could see why the locals were frequenting this little place. On different days out, we also discovered the excellent soups, sandwiches and coffee at the Mountain Market Cafe.  Each time we drove within 1/2 mile to find perfect locations on the inlet to enjoy our lunches and the views. 

--Visited the American Bald Eagle Foundation. Since Haines is known for the 4000 bald eagles that gather every fall at the Chilkat Bald Eagle Preserve, this is a logical home for the foundation. During this time of the year there are only about 400 eagles here, mostly nesting and caring for the young.  Fortunately our timing was good to see the live raptor presentation and wildlife talk.  We met Zilla, the Lanner Saker Falcon, who can fly up to 200 mph to catch prey, and Hunter, the Barred owl, who can rotate her head 270 degrees.    And she did so to keep her eye on everybody. Since Zilla would like to have Hunter for dinner, they were carefully separated by their handlers.  

We weren’t sure if we would stay for the wildlife talk. But, were pleased after a few minutes of hearing the speaker who provided some new details of various animals, for instance, the various types of salmon, their habits and traits. Of course, being in Alaska has made us more well-rounded salmon partakers.  But, more questions do come up.  Do we like sockeye, king, silver or what?  What’s the difference between sockeye and red and chum?  And why do they struggle desperately to swim upstream?  Why do we see different colors and shapes of the same type of salmon?  Well, we learned that the life cycle of an Alaska salmon is another wonder of nature. Among the many interesting facets is that the fish moves from river to salt water and back, readapting during the life cycle. During this readaption they change color and shape.   And when these Pacific salmon adults swim upstream, they are returning to the exact place where they were born in order to spawn, just once, and then die, thereby fertilizing the stream for the new fish. After swimming over 2000 miles in the Pacific Ocean, maturing, they instinctively return to their birth streams, fighting all the way, sometimes up waterfalls. That is determination!  As far as which tastes the best, we’ve done another one of those unscientific surveys and concluded it’s a personal thing.  But one thing we did learn.  The Chum is what they call Dog salmon and most everyone agrees that it should be kept for dog food.  Now, wasn’t it important that you know this?

--Increased our reading materials at the Babbling Book.  From our travels around the state and Internet reading about Haines we learned of a local author named Heather Lende.   She has written a couple of books, among her many other types of writing.  Her latest, “Take Good Care of the Garden and the Dogs” sounded like a good read to me.  And Jerry’s interest was peaked by “If You Lived Here, I’d Know Your Name.”  We stopped by the local book store and grabbed signed copies of each.   If I hadn’t been writing blogs maybe I would be close to finishing my first choice, as Jerry is his.  She has an engaging style. 

--Rode the Haines-Skagway Fast Ferry. Without going into a long explanation of why, our general delivery mail was delivered to Skagway, a 45-minute Fast Ferry ride for humans or a one-hour Alaska Maritime  Ferry ride for both the vehicles and humans. The two ferry transportation costs are logically much less for one than the other, but we were also comparing the miles to drive to Skagway, 359 miles compared to 15 across the water. After considering our options, cost of ferries, etc., we chose to make it a girl’s day, when I would have a few hours of leisurely time in the shops and museums. Skagway is the historic Klondike Gold Rush town where the multi-decked cruise ships frequent, a town that would be dubbed a tourist trap by some.  One that Jerry might not find so stimulating and that I would sort through much better as a loner.  So, with some concern on Jerry’s part about me going alone, I purchased the $68.00 round-trip ticket and cruised off with about 150 other passengers, mostly from the small cruise ship docked there in Haines.  There was ample sunshine so the views on our short boat ride were even more outstanding.  We had a guide/steward, presumably for the cruise ship passengers, who provided a few tidbits about the ice age and the gold rush.  Did you know that John Nordstrom was a Klondike gold rusher who came in 1897 to Alaska, made $13,000 on his gold mine stake and returned to Washington to open a shoe store?  You know the rest of the story. 

The ferry ride was smooth and quick. We were soon being dwarfed by the mammoth cruise ships on both sides of the Skagway harbor.  Even though I’ve seen them before, riding alongside in the catamaran ferry conjured up images of a whale swallowing a flea.   Once at the dock, it was a short walk on the 1/2 mile pathway to town and I was soon surveying my day’s activities. In a nut shell, I was pleased to find that the historic district is a national park and surprised at the number of diamond/jewelry shops in the tiny town.  I chose to go with the historic walking tour first. A small group of us followed our ranger a few blocks through town, pausing at the structures where events occurred from 1897-1900. She did a superb job of keeping us absorbed in the stories of the entrepreneurs who used their imagination and determination to build the town and become wealthy by accommodating the needs of the thousands who rushed there to find their fortunes. In essence, the business men and women in town were more successful than the miners who went into the mountains to look for their gold. I had a pleasant day of history and shopping, but passed up the diamonds and gold.  And, of course, I picked up our mail at the Skagway post office. My ferry back to Haines was right on time. Here’s a photo as we cruised out into the Lynn Canal, away from Skagway, leaving the floating cities behind.  My yellow chariot was awaiting me at the Haines dock about 40 minutes, 15 miles, southwest.    

As I’m writing my post, we are still in Haines. I’m sure I’ve left out something. But this is too long already.   Maybe we’ll take another drive to see if we can get a look at the bears fishing for salmon dinner or just hang out at the harbor for a while.  Talk to you later.

Contrasting Stops: Flashy and Formidable

The past five days have been quite a contrast in our locations.  You might call the one flashy and the other formidable.     One spot we have visited before and the second we experienced for the first time.  .
When I last wrote here on the blog we had stopped for the night in Laughlin, NV.  Continuing our route north the next morning, we went west on Nevada state highway 163 toward Interstate 15 north.

Travel in NV and UT

  It was soon apparent that the strong winds whipping across the valley would be no great fun for driving that day.  So, why not make this one of our rare 100-mile-total-travel days?  Since we had parked very comfortably at the Las Vegas Elks lodge about 14 months ago, Ferd guided us easily off exit 41 of I-15 onto Charleston Blvd. Before we knew it we had a spot in the roomy parking lot.  This Elks Lodge is within the community, next to Fire Station No. 5 and near a middle school.  It’s a nice spot for a few days, away from the bright lights of the casinos. 
Speaking of the casinos,  we wanted to repeat a favorite restaurant from last year’s trip - an exceptional (in our opinion) buffet for $14 at the Main Street Station downtown.  Really, buffets aren’t usually our choice. But we were very impressed with the restaurant and the quality of food here. It’s too much food, of course, but if you combine lunch and dinner you can rationalize the many samples of dishes that are too hard to resist. On this occasion, the t-bone steak and bread pudding were a couple of the standouts on the menu. Additionally, our Las Vegas stay of three nights included an entertaining afternoon betting on horse races at the Hilton, as well as a rainy day of catching up on reading and Internet. 
After the brief Vegas layover, we were on our way north again. (Remember, our Destination Alaska 2010  trip approaches quickly.)  Moving in that direction, we chose a few spots in Utah that were calling us.  We’ve enjoyed many beautiful sites in southern and eastern Utah.  But, we had yet to do Zion National Park, which was now just off our route going north. So we headed approximately 120 miles northeast via Interstate 15 and Utah 9.  The drive up I-15 north from Las Vegas to St. George, Utah,  was a pleasant surprise for interstate travel. The road stretches through valleys and plateaus and mountain views, with a minimum of large trucks.
A few miles north of St. George we exited onto Utah 9, east toward Zion. This drive is yet another scenic one, introducing the layered sandstone cliffs and intermittent plateaus, passing through a few small towns.  Just outside Zion is the town of Springdale, the usual tourist mecca of shops, hotels, etc.  As we passed quickly through town, we were reminded that we were speculating on, and hoping to get,  a spot in one of the two park campgrounds for, oh maybe, two or three nights.  Nada. Our mistake on this trip is that we arrived at a national park campground late on a Friday afternoon.  We should really have known better.  The “no vacancy” signs were posted at the park entrance. But, fortunately for us, there was a cancellation in the reservation campground for that night. And it had just occurred in time for us to arrive.  Our guardian angel was working overtime.   A helpful ranger at the entrance gave us the news and some advice on parking for the next day so that we could have time to see more of the park. She also explained that we might move into the first-come-first-served campground in the morning.  The crowds shouldn’t have been a surprise to us. But, for some reason, we both had the illusion that the visitor population might be a little lower in the month of April. Not as far as we experienced this last weekend. We learned that there are two million visitors in this park annually.  That means that it’s pretty busy April through October, non-stop. The park seems to be managing it well, though. 
Settled quickly in our overnight spot, we had ample time to go to the visitors center to get the lay of the land. More friendly staff gave information on the shuttle system, hikes and ranger programs. To save on traffic through a good portion of the canyon, there is a shuttle system that runs during the peak season. We took our introductory ride the first afternoon, up the Zion Canyon Scenic Drive to the final stop at the Temple of Sinawava, taking advantage of the late day sun on the gigantic cliffs.   As I mentioned earlier, formidable seems to describe this place. The sandstone cliffs are looming all around you and the Virgin River forces it’s way through them.    Flash floods have been known to take lives roaring through the canyon.  The next day we rode the shuttle again. But we got off and on this time for stops at the museum, the Zion Lodge, to walk by the river, etc.  
One of the features of this park that stands out is the diversity of landscapes, ranging from cacti to pine trees to cottonwood to aspen.  The elevations of the park range from 3600 to 8700 feet so there are vastly different environments represented in this 226 square miles.  The Human History Museum tells the interesting story of the explorers and inhabitants that played a part in Zion’s history.  For instance, the Southern Paiute tribe believe to this day that their people were here since creation. They first named this canyon “mukuntuweap,” meaning “straight-up-land.”   The sheer cut cliffs began formation 5-10 million years ago when the earth lifted developing the Virgin River that continues to carve the canyon today. Most of the cliffs were named by the Mormon explorers who began arriving in the 1860s.
To wrap up our visit, we drove the Zion-Mt. Carmel Highway, through the tunnel to the east entrance to the park. This road has full public access. Although, if you drive an rv through the tunnel, there is a $15.00 fee for the rangers to coordinate your trip from one side to the other.  It’s a fantastic zig-zag road up the canyon through four miles of beautiful views. And then you reach the mile-long tunnel through the mountain, complete with its own windows on the red cliffs.   
Zion was another example of how we are blessed to have our national parks.  Although we prefer a less-crowded situation, we were happy that we made this stop.  Click on the album below, if you’d like to see a few of the scenes from the park. 

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Tracking George in Georgia

During our travels through Georgia we decided to concentrate on family --- dead ones, that is! You see, Jerry's great grandad, George Begle, was in the Civil War. He was a soldier in the 91st Indiana Infantry from 1862 to 1865. We knew from his military records that among other battles, his regiment participated in the "Siege of Atlanta," May-Sept, 1864. We was shot in the left leg with a minie ball resulting in the amputation of his leg at the knee. This took place at the battle of Utoy Creek on August 3, 1864, just outside Atlanta. So, if we were going to take our "history tour" to Georgia, it had to include a look inside this episode in the life of the man Jerry has nicknamed, "Peg-Leg Begle."

On the western edge of Atlanta flows Utoy Creek. We located this historical marker on the side of Cascade Avenue in Fulton County, within a heavily developed residential area.


The terrain has changed somewhat. But just imagine for a minute: George was a wagoner, or teamster. He would have been driving a team and wagon with ammunition and supplies through dense woods filled with outcroppings of stone while trying to avoid artillery and rifle fire. The Union troops were trying to take over the stronghold of the train supply lines leading to and from Atlanta. Eventually, we all know that the Union army did take Atlanta and points east.

Stepping just a few weeks further back in time, on June 22- 27, 1864, George's regiment and the entire Army of the Cumberland to which he was attached, was involved in the Kennasaw Mountain Battle near Marietta, about 20 miles north of Atlanta. There is a National Battlefield Park on the mountain where this bloody conflict occurred, so we made that our last history stop in Georgia.

Fortunately, the day we chose to visit there was an encampment of re-enactors in the park. These Confederate soldiers did a nice job of taking us back to 1864. We learned first hand from the soldiers about the rigors of their lives, how they used their weapons, and the stories of the Kennasaw Mountain battle. They fired their muskets and demonstrated bayonet usage. The color guard displayed the regiment's battle flag for us.

One unique presentation was by the bugler. He related to us the role of the bugler in each movement of the troops, from the time they awoke, assembled, marched, fought and rested. There are 150 different bugle calls used to relay the officers' commands. And the bugler is always at the side of the officer. The calls used for these commands were the same for Union or Confederate troops. It was interesting to hear his story of how buglers created a special call for their own regiment to sound before each command to try to avoid the confusion that happened on the battlefield.

As the name depicts, the battlefield is basically on a mountain. So part of our tour was the ride to the top. The canon placements on strategic precipices going up the mountain make it clear how difficult it would have been to take the entrenched Confederates. It rained steadily on them for a week. But both Federals and Confederates bombarded each other day and night. By the end, the Union forces withdrew and this was a victory for Confederate General Johnston's forces.

At the conclusion of the presentation the flag bearer carried out the Stars and Stripes and everyone stood. The soldier ended by stating that the reason every soldier fought, regardless of their loyalty, was for 'freedom', that which we all enjoy today in this country. After all the explanations and disagreements about the reason for the Civil War, I think he said it best.

Colorado's Huge Sandbox

Did you know there's a national park called "Great Sand Dunes" in southeastern Colorado? The tallest sand dunes in North America are formed here by a natural combination of the mountains, the sand, the wind and the water. We just learned about this unique spot a few months ago from RVer friends who passed along great photos and stories. So we made a path from Texas to Colorado while working our way to New Mexico. And here we are taking in another beautiful piece of the country.




We arrived at the park on Friday and luckily we were early, around noon, and were able to snatch one of the large enough campsites for Ferd. There are no electric or water hookups in the campground, but that doesn't seem to deter visitors. It filled quickly with families savoring the sunny days over this September weekend.

It's Sunday evening as I write this and all of a sudden there are many empty campsites. In fact, this afternoon we walked out our door to be greeted by five deer calmly nibbling on the bushes around our rig. They gave us a few glances and went on about their business. It was as if they had been waiting for the neighborhood to be evacuated.

But, back to the sand dunes, etc. It's difficult to capture the enormity of these dunes in the photos. The sand erodes from the Sangre de Cristo Mountains in the background, is moved by creeks and blown by the wind, all this in a cycle that deposits these towering sand mountains. People climb them, ski them and sled them. And the wind swiftly erases the foot prints and grooves left by humans and creates formations that look like giant whipped cream peaks or choppy waves. Well, I had to hike over at least a couple of these mounds. There was a swift wind blowing. But I did make it over a few dunes.

As would be expected, soon as we arrived Jerry learned about the 4wheel trails up into the mountains. We had a beautiful day yesterday following the Medano Pass trail. It starts out on several miles of deep sand, of course. Not long into the trail we came to a popular play area where folks were sledding on a very steep and high section of the dunes. Some even brought skis. There were many determined souls who dragged their sleds to the top for what looked like a fantastic ride down.

Our 22-mile trip over Medano Pass was a great ride too. The trail follows the route used by Zebulon Pike in 1806 and forged by the natives long before his explorations.

The elevation at the top of the pass is 10,040 feet. The views of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains and the Wet Mountain Valley are spectacular. On the way up the pass there are nine crossings of Medano Creek. And all along the way there is an abundance of aspens, pines, sage and wildflowers.

It turned out to be a longer route than we thought by the time we came over the other side. But we soon consulted our trusty map and found another interesting "unpaved" road that cut back toward the park and was quite scenic itself. By the time we stopped for pizza at the All Gon Pizza Parlor in Fort Garland we were just about starved. What did I say about getting ourselves back on the diet?!

From natural to supernatural

Today’s activities took us from interesting and beautiful natural sites to one that could be a flashback to an old horror flick. It was another good day in the neighborhood!

We began by spending several pleasant hours roaming through Joshua Tree National Park, starting below 3,000 ft. elevation with wildflower landscapes and ending at 5,000 ft. with panoramic mountain scenes.

Our tour through the park was approximately 50 miles, including the Keys View where there were awesome views of San Jacinto Mountain with snow sprinkled at the 10,000 ft summit and the sweeping valleys below.

Along our route we paused at the Cholla Cactus Garden to walk among the 100s of Teddy Bears who will give you quite a prickly bear hug as you pass by if you aren’t careful.

The brown on these plants is the dead part of the cacti. But they continue to grow new stems that will eventually fall off and grow to be new plants. Sometimes these new stems attach to desert animals who carry them, unknowingly, far away, starting a new cholla colony.

One answer we were seeking in the park today was: What exactly is a Joshua Tree? These unusual trees, thriving in the higher elevation of the Mojave Desert, are actually a giant member of the lily family related to the Yucca plant, but not the same at all . Many Joshua Trees grow large white and green flowering bulbs in the spring, which they rely on the yucca moth to pollinate. In certain areas of the park the numbers of trees stretched out on the horizon look like orchards. The legend of the Joshua Tree is that the Mormons named it for the bible's Joshua. They saw the outstretched limbs as a symbol encouraging and guiding them west. The image these uniquely-shaped trees brought to my mind was a little different than that. A lot of them remind me of the Scarecrow in The Wizard of Oz, with his arms and legs dangling at weird angles and the straw protruding at the ends of his limbs. Do you see it?

The spectacular natural scenery was in abundance everywhere on our long ride through the park. Which brings me to our encounter afterward when we stopped for lunch. I’ll let you decide, but this creature looked somewhat supernatural to us. Right?!!