The San Juan Islands

Posted on July 17, 2013 by hennacornoelidays

Cool Spot #11: The Fire Tower at Moran State Park

I have been eyeing Moran State Park (on Orcas Island) since I first purchased my National Geographic Book on State Parks. It has been our home now for three days and I have to say it is a pretty special place filled with hiking trails, swimming lakes, and old growth forest.

Check mate!

The land was a gift from former workaholic and governor of Washington Moran who was told by his doctors to either quit his job as governor or die an early death. He took this advice seriously and set off to Orcas Island where he built a kind of min-Hearst castle. Soon after he advocated that everyone spend some time in the country and did what he could to set up Moran State Park. In the 30s the CCC came and built a whole bunch of trails, shelters, and one awesome fire tower meant to recreate a 14th century tower built in Europe. I think it looks like a chess piece (a rook to be exact). Henna sees a tower; kind of like the one a princess might be forced to live in by a dragon. What is without any doubt is the amazing views seen from on top the tower (which at barely 2,500 feet I think is the highest point in all of the San Juan Islands). In one glance you can see dozens of islands, Canada, Mount Baker, and the equally snowy Cascade Mountains. Thank you Governor.

Cool Spot #12: The Washington Ferry System

For just over $70 Corey, Henna, myself, and our car where given a ticket that allows for passage from Anacortes to Orcas Island and then back again to Anacortes. It would be even cheaper if we did as many other passengers did and traded our car for bikes. What makes this ride even cooler is the fact that once on the island you can take it free (there would be a charge for a vehicle) to either Shaw Island or Friday Harbor. A lot of people living on the island take advantage of this. Some do not even bother getting off the boat which proves that there is only so much kayaking, hiking, sailing, and fishing one can do.

We did get off the boat at Friday Harbor and pretty quickly regretted not paying the $20 to bring our car. Instead we took a bus filled only with tourists to Lime Kiln State Park to not see any Orcas. The bus driver treated us to a non-stop narrative of the island where he mostly gossiped about locals (“the lady who lived there used to be married to a pilot but now she is with the postmaster” or “see that house over there, the guy living there is a real curmudgeon”). He also threw in a bit of self-loathing (“recently my wife met a guy and she won’t admit, but she really wishes I was more like him. You know, that I was funnier or better looking”). My favorite though was when he brought out the truly depressing (“I used to see him walking around all the time, then he walked with one cane, then two, then a walker, and then I just stopped seeing him. That’s what happens when you get older, you kind of just fade away.”)

Lime Kiln State Park is supposedly the number one place on land anywhere in the world to see killer whales (they actually are a type of dolphin but don’t tell them that, they are not called killers for nothing). It was a pretty place filled with short but steep trails that led to great big rocks a few feet from shore that were ideal for us not seeing killer whales. Later we saw a lot of them in the gift shop where a DVD pretty much mocked our efforts at seeing them (look, if we saw them they might have jumped in the air then flopped on their side). By the time our bus driver picked us up (the same one from before) I was ready to kick back on my free water taxi back to Orcas Island where the driver of the ship wouldn’t try to entertain me and I might even get to glimpse a whale (didn’t happen). Noel 7/17/13

Hikes #9, 10, and 11: Seattle through Orcas Island

Posted on July 17, 2013 by hennacornoelidays

Henna made a friend

Hike #9: Downtown Seattle, Washington

Alright. Back to the hikes. I know Noel already talked a bit about our walk through Seattle, so I will make it short. Walking around Seattle reminded me that although I love to get away and be “one” with nature over the summer months, deep down under all this dirt inflicted by camping, I am a city girl. Walking through a city, is so much different than hiking on a trail, but I still love it. There is always an excitement upon turning a corner and not knowing what adventure awaits you. In this case it was glimpses of the space needle. City walking in Seattle also has its up’s and down’s. Literally. Up hill and down hill. So as we factored how far from Pikes Market to the space needle, we had to consider that we would be walking up hill most of the way, which left us tired as if we were hiking in Mt. Rainier. Not only did we have to factor the hard city walking, concrete and maneuvering through crowds of people, we had to consider the mental acuity required to remember where we left our car, how many hours left on our meter before we were hit with a $80 ticket, along with the information we digested along our way. Whew, city hiking is both mentally and physically stimulating. So, in the end I’ve decided I am a little bit country and a little bit rock and roll.

Hike # 10: Kayak Trail in Cascade Lake, Moran State Park (on Orcas Island, San Juan Islands)

After swimming around in Cascade Lake, Henna was eager to explore it further. I must point out that this was our first family Kayak jaunt that featured each of us in our very own sailing vessel. It felt more than a little weird. Usually family water excursions have lots of yelling and direction dictating to cut through the natural calm of our surroundings. Henna proved a natural at kayaking, and took to moving effortlessly through the water. We had planned for only a one hour tour, but located a small path under a bridge, in which folks were jumping into the water and boys shouted “Hijack the Kayak!” at us. But once safely under the bridge we were treated to calmer water, more beautiful scenery, and water lilies to play in while we simply floated and looked. We were gone for two hours, lost in this place we found. Henna won the family award that night (a tradition formed years ago, when one of us proves to have pushed us into something we all love), for getting us out of our comfortable zone on the beach in order to explore an area that would have been lost to us. Thank you Henna, I will continue to follow you on adventures forever.

Hike #11: Cascade Canyon Falls, Moran State Park Trail 5 miles.

So, finally after relaxing (although that kayaking worked on my arms bit), we donned our hiking boots, grabbed an isolated half filled water bottle and set off on a trail once again. Henna was not too happy, and was dragged up for quite a while. We originally had planned to hike only to the falls (less than a mile away). But after talking to a few people, we were persuaded to hike up to Mountain Lake (the source of the water falls). As a rule, we always have to see what’s up the path, even if it means believing folks when they say it’s just a bit more up the road. We’ve learned that most often when people give directions or information, they are wrong. So up the path a bit, became 1.9 miles UP the path. It’s important to mention here, that the hiking was lovely. We were nestled in a virgin forest, filled with hemlock trees that went on forever, with the sun shining through the trees. It was nice. But we were hot and in need of water. We learned that once you don’t have water, you become more and more thirsty. Boy, Henna was not happy. And an unhappy Henna on the trail makes pain for us all. So right at the end of our rope, we came across the lovely mountain lake. Two nice hikers then informed us that drinking water was just another half mile away. So we had a choice. Either continue half mile to replenish (or one whole extra mile) or head back with no water at all. We chose to continue on even after running into a very weird and intoxicated man who stumbled his way in front of us. Later after filling up our water bottle we saw the two nice hikers again and swapped hiking tales. Going back was easy partly due to us being hydrated and also because we knew what was ahead of us. A big note for future hikes, BRING MORE WATER! It all worked in the end though, and the stories it cultivated will last forever. Corey July 17, 2013

Cool Stop #10: Sitting on The Roof of The World (or at least Seattle)

Posted on July 15, 2013 by hennacornoelidays

A couple of years ago my neighbor, Scottish Tony, had a good laugh watching me try to get up on my roof. It just felt too high and the ladder too shaky for me to venture up there. So I was pretty stoked when I came across this interactive piece of art at Olympic Sculpture Park in Seattle. Called The Western Oracle: I Will Tear The Roof Off The Mother, 2013, Heather Hart’s masterpiece allowed Henna and I the chance to climb all over a house without having to worry about falling and breaking a leg. Per the hipster security guard watching over us, the whole park used to be an oil field just a few years ago. Now it’s a cool public space a few blocks away from the circus of Pikes Market. Tourists like us wandered among the sculptures while joggers and cyclists moved past us and a free aerobics class went on in the adjacent pavilion.

Another thing Seattle has going for it are plenty of tourists kiosks manned with knowledgeable and witty persons (when I asked directions to a bank the answer given was “go to the chocolate shop, get a sample or two, and then walk through the rear door to find the ATM.”) Another person I met showed a lot less sense of humor when she lectured me as to why Seattle’s China Town should be referred to as the “International District” (Rand McNally calls the area “China Town and International District.”) Either way there was a Dragon Festival going on but we did not get a chance to see it. I did grab a Greek Salad while Corey and Henna went to the Chihuly Garden and Glass museum. Or is it more polite to say I had a salad of Mediterranean descent. Noel

Cool Stop #9: Emmons Glacier Lookout (along Glacier Moraine Trail in Mount Rainier)

Posted on July 14, 2013 by hennacornoelidays

I really have to thank cousin in-law and friend Dave for this one. Just one mile in on the Glacier Moraine trail (which begins at the White River campground) the trail splits and will take you to Emmons Glacier. There are by the way over 20 glaciers within Mount Rainier National Park (and enough snow during the summer to wage over five million snow ball fights). Emmons is the largest. We did not hike all the way to the glacier but we did manage to find a neat overlook where we rested for about twenty minutes. Water was drunk, bladders were emptied, and food was munched. Dave was the one who pointed out the glacier (I would have confused it with a bunch of dirt) and he was also the one who later pointed out a bunch of goats. He also repeatedly ventured off trails which gave us confidence to take a few chances. Anyways, here is the picture he took. Notice the snake like White River which begins at the mud caked glacier. Take my word for it, the water coming down is both cold and powerful. Better yet, find out for yourself. Noel

Check out the ice cave! Nice photo Dave.

Hikes 5 through 8: Mt. Rainier National Park

Posted on July 13, 2013 by hennacornoelidays

Hello. Sometimes on a trip things just work. The weather. The hiking. The campsite. And the company. We just spent 5 glorious days in Mt. Rainier National Park, and let me begin by saying, the mountain does not always present herself to her admirer’s. But not this trip because from day one she looked down on us each day. The hiking was sublime, if not treacherous in spots (as my photo journal highlighting each hike below will demonstrate). Our campsite felt isolated, as if we had hiked miles to a spot within tall hemlocks. And lastly, the company. We met my second cousin David and his daughter Mariah who hail from Lady Smith, B.C. for this portion of the trip. As I explained to Henna one night, this was only made possible becuase it was our good fortune 13 years ago that we knocked on Davids mom’s (Lou) door which opened a wonderful relationship with far away and previously unknown cousins. I may not have grown up with David, but I can now say he feels like a brother to me. Mariah and Henna, who are two weeks apart in age, became fast life long friends. And Noel and David must have talked hours about everything. Along our hikes, David shared his love and knowledge of this earth and nature with us, showing me things I would have surely walked right by, but instead saw in a different way. I thank him for that. Mariah and Henna made, “nature food” for us each night, after proving to be awesome hikers during the day. What a joy Mariah was. David’s mom, Lou, recently passed away this year, leaving a hole in many people’s lives. Lou, was a wonderful spirit, and was known by most everyone in Lady Smith. She will be missed by so many, but as good people often do, she has left a spark in all who knew her. I know that during my days in Mt. Rainier I carried her along with me, and as David said, it was her doing that the mountain was out during our stay, shining brightly, beautifully just as I will always remember her.

Hike #5 Sunrise Nature Trail: 2 miles

Although a nature trail, it was a glorious first climb up to capture views of the mountain while in the snow.

Hike #6 Mount Fremont Fire Tower Trail: 6 Miles

This trail almost sent me back to lower places. We crossed snow covered rock scree that could have sent us into oblivion. The views from the fire tower were marvelous and well worth the any fear.

Hike #7 Glacier Basin Trail: 7 miles

This hike took us to great shots of a glacier and the glacier basin campground that leads to the climb up Mt. Rainier.

Hike #8 Paradise Nature Trail: 2 miles

The last glimpses of the mountain this day were streaked with coming clouds. This trail went straight up through the remains of winter snow.

Fare thee well. Corey

Cool Stop #8: Scenic Overlook at Mile Marker 142 off Interstate 90 in Washington

Posted on July 8, 2013 by hennacornoelidays

Again, there is something, to be said about the unexpected. While driving from mountains (Cour d’Alene, ID yesterday) to mountains (Mt. Rainier National Park later today) you go through quite a bit of desert. Although greened here and there by irrigation, what the eye sees is mostly brown patches and yellowed bits of earth. After about two hours of this landscape (and with Corey and Henna both engrossed in the world of Hunger Games) the road suddenly offered turquoise to go along with a generous helping of plunging ridgeline. Deciding to get out of the car and walk along the paved trail overlooking the Columbia River was an easy decision and even my partners agreed to put their books down. It was an exposed dry heat (mid 90s with no shade anywhere) but it still felt cool to wonder at the edge of the earth and then peer down at this great western river. Noel

Notice the wind turbines in the deep background

Noel’s Cool Spot #7: Montana Valley Book Store (Alberton, MT)

Posted on July 6, 2013 by hennacornoelidays

The thing about this place is location, location, location. Sometimes things are just about where you expect them (like a good French restaurant in Wicker Park). And other times the thrill is coming across the familiar in the most unexpected place.

Montana Valley Book Store (Alberton, MT)

So there we were, a few miles west of Missoula but several cultural paces away from that fun loving college town. Henna was mostly recovered from the stomach flu but just to be on the safe side we chose the road better traveled (Interstate 90 instead of Route 12 heading toward Mount Rainier). Amongst the road signs (no shortage of places to buy guns and fireworks here) was one advertising for a used book store. Intrigued we turned off the highway and headed a few miles north into small town Montana. Not sure what to expect we were pleasantly surprised by the large used book store (over a hundred thousand used books!) housed in an early 20th century building that was once a small butcher shop.

Jennifer Fredette surrounded by her books

Inside we had the pleasure of meeting Jennifer Fredette whose in-laws first opened the book shop in 1975. A native of Long Island, she moved to Montana with her husband eight years ago (assumedly to take over the family business). Jennifer is also a self-taught photographer and some of her work can be found on Facebook (facebook.com/MountainPearl). I was happy to browse among the books and it took Henna just a few minutes to add to her growing car based library (next summer we might pull something to hold all the books). The open road never felt so literate. Noel

A few shout outs: While resting at the Missoula KOA we made a few friends. First off are Carrie and Letty who communicated with me as best they could despite me knowing only about twelve signs. Luckily Corey was able to supplement my meager vocabulary and we hope they and their adorable dog have a great time in Seattle. We also want to give a shout out to “Fiddlin’ Quinn.” They came in late and left early, but from my quick conversation with them this morning it appeared that they too are crisscrossing America this summer. Unlike us though, they are engaging in a little busking along the way. You can check them out here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iszgXnrJ_6Q or on their website fiddlinquinn.com. We also greatly enjoyed the attention given to us by the fine folks at the Fact and Fiction book store (http://www.factandfictionbooks.com/) as well as the film centric camera shop The Dark Room (http://darkroomofmontana.com/ ) both of which are located in beautiful Missoula. I am writing to you now from a hotel room in Coeur d’Alene, ID and Henna is looking her chipper self.

Henna on the mend

Cool Spot #6: The Carousel for Missoula

Posted on July 5, 2013 by hennacornoelidays

We ended up staying another night in Missoula and the carousel may be the reason why. No matter how many times she rides the darn thing she wants to get back on again. How many times can you spin around in a circle before hurling? My limit is two (and then don’t feed me anything for a little bit after).

Missoula, MT

Created by artist Chuck Kaparich as a gift to Missoula it was first offered to the public on May 27, 1994. It is just 75 cents for children and $2.25 for adults (no charge if you are just standing next to your kid). We might have spent over a thousand dollars on tickets. Probably not, but the $50 annual pass (which I laughed at when I bought my first ticket) may have actually been the way to go. Oh, and here’s the fun thing, each time around you are encouraged to grab plastic rings coming out of a dragon’s mouth. The last ring is brass and guarantees the winner a free ride later. This, by the way, was the inspiration for the Lord of the Rings series (Noel’s fake fact of the day).

Reaching for the brass ring

In case you haven’t caught on, Missoula is a pretty cool place. Besides the welcoming family attractions like the park next door to the carousel that is littered with wooden fort like/ easy to get lost in climbing blocks and the nearby children’s museum, the town is set in a truly beautify valley. The locals and tourists both seem to spend a lot of time floating on the river and the college gives the place a decidedly liberal leaning and intellectual air. There also seem to be festivals almost every summer night with the action mostly centered at Caras Park (which is adjacent to the carousel). In fact, everything about the place screams “stay!” a week, a month, a lifetime. But 40 is a big number and I owe it to you, Hennacornoelidays Nation, to move on. Tomorrow we ride. Noel

Note: Almost immediately after writing this Henna lost her lunch. She feels much better now, but maybe nine year olds have a limit too.

Cool Spot #5: The Mother of All Hot Spots

Posted on July 4, 2013 by hennacornoelidays

And I am not talking about some bar in Lincoln Park. This hot spot is pretty darn hot. Like coming from the molten core of the earth hot. I am referring to, of course, the caldera better known as Yellowstone National Park. Old Faithful, crazy traffic stopped to look at some bison sleeping by the side of the road, and a million or so visitors that hardly ever bother to leave pavement; all of this is made possible by a hot spot trapped deep in the crust of the earth.

That giant caldera known as Yellowstone National Park

Here’s something I bet you did not know about the hot spot. It’s on the move. 11 million years ago it was a few hundred miles west of where it is now. That is about the time it exploded and caused a bunch of prehistoric rhinos, camels, and horses to choke to death on the ash in north west Nebraska (see Ashfall Fossil Fields). I figure in about a billion years it will be under Chicago. I also figure the Cubs will still not have won a world series. Maybe they will have a 13-0 lead in game 7 of the World Series with one out to go and then…boom, super volcano and no one bothers continuing the game.

Nope, they didn’t catch anything

In case you are wondering it has not been all geo-thermal hotspots here. We also had a pleasant drive through the Ruby Valley (between West Yellowstone and Missoula, MT where I am typing this), made a few new friends (hello Carlee and Carrie, sorry if I misspelled either of your names), and ended up having coffee with the backpackers we met on the way to Lake Solitude (the ones who recently quit their jobs). We also managed to score Cub tickets from two cool guys camping next to us and then forwarded them on to our house sitter. To all our family and friends, have a happy 4th of July! Noel

Old train at Nevada City, MT

At one point Henna made 4 baskets in a row!

Did not feel like paying money to go inside old MT prison- in use from late 19th Century until 1979

Taken within the small city/ college town of Missoula, MT (Awesome place)

In Missoula on the 4th of July

Happy 4th of July!

Hike’s # 2, 3, and 4: Wind River, Taggart and Bradley Lakes, Lake Solitude

Posted on July 4, 2013 by hennacornoelidays

Did I mention that these trips move fast? Well, they do. And if some of you were worried that I would not reach my goal of 40 hikes for this trip, you can stop worrying. I will catch you up as best I can below:

Hike #2: Wind River hike in Dubois, Wyoming.

We had origionally planned on heading straight into the Tetons, but as usual we were lured by the beauty of a place and decided to pitch our tent. The specific lure of Dubois Wyoming, a cute town along route 26 with a few mountains separating it from the Tetons, was the wind river. I am a sucker for a quaint rolling river, that will lull me to sleep inside my tent. After setting up for the night, we took a walk along this river, albeit along a paved trail, (I do not plan to discriminate what I call a “hike” on this blog). We dipped our feet in this frigid river and made plans for buying an inner tube to dip into future rivers along our travels. On mine and Noel’s first trip together, we had rolled into this town at 11:00 p.m. only to battle the winding road down to Jackson hole in the pitch dark. We are wiser now, and have learned to listen to what calls us to stop.

Hike #3: Taggart and Bradley Lakes, Teton National Park

Although we have frequented this park many times, there is always something new to mix in with our old favorites. As we are all friends here, I can admit embarrassingly, that sometimes at Hennacornoelidays we make quick judgments’ about things. We have been known to mistake a busy trailhead along the main road in a national park as the “easy” hike those other tourists do. But, we were eager to get in a hike, and took a chance. As always, we were wrong about this being an “easy” tourist hike. We soon realized that us flatlanders were out of shape, and this 5 mile hike was a great start to getting us acclimated to the thin air and elevation gain. This hike took us from the meadows that lay at the foot of the Teton range, with the main road in plain site, to rise up over to rest at a glorious lake. We found our own secret rock along the edge, dipped our tired feet while one of us took an almost skinny dip. The plan was to then follow the loop up to Bradley Lake and back to the safety of our car. Well at least that was the plan. We did begin the ascent up to Bradley Lake, yes more climbing, but about half way there, Noel spotted a baby black bear cub about 20 feet ahead on the trail. And if we’ve learned anything from hiking it’s that if you spy a baby black bear cub, turn slowly, drop any plans you had and head back the way you came. With our hearts pumping, we arrived at Taggart Lake, to learn that folks we had passed along the trail coming towards us had heard growling…but they obviously did not think that was relevent. But, all’s well that end’s well they say, and I’m glad that we once again learned to not judge a trail by it’s presumed easy accessibility. This one made our heart pump for more than altitude reason, good lesson learned.

Henna and Corey on our own rock!

Hike #4: Lake Solitude, Teton National Park

To be quick, this hike is an old favorite of ours. Noel and I initially back packed this hike almost 14 years ago. Then when we first took Henna here we travelled only part way. Last year we got just a bit closer. This year we had originally planned to back pack it with Henna. After realizing that we were not in mountain climbing shape just yet, we decided to go lighter, only carrying our food along. As we reached the place that we stopped at last year, and 2.7 miles from the beautiful Lake Solitude (all up hill), Henna decided we needed to continue. And then again, higher up the trail as we encountered a volunteer on the trail, to which he said something to the effect of knowing your limitations, Henna again turned and left him and her parents in the dust. When we finally made it to Lake Solitude, on the other side of the mountain, we all knew our painful descent was well worth the trip. Such is life I think.

Below is a poem that Henna to elouquently wrote about this hike.

Lake Solitude Trail

Switch backs, switch backs few.
To inspiration point whew.
Hidden water fall
In a canyon, wow.
At Lake Solitude, oh my!
Whew what a long day.
There is still more to go.
Feet hurt on way back.
Oh no catch the boat or else
we go two more miles.
We have walked 15 miles.
It was all worth it
We also saw a moose too.

Henna

Corey

Hennacornoeli Days

road trip musings

The San Juan Islands

Hikes #9, 10, and 11: Seattle through Orcas Island

Cool Stop #10: Sitting on The Roof of The World (or at least Seattle)

Cool Stop #9: Emmons Glacier Lookout (along Glacier Moraine Trail in Mount Rainier)

Hikes 5 through 8: Mt. Rainier National Park

Cool Stop #8: Scenic Overlook at Mile Marker 142 off Interstate 90 in Washington

Noel’s Cool Spot #7: Montana Valley Book Store (Alberton, MT)

Cool Spot #6: The Carousel for Missoula

Cool Spot #5: The Mother of All Hot Spots

Hike’s # 2, 3, and 4: Wind River, Taggart and Bradley Lakes, Lake Solitude

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