Lucky me! I made it to and through Yellowstone before the deluge. So sad that it rained so much it put out the fires powering the impressive displays and, in some cases, washed away the boilers as well. The National Park Services estimates that it will be years before the fountains are operational.
Oh, dear. My van has sprung a leak in its fresh water system. A cheap plastic fitting buried in the Unreachable Spaces has split. All the Winnebago dealers within Wyoming and surrounding states are taking service appointments month in the future. So…you’ll never believe the only solution I can see. I’m driving 1,000 miles to Iowa where I bought the thing so they can fix it. I suppose I should count myself lucky that they can get me in.
Geysers and geezers abound! Here are tourists gawking at Old Faithful, which was 20 minutes late.The fountains, called “geysers,” are scattered throughout the park willy-nilly. They’re nice, I suppose, but The Bellagio in Las Vegas has a more coordinated show…and it is set to thrilling music!There are a number of reflecting pools at Yellowstone. The NPS blames the bizarre colors on “bacteria” and the crusty mineral buildup on crusteformea minerala in the water they use. I suspect that a little attention from the maintenance department could clear up both issues.Planting grasses and flowers right up to the edge of the hot tub is boldly innovative.A thoughtful touch…the NPS places snow on the shoulders of the roads. This serves as a subtle clue to motorists that they’re entering the park.The village of Jackson (sometimes called Jackson Hole), Wyoming is near Yellowstone. It strikes one as somewhat contrived, with the Old West theme overwrought. But, worth a visit; it only takes an hour or so.Downtown Jackson is centered an a central square. The entrances are denoted by macabre arches constructed of deer antlers.
I visited Grand Teton National Park and stayed a couple of days at the main lodge, in a cabin. The views are spectacular. The National Park Service installed signs everywhere, promising bears, but none appeared. The NPS bear wrangling division clearly requires some management attention. They had better luck getting the elk and antelope to show up as promised.
Did you know that paleo-Indians settled here 11,000 years ago? That’s what the NPS web site said. I was astonished; had no idea that dietary fad had been around for so long!
Yup, this is how the Grand Tetons looked, no photoshopping or anything. Grand Tetons is French, of course. In English it means Big Tits. Apparently, French fur traders thought the mountains looked like infant feeding apparatus. Apparently, they had been in the wilderness too long. I recommend searching the web for images of large breasts to refresh your memory and then you can judge for yourself.
According to a National Park pamphlet, the Grand Tetons are a young mountain range. That’s why there are no foothills. Mountain ranges don’t get foothills until puberty.Xena was wistful and indignant, believing that the private residence was rightfully hers.Warrior Princesses are not concerned by so-called “dangers” posed by the weeds beyond this sign.
The motivation behind the moniker “Canyonlands” has been lost with the passage of time, but a visit to the place is worthwhile. In the shadow of Arches National Park (spare yourself the trouble of visiting these prima donna rocks), Canyonlands is quite fun for man and feline alike. I stayed in a village, called “Moab” by the locals, for 3 days. It is a perfect base from which to visit the national parks and take the scenic drives around the area.
These treacherous drop-offs have no suitable warning placards, a clear violation of maternal government impulses. I wouldn’t want to be them when OSHA comes around!This high-altitude desert oasis provided abundant opportunities for Xena to perfect her hunting skills. She captured a lizard and tortured it for a while, even though I cautioned her about endangering endangered species. She is a terrible rule follower and considers herself above such plebian considerations.These canyons, located in the so-called “Canyonlands,” seem to go on forever. One could get lost…and lose oneself…if not careful.Wouldn’t it be fun to soar off like an eagle and soak up these vistas?Xena, the Warrior Princess, does not approve of rainy days, as you can see from her flattened ears. She wants to go out, but doesn’t want to get wet. O! Bother!But…what can one do? Nothing but take a nap and wait for it to end.
Did you know there is such a thing as a Capitol Reef National Park? Of course, you didn’t, because no one has heard of it before. It is worth a (short) visit if you’re in the neighborhood. Pretty drive, big rocks. They dubbed it Capitol Reefs NP as some of the rock formations look like a capitol dome and some of them looked like reefs. I suppose it is better than Big Red Cliffs National Park, but only by a little.
A lonely roadway into the lonely National Park. Except I wasn’t lonely, cuz I had a cat.These are a fine example of the reefs part of the National Park. Some imagination is required. Because reefs are supposed to have fishes. And octopi.Big red cliff threatens to end the road.As a special bonus for you, dear reader, a picture of a cat. Just because this post is a little boring. Look at how dirty her paws are. She loves digging in the dirt. And bringing it all into the van.
I loved visiting Bryce Canyon National Park. Perfect weather, inspiring scenery, free dispersed camping right outside the gate. Xena had a great time climbing trees, ever vigilant for lizards, birds and squirrels.
I stayed several nights in Dixie National Forest. Fabulous, except for the dust. When the wind picked up or a (rare) vehicle drove past, clouds of red dust billowed. Additionally, the cat serves as a reverse dust mop, bringing fine red dirt into the van, distributing it liberally.
One of my camp sites, about 10 minutes from the entrance to Bryce Canyon. There were people around, but at least 1/4 mile away, so they were not too annoying.Utahns (pronounced ooo tonz (like tongs)) are fond of these weirdly mutated cows and stock their forests with an abundance of them.Look at this strange tree I discovered. It grows in a spiral! I call it a spiral tree.Stunning views! Craftsmanship on an extraordinary level. Just amazing to think of the hordes of sculptors laboring with primitive tools under harsh conditions to create such a scene. We owe them a great debt.
The tall, skinny towers of rocks are called hoodoos. The Native Americans have a story…the hoodoos are petrified Legend People. They displeased the coyote god, so he turned them to stone. What a trickster!
I visited the Grand Canyon for several days, admiring the views of the canyon itself and staying in the adjacent Kaibab National Forest. You may have read the recent article in the New York Times about the advantages of visiting the north rim instead of the south. The north is more difficult to get to and therefore less crowded. It’s about 1,000 feet higher than the south, so it is cooler. I think its prettier.
The Kaibab NF is beautiful, a real national treasure. The forest has many well-maintained service roads and tons of places for dispersed camping. Within a half hour’s drive of the national park, I could camp in perfect solitude, peace and quiet.
You can see for miles and miles from the North Rim of the Grand Canyon.
I thought this was a clever sign design. Cut the message out of steel and it remains clear, impervious to graffiti and vandalism.They have a nice lodge, appropriately rustic. It is surrounded by numerous cabins with varying degrees of comfort. There is also a restaurant, but I didn’t eat there. I doubt Michelin has heard of it.It can be chilly at this altitude all year round.Whoops! This tree threw itself across the road, apparently tired of the traffic. (Of which there is very little.)One of the many forest service roads, lined with brilliant green aspen trees.Xena, the Warrior Princess, rests after a long day of adventuring. She is actually a black cat, but insists on rolling around and cavorting in every pile of dirt she sees, hence the reddish tint.One of the remote camp sites I used. Pretty clever to conceal myself behind the trees, eh?
Driving east through the far-east of California, I made an amazing discovery! As you probably know, Hwy 168 skirts the northern boundary of Death Valley. What I doubt you realized as you passed by, however, is the existence of some of the oldest living things on the planet. I call them “bristlecone pines.”
This is one of many specimens of the bristlecone pines. They’ve lived in this dry, high-altitude locale for thousands of years.The pines have stunning views of a basin enclosed on all sides by mountains. What little rain falls here remains, with no route to the sea. Sad.These delicate flowers want only to bring beauty to a harsh and unforgiving world. Just like me.Here are the seed carriers of the bristlecone pine.
“The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.” According to Lao Tzu in the Tao Te Ching, anyway. My journey will be considerably more than a thousand miles and involves more sitting than stepping, but I guess the sentiment still applies. I left Oakland Sunday, May 15, if memory serves. It usually doesn’t, so if one of you know better, please let me know.
I didn’t drive far on the first day. Why should I? Travel without agenda or obligations is an exercise in freedom. 😇
I found a nice dispersed camp site in the Stanislaus National Forest. So you can place it on your mental map, it was just south of Long Barn and north of Mi-Wuk along Hwy 108. Nothing really special, but it was a couple of miles off pavement and, once the shooting stopped, very quiet.Not everything has burned…the Sierras remain beautiful.The engineers who designed Hwy 108 must have gone to the Salvador Dali Civil Engineering School. The road is just slung across the mountains, drooping and swooping. So much turning! First I would spin the steering wheel all the way to the left, then the right, only to turn it left again! Really inefficient.Wow! Looks like I picked a bad time for a road trip. Spoiler alert: Prices dropped $2/gallon as soon as I crossed into Nevada.My camp site near Bishop, CA. Xena, the Warrior Princess, liked exploring the rocks; she did not heed my warnings about scorpions. Luckily, she didn’t find any.
Stay tuned, next time more California and my exciting discovery!
Note: I found this draft post from a while back. I guess I forgot to press the publish button. I think I may also have forgotten to finish it.
A beautiful, twisty road leads to Carlsbad Caverns.
We found a dispersed camp site just 30 minutes from the park gate. It was a rough and rocky road to get there. Xena surveils the environment, keeping a steady watch.
The Caverns are 750 feet below the surface. Visitors can either hike down a switchback trail or take an elevator (the elevator is required for all on the return trip). The photos can’t convey the beauty and enormity of the caverns. You have to make the trip and see for yourself.
Archeologists from the University of Southern New Mexico have recently unearthed a well-preserved village near the the pueblo of Las Cruces. Dubbed “Mesilla” (pronounced meh SEE ya), this village displays the physical village arrangement typical of the first band of Spanish thieves. They established a sense of place by creating a town square called an “alameda,” after an island in San Francisco Bay.
Building papist churches was a high priority among the gang of Spanish thieves. Look closely and you will see the graven image of an unwed mother in front of the edifice. The motif of the Unwed Mother, along with other imaginary personages, was prominent among these thieves.
This is an early example of well-executed graffiti, typical of the early days of imperial conquest. Archeologists have determined that this sample is literally translated as “Window of Mesilla,” but no convincing explanation of its meaning to its contemporaries is proffered. It is worth noting that the juxtaposition of the varied type faces is deprecated in modern graffiti.
This signage indicates the location of a restaurant, which provides sustenance to locals and visitors alike. They accept US currency and some credit cards as forms of payment. The name is a mystery. “La Posta” means female letter carrier or female mail man. Despite the many hypotheses seeking to explain why anyone would name a restaurant after a category of postal worker, none have proven satisfactory.
A close reading of the historical record indicates that a misunderstood and culturally downtrodden person called “Billy the Kid” was accused of killing a few people. He was tried, convicted and sentenced to hang in this building. One wonders if Mr the Kid saw the irony of being tried in a building named for him! Legend says the judge declared him guilty and sentenced him to hang until “dead Dead DEAD!” To which Mr the Kid is said to have replied, “I’ll see you in hell Hell HELL.” At which point he ran away, to the consternation of the authorities. He escaped the noose, only to be shot and killed a few days later.
This is a gratuitous image of a black cat, Xena, the Warrior Princess; neither the image nor the cat was uncovered during the excavation of Mesilla.
