Glen Canyon and Lake Powell

From Lees Ferry it is a short drive to Glen Canyon and Lake Powell, near Page, Arizona. It seems like it would be a nice place to visit, with lots of things to do. It would be really cool to rent a house boat with a bunch of people and explore Lake Powell and the various canyons. Problem was, it was hot. Really hot. Like in the upper 90s. I know what you're thinking. For many months I've been saying that I sure would like some warmer weather. And that's true, just not quite that warm! Give me temperatures in the mid-70s and lower-80s and I'd be happy, maybe.

But, despite the heat, I decided to spend a few days at Wahweap Campground on Lake Powell a few miles north of Page. I found a site with a little shade, not that it helped all that much with the heat, but it did provide a little respite from the sun, and there was usually a light breeze that helped also. Of course, it cooled down a little after the sun went down so the nights were comfortable.

Page has a beautiful public library with free wifi, which I gratefully took advantage of during the hottest hours of the day! I was able to get blog posts written and scheduled up to the start of Jamboree though I didn't get quite as many posts written as I would have liked.

The Dam at Glen Canyon.

A small portion of Lake Powell. The cluster of boats on the far left are at Wahweap Marina.

Clouds over Lake Powell are touched by the last rays of the setting sun.

Lemon Verbena Ice Cream

Fight the Heat..., originally uploaded by ParsecTraveller.

This ice cream, made with lemon verbena leaves, was delicious. I urge any and all gardeners to invest in a lemon verbena plant - it's possibly the best smelling herb I've ever encountered.

The leaves can be used in tea, jams, and many other things...like ice cream.

Mt Rainier Update

It's been far too long since I've posted... So what's going on at Mount Rainier? Lots of road repair, but very little climbing and hiking. I snapped this image of the Carbon River Road on Saturday, Jan. 13th. For the most part, hikers/skiers/climbers are limited to the main road corridors, unless they'd like to bushwack.

On Sunday, the 14th, I hiked to Camp Muir under calm, clear skies. Though the temps were well below freezing, I wore only light clothing the entire way. Camp Muir and most of the buildings were encrusted in ice and firm snow, however, and access to the Public Shelter was straightforward and easy.

The snow conditions (ski/board) below Pan Point were absolutely fantastic. Over the past week, there has been a prolonged cold snap throughout the Pacific NW, which left great backcountry skiing and climbing conditions around the region. Even in Seattle, there was snow on the ground for more than 72 hours. As for the route to Camp Muir, I needed snowshoes up Pan Point, but things firmed up nicely above 7K.

Speaking of snow, there is over 130 inches on the ground at Paradise (nearly 350 total inches this fall/winter). Not bad for an El Nino year (predicted by climatologists to be warmer and drier).

In the meantime, David Horsey of the Seattle PI decided that Mt. Rainier needed a cartoon.

Excursion to Antelope Island

Wednesday, May 25th - - Today was a “play” day! Carol's husband, Man, had informed us yesterday that today was supposed to be a gorgeous day, and rain free at that!



Antelope Island, which is the largest island in the Great Salt Lake, was our destination. At the entrance to the State Park there was a sign warning us that the biting gnats or “no see ums” were out in full force and the midges, which don't bite, were swarming along the causeway.





We made it across the causeway and up to the visitor center, where this photo was taken.



These are midges. They covered the windshield and front end of the truck. Gross. And yeah, the biting gnats were biting. Bigtime.





The Fielding Garr Ranch was established in 1848 and was in continuous operation until 1981. This is a corner of the barn where a wide variety of objects are on display.









That white stuff on the ground (and floating on the breeze, everywhere) is the “fluff” from numerous cottonwood trees around the ranch. In some areas it literally looked like it was snowing.





Indiana has cottonwood trees but I've never seen this much of the fluff before. Definitely soft and fluffy.





Little bits of the white fluff even landed on the Iris. It just adds a little texture!

It was a most pleasant day. The clouds moved in during the late afternoon but no rain came. Man sure picked a great day for a little excursion! Thank you for a wonderful time, in spite of all the icky, little bugs!

Recent activities

New bass and catfish were added to the ponds.


If we'd known you were dropping by, we'd have cleaned the bucket.


Looking for a way out.

It's been stormy and has rained a lot.


The wind chimes have already been stored away twice due to tornado warnings.


Watch your step.

Life has been busy, but we always try to find time to sneak away for exploring.


Remains of what was the biggest tree in this area.


I wonder who lives here?


Flower time.

Early Morning Beach Walk

The second day of our Cocoa Beach fun started way earlier than I normally enjoy. We were sleeping on a sleeper sofa and sleeper sofas are like bad oatmeal-lumpy and and unpleasant. So when I woke up at 6 am, I decided getting up was better than sleeping some more. In this particular case that worked out wonderfully because it got me out on the beach which is always a wonderful thing. Since we were there so early, we practically had the beach to ourselves.



Just a few other people and the birds.



There was the ocean, of course, and we soaked that up as much as we could.



Mostly, we watched the birds though. They seemed to enjoy the rising sun as much as we did.



I was very excited when I spotted one that was eating, because that meant it might stand still long enough to get some decent shots of it.





I was so excited about witnessing this creature having its breakfast until I walked over and saw that the bird had plucked the eyeball out of a fish. Nothing else. Just the eyeball. At which point I said, "ewwww...nature can be so gross sometimes" while pretending to dry heave. Nathan laughed and said, "yep", and I know he was thinking that is what makes nature so cool to him sometimes. I will spare you the picture of the eyeless fish because even though it was gross, I still thought it was interesting enough to capture with my camera.



I'll email Nathan the fish picture and since I would like to remember this beach morning walk in a "this is my happy place" kind of way, I'll end on this note:



Ahhhh, much better! Living the life in beautiful beach filled Florida!

One Last Chance...

Thursday, March 15th - - As I was driving east along Interstate 40 I decided to take the time to visit one of my favorite places – after all, I might not get back this way again, at least not any time soon. The Grand Canyon is only about 60 miles north of I-40 and it was simply not possible for me to pass it by, especially after I checked the weather report and found that it was going to be a beautiful day!



It was about 11:30 in the morning when I arrived to find the parking lots nearly full. I certainly wasn't expecting that!





Like most visitors, the first place I went was to Mather Point. As you can see, it was a bit crowded.





But the view from Mather Point is worth bumping elbows with other visitors or having to wait until someone moves away from the railing so you can get that “perfect” shot. The weather could not have been better. The temperature was in the low 60s and there was barely a breeze blowing. Also, the “blue haze” wasn't too bad either.



Because there were so many people and I had only a few hours, I decided to skip the western end of the rim trail. You had to walk or take the shuttle buses to see that side of the canyon and I had walked much of it the last time I was here. Instead, I went to get some lunch and then take the drive along the road to Desert View at the eastern end of the park.



While in the cafeteria line I learned why there were so many people here – it's Spring Break! I should have known but the thought just never crossed my mind.



It was a leisurely drive to Desert View (over four hours to drive 30 miles!) with stops at nearly every viewpoint along the way and spending as much time as desired at each one. The further along the drive, the fewer people there were. I took lots of pictures, but I also took time to simply sit in the sunshine and enjoy the gorgeous day and the awesome views.





The view from Grandview Point near the beginning of Desert View Drive.



This tree is amazing. Beyond words.



It looks so close, but 'tis far away. I think that foreground area is Cedar Ridge!



There will be a few more posts on my short visit to the Grand Canyon... so many pictures, and such a beautiful day!