Day 123 - Columbia River Gorge

My first stop in the Columbia River Gorge area near Portland, Oregon was to a local museum where I received a history of the land, a major thoroughfare and trading region across the Cascade mountains, and also received a map with important sights to see. My first scenic sight was the Beacon rock, a 800 foot tall rock with a pathway to the top.

I made it to the top quickly and enjoyed an expansive view of the gorge and the Columbia River.

I drove south on the Washington side of the river to a lookout on Cape Horn. I tried to get a photo of the actual horn but all the trails either descended steeply or were covered with trees, ruining any view. I settled for the vista shot.

I drove by the Bonneville dam, one the many dams that have tamed this grand river, on my way to tonight's hike up the Coyote Wall. I hiked along a scenic abandoned road then up a winding path to the top of the wall.

And also took a portrait looking across the river toward Mount Hood. It was a beautiful, windy night.

I drove back north to where I had started today's gorge adventure to a free campsite up a steep dirt road. The location was great, beneath trees, quiet, a little rocky. A large, loud group drove in to nearby campsite late in the evening and partied late but I was able to close the windows and sleep soundly.

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Day 161 - JMT Purple Lake and Tully Hole

We got our first glimpse of smoke far across the valley as we climbed higher. Up on a ridge after a morning climb, we followed a side trail to an open viewpoint beyond the trees. Selfie:) The smoke, while visible, seemed to give the mountains a blue glow-- like a highlighter to a sketch. You could still see the edges of the mountain ridges, the story of their creation. We could hike in this. But the smoke looked worse farther south. Or it was getting worse as time rolled incessantly forward. On day two we had ran into a northbound hiker we nicknamed Speedy Steve. Speedy Steve had hiked 18 miles a day through eight consecutive smoke-filled days, including atleast three "very bad days" when he couldn't see the surrounding mountains, the sun glowed a haunting orange and ash accumulated overnight. On the way to Purple Lake we ran into three dirty, beat up, tired north-bound hikers with a similar story. They had to spend one night in an emergency hut at Muir Pass to avoid the...

Day 41 - Escalante Coyote Gulch

This one or two night Coyote Gulch hike was an easy test of my newly learned navigation skills. Anxious to get started I awoke at 545 just as the sun was rising. I followed an obvious landmark, a tall thin spire called Chimney Rock, northwest to Hurricane Wash (a drainage running into Coyote Gulch). After a couple of hours of walking up over and around slick rock, I entered the famous Coyote Gulch. The walls around me raised up, darkened and th water flow increased--like nature hinting at the scenic beauty ahead. The normally crowded Coyote Gulch was fairly empty on this early Thursday morning, giving the canyon a very peaceful and quiet feeling-- fragile almost. Down steam, I ran into the famous Jacob Hamilton Arch and then thirty minutes further-- the Coyote Natural Birdge. Both were beautiful due to their see through the wall character, but both would be overshadowed in my memory by the Stevens Arch tomorrow. Pics. By 1pm, I had hiked for six hours...

Day 31 - Carlsbad Caverns

Everyone who enters Carlsbad Caverns inners as a child-- exploring an unknown world that over joys and surprises the soul. I had a choice of descending to the 800 foot down Big Room by elevator or by a mile long walk down the natural entrance. I chose the natural entrance and let me say-- what an awesome experience. You enter through a cave that thousands of bats fly out off at sunset each day. As you descend you hear the loud sounds of birds burping just inside the dark cavern. See video: http://youtu.be/Vpt4GQTCN-Y Hidden lights reveal the vastness of this cave making it possible to navigate an otherwise hundred percent dark space. The ceiling reaches hundreds of feet above you but it feels like thousands in this dark mysterious place. I kept stopping along the way to absorb the beauty of the cavern and capture it on camera but photos in caves are tough. Here were my best shots of the descent (look for handrails going down in first shot): I reached the Big Room, the ...

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