It's been almost two years since I posted last. The desire to share our travels has creeped in again. Jim and I are very excited to be starting the John Muir Trail in just one week. Since we began preparing for this adventure we've greatly benefitted from the experience of others. I'll be posting about our preparation as well.

I'd like to give a big shout out to www.backpackinglight.com. We recently went on a trip with them. They helped us lighten our load considerably. We got to see tarp tent set ups first hand, use their equipment and observe camp behavior that may be overlooked in the planning stages.

That's all for now as I'm surrounded by 5 guide books, topo maps and my own notes, completely over preparing.

Thank you for reading. Stay tuned!

Crescent City, CA

We stayed outside of Crescent City in between pockets of Redwoods.  The RV park we stayed in was run by Native Americans.  We didn't want to leave.  Some places just have a good feel to them and this was one of them.  The trails in the Redwood forests are spread throughout the area, each offering a different feel.  FYI, some scenes from the movie Jurassic Park were filmed in this park.  I kept looking around corners  and listening for T-Rex foot steps.

This branch is connected above ground on both sides to 2 different trunks.  How'd that happen?

Banana slug and Jim's foot.

 

Tree growing out of a tree.

We went for a dip in the Smith River.  It was super cold, but invigorating.

I am back in Estes Park, Colorado.  After almost 4 months of travel together, Jim and I will be away from each other for the next 3 weeks.  Jim will make a few stops for a couple wildlife expeditions along with a visit to Red Bay, Alabama where the coach was born.  She needs some love and upgrading.  I'll be attending the Yoga Journal Conference here in Estes for the next week.  Then, I'm in the Chicago area for 2 weeks.  We'll meet back in Jupiter in the middle of October.

I'll be posting more pics from Napa, Yosemite and the eastern Sierras soon.

Oregon

We stopped just outside Portland, OR.  No plan.  Just some rumors we heard about the Columbia gorge.  We drove into Portland just to check it out and as luck would have, ran into a farmers market.  This is not uncommon...missoula, estes park, coeur d'alene all had farmers markets that coincided with our meanderings.  The Portland market was top notch.  It was berry season, so we bought a flat and drank Illy while we people watched.  

The rumors of the Columbia Gorge... wind surfing mecca.  We were on our way to see if the rumors were true and found some gorgeous cataracas.

Ah.. the rumors are true.  We arrived in time to see a wind surfing competition, plenty of kite surfing as well.  I think I would partake in surfing, particularly in these circumstances... are you listening J and P?  I'll need a wetsuit too; do you know where I could get one?

Orcas Island, WA

From Anacortes, we took a day trip to Orcas Island, WA.  Orcas is a charming island with a few small towns and a state park.  The pictures are from Moran State Park.

Yes we were fascinated by these trees.

Cascade Bay and Harney Channel.  

I insisted on rowing Jim around Cascade Lake.  You see, he drives the RV, the Jeep, the boat etc. the majority of the time.  I insisted he just sit there and enjoy the scenery, such a good girl friend.  Look I'm even smiling. 

At this point in our trip, we were slowing down as tourists.  That might be evident from the lack of variety of photos.  Things slowly pick as we enter Oregon on our way to California. 

British Columbia

Around mid July, Jim and I went our separate ways for one week.  As I write this, it seems like it has been a lifetime ago.  Jim went to the Sunshine Coast for a wildlife expedition.  These expeditions are pretty special events.  I'll leave it to Jim to fill you in on those details.  

I started off in Vancouver for a little urban action and then went to Salt Spring Island for a fabulous yoga retreat.  I really enjoyed Vancouver.  It has two things that are really important to me, good food (most Thai restaurants had mango & sticky rice and young coconut) and good yoga.  In addition, there is plenty of culture, beaches, boats, sea planes, eccentric shopping, tapas, and friendly people.  It's super easy to get around without a car and I felt safe exploring on my own.  I even went to a fancy spa to get my hair cut and styled.  To my amazement, my hairdresser goes on a silent retreat once a year, has a sister who is a buddhist nun, has cut hair all over the world and is good at it.  If you're in need of some pampering, check out Suki's. 

After a couple days in Vancouver, I left for Salt Spring Island.  Jim had the camera, so the pictures are taken by some of the fine women who participated in the retreat with me.  

This is Ganges Harbor.  Most of the action in Salt Spring is around this area.  I yearned a bit for our old boating life as the Gulf Islands have all the right elements for a spectacular boating adventure, in the summer of course.

The retreat is set up to be a silent retreat for about four days.  This includes two kundalini yoga classes a day, three yummy vegetarian meals a day, an island hike, a visit to the Saturday morning market (in silence) and more.  The retreat is held at a home on Cusheon Lake.  The lake is pretty shallow, which means warm enough to swim.

Carla took this shot of one of the row boats that we took advantage of during our silence.  

Carla and I at the market watching a group practice Capoeira.  Shshshshsh, but laughing is okay right?!.

Hot tub, lake, repeat... no talking just laughing.

We hiked one afternoon and had a picnic lunch.  It was a beautiful hike.   

Me and a starfish.  

Happy Birthday Carla!

This is our group minus Carla (taking pic) and Constance who had to leave early.

We practiced yoga in this room among other things.  Our hostess Nomi let us know that silence was really our option.  She managed to treat us like adults in this aspect, but still inspire us to see what happens when we challenged ourselves not to speak.  We could write down any questions we might have, should we feel the need.  

Rowing around the lake was one of my favorite things to do.  There are no motorized vehicles allowed on the lake, accept electric.  It is perfect.  I really can't say enough good things about my experience.  Check out more info at www.paradisefoundyoga.com.

We broke the silence on Monday and shared some of our experiences.  Talking seemed overrated, but then I just started blurting things out to Carla and Sharon non-stop on the ferry, more laughing.  I was eager to reunite with Jim as we'd only spoke once in a week due to our relative circumstances (my silence/spotty cell reception).

Jim made lots of friends on his trip too, including Amelia and her pet wolf Jordan. 

 Jim picked me up at the ferry terminal in Tsawassen.  Talking still felt weird, so Jim filled me in on his trip.  Feeling content about our experiences in BC, there is no doubt we will return.

We left Canada the next morning.  We made a stop for repairs and then landed in Anacortes, WA.  We did a little site seeing, but really only scratched the surface.  Though I love Seattle, neither one of wanted to be in a densely populated area.  Anacortes is a sweet town between Seattle and the Canadian boarder.  The Gulf Islands are easily accessed from here.  

So much to see.

Yellowstone National Park

Yellowstone felt enormous... I might even go as far as saying it is enormous.  There is so much to see and tons of people taking advantage of the sights.

We were hoping to see some brown bears in the wild, unfortunately at the time most bears hang out in the high country.  Instead, we went to the Grizzly & Wolf Discovery Center.  They have lots of fun facts and displays.  There focus is on co-existence.  The problem with grizzlies getting too familiar with humans is the big theme and what we can do to prevent that.  Of course, they give instructions on what to if attacked.  This begs the question.  How good would you be at playing dead if your head was in a grizzly bears mouth?  We read some accounts of bear attack survivors who were convincing enough and they lived to tell about it.  

They look pretty cute and cuddly to me.

Photogenic wolf.

Be the bear.  This a bear trap used to capture problem bears with the hope of relocation.  GRRR

RV twins.  Both RVs have the same "Fly" front plate too.  

Upper falls in Grand Canyon of Yellowstone.

I love this shot that Jim took of the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone.  

I didn't really know much about the volcanic activity in YS until I saw it first hand.  This is muddy hot spring is Dragon's Mouth.  

How could we go to YSNP without visiting Old Faithful?

The geysers and hot springs create an interesting landscape.  The mountains in the back are showing new growth while still revealing some of the charred stumped resulting from the 1988 fire.

I love the contrasting colors resulting from the sulfur.  If you stand downwind, you can get a nice facial.  It reminded me of Florida in August.

The water from this hot springs flows into a river called Firehole.  We fished in the river.  It's quite scenic and has some areas were swimming is common.  Elk and buffalo sightings are common, but have become old hat for Jim and I.

Some of the terrain doesn't even look earthly.  

 

I really didn't feel photogenic.  I'm wearing my fish-finder sunglasses.

It looks inviting.  There is a book called "Death in Yellowstone:  Accidents and Fool hardiness in the First National Park".  It describes some of the ways people have died in the park, lighting, animal attacks, falling in hot springs and more.  There is a story of a man who jumped into a hot spring after his dog fell in.  The spring measured 202 degrees fahrenheit.  The dog died pretty quickly and the man died of few days after said bad decision.  One hope of a book on death is that if one becomes aware of the history, one won't repeat history.

There are a bunch of what I call baby geysers in certain spots.  There is a walkway that takes you to each of these.  It's really tempting to step off the walk way and get a closer look.  There are even foot prints near the baby geyser that would lead a rascally person to surmise that it's okay to break the rules just his 0nce.   Luckily we read about the dangers ahead of time and once again left unscathed. 

Jim and I are currently in Yosemite.  Cell phone and internet are only available at the Ahwahnee Hotel.  The hotel is said to be haunted as it's built on an indian burial ground.  So far nothing suspicious has come to pass, but I'll let you know.

Thanks for reading.