Karen and Tom Wanderings

Still beaming from our wonderful day at Bryce, we headed down towards the Utah/Arizona border, and the town of Kanab, UT.  We took the more adventurous route, down Cottonwood Canyon Rd, after getting beta that the dirt road through the vast sagebrush steppe was passable in our Outback.  The road, in fact, was pretty tame, but Tom tends to be a bit nervous heading into remote environs when it's not in our wheelhouse (i.e., which the desert certainly is not).  Along the way, we stopped by Grosvenor Arch for a few minutes ... pretty massive. We also hiked in Cottonwood Narrows for a couple hours.  After about 10 minutes or so, we realized we were headed up the canyon instead of down, but quickly corrected course and had an enjoyable time.  Some nice rock colors, and the surrounding walls provided welcome shade.  Cottonwood Valley Gosvenor Arch Cottonwood Valley Rd near Cottonwood Narrows Cottonwood Narrows Rock Detail, Cottonwood Narrows Rubber Rabbitbrush in ...

Our first major objective of the trip was Bryce Canyon National Park, which we had visited a couple of times before, but were in need of a refresh.  We arose before first light, quietly got out of camp, and drove the 1/2 hour or so to the park, trying to beat the crowds and catch the great morning light that hits the canyon.  Parking was not a problem, and we reached Sunrise Point on the rim a few minutes after sunrise.  Perfect timing, though we weren't even close to being the only ones with that idea!  Imagine that! It was definitely a people scene at the beginning of our hike down into the "amphitheater", but that eased once we started hiking down the horse trail (whoops!  not optimal, but not the end of the world, either).  The light and the formations were mind-blowing, and our extended hike just kept providing ever-changing views.  It was pretty magical moving up, around, and through these crazy rocks.  The  3-dimensionality that y...

The summer hiking campaign successfully prepared us for a road trip to the Southwest.  We focused on southern Utah and northeast Arizona.  But first, of course was the long, mostly-interstate drive.  We spent the first night in Twin Falls, Idaho (a first for us).  We didn't explore the town itself, but it sits on one side of a amazing gorge containing the Snake River.  It's crazy that this gorge seems to appear out of nowhere ... driving along a seemingly endless desert plain, then suddenly this giant chasm appears!  We had a nice evening walk along the rim, and an early morning visit to Shoshone Falls (which I believe is the "twin falls" of the town's name).  Not much water running over the falls this time of year, but still quite beautiful.  The visit here was a welcome break from the driving, and from the usual roadside motel eat-and-sleep routine on many high-mileage travel days. Our first stop in Utah was Kodachrome State Park, where we camp...

After way too long away from the trail due to knee and foot issues, this summer involved a series of Seattle-based hikes to figure out what was still possible, and hopefully get in shape for a road trip and a backpack or two.  Each hike was carefully (conservatively) selected to push things a bit further, but not so much that it flared things up again.  Also in the selection criteria was coolness, smoke free, and decent weather.  Karen joined for some, and Tom went solo on others.   First up was out of the Sunrise area of Mt Rainier ... Mt Fremont Lookout.  A spectacular day, and it did wonders for the soul ... getting above treeline and communing with our old friend (Mt R).  We were on the early end, so crowds weren't significant.  The timed-entry permit system for that area of the Park probably played a role, too. Fremont Peak and Lookout The mighty Mt Rainer Next was Annette Lake, near Snoqualmie Pass.  It wasn't anything spectacular, but ...

We took a trip to Oakland California for a high school graduation and couldn't resist the opportunity to extend the trip by a few days and visit Monterey.  We hung out in Oakland, saw a old slide guitar blues concert (Roy Rogers, where we were definitely on the younger side), walked in the Berkeley Hills, visited parts of SF, including the Presidio (fittingly on Memorial Day), then to the graduation ceremony in a beautiful old theater.  In Monterey (actually, we stayed in Pacific Grove), we did the requisite visit to the famous aquarium, took multiple shoreline walks, and spent a day a bit farther south at Point Lobos State Park.  Stunning, as usual!   Presidio cemetery on Memorial Day Paramount Theater, Oakland The Happy Grad (and support team) Pacific Grove Sunset Pacific Grove Shoreline Foggy morning at Point Lobos Sunny View at Point Lobos Islands at Point Lobos (covered with sea lions) Bursting colors (Point Lobos) Cormorant Rookery (Point Lobos)   ...