Wishing Americans a Happy Independence Day!
I’m currently on a hike on Isle Royale celebrating the freedom we enjoy to be able to explore such beautiful places. It’s been an incredible experience and I look forward to sharing some of the highlights with you soon.
One of my goals while in Moab, Utah enjoying the off road trails and incredible scenery was to photograph the numerous stars visible in the area. And what better way to do that than to include Double Arch in Arches National Park? Actually, after getting this shot I think it was more like photographing Double Arch at night with stars in the background. That was more of my intent was to get a beautiful picture of Double Arch. I’ve been fascinated with this humongous rock formation ever since I came across a picture of it. It takes just the right natural forces to create an arch but imagine what it takes to create a double arch? I know there’s even a triple arch but I haven’t seen that yet so my fascination will have to remain with this natural wonder at this time.
When I first spotted Double Arch it was from Turret Arch a little ways away. I was amazed at how large it actually was in person and how interesting the formations and colors are. Just look at how the wholes dwarf all of the people exploring it down below. Definitely a great subject to photograph.
In order to set up this shot I first began to imagine the shot and research it weeks before ever traveling to Moab. Once there I took some time to scout it during the daylight. It’s so much easier to figure out the composition when you can see where you’re going and can easily see the subject as well. If you look on the lower right side of the photo above you can see me crouched down looking towards the arches. I was told it appeared as though I was trying to sneak up on the arches. I can see that. What I’m actually doing was looking at different compositions. In the picture below you can see what it looked like from that spot.
I continued to move around taking pictures until I found what I thought would be a great place to set up once the sun went down. Eventually I settled on this location you see below. Now all that was left was to come back after dark and set up the camera with the correct settings. Once nightfall arrived a few days later, it was back to Arches for some nighttime photography. There were a few people here and there but almost everyone had left for the day leaving this beautiful rock structure all to ourselves. With the help of a friend to shine the flashlight around I setup the camera on a tripod with a remote shutter and began taking shots fine tuning my focus and composition. Once these were where I wanted them I extended the length of my shutter to take longer exposure pictures to capture as much of the night landscape as possible which led to the picture at the top. Many pictures that provide some great interest take time to put together.
Nestled next to Moab, Utah lies a park which is composed of beautiful rock structures including over 2,000 arches. Even typing this is hard to believe that many arches can be confined to such a relatively tiny area next to the Colorado River. After off roading a nearby trail, my friend and I decided to spend a portion of the afternoon exploring Arches National Park. With so many incredible landscapes surrounding the area, this national park is nothing short of spectacular with it’s natural stone carvings that are larger than life. No wonder so many movies are set with this backdrop. In the photo above you can just make out the South Window Arch near the horizon just right of center. The others are obscured from this point of view. Viewing the park from this vantage point can only be done with some type of off road activity such as hiking, biking, or four wheeling which is what we were doing.
Having spent a good portion of the day in Utah’s back country, I couldn’t imagine seeing anything here that was more impressive. Some of these famous arches that are spread across many books, magazines, and even movies in person was amazing. Being later in the afternoon I was growing tired and was having difficulty in gathering much in the way of energy to really enjoy these sights but it didn’t take long for that to pass once the arches became visible. I don’t believe they were any better than the scenery passed earlier during the day while navigating the Top of the World off road trail (which I’ll be writing about in a future post) but they were a great compliment and equally amazing as those beautiful sights.
To be able to walk right up to several natural sandstone arches, and in several case underneath them, really brought them to life. Their enormity is not easy to grasp from many of the photos I’ve looked at. Standing inside of a few arches allows you to see the details of this sandstone rock and the beautiful patterns carved into them. You just want to reach out and touch it but the arches are just too tall for that so trying to settle for a photograph or two will have to do. Yes, while underneath one of these stone structures you begin to wonder how they can even support the stone overhead and question how much longer will it continue to stand. Will this moment be the one which you find large stones dropping over top? And then you recall these have been standing like this for a very long time and it is not likely they will collapse while you’re underneath.
I took a few moments while standing underneath the North Window Arch to reflect on where I was and what I’ve been fortunate to do and see in the beautiful area. It was peaceful and very humbling to think how fortunate my friend and I were to be able to spend time on such a great adventure creating stories we’ll be able to share for the rest of our lives. Often I feel a sadness fall over me during moments like this because it means the adventure is coming to an end. Not on this day as the realization there were several trails yet to come although I was unsure how they could get any better than what was already explored.
After visiting Arches I watched a few movies filmed in the area and was amazed at the familiar scenery I had just visited in person. That’s one of the fun pieces of traveling to certain areas. Whenever you see them in a TV show, movie, or on the news you can recall your person experiences in that exact spot and what the people were like and how the surrounding areas looked and any particular smells or sounds you may have experienced. You begin to realize what so many people are seeing on the screen is such a small portion, and often an inaccurate representation, of that place.
There were numerous arches all with their own unique appearance making each one worth viewing but the most impressive arch, for me, was Double Arch. I’ll have a full post on that one arch coming up.
A unique way to explore Canyonlands National Park in Utah is through their off road trails. The Elephant Hill trail runs through the Needles district which is in the southern portion of this beautiful landscape. As with many places in Utah the scenery is amazing. Around many turns or over hills reveal much to see and take in. After entering Canyonlands we needed to stop at the visitor’s center in order to obtain a free permit to travel their off road trail. There are a limited number of those given out each day and my friend and I were lucky enough to obtain one for this beautiful, sunny day.
It was time to hit the trail so we stopped at a pulloff on the way to the trailhead to get the Jeep ready for some rock crawling adventures. In a short time we had the tires aired down and the suspension prepared for the trail. While stopped I had to photograph some of this incredible scenery in this beautiful park. A few minutes more and we were heading to Elephant Hill.
The trail gets right into the difficult portion with steep climbs and sharp turns. There’s no mistaking this for a casual gravel road. In no time at all we had climbed to the top of Elephant Hill and began to wonder what was left for a challenging four wheel vehicle. Fortunately there was plenty more to enjoy. Along the way we took time to park the Jeep and take in the incredible views all around us. The top is relatively flat and extends for a bit of a distance allowing you to look around and see the different rock formations and canyons leading to the reason for this park.
Near the end of this plateau there’s a sign directing vehicles towards the trail. This is the only place there was a sign indicating the trail goes down through here. I found it entertaining that the icon was of a Jeep. Once getting part way down the hill it was obvious why. A sharp turn requiring off road vehicles to back through a portion of the trail along with tight turns while climbing rocks is already challenging enough. To do this with a truck which has a longer wheel base is even more difficult to near impossible. There was a Toyota Tacoma coming up the hill forcing us to wait at the top for awhile as it grappled with these tight turns up steep rocks. More than once we listened to tires screeching as it tried to make it up. Once at the top the driver looked extremely uneasy and glad to have finally made it through proving it is possible. Just not for the faint of heart as we had passed the drivers wife earlier in the trail walking away from this portion unable to watch as the Tacoma struggled to get to the top.
During a portion of the trail we were warned of some tight areas that could lead to damage on vehicles. As we approached one of these we were unsure of being able to make it through. Approaching this tight canyon slowly it became apparent the Jeep would get through with a bit of room on each side but very little opportunity for errors to avoid rubbing against the canyon walls. It was fun to glide through and fortunately the top comes off it we got stuck so we wouldn’t be trapped inside the vehicle.
Canyonlands National Park offers some amazing views with so many different rock formations and colors all around. I could have spent hours just taking in all of these views of the area landscapes studying the different types of rocks and rock formations. But there’s still a lot of trail left and much to see so on down the trail we went.
Much of the trial consists of rock ledges to climb over which aren’t extremely difficult but add to the fun while traveling through this beautiful park admiring the views both up close and off in the distance. Some of those views can become a bit distracting so thankfully accommodates in some places. Otherwise you could stop every few minutes just to look around and never drive the entire trail in one day.
Earlier in the day, while waiting for the Toyota Tacoma to make its way up Elephant Hill, we decided to grab lunch as we had plenty of time before being able to continue on the trail. It was an amazing spot to eat surrounded by all these beautiful rock formations under the big blue sky. Even though lunch consisted of sandwiches, chips, and an apple (so nothing fancy), I would take that every day with cool sunny skies overlooking the canyons instead of eating a warm meal trapped between four walls inside. As the day continued on we enjoyed climbing over numerous rock ledges and dirt roads all the while enjoying views from the top and bottom of the canyons while taking in a few short hikes here and there completing our day at Elephant Hill on the first full trail of an off road adventure.
We were all really sad to have our Monopoly travels come to an end in Hawaii and didn’t really want our National Park adventures to come to an end but there we were visiting an active volcano which was placed at the end of our trips as an incredible end in our family journey. Fortunately I found a loophole (excuse to visit another park) giving us another opportunity to explore a different National Park as a family. The Monopoly board has three ‘chance’ spots on it and three ‘community chest’ spots which we figured where there for us to pick out six of our own places to go. After a little discussion it was decided the ‘chance’ places would represent three different caves we’ve explored – Wind Cave, Jewel Cave, and Mammoth Cave. For the ‘community chest’ locations it was thought the three national parks in Minnesota would make sense which includes Grand Portage National Monument, Pipestone National Monument, and Voyageurs National Park. All of these have provided adventures for us on previous trips with the exception of Voyageurs National Park so that is where we decided to go this summer as an unofficial ending for our Monopoly adventures.
While there we experienced a range of temperatures with days of 90+ degrees Fahrenheit which is unusual for extreme Northern Minnesota and days in the upper 60’s with nighttime lows reaching into the 40’s. Since we were camping there were times the heat was a little uncomfortable and so were the coolest of nights causing us to shiver while trying to sleep. The beautiful landscape made the time at the most northern portion of Minnesota very enjoyable. Much of Voyageurs is surrounded by water so to really take in this park some of the time should be spent on the water fishing, canoeing, or just exploring. We planned on going canoeing one afternoon and taking a boat excursion another day. Unfortunately we were unable to get on one of the boat tours and on the day of our planned canoe trip the wind was too strong causing that to be canceled. So there we were without an opportunity to travel over these same waters voyageurs would transport their furs over a long time ago. This didn’t stop us entirely from enjoying the water. On one of the hot afternoons we found a place to venture out wading through the nice, cool lake water to find some relief from the heat.
We intentionally timed this adventure to coincide with the Perseid Meteor shower peaking throwing a meteor per minute across the dark sky. Where better to watch this astrological event than a dark sky location like Voyageurs National Park? Fortunately our first night stargazing was mostly clear allowing us to watch as these amazing meteors streaking across the sky. Previous to this Canadian fires provided enough smoke creating a thin blanket over the sky preventing many of the meteors to be seen. We were not alone in our quest to see these fireballs blazing their way through the night sky as every park ranger we talked with also took time to look up and find a meteor or two during the night. This was certainly one of the highlights of our time in this great National Park. In the photo below you can barely see a meteor lighting up the sky in the middle near the top. It’s quite faint so you really need to look closely. Also in this picture is a portion of the Milky Way which can identified with the real bright spots combined with real dark areas in the left portion of this photograph. It almost look like the branches from a pine tree on the left side are pointing to the Milky Way.
During the day we found a few trails to hike allowing us to take in this serene landscape as it uses the final weeks of summer to prepare once again to enter dormancy to survive the harsh winter conditions not far away in this part of Minnesota. No National Park adventure would be complete without a junior ranger badge so of course one of the first priorities was to get to the nearest visitor’s center and pick up a junior ranger packet. While traveling to different areas of the park we would work on these books eventually completing enough activities to get sworn in and receive badges signifying junior ranger status. Even though our children are older now they can still become junior rangers and usually encouraged to do so by actual Park Rangers.
Probably the weirdest part of exploring this national park was that we were using our own vehicle. Usually we rent a car so that in itself has become part of each adventure. Upon picking up the car there’s a competition to figure out what color it’s going to be along with what state it will be registered in but we didn’t get to do that this time. There was one other time we traveled in our own car and that was while exploring Badlands National Park and Rocky Mountain National Park on our first set of adventures. There was definitely a higher level of comfort doing it this way though because there was no airplane ride which restricted the amount of things we could bring. As our time here dwindled there was once again a feeling of sadness because now we really were on our final national park adventure on the Monopoly Board. There are many more national parks I would like to visit but I’m not sure if we’ll be able to do so as a family in the future so for now our Monopoly Travels which began nine years ago come to a close.
While exploring Volcanoes National Park in Hawaii we noticed many interesting shapes and forms of lava from previous flows. As we looked even closer at them the colors in some of these flows caught our attention causing us to wonder how those were created. Without seeing an actual eruption it was up to our imaginations as to the creation of these different forms and colors. The photo above shows what appears to be a little lava rock which, landed in this spot or was carried to this place by flowing lava, and remained hot for longer than the lava it landed on causing these red, orange, and yellow colorations seen in the photo. They probably were exposed as this lava rock cooled and began to split apart causing a piece to roll down the flow further.
These same reds, oranges, and yellows can be seen in other portions of this same lava flow bringing an added element to these interesting textures. Did this portion of lava also cool at different rates causing these colors to emerge in only certain areas? What would cause one area to cool faster than another? I’m certain some people understand what happened at one time to make these interesting patterns and colors especially now as they can study the new eruptions and flows currently creating new patterns, colors, and shapes.
It amazing how different amounts of lava and lava temperatures combined with the terrain it’s going over can create so many unique types and shapes of rock. Some lava is smooth which is called pahoehoe which is the type shown in the photo above. Below shows another form of lava called a’a. This type looks like a bunch of smaller rocks. As you look closer there are multiple colors all mixed together which combine to look like a dark grey field from a distance. Our time was short to continue looking for more interesting pieces and forms created from an old lava flow but it was fun to have at least a little time to examine lava rock and find the different shapes and colors. Sometimes we forget to take time to really see what makes up a landscape especially if you just get use to viewing it everywhere around you.
It’s 4:27 am and I’m rolling over to shut off the alarm before it wakes anyone else wondering if I really want to get up and drive back into the park for another view of the volcano. After debating for a minute or so with myself I decide to get up and get dressed. Fortunately I had company as my cousin is with and decides to join me on another ridiculous morning adventure. When will we be here again to see this active volcano?
Fortunately one of the priorities of this trip was to witness the glow of lava during the night so we planned a one night stay just outside of the park in Volcano, HI making our early morning journey a fairly quick one. Within 15 minutes of leaving our lodge we were staring at the glowing coming from the top of the mountain. It looked like a large fire was burning off in the distance. Walking closer to Jagger Museum patio while scarfing down the last of a quick breakfast we could see the glow intensify as smoke continuously billowed from the caldera.
Over the next hour or so I just kept taking photographs of this almost unreal sight. In the above photo you can see a few stars along with the moon shining high above the volcano although it appears more like a star in this picture. Eventually I realized there was lava spatter erupting just above the rim from time to time. Seeing lava was something I hoped to accomplish while visiting Hawaii but the accessible flows had stopped a few days prior making it unlikely to spot and yet here was actual lava. The whole concept of standing on top of this mountain watching an active volcano spitting out lava seemed almost more of a dream than a fortunate reality. This was something I never imagined I would do during my life and here I was witnessing the continued creation of this island with my own eyes.
Daylight began to break across the horizon reducing the glow from the lava lake while my cousin and I realized just how much we were shivering as it was quite cool in the night air. It didn’t help that I wasn’t properly dressed for being at a higher elevation for an extended time only wearing shorts and a sweatshirt. Definitely worth getting up a little early to see!
There was one day set aside to explore Hawaii Volcanoes National Park so not a great deal of time. Making things a little less interesting was rain at the top of Kilauea making it difficult to see much and decreasing our motivation to venture too far from the car. Still we were determined to do all that we could on this final National Park adventure. Arriving mid-morning our first destination was the Kilauea Visitor Center to learn a little about this area and the active volcanoe we were standing on. Looking over the exhibits explaining what was creating this mountain and the surrounding new land along with plants and animals inhabiting it brought us to lunchtime. There really wasn’t a good place to eat nearby that we knew of plus our plan was for to have a picnic while taking in some amazing views. The rain outside indicated we needed to make other arrangements so looking over the park we found some possible places to sit and eat under dry skies at the end of Chain of Craters Road which was next to the ocean and away from the rain at a lower elevation.
After a short break eating, it was time to explore the coast in front of us a little and work our way back up to the summit of the volcano. Just looking out over the ocean was beautiful with the blue water and waves crashing against the shore. Examining the shoreline closer, which is really a cliff plummeting into the water made from a lava flow in 1971 which has been eroding ever since, we discovered a sea arch nearby. An interesting structure protruding from the cliff defying the brutal ocean waves which continually beat against it. Looking even closer the designs throughout this cliff wall made some interesting patterns and colors from all of the different layers of lava flowing at different times binding itself together to form new ground. You can make some of this out in the very top photograph.
A little bit of time to explore this cliff wall and stare into the sea and we began to ascend back up the mountain towards the smoldering volcano summit. Along the way we stopped to explore some of these lava flows just below the clouds more closely finding different types of lava formations. It was some much fun and amazing to see the different patterns and colors created from lava which flowed 45 years ago. Some has smoother edges more like a mud flow might have while other lava created sharper rocks that, from a distance, appear like dark, rich soil to grow crops in. This is not the case as there is almost nothing growing on it still after 45 years of inactivity.
Returning to the car we continued higher up the mountain and soon became enveloped in clouds followed by rain. We wanted to see the popular Thurston Lava Tube which is a cave created by flowing lava at one time. Bravely we donned raincoats and ventured out into the rain to explore this cave. With soaked shoes we entered this tropical cave feeling like we were entering something out of the movie Jurassic Park. Hoping for a dry place we found water dripping from the ceiling and large puddles across the floor. Fortunately the floor was lit up so you could make you way through this portion of the lava tube avoiding many of these puddles. Still it was an eerie experience to know large volumes of lava flowed through here not all that long ago to make this and this mountain is still an active volcano.
Making our way back to the car having been thoroughly soaked by rain and standing water we continued on to the top of the volcano to catch a glimpse of the large lava lake. Nearing the crater there were steam vents all around trying to alert us to the fact that there is hot lava close by. Still we drove on until arriving at the Jaggar Museum which stands at the side of the crater looking into this volcano. The clouds were covering this mountain making it near impossible to see anything so we headed inside to explore more exhibits and learn about this area. After some time looking things over the clouds cleared a little revealing more details of the mountain summit so I headed outside to look around. Shortly after getting outside there was a large clap of thunder. Excited to see a storm I scanned all around looking for lightning but found none. And then another clap of thunder and I decided seeking shelter might be a good idea. Once inside a ranger told us that it was not thunder we were hearing but rocks moving inside the volcano crater. That was kind of cool to hear and yet a little unsettling at the same time that there are large enough rocks moving to create a sound like that.
Unfortunately there was no erupting lava to be seen on this cloud filled day and the active lava flow had stopped flowing a couple of days before we arrived. It was a little disappointing to go all the way to Hawaii and visit an active volcano and not have the opportunity to witness actual lava with our own eyes and feel the heat protruding off of it. In a last ditch effort to see some lava I did return another time which I will write about later.
A few weeks ago we made our final Monopoly National Parks adventure to Hawaii Volcanoes National Park to complete a journey which began almost nine years ago. It’s hard to believe we were actually able to complete this goal of visiting 28 parks in that time frame.
On the road to this entrance sign it was difficult to pay attention to driving as I often caught myself reminiscing over past adventures that all began at Badlands National Park where our two girls first became Junior Rangers and we all began to see the luxury of our National Parks. Once the final signature had been obtained we were congratulated by those around us in the visitor’s center but the fact that this game was now completed didn’t really sink in at first. In fact I think there was probably more sadness than sense of accomplishment because we are now without plans for another family adventure. It’s a weird, empty feeling that I’m not sure how to grasp. There’s always been another place to plan and prepare for.
While our board of adventures was complete there was a small piece to add in order to make our journey full circle. That was to visit Pearl Harbor. More specifically to re-enter the gift shop there 15 years later with our children to the place where this whole thing actually began. It was in this very place that Karen and I first discovered the National Parks Monopoly board and this idea of visiting each place was conceived. Only this time there were four of us to complete this list of incredible adventures.
When visiting a number of the National Parks there are signs warning visitors of wild bears however it is not a common occurrence to actually see one. The first places we really began to hope for a bear spotting was while traveling in Alaska – Mendenhall Glacier, Glacier National Park, Skagway and the Chilkoot Trail, and Ketchikan. Being there during the salmon run seemed like it should almost guarantee a bear sighting yet we did not see any. This was disappointing as we could see where bear had been and in one case was told of a sighting mere minutes before we arrived to that area. Well, there were other parks in our travel plans with good opportunities as well. Maybe there will be better luck at those.
When planning for the Smoky Mountains and Shenandoah we read about high bear populations so hoped this would provide the much sought after encounter (from a distance of course). Keeping a watchful eye while driving and taking time to hike into the forests produced no success and once again left us wanting to see a wild bear. Now we are starting to wonder if we are bear repellent as we’ve been to some good areas to see them and nothing to show for it. It became kind of a joke for us and many friends of ours that seeing a bear is not in our future and if you want to go into bear territory, just ask us to join you and you won’t need to worry about encountering them.
As our Monopoly National Park travels near the end we had one last hope to see a wild bear a safe distance away – Yellowstone National Park. The first afternoon and evening in the park and no bears. Our first full day exploring this beautiful place – you guessed it, no bears. A second full day on which I got up early and went into areas with a higher probability of bears just hoping to come across one and still no bears. Giving up in the late morning I began my trip back to the hotel to pick up the rest of the family for more Yellowstone fun only to encounter a road block and not being able to get through. Losing a little hope at the sight of road construction equipment I eventually made it through the jam and began passing numerous people with cameras all pointed in the same direction.
Quickly pulling over hoping to finally see a bear I was confronted with park police told I couldn’t park there so I continued on and finally found a legitiment place to stop and walked quickly back to the place I saw all of these people expecting whatever wildlife to have moved on by now. Shocked there she was – a bear. Not only was there a bear but she was with a cub. Finally… a wild bear siting! After this bear and cub walked into a nearby forest I began my walk back to the car when another person pointed out another bear in a nearby field. This bear also was with a cub. That’s four bears in one area. By the time we left Yellowstone a few days later we had observed seven bears in total. The wait was over and well worth it. Bears are fun to watch at a safe distance for both the observer and the bear, especially the cubs as they play on trees or in a meadow.
