Author Archives: Jill and Bud

Our base camp for the past week was Salt Creek Recreation Area, a county park along the Strait of Juan de Fuca between Washington and Vancouver Island. I was checking something on the roof of the camper when I took this shot. As you can see, the sites aren’t huge, but the view of the strait is fine.

The park and campground has a well deserved positive reputation. It has a resident herd of black tailed deer…

that are quite blasé about sharing their space with human campers; they are even pretty laid back about dogs.

It has an incredibly beautiful shoreline.

My favorite spot was Tongue Point. Not only is this sweet little island there,

but there are stairs you can take down onto the rocks.

You can get a closer look at the wave carved shore…

and get down to see the creatures in the tide pools.

During WW II this was Fort Hayden, and the gun bunkers that protected the strait are still there.

Just south of our campground was Olympic National Park, and we visited several places there. On Sunday we drove up to Hurricane Ridge for a fantastic view of the Olympic Mountains…

While we were there the clouds were wafting by,

and we were sometimes…

walking in the clouds.

There were enough clear areas…

for some fantastic views.

I walked out as far as Sunrise Point.

The trail up was pretty dramatic.

Though at the top, which was above 5,600 feet, the view was obscured by clouds,

there were some great views along the way.

On the way down I took pictures of the three…

tunnels you drive through…

in quick succession.

Just after the tunnels was a vista point where you could see under the clouds to the strait below.

In between the clouds and the shore west or Hurricane Ridge was the Sol Duc Valley and the Grove of the Ancients.

With its moss…

and ferns…

and giant trees…

this short trail was a real treat for me.

We also visited Crescent Lake, a 600 foot deep lake carved by glaciers.

U. S. Highway 101 runs right along the south shore of the lake.

We took East Beach Road, along the eastern shore, several times, the first time towing the camper on the way in. That was a challenge. Fortunately there was almost no traffic.

On the north shore was the Spruce Railroad Trail.

It went along beautiful, lush woods with trickling springs. There was supposed to be a tunnel, but after about a mile Bud despaired of finding it and turned back.

Not five minutes later I came to it.

It was a bit spooky to walk through, but just as you got to where it was really, really dark,

you got far enough around the curve to see the other end.

I was walking along with another couple, which helped, and they took a picture of Matey and me at the tunnel exit.

It was a pretty spot.

Matey and I walked back on our own, but having been through it, it was easier.

There were few places to see the lake, but it was still a pretty trail and it was nice to take Matey.

While the rest of the country was sweltering we’ve had a pretty nice week on the cool, green Olympic Peninsula.

We crossed the Columbia River into Washington on U.S. 101.

Route 101 went a bit inland, but just north of Aberdeen, WA we headed back to the coast to the little town of Pacific Beach.

The state park there…

is just a 10 acre campground…

on an enormous beach.

Matey enjoyed the beach, even when he didn’t feel like walking.

Our campsite was at the end of the row, so we had a bit of space on one side. But the building behind us was the restroom and folks walked up on either side and parked behind us, so we had no privacy.

Still, a beautiful beach just steps from your door makes up for a lot.

There was a dune, so from the camper you couldn’t see the beach. You could see the kites that folks were almost always flying, as the wind was almost always blowing.

Bud had a bad cold and finally came out to see the beach on our last afternoon.

It was a tiny park,

but having the whole Pacific Ocean in front of us made it a fine stop.

Fort Stevens State Park has about eight miles of paved bike paths.

Most of the park is covered with beautiful old woods and the paths wind through them.

There are two…

tunnels and

a bridge to minimize at grade crossings over park roads.

I pushed Matey in the stroller two miles up…

to the old fort where Bud met us. We walked around the gun emplacements,

peering down from the walls into where the huge guns sat.

We are right at the mouth of the Columbia River…

and there were some nice views across the river.

The next day Bud met us at the beach by the wreck of the Iredale. This British sailing ship has been stuck in the sand here since 1906. Matey couldn’t walk in the deep sand so we didn’t go down there.

We loaded the stroller into the truck and drove north a couple of miles to the South Jetty. This was constructed by the Army Corps of Engineers to decrease shoaling which made the mouth of the Columbia River treacherous for ships. It took 10 years to build, is made of about 9 million tons of boulders and extends 7 miles into the ocean.

Originally completed in 1895 it was extended over two miles to its present length from 1905 to 1913.

There are pilings from old trestles still visible. These supported a rail line from the fort to the ocean that was used to build and repair the jetty. Two sets of trestles were built, but they haven’t been used since the 1940’s.

From the jetty the road curved inland and ended at a beach on the Columbia River.

On the way back Bud dropped Matey, the stroller and me off at Battery Russell. Built in the early 1900’s this battery was attacked by a Japanese submarine in World War II, the only place in the continental U.S. to be attacked in that war. We walked the paths back to the camper from there.

Matey and I took several long walks on the miles of bike paths.

Close to the often foggy shore the woods are shrouded with moss. What a contrast to the red desert rocks of Utah!

On our last walk I took him out the beach access road. This time I parked the stroller and carried him across the soft sand.

I remembered this photo I took in 2014 when we first got Matey and took him to the beach in Galveston. He was four years old.

He can’t run any more but he still likes the beach.

It is really impossible to capture the beauty and grandeur of the redwoods with an iPhone.

I did my best.

A video helps.

I asked Bud to pose by this giant but he said he wanted to be the one behind the camera, for once. I clipped off the end of the video where Bud brings the phone rapidly down and then videos his fingers. Otherwise it wasn’t too bad.

These were taken in the Lady Bird Johnson Grove. Serious protection of these magnificent beings was slow to gain acceptance and federal protection did not begin until the 1960’s.

Only 4% of the trees that were here when white people arrived remain. Another sad result of the inability of the western culture to see the value of other species except in terms of a resource to be used.

I am so grateful for the few who loved and protected these giants when most only cared about the vast amount of valuable timber each cut tree could yield.

On Sunday I decided to hike the trail to the Tall Trees Grove that was influential in establishing the National Park. I needed a permit, which I was able to get online.

There were warnings that this was a difficult trail, with an 800 foot descent in the first mile and a half that you had to ascend once you’d completed the mile loop down at the level of Redwood Creek. It wasn’t bad, the trail was wide and easy to walk along except for this obstacle near the beginning. You had to go under, over and under three downed trees.

These were big trees,

but not as big as this one that you got to walk through!

The top of the trail was among some old growth Douglas fir, and I was glad to learn from the trail notes how to tell them from the redwoods by the bark. The doug fir, like the old giant in the foreground here, have irregular scaley bark, while the redwoods, like the younger trees in the background, have fibrous bark with long, continuous vertical fissures. It’s good to be able to distinguish them by the bark because the foliage is too high to see any detail.

I thought the tall trees loop was definitely worth the effort.

While not the largest in girth, these are the tallest trees I’ve seen. One of these trees had the record for the tallest living being on earth, but its top died back, so now it is number 34.

I couldn’t tell because the crowns were too far away from me on the ground. I know many of these trees were well over 300 feet tall.

These may look like regular forest trees,

but remember, their bases are immense.

Besides the redwoods, there was the beautiful Redwood Creek,

a proliferation of ferns…

that grew higher than me,

and big leaf maples…

whose shade leaves were as big as my open hand.

While I was out hiking through the tall trees, Bud said the herd of elk, that I only saw in the far back pasture, came up and walked through the back of the RV park. There are two calves and they gave Matey the stink eye, but they weren’t close enough for him to even notice. And the male in the herd bugled.

Also while I was gone Matey fell off our bed. We didn’t think he was hurt, but Monday he wouldn’t eat.

On Monday we left the redwoods at 9 AM and drove and drove. It was a 316 mile trip, longer than we usually make these days, and we came through at least 10 work zones where the roads were down to a single lane. We finally got to our friends, Bob and Kiki in Corvallis, Oregon at 4:45 in the afternoon.

By then we were really worried about Matey. Kiki and I ended up taking him to an emergency vet hospital quite close to them, while Bob and Bud stayed behind to try to remember how we’d managed to get 30 amp power to our old trailer when we visited 5 years ago.

The vet said Matey wasn’t hurt, but she was very worried that he wasn’t eating. She suggested a different pain medicine that wouldn’t irritate his gut and an appetite stimulant.

It was after 8 when we got back to their house only to learn that the guys had been unable to solve the power problem. So I went on line and found an alternative place and called and got us a spot.

It was 10 PM when we were finally hooked up in our new site at the county fairgrounds.

It was pretty around there and the next day we went to lunch with Bob and Kiki and spent the afternoon and evening with them.

We were leaving the next day, and I and they realized that in all the stress we had never taken a picture, so they came over before we left. Here we are, Bob, Kiki, me and Bud with Tucker and Matey, Tucker’s mom, Aspen, was chilling out at home.

Matey is no longer on either medication I got at the emergency vet’s. I noticed that the appetite stimulant, that worked great, was not to be taken with one of his other medications as there could be possibly fatal interactions. They missed that. And the pain medicine made him so uncoordinated that he fell down while eating. He did finish his food. He’s now not on any pain medication and so far he’s still eating without an appetite stimulant.

And we are on the northern Oregon coast at Fort Stevens State Park, which we are liking very much.

Monday Jeanie had to go back to work. I took Matey in the stroller and we discovered that Folsom Lake…

was much higher than it was five years ago.

In fact, when Jeanie and I took a walk at nearby Granite Bay some of the trails were underwater.

But we found a nice trail. Jeanie knows all these trails from mountain biking. I’d see a picturesque boulder and she’d see a fun ramp.

I was grateful she took hours off so we’d have time for an afternoon walk.

Jeanie is about the only one I know who loves to walk as much as I (although she would rather be mountain biking, if I could do that).

Tuesday afternoon we walked in her neighborhood. There are little ravines and trails all through these neighborhoods.

Just a couple of blocks on the streets brought us to a trail down to Folsom Lake.

In other years this has been dry. The egret was enjoying the high water levels.

Again the trail went underwater.

We may have been in suburban neighborhoods, but there was wildlife. We didn’t see any rattlesnakes,

but we did see a turkey. She had at least one chick, but the chick was elusive. That evening Bud made us all falafels in the trailer.

Wednesday, after one last dinner at their house we said goodbye to Jeanie and Scott.

Leaving them was easier because the day we left their temperatures were well into the 90’s, whereas we drove out to the Pacific,

where it is cool and green and I found ferns as tall as my chest.

We are back at Beal’s Point State Recreation Area in the same site we stayed at 5 years ago, on a two month trip when we still had a stationary house. It’s not a bad site, we’ve lots of room to the side and a shady spot to sit in the mornings before it gets too hot.

In a way it’s hard to be here, because before she died my sister, Judy, lived about 2 miles from here. But her daughter, Jeanie, still lives nearby and we wanted to see her and her husband, Scott.

Scott is no more fond of long hikes than Bud, so yesterday Jeanie and I went up in the hills to the east to hike at Sly Park. There’s a nice little reservoir there.

We hiked along one side of it

up to a falls on the creek that feeds the reservoir. I don’t know how those people could stand to be in the water, it’s snow melt.

We’d come just three miles and decided to walk the loop around the lake; it was a little further than going back the way we’d come, but we both prefer to walk a loop.

It was a very pretty walk. We went through a couple of camping areas and picnic areas.

There are some little islands in the lake.

By the time we got back to the road and the car, we’d walked just about nine miles. Turns out it was twice as far along the other side. Oh well, it was pretty and we enjoyed the time together. Bud and Scott would agree that that’s why they are leery of walking with us; our walks tend to end up longer than anticipated.

At the southern border of Yosemite National Park is the well known Mariposa Grove of Sequoias. I wanted to see those massive trees, but that drive was too much. The newsletter they gave us at the entrance talked about the lesser known Tuolumne (two AH lu me) Grove off Tioga Road. Wednesday the guys agreed to go there with me.

It was a mile down the Old Oak Flats Road to get to the grove; the operative word here is down, it was all downhill.

The first Sequoia we saw was Big Red. I used my panoramic function to capture the whole tree.

There are only 25 Sequoias in the grove…

but they are beautiful.

It’s a challenge to capture their size.

Bud is peering into the trunk of a fallen giant.

It was hollow for a long ways.

Bud paced it off and said it had to have been close to 300 feet, as a standing tree with a full crown it was no doubt well over that.

Back when this road was first built and was a toll road this tunnel was carved through the truck of this tree as a lure to travelers.

I was glad to learn that the tree was already dead when that was done.

After seven tenths of a mile we came to the end of the loop through the grove.

Then we just had to walk the mile back UP to the parking lot. The altitude here is a bit over 6,000 feet, which didn’t help. I appreciated their effort, I’ve wanted to see Sequoias for a long time.

Much closer to the Tioga Pass entrance is the Tuolumne Meadow, and Skip had suggested a hike there would be another good day trip. Unfortunately, Skip had to drive home (8 hours) on Thursday. Today Bud and I decided to take that hike on our own.

We chose the Tuolumne River trail which starts at the west end of the meadow by Pothole Dome.

After circling around the end of the wet and delicate meadow the path led along the edge of Pothole Dome.

We continued next to…

and along the lower slope of the dome.

There were beautiful peaks in the distance (that might be Cathedral Peak).

We could look out across the meadow.

We followed the edge of the meadow,

walked through some spruce,

passed by a bouldery hill,

and came out on the Tuolumne River. That is all solid rock that it is flowing through.

Walking up to the edge and looking upstream you could see where it was coming over the rocks as all the waters from the meadow gathered together.

Looking downstream it seemed to disappear over another edge,

so of course we had to walk down to see that.

We soon saw that the river went tumbling on down…

much further than we were going to walk.

We hung out for a bit and enjoyed the show.

And then we made our way back across the rocks.

On the way back I couldn’t resist walking up the milder slope of Pothole Dome until I had a view of the meadow past the trees.

I was still a long way from the top.

What a fascinating place this is.

Driving out I took a picture of our last look at Lembert Dome, which we passed on every visit. As we were leaving Bud commented that what Skip said was right. Five years ago we came to June Lake, but couldn’t get in to Yosemite; Skip said he hoped we could come back another time as Yosemite was a special place. I’m glad we made it.

Monday morning we started out early to make the trip in to the Yosemite Valley. First we had a 35 minute drive from June Lake to California Route 120 west and up…

this precarious road…

through the Tioga Pass, which at 9,945 feet is the highest mountain pass on a California highway.

It is also the eastern entrance to Yosemite National Park.

But getting to the park doesn’t get you to the valley. It is another 63 miles and over an hour and a half to get there.

It is a stunningly beautiful drive, with forests…

and granite peaks all around.

We passed beautiful Tenaya Lake.

Near there amid…

bare granite hills…

is Olmsted Point.

Here you can get your first look at Half Dome, that sits at the head of the Yosemite Valley.

We didn’t stop here on Monday, wanting to give this place the time it deserved. We stopped Wednesday on our way out from another hike.

But this is the top of the Yosemite Valley, looking down Tenaya Canyon.

If there is one single place where you can see the grandeur of this place, it is here. On Monday we only caught a glimpse as we drove by.

We still had 46 miles and over an hour to drive to the valley.

Finally, after emerging from a long tunnel,

you see the Merced River in its valley below. After a long descent and two more short tunnels,

you reach the valley floor. That’s Bridal Veil Falls ahead on the right.

Further along is El Capitan.

We stopped for a view…

of El Capitan…

and the beautiful river.

We drove on past the Upper Yosemite Falls…

and parked near the top of the valley. We took a path there…

that crossed the beautiful Merced River. Downstream you could see the upper falls;

upstream more beautiful granite walls.

We came out in a meadow with a great view of the front side of Half Dome. This is the heart of Yosemite National Park, and photos cannot convey how dramatic this valley feels when you are in it.

It took us eight hours to get in and out and spend just about two hours on the valley floor,

but it was worth it.

The village of June Lake sits in the Inyo National Forest just west of US 395 in the eastern Sierras.

To get there you first pass June Lake itself.

The village sits between June Lake, with its beach,

and Gull Lake, with its mountain backdrop.

It’s just big enough for a general store, a brewery,

and a fire department.

Houses, many of which are vacation homes, are built where they fit among the hills…

and the rocks.

It also has a ski slope,

and as I found out walking Matey in the stroller today, bears.

The biggest building in town,

with a commanding view of the little main street,

is the Heidelberg Inn.

This hundred year old establishment is where Skip has a time share and where he stayed. It was once the playground of Hollywood’s famous and is known for the giant four sided fireplace in the lobby.

We are just down the street in our more modest accommodation at the little Golden Pine RV Park.

Last Sunday, not wanting to go into Yosemite on a weekend, we decided to explore around here. First we did a loop of Forest Service Roads in the Inyo National Forest east of Route 395.

In the 20 years Skip has been coming here he has never driven east on Route 120, so we were happy to take him. This is looking southwest towards the western Sierras.

We got pretty high, to where the rocks almost outnumbered the trees,

and came over the ridge for a view of the eastern Sierras. We thought that highest peak was Border Peak, on the border of Nevada.

Our road then went steeply down and exited through Taylor Canyon.

From there we went to the much more civilized town of Mammoth Lakes, where we stopped for lunch and to view the village center.

This is all much newer and more upscale than June Lake.

It is a very large and popular ski resort, with a main lift gondola leaving from the middle of the village square.

We drove up through a tunnel…

to see the lakes.

Like everywhere here there are vistas,

mountains and trails galore. In his many years coming to June Lake Skip has hiked a lot of them.

The highlight and end of our tour was the beautiful falls on Rush Creek.

Friday we left Cathedral Gorge State Park on US 93 and soon turned onto Nevada 375, the Extraterrestrial Highway. It runs for 98 miles along the edge of Area 51, which contains the highly classified Air Force Facility Homey Field or Groom Lake. This is what the whole 98 miles was like; empty and remote. We passed the only road that I can see that leads to Homey Field, Groom Road. Where it joins Route 375 it is gravel, though on the satellite map it looks like it is paved as it gets closer to the airbase.

We spent the night without unhitching at a commercial RV park just outside the town of Tonopah, Nevada.

They used to mine silver here, now they are mining lithium and boron.

We had time Saturday morning so we went up (trailer and all) to see the Tonopah Historic Mining Park.

This is a hand dug hole, over 50 feet deep where quartz bearing silver was removed.

This is a reconstructed horizontal tunnel that burros would pull carts through.

It led to this vertical shaft going hundreds of feet down.

Ultimately the Mitzpah Mine had this 1200 foot deep shaft.

Men, equipment and ore moved down and up in cages raised and lowered with flat wire cables on wheels on one of the first steel headframes built.

After a short visit to the museum we headed west.

We drove up to the eastern side of the Sierra Nevadas and crossed into California.

There we picked up the eastern end of California 120 which wound up…

through some

convoluted rocks on the eastern side of the mountains,

and then down into a broad valley where US 395 runs north and south.

Our destination was June Lake where we were meeting our friend Skip Gaskill. That’s Skip with Bud and Matey in front of Gull Lake. The little town of June Lake is situated between June Lake and Gull Lake. They are about 5 blocks apart.

We’re staying at a very small commercial RV park right in town, Golden Pine RV Park.

Even though we are right in town, you just have to look up and out to see the rocks and mountains all around. We will be here until next Saturday touring this beautiful area which includes Yosemite National Park.