Yosemite – Mist Trail

Tags

california, half dome, Hiking, National Park, squirrel, Vernal Falls, waterfall, Yosemite

16 June 2016 – Yesterday we were up on the rim looking down 4000 ft to the valley floor.  Today we were hiking in the Yosemite valley floor looking 4000 ft up.  We took the highly rated Mist Trail which leads to 3 waterfalls.  However, we only had time (and energy) to reach the first set at Vernal Falls.

Lucas attempts to start a fire bybrubbing a rock on a stick before our hike

1.5 miles of 10 degree incline gaining 1000 ft is quite a challenge for little legs. Plus, we aren’t in full hiking shape this year.  After yesterday’s climb, I mistakenly thought the hike would be easier than it was.  I recorded 300 flights of stairs on my fitness tracker.
The park was not overly crowded but even on light days the valley floor can be overwhelmed.  We found parking to be something of a challenge but luckily only had to search for about 10 minutes.  However, it put us about .75 miles from the trailhead.

The kids found some granite boulders to climb along the path

The trail itself is paved and follows the path of the river which keeps it cool – but also increases the mosquito population as it nears evening. The trail is also really busy.  Too busy for our taste, but still – its Yosemite, so one cannot complain too much. 

The kids had a bit of a rough go on the incline given a lack of sleep and the strenuous hike the previous day up the Panorama trail, especially Aurelia.  But we managed.  The primary portion of the trail ends at the Vernal Falls bridge, where you see the lower falls directly below you.  However, to see the more spectacular upper falls you have to go, that’s right, higher 🙂

Fat squirrel on the trail

Lower Vernal Falls and the Yosemite Valley

We continued to the upper falls which were astounding – water falling from a straight-edged cliff making it look like a curtain.  The trail ends and one point and continues as a steep stairway cut into the granite along the river canyon.  You feel both the mist of the spray as well as the vibration of the falling water.  We went only a quarter way up the steps and  turned around to head back down.  It was just too much for the kids – and too much of a risk with them so tired.

We returned to our car at about 6:15.  The sun was going down and the 70 degree weather was more like 55 – so we put on our jackets and enjoyed dinner al fresco beneath half dome amongst the majesty of Yosemite.

Dinner beneath half dome

On the way out of Yosemite, the park decided to give us one more treat – a beautiful view of half dome during the sunset.

Half Dome as the sun falls behind the rim of the valley

Yosemite – Glacier Point and Panorama Trail

Tags

california, glacier point, half dome, Hiking, National Park, panorama trail, United States, wildflowers, Yosemite

15 June 2016 – Our first stop of the day was Mark Twain’s Cabin – it was on the way and we noticed the sign.  Not the original cabin, a recreation from the 1920’s on “Jackass Hill” where Twain stayed for little over 1 year.  It was there he wrote his famous short story about a jumping frog in Calavaras country.  

We jumped out for a quick look and then continued on our way.  The kids took note because we’ve been listening to the short story and visited Angels Camp the day before.  It is a great gem of Americana and certainly a famous location for American literature.

Mark Twain Cabin – a reproduction in the same area he stayed for a year

We reached Yosemite at 12 noon.  Not a short drive from anywhere.  It was another 90 minutes (with lunch break) to Glacier point.  It is about .25 miles from the parking area to the lookout.  Luckily we found a parking space, others had another mile walk from a secondary parking lot. 

From the point is the best view of the valley – over 8000 feet above sea level and 4000 feet above the valley floor.  The view is outstanding.

Welcome to Yosemite

You can see all of the major Yosemite sites: El Capitan, Half Dome, Yosemite river, and Yosemite falls.  The point is really crowded but the view is amazing and worth it.  Even better is the Panorama trail head which begins at Glacier point.

Family at Glacier Point – Half Dome in the background

From the trail the views are just as awesome but less crowded, a lot less crowded.  The hike goes over 8 miles to the valley floor 4000 feet below.  However, the hike is great at any distance and you can turn around at any point.  We went about 1.5 miles and then took a long rest to look over the valley before the calf-burning hike back up.  It took us a total of 3 hours and approximately 3 miles round trip.  We took a 10 minute rest and snack break half way through.

A rest and a snack on the panorama trail

Hiking on the Panorama Trail

While June is a bit early we did catch some wildflowers beginning to bloom

The kids had a great time, they always love hiking.  Giuliana slept in the kid carrier most of the way 🙂 The views were better than promised with both Half Dome and 3 waterfalls illuminated by the sun.  One of the most stunning views I’ve enjoyed on a hike.  Well worth it. It feels like the greatest cathedral in the universe.

Family on the Panorama trail – half dome in the background, Giuliana sleeping on Sergio’s back

Half Dome and Waterfalls – the neverending view from the Panorama trail

Mt. Rainer Naches Loop Trail

Tags

Berry Picking, Cascades, Hiking, Huckleberries, Lake Tipsoo, Mt Rainier National Park, Mt. Baker, Mt. Rainier, National Park, Pacific Northwest, Washington

17 July 2015 – Naches Loop Trail.  What a wonderful hike.  The mountain flowers were blooming in the meadows.  The song birds were at full pitch.  The huckleberries were ripe.  The views could not have been more stunning.

We started early to ensure we had a full day on the trail.  From our house it takes about 2.5 hours to get deep into Mt. Rainier National Park where some of the best hiking in the world lies.  We had previously visited Lake Tipsoo but had not done the loop trail – which was the goal of the day.  Our previous visit in 2011 to Tipsoo focused on the flowers and the mountain views.

Isabella, Sherrie, and Lucas at Lake Tispoo in 2011

Isabella, Sergio, and Lucas at Lake Tipsoo in 2011

Lucas, Sergio, Aurelia, and Isabella at Lake Tipsoo in 2015

After a quick lunch of sandwiches, strawberries, and juice boxes we started on the trail which begins on along the Pacific Crest Trail before splitting off to the South.  The trail is very well maintained and circles around Naches Peak with beautiful views of the valleys, Lake Douglas, and surrounding mountains.

Lucas and Aurelia Heading Up Naches Loop Trail

Lake Douglas and valley

After Lake Douglas the huckleberries go thick – and ripe!  We couldn’t help ourselves and spent at least an hour picking and eating 🙂 Thanks to berry bags we keep in Isabella’s backpack we brought many home for ice cream toppings.

Isabella, Aurelia, and Lucas pick huckleberries along the Naches Loop Trail

Ripe huckleberries along the Naches Loop Trail

Hucklberry picking stains the hands!

Of course, the mountain views were spectacular – Mt. Rainier was close and Mt. Baker in the distance.  It was a wonderful hike

Mt. Baker as seen from the Naches Loop Trail

Mt. Rainier from Naches Loop Trail

Sergio, Lucas, Isabella, Sherrie, and Giuliana on the Naches Loop Trail with Mt. Rainier

Mt. Rainier Panorama

Mt. Rainier and mountain meadow

Old Robe Canyon

Tags

Hiking, North Cascades, Old Robe Canyon, Robe Canyon Historic Park, Stillaguamish River

5 July 2015 – During the 1890 North Cascade gold rush a railroad was built along the Stillaguamish River through Robe Canyon to transport gold and silver from Monte Cristo (now a ghost town) to Everett, WA.  However, the wealth dried up in 1907 and the regular flooding of both the river and high rains caused extensive damage to the roads and infrastructure – including regular landslides along the railroad.

The area along the Stillaguamish River through Robe Canyon is preserved and protected as a historic park just a few miles outside Granite Falls, WA.  A trail developed by the Boy Scouts in 1960 follows the river along the old railroad bed.  The majority of the trail is well maintained and has wonderful views of the river and canyon.  Where the trail hasn’t been washed out by landslides, the old rail ties, rail stakes, and (where the ties are rotted) impressions are still present.

Stillaguamish River in Robe Canyon

Lucas, Aurelia, and Isabella along the Stillaguamish River

Isabella and Lucas along the Old Robe Canyon trail – the rail ties are still present

Sections of the trail continue to see the effects of the flooding with rock slides to scramble over and large overturned trees to cross.

Crossing logs along the Old Robe Canyon trail

Lucas, Aurelia, and Isabella scramble over a rock slide along the Robe Canyon

Aurelia, Lucas, and Isabella cross a trail gap over a log

The rail system contained six tunnels through the granite canyon sides.  None are accessible via the maintained trail, but a short trek beyond the trail end takes you to the first tunnel.  The kids loved it – walking through the tunnel and seeing the dynamite holes and toads now inhabiting the dark and damp spaces.

Sherrie, Isabella, and Lucas walk through a historic tunnel at Robe Canyon

After tunnel we turned back.  The afternoon was warm and the kids wanted to go swimming.  We walked a couple of miles back and found a nice place by the river to go swimming.  The kids packed their swim suits and had a great hour swimming up and down the current and playing in the rapids.  Aurelia and Giuliana spent time exploring the calmer pools.

Isabella crosses the Stillaguamish River to meet Lucas on the other side

Giuliana plays in the Stillaguamish River

Aurelia climbs on big rocks in the Stillaguamish River

Franklin Falls Trail and Wagon Road Trail

Tags

Central Cascades, Franklin Falls, Hiking, Mt. Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest, Pacific Northwest, Snoqualmie River, Wagon Road Trail, Washington

25 May 2015 – Using a great book, Central Cascade Day Hikes, Sherrie found a nearby hike 45 minutes away to Franklin Falls in the Mt. Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest.

The hike is 2 miles in and back along the ravine of the South Fork of the Snoqualmie River.  The views of the river and ravine along the way into the falls is quite nice with several look out opportunities.  However, because of the accessibility of the hike it is quite crowded on a nice spring day.  This makes the trail a bit less enjoyable.

Lucas, Isabella, and Aurelia stand around a very large hemlock tree

Some lower falls along the South Fork of the Snoqualmie River as seen along the Franklin Falls hike

Isabella, Aurelia, and Lucas along the South Fork of the Snoqualmie River

A small scramble down some rocks – which were not as slippery as I expected – brings you to the base of the 70 foot falls (further upriver the river falls another 65 feet in two separate but those are not visible from the trail).  The falls produce a small splash pool and quite a lot of mist and water vapor.

Franklin Falls

The family at the base of Franklin Falls

The trail cuts along the rocks down to the splash pool of Franklin Falls

Turning around on the trail we decided to take an off-shoot which lucky for us was the other trail we read about – the Wagon Road Trail.  The trail travels along a remnant of the Snoqualmie Wagon Road.  This road was the first wagon-capable road across Snoqualmie Pass completed in 1867 (see history).

Beginning of Wagon Road Trail

Lucas, Isabella, and Aurelia with a wagon wheel hub on the Wagon Road Trail

We didn’t pass anyone on this trail (and I’m surprised others didn’t use this second, and more enjoyable route) and the quiet in the forest along with the variety of flora and presence of animal tracks was wonderful.  We even spotted bear-sign.  The smell of skunk weed was very apparent – but luckily not overwhelming.

Bear sign – tree marking

Aurelia, Lucas, Isabella, and Sherrie hike along the Franklin Falls trail

A large patch of skunk weed along the Wagon Road Trail

A cool fungus along the Wagon Road Trail

Trillium bloom along the Wagon Road Trail

A forest flower

An odd vertical moss on a rock along the Wagon Road Trail

The kids had a great time and it took us approximately 2 hours with plenty of time to explore and enjoy.  It certainly makes us appreciate the Pacific Northwest and the astounding beauty in which we are surrounded.

A view of the Northwest forest along the Wagon Road Trail

Kamananui Trail

Tags

Hawaii, Hiking, Kamananui Trail, Oahu, Trail

17 May 2015 – We enjoy hiking so much in Hawaii.  Sherrie chose a hike just outside Honolulu up the Kamananui Valley. The weather started warmer as we began our ascent into the valley but cooled off with a nice breeze and some passing showers.

The trail is an unimproved dirt road with remnants of the rocks and cobbles which defined the road during its almost 200 year usage.  The road was previously the access method into the various plantation sites within the valley.  The trail is wide and flat as you would expect and gains about 500 feet during its 3.5 mile length.

Kamananui Valley

Aurelia and Lucas along the Kamananui Trail

Sherrie, Isabella, Lucas, and Aurelia walking the Kamananui Trail

Sergio and Aurelia take a break along the trail

Only one plantation site is easily accessible off the trail.  It has a double stairway up to the main living area and a further set of stairs which lead to exterior areas of the residence.

Heading up the stairs to the plantation

Up the stairs to the exterior portions of the plantation

Aurelia and Lucas posing at a column base at the plantation

The trail is also known for its bridges which cross the many streams flowing down the valley – without these bridges the road would be completely inaccessible most of the year.

Bridge over a stream along the Kamananui Valley Road

There are other signs which illustrate the long usage of the Kamananui Valley by humans.  This includes some of the best preserved petroglyphs in Hawaii.

A petroglyph of a human within the Kamananui Valley

A petroglyph along the Kamananui Valley

Isabella and Lucas exploring the petroglyphs

One of the most enjoyable aspects of hiking in Hawaii is the flora and fauna which abound and thrive in this climate.  Especially as it is so different from the temperate forests we are used to.

Lucas holds a millipede

Isabella, Lucas, and Aurelia examine the millipede

While there were not too many flowers along the trail those that were present were amazing.

A patch of Heliconia flowers

Greenleaf Ticktrefoil

Mile A Minute Vine – Purple

Moonflower – White

Porterweed

Mimosa pudica var. unijuga – Sensitive Plant

Lantana camara

A hillside of native Hawaiian fern

Aurelia loved the spores on this plant

The trail covers 9 distinct forest zones – starting the the Guava Zone.  As such the trees change significantly as you travel.

A tree arches across the trail and forms another trunk on the other size

Aurelia in a Banyon tree

A Kukui nut

Aurelia, Lucas, Isabella in a tree trunk

As we were leaving and a rainstorm approaching we were greeted by a rainbow over the

Rainbow over the Kamananui Valley

Fossil Hunting on Leckhampton Hill

Tags

Cheltenham, Fossils, Hiking, Leckhampton, Leckhampton Hill, South West England, United Kingdom

Last Sunday, the 10th of June, our family had the fortune (and good weather!) to embark on a fossil hunting expedition on Leckhampton Hill.  Sergio and I were inspired by a posting we read by the UK Fossils Network on the specimens located around Leckhampton.  We set off rather late, as I *had* to catch up on sleep, but we made it to the car park off Daisy Bank Road around 11:00 AM.  Picnic and trowels in tow, we set off for adventure!

Lucas was certain he’d find dinosaur bones and despite our explanations of the geological history of the UK and the oceanic nature of any likely fossil finds, he roared ahead with his dino-digging plans.  Can’t hardly blame the little guy – how cool would that be?!?!  We trudged a quarter-mile or so along a fairly steep grade (Standard Guage Incline, a nod to the lime quarrying past) before cresting the hill onto the ruins of an old kiln: site #1.

We found several examples of bivalves and brachiopods here.  The slope was easy to climb and yielded immediate, clear examples of fossilization in the jurassic period.  When we had our fill, we set out our picnic in the midst of the 1924 lime kiln ruins (click here to read a fantastic article written by the Gloucestershire Industrial Archeology Society in 2001 and to see a wonderful map of the area in which we were exploring along with a photograph of the lime kilns in action).  Totally awesome spot to have a picnic!  The sun brightly shone on the clearing and the temperature was in the upper 70s.  Perfect!

From there, we proceeded to head up the hill and followed the trail along the backs of some gorgeous Cotswold-stone farmhouses to the right, with Leckhampton Hill and Devil’s Chimney on our left.  We found another great outcropping shortly before the steep upward section to reach the Cotswold Way.  At this location, Sergio scored a really neat find: a fossilized starfish!  It was embedding in the rock, however, so we had to settle with pictures and leave it behind.  We found a few more bivalves and some possible plant fossils before we felt some sprinkles and headed back into the wood for shelter.

Just a few yards further down the trail, we reached the peak and met with the Cotswold Way.  The views were STUNNING and nearly beyond belief.  We could see large swaths of the Wye Valley, several neighboring towns, nearby geological features, and the area in which our new home is situated.  The kids loved playing in the grasses at the top of Leckhampton Hill and we snapped a few memorable photos.  Here are my favorites:<insert photo of kids and I, views from the top, and Cotswold Way sign>

We checked out Devil’s Chimney, a bit of a joke left behind by the local quarrymen when the site was operational.  A local legend states that the Devil used to sit atop Leckhampton Hill and hurl stones down at churchgoers each Sunday.  They turned the rocks against the Devil and trapped him beneath, leaving only the chimney from which only the smokes of hell are allowed to escape.  I think the first is a bit more plausible.

Our last scouting site was Deadman’s Quarry, which I have learned is a large Inferior Oolite quarry that houses both upper and lower Freestone rocks.  We saw a few minor fossils and enjoyed the far-reaching views.  With the view of the Cotswold Way overhead once more, we scrambled up the face of the quarry, picking over rocks and “look-at-this-ing” over various finds.  Isabella was beyond proud of herself for climbing up entirely on her own!

We enjoyed the views for while on top of Leckhampton Hill and scoured the top for remains of the iron-age fort and barrow.  There wasn’t much to see on the hill itself, but the view all around was spectacular!

As Aurelia had finally fallen asleep in the Ergo, Isabella *had* to fall down and *had* to unleash a blood-curdling scream right in Aurelia’s ear.  *Had* to.  Aurelia woke up and joined in Isabella’s cries and thus the girls signalled the end to our day’s adventures.  We stumbled along a few paths until we found one heading in the general direction of the Daisy Bank carpark and eventually found our way back to the van.

An absolutely stunning and memorable time was had by all and we have a neat collection of fossils (along with these great photos) by which we can recall our efforts.  I think Leckhampton Hill and fossil-hunting just might become our new go-to sunny day activity.  Who wants to go on our next adventure?