travel

Our road trips around the U.S.

2013 Trip Four, Out West, May 18

Posted on May 18, 2013 by Ed Heimel and Chris Klejbuk, MN travel bloggers; ckeh72@comcast.net

Today’s theme is waterfalls. That is not all we did but the waterfalls overwhelm the other views. Yosemite is large, we are staying two nights in the southern end. Sunday we head out to Yosemite Valley, the most visited and well known area of the park.

Today we drove an hour to Glacier Point, and a few other intermediate view points. The drive there is scenic but does not compare to the final destination view. Glacier Point is at 7200 feet and you look down into Yosemite Valley about 4000 feet below you.

Yosemite Falls

Nevada Falls, upper
Vernal Falls, lower

In the distance, at different angles, you can see Yosemite Falls, the tallest in North America (2425 feet and 5th highest in the world)-although there is a series of three falls to make up the whole. You can see Half Dome, a well known granite rock, Nevada Falls (594 feet), Vernal Falls (317 feet), as well as the valley and mountains in the background.

Half Dome

When we stay in Yosemite Valley, the angle does not allow us to see the entirety of Yosemite Falls so driving to Glacier Point is well worth the time to get there-and back.

The crowds started to pick up as we were departing Glacier Point. It is a weekend but not yet peak season. I am glad we chose to come before Memorial Day. The crowds are down and the waterfalls are close to peak, they only diminish after this.

We walked in the woods around McGirk Meadows. On the drive there, we saw a coyote along the side of the road. He (?) did not move too much from the side of the road, our guess is he was looking for handouts from people. No one we saw cooperated. We had a quick snack along the South Fork of the Merced River.

Wild flowers along
south fork of Merced River

Our next hike was to Chilnualna Falls, a relatvely small falls accessible from an area close to Wawona Lodge. These are no where near as high as the others but we are able to get close to the water and feel the spray.

Chilnualna Falls

Our last stop was at the Pioneer Yosemite History Center. This is a collection of buildings important to the development of Yosemite as a park.
1. Stage Coach transportation depot-to bring visitors here,
2. park ranger office-to protect the park (actually US Soldiers were stationed here to protect the trees before the park service was organized, the Buffalo Soldiers-black cavalry were one of the groups. There is a picture of them stationed in Mariposa Grove using a dead sequoia tree trunk as a building
3. artist studio – artists popularized the park to Easterners and helped create the willingness to create national parks
4. Homestead cabin-part of the early settlement of the area, there was a great deal of sheep herding here
5. Bakery-people have to be fed
6. Blacksmith-those darn horses keep a blacksmith busy.

Wells Fargo Transportation depot

So we finished up the day back at the Lodge, gorgeous weather today and are writing this sitting outside.

Chris and Ed

2013 Trip Four, Out West, May 16 and 17

Posted on May 17, 2013 by Ed Heimel and Chris Klejbuk, MN travel bloggers; ckeh72@comcast.net

On Thursday, May 16, we went to Gen. Grant Grove. This is another section of the parks which highlights several fantastically large sequoia trees. It was a more crowded area with several school buses from California towns close to the parks.

General Grant, third largest sequoia

“Happy Family” set of trees

The Sequoia trees continue to impress, but after a while it is difficult to tell them apart. The sequoias were being discovered after the Civil war which is why so many trees were named as they are.

Dogwood are blooming

We were unable to make as many walks as we wished. Due to the unavailability of Internet at the lodge and the fact laundry facilities will not open until after memorial day, we had to do some housekeeping chores during the day. Normally we would do these in the evening.

Thursday afternoon we drove to Hume Lake. It holds a Christian youth camp that is open to the public. We took advantage of the coin laundry facilities and their snack shop.

Hume Lake

Our laundry options for the trip were to either pack a lot of clothes, buy more clothes on the trip, or do laundry. We chose do laundry.

Surprisingly, the drive to Hume Lake was all asphalt roads. Of course, it was curvy mountain roads. The lack of dirt, one lane roads was a blessing.

We had our bag lunch next to the lake and had a shake and a malt from the small snack shop. The camp must be a popular location. One tour bus used it for a lunch destination for its passengers also.

At our last dinner at the lodge, we sat next to a couple from the Los Angeles area. They came with a group of 10 others for a three day vacation. They have twin boys now age 28.

Our lake Thursday evening

Our drive to the Wawona lodge was uneventful on Friday. It took less time then had been predicted. The earlier arrival allowed us to visit the Mariposa Grove of Sequoia trees.

I think we have had our fill of Sequoia trees. We finished with a walk through the grassy Meadows and forest across from our lodge. Dinner tonight will probably be at the Wawona lodge. They do have music, maybe we will even have an alcoholic beverage.

A walk in the woods.

Wawona Lodge

Ed and Chris. May 17

Categories: road trip, travel | Tags: Gen. Grant Grove, Hume Lake, Mariposa grove, Sequoia trees at yosemite National Park, Wawona Lodge, Yosemite National Park | Leave a comment

2013 Trip Four, Out West, May 15th

Posted on May 15, 2013 by Ed Heimel and Chris Klejbuk, MN travel bloggers; ckeh72@comcast.net

Today’s theme is water. We drove the Kings Canyon Scenic Byway. It is a 35 mile drive to nowhere. The end of the road is called “Roads End” and you get to turn around. The state had plans to push this and one other road over the Sierra Nevada Mountains but stopped due to money and the impact on the national parks. It is unlikely either will ever be completed.

beginning the drive on Kings Canyon Scenic Byway

beginning the drive to Kings Canyon

There were plans to dam Kings River in the 1940s. The creation of the national park stopped that. Even now, only a portion of the park is accessible to people like us, the rest is wilderness open to overnight back packers. Not our style.

Kings River from above, two forks joining together

view of a portion of the road into the Canyon

The road descends from 7000 feet to 4600 feet, once again on curvy,cliff’s edge type roads. Once at the bottom, you follow the river for many miles as it roars along. Even though it has been a relatively dry winter, the river right now is full and making great froth and roaring loudly. It was fun to drive along it. We could even hear the roar at a road side stop several thousand feet above it.

Kings River

Kings River #2

Kings River at Zumwalt Meadow

Our walk was shortened: construction crews were working on part of the trail and major portions of it were closed. But that was okay, we have more walks ahead of us.

Grizzly falls, site of lunch

We had our bag lunch alongside a smaller falls leading to the river. Actually while quite nice, it was our second choice. As we were searching for a picnic table after reaching Roads End and heading back on the 35 mile journey, we turned down a road that seemed fine but ended up being one lane, rutted, and isolated. But we held firm and made our way back to civilization.

our one lane road adventure

We made it back up the mountain and are now at Grant Grove Village where there is Internet and pleasant weather.

Categories: road trip, travel | Tags: Kings Canyon Scenic Byway | 2 Comments

2013 Trip Four, Out West, May 14

Posted on May 15, 2013 by Ed Heimel and Chris Klejbuk, MN travel bloggers; ckeh72@comcast.net

Tuesday morning sunrise

Tuesday morning sunrise over lake at lodge

We got up early Tuesday morning to finally take sunrise photos. I think these two present very nicely.

Tuesday was a day of trees. We drove down a piece and visited the area with numerous large sequoias. The sequoia tree does not grow as tall as the redwoods, but grows thicker. Thus, this grove of sequoias has some of the largest trees in the world, as measured by total volume. They are tall too, frequently over 250 feet.

On our way in Monday, we passed without knowing it, an area where the trees might have been even larger today but they were cut down in the late 1800s-which led to the creation of this park. (Kings Canyon was formed to prevent flooding of the King River-you will see that in Wednesday’s blog.) The trees cut down in the 1800s were not even financially profitable, they shattered when hitting the ground and transportation costs were very high.

Ed and General Sherman

Chris and the Twin Sequoias

Once again, a picture is hard to present perspective but we have tried with the shots here. The climb to the General Sherman-the largest living tree in the world-is steep. The General Sherman is 52,500 cubic feet of tree. Its circumference at ground level is 102.6 feet.

After the Sherman, we went on a hike in the forest. On this Congress trail, there are trees named after the House and Senate. As we headed to our next stop, we came upon the road construction where they only let cars go by at 25 minutes after the hour and 50 minutes after the hour. (I found this out by asking a construction person, the details are not listed anywhere, just expect delays.)

Chris in the Senate

We had our bag lunch and then headed out for another walk along a meadow with numerous sequoias. There was one family there of parents, two kids and grandparents. The grandparents took a picture of the family dwarfed by the tree.

sky and trees

in the forest

Once again we noted the large percentage of international visitors. They certainly are helping the economy. Dinner at the lodge is at tables of ten, we have been able to find some Americans to talk to you (not all of the international visitors speak English). We met people from Houston and central California so far.

We went to bed early. No Internet to work on, no TV in the room,TV in the lodge is on American Idol or some such.

Ed and Chris, Wednesday the 15th for Tuesday the 14th.
4 pm

Categories: road trip, travel | Tags: Congress trail, General Sherman Sequoia tree, Sequoia trees | 2 Comments

2013 Trip Four, Out West, May 13

Posted on May 15, 2013 by Ed Heimel and Chris Klejbuk, MN travel bloggers; ckeh72@comcast.net

Editors Note: Sorry for the delay in posting. The Montecito Sequoia Lodge is supposed to have Internet but it is down. We arrived Monday the 13th and it is still down as of today, Wed. the 15th. Cell coverage is basically useless at the lodge although it can be received sporadically as we drive through the parks. We have stopped at a visitors center to use our wifi hotspot which is usable at this location.

Leaving the eastern side of the Sierra Nevada Mtns

Red Rock canyon

Monday, May 13
Monday was a transition day as we drove from the almost treeless east side of the Sierra Nevadas to the forested western side. Of course there are still rocks. Indeed, as we drove south, we came across the Red Rock Canyon State Park (CA version, not the NV one by Las Vegas.) Interesting formations but not a large formation.

farming. Fruit or nuts, drove too fast to notice but did see oranges laying on the ground frequently

We gained in air pollution, fruit and nut farms, and oil pumping as we went around the south side of the mountains and made our way up the San Joaquin valley. This valley is heavily irrigated and is a major agricultural producer in the country. We stopped at a local fruit and nut farm stand and picked up a few samples. The manager threw in a bag of navel oranges-which we knew we would not finish so we gave them to the chef at the lodge.

Going up the valley before the parks

oil pumping

We had made a conscious decision to have today’s trip be an easier drive. We passed up a turn off to go through the Sierra Nevada Mtns around Red Rock Canyon and we decided to enter Kings Canyon-Sequoia from the north which avoided the more curvy road with constuction if we entered from the south.

The Sierra Nevada range is much more eroded, sloping and forested on the west side than the eastern side. They are much more impressive from the east. We are glad we made that choice in our travel planning. Now that we have seen rocks and rocks and rocks from New Mexico, Utah, Nevada, and part of California, the forests are a welcome change. The coolness and pine smell are a joy.

western side of Sierra Nevada Mtns as we dead for the lodge

western side of Sierra Nevada Mtns as we head for the lodge

There are not a lot of lodging choices here. Our place can be described as plain, basic, and economical. It reminds us of the old time lodges in northern Minnesota before they began upscaling.

Three meals are provided, they have been very good. Buffet meals with plenty of vegetarian options and healthful fruit, etc. Even bacon for breakfast today (Wed.) (And unlimited milk.)They make a bag lunch to take with us as we hike and drive the two parks. Actually it is two parks and a forest. The Sequoia National Forest and the two parks are interweaved. Our lodging is in the forest.

Ed and Chris, Wed May 15 for Monday May 13th

Categories: road trip, travel | Tags: Montecito Lodge, Sequoia National Park | 1 Comment

2013 Trip Four, Out West, May 12

Posted on May 13, 2013 by Ed Heimel and Chris Klejbuk, MN travel bloggers; ckeh72@comcast.net

Today was our third day around Independence CA on the eastern side of the Sierra Nevada Mountains. We have used the Independence Inn as our base. Neither of us have been to this area before. Most of the day was oriented around the Ancient Bristlecone Pine Forest.

To get to the Bristlecones, we drove along US 395 and passed Palisade Glacier, the southernmost glacier in the US.

Palisade glacier up in the mountains

Palisades glacier

The drive continues along two other isolated roads. The first is a state road which is usually closed in winter. The second is the road leading to the park which also just opened recently. The turn off from US 395 is in Big Pine, CA, at an elevation of 4000 feet. When we reached Schulman Grove, we were at an elevation over 10,000 feet. (We were not at the summit of the area.) Luckily not all of the road was along steep cliff drop offs.

These trees are the oldest recorded living things on earth! Some of the trees have been dated back more than 4500 years. Bristlecone pines grow in only 3 locations; here, Bryce Canyon and Great Basin in Utah. They grow in dolomite soil at elevations over 9000 feet. The harsh conditions are part of the reason they thrive here-others are not able to.

Bristlecone pine

“young” bristlecone

The discovery occurred in 1953. Since then, research is ongoing about the trees and how they continue to evolve, how slowly they decay, and if weather climate change will affect their future.

Bristlecone pines

bristlecones

We hiked two trails totalling about two miles. Not a great length but given the altitude and the elevation climb in the hikes, we were satisfied.

This wraps up our eastern Sierra section pretty much. We will come down the Tioga pass north of here in two weeks when we leave Yosemite and head for Park City and the Grand Tetons but that will not entail any lingering. The mountains are beautiful and we include a few more shots as a parting gift to the area.

We have tentatively decided to use major roads to get to Kings Canyon-Sequoia National Parks tomorrow and forego using Shermans pass, another winding road over the mountains that would make the trip 30 miles shorter and at least 30 minutes longer. We have many more mountain roads in our future.

Eastern side of Sieera Nevada Mtns as seen from White Mtns

Eastern side of Sierra Nevada Mtns as seen from White Mtns

Just a side note: Some of you may know but in case you did not, if you click on any one of the pictures, you normally will get a full screen view and it shows more detail.

Happy Mothers Day to all!

Ed and Chris, May 13, 10 pm

PS. We celebrated Mothers Day by going to Mass and a post Mass breakfast sponsored by the Knights of Columbus at the Our Lady of Perpetual Help church in Bishop CA. Chris was also given a rose. Her breakfast was complimentary.

Categories: road trip, travel | Tags: Ancient Bristlecone Pine Forest, Independence CA | 2 Comments

2013 Trip Four, Out West, May 11

Posted on May 12, 2013 by Ed Heimel and Chris Klejbuk, MN travel bloggers; ckeh72@comcast.net

Another day, another mountain road. This may become habit forming, as well as nail biting.

We started the morning at the Manzanar National Historic Monument. This was one of the World War II Relocation Centers for Japanese Americans. The site recounts the history of “relocation” with exhibits, personal accounts of Americans of Japanese ancestry that were forced to relocate, re-created barracks and markers of the various camp buildings. 10,500 people lived here in an area one square mile.
This area is a reminder of the frailties of civil liberties.

Exhibit center at Manzanar

The comments of the internees were moving. As may be well known, no cases exist of Japanese Americans being convicted of treason or espionage. No similar camps existed for German Americans or Italian Americans. The camps were supposedly for their protection but as one internee put it “the guards were facing in,not out.” Japanese Americans in Hawaii were not relocated.

Manzanar cemetery

At the cemetery, it was noted that for those who died here, it was important not be buried behind barbed wire. The cemetery therefore was located outside of the wire. Now, only 6 bodies are buried there, the other bodies were relocated after the war at the request of the families.

Our second stop was the Movie film museum in Lone Pine, CA. Lone Pine is home to the Alabama Hills, a rock formation that was used by hundreds of movies as their setting for westerns, science fiction, and even Indian (Asian) settings. It started with silent films and continued through recent movies like Ironman and Django Unchained. The museum contains memorabilia from many of these, although the focus is on westerns like Roy Rogers, Tom Mix, Gene Autry, John Wayne.

Lunch was in a local cafe and then off to Mt. Whitney portal. Mt. Whitney is the highest mountain in the lower 48 states. We did not climb it. You need a permit and plenty of skill, endurance, and acclimation to high altitudes, none of which we possess.

One view from Mt Whitney portal road

Jumping off point for hikers to Mt. Whitney

What we did do though was drive from Lone Pine at elevation 3500 to the Mt. Whitney trailhead jumping off point at 8700 foot elevation. The drive was once again steep and had dramatic drop offs but with less sharp turns. Pictures do not do it justice; it is hard to shoot pictures under these conditions.

Ed at the falls

At the end of the drive were two waterfalls. We lingered for a while, enjoying the views, the pine scent, and the cool air as compared to the hot valley.

At the bottom of the drive from Mt. Whitney are the Alabama Hills which were mentioned above. We drove around the area envisioning the scenes of past movies.

Alabama Hills

Ed May 11 11 pm

Categories: road trip, travel | Tags: Alabama Hills, filming of western movies, Manzanar National Historical Monument, Mt. Whitney | Leave a comment

2013 Trip Four, Out West, May 9 and 10

Posted on May 11, 2013 by Ed Heimel and Chris Klejbuk, MN travel bloggers; ckeh72@comcast.net

Well rocks seem to be the theme of the trip recently. Our drive from Vegas ran up a steady incline by Red Rock Canyon, Spring Mountain, etc. As we approached Death Valley, the mountains continued on both sides and grass was rare.

Badwater Basin, Death Valley National Park

Artists Drive, Death Valley

In Death Valley, we stopped at Badwater, the location of the lowest elevation in the U.S. (282 feet below sea level) We drove Artists Drive, an area where the rock colors vary dramatically, although noon sun light is not the preferred lighting to show off the colors. We had our PBJ sandwiches for lunch in the shade at the Visitors Center (103 degrees at this time.)

Lunch time in Death Valley

Sand dunes, did not see many of these

Chris and I had seen Death Valley previously, about 3 years ago during the month of January. We knew that we would only view a few places in Death Valley and then keep moving on to the eastern side of the Sierra Nevada mountain range where we would spend 3 nights. Thus, the drive from the middle of Death Valley over to the eastern border was new to us-and a complete surprise.

Part of the drive out of Death Valley

We thought this drive would be mainly flat, a continuation of the desert floor. Instead in the space of about 15 miles we went from 280 feet below sea level to 5000 feet in elevation, back down to about 700 feet above sea level, up to just under 5000 feet in elevation and back down to about 3000 feet. This route is rated as a scenic drive, no doubt due not only to the fantastic views of mountains and valleys, but also because of the curvy road. What fun driving can be!! Pull outs are rare so pictures again are frequently windshield shots.

The road sign advises one to turn off their air conditioning to avoid having your car overheat. We complied, our Saturn worked well and had no difficulties but why take chances?

View from Father Crowley overlook

As we came over the last mountain of the East Mountains, the Sierra Nevadas are directly in front of you. Both ranges have numerous peaks in the 13,000 to 14,000 foot elevation and the valley in between seems hemmed in due to their heights. One of the lakes we passed, Owen Lake is basically a sand pile as the City of Los Angeles years ago bought the land around it and diverts the water from the Owen River via aqueducts to LA for its citizens.

First view Sierra Nevada Mtns

Sierra Nevada Mtns at Lone Pine, CA

The Sierra Nevada range is impressive as it rises steeply in front of you. Our hotel in Independence CA is right in front of Mount Williamson and Mount Whitney is just a short distance away. The mountains are snow capped right now and two of the places we were considering visiting are not open. The East Mountains get very little rainfall as the Sierras create a rain block and suck up the moisture before it gets to the East Mountains.

Mount whitney is to the far right with just its peak visible, Lone Pine Peak is large peak in center of image

View by our motel

Mount Williamson

Dinner was at Jennys Cafe, a local, home cooking type of place in this town of about 600 souls. Food was very good with hefty quantities. The piece of strawberry rhubarb pie is still in the room fridge, to be eaten shortly.

Ed May 10 10 pm

Categories: road trip, travel | Tags: CA, Death Valley National Park, Independence, Sierra Nevada Mountains | 5 Comments

2013 Trip Four, Out West, May 8

Posted on May 9, 2013 by Ed Heimel and Chris Klejbuk, MN travel bloggers; ckeh72@comcast.net

This was a work day. Professional travelers need to make sure they have planned ahead and know enough to have flexibility when new situations arise. Thus, the day was spent in 3 ways.

First, room work of making some future reservations and doing research on the iPad. Second, pool time reading travel books and soaking in the whirlpool to make sure legs are in shape for walking.

Third, relaxation time. Although this included a brisk 50 minute walk down the Strip to Paris (and back later), it was the show of Jersey Boys that provided the relaxation. Dinner after the show was at La Creperie where we shared a chicken crepe and a mixed berry crepe. Excellent and not as expensive as the other Paris restaurants.

View from room

A comment on America?

One has to stop by the Bellagio water show

The Strip at night

Categories: road trip, travel | Tags: Jersey Boys, Las Vegas | Leave a comment

2013 Trip Four, Out West, May 7

Posted on May 8, 2013 by Ed Heimel and Chris Klejbuk, MN travel bloggers; ckeh72@comcast.net

Tuesday May 7th we woke at 5 AM and could not go back to sleep. Whether is was because we went to bed early or because we were the only people staying at a cabin that night, I am not sure. But in any event we were packed up and headed out by 6 AM, silently hoping the skies would clear and we would get a gorgeous red/orange/purple sunrise over the mountains.

It was not to be as we hoped. However, the early start was fortuitous anyway. We were taking UT 12, a designated national scenic highway. In the 90 minutes we saw antelope or some such, the sun shining through clouds at an overlook on Boulder Mountain, drove through two miles of ice covered road at the 9600 foot pass over Boulder Mountain, and came into the area of Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument.

View from Boulder Mountain

View 2 from Boulder Mountain

As we descended from Boulder Mountain, we entered a valley area at Boulder, UT. This is the area which received its mail by mule train until 1940. The road was not paved until 1985. We took a chance on the Hell’s Backbone Grill only to find out it was also Zagat rated, written up in the NY Times, locavore food, etc. (My whole milk was organic and cost $3 for what I consider a small glass.) But the meal was excellent and a nice place to unwind from the mountain ice drive.

Hell’s Backbone Grill in Boulder, UT

Our planned stop was Kodachrome Basin State Park. (In the future, how many people will know what Kodachrome stood for??) But we were still on scenic Highway 12 and going through a portion of Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument with more spectacular sights. Portions of the road, however, while smooth, were curvy with dramatic and long drops off the cliff on each side of the road.

Driving in Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument

On our way to Kodachrome, we stopped at an Interagency Visitor center for the forest, national monument, etc where we saw a German couple riding bikes with a young person in a child carrier. Not only was there sporadic rain that day, but the roads are not what I call bike friendly. Hope they ended up okay.

Kodachrome continued the beautiful scenery and offers cabin lodging which maybe would be a good option for the future. We took several short hikes here, getting caught in the rain once–those Haleakala ponchos came in handy.

Kodachrome Basin State Park

Kodachrome Basin State park

We left Kodachrome headed for Las Vegas. We thought we would take the drive through Zion versus Cedar Breaks national monument but would not stop or take pictures since it had been a full day already and we had been to Zion before with Bernie and Tony.

Well those were good intentions but halfway through the drive we just had to take some pictures. We did no hiking but for those of you who have not been to Zion, here are a few quick shots.

Zion National Park

Other than New Mexico level cross winds on I-15, with semi-trucks, and mountain curves for Chris to handle, the rest of the day’s journey was uneventful.

Ed May 8th 5 pm

Categories: road trip, travel | Tags: Boulder Mountain, Grand Staircase Escalante National Monument, Kodachrome Basin State Park, Utah highway 12, Zion National Park | 1 Comment

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2013 Trip Four, Out West, May 18

2013 Trip Four, Out West, May 16 and 17

2013 Trip Four, Out West, May 15th

2013 Trip Four, Out West, May 14

2013 Trip Four, Out West, May 13

2013 Trip Four, Out West, May 12

2013 Trip Four, Out West, May 11

2013 Trip Four, Out West, May 9 and 10

2013 Trip Four, Out West, May 8

2013 Trip Four, Out West, May 7

Archives-trips start in Jan. 2013, some of earliest posts removed.

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