Category: 2017 Travels

Today was a good example of how things work out, one way or another. We have been armed with lots of resources for finding possible overnight campgrounds, but have been playing it one day at a time, hoping for open sites, or first come, first served locations. This works out pretty well actually, unless it is a Friday or a Saturday. So on this particular Saturday, we were heading toward a very popular destination for summer campers – the Palisades Reservoir on the border between Idaho and Wyoming. Our plan was to head toward the general vicinity and stop at places as we went.

The first place we actually stopped, Riverside, was not listed at all in our resources. And the place we wanted to go, Calamity, appeared to have lost its most direct route, in favor of a six mile gravel access road. So we checked out Riverside, but were unable to locate the camp host. Still, it looked like there were places free. We decided to head up the road just a little to the next place because it was right on the reservoir. There we spoke to a camp host who not only told us they were full, but also told us that our next several options along the way were full. So, we decided to go back and go with Door #1 at Riverside.

This time the camp host came riding up on his golf cart and started …. helping. This guy was a character. And he was also probably the highest individual I have ever met. He even pointed out how dilated his pupils were, so that I’d understand why he was able to deal with impatient campers in such a laid back manner. It’s a good thing the maximum speed of his golf cart was slow enough that I didn’t worry when he took me around to all the campsites so I could choose one. In the end, we had a nice site secured, and a best buddy of a camp host. What could be better?

We had some time left in the day, so we drove across to the other side of the river to look for hiking trails. We didn’t find any. But we did find a constant scattering of RVs and campers over there, who seemed to have just found nice spots and set up by the river. We weren’t sure how that all worked, like do you need a permit to do that? Can you do that anywhere? Or how would you know where it was ok? So many questions.

For dinner, I grilled up some bratwurst and asparagus and we watched Ospreys taking off from their nests, high up on Osprey poles. That was new information. Apparently it’s a thing to put up tall poles for Ospreys so they don’t nest close to power lines. After learning about that, of course we started noticing all of the Osprey nests on top of power lines.

We need to start a clothing line. Instead of the typical “Happy Camper” motif with cute little trailers and smiley faces, we want to have a line called “Anxious Camper.” It would have a smiley face too, but maybe with worry lines or something. We do tend to worry about nearly everything, despite the fact that it does all work itself out, one way or another, every time. I mean, we still enjoy the experience, we just have a lot of free floating anxiety that usually only disappears after a five mile hike. Like we’re neurotic dogs who need to have a run every day to calm us down. We’re working on it.

Total miles: 208.8, 17.3 mpg, 4 hours 32 min. There were hookup sites at this place, but we took one closer to the river. There was pretty good cell service. Verizon has been consistently better than ATT for this whole trip.

Catching up on blog posts retrospectively, I’m going to say the day we drove to Dillon, MT, metaphorically matched the haze that filled the sky. There were fires raging all over the western part of the country, and some of the smoke may well have been coming from a huge fire in the foothills of the Sierras, in Mariposa, CA.

This was a work day for Richard, so we stuck with I-15 South the entire day. There were certainly parts that were pretty, but the majority of the driving was long and tedious, and by the end of the day, we needed to do a little regrouping because I was starting to feel rather lonely. We knew there would be odd times like these on this trip, so neither of us was surprised really. What helped was taking a walk around the weird, mosquito filled, RV park at the end of the day. The owner of the park was very friendly and chatted with us while we politely listened and ineffectually batted at the mosquitos. By the morning, all was well, but emotional bumps in the road are bound to happen while traveling, and this was one of them.

Total miles: 221.7, 15.0 mpg, 4 hours 38 min.

After three days with no hookups and spotty service, it feels good to recoup and catch up on the blog. Following our stay in Glacier, we are sort of kind of heading back home, though we’re not done exploring just yet!

Richard did need to get back to work world today, so the KOA destination and reasonable drive time suited us both just fine. We took Highway 2 east along the bottom of Glacier and then headed south, down Highway 89. These are both designated as scenic highways, but they sure are different. Highway 2 is just a delight for the eyes, with rivers, lakes, mountains in the background, pretty much the whole way until you get to the junction. 89 starts to turn into a high plains, sweeping hills of grain and cattle.

There wasn’t a lot to report from the day. We stopped in a little touristy place for a rest stop, drawn in by dinosaurs and a sign for ice cream. Added benefit was a bear display so I got to send bear pics to our son, whose birthday it is today. I guess the other noteworthy item was that we saw stunt jets swooping about as we approached Great Falls. That was fun.

An afternoon of unlimited wifi later and I’ve got the last week’s pictures posted. Responded to some emails, generally worked on feeling a little less “out there.” All good.

Total miles: 199.4, 4 hours 53 min, 18.6 mpg.

Glacier is a really big park. I don’t think we fully understood this when we chose it as a tentative destination. From the southwest, we conveniently hit the park through the Apgar entrance, located next to Lake McDonald. This has one of the largest campgrounds and is a popular spot for visitors. We were able to get rolling pretty fast Monday morning and were inside the park, scoping out campsites, by about 8:30. This park has a very efficient system for updating the status on all the campgrounds and we could see that most of them were indicating “Full” by 10, over prior days. We were nervous about getting a spot, but needn’t have been. There were many empty places, plus others where people were packing up to leave that we could have snagged. We got a really nice spot in the B loop, but all of the sites are nicely spaced, pull through, curved sites, that are mostly level. There are no electrical hookups, but there are water spigots. There was not much solar unfortunately, but it did make for nice scenery under all the trees. Plus, though it was not hot exactly, it was warm, and the shade made for a perfect afternoon lounging spot.

Once we got situated and all registered, we needed to orient ourselves to the park, so we biked a short and wildflower bordered path to the Apgar Visitor Center. One thing I’ll say about Glacier, they do a dandy job of scaring the crap out of you over bears. There are big signs posted everywhere showing the “bear frequented” areas. That seemed to include just about everything, so even on the bike, I was scanning the bushes continuously. The first order of business for me was to obtain some fabled bear spray and learn how to use it. There was a ranger talk in the afternoon, so we went and got lunch in Apgar Village before returning for our arms training. Our particular ranger was not all that alarmist about it and shared that part of the reason they are so up in arms about it is because they want people in the campground to take storage of food VERY seriously so that the bears don’t come to associate campgrounds with food, like they do in Yosemite. She also pointed out that bears don’t typically want to eat or kill humans, even if they charge. Most aggressive encounters happen because a bear got startled, or because someone got too close to a cub. So if you just talk to each other while on the trail, probably nothing will happen. If you see a bear on a trail, she said to “give it the right of way.” No problem. Done. Then talk in a normal, soft voice, and slowly back away. The bear spray is supposed to be a last resort and I have a feeling people are far more likely to tear gas themselves than the bear. In fact, during our three day stay, we heard an entire shuttle bus was taken out of commission because a bear spray canister went off. Fun.

We then decided to get a preview of the famous “Going to the Sun Road,” which Richard had long been anticipating riding on his bike. There are no bikes allowed on this road from 11am to 4pm, and we soon understood why. You also cannot take big vehicles, and definitely not trailers, past the Avalanche campground on the eastern side of the lake. Very good call there. We were happy to try out the park’s shuttle system and head up to Logan Pass, the midpoint. We didn’t have to wait too long to get a shuttle from Apgar to Avalanche, but then we had to disembark and wait for a much smaller bus to make the trek up to Logan Pass. That took a while. But we did catch one, and I will say, I’m glad I wasn’t foolhardy enough to just jump in and drive that thing. In fact, seeing the last stretch of road from the less deathy side of a shuttle bus will do me just fine for a lifetime, thanks. I think I may have passed out if I’d been driving myself. Here’s a video of the road. I took some pictures through the shuttle bus window until I couldn’t even do that. Then, I just looked intently at the rock wall, rather than the abyss.

We decided not to try to take the shuttle all the way to the eastern side of the park and back again because we were quickly becoming aware of the limitations of the shuttle system. In short, there are really not enough buses in circulation to handle peak visitor populations. It would be a hard thing to manage, way more challenging than the short valley floor of Zion. But if they want to reduce car traffic along that road, they’ll need to be able to cut down the wait time of 1-2 hours at shuttle transfer points. That would also mean hiring a lot more drivers, which would be hard too. We listened to the driver taking us down from the pass telling a woman he’d only been driving a bus since July 1st and that after 4 or 5 of these trips, he’s “whipped.” Great. Please stop talking and keep your eyes on the road. How many is this for you today by the way? Another driver literally ran his bus into a stop sign and had to sheepishly call in to the dispatcher to report the damage to both shuttle and sign. I don’t think it’s their fault, or the park’s fault. I think they just need a lot more drivers and busses, and that would take a lot of money. Not the best time for the National Park System. I wish I could be a wealthy donor and make that happen for them. Meanwhile, there was a Red Bus Tour we wish we’d known about ahead of time. It was booked through the end of the month, alas.

Tuesday was bike day for Richard and lake day for me. He got up really, really early and headed out, not sure if he was going to try the whole thing, or just go up to “The Loop.” I leisurely go up and got myself out onto the lake. My goodness that was glorious. Also, the best cell reception I got was from the middle of the lake, so I got to catch up with a few people and check in on home. Good all around and I scoff at the technology haters. Richard did indeed make it all the way to the top and opted to take the shuttle back down, rather than try to descend that thing.

That afternoon, we went to Lake McDonald Lodge and caught a boat tour. There we learned about the massive fire that swept through the park in 2003, wiping out 17% of all burnable land. We also learned that most of the park stays buried under snow far more than not. The season is very short if you’re not into cross country skiing. Also, apparently, all of the glaciers in Glacier National Park will be gone by 2030. Sobering. After the lake tour, we drove out as far as “The Loop” to take in some of the scenery. Around 7pm appears to be the perfect time to do that road. Most of the traffic has died down and the 3-4 construction points that stop traffic dead have cleared for the night. If you’re going to do that road, I suggest you either reserve a Red Bus Tour, or drive it before 10 or after 6.

Wednesday we went for a hike out to Avalanche Lake. Given some debate, and not having yet given up on the shuttle system, we decided not to try to drive because parking is mostly gobbled up by 10ish and I didn’t want to have to rush. The way out wasn’t too bad and we spent several hours enjoying the steady hike upwards to the lake. Was I worried about bears? Of course I was. But we were both packing, holsters ready and hanging from our backpacks in easy to reach locations. Also, there were so many people on the trail, all making plenty of noise, it just didn’t seem likely any bear could stumble upon us accidentally . I think if a deer had surprised us on the trail, it would have gotten nailed by at least 20 canisters and we would all have spent the rest of the day rolling on the ground crying. Didn’t happen, but would have been “funny.” This hike is about 2.5 miles one way, mostly up on the way out. It winds its way along a rushing river most of the route, through a dense forest of cedars, pines, ferns, huckleberry bushes, and a profusion of wildflowers at the top. The reward is well worth the effort and the color of the water is just beautiful. Also, to my surprise and delight, there were pit toilets up at the top. There is a boardwalk trail, very accessible, down at the beginning that is only about a mile loop and it’s easy to do the whole thing as part of the longer out and back.

When we returned to the shuttle stop, there were already maybe twenty annoyed people waiting in the sun for a bus. There was also a harried guy on a radio, trying unsuccessfully to lift spirits and make it seem like something was going to arrive soon. The crowd only grew and became more annoyed. Two small busses came, and left, to take people up to Logan Pass. Finally, after over an hour with no shelter, a large bus arrived. Most people disembarked like you’re supposed to. But, there was a group of 17 people at the back who were flat out refusing to get off. Much heated discussion ensued between the angriest of them, the bus driver, and the guy with the radio. Ultimately, they stayed on and the driver crammed as many of the waiting people as possible into the aisles. We stood right among the shuttle system protesters and soon learned the reasons why they stood their ground. Apparently, their wait at Apgar had been two hours and they kept being told the next bus would come “any minute,” so it became an irrational challenge. They had like ten small kids with them, all in various stages of melt down. It was hot outside, and they had brought no food because they were terrified of bears. Given all of that, I support their position of not getting off when they were told they had to. We chatted during the long drive back and they were nice people. Little did they know I was pondering peppering them just a few minutes earlier. Maybe bear spray is too much power for me to handle.

All in all, we loved this park very much. We didn’t even scratch the surface of exploring it. There are several distinct sections of the park, most on the eastern side, that we didn’t even see. We would like to come back and do some of those areas, especially the eastern side of the Going to the Sun Road. We liked staying at Apgar, though our battery did hit 50% on the last night there because there just wasn’t enough sun to keep up. In retrospect, we should have turned the fridge down to 1 instead of 2 upon arrival. Might have helped. We liked the plan of staying in a “whatever” kind of place, super close to the park the night before. Good visit all around and another pin goes in the National Parks map.

Today was all about driving scenic Highway 2 toward Glacier. It was another long drive, but far more pleasant to the eye. The place we reserved is right at the foot of Glacier National Park, and our hope is that because of the strategic positioning, we will be able to scoot in early and grab a first come, first served site inside the park.

We stopped a couple times on our way and one of the stops included a hike out to see Kootenai Falls. I thought this was going to be a short jaunt to a lookout point, but turned out to be a couple of miles all told. There was a “Swinging Bridge” we had to go look at, but not cross. No thanks. I concur with the designation of Highway 2 as scenic. It was really beautiful.

When we pulled through Kalispell at the end of the day, we stopped to shop and stock up on supplies, not knowing what kind of services there will be inside the park. We packed up the fridge and cupboards for at least four days, filled gas, and got to the RV Park around 7. We were tired. And hungry. And the site was not that easy to back into. And I’m annoyed the rear view camera is still not working. And they only had a 50 amp service. But…. we crankied our way through set up, I found the 50 to 30 amp adaptor we’ve never used but was purchased just in case, and we charged up all our devices. Oh yeah, and I had the first of possibly several beers.

Tomorrow we enter the park and I’m hoping for a break from driving for a couple days. There are reports of possible Aurora Borealis visibility tonight, and that would be cool. We’ll see if I can stay up for that.

Total miles: 233.3, 18.2 mpg, 5 hours 50 min.

This was a long day of driving, but we wanted to set ourselves up for a nice stay in Glacier. Plus, most of the eastern part of Washington is pretty desert like, as well as hot, so it was kind of ok to rush through it.

We got a nice early start, only to be delayed by some kind of motorcycle event that got us stuck and waiting at the gas station until they all pulled out. There must have been hundreds gathered there, getting ready to head out on an organized memorial ride. After that it was clear, though somewhat monotonous, sailing. This part of the state seems reminiscent of the golden hills of California. Quite a dramatic contrast from the lush, western end of the Columbia River.

Between Spokane and Coeur d’Alene, there was a Cabela’s store and I had in mind a pair of hiking pants that could convert from shorts to pants, in the case of mosquito filled hikes. Here I will complain just for a moment over the lack of outdoor clothing for plus sized women. It was a challenge, but I did find something that I think might work. Also, it was almost worth the drive to Idaho just to experience this Cabela’s. It was huge. There was a mountain with running waterfalls in the middle of the store and a huge aquarium. We enjoyed this stop quite a lot and purchased several items geared towards battling mosquitos. I felt mildly compelled to buy a gun there and outfit myself all in camo, but was able to resist the urge.

We got to Farragut State Park with time left in the day to go for a paddle on Pend Oreille Lake (aka “Ponderay”). That was a nice campground, with spacious sites, nice bathrooms, lots of greenery between campers. We got a place in the Whitetail campground, and there were, I think, four other named loops, so it’s a big park. I must be getting lucky with cancellations at these places because they have been completely booked. I’m sure it helps to only be looking for one night stays. Nice places so far!

Total miles: 311.4, 17.9 mpg, 6 hours 11 minutes

Another full day! Richard began the day online again, but this time he headed out to finish the Columbia River Gorge ride before it got too hot. This took him from where we were, to The Dalles, at the eastern end of the ride. While he did that, I did food shopping and went to find a place to dump tanks. FYI, the Memaloose Campground can only be reached from 84 going West, and you have to go through a Rest Area to get there. Very confusing, but job accomplished.

We met up at a day use park in The Dalles and continued on a short way to the campground. This is a nice place, right on the shore of the Deschutes River. We had a bit of tension right on arrival because one of the pins for our sway bars got seriously jammed. We think a tiny rock got in there and rubbed until the metal formed a little ridge. We hammered it out just so we could see what was what, then we were able to borrow a metal file from a friendly camper and Richard filed off the nubbies. All better now, but I was tense. Richard kind of threw me in the water with my kayak and sure enough, that relaxed me right away. I really love that boat.

I paddled upstream to a little island and lo and behold, a huge beaver came out of the water, right up onto shore. He went about his business, not much minding that I was there, grabbed a big branch off a tree, and carried it with him back into the water. That was pretty cool. I can check off beavers and martens now from my mammal spotting list.

Both this campground and the Viento campground are situated right next to a railroad line. Not much they can do about that. Even with my hearing aides out, I can definitely hear the trains at night. It doesn’t bother us, but it probably would if we didn’t have solid walls. The sites by the river are very nice, with access to the river and lots of room. There are no campfires allowed, which is a definite plus for Richard, since they make him cough like he’s going to die.

Tomorrow we hope to make tracks northward into Idaho.

Total miles: 63.1 (with a back and forth on 84), 14.2 mpg, 2 hours 22 minutes.

Full day today! Richard woke up just like it was any other work day and hopped on his laptop. Meanwhile, I blogged, showered, and messed around until we were ready to hit the road around noon. By 2:30, we’d gotten to Troutsdale on the Columbia River. This place is all about the Lewis and Clark Trail and the town itself looked very historic and fun. From the Visitors Center, Richard got his bike off the rack and headed out for an epic ride along the Columbia River Gorge. Happily, I got to drive it.

I had not fully remembered how beautiful this place was, having driven through nearly thirty years ago. It’s an E Ticket ride, as Richard put it. I stopped along the way at the Bonneville Dam, drawn in by signs saying there was public access. There is, in fact, quite the Visitor Center going on there! They not only had your requisite informational displays, but also a viewing area where you could see under the water where the Salmon and Lampreys swim en masse against the current. Outside, you can see the “Fish Ladders” built specifically to support the local fish population. This was a side trip well worth it!

It was a short drive then for me to arrive at the campground and get everything set up. I must say, I am very used to our hitching/unhitching routine. Like I can totally do it by myself, but I get thrown. For example, removing the passenger side sway bar is Richard’s job, while the driver’s side one is mine. So it’s like I have to think it through when I undo his bar. I got to hang out by the windy river bank for a while until he finally rolled in around 7. I had dinner all ready for him, so now all his work buddies kind of hate him for what a great life he had today.

Sounds like his ride was amazing and he saw many waterfalls I missed from Highway 84.

Tomorrow we continue along the second half. One thing I gotta say about Oregon State Parks: they allow you to reserve the day before. That is very handy. I got a place further along for tomorrow, so all is relaxing for tonight. Great day.

Total miles: 143.3, 16.8 mpg, 3 hours 34 min. (not sure why I’m still noting these stats except that it has become an OCD thing that now I have to do)

If I had musical talent, I would write a ballad of appreciation to KOAs. These places may not be scenic, or private, or remote. But they have full hookups, laundry, and almost always an available site. The wifi at this particular KOA is amazing. You should come here just to experience how fast it is. Ok, maybe not. But you get my drift: we are happy, connected campers.

We headed out from Crater Lake, down one contact lens, and needed to get back to reliable cell service for Richard’s work, so we headed (slowly) back to I5. On our way, we stopped at Diamond Lake to fill up on gas (expensive!) and I would love to stay at that place some time. There is a beautiful campground with sites right near the water. However, we moved along and got a good recommendation to stop at Clearwater Falls on Highway 138. Here, I got myself into a pickle and came out a towing Ninja. When we pulled in to the picnic area, the little side road for 25′ RVs was closed. There was no one else there, so I continued to the regular parking lot. It was getting tight, but at the end was enough of a paved parking area that I was pretty sure I could turn around. I pulled in to the spaces on the right hand side, with more spaces across from me. Again, NO ONE there. Just as I was putting the car in park, another car came and parked across from us. Hmm. No problem, we’ll just wait for them to leave before trying the turn around. Then we walked like 50′ to the waterfall and five more cars showed up. People were understandably irritated with me because I’d taken up five spaces and made parking across the way more difficult. And now I wasn’t sure I could even get out. Stressful. However, with about four, super slow, back and forths, I got turned around and out! Gotta say, that was Pro Level trailer backing right there. I have no idea exactly what I did, so I’d rather not repeat it, but I was fairly pleased with myself.

Highway 138 by the way, is lousy with beauty and waterfalls and river views. That was a fun drive.

Eventually we emerged back onto I5 and pulled into the KOA around 4. In the meantime, Richard had arranged with a local optometrist to have his prescription sent over and he was able to go pick up a new contact. I was as impressed with his ability to get things done as he was with my backing prowess. Once at the KOA, we did “replenish” things and he buckled in to get some serious work stuff done. Good stop all around.

Oh yeah, we finished watching “Lost”. What the heck??

Total miles from Crater Lake: 234.0, 18.6 mpg, 5 hours 47 min.

What can you say about Crater Lake? The blue on that thing in full daylight is unreal. I insist we made a day trip there, thirty or so years ago, but Richard has no memory of ever having seen it. We had no trouble getting a spot at the Mazama Campground inside the park because there are lots of first come, first served sites available. In fact, we were able to score one at the end of the B loop with a beautiful view and the sound of Annie Creek rushing below. Many of the trails are still closed due to snow (in July!), but we were able to do the Discovery Point trail along the rim and the Godfrey Glen loop trail through old growth forest. Both were spectacular.

Getting to Crater Lake was glorious. We took Dead Indian Memorial Road (controversial name there, to be sure, and someone had painted over the “Dead” on the road sign) all the way to Highway 140, to 531 to 62. Those routes are listed as “scenic” and they did not fail to deliver. Cell service was sporadic or nonexistent the whole way there. In Mazama Village, we couldn’t take it and splurged for paid wifi, which was so slow as to be hardly worth it. We are admittedly addicted to internet service. Yes, Richard does need it for his work, sure. But I also “need” it to check in with home and look things up, like what was that weasel thing we saw run across the path?! It was a Pacific Marten, by the way! This is my new favorite animal and it is the most adorable thing I’ve ever seen. I wish I were faster on the draw with my camera because it ran across the path right in front of us and paused for a few seconds before disappearing over a ridge. I will say the mosquitoes at Crater Lake were impressive. I guess there’s something to be said for living through a drought because nowhere in California have we seen that many.

Things to note about the Mazama Campground: there were no showers or working water spigots, or a dump when we were there. Looks like they are working on a plumbing overhaul, but do be prepared. There is a lot of construction happening on the stretch of road that runs along the west rim of the lake. We did not go that way. Also, Rim Village was really packed and we would have had a hard time parking if we’d had Dory with us. Better to unhitch and make that an out and back. There are many visitor information displays at Rim Village explaining how this lake came to be. We also saw a couple of tour boats taking people to Wizard’s Island. I’m not sure how you get to those boats, but that would be an amazing thing to do.

Total miles from Ashland: 85.0, 15.8 mpg, 2 hours, 27 minutes. Site B 7. The sites are color coded by size. We could have gotten away with a 28′ yellow site, but the one on the end was so nice, and there were lots of empty 50′ red spaces, so we didn’t feel bad taking it.