The West

Carole and I have taken several trips out west. And I took one without her to go backpacking. And when I look at some of the photos I took and recall the places I saw, I still find it hard to believe that I got to go and see those sights and experience those moments.

Two Medicine, Glacier NP.

Devils Tower.

Iceberg Lake, Glacier NP,

Bison, Black Hills.

The Needles, Black Hills.

Blue Lakes, Colorado.

Rocky Mountain National Park.

Longs Peak, Rocky Mountain National Park.

Weminuche Wilderness, Colorado.

Weminuche Wilderness, Colorado.

Absaroka Mountains, Yellowstone National Park.

Geyser, Yellowstone.

Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone.

Sleeping Grizzly bear. Lamar River, Yellowstone NP.

Bull Moose, Grand Tetons National Park.

Joshua Tree National Park, California.

Outside Joshua Tree NP.

Carole, in Joshua Tree NP.

I Got Yer Alpenglow Right Here!

For most of my hiking and backpacking career I kept hearing about this thing called "alpenglow". It apparently is this type of sunlight that can only be seen for a few brief and magical seconds every afternoon at sunset (and, some say, at sunrise). Since I'd spent my whole life in the outdoors here in the East I was told that there was no alpenglow. That it could only be seen in "real" high country, such as that in the American west, or in the European Alps (from whence the name), or in other such very high mountain regions.

Well, shee-it, I figgered. I'd have to hail for points far afield to ever see this here "alpenglow".

Finally, I got my chance to visit California in the 90s. Somehow, though, I never saw this magical light show. Well, I was in the peaks south of the Sierra, so maybe they don't have it there, I decided. Better luck some other time and some other spot.

In 2010 I went to Yellowstone. I intentionally hung around the mountains in late afternoon just a-huntin' fer that thar alpenglow. No luck. Well, shee-it. Perhaps the mountains have to be over 11,000 feet high and not the measly 10,600 feet where I was looking.

Then, in 2012 I went backpacking in the San Juans in Colorado. Peaks there higher than 14,000 feet! If I was going to be able to see this phenomenon in the lower 48, then this had to be the joint!

Finally, my hiking companions called out one late afternoon! "Alpenglow! On the peaks! Aplenglow!"

So I went a-runnin' with my trusty camera and looked up.

Okay. So that's it. Alpenglow. Yes, it's gorgeous. Yes, it's pretty. Indeed it is nice to see the red and orange and gold of the filtered sunlight striking those lofty summits.

And what a load of shit I'd been fed for fifty goddamned years. Alpenglow is nothing more than the same, exact sunlight I'd seen uncounted times when hiking in my native South or in the Northeast.

Alpenglow.

Fuck that shit.

Alpenglow, Chicago Basin, San Juan Mountains, Colorado.

Alpenglow, Seneca Rock, West Virginia.

I got yer alpenglow right here! Sharp Top, Peaks of Otter, Virginia.

Decisions.

I haven't gone on a serious backpacking trip in some time. Just overnight journeys. So I'd like to tackle a serious trip in 2015. I've been trying to narrow it down to something relatively safe and not too dangerous, since I'll be doing the trip solo.

The trip that keeps popping to the forefront is the John Muir Trail in California. I reckon I'll be sharing the trail with a fair number of other backpackers, but that's okay. I can't expect complete solitude on a trail like that in an area as scenic as the high Sierras.

I'm actually in a lot better shape than I have been in quite some time, so I'm not as worried about altitude sickness as in the past. In 2012 I really suffered from that when I was in Colorado and it took me about eight days to acclimate to high altitude. Since I've lost a lot of weight and have much better lung capacity these days, it's not quite the concern it was in the past couple of years. But I'll have to arrange for some days to acclimate before I begin the long trek (over 221 miles).

There are some other long distance trails that appeal to me, but many of them are here in the East and I've frankly just about tapped out my enthusiasm for eastern destinations. Or I could do a healthy section hike of the Pacific Crest Trail or the Continental Divide Trail...but the JMT is the one that keeps appearing in my thoughts and desires.

We'll see. Until then, I'll plan for that one.

Montana. (Absaroka Mountains.)

Colorado. (San Juan Mountains.)

California. (Cottonwood Mountains.)

Joshua Tree

Joshua Tree National Park is one that surprised me. I wasn't expecting to enjoy it all that much, but I was very impressed with it. We were only able to spend one entire day there, so barely scratching the surface is an apt description of our time there. Still, we saw a lot and I was even able to hike to the summit of one peak.

Someday I'd like to visit again. But Carole says that she saw enough of it and doesn't care to return.

We'll see.

Carole at Skull Rock.

Carole took this one of me at a small reservoir in the Park.

Typical terrain in Joshua Tree. I got some kind of cactus bud stuck in my boot walking around out there. It was NOT easy to remove from the sole of said boot. Jove help you if it gets in your flesh.

This was actually really high up on a jumble of boulders. Maybe thirty feet up. I have several online pals who go to Joshua Tree to rock climb.

Vulnerable Critters

The little critters of nature. They don't know that they're ugly.

Some of these photos were taken with the worst digital camera I ever owned--a small Samsung. It was awful, but I bought it when we were out in the middle of nowhere and our main camera had broken (the one I had dropped off a 50-foot waterfall two years before). You do what you have to do.

Hermit crab, near Panama City, Florida.

This little raccoon was casing the campsite trying to figure out how to steal food from us. This was just as he was giving up the fight and leaving. He had been stationed on a branch above us trying to get an angle.

Cormorant doing his cormorant thing. Cedar Key, Florida.

I'd never thought of the Brown pelican as particularly colorful until I stopped to look at this one in Cedar Key, Florida.

Box tortoise on the trail to Little Lost Cove Cliffs here in North Caorlina.

Taken with the crappy Samsung. White tail fawn. Big Spring National Park, Missouri.

Doe in Manatee Spring State Park, Florida.

Ground squirrel in Joshua Tree National Park, California. At about 5,000 feet above sea level.

Red-winged blackbird, Panama City, Florida.

This Suwanee River slider was laying eggs in the sand at Wakulla State Park, Florida.

Some kind of evil looking caterpillar on a rock along the Appalachian Trail near McAfee Knob, in Virginia.

Lizard. De Leon Springs State Park, Florida.

Big Trip 2013

Carole and I plan our big trips at least a year in advance. Carole didn't have enough saved vacation time for us to take a really good vacation this year. So now we're planning for a big vacation in 2013. And we've decided to hit California again, this time visiting San Francisco and a couple of the parks, including Yosemite.


We're starting to sketch it in, now. We have to decide how much time we'll spend in the places we want to see the most. After that, we'll look into budgeting airline tickets, car rental, lodging, and so on.

But Yosemite is another of the places I want to see before I croak. So that's where we're headed in 2013.

Joshua Tree National Park

Self portrait taken yesterday in Joshua Tree National Park. The place was fantastic! I'll post details when I return from California.