Tom and Me at the Game

…It Won’t be Long Now…

We’re over halfway done with the trip so it’s starting to have the feel of “It’s all downhill from here.” We’ve seen so much cool stuff in the past few weeks that it almost seems like a bit of information overload to process it all. We’ll do our best though for the rest of the trip; give it the “ol’ college try.”

We arrived in Seattle late last night and stayed with Brandon. Today we headed downtown to see if the Northwestern was in port (you know what I’m talking about if you watch Deadliest Catch). Unfortunately, it was out to sea so we didn’t get a chance to see it up close. I saw a bunch of other fishing vessels but it just wasn’t the same. Oh well. We also walked around Pike Place Market. It was cool to see them throw the fish when people order it. However, even more amazing than that was how cheap the fresh bouquets were – and they were huge, colorful, and wonderful. Of course, we also saw the Space Needle (didn’t go up in it, but were next to it.)

To wrap up the day, we went to Safeco Field to watch the Tigers play. Despite the fact that they lost, it was still a great night and believe it or not, this was our first game of the season. We got the chance to watch the Tigers take batting practice which is something that you don’t usually get to see at home. Afterward they all went in the dugout except for Joel Zumaya who stopped to sign autographs (I was waiting with a bunch of other people at the top of the dugout.) I yelled to him that I saw his picture at Dos Pesos, the little Mexican restaurant in Belleville that the owner said he frequents (I guess he lives in Belleville) and he looked up and smiled, so that was cool. I seized the opportunity and threw him my Tigers hat and he signed the underside of the bill. So yeah, that was my Tigers story for the evening and it’s pretty cool.

The Mariners have much better between-inning entertainment than the Tigers. It really made the time fly by and the ground crew's little dance was pretty darn entertaining. They do a lot of cool things for the fans and the fans themselves were actually nice, despite the fact that we sported Tigers' garb. As luck happened, we were a couple of seats down from 5 Tigers fans, including an old lady who was ready with her rally cap in the 9th. It's great how people are baseball fans for life.

Tomorrow we’re off to Olympic for 2-3 nights and then it’s down to Crater Lake and the California Coast. I’m not sure what we’re doing in Olympic, but we might try and do some sea kayaking or something a little different from the hiking we’ve been doing everywhere. I’ll be neat to see a different bit of scenery (the Rockies have been great, but we have broader aspirations!)

Bighorn Sheep - Scroll down for a few days

Goats on the Trail

Logan Pass - Start of Highline Trail

Take the High Road

“It looks like it should be on a putt-putt course.”
(Tom, regarding one of the many little streams that cascade down the rocks in mini waterfalls.)

When you are next to one of the aforementioned cascading streams, there is no mistaking it bubbling and gurgling as that of water making its way over rocks and somersaulting through the air. The sound that is much more common is when there is the barrier of distance, hills, or other obstacle between you and the water. At that point, the sound it makes can best be likened to the wind that rustles the very tops of the ash and maple trees as a storm approaches from a distance. It is to this sound that we hike and fall asleep to (not at the same time, thank goodness!).

We had a chance to get up close and personal with many of these little rivulets while hiking the Highline Trail yesterday. This 12-mile trail parallels the Going to the Sun for the first bit. This is also a very steep and narrow section so they thought fitting to put a cable into the rock to hold onto (mind you, this is not a guardrail, as it’s probably better to lean close to the rock to hold onto something rather than away!). The first 8 miles or so of the trail was actually really casual with minimal grade change. There was a section where we walked along the “Garden Wall” which seemed like an old stone wall in a cottage garden, covered as it was with a great variety of plants and flowers. We were probably a week early to see the best blooms along this section. The view from this Highline Trail was breathtaking/amazing/indescribable/awe-inspiring…you get the idea. From our vantage we could look down at the pine forests and river or across the valley to cascades off the opposite mountain or off in the distance to matterhorns and arêtes. Spectacular. Oh, and we saw a bit of wildlife in the form of mountain goats. The first one I saw was in the distance around the bend and it took my brain a second to register that the light colored thing lumbering toward me on the trail wasn’t a grizzly bear. We passed where it crossed the trail and then turned around to see if we could see it again and it came up the hill, this time with a little kid in tow. Further up the trail we saw 5 more goats, this time coming right down the path. We just stood off the trail a bit and let them pass below us. There was an older goat with what could have been her yearling twins from last year and then 2 young’uns from this year. The little ones were playing as they ran up and down the trail but every time they got too close to the mom she would stop abruptly and turn around and give them “the look” and they would stop completely and just start walking again. Of course, that lasted about 2 seconds and then they were playing and getting into trouble again!

The hardest part of the trail was probably the last 4 miles (but thank goodness we went the direction we did!) as it was a continuous downhill. Now, I know what you may be thinking: 4 miles downhill doesn’t sound that bad (and it sure sounds better than 4 miles uphill!) but it really was quite a strain on the knees and gives new meaning to “toe jam”. Glacier has free shuttles than run throughout the park so we were able to hike this 12 mile trail from one point to the next and catch the shuttle back to our car, which was definitely a good thing!

Today we broke camp and set out for Seattle. Initially, we were going to try to get as far as we could and camp and then make the rest of the way tomorrow but we’ve decided to try and push through to get to Brandon’s and hopefully crash there for the night (I say hopefully because I haven’t had cell reception so he doesn’t know we’re coming yet!! Surprise!!) Before leaving the park today we did a short 3 mile hike out to Hidden Lake because we overheard someone on the bus yesterday say that he saw Bighorn Sheep out there. We made it all the way to the lake without seeing a Bighorn (though Tom swears he was looking for them). A couple there said they had seen a bunch on their way up, but maybe they had went to the trees by now so we began our trip back to the car with a bit of a dejected feeling, sad that we weren’t going to see Bighorn sheep on the trip. Then, as we were crossing a snowfield, one of the other hikers told us that there were Bighorn just around the bend and sure enough, up on the ridge we saw the elusive sheep. I’ll have to use the zoom on the pictures but even from a distance (and through the binoculars) their large curled horns were quite impressive. So one more animal is checked off the list and now we’re on to Seattle and Olympic National Park, where hopefully we’ll see some water animals.

PS-I'm posting from Brandon's in Seattle now...this place is electronics heaven!

Tom at Virginia Falls

Me at a Waterfall

Wild Goose Island

Glacier is Gorgeous!

I had a bit of an epiphany today. Well, I guess I don’t know if that’s true because it is a realization that I’ve had in the past and I think lurks in the subconscious of many: Often the work and chores we perform feel tedious because they seem to lack purpose. This idea has come to me before (why it’s so hard to clean a house but easier to cut and haul wood) but it returned today. We had our hotel yesterday (yes, it was a nice reprieve and a chance to rest) but today as we got to camp and set about fetching water and establishing shelter, I felt a sense of purpose as opposed to the almost restlessness that I had at the hotel. It was weird, but it was almost like all the options and possibilities at the hotel stressed me out.

Ok, enough personal psycho-analyzing, here’s what’s going on in the trip (instead of my head): We got to Glacier in mid-afternoon and its motto holds true (where the prairie meets the mountain). The mountains are absolutely fabulous to look at and unlike the Tetons, once you are in the park (at least in this eastern area), you are surrounded by hills and pinnacles. And the water!! The lakes and streams are the most gorgeous blue-green that you can imagine; I doubt the pictures will do them justice. As a comparison, imagine the waters of the Caribbean with a color twice as vibrant and a temperature half as much.

We decided to do a little hike today (that inadvertently turned into probably over 6 miles) up to some waterfalls. There were some people jumping off of a rock into the water at the base of a waterfall; we considered it but hadn’t brought extra clothes, suits, or anything else like that on the hike. The temperature is still scorching so it is an immense relief to encounter the waterfalls in the forest as the air cools and becomes more refreshing. For an even better experience, one can walk up next to them and feel the mist. So that’s about it for today, you probably won’t get this until we’re in Seattle (7/14). Until then…

PS-sorry, no good quotes from Tom; I try to remember the funny/silly/stupid stuff he says but I usually fail…I’m used to the “in one ear – out the other” system when he talks! :-)