Newhalem Camping and North Cascades

We just got back from a very fun family camping trip up to North Cascades National Park. Our kids love camping, but they seemed exceptionally excited for this trip - I guess because we don't normally go anywhere during this coronavirus quarantine.

We planned this trip only about a week in advance, so we ended up getting the only site that was available in our time frame. But we loved it! We stayed at Newhalem Creek Campground, at site #129 off of Loop A. It was a walk-in site, but we loved it because we got away from the cars and most of the people. We felt pretty isolated, which was nice. J and I both said that we might want to keep staying at walk-in sites in the future, for that reason. When we go back, we think we'd also like to try site #121 off of Loop A too, because that one is right next to the Skagit River (and #124 seemed like a decent option by the river too). I think we might like this campsite better than the Colonial Creek campgrounds, because there aren't as many people.

There was a bird that must live in the trees near our campsite, because it kept singing for most of the mornings and evenings that we were there. We never could see it, but its song was very long and distinctive with a lot of trills, staccato notes, and ascending/descending scales. We kept trying to figure out what it was without success, and I finally downloaded an app on my phone to help with identification. It is a Pacific Wren, and its call is so pretty! You can listen to it here.

Violet found a cedar throne. Lucy also commandeered the cedar pile and would use the rotting wood pile to hold her stick staffs upright

We got to go on several hikes, and some of them were right in our campground area. On our first day we went to the Rock Shelter trail to see an ancient native shelter. This trail is also within walking distance of the Trail of the Cedars Nature Trail, and the signs were informative and interesting (although some were outdated). We liked seeing the power station, too. Here are some of the things we learned:

• How to identify Oregon Grape, with its serrated leaves and waxy blue berries
• Hemlock trees have droopy tops, their needles are irregularly spaced, and the pine cones are on the ends of the branches
• Vine maples have smaller leaves and are more shrub-like than the big leaf maple trees. The vine maples provide a smaller tree canopy (maybe 20-30 feet high) over the big leaf maples that help to form a higher canopy for the forest
• The heartwood of a cedar tree can rot, but the tree can stay alive because the sapwood core around the heartwood is resistant to rot (due to the acid in the sap). The phloem is one of the other rings around the sapwood. This diagram is similar to the one that we saw on the trail.

The Trail of the Cedars goes along the Skagit River and is right by a bridge that leads into Newhalem

Trail of the Cedars Hike

We also noticed these white, almost translucent-looking plants growing around our campsite. I actually had just seen them the day before when I took the kids on a hike up the Whittaker trail in our Issaquah (see picture below). The kids and I commented about how the plants looked like "ghost flowers," and it turns out that the plants are known as "ghost plants" (also called "corpse plants" or "Indian pipe"). Now that we have spotted them, I wonder if we will see them everywhere in the PNW. I learned that these plants do not need sunlight to grow (weird!), which makes them even more creepy.

We also visited Diablo Lake during our short trip. We took the Diablo Lake Trail only about two miles up, to an overlook of the lake, and then headed back down. But the hike was worth it, and I loved how the terrain was varied across different types of forests and rocks. trail. We took the trail only up about two mil

Diablo Lake overlook from the highway after our hike

Diablo Lake overlook from the highway after our hike

J took several fantastic photos of our trip too, which have been uploaded here.

On our final morning we packed up our campsite and then visited Ladder Creek Falls before heading home. It was neat to walk around one more power station too, and the kids were interested in hearing the electricity buzz from the wires. There were signs mentioning that a light show was held at the falls, but I couldn't figure out if that was still happening (some things in the park were closed due to the coronavirus). It would be fun to return here when the light shows is on in the evening!

Memorial Day Weekend: Sun Lakes-Dry Falls

This year I have developed a bad habit of wanting to go on a little family vacation at the last minute. Such was the case with our trip to Portland in January, our snowshoeing trip in February, our trip to the Grand Canyon in April, and now, most recently our camping trip over Memorial Day weekend. I decided that we should go camping just the Thursday night before, and we literally found the last online reservable campsite that was available for Memorial Day weekend. It was in the Sun Lakes-Dry Falls State Park (see map), so fate decided where we were going to go!

We decided to spend one night in Ellensburg, since we knew we would have a late start (I also had to lead a tour at the art museum that weekend). It ended up being a very fun little stay; we slept at a motel and ate dinner in a really cute cafe. I also was glad to have internet access, because I was trying to give students feedback on their essays that were due the following Tuesday!

We arrived at the Sun Lakes-Dry Falls park around lunchtime and set up our tent. We ate lunch at our site, and then went over to the Visitor's Center to learn more about the falls that used to be in this area as a result of Ice Age flooding (coming from the glacial Lake Missoula). We learned at the center that there were several periods of flooding that occurred in the Ice Age. It's impressive to think that these falls originally were four times the size of Niagra Falls! The talus rocks that have built up at the base of these cliffs did not originally exist when the falls formed; the buildup of rock has occurred with weathering and erosion.

In the early afternoon we took a hike along the Deep Lake trail (1.6 miles long). We timed it this way, so that Lucy could have a nap in the backpack (see picture below). It was really fun to go on this trail, because it was so diverse. Although we walked near the shore, sometimes the trail consisted just of piles of rocks. Other times we walked through tall grasses or higher up on cliffs. There wasn't very much shade at all, and the cliffs started to get a little bit high near the end, so we ended up turning around after walking for about a mile down the trail. Maybe one day we will go back to see what lies on top of the cliffs!

Sammy on the hike. This is just about the place where we turned around.

We tried to go swimming in Mirror Lake after our hike, but the water was a little too cold. I think we only stayed for about twenty or thirty minutes! This lake was a short two minute drive (within the park) from our campsite.

 Sam says he likes to go camping so he can eat s'mores. Maybe that's why we all go!

It was really windy during dinnertime and it was also windy during the night. We didn't think about this, but it makes sense that so much wind would blow through the campsite, since it is nestled at the base of two Ice Age cliffs. The wind just funneled through the area. We still were able to make dinner and enjoy some miniature golf at the resort located next to the campsite. I think if we came back to this area, we would want to stay in one of the resort cabins to avoid the wind!

We went boating in a pedal boat on Memorial Day morning. Lucy and I sat in the back to help distribute the weight, but I realized that left J do to most of the pedaling (although Sam helped a little bit). 

This was such a fun weekend. Lucy did great on this camping trip. It took her a while to fall asleep, but she didn't cry or flip out in the tent, so that was good. I realized that this is the first camping trip that she would even remember, even though she was the fourth camping trip she's undergone in her little life.

Michigan Hikes: Otter Creek, Bass Lake, and Cathead Bay

A lookout off of the Pierce Stocking scenic drive at Sleeping Bear Dunes National Park

Last week I went on a trip to gather with my old roommates from college: ixoj, zillah, and phin. Apart from a brief reunion at a wedding this summer, we haven't spent time as a group since our trip to Turkey in 2012. I arrived in Chicago a little early, because I wanted to spend the day at the Institute of Art — I hope to write more about my fabulous experience in another post, either here or on my art history blog.

Zillah picked me and phin up in Chicago, and we spent the night in South Bend. Then we drove up to along Lake Michigan the next day, and we picked up ixoj at the airport in Grand Rapids. Our plan was to camp and backpack in the area of the Michigan peninsula. Our trip did have a few disappointments though - one of the largest being that we weren't able to get on a ferry so that we could backpack on South Manitou Island, but we were able to find a last-minute place to stay at the Wild Cherry RV Resort. Some standout memories include hiking up a dune at Sleeping Bear Dunes National Park, eating some fabulous Moomers ice cream, having a little frog hop in our car while we were driving, scores of gnats swirling around the backseat of the car (around me and phin), and seeing a skunk walk past our campsite at the Leelanau State Park campground.

One day went on one large hike and another short hike. First we combined the Otter Creek and Bass Lake loops together (as part of the Platte Plains Trail system), which made about an eight mile hike. The trails were relatively flat, which was nice. We saw lots of various different types of terrain on the hike, and scores of different types of mushrooms. We also saw two toads, which was fun. I don't remember ever seeing an actual toad in person before.

Bass Lake 

We tried to figure out why all of the trees were dead on one side of the trail, but green and leafy on the other side of the trail. 

After the hike we briefly visited the beach next to the trailhead parking

The other hike that we took that day was rather spontaneous. That evening we wanted to go swimming in Lake Michigan to cool off (and bathe!). We had already pitched our tent in the Leelanau campsite, and we got a recommendation to go to the Cathead Bay beach nearby. It was about a mile walk to the beach from the trailhead, and the trail went through a lovely forested area with tall trees. Since we arrived later in the evening, we pretty much had the beach to ourselves almost the entire time. The sun was starting to set, and it was really lovely. This quick little trip to the beach was one of the most memorable parts of our trip, I think.

2015 Road Trip: Montana

After our trip to Utah, we caravanned up to Montana with my sisters V and C, as well as my brother C. Our ultimate reason for going to Montana was because of a family reunion in Kalispell, but we went up two days early so we could camp in Glacier National Park.

We brought Sam's long-range walkie-talkies on the trip, so we could have them between the two cars while we drove. It was fun to chat back and forth intermittently, and they also became useful a few times when we needed to pull over and get gas, etc.

We finally brought the Landcruiser to the place of its bumper sticker's origin: The Miracle of America Museum in Polson, Montana. We didn't have time to go through the museum exhibits, but we went in and bought a few things from the gift shop.

We camped at one of the group sites at Apgar Campground in Glacier National Park. We liked this campground because there were a lot of trees and the campsites were spaced out well, so you had a little bit of privacy. This also was a good choice for a few other reasons, since the campground is on the western side of the park (closer to Kalispell), and it also wasn't affected by wildfires! Half of the park was closed off beyond Logan Pass. We did go on some great hikes, though, which I will write about in another post.

At first, Lucy wasn't sure about eating breakfast at Sykes (which was too bad since she was wearing a Sykes t-shirt that used to belong to Sam)... 

…but then she changed her mind and really loved Sykes. She actually was uncharacteristically wired while we were at the restaurant, probably because she was overly tired.

Grammie and Gramps' home on 3rd Ave W 

 Grandma and Grandpa D's home

The Brintnall House (on the historic record). Grandpa Chet and Nona lived here. Aunt Tete and Uncle Oz were married here. 

We had our reunion at Woodland Park. My cousin Adam spearheaded the reunion. We are so grateful that he took initiative and gathered everyone together!

I met some third cousins who live in North Bend! 

Phil, my second-cousin-once removed, playing the bagpipes! 

I like this picture of the Thereses looking at pictures together. 

 Sam with his second cousin and aunt!

Mostly second cousins, but the girl on the right is the daughter of Megan, of my third cousins. (Does that mean that Sam and this little girl are fourth cousins?) 

Before we left to drive home, we said goodbye to C. It will be two years until we see him again, since he is leaving to go to Hong Kong soon.

We left the park and started driving home immediately, with plans to spend the night in Coeur d'Alene. The drive was absolutely gorgeous, mostly because the sun was a brilliant orange-red (due to all of the wildfire smoke in the air). The cloud layer was hazy enough, too, so we could directly look at the sun. And since we were driving directly west, this gorgeous orange-red ball was constantly in our field of view. At one point, we drove alongside a river, and it was neat to see the orange-red color reflecting on the ripples of the water. It immediately reminded me the orange reflections in Monet's Impression, Sunrise. I tried to take some pictures of the sun as we drove, but none of them did justice to the actual appearance. So I'm just going to conclude with Monet's painting instead, so I can at least have something to remind me of the drive home:

Claude Monet, Impression, Sunrise, 1872