The Road not Taken

I'm not getting philosophical or anything, today was really about the road not taken. It wasn't that we chose not to take a road, it chose for us not to take it! ;) This morning we packed our cooler, and headed out for the Spring Valley Scenic Drive where we were going to catch a series of ghost towns. The first two ghost "towns", Cleveland and Yelland, were actually ruins on working ranches, so we slowed but didn't stop. The third, Piermont, promised many ruins and was "just" off the road. "Just" turns out to be quite a subjective descriptor. We went as far as we could before turning around. Okay, perhaps we went a smidge further than we should have, but we stopped before the car got completely high centered! We did have to switch drivers because one of us was FREAKING out. Any guesses on who that was? ;) LOL. 

Having our adventure thwarted on our last day was a let down. Plus, it was 107 degrees, so any sort of hiking was out. We decided to drive east away from Baker and see what was just down the "other" road. Turns out that's Utah, and another secret entrance to the park. 

The road was MUCH better here, and took us through an ever changing landscape. 

There was remnants of a significant wildfire, washed out roads, and abandoned ranching. We saw lots of interesting birds, a few jackrabbits, and a ring-tailed cat that was stalking me. I ran faster than you think I can in Crocs at 107 degrees. But alas, or fortunately?, it was totally a log that looked like it had a face. And ears. And a tail.  Something that my BFF apparently knew the whole time. 😂

We did run this road all the way to the end, and enjoyed another car picnic, watching birds and plants, and enjoying the absolute stillness. 

This was a GREAT day, and one that wouldn't have happened without the initial disappointment and pivot of the morning. Some of the best adventures are the spontaneous ones!

We ended the day with a nice breeze, tolerable heat, and a delicious meal on our deck. 

This has been an amazing trip, and one that we wouldn't have taken had we not been in a pandemic. We chose Baker for the National Park, and it's total lack of people; we have seen less people than a normal day at Fresh Foods, and have had more adventures than we even planned! We have been inspired by the adaptivity of life, and the resilience of the human spirit. This has been a hard season for all, and this little trip to the desert was just what we needed. 

Tomorrow, homeward bound!

#findyourpark

This is our park. ☺️ Although if you’re a National Park fan, I think you would agree that the park you’re at is your park. In several days we can gush about Zion, or Arches, or a number of other fabulous parks, but today this is the one. 

I was INCREDIBLY worried about the hike we did today. I’m not great at elevation. Yesterday, just driving through the park I felt nauseous and dizzy, had an immediate headache, and started sobbing over mineral rights (don’t ask). Several years ago at the summit of Haleakala I had to be helped back to the car, such was the fog I was in. My BFF traveler is still haunted by a turn-back hiking trip in Yosemite, so our fears were warranted! 

The hike to the bristlecone is not actually that far. It’s about 3 miles in all, but it starts at 10,000 feet and gains another 600’ (so says the ranger). In addition about half the trail consists of loose rock sized from pea gravel to footballs. We took it really slow-more of a stroll than a hike, used our inhalers and boost oxygen, and WE MADE IT!! 

Bristlecone pines are some of the oldest living things on Earth. They thrive under harsh conditions at high altitudes, and are slow growing. Slow growing as in their needles can live to be 40 years old! Using an increment borer (which I've unbelievably used before!) to take cross samples, they have been able to approximately date these trees, whose origins date back to BC times. We saw one that was "born" in 100 BC, and another from 1230 BC. Can you even imagine? I say approximate because what they know now about these pines is that part of their adaptivity is that they may not produce a growth ring in years where the conditions are especially harsh.   

Another part of their adaptivity is that they can keep growing on one side or section even if part of the rest of the tree has actually died.  This guy is at least 3200 years old, and still growing! To quote Jeff Goldblum in one of my favorite movies, "Life will find a way." 😉

In a time where the world seems like it's falling apart, in like 17 different ways, this was a little slice of heaven. These pines have been in the same exact place for 3000 years, so it's not like they have "seen" it all, and yet they somehow instill the peace of the long-view. These trees "think" in terms of millenniums, not days, or months, or even decades.  It was awesome to stand in the presence of these ancient pines.

I'm quite sure we will not pass this way again, but we will not leave here unchanged.  💟

And back to reality, it turns out 10,500 feet is about where I cap out. Nauseous and dizzy I stumbled back down the mountain under the watchful eye of mom. 

My great-grandparents were hikers and patrons of the park system. They hiked trails on several continents, and loops around Portland, or loops around our house on 85th. :)  I don't remember a time when my great-grandfather wasn't moving. His granddaughter, in her 70th year just strolled around the bristlecone pines at 10,000 feet like it was no big deal.  He would be so proud. ❤️ This love our parks, this love of the wild places and the spirit to discover them, this is our legacy.

What you leave behind is not what is engraved on stone monuments, 

but what is woven into the lives of others. ~Pericles

Dang Hot!

When we made the reservation here in Baker, I started thinking about all the weird places we have stayed as a traveling duo.  The Portland airport Ramada certainly comes to mind as the hotel I'm most glad I survived. I slept in my clothes and showered in my shoes. Gross. But just as a weird place in general, there were several in Italy that might fit the bill, namely the room in Venice. It was so small that the door hit the queen sized bed, and you had to crawl across it to get to the other side. That, and I woke up with 27 mosquito bites on my face from the canal! I thought this "End of the Trail-er" would join this dubious list, but is has turned out to be quite delightful. It is a portion of a trailer (other part is storage) situated nearly on the grounds of Great Basin National Park. We awoke to this amazing view this morning. 

Isn't it beautiful? We poured some iced coffee and took our scones outside for breakfast. Where it was already 99 degrees!! Planning for an in-the-car day, we packed our water bottles and headed for the scenic drive in Great Basin. 

The Great Basin is an area of watersheds that covers nearly all of Nevada, and parts of Oregon, Idaho, Utah, California, and Wyoming. It basically covers areas where water in any form (snow melt, precipitation etc.) does not make its way to the Pacific or Gulf of Mexico. It drains to lakes, evaporates, or drains to ground water.  And that's about as best as I can explain it! This area gets 10 inches of rain annually. ANNUALLY!! Isn't that so hard to understand? Living on the coast, in an area that can get up to 100 inches of rain, it is hard to fathom a place with so little water. 

The scenic drive took us through old mining districts, stands of aspen, and up to about 10,000 feet. 

After viewing the park in fits and spurts, we were HOT. Real hot. We packed our cooler, and set out (in the air conditioned vehicle) for the Osceola mining district. It's another back road story, only this time we knew that we were on the right road! Gold mining began here in 1872, and during its heyday, there were around 1,500 people living in Osceola. Mining dried up around 1900, and the town was almost completely lost to fire in 1940.

Our last find, leaving the canyon, was the Osceola cemetery. 

Later, after we returned home and were trying to get our body temperatures back to normal, I did some digging on the group of "Marriott" graves. Most of them were children, but there were three adults. The Marriotts (of the hotel group) are from Utah, and ranched in the mountains in Utah and Nevada. I dug up some family trees, and would love to find a connection between the folks in this cemetery and the Marriott hotel family.  My efforts have been slightly hampered by the popularity of the name John.... ;)

Um, IT'S HOT HERE!!!  We have those awesome cool towels to help with the temperature, and I found relief wearing mine turban style. A girl's gotta do what a girl's gotta do!

Tomorrow we are up early to beat the heat and hopefully conquer the altitude to see the bristlecone pines. 

💟

Cherry Creek Adventure

Today we drove out of Idaho, headed for Nevada. We had our first stop penciled in about six hours down the road, so when we saw the sign for an "Interstate Oasis" we pulled right off for an unplanned photo op. This oasis was Shoshone Falls which is part of Twin Falls on the Snake River. I've never been to Niagra Falls, but this looked similar to the pictures I've seen. It's about 1,000 feet wide (thank you Wikipedia) in a horsheshoe shape and consists of several indivual falls. As imagined, it was beautiful.

https://youtu.be/v6sLj9zubmk

Please enjoy this short video as it took 400% longer to upload than shoot. ;) (Full disclosure, I did not do the math on that %, though I seriously considered it. 😆)

In case you tuned in for a geology lesson, which always seems to be part of the T&L adventure, let me tell you that Shoshone Falls was sculpted by a six week flood of Lake Bonneville around 15,000 years ago.  The water moved around 70mph as it formed the canyon. 

There was a delightful little picnic area, and we had a cooler full of deliciousness, so it seemed like the perfect lunch plan! But, IT WAS HOT!! This is the best picture we got of the two of us, the one with the least amount of sweat and wincing. Consequently, we ate lunch in our car, under the solar shield, with the AC on high. 😂

`

After this began a long stretch of road towards what ended up being the adventure of the day. 

We were about 15 miles (so says Siri) from the turn off for Cherry Creek ghost town, when a huge "Cherry Creek" sign popped up on the right. We careened off the road, on to a gravel road, and headed toward adventure. I had read that the road to Cherry Creek was not great, but passable. The continuing road to Egan Canyon was the road that may require 4WD. So when the road turned washboard, I wasn't surprised. In fact, it's not a road trip if you're not on an unmarked washboard road, right? 😉

It may have been around the 2nd or 3rd mountain where the passenger grew tired of the journey. I could tell her interest in the adventure was waning, and the worry about getting back to the freeway growing, but I could still see the freeway (you know, in the distance), and so we adventured on. 

After about 30 or 40 minutes (?), we finally saw structures glinting from the sun. There was more there than I had thought there would be. And very difficult to establish what might be actual homes, and what might be abandoned. But there were clear ghost structures, including an old one room school house.  

Out of Cherry Creek we saw the actual road we should have turned on -- paved and 55 mph. Where's the fun in that? 😉 On the way back to the freeway, I, the driver, insisted on one more stop to inspect an abandoned railroad checkpoint and several abandoned railcars. This "road" definitely could have used 4WD, and I was rewarded for my adventuresome spirit with no turn around spot.  😆 I think my Jeep was reveling in the moment, but I was glad for to see the main road coming closer and closer in the back up camera!

 Also today we saw an enormous red snake slither across the freeway. It turned out to be an animated, rogue pool noodle.  😆 I wonder what tomorrow will bring?