Yellowstone National Park: Midway Geyser Basin

Within Yellowstone National Park, there are many different geyser basins that steam across the park. The soil crust in many areas is very thin and conceals exceptionally hot water that has been heated by magma just below the surface. The geysers occur because steam builds up and then releases. There are also hot springs that bubble in mineral stained water, rock formations that glisten with water that seems to flow by magic, and trees that are white as bone from being calcified or petrified. The overall effect in some of the geyser basins is very alien-- eerie. And very beautiful.

End of the Road Trip

I left Aspen, Colorado on July 6. I just returned to Aspen this afternoon, July 28. Over the course of the last more than 3 weeks, I traveled through 7 states and drove more than 3000 miles. The first night I stayed in Salt Lake City, Utah. The second night I stayed in Pendleton, Oregon. Then I arrived in Kalaloch, Washington where I camped for six nights before going on to Seattle, Washington. While I was in Seattle, I stayed in the international district in a vacation rental provided by Robin Glover called Casa Homer. It was a lovely apartment that was very close to downtown and a wide assortment of dim sum. Every night a lighted "Wonder Bread" sign was the beacon that helped me to navigate back to the apartment.

After Seattle, I went on to Spokane, Washington and then Belgrade, Montana for one night a piece. I camped at the Bridge Bay Campground in Yellowstone National Park for a week. While I was in Yellowstone I saw alien landscapes of geysers, placid lakes, tall sentinel pines, buffalo, water falls, and an immense supervolcanoe. Last night was the last night away from Aspen and it was spent at a Super 8 in Rock Springs, Wyoming.

The entirety of the circuit that I drove encompassed a variety of bioregions-- desert, temperate rain forest, alpine forest, prairie, etc. It was fascinating to watch the way that the landscape changed. I have taken many pictures and I am still going through them all. I will post them over the next week or so.

Road Trip Day ?

Today I drove approximately 385 miles. I am very tired. I started in Spokane, Washington and ended in Belgrade, Montana. I drove through lush forests, up and down staggering mountains, and over wind scoured rolling lowlands. I did not stop to take pictures. I did notice that the changing landscapes had a different personality about them. The dense pine forests felt closed and mysterious. The rock mountains felt ancient beyond any history that my mind could conceive of and very sentient. I could imagine staring across the undulating vista and seeing acres of bison. Today I witnessed in rapid succession what peoples of the past could only have beheld on a much more intimate level acquired by walking across the continent. It has occurred to me that what I am doing currently could only happen in this era and may not be able to happen in future eras and was not possible in by gone days.

Yesterday, I watched clouds spill off the mountains of the Pacific Northwest. I watched an instant of lightening split the horizon.

All of this was only in its moment.

The Troll Under the Bridge

I am still visiting Seattle and spent the majority of the day at the Woodland Park Zoo which impressed me as a well designed zoo. When I first arrived I went straight to see the snow leopard and it graced me with a glimpse of its beauty. Later in the afternoon I watched a pack of white wolves play with a ball and frolic on a small embankment.

Late in the afternoon I went to visit the Fremont neighborhood of Seattle because I had heard a rumor that a troll resided under the bridge in Fremont. There is a troll under the bridge! He is an enormous sculpture made of concrete. He stares down the hill with one metallic eye while pinning a Volkswagon Beetle under one of his massive hands.

The Fremont area is quite delightful and I spoke with several people who were happy to share their knowledge of the area. One woman and her child were on their way to the library and helped direct me to the troll. The sales people/owners of Ophelia's Books talked to me about the neuroses of cats and sold me a book by the Dalai Lama. Fremont has a creative, happy vibe. In addition to the troll, I couldn't resist talking a couple photos of a sculpture of six concrete people who had been adorned.

Pike Place Market Seattle, Washington

I arrived in Seattle yesterday. Today I went to the famous Pike Place Market. It is close to the waterfront and was about a two mile walk from where I am staying. I was glad that I walked because while parking was available, albeit pricey, the area was congested with pedestrians. There was so much going on the market. There were stalls selling produce, fish, spices, cheese, and lots of flowers. I bought 3 heirloom tomatoes, an eggplant, an onion, some cheese, and a loaf of bread for dinner. I also bought some lapsang souchong because it has been awhile since I have had decent lapsang souchong. Everywhere one turns there are streets musicians. There are also shops all along the market that sell Asian goods, t-shirts, and an odd assortment of things.

Rialto Beach, La Push-Mora area

Today I drove to La Push and saw the small marina town. On the way back I went to Mora campground and walked along Rialto beach. I found a beautiful rock with a smooth natural bowl that had been created by the motion of sand and water.

The Hoh Rainforest

Yesterday in the rain I went to the Hoh Rainforest. It is unbelievable lush. Fantastical mosses drape off tree branches, six inch long slugs in a myriad of colors ranging from tan to orange to bright yellow crawl across vivid green leaves, and the rain patters in its journey to the forest floor. I crossed a bridge and looked into water so clear that I could not estimate the depth of the stream. Every year this part of the country gets 120 to 130 inches of rain. The coincidence of the placement of the Cascade mountains, the westerly winds coming off the Pacific, and the Pacific ocean itself create the conditions that make the rainforest possible.

Ruby Beach

Yesterday I walked on the beach at a place called Ruby Beach. The air was chill and damp and the afternoon was melancholy. The mists along the coast lent an air of mystery.

Road Trip Day 6: Kalaloch

Yesterday I started the day with a campfire. I sat and read portions of two books before having lunch and going down a short trail from the campsite to the beach. I sat and watched the waves of the Pacific Ocean wash the sandy beach for several hours. Children played on the beach, an elderly couple collected wood for a bonfire, and people walked in the mists along the coast. Seabirds sat like intermediaries between this world and the next. All was very peaceful.

Kalaloch has been home to humans for 12,000 years. In 1977 a farmer digging a pond just outside of the Olympic National Forest unearthed a mastodon skeleton. Within the rib bones of the mastodon was a broken piece of bone resembling a spear.

The region is lush. Everything is green and growing. It is an area of beauty and abundance. Red cedars grow tall and have provided the raw materials for shelters, wood working, and baskets for time immemorial. Broken clam and crab shells litter the beaches and these creatures have provided sustenance to peoples since prehistoric times. Whales and other sea mammals come close to the coast and fishing is bountiful. There are also big game such as deer and elk. Indigenous cultures in this area became rich and complex with time to develop their arts.

When Europeans were drawn to settle in this area because of the abundance of salmon and the great forests, things changed. Entire villages of indigenous people were wiped out by diseases that they had no resistance to. Great swaths of the forests were cut down. The elk population was hunted to a fraction of its original size.

Driving to Kalaloch I saw areas of the forest that had been "harvested." Logging is a big business in this area. The Olympic National Park and areas such as the Hoh Rainforest were set aside to preserve "the finest example of primeval forest... and provide permanent protection for the herds of native Roosevelt elk." The Olympic National Park was established in 1938. Native peoples have been granted the right to fish in their traditional ways and to resume whaling. Otters were reintroduced to the area and are thriving.

Kalaloch which means in the Quinault language "a good place to land" has been a scene of interaction between the landscape and people for a very long time. I cannot imagine coming to Kalaloch and not being taken with the beauty of the place and transformed in some small way.

Road Trip Day 4

I spent the day on the beach after sleeping quite peacefully for 12 hours last night. Kalaloch is beautiful. The beach is a bit chill as the wind blows off the Pacific Ocean, but the sands absorb the sun's warmth. There are mists that enshroud the coastline in the morning and burn off as the day progresses. The waves make a constant peaceful murmur.

Road Trip Day 3: Arrived at Kalaloch, Washington

I arrived this afternoon after three days of driving at the Kalaloch Campground within the Olympic National Park. Kalaloch is on the Pacific Ocean and hopefully over the next couple of days I can post pictures of the ocean. I love to watch the waves.

The campground itself is just inside the forest. I set up my tent on a mossy flat area within my designated spot. All around my tent is lush greenery and even though while I pitched my tent it was a bright sunshine afternoon, the trees only allowed a rather mystical green light to filter through their leaves. As the wind coming off the ocean gently moved the upper branches dancing diamonds of light flitted over the ferns. The area is very beautiful and peaceful.

The pictures above show my home for the next six days. My tent is an REI Base Camp 6 tent that I bought several years ago. It is a fabulous tent that has withstood thunderstorms coming off Lake Michigan and barely let any rain through. Currently there is still fine red sand from Dead Horse Point State Campground in Moab, Utah dusting the floor. I was able to set the tent up by myself in under a half an hour.

Tonight I am going to start the first bonfire that I have created in several years. I like the way that fires cast shadows and light. I am planning over the course of this week to burn some papers-- two old novels. To let them go.

Road Trip Day 2

Tonight I am staying in Pendleton, Oregon. Last night I stayed just outside of Salt Lake City. This morning after arising I went to have the standard American complimentary hotel breakfast and I was greeted by the scowl of an elderly Asian woman who was on a tour with a couple dozen families from India and Asia. I ate my breakfast under her baleful watch and downed three cups of coffee while ignoring her rather steady stare. I am not certain why she was scowling at me. After this I climbed in the car and began the slow drive to Pendleton.

Summer time in the United States means road construction. Just getting past Salt Lake City took a couple hours to travel about fifty miles. For one stretch of road traffic moved at a 5 mile per hour pace. Several other times i ran into road construction and was struck by how the road was narrowed to one lane with giant orange barrels and there were trucks everywhere but no one was around and working on the roadway. I began fantasizing about mysterious nighttime road worker apparitions that swoop in in a ghostly mist and operate the machinery under their non-corporeal influence.

Today I drove 575 miles through 3 states. In Idaho I saw signs warning of dust storms and animal crossings. I saw an advertisement for a bull auction. The terrain sprawled in arid undulations and the whitecap mountains loomed in the distance. Scrubby trees struggled for an existence. In Boise I was caught in a thunderstorm with torrential rain and high winds. Raindrops like mini water bombs fell across the hood of my car.

When I passed into Oregon the desert terrain continued and I followed along the Snake river for awhile. I-84 follows parts of the old Oregon Trail and it occurred to me that in one day I traveled what took early pioneers several weeks to travel if they completed the journey and were still alive. Oregon is beautiful. The landscape at first is dramatic arid prairie and then it begins to rise in gentle curves. As the mountains sweep upward conifers become more plentiful. I could smell the pine scent as I drove.

Tomorrow I will drive to Kalaloch, Washington to camp at Kalaloch Campground within the Olympic National Park.

London

From June 24 through July 1, I was in London to visit a very dear friend. Every morning we rode on the Underground to go into the city. This gave me an all new appreciation of "Neverwhere" by Neil Gaiman and I am going to have to go back and reread the novel. We rode past stops such as Knightsbridge and Black Friars Stations. It made me very happy to be able to be with my friend for a week and have an almost regular routine that involved seeing him everyday and spending time with him.

London was wonderful also.

We walked along the Thames and photographed the bridges. We went to the British Museum where I saw a beautiful Egyptian sarcophagus that was made for an incense bearer. The colors on the sarcophagus were so beautiful, the composition was exquisite. Thinking of it takes my breath away once more. I saw sections of the frieze from the Parthenon and several sculptures. I saw sculptures of Demeter, Persephone, and Dionysus. I saw Lindow man who is a bog person. I saw the Sutton Hoo helmet that was the helm for an ancient warrior king. I saw a Michelangelo that stilled my soul and left my sitting in awe before it. We also went to the National Gallery and we saw more Michelangelo, a Da Vinci, and several paintings by Impressionists including a sunflower painting by Van Gogh that mysteriously a group of children were sitting in front of while a teacher made train noises as she instructed them.

We went on a few historical walks with guides that told us about the history of London and I took a picture of the sidewalk where one of Jack the Ripper's victims was found. We also meet another friend and went to the Royal Air Force museum where we saw planes from World War II like the Spitfire and Messerschmitt.

Preparing for a Road Trip

On Wednesday I am going on a road trip. The first stop is Salt Lake City, Utah. Then Pendleton, Oregon. Then on to Kalaloch Campground in the Olympic National Park. I love watching waves and I am looking forward to walking the beach on the Pacific. It has been a very long time since I have seen the Pacific ocean. After Kalaloch I am going to Seattle for several days. After Seattle I am going to Spokane and then Bozeman, Montana before traveling on to Yellowstone National Park.

I am hoping to hike and take great quantities of pictures!

Preparing to leave is a great deal of work-- laundry, housework, organizing gear, packing the car.