Good Thing We're Not on The Amazing Race!

It took us an HOUR to get out of Prescott, AZ, this morning! All because we misunderstood a detour sign! It wasn't meant for the direction we were going but we drove round and round and round trying to find a way around what we thought was the detour!  Sigh . . .

We were barely out of that when Andrew asked me if I was up for listening to more of our Spanish language tapes. Ah, let me think . . . NO!!!

Despite this extremely minor setback, the trip has been great thus far with some absolutely amazing views and locations that we definitely have to come back and explore further.

We drove through Yellowstone National Park and went for a short hike while waiting to see Old Faithful erupt. It's been about 20 years since the last time we were there.

Old Faithful faithfully erupts.

Grand Teton looked soooo high . . . we summited it . . . also many years ago.

This was the first time I'd been through Flaming Gorge. Unfortunately the views were not the best due to hazy skies caused by forest fires and the salmon weren't running like they were when Andrew had previously been thru a couple years ago at this time of year.

Flaming Gorge

Monument Valley

I would highly recommend the drive from Flagstaff, through Sedona, to Prescott on Highway 89A and then Iron Spring Road through the Prescott National Forest. Very scenic, windy steep mountain roads. The town of Jerome was especially interesting as it has one road through it, many switchbacks, and all the buildings are built into the mountainside. It's an old mining town but now appears to have lots of artsy/tourist shops, a couple wineries and a few nice places to stay. In some ways (the one road and hillside buildings) reminded me of Zhangmu (on the Nepal/Tibet border) only much, much nicer!

Cactus at campsite in Prescott, AZ

Sand dunes near Brawley, CA

We're now in El Centro, CA, and it's 42 degrees Celsius. Hopefully we get used to the heat again.  Tomorrow we cross the border into Mexico. Hope all goes well!

Here's Andrew's blog post with much better photos. 

East Coast Trail

I was heading to St. John's, Newfoundland, for a conference so decided I'd like to take a few extra days and do some hiking on the East Coast Trail (ECT).  The ECT is 540 km long, running along the coastline running north and south of St. John's.

My route took me from Cape Spear to Cape Broyle, approximately 102 km over 4 1/2 days. The weather forecast couldn't have looked better for the first week of September! I took a taxi out to Cape Spear and, with it being the holiday Monday of the Labour Day Weekend, it was somewhat busy with day hikers around the Cape and on the trail. The only other over-night hikers I came across was a young dad, with a boy about 8 years and a girl about 6 years old. Dad was loaded down with a huge pack and the little ones with very little packs. It was great to see them out!

Some of the day hikers were also picking wild blueberries and I enjoyed a few handfuls every day!

My second day was much different, not seeing a single person on the trail until I got to Bay Bulls. This section was a bit harder (rated "difficult to strenuous") with lots of up & down and fighting through knee-high shrubs. Awesome, rugged coastline though which was definitely worth the extra effort of the day!

The highlights of the trip were seeing "the spout" and the La Manche suspension bridge.

It's okay to camp anywhere just off the trail and that's what I did the first three nights. Luckily I stayed at the Roaring Cove Campsite on the fourth night as it had raised tent platforms which I think saved me from getting flooded out in the massive rain storm that evening! The following day was windy but warm and, although it didn't rain, I got totally soaked (i.e. wringing the water out of my socks!) due to the very wet vegetation.

In Cape Broyle, my final destination, the Riverside Restaurant staff were amazingly friendly and helpful in finding a place for me to stay and the Icehouse Meadow Cottage was perfect for drying out gear and getting cleaned up before heading back to St. John's.

I would highly recommend this hike!

Logistics:

• St. John's city taxi to Cape Spear (about $40)
• ECT Association maps (Don't bother with the guidebooks unless you want history and flora/fauna info. The maps have great written route descriptions on the back and the trail is very easy to follow.) 
• Southern Shore Taxi to pick up anywhere south of St. John's ($130 from Cape Broyle back to St. John's)
• Restaurants along the route which I stopped at : O'Briens in Bay Bulls, Irish Loop Coffee House in Witless Bay, Riverside Restaurant in Cape Broyle. 

(Click on photo to see slide show.)

East Coast Trail - Flora & Fauna

The East Coast Trail has interesting flora & fauna along the route. I saw a lot of moose tracks and several people asked if I saw any moose, but alas, I didn't! 

The highlight was definitely the wild blueberries every day!

I just about stepped on this little guy who was sitting in the middle of the trail but luckily he quickly jumped in the water. I saw a few other frogs but they were too quick for photos! 

Slugs are prolific in the wet coastal weather. 

Water skippers in a small fresh water pond. 

Evidence of all the bird life. 

By the Label . . . Again

While in Newfoundland . . .

As per a previous post, I like "different" wine labels and often purchase wine because I get a laugh from the label or simply like the design. Yes, I know . . . it's the BEST way to choose a wine!  :-)

Needless to say, I couldn't resist these cuties from Auk Island Winery in Twillingate, Newfoundland.

From left to right: Funky Puffin (blueberry & rhubarb), Moose Joose (blueberry & partridgeberry), Jelly Bean Row (strawberry & partridgeberry) and Krooked Cod (blueberry & raspberry).  They come in a handy little Auk Box carrying case and it was ok to mix & match! 

For more immediate consumption I picked up a bottle of 20 Bees pinot grigio. Again, chosen for the great label! But it was also a very nice wine made by Diamond Estates Winery, Niagara-on-the-Lake. 

I had to give the local beer a try as well. The Quidi Vidi Brewery in St. John's is well known in the area and I really enjoyed their Iceberg ale. The blue bottles are unique! 

Hot Air Balloons

With the calm, clear weather on recent early mornings, my bike ride/walk to work has involved a lot of looking up into the sky. And wishing I was drifting off in that hot air balloon!

Andrew and I went a few years ago after receiving a gift certificate for Christmas. It took us a couple seasons to actually book on a date where the weather allowed us to go . . . but it was definitely worth the wait!

The photos are from Thursday & Friday last week.

Denali Memories

I've been thinking a lot about Denali (Mt. McKinley) these days.

Friends of mine are holidaying in Alaska right now and posting lots of photos on Facebook.  They're obviously having a great time!

We've also recently heard from Brian, one of the friends who summited with us on our 1993 Denali trip. He's taken on the monumental task of scanning all his slides! He's into the 1990's now and emailed us a few photos for a trip down memory lane.

Andrew and I did our first trip to Denali in 1990. At the time, we claimed it was our one "trip of a lifetime" -- which is laughable now considering all the climbing expeditions we've done since. It's also humorous to think how naive we were! We went from training climbs around the Icefields & Mt. Athabasca area where the crevasses are relatively small, to suddenly being on a glacier where the crevasses were the size you could fit a car or small house in. A warm spring that year meant avalanches were coming down 24 hours a day. The route we were trying was on the East Buttress -- definitely not the standard route -- and we didn't see another person once we left our base camp. To say we were overwhelmed during this first trip is somewhat of an understatement.

In 1993 we gathered a couple more friends to go with us and climbed the West Buttress which is the route the majority of Denali climbers take. As the saying goes, even that's "not just a walk in the park!" But we made it and had a beautiful clear summit day.

Here's just a few photos that have been scanned for various slide shows over the years.

After a training climb on Mt. Andromeda . . . This photo made the back of the MEC catalogue.

View of Denali from Talkeetna. It is a BIG mountain!

High point on the East Buttress. You can see our camp near the top of the photo.
We turned back due to avalanche hazard.

We have learned to travel lighter these days!

A "Loo With a View" at the 14,000 ft camp on the West Buttress. Looking at Mt. Foraker.

Brian Shack and Andrew McKinlay -- just a little storm.

Above the clouds. 

Suspects Arrested in Garden Patch Invasion

This is the post I wrote recently for the Garden Patch blog. I can't take credit for all the humour as it followed a good brainstorming session while we were weeding. It got lots of "likes" and comments on the SPS Facebook page and lots of "retweets" on twitter! 

On Tuesday, June 19, at approximately 6:30 p.m. the Saskatoon Police Service was called out to the scene of a garden invasion.

Information from neighbors indicated this situation had been developing for two weeks. When police arrived at scene the victims (Beet, Radish, Onion, Carrot and Garlic) were surrounded by the suspects.

After a one-hour standoff several suspects were apprehended by members of the elite Arrested Development Team.  Long Skinny Green Weed, Round Leaf Weed and many of their cousins will be making their first court appearance in the morning.

There was one person by the name of Gardener also located at scene who had been taken hostage by the Weeds. Due to exhaustion and a sore back Gardener was transported to hospital but is expected to make a full recovery.

It is believed that Mother Nature was aiding and abetting the suspects by supplying them with rain. In addition, information has been received that more of the Weed family may be coming into the city. Further investigation will be done by the Arrested Development Team and it is anticipated that more arrests will be forthcoming. 

Anyone with information about this crime is requested to call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-STOP-WEEDS.