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Karen, Mary, Becca, Andrea, Brian.
Zion National Park - 2008 |
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Dustin, Andrea, Tom, Mary, Becca, Karen
Badlands National Park.- 2009 |
In 2008 and 2009, with high school just around the corner, it was time to take Karen and Becca to some of our favorite places: Red Rock Country, the BWCA, and a classic Great Western Road Trip.
Spring Break 2008 - Red Rock Country
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| 2008 Karen and Mary at the Lodge in Zion National Park. |
Karen and Becca let us know that they wanted to see the Grand Canyon during their spring break in 2008. Spring is a good time to visit the hot desert country, but we were sure they would enjoy Zion National Park just as much (or perhaps more) than the Grand Canyon. So we planned a trip that included both. Everyone (Brian, Andrea, Karen, Becca, Mary, and Tom) flew into Las Vegas where we rented a minivan for the week. We stayed at the Lodge in Zion National Park, a great base for Zion Canyon hikes. The weather was perfect and the scenery was spectacular.
Zion National Park - Virgin River
Becca arrived with a cast on her left arm, but she didn't let it slow her down.
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| 2008 Becca at the Virgin River, Zion National Park. |
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| 2008 Tom, Brian, Becca, Andrea, Karen, & Mary, Riverside Walk, Zion National Park |
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| 2008 Karen taking a video of Mary, Becca, Andrea, & Brian, End of the Narrows of the Virgin River, Zion National Park. |
Zion National Park - Emerald Pools
One of the most beautiful hikes in Zion National Park is the Emerald Pools Trail - and the trailhead was right across a bridge from our hotel. There are two falls on the hike - visitors can walk underneath (or above) the Lower Falls, then climb to the Upper falls for a spectacular view. The trail continues along the Virgin River and across another bridge to the Grotto bus stop, for a quick ride back to our lodge.
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| 2008. Virgin River, Zion National Park. |
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| 2008. Lower Falls, Emerald Pools Trail. Zion National Park. |
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| 2008 Becca, Karen & Andrea, on the Emerald Pools Trail. Zion National Park. |
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| 2008 Mary, Karen, Andrea, Becca, & Brian. Emerald Pools Trail, Zion National Park. |
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2008 Brian, Becca, Andrea, Karen, Upper Emerald Pools Falls. Zion National Park
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| 2008 View from the Grotto bus stop, Zion National Park. |
Eastern Zion National Park
Another beautiful hike is the Zion Canyon Overlook Trail which starts near the east entrance of the park. Here we saw the road into the park as well as a herd of Mountain Goats.
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| 2008 View from the Canyon Overlook Trail, Eastern Zion National Park. |
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| 2008 Mary, Brian, Karen, Andrea, Becca, Canyon Overlook Trail, Eastern Zion National Park |
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| 2008 - Mountain Goats |
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| Eastern Zion National Park |
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2008 Checkerboard Mesa, Eastern Zion National Park.
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Zion National Park - Angels Landing
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1975 - Tom & Mary at Angels Landing.
Center: The ranger who led the hike. |
The signature hike in Zion is the trail to Angels Landing. Today it requires a permit obtained through a lottery, but when Tom and Mary took the hike in 1975, it was led by a ranger. We were not ready to take the strenuous hike again, and Becca's cast meant she couldn't climb up using the chain grips on the trail (much to her disappointment).
The trail climbs Walter's Wiggles, a series of switchbacks built by the first superintendent of the park, Walter Ruesch, in 1926. At the end of the switchbacks is Scout Lookout, where we sent Karen, Andrea, and Brian up the steep climb to Angels Landing. We headed in the other direction for some impressive views of the trail as well as the high walls of Zion Canyon.
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| 2008 Walters Wiggles on the trail to Angels Landing, Zion National Park. |
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| 2008 Karen, Brian, & Andrea on Walter's Wiggle - the view from below. Zion National Park |
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| 2008 Tom, Mary, Brian, & Karen, on Walters Wiggles, the same view from above. Zion National Park. |
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| 2008 Andrea, Karen, & Brian use chain grips to help climb the trail to Angels Landing. |
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| 2008 Angels Landing Trail from Scout Lookout - Zion National Park |
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| 2008 Becca exploring the view beyond Angels Landing. Zion National Park. |
As we were enjoying the scenery, we were surprised by the three climbers - Brian and Andrea had decided the trail was too difficult and abandoned the hike (much to Karen's disappointment).
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| 2008 The three climbers decided to follow us beyond Angel's Landing. Zion National Park. |
Not to be deterred, Karen came back with a friend in 2016 and made it to Angels Landing.
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| 2016 Karen at Angels Landing. |
The six of us continued down the trail and back to our lodge. On the way we found a hole in the rock that everyone had to try out.
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| 2008 Karen, Angels Landing Trail, Zion NP |
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| 2008 Becca, Angels Landing Trail, Zion NP |
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| 2008 Brian, Angels Landing Trail, Zion NP |
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| 2008 Andrea, Angels Landing Trail, Zion NP |
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| 2008 Angels Landing Trail. Indian Paintbrush (Castilleja scabrida). Zion National Park |
Coral Pink Sand Dunes State Park
It was time to head to Page, Arizona with a quick stop on the way at Coral Pink Sand Dunes State Park.
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| 2008 Karen and Becca enjoy Coral Pink Sand Dunes State Park. |
Colorado River Rafting - Horseshoe Bend
The Glen Canyon Dam was built in the early 1960's to manage the distribution of water throughout the southwestern states. The idea was to store water in Lake Powell during wet years to ensure that there was adequate water during drought.
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| 2008 Glen Canyon Dam on the Colorado River near Page, Utah. |
Just below the dam is Horseshoe Bend,
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| Horseshoe Bend, just downriver from Glen Canyon Dam. Petroglyph Beach is in the foreground. |
We took a River Rafting trip 15 miles from Glen Canyon Dam around Horseshoe Bend to Lees Ferry (the starting point for Grand Canyon rafting trips).
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2008 Raft Trip on the Colorado River
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2008 Brian, Karen, Becca, Andrea, & Mary. Colorado Raft Trip.
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| 2008 Descending Sheep petroglyph at Horseshoe Bend beach. |
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| 2008 Petrograph Beach, Colorado Raft Trip |
Grand Canyon National Park
It was time to head to the Grand Canyon, with its beautiful views and limited hiking. We stopped at Desert View Watchtower on the way and stayed at the Thunderbird Lodge on the South Rim.
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| 2008 Desert View Watchtower, Grand Canyon National Park. |
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| 2008 Grand Canyon, South Rim. |
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| 2008 Andrea, Becca, Brian, Karen. Grand Canyon South Rim. |
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2008 Grand Canyon, South Rim. The hike we did not take.
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Summer 2008 - BWCA - Ham Lake to Poplar Lake
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| August 2008 - BWCA |
Shortly after our trip west, Karen celebrated her 13th birthday, and in the fall she would enter high school. She was old enough to paddle a canoe with Andrea, and at 10 years old, Becca could bow paddle in front of Dustin, giving us three evenly matched canoes. We decided to take a four day trip in the BWCA, paddling from Ham Lake to Poplar Lake. The trip is documented in the
BWCA blog post.
Summer 2009 - The Great Western Road Trip
To Midwesterners from Wisconsin and neighboring states, a western road trip means driving through the Dakotas or Nebraska to Wyoming, Colorado, Utah, and maybe northern Arizona or southern Montana. For a typical two or three week vacation drive, that is far enough. Since we had been in Utah the year before, our 2009 road trip would head to Yellowstone and the Grand Tetons, and include interesting stops along the way.
Badlands National Park
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| 2009 Dustin and our vehicles Cedar Pass Lodge, Badlands NP. |
We had three weeks to fit in a complicated itineary. Day 1: Dustin flew home so he could take Tom's Acura back to California.
Day 2: Karen and Becca finished a summer camp in Wisconsin. Brian and Andrea picked them up drove to Albert Lee, Minnesota. Mary drove our Minivan and trailer to meet them.
Day 3: Brian drove to home Naperville. Mary, Andrea, Karen and Becca (with the trailer) drove from Albert Lee to Badlands National Park in South Dakota. Dustin and Tom picked up a canoe in western Minnesota that Dustin's roommate had inherited so Dustin could bring it to California. Then they drove to Badlands National Park, where we all met at Cedar Pass Lodge.
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2009 View from our cottage at Badlands National Park, South Dakota.
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| 2009 Karen, Becca, and Andrea exploring Badlands National Park. |
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| 2009 Badlands National Park |
Day 4: After exploring Badlands National Park, we moved to Sylvan Lane Lodge for two nights so we could explore the Black Hills area.
Black Hills
Day 5: We drove the Needles Highway, visited Custer State Park to see a herd of bison, visited Mount Rushmore National Memorial, and checked out Crazy Horse Memorial.
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| 2009 The Needles Highway, Black Hills, South Dakota. |
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| 2009 A herd of Bison in Custer State Park, South Dakota. |
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| 2009 Tom, Mary, Becca, Andrea, Karen. Mount Rushmore National Memorial. |
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| 2009 The Model and the progress at Crazy Horse Memorial, South Dakota. |
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| 2009 Devil's Tower National Monument, Wyoming. |
Day 6: As we were leaving the Black Hills, we stopped at Devil's Tower National Monument and then drove to the Bighorn National Forest. We set up camp at West Tensleep Campground.
Bighorn National Forest
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| 2009 Dustin and Becca paddle the canoe in Tensleep Lake. Bighorn National Forest. |
Day 7: Everyone started out on the Mistymoon trail to Lake Helen, a hike that Mary and Tom had enjoyed six years earlier. After a mile, a deep ford through Tensleep Creek gave us pause - on our previous hike we had crossed the creek on wooden bridge, but it no longer existed. Mary decided that it was time to turn around. Dustin and Andrea changed into sandals and improvised hiking poles, then Dustin carried Karen and Becca across the river. Once the hiking boots were back on, the hikers walked four more miles along the beautiful, gradually ascending trail to Lake Helen.
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2009 The bridge over Tensleep creek was out, so Mary went back to camp.
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| 2009 Tom, Dustin, Karen, Becca, and Andrea at Lake Helen, Cloud Peak Wilderness Area. |
Yellowstone National Park
Day 8: We drove to Yellowstone National Park and set up camp in Canyon Creek Campground, where we camped for three nights.
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| 2009 The iconic waterfalls in Yellowstone National Park |
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| 2009 The iconic geyser, Old Faithful. Yellowstone National Park. |
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| 2009 West Thumb Basin, Yellowstone National Park. |
Grand Teton National Park
Day 11: We moved our camp to Curtis Canyon Campground on the southeast side of Grand Teton National Park, a base camp that Tom and Mary had used when they climbed to Death Canyon in 2003.
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| 2009 Grand Teton National Park. Jackson Lake. |
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| 2009 Dustin captures the iconic canoe photograph at Jackson Lake, Grand Teton National Park. |
Day 12: Tom, Andrea, and Dustin hiked to Death Canyon and spend the night. Mary, Karen and Becca went Horse Back Riding.
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| 2009 Dustin, Andrea, and Tom hiked to Death Canyon. Grand Teton National Park |
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| 2009 Karen and Becca went horseback riding with Mary. Grand Teton National Park. |
Day 13: Mary, Karen, and Becca took a boat across Jenny Lake and hiked about a mile up to Inspiration point, which overlooks the lake. Tom, Andrea and Dustin returned from the Death Canyon hike.
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2009 Becca at Inspiration Point above Jenny Lake, Grand Teton National Park
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| 2009 Tom and Andrea in a carpet of flowers, Death Canyon Area. Grand Teton National Park. |
Day 14: Dustin left for California. Tom, Mary, Andrea, Karen and Becca explored Grand Teton National Park and relaxed by a fire in the campground.
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| 2009 Sunrise from Curtis Canyon Campground, overlooking Grand Teton National Park. |
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| 2009 Karen, Tom, & Becca enjoy a campfire in Curtis Canyon Campground. |
Day 15: We picked up Brian at Jackson Hole airport and moved to Grand Teton Lodge on Jackson Lake.
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| 2009 Becca, Andrea, Karen, Brian. Grand Teton National Park. |
Day 16. We took a scenic river rafting trip along 10 miles of the Snake River as it flows through Grand Teton National Park.
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| 2009 Becca, Karen, Tom, and Andrea, ready for the Snake River Rafting trip. |
Day 17. We took the Rendezvous Mountain ariel lift for a different perspective on the Tetons.
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| 2009 The view from Rendezvous Mountain ariel lift near Jackson Hole. |
Beartooth Highway and Roosevelt National Park
Day 18: It was time to head home. Brian flew back to Chicago and we decided to take the Beartooth Highway north out of Yellowstone, trough North Dakota to Eden Prairie. On the way, we camped in Theodore Roosevelt National Park.
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| 2009 Twin Lakes on the Beartooth Plateau. Wyoming/Montana |
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| 2009 The signature rock formation that gives the Beartooth Highway its name. |
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| 2009 Karen, Andrea, and Becca in Theodore Roosevelt National Park. North Dakota. |
Day 19: After our brief stay in Theodore Roosevelt National Park we drove to Eden Prairie.
Day 20: Andrea, Karen and Becca flew from Eden Prairie to Chicago.
November 2009 - Arcata
After attending a conference in Vancouver, British Columbia, in November we couldn't resist a quick trip to Arcata to visit Dustin on the way home. Just as we arrived, a cold front moved through the area, bringing strong winds and huge waves to the coasts of Northern California.
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| Arcata Beach, CA. November 6, 2009. |
We drove north to the Klamath River and nearby False Klamath Cove to photograph the amazing waves, and stopped at Patrick's Point State Park (now called Sue-meg State Park) on the way home.
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| False Klamath Cove, CA. November 7, 2009 |
Patrick's Point State Park. November 7, 2009
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| Dustin at Patrick's Point State Park. November 7, 2009 |
