Panorama View & Warren Peak Hikes: Joshua Tree National Park

We agree that, tied with Navajo Knobs Hike in Capitol Reef National Park, this is our favorite hike, to date. Took it last year, and were very excited to return and do it again.

The hike begins by going up Black Rock Canyon.

A lot of the elevation is obtained through a 2 mile wash through this canyon--so it was pretty mild. Then, there was a bit of a climb, but only about 400 feet or so.

Although it was unpredicted, the wind came up again today. It was just like last year, weirdly. The temperature was about 45 degrees, with wind gusts of 30 mph. It was very cold, and raw, at the top, but awesome.

After traveling along the ridge for about a half a mile we began our descent, which was very mild. We stopped for lunch under a large Joshua Tree that looks like it is about to fall on me.

After we got to the canyon floor we traveled a bit and then began a 600 foot ascent to Warren Peak. It was fairly steep in places, but we motored up. It can be seen in the distance, above my right shoulder.

Today's hike was 8.3 miles with an elevation gain of 1850 feet.

Tomorrow we move to a different campground.

I hike or wither away and die

I have only two choices: I either keep hiking and biking or I deteriorate and lose either years or my quality of life.

Here is the proof: in the late fall of 2009 I had my first foot surgery. I had to be off my foot completely for four months. In that time, my right calf significantly deteriorated. Now, 3+ years later, after 6000 biking miles, and hundreds and hundreds of hiking miles, it still has not recovered. My left calf is still much larger than my right one.

This is my wake up call. If I don't keep pushing myself, my body is the type that will deteriorate quickly. Our road trip, hiking and biking adventures, are not only a way for me to experience life at its fullest, but is a necessity.

Joshua Tree: Burnt Hills & Canyon View Trails

What a beautiful day for hiking. Instead of yesterday, where the wind howled and where I wore five layers, today was shorts weather.

Today we did a nice 8-mile hike with 1300 foot elevation gain. We started on the California Riding and Hiking Trail, and caught the Cliff View Trail from it. Then we caught the Eureka View Trail, and returned on the Burnt Hills and Black Rock Canyon trails.

The Cliff View Trail is not named on the hiking map we got from the Ranger Station, but is, oddly, contained on it in light print. We don't understand why the map is constructed in this way. A complaint we have about the National Forest/Parks/Monuments system is that there is no systematization as to how hikes are listed or described.

The Cliff View trail was fun. It climbed a bit at first, and at the end went through a slot canyon--these are rare and always fun. Here is Vicky at that place:

Sadly, we also went through some more burn places. We have seen these all over the National Park system.


It was a beautiful day. Tomorrow's hike is the one we are looking forward to with great anticipation.

Hiking in a freezing wind

The weather this winter in the Southwest has been nothing short of amazing. Cold and rainy.

The temperature this morning was in the 30s. A high of only 50 was predicted. But there were 30 mph winds which meant that when we started our hike today the wind chill was below 30.

Today we hiked 7.8 miles, with an elevation gain of 1600 feet. We did the Vewpoint and Little Long Canyon Corridor trails. The latter gets our award for the winner of the "Why Would They Name A Trail This?" contest. It was actually a viewpoint trail, and a nice one.


Here is a cool photo of Vicky at the end of the Little Long etc. trail.  Check out her hair to see how strong the wind is.

It was a beautiful view down into a canyon. Is it the Little Long Canyon? We don't know.

Winds are supposed to die down tonight. We hope so.

Back to Joshua Tree National Park

This is one of our favorite places on the planet. We stayed at this park twice last year, and had some of our most memorable times. We have a nice spot with a beautiful view out our windows.

The campground is fairly empty and, so far, relatively quiet (the exception being four tent campers who set up camp at 11:00 last night, and must have slammed their car doors a hundred times). But they are gone now. We are back into busier camp grounds now, so just have to accept that. But we yearn for our campgrounds in New Mexico and Arizona where we were the only people there.

Took the 5-mile loop hike today. Nice little 5.6 mile hike with 1050 elevation gain. We wanted something simple since we haven't hiked for three weeks and since I am still feeling the effects of the cold I caught from Sebastian. Vicky got over hers before me. We knew we'd get them, but didn't care--it was worth it seeing the grandchildren.

Road Trip 2.2 begins tomorrow

We have had a great time seeing our grandchildren and family.  And as a bonus, we got to see my old friends Mark and Peggy Swerdlik, who were in town for the same conference Emily brought her family for.

In our whirlwind 19-day vacation from our vacation we first stopped in Fort Collins to see my mother, Kathy, Bill, and Tonia. 

 

One of our excursions was to Greeley to see the home where my cousins lived in the 1950s.  I have such fond memories of those times, playing in their yard and in their home and with my cousins on the top floor, reading comic books. My uncle Homer built the house, which is why it is still the best looking one on the block. 

Then Mark and Peggy arrived, and we spent the day sightseeing on Whidbey Island.  Peggy wanted to see some eagles, so we went to Ebey's Landing, and the eagles showed up just for her.  Thanks, eagles!
 

After doing fun things like taxes and shipping orders for Vintage-toys for the next couple of days, we headed into Seattle to see the Seattle and Atlanta families.

We took Ian and Adam to downtown Seattle to the hotel where Emily, Sean, Sebastian, and Soren were staying.  We all went swimming at the hotel.

Then, the next day, we drove back downtown and picked up Soren and Sebastian and brought them out to the island to stay with us for two-three days.  It is something we have been able to do with Ian and Adam on several occasions, and so it was special for us to be able to do that with these two boys also.

They helped Vicky make my valentine's day cake.  

Since both of the boys had colds, we got to remember back to the olden days where we didn't sleep because children were coughing or needing comfort.  But we didn't mind--in fact, it was awfully nice to be reminded of those days with our own children, and to be able to make them feel better during the night.  One of these days Emily and Sean are going to get to sleep.  I'll bet they can't wait.  Emily, Sean--it's really nice. 

It is interesting to watch our grandchildren grow, and see their various strengths starting to emerge.  One of Soren's strengths is that he is a gentle and patient older brother.  Another is his interest in books.  After a poor night's sleep, Sebastian fell asleep in my arms, and since he hadn't slept the night before, I decided to just hold him since he could breathe better in an upright position.  So, Vicky took Soren into another room and read to him for two hours!  He loved it.

And so did I.

If I hadn't drunk so much coffee, he could have had a longer nap.

Soren, as has Jules and Emily, Ian, Adam, Stella, and Marina, liked the doll house I made for Jules in 1976.  I had constructed it to be sturdy enough to stand on, and it has held up very well all of these years.  I don't know how sad I am going to feel when the last grandchild is too old to want to play with it--try to hold on long enough for great grandchildren I guess.  That'd be nice for a lot of reasons.

Sebastian loved Jack.  Kept saying "Jack, Jack" (or actually "Ack, Ack").

We watched "Cars" over two nights.  Soren liked it.  Here's a good example of how patient he is with Sebastian, as Sebastian would often just sort of throw himself over him, and Soren just let him do what he wanted.  It was so sweet.

After three days and two nights at our home, we drove the boys back to Seattle.  I retrieved Sean and Emily from the hotel, and we all went to Jessica and Jules' home for a couple of days.


When I got back with Sean and Emily, I found Vicky had taken the boys to the park.  Three active boys!  Good thing she's in such great shape.

On Saturday we all went to the Museum of Flight.  It was "model" day, and I got to build a model with Adam.

He did really well at it, so I bought a bunch of model airplane kits and will have them at our house for when they visit.

It was great to have both kids and their families together.

For the two nights we were in Seattle we stayed at Bill and Alicia's, in their guest house.  They are always very generous.  Sunday morning we had breakfast with them and Silvermoon.  Doug and Susan had been invited, but they were out of town. Bill, Alicia, and Silvermoon did all of the work for the breakfast--we brought bread.  Freeloaders, huh?

We have plans for taking all six of the grandchildren camping this summer (not all at the same time, yee-gads!).  We hope it works out.  

Back home Sunday night, with one day to prepare to leave.

Road Trip 2.2 will be California.  We are excited to be back to Joshua Tree, Death Valley, etc. 

Stellarina Birthday Party

2/7/2013

We left our lovely deserts to come home and be with our lovely family!  The first thing we did was invite Marina and Stella to a “Stellarina Birthday Party!”

Stella had just turned five and in a few months Marina will be eight, so we gave them a party in between their birthdays celebrating them both....a Stellarina Party”.  They thought the idea was great fun!

I made a cake and used pink frosting as a dividing line, then frosted each side in a different color--orange for Marina’s half  and yellow for Stella’s half of the cake:



They could hardly wait to open their presents:



Presents opening is after dinner and cake, so they soon wandered off to play with the dollhouses.  They often spend hours arranging all the furniture, play food, and people “just so.”





And then it was cake and present time:





It was a very Happy Birthday party.  Grandpa can get Marina laughing and it is fun to watch them playing together:




Earlier today Dan and visited I visited Grandpa, Stella and Marina’s great grandfather.  He has been a father to me since I met him, 36 years ago. He moved into his cabin on Whidbey Island in the mid eighties, shortly after my son, Owen, was born.  He has lived close by me and watched his grandchildren grow up and his great grandchildren be born. They all adore him.

Grandpa was born in 1913 on a farm on Lopez Island.  He was a fisherman, went to sea as a third mate merchant marine, and then he joined the Seattle Police Department.  He retired the same year that I joined SPD.   This man has the most amazing stories to tell about his life and the “olden days.”  I’ve asked him tell some of his stories to Dan when we’re visited him.  Both Grandpa and Dan enjoy this and I can never hear his stories enough!

Grandpa plans to live to see his 100’s birthday in June, but his body is slowly letting go and I fear he may not make it to 100.  It is sad to see this vital active man bedridden, but so good to visit with him, hear his voice one more time, hold his hand, kiss him, and tell him I love him.




March 16, 2013:  We are in Death Valley and just got a phone call from Owen, who had cancelled a military deployment to be with Grandpa for the last six weeks.  Grandpa has died.  He slowly slipped from this world.  Grandpa is much loved and I will never forget him or his stories.  His life lives on through those who love him.