June 2010 Vacation Cont'd: Yosemite-Day Two: Big Trees!

Okay, back to our tour of Yosemite!  We had talked about visiting the Sequoia National Forest and/or  Sequoia and King's Canyon National Park on this trip, but that proved to be just a little too far out of the way for us, so we were psyched when we found out that there are sequoias in Yosemite!  Who knew?  Well, probably lots of people, but still.  It was a happy surprise for us!  So, after a nice rest in Mariposa (point C on the map below), it was back into the park and down to Mariposa Grove (point E) (Don't worry about point D--it doesn't correspond to anything.)  Parking was full, so we were looking at having to park and walk a fair distance.  Luckily, a shuttle bus came by just about then, and we were able to jump on.  Yay!

Once we got up to the grove, we did what we never do, and jumped on one of the trolley tours.

This way we knew we would get to see the whole grove, make it back in time to catch the shuttle bus back down to our car, and still have time to check out the park some more.  Although we would have liked more time to meander among the trees, this was still a nice tour.  We did get to stop and walk around at a couple different locations.

We even saw a deer!  I would have gotten a cool shot of him (her?  I can't tell) framed up in the burned out portion of the tree, but when the other people with cameras started running toward him to get a picture, he took off.  Go figure.  See what I mean about people ruining my wilderness?   

Anyway...we saw a deer!  And the Grizzly Giant. 

See that giant limb on the left?  It is 6+ feet in diameter!  I feel so insignificant!  (By the way, this shot of me would have been centered better on the tree, but someone started running after me with a camera and a got spooked and started shuffling off to the side.)

From here we left to head back into the valley to see what else there is to see.  Join me tomorrow for the wrap-up.

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Humboldt Redwoods State Park

I love the redwoods.  I explained why when I wrote about our August, 2008, visit.  I won't go into all of it again, but I will say that I am continually amazed when I am in their presence.  Like anything else, I suppose if you live in a coastal redwood area, you might grow accustomed to the grandeur that surrounds you, but for me, I never stop saying, "Look at THAT tree!"  "Ohmygosh!  Look at THAT one!"  "Look at how tall THAT one is!"  "Wow, that tree is HUGE!"  The fact that they all start out like this is even more amazing. (Yes, this picture is as close-up as it appears to be.)

I won't bore you with the nearly 400 pictures from our June, 2010, trip to Humboldt Redwoods State Park (map here), most of them of trees, but here are a few highlights. Hubby on the bridge below for scale.

This four-sided fireplace stands in the California Federation of Women's Clubs Grove, and is one of the many things to see along the Avenue of the Giants.

Here's some information about its designer, Julia Morgan (click to enlarge):

Scale is always hard to capture in pictures, but the fireplace is huge, as is this picnic table that is situated next to it. 

For scale, here is a normal-sized picnic table.

 I thought it was funny that in the middle of the giant picnic table, surrounded by giant trees, was this little oasis of teeny tiny plants.

Just down the road from our camp, was the Cuneo Creek Horse Group Camp.  We hiked over there from our Hamilton Barn camp one day.  We picnicked and enjoyed the beautiful scenery and chatted with the camp host.  I didn't know there were such things as camp hosts, but this seems like a great way to see some beautiful places at a minimal cost.

One of the last hikes that we did was up to Look Prairie.  There is, as the name suggests a large prairie area, which is a nice contrast to all the forest.  

Along the trail, we found these crazy-looking little sombrero flowers.  I have no idea what they are, but I would be remiss if I didn't include them here, seeing as how Hubby spent a good 10 minutes trying to get a good shot of one for me.   

Although there were a lot of burned areas, some of which weren't too pretty, overall this was a beautiful hike, and the charred remains managed to highlight the beauty of what remained.

We hiked all around the Humboldt Redwoods State Park area, checking out all the shorter little loop trails and groves along with some of the longer trails, like the Bull Creek Trail North and South (loop) which took us across the Eel River.  That water was cold, but boy did it feel good to stick our feet in it about half-way through the trail!

I can't recommend this area highly enough.  If you've never seen the coastal redwoods, put it on your list of things to do.  If camping's not your thing, that's OK; you can easily tour the redwoods by car.  Driving through is still impressive, but do stop along the way to walk among the giants.  

 

Where do People from Hawaii go to Vacation?

I get asked this question on a fairly regular basis, and the answer, mostly, is Vegas.  We, however, are not Vegas people.  We tried that a few years ago with fairly disastrous results and have no real desire to head back there any time soon.  (Also, I just realized I am nothing if not consistent.  If you don't believe me, go read the opening sentences of the post I just linked to.)  So, where do WE go to vacation?  Well, last year, we did a west-coast trip that involved a paragliding clinic, a paragliding competition where we met some of the nicest people ever, and camping in the redwoods.  I've already told you about the first two, and I figured it's finally time to tell you about the third.

If you're like me, your idea of camping is being able to drive somewhere remote where you can set up a tent and be alone in nature. Although state and national parks offer great access to some of the most beautiful places in the country, camping in these places tends to be in designated areas only; and while the conveniences of a campground are great--I like running water, indoor toilets, fire pits, firewood, and bear boxes--the 53 campers who are crammed into the campground with you--RVs, generators, radios, screaming kids and all--are not.  If I wanted all that, I'd stay home and drink a beer in my driveway.

On the other hand, if you're like me, camping does NOT include hiking into a remote campsite where you'd better have everything you need with you because civilization is a three-day hike away.  Well, have I got the perfect solution for you!  Environmental camps are the perfect blend between car-camping convenience and remote getaway isolation.  The trade-off?  There are a limited number of spots.  I don't know how many of these exist throughout the country or if this is just a California thing, but in Humboldt Redwoods State Park, where we camped, there are five.  Not five campgrounds, but five campsites, located in the Hamilton Barn and Baxter camps.  You park your car in a parking area and then you have to hike your gear in to your campsite, which is anywhere from 50 to 200 yards away.  There is a pit toilet, and no running water, but hot showers are available at the nearby Albee Creek campground.

We were in the Hamilton Barn camp, and we picked the campsite that was closest to the parking area (and the pit toilet)--still remote, but not as far to carry everything.  We had the entire place to ourselves for a couple days and then other people moved into the other campsites.  The downside to being closest to the parking area is that you get to see everyone coming and going to and from their campsites, but overall, we were still pretty secluded.  Unfortunately, I only seem to have two pictures of our campsite, but this at least gives you an idea.  The big tree on the right in the first picture is the big tree on the left in the second picture.

We also had a picnic table, fire pit, and bear box, so you can see we had plenty of room.  I can't prove to you that we had a picnic table, but I did take this picture on one of our benches.

We also had a stream nearby, so in the morning, Hubby would get up and go purify some water for us so we would have water for coffee, hiking, and brushing our teeth.

So, that's where we lived for a week in the redwoods!  Remember:  Environmental camps are the way to go!      

"This is the Hawaii People Should See When They Come Here"

That's what my dad said after our visit to Waimea Valley on the north shore of Oahu, and he's right.  A lot of people who come to Hawaii never leave the hustle and bustle of Waikiki.  If they do, all they see is Pearl Harbor or an extremely commercialized luau.  Don't get me wrong, Waikiki can be fun, Pearl Harbor is certainly worthy of your time, and luaus can be...an experience; but exploring the 1,875 acres of lush vegetation at Waimea Valley is a great way to spend a day in Hawaii.

Today is normally Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day, but I am currently away from my garden (and my blog), so I'm going to cheat and put up pictures from our Waimea Valley visit instead.  I don't think we saw anywhere near the 5,000 documented species of tropical plants that the 150-acre Arboretum and Botanical Garden boasts, but we did see quite a lot!

One of the first things you notice as you start up the path is the great trees!  And look-a shrimp plant!

There's me next to one of the great trees.  See me?  I'm teeny tiny.

This is a Brownea macrophylla, featured in the Central and South American Flora section.

This is what it looks like after it blooms...and gets rained on.

This is a Heliconia rostrata, featured in the section by the Snack Bar and Restrooms.

Dad was silly enough to leave me in charge of his camera while he went to the bathroom.

Me and my sister, being great photo subjects, in front of some more heliconias

This is the end of the trail.  Time to turn around.  Anybody recognize this waterfall?  I know it's not quite as scenic without Kate and Sawyer in it, but I did the best I could.  Come back in a few days to see what we found on the way back down the trail!

(I am still away from my computer, so I probably won't be able to respond to comments right away, but I promise to be very excited when I do finally get around to reading them!)

Molokai-Day 1

I recently had the opportunity to take advantage of a promotional weekend offered by Aqua's Hotel Molokai. They were hosting an Unplugged Retreat, a chance to get away from all the blogging, twittering, Facebook-ing, iPhone-ing, and texting that usually goes on in our lives and actually enjoy a beautiful place like Molokai. Our room was free as was dinner Friday night at Hotel Molokai's Hula Shores restaurant. We arrived Friday afternoon and departed Sunday evening. I decided to break this out into separate posts, one for each day, instead of one looong rambling post.

On Friday, we flew via Mokulele Airlines to the island of Molokai. Our flight was delayed and our pilot was a little snippy because when he finally showed up to escort us out to the plane, my husband had gone out of the gate area to see if he could get any information about our flight since there is no information available inside the gate. That's right, you have to walk back out through security to the little Mokulele counter to find out any information about your flight. Then, of course, you have to come back through security. So, just know that going in. Once we got in the air, it was only about a half-hour flight on our nine-passenger plane, and it was pretty smooth until we got over Molokai where things got a little bumpy. Luckily it's a short flight and you have a great view of the islands as you fly over toward the airport.

Flying over Molokai, looking at Lanai (I think. We might be looking at Maui, but I'm pretty sure it's Lanai. Can anybody help me out on this?)

When we arrived at the airport we went to the rental car counter (THE rental car counter-there's only one!). Here I have to give props to Alamo for their customer service. Both our pickup and our drop off were very pleasant experiences. The women who were working behind the counter each time were so friendly and made us feel like we were really being taken care of.

When we arrived at Hotel Molokai, we were a little surprised. It doesn't look like a traditional hotel, it sort of sneaks up on you.

The parking lot is in front, so it's set back just a tiny bit off the road, but it's almost easy to miss-it blends into it's surroundings a bit better than most of the giant hotels in Waikiki I guess. We got the keys to our room and found our Garden View Deluxe room nicely appointed. You can tell that the property is an older property, but they have done a nice job updating the rooms. I would say that the pictures on their web site are a pretty accurate representation of what you actually get. No magic cameras here! We also had a huge lanai (at least by Hawaii standards), big enough for a largish four-person table and a porch swing. Our main view was of the banana trees planted outside our balcony, but from the outer side of the lanai, you could see the ocean. Even though the buildings here are fairly close together, they've done a good job of maintaining privacy on the lanais. Here's a poorly-adjusted picture looking from our room to our lanai, but you get the idea. Hey, I never claimed to be a professional photographer.

The other side of the room, opposite the lanai, was all jalousie windows. This is great for letting in air-not all rooms have A/C-but not so great for privacy since ours opened up on the main walkway between the front desk and the restaurant, and there are no window coverings. Also, jalousies provide absolutely no insulation from noise, and since we were close to the restaurant/bar area, there was a lot of noise. This was the view from our room.

After we got settled in to our room, we decided we still had some time to drive around and check out the island before our dinner. We drove up to the Kalaupapa Lookout and Phallic Rock. As you might expect, the Kalaupapa Lookout looks out over the Kalaupapa Peninsula. If this sounds familiar to you it's because it is where the recently-sainted Father Damien did his work with patients suffering from Hansen's Disease (leprosy). In 1866 King Kamehameha V exiled people suffering from the disease to this isolated peninsula. Today, Kalaupapa is a National Historic Park. There is still a settlement there, but people are not confined as they once were. Visitors are allowed to the settlement, but arrangements must be made ahead of time to fly in, hike in or ride in on a mule. I've heard this can be a pretty treacherous hike, so research your options ahead of time if you do decide to go.

Anyway...the lookout was beautiful. It is surrounded by a gorgeous wooded area that felt very "Where the Wild Things Are" to me and, of course, provides an excellent view of the Kalaupapa Peninsula.

After admiring the view here for a few minutes, we walked back to the parking lot and headed over to check out the Phallic Rock. Because how can you not? What can I say. This is one aptly named piece of nature. How could it not have some lore attached to it? Just imagine you're the first person to discover this-you're walking along one day and all of a sudden, "Whoa. Hey, what's this?"

"Hmmm...my...well, that looks slightly...let me just walk around and examine this a little more before I make any final..."

(Running back to village) "You are not gonna believe what I just found! You guys gotta come see this!"

So, our curiosity assuaged, it was time to return to the Hula Shores Restaurant at Hotel Molokai for their weekly Aloha Friday Sunset Celebration. Every Friday people from all over the island gather here for music, drinks, hula, story-telling, general camaraderie, and, of course, food. What Hawaiian gathering is complete without food? We heard from many people that we talked to on the island that this is the place to be on Friday nights, and it seems they were right. By the time we got there at about 5:45, the parking lot was full, and we had to park on the road. We missed most of the hula, but there was music going all night long, and we got there just in time to wash our hands and go to dinner.

Before dinner was served though, everyone stood up and joined hands (good thing I just washed mine! I hope everyone else did too...); I thought someone was going to say grace, but instead the band started playing, and everyone started singing. Well, I say "everyone," but I mostly just swayed and smiled since the first song was a Hawaiian song that I didn't know. Later it morphed into another song, something patriotic, I just can't remember what. I think it was "This Land is Your Land." By the time I figured out that I actually knew what was going on it was over. Story of my life.

Dinner was wonderful. Our gracious host, Michael Drew, General Manager of Hotel Molokai, started us out with some yummy pupus followed by our tasty entrees which were accompanied by good drinks and followed by a rich cheesecake for dessert. I ordered the Huli Huli Chicken, which is the island version of rotisserie chicken, and it was perfectly cooked. It had great flavor and was still very moist. I didn't get any good pictures of the food, but @NctrnlBst got some good pictures and posted them in a slide show at the end of the great post he wrote about his weekend on Molokai. He also provides a better and more thorough explanation of our unplugged weekend. So, please head over to check out his post on his blog, Baker's Hours.

After all this great food at the end of a long week, we hit the wall. It was time for us to retire while the Unplugged Retreat raged on in the bar below us. This is the part where we found out that not only is our room not noise-proof, but actually acted as a bit of an echo chamber. It didn't matter. We were tired enough that we were able to sleep through the band, and the raucous laughter that continued well into the night and into the wee early hours of the morning, which I'm told was about 11:00 or so, maybe midnight. I think I'm getting old.

And so ends our first day on Molokai. Join me later in the week and I'll tell you about late-night bakery runs, amazing hikes and what might actually be the cutest dog ever.

Anyone else who has pictures and/or blogs from this weekend, please feel free to leave a link in my comments. Thanks!

Flying through the trees in Thailand

Well, now that you all know about my exciting journey to Thailand, let me tell you about some of the things we did while we were in Thailand. As you may recall, the main focus of our visit was my brother-in-law's wedding, but we had about a week before and a week after during which to do other stuff. One of the week-before items ended up being the Flight of the GibbonTM zip-line adventure. There are two locations, Chiang Mai and Bangkok-Pattaya. We visited the Bangkok-Pattaya one which is in Chonburi, about halfway between Bangkok and Pattaya, and it was amazing. There are 26 platforms set up, and most of them involve zip-lines to get from one to the other, but there are a couple of bridges to walk across, and/or ropes to descend. The longest zip-line is over 300 meters, and, if I remember correctly, about 180 feet up. Having a hard time envisioning that? Picture about three football fields. Now imagine a zip line strung across those. Still having a hard time. Let me see if I can find something to help you out.

There we all are on one platform getting ready to come over to the next platform. See us? Waaaay over there? Don't worry, this was toward the end of the run. They don't throw you up into that stuff right away. You start with a light hike through the forest to the first station, and they start you off on low platforms and short zip-lines. Because at first everyone is hanging on like this:

But by about halfway through, they convince you that it's OK to hang on like this as they lower you down to the platform below:

Eventually you work your way up onto platforms overlooking the entire forest with views for miles and zip-line rides lasting 15-20 seconds. And the views weren't just of the trees. There were huge, colorful butterflies and flowers, and we heard lots of birds. We just missed seeing gibbons moving around in the trees on several occasions-we'd hear something big rustling about in the canopy and then see where something big had just moved through, but I was never quick enough to actually spot anything. Others in our party did though.

Here's a shot from an earlier station. We zipped down to the bottom platform, climbed up the spiral staircase, and then zipped from the upper platform to our next station, like I am demonstrating for you here. =) (I just realized that the amount of helmet-wearing I do on this blog seems to be out of proportion to the actual amount of helmet-wearing I do in real life. Just so you know, I don't run around in helmets, waiting for adventure to strike).

We had a great time doing this, and it is something I would highly recommend. This was a great break from the noise and pollution and general stress that is the city. The facility is very new, and the work that was put into building this is amazing. Take a look at that first picture again. Now think about stringing that cable. Or building that spiral staircase in the last picture. Impressive.

I felt totally safe the entire time; from the moment we stepped up to the first platform until we touched ground at the last, there was not a moment that we weren't latched into something secure, and our guides were great. We had two, one to send us off at each platform and one to catch us on the other end. The guide who was on the other end waiting to catch all of us also had all of our cameras around his neck and managed to get pictures of everyone at each station (there were 8 of us) as we were hurtling toward him...in a safe and controlled manner.

From arrival on-site to departure was almost 5 hours, refreshments were provided for us before our adventure began, lunch was provided after, admission to the neighboring Khao Kheo Open Safari was included, AND we essentially had our own personal photographer with us for the duration of the trip. All of this for about $70/person-I think that's a pretty good deal!

I realize that this doesn't answer any of the pressing questions from my "Coming soon!" post, but that's only because I forgot to throw one of these pictures in there as a teaser! I'll get around to the rest, I promise!

Latest tree climbing outing

Until I can get my act together and get a "real" post up, here are some pictures from this weekend.  Scale is a difficult thing to capture in photos, but I've tried to get some perspective for you.  We were back up in The Sentinel (which I just realized I've been spelling wrong this whole time), which is sort of our default climbing tree because it's close.

This is a shot of the branch I was sitting on at the end of my climb, looking straight out into the surrounding forest.

Here is a shot from that same branch looking down at our gear on the ground.  For anyone who knows what they're looking for, I DID have safety knots in my rope.  You just can't see them in this picture.  I had one about every 8 feet-I wasn't taking any chances here!  The trees with the tops that look like stars are Cook pines.   


I took this picture on the way back down.  My back was actually to the trunk, so I was twisting around trying to get a good shot of the root system, which covers a huge amount ground.  I kind of like the swirly effect I got as my rope was swinging me back around.


Here is a little better shot of the root system.