GLACIER ROAD TRIP

29 SEP 2018 SATURDAY

Decided to start a day early to cut down on the first day’s drive and take a more scenic route through Big Sur and Monterey. Beautiful cool day was a perfect setting to see McWay Falls at Pfeiffer Big Sur State Park. Carried Daisy in the backpack carrier for the first time to keep her off the “no pets on path”. Interesting to see the massive landslide area that blocked our drive in 2016. Lots of repairs still being made to the roads in Big Sur.

Had a leisurely lunch at Wild Plum Café and Bakery in Monterey as recommended by BringFido.com. Different and great Mediterranean and Greek Goddess sandwiches were enough for lunch and dinner.

Stayed at La Quinta in Fremont just below San Francisco.

30 SEP 2018 SUNDAY

Today was a short driving day to Redding since we split the first day into two. Was curious about Grizzly Island Wildlife area that unfortunately was closed through Sep 30. Looked like a big marsh area but was hoping to see a few elk.

Another hour north on the 5 we saw a sign for the Delevan National Wildlife Refuge and pulled over to see if that would be interesting but that turned out to be inaccessible with all the entrance roads gated.

Arrived in Redding at the Turtle Bay Exploration Park and the Sundial Bridge. The 700 foot bridge has a glass surface and spans across the Sacramento River. The 217 foot high sundial casts a shadow on concrete ring around it marking it with the time of day. Very cool concept and design. On the other side of the bridge is a wildlife area a mile and a half around where we saw a few deers feeding on tree branches. Also a simple botanical garden with about 8 different garden areas. Pleasantly surprised this was such an expansive dog friendly park. There was also a museum that we did not go into.

The Mount Shasta Historical State Park was the last stop of the day but unfortunately was closed indefinitely since it was in the middle of the burn area from last months devastating wild fire.

The Redding La Quinta is next door to a Cattlemens Steakhouse that served a very average slightly over cooked rib eye.

1 OCT 2018 MONDAY

Leaving Redding up to Shasta we saw a lot of burned areas and drove through parts of the I5 that were closed during the Carr fire that destroyed over 1600 structures in August. We pulled over to see the Shasta Caverns just north of Redding. Didn’t have time to wait for the next tour but definitely a place to return to. A two hour tour that includes a walk to the waters edge to catch a boat across the lake, a bus ride to the cave entrance, a 600 step climb and a 200 step descent through the stunning caves and a boat ride back.

Arrived at the Mt Shasta Visitors Bureau office that was closed so headed up to the Old Ski Bowl Trailhead which is the highest drivable point at 7850 feet. We were told that we may be above the cloud cover but instead ended up in a rain cloud and couldn’t see anything.

 

Drove the rest of the way to Grants Pass Oregon and started seeing some fall foliage along I5. Had a wonderful lunch at Rivers Edge on the banks of the Rogue River. Unusual and delicious burger with Medford pears and deep fried kale. Food was so good we went back and had their seafood fettuccini and garlic broccolini for dinner.

The Motel Del Rogue was the only boutique hotel planned on our trip and it was exactly as expected. Very rustic, knotty pine walled, cabin like units with a separate kitchen and bedroom. Nostalgic décor  from the 50’s. Had an outdoor deck similarly decorated except the chairs and tables were from the 40’s…. The room was actually quaint with clean, good beds even though there were a few areas showing wear and tear for an 80 year old building. The closet stored a library of every National Geographic magazine from 1986-2000. Very close to a small path that ran along the River. We arrived early so we took Daisy on the 1½ mile Skycrest loop trail in the Cathedral Hills County Park.

2 OCT 2018 TUESDAY

Today was filled was natural beauty. It was one of the longer drive days of over 400 miles along I5 but the scenery was gorgeous. Lots of yellow and orange colors the whole way and the leaves were starting to fall too. Took a Starbucks potty stop in Eugene across the street from the University of Oregon Matthew Knight arena. Told Robert H that there’s no better place to do #2.

Just 20 miles east of Portland is Troutdale, the gateway to the gorge, and the start of the Historic Columbia River Hwy. Had lunch at Troutini Bar where we had the best Reuben, caprese salad, and garlic fries ever. The highway is a beautiful road with some amazing sights although part of it was still closed and under repair from the massive wildfires that burnt the gorge in Sep 2017. The Vista House is perched on the edge of a high cliff overlooking the Columbia River. Fabulous panoramic of river and the little islands in the middle of it. Backpacked Daisy again to get into the house and up to the upper balcony. Just past the Vista House is the Latourell Falls trailhead. We took the short walk to the lower falls and was rewarded by a beautiful view from the falls pool. Another couple miles further was Bridal Veil Falls. A 15 minute hike into a valley took us to a viewing platform of another beautiful falls. The highway was closed at this point so we had to take a detour onto Hwy 84 to get to the most well known falls in the gorge, Multnoma. Unfortunately the trails to the falls are indefinitely closed due to damage but we could still see the entire height of the falls from the visitor area near the highway. This was a wonderful excursion that was a last minute addition to our trip.

Olympia, WA was still two hours away and we still had Tumwater Falls Park to see. It was yet another surprisingly interesting and beautiful area. The top of the park is a salmon hatchery and we were lucky enough to be there during the salmon return. We saw many adult salmon in the catchment area and saw many more making its way up the river. The river has an upper and lower falls of about 10 feet high so there is a network of concrete mazes that serve as stairs to allow the salmon to make it upstream. The park has a half mile trail along the river with two bridges across that make for a spectacular scenic walk.

Another La Quinta in Lacey tonight.

3 OCT 2018 WEDNESDAY

Olympic National Park is 2.5 hours north of Lacey and you have to cross a couple of long bridges. Picked up sandwiches from Drakes Pizza and Subs in Port Angeles before stopping at the Visitors Center. Highway 101 circles the park but there’s only a few roads that go to Hurricane Ridge, along Elwah River, and to Sol Duc Hot Springs. Olympic did not have any spectacular views nor was it an interesting drive. Even Hurricane Ridge’s mountain view did not inspire me. Crescent Lake was very ordinary. I decided to take the 101 all the way around the park back to Tacoma that probably wasn’t the best decision. It cost me at least an hour due to slow vehicles, a few small towns that slowed you down, and Aberdeen was a downright roadblock.

The Clarion Inn at Joint Base Lewis McChord was recently remodeled but still a little creepy with bland colors. Dinner at Little Tokyo teriyaki.

4 OCT 2018 THURSDAY

It was a short 90 minutes from Lacey to the Nisqually entrance of Mt Rainier NP. In contrast to Olympic, Mt Rainier was beautiful with spectacular gorges, great waterfalls, and hair tingling drives. Christine and Narada falls were pretty and easily accessible by short hikes. The Paradise Visitor Center had a beautiful Alpine Garden. Reflection Lake had great fall colors, Box Canyon tweaked my acrophobia, and the Grove of the Patriots trail was a soothing one mile hike that included the crossing of a good sized suspension bridge. The Mather Memorial Highway on the east side of the park provided vista views of the valley and the peak from the road. Was a little surprised to see many rivers in the park dry with only trickles of water. After a satisfying park visit it was another 5 hour drive to Coeur D’Alene. I was surprised at how dry and barren eastern Washington appeared compared to the huge forests in the west.

The La Quinta is the nicest hotel so far and had dinner at the Shari’s Restaurant in the parking lot.

5 OCT 2018 FRIDAY

Glacier National Park West entrance is 4 hours from Coeur D’Alene.

Awwwwwww. Going To The Sun Road is closed due to a snow storm on Sep 29. We were able to drive only the first 16 miles along Lake McDonald and stopped before Red Rock Point which does not start the elevation climb that the road is famous for. We knew it was risky past September and we rolled the dice anyway. Otherwise a perfect, gorgeous, sunny day but very little else to see. Walked along the lake in front of Lake McDonald lodge and stopped by a couple of pullouts along the river.

After spending only two hours in the park we decided to head down toward Yellowstone to cut down on tomorrow’s 7 hour drive. Checked in at LaQuinta in Helena four and a half hours later. Bad Betty’s BBQ was closed so had take out from Chef Mai’s Noodle House.

 

6 OCT 2018 SATURDAY

Took 3 hours to get to Yellowstone North Entrance. Like last time, we saw some elk lying on the grass of city buildings in Mammoth Hot Springs. Was a cloudy, drizzly, day with a few snow flurries. Our main destination was Lamar Valley to see some wildlife so we headed east from Mammoth toward Tower-Roosevelt. Undine Falls was nice and was a short walk from the parking lot. Luckily Lamar Valley Road was open since it didn’t open until 1:30 yesterday. Unfortunately, the road to Canyon Village was closed. Saw a couple sightings of Pronghorn deer off the main road and a large herd of bison deep in the valley. We had lunch at the end of Lamar Valley where a Llama trekking trip looked like they were getting ready to leave. On the way back, we luckily saw around 20 bison near the Lamar Buffalo ranch. We pulled up the driveway and was surrounded by them grazing and playing. We parked there for about 20 minutes amazed that they weren’t afraid and didn’t leave.

Near Tower-Roosevelt was Tower Falls and the columnar basalt rock formations, both beautiful. The road to Canyon Village was still closed so we drove back to Mammoth Hot Springs and down to Norris and east to Canyon Village so we could see the Grand Canyon Of Yellowstone. We took a 2 mile loop drive by Upper Yellowstone Falls with views of the canyon and the Yellowstone River. The views were worth the long drive to get there.

Was getting late but we had heard good things about the new Grand Prismatic Overlook so we headed back to Norris and South to the geyser basins. The 1.2 mile trail to the overlook started at the Fairy trailhead past the Grand Prismatic boardwalk. The view was definitely better than the boardwalk but cold weather and too much steam still obscured the colors in the pool.

We had planned to stay at the Best Western Desert Inn in West Yellowstone but when we arrived they said that our reservation did not specify a pet and the whole hotel was booked. They did help us find a room at the nearby Kelly Inn. Dinner from Firehole BBQ, top rated on Yelp.

7 OCT 2018 SUNDAY

OMG Yellowstone is the best. We decided to take the long, more scenic route to Orem through Yellowstone and Grand Teton. Needed an early start that worked to our favor. Saw lots of elk, bison, and even a few wolves along West Yellowstone Road. More bison on the Grand Loop Road to Old Faithful and we arrived at Old Faithful seven minutes before the next geyser. Perfect timing for everything this morning. Clearly early morning is the best time to see wildlife and best to see in the open valley floors along West Yellowstone road and along Grand Loop between Madison and the geyser basins.

Continued to the south entrance and into Grand Teton along the John D Rockefeller Jr memorial highway. Stopped at the Colter Bay Visitors Center, Oxbow Bend, Snake River Overlook, and a few other stops. Really hoped to see elk at the National Elk Refuge north of Jackson but we knew we were a little early in the season.

Had lunch in Jackson and strapped in for the 6 hour drive to Orem, UT. Stayed on Hwy 189/191, nicknamed the National Park Highway because it connects six NPs. Long stretches of flat, barren areas of Wyoming made part of the trip tedious and it sprinkled rain most of the way. Once into Utah, the scenery was more interesting and the final stretch of 189 between Heber City and Orem was outright spectacular.

Stayed at La Quinta on University Parkway near BYU which was a nice, new hotel close to lots of eateries that were closed on a Sunday evening.

8 OCT 2018 MONDAY

Today was the only day with a hard scheduled event, to be in Page by 12:30 for Chief Tsosie Upper Antelope Canyon Tour. Had to leave Orem NLT 7am to meet the schedule with a couple of potty breaks. Didn’t realize there was a time zone change that gave us an extra hour. It rained practically the entire time on I15 and heavy clouds otherwise. Things got interesting once we exited Hwy 20 to catch Hwy 89 the rest of the way. We climbed a summit in very heavy fog on a winding mountain pass that had me praying the opposite direction traffic was taking it as slow as I was. I felt that I survived the drive once we got back down to Hwy 89. The drive from there was beautiful especially along the Mt Carmel Scenic Byway entering into Kanab. The drive from Kanab to Page was equally scenic with spectacular mesas on the left the majority of the time. We accidentally pulled into the Grand Staircase Escalante Visitors Center for another NP stamp. The descent into Page had Lake Powell on the left, giant mesas in front, and crossing the Glenn Canyon Dam bridge. We arrived 45 minutes early so we pulled into a strip mall for lunch and recognized Slackers Burgers where we ate two years ago. Reminder to never order their pastrami again. As Karen went on tour I headed back across the dam bridge to a lookout drive that I noticed coming in. However, before the bridge, was another lookout sign that I turned into. The lookout was similar to Horseshoe Bend without the one mile hike. Tall, steep, canyon walls looking down into a river below with the dam to the right. Very stunning lookout that I never knew about.

9 OCT 2018 TUESDAY

Today was one of the best “didn’t know what to expect but it was exciting and fun” day. Took Hwy 89T out of Page and was treated to a stunning gorge rock formation 2 miles outside the city. The next 20 miles saw many mesas and buttes to our right and behind us. We reconnected to Hwy 89 then down to Highway 40 at Flagstaff. The highway from Flagstaff to Kingman is part of the historic Route 66.

We visited Bearizona in Williams 30 miles from Flagstaff. It was a well done drive thru wildlife park with lots of bears, white bison, reindeer, Dall sheep, wolves, bighorn sheep and more. Just as well done was a walk thru zoo with jaguars, bobcats, juvenile bears, otters and more. Very similar to Yellowstone Bear World.

A fantastic stop for lunch was Juan Delgadillos Sno Cap in Seligman, another 30 miles down Highway 40. Seligman is a wonderfully preserved downtown in the old Route 66 theme. Lots of interesting storefronts and signs and a string of Burma Shave signs on each side of the city road. Juan’s Sno Cap was an outdoor Route 66 museum in its own right. A definite must stop along the highway.

Oatman, AZ was almost too long of a detour from our route but so glad we did it. It’s a small city on historic Route 66 which is even more wacky thematic than Seligman but most interesting are the wild burros that roam the town like any resident. We saw at least 30 burros jay walking, blocking traffic, pan handling for food, and going into bars. Unbelievably strange environment to have these wild animals cruising around the town with no restrictions. The road into Oatman from the north included 10 miles of 10-15 mph mountain roads. Thankfully the road to Laughlin was a much straighter 30 miles to the south.

Hard to ruin a great day but a 50 minute wait for mediocre sushi at Tokyo Garden tried. Even a long, horrible check in process at Harrahs and a surprise $85 pet fee couldn’t dent the great day. The room at Harrahs was great, overlooking the pool, the river, and Bullhead City and the pet fee included a pair of water and food dishes for Daisy.

 10 OCT 2018 WEDNESDAY

Joshua Tree National Park looked iffy today with two road closures on our route there. We eventually made it to the Oasis Visitors Center and started on the 34 mile road from Oasis to the main visitors center. I walked a quarter mile on the Skull Rock trail before a hiker told me you can see Skull Rock from the parking area. The Jumbo Rocks area was mildly interesting. Keys View lookout is probably the main attraction with a birds eye view of the Coachella Valley, the San Andreas fault, San Jacinto and San Gorgonio Mountains. The rest of the drive passes a number of Hulk like rock formations that resembles the Flintstones Bedrock.

The last 11 days have been mainly stress free driving but it only took 10 minutes on the I 10 freeway before a pair of road construction projects gridlocked traffic and set off my iwatch to alert me to breathe. A horrible multi vehicle accident on the 210 freeway also brought traffic to a standstill.

Whew, glad to be home. Nap time