Nature – Page 13 – Valerie's Voice

Memorable Hikes – Ireland 2014

Continuing my series on memorable hikes…

In 2014 we met friends from Boston, in Ireland. We rented a car and drove around the southern part of Ireland on the opposite side of the road for ten days. The countryside is beautiful and green, filled with old ruins, sheep, flowers and so much more. The coast is rocky and wild and we liked Ireland.

One day the four of us hiked to Mount Brandon on the Dingle Peninsula. It was the end of an ancient pilgrimage for Saint Branden (whom the mountain is named after – I don’t know why the spelling difference.) It is steep, rugged and wonderful. It’s the second highest point in Ireland, at 952 meters, or 3,123 feet.

We stopped to ask an older man, a sheepherder whom we encountered while looking for the beginning of the trail, where the trail-head was. He confirmed our thought and then he started up the trail himself. He made it look so easy. He and his three dogs started up the trail about the same time we did but soon they were out of sight!

We started our hike at sea level in sunshine and cool weather. The trail is marked with crosses and white makers. The crosses were numbered for the Stations of the Cross. It was special to come upon each one…a mini victory each time we passed.

One of the wonderful crosses along our trail with vistas of the sea below.

The sheep were on the mountain with us and the views over land and sea were stunning. It was a difficult hike but we kept climbing. At cross #6 I thought we were half way but when we got to cross #12 and it wasn’t the end we began to wonder how much longer or higher we had to go. By now it had started to rain. We kept going…cross #13…#14…should we turn around?…let’s go to the next marker…

And then…there we were…at the top! We were excited, happy, cold and wet. We looked around to see what we could see. There was a definite edge on this peak and for a moment, a little ray of sunshine poked through the fog to give us a glimpse of the beautiful sight straight below us. We snapped a photo and then started back down the way we came up.

Fogged in at the top of Mt. Brandon, Ireland.

Though the trail was wet and slippery, the rain had stopped and we dried out on our way down the mountain. At the bottom we were proud that we completed this six-mile trek. It was one highlight from our many adventures in Ireland.

iPhone

Sometimes I purposely leave my phone at home because I don’t want to be dependent on it. However, I forget it’s also my camera and I like to take a lot of photos.

So when we went for a bike ride on the Cannon Valley Trail last Friday (an unseasonably warm day in MN) I left my phone in the car, but soon realized I missed having it to take photos. We had pedaled just far enough that I did not want to turn around to go back and get it.

As we rode along I wanted to take a picture of the green grass/moss that lined the edge of the bike trail. It looked so bright and inviting and was such a contrast to the dried, leaf-laden woodlands that surround the trail.

I wanted to take a picture of the cloudless, deep blue sky reflecting in the calm waters of the Cannon River, making the river look blue instead of grey.

I wanted to try to get a picture of an eagle soaring low over the river along side us for several seconds while we were pedaling down the trail on our bicycles. (I probably wouldn’t have been able to capture that scene anyhow…)

I wanted to take a picture of the ridge-line and terrain that we don’t normally see in the summer when the leaves are on the trees.

I wanted to take a picture of the many trees beavers have gnawed. We wondered: where are the beavers, and why have the decided to build their homes in this area now?

I didn’t capture the scenes with my camera phone but they are pictured in my mind.

We had a good ride and passed a few others on the trail, out to get in one more bike ride before winter.

Memorable Hikes – Zion National Park, Utah 1992

Continuing my series on memorable hikes…

One of the most unusual trails we have hiked is in Zion National Park where we camped with our two sons in July, 1992.

The Narrows is the name of the canyon, and trail, between two cliffs (1,000 feet tall) with the Virgin river running through it. Most times the water level is low enough to take a hike…however, there are signs posted warning hikers of the potential danger of flash floods so you need to be sure to check the forecast before you begin your hike…you do not want to be hiking in the river when there is danger of more water rushing in.

There was a flash flood last summer that caught some hikers by surprise. Fortunately people joined arms and made it out of the Narrows safely.

Click here to read a news article.

My guys in The Narrows – Zion National Park, 1992

The day we hiked the Narrows, in 1992, the skies were sunny and we had great weather. We hiked in about a mile up the Virgin River and then turned around. It was a great adventure and thankfully we didn’t have any problems.

It was definitely a unique and unforgettable experience.

Memorable Hikes – Switzerland 2002

Continuing my series on memorable hikes…

In April of 2002, my husband, our youngest son and I went to England to pick up our oldest son, who studied at Oxford for a semester. We were curious to explore Oxford and London and then travel in Europe. After touring in England we took the Chunnel to Calais, France and saw sights in France, Germany and Switzerland.

While in Switzerland we went hiking in the Lauterbrunnen Valley (which is often is referred to as the valley of 72 waterfalls.)

A photo of the hotel and one of the 72 waterfalls in Lauterbrunnen Valley. This is a photo from a brochure picture I had in my photo album. I didn’t have a great photo of my own to share.

After settling into our chalet-style hotel we started hiking towards waterfalls that were inside a mountain. We were intrigued by this. Along the way I was awe-struck by the beauty of a different waterfalls, Staubbach Falls. There was a stream of water falling off a vertical mountain face, cascading about 1,000 feet. I think it’s so spectacular because of its simplistic beauty. I still remember seeing it for the first time…I’m not sure why it impacted me so.

We continued hiking in the valley to Trümmelbach Falls, which was our destination. These falls are a series of ten glacier-waterfalls inside the mountain, made accessible by a tunnel-lift. We were able to go inside the mountain and walk around to see the falls. They were illuminated which was nice. It was fun and interesting.

Another photo from a brochure in my photo album…waterfalls flowing outside the mountain.

After coming out of the mountain we hiked back to our picturesque hotel nestled in this spectacular valley with breathtaking views.

Memorable Hike – Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming 1999

Continuing my series on memorable hikes…

Our family took many road trips across country when the boys were younger, mostly to national parks, and we hiked a lot.

A picture – of a photo – of my three guys in the Tetons (from our 1999 photo album).

One memorable hike was in Grand Teton National Park. What made this hike memorable were the butterflies. I find it interesting that I mentioned seeing beautiful butterflies on our hike in Brazil, but on this hike in the Tetons the butterflies were my companions.

One morning we started hiking together along a park trail and after hiking 4.5 miles we came to a fork in the road. For the first time ever, while hiking with my family, I decided to turn around and hike back alone while my three guys continued walking to a mountain lake. This was the first and only time I remember turning around while hiking and I don’t remember why. I do remember feeling safe, knowing it was an established park trail, and that I had enough water.

What made this hike memorable were the butterflies. While I walked alone along the path they fluttered along the side of me all the way back. I couldn’t believe it…they were my escorts, my guardian angels. I remembered it as one butterfly but my journal reminded me there were several butterflies.

My journal also reminded me that the guys continued another 2.7 miles to the mountain lake, Lake Solitude. It was there they turned around and hiked back to the ferry landing. My husband hopped on the ferry, but our two sons decided to continue hiking all the way back to the trailhead for an additional 2.5 miles which made their total 17 miles for that day.

I often think about this story and my butterfly companions. It makes me smile.

Psalm 121: 1-2

I lift up my eyes to the mountains—
where does my help come from?
My help comes from the Lord,
the Maker of heaven and earth.

Memorable Hikes – Brazil 2004

Hiking is a favorite hobby of mine and my husband. We have gone on hundreds of hikes over the years…it is what we like to do, at home and on vacation, so I thought it would be fun to write a series about some memorable hikes. It’s tough to rate them as favorites so I’ll stick with “memorable” and not rank them in any kind of order. I keep a vacation journal so I have notes on most of our hikes (some more detailed than others I’ve discovered). Here is the first in my series of memorable hikes that I will post weekly, for awhile anyway.

Several years ago our son was a Rotary exchange student in Florianopolis, an island off the southern coast of Brazil. It is a gorgeous island and known for it’s beautiful beaches along the Atlantic Ocean. He lived there one year and had a great experience. His host families were wonderful and genuinely cared for him. It was a delight to meet them when our family went to visit after he had been living in Brazil for seven months.

His first host family (mom, dad and one son – their other son was on Rotary exchange in the US) took our family on a hike along Lagoa da Conceição, a large lagoon on the island of Florianopolis. The island itself is beautiful…and to hike along the inland lake was a special treat.

It was a hot day. The trail was semi-rough and we hiked for about an hour and a half. I saw many butterflies along the trail, including a black and purple one. I had already spotted several butterflies on this trip to Brazil, including the beautiful, iridescence blue ones and a lime-green one.

What I remember most about this hike was the destination… as we neared the end we walked down toward the lake and there on the beach were some shade trees, a swing set, a few chickens running around and children playing in the sand. There was a quaint open-air café on the sandy shores of Lagoa da Conceição. It was a great spot to stop, rest, cool off, swing and get something cold to drink, and food to eat. We were the only customers at the café. It was family- owned and run. We found a wonderful place to sit at a table under the trees near the water.

We ordered a beer; it tasted so good because the beer was so cold and the air was so hot, and so were we from hiking in the heat. Next the appetizers started coming – shrimp, squid, and other kinds of fish – all delicious. Then we ordered main dishes for everyone to share family-style. We spent over two hours eating and enjoying our time together in this lovely setting.

And then, to our surprise and delight, they had ordered a boat taxi to bring us back to the trail-head. Instead of hiking back we had a pleasant, relaxing boat ride on the beautiful lake, Lagoa da Conceição.

It was a lovely day and memorable hike with wonderful friends.

Color

At the Santa Fe Ski Basin: 11,000 ‘ above sea level.

We just returned form a six-day vacation in New Mexico. The landscape is so different from Minnesota, as it should be, and that is why it is fun to venture out and see an area of the country so different from where we live. We had a great time.

In New Mexico the quaking aspens turn bright yellow in the fall, but by this time in October many have lost their leaves. There were still several bright ones popping out among the Ponderosa Pine and Pinon trees on the mountains. We visited two cities: Albuquerque, 5,312 feet above sea level and Santa Fe, 7,199 feet above sea level. The landscape is filled with small scrubs dotting the rocky and sandy soil with Sangre de Cristo mountains as the backdrop. The sky was such a crisp, deep blue. It was beautiful to see and fun to be in the Southwest.

All the while I was wondering if I was missing the mixture of reds and burgundy, yellows and golds, lime-greens and oranges; the colors of the trees in Minnesota during autumn. I was happy to wake up at home in Minnesota to lots of sunshine with many trees still in their autumn glory and fall color all around.

The End of NIght

I finished reading The End Of Night; Searching for Natural Darkness in an Age of Artificial Light by Paul Bogard. Folks on the BWCA trip recommended the book. I requested it from the library and when I picked it up I wondered how a 270 page book on artificial light could possibly hold my interest, but it did. Simply put, it addresses light pollution and it’s affect on our planet, our bodies, our lives. It was written in 2013…who knew there are groups out there advocating for better type of lighting in our cities (all over the world) so we don’t “drowned out” the Milky Way?

I started reading the book at the cabin up on the north shore. While having a campfire on the rocks our last evening, the sky was clear. It was a new moon, therefore there was no light competition for the stars. I have always paid attention to the phases of the moon, especially when we go up north. After the campfire I suggested we get in the car and drive to the top of the hill on Sawbill Trail and turn out the car lights to stargaze. We did. On the hill we were far away from artificial light: no city lights, no cabin lights, no headlights…and it was spectacular to see the beautiful dome of stars.

In church recently I talked with a woman who had just returned from “up north” and mentioned how her young son was amazed to see so many stars in the night sky, unlike what he sees at home. This is one reason of concern in the book.

Reading the book brought back a couple of memories. One evening, when our boys were younger, we were camping in northern MN with two other families. The air was still and the sky was clear. After dark, we all hiked to the small lake in the campground and saw the stars reflecting in the calm, unruffled water. It was a stunning scene and one I have thought of several times through the years.

Another special outdoor, nighttime memory is walking with a friend when the moon was full. At first we joined organized hikes with a naturalist, but after a few months we just started walking on our own on nights when the sky was clear and the moon was full. It was great and we had enough light from the moon to walk the path without flashlights.

I love light, as most people do, but this book gave me a new appreciation for our need for darkness too, and for our wonderful, magnificent night sky.

Movement at Temperance River State Park

One beautiful afternoon during our stay up on the north shore, we walked along Temperance River towards Lake Superior, from the parking area to a wooden bridge that crosses over the river to the other side of the park. While on the bridge we looked downstream to the mouth of the river and there was a young man fly-fishing. As we looked upstream, towards the water falls, our son and his wife alerted us to watch for fish jumping out of the water trying to swim against the flow. It was fun to spot several fish jumping over the course of a few minutes. Some types of fish return to the stream of their birth to lay eggs. To accomplish this, they must swim upstream against the current of the stream. It looked like a tough job.

If you observe closely you can see a fish jumping in this 9 second video. Click link:

IMG_8497

The fish jumping was one of the interesting movements we saw that afternoon.

The other interesting movement we witnessed was on the rocky beach of the state park.

I didn’t have opportunity to get a good photo of this lone dancer on the rock, but I wanted to capture the memory.

We continued hiking to the lake and found a semi-shady spot to sit down and read our books on the rocky beach when I noticed on the other side of the beach a woman dancing by herself on an outcropping of rocks. I was far enough away so she didn’t know I was watching her, but there were others close-by and she would have known they were there, but still she danced with abandonment.

And it brought me much joy.

I sensed her enthusiasm and love for the beauty surrounding her and she was expressing it by dancing. I try to express these feelings by writing and photography but part of me wants to secretly find a hidden beach somewhere and dance to my heart’s content!

“Let all who come to Love rejoice, let them sing for joy! And protect them, so that those who live in your love may dance in your light!”

An excerpt from Psalm 5 from the book Psalms for Praying by Nan C. Merrill

It’s hard to say good-bye…

09/21/17 The sun did it’s beautiful thing again this morning with no clouds to obstruct our view. We leave for home today and I’m sad to say good-bye, although I’m so grateful for the time we had up here in this amazing place. I’m praising God for this incredible beauty.

Our adventures this year included hikes up Oberg Mountain (two times), Britton Peak, Shovel Point, Temperance River (several times, different areas), bike rides on the Gitchi-Gami trail, drives along Hwy 61 and inland roads, eating delicious meals right at the cabin overlooking the lake. We took time to read, reflect and just plain “sit around and watch the lake”. We pieced together a jigsaw puzzle, enjoyed campfires on the rocks… explored new places.

It was wonderful to be with our son, his wife and our five-month-old granddaughter.

Three seagulls on the rocks outside the cabin.

There were many seagulls in the air and on the rocks, an eagle that flew by several times, hummingbirds at the cabin feeder and a few ducks floating along.

It was fun to see this barge heading out to sea, sailing past a beach we were exploring for the first time.

We always enjoy having a jigsaw puzzle out on a table to slowly piece together during our time in the cabin. There are many puzzles available at the cabin. I chose this Tall Ships puzzle to remind me of my kayak trip watching the Tall Ships parade last summer.

We saw a lot of fall color on the inland trees this year, and we had several varied weather patterns: wind and rain and rough seas, and some gorgeous, clear, autumn blue skies…all makes for a wonderful week on the north shore of Lake Superior.

Our lunch spot…can’t find a restaurant with these views!

We’re going home relaxed, renewed, rejuvenated and rejoicing.

Sigh…it’s so hard to leave, but my heart is full.