Travel – Page 15 – Valerie's Voice

Memorable Hikes – Smoky Mountain National Park, Kentucky 1996

Continuing my series on memorable hikes...

In 1996 our family camped in Smoky Mountain National Park and went on several hikes, including a six-mile stretch on the Appalachian Trail that passed through the park.

The hike I remember most from this trip was a hike to Laural Falls, and beyond (according to my journal). As the four of us began this six-mile hike we met a couple from the Ranger Program we had attended the night before. They were coming out of the forest as we were heading into it. We stopped to chat and they told us to look for big trees ahead.

As we continued on our hike we were on the lookout for “big trees”. After hiking a while we met another couple and told them what the previous folks had told us. They looked around and said, “we think these are really big trees.” It was then we realized we were right there among the “big trees”…large enough for the guys to hold hands around to circle a tree. We laughed at our “impaired vision”. We were grateful to finally take notice of the big trees surrounding us.

Picture of a photo from my album. Great Smokey Mountains.

But more than the trees, what made this hike memorable was the Barred Owl. As we turned a bend in the trail we saw a big, beautiful, Barred Owl – perched on a lower branch – in plain sight. It was so large and so pretty and so close. I have never again seen an owl that close. I wish I had a good photo of that owl but I can still picture it in my mind.

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.

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.

Pancakes and Scanners

My friend, who lives in Indiana, and I like to meet in WI when it works and it worked last week. We shop antique stores and thrift shops. It’s hard to explain the joy we get from going from shop to shop. It’s great fun and great therapy (or does the therapy come from our rich conversations?)

We stay in hotels and eat breakfast at their breakfast bars. We are used to the eggs and sausages in warmers, bread and bagels next to a toaster, oatmeal in crock-pots next to cold cereal, and the waffle maker machine – which was a great invention but has been around awhile. This time, at the breakfast bar, there was something new…a pancake machine.

Looking through the window of the pancake machine.

You press a button and plop goes the first blob of pancake batter onto the conveyor belt, then a second blob of batter is dropped and as the belt moves along they are cooked and within minutes out comes two hot and tasty pancakes! It was very fun to ooh and aah over this new machine.

Later that day we stopped at one of the largest grocery stores I’ve ever been in. We find what we are looking for and as we check out we experience another new technology…360-degre scanners. You simply unload your cart one item at a time, place it single file on the belt, and your items are automatically scanned and no one has to handle the merchandise (except for bagging it).

Who knew we’d discover not one, but two new-to-us modern technology devices in the southern Wisconsin town of Janesville.

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.

Even More Color and Shapes

We went to the Balloon Fiesta on two different days. The second day we followed the same routine to see the Special Shapes Rodeo, an event featuring special shaped balloons. Again we arrived before dawn to see the Dawn Patrol and watch the balloons ascend. Below are only a few photos from all we took. It was too hard to pick a favorite (well…maybe the Armadillo). They were all amazing.

Humpty-Dumpty had a great fall…but stayed afloat at the Balloon Fiesta.

The Holstein cow is huge…and you can see the scarecrow on the ground being inflated.

The Scarecrow air-born, along with penguins…and a bandit and a British “Bobbie” getting ready to ascend.

The lady with the “Tutti-Frutti” hat ascending, a British Guard getting ready for take off and Uncle Sam still on the ground.

I love this fish’s smile…with a Mexican Dancer close by. The other balloon has ocean critters hanging from it.

A huge balloon in the shape of a dog. Note the basket size compared to the balloon.

This Man on Motorcycle balloon is so huge it doesn’t ascend often. When it does it, only goes across the field. It was fun to see it inflated.

Another huge balloon…boy in a wheelchair. I don’t think it goes up very often either.

This boy balloon enjoying the festival with lots of hot-air balloons reflected in his glasses.

More Color

I love color… in all forms: a Minnesota autumn, colored glass, crayons, flowers and hot-air balloons to name a few.

Way back in high school I remember a friend using the descriptive “colorful as a balloon man at the circus” and I thought it was clever…but now I’m thinking “colorful as hot-air balloons at the International Balloon Fiesta in Albuquerque, New Mexico” is better.

My husband and I had the unique experience of seeing the 46th annual Balloon Fiesta. We were with another couple who had lived in New Mexico for several years so they knew the routine.

Up at 4:30 a.m., on the road by 5 a.m. to join hundreds of other cars all heading towards the Balloon Fiesta field. After parking the car – and remembering surrounding landmarks to find it again – we walked in the chilly morning air wearing our jackets, gloves and hats and entered a fair-like atmosphere with booths selling food and souvenirs, all lit up in the dark. There were hundreds of people already there. We bought some hot coffee at one booth, and a breakfast burrito – with green chili of course – at another, and then walked on the field to watch the Dawn Patrol balloons set up. The Dawn Patrol are the few balloons that take off early to check weather conditions to determine if it’s OK for the other hundreds of balloons to take off that morning. These few balloons look like giant fireflies in the dark sky because the balloon lights up from each blast of flame that shoots hot air into the balloons.

Once the Dawn Patrol gives the “go-ahead” the other balloons are laid out on the field and hot air is blown in to inflate the balloon. The balloons are turned upright with the large basket for the pilot, passengers and the gas burners attached underneath the balloon.

When the pilot has determined it’s ready to fly the tether is loosened and the balloons begin to rise. People get excited and clap as they watch the balloons gently float up, up, up into the sky. It’s a very festive atmosphere and a very impressive sight. By now the sun has started to peek over the mountains and the Mass Ascension continues for about an hour or two until all the hundreds of balloons all ascend. It’s truly an amazing sight to see, and wonderful to be a part of this special event.

For many years I have wanted to go to the Balloon Fiesta, held every year the first two weeks of October, so it was fun to finally be there on the field. It met my expectations. The balloon designs are so varied and the colors are so vibrant. The first day the Mass Ascension included balloons of many shapes and sizes, but more traditional shapes. The next morning we repeated the routine and joined even more crowds to see the Special Shape Rodeo.

A few (very few) photos from the event:

Here’s a little perspective of the size of these balloons.

Spectacular!

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.