Canoeing Rangeley to Umbagog

Journal
Rangeley Lake to Umbagog Lake, Maine/New Hampshire
August 6-13, 2016
Gary and Christen


The route from Rangeley to Umbagog is part of the Northern Forest Canoe Trail, and they offer some excellent maps, guidebook, and infrastructure to aid in planning and executing a trip like this.

We were supposed to be three, but my friend Laura had to cancel. Christen and I drove about three hours through northern New Hampshire to Erol where we checked in for one of our remote campsites, then to Cupsuptic Lake campground for another site and to finalize arrangements for a car shuttle from Rangeley State Park, Maine to Umbagog State Park, NH. Luckily they also had a remote campsite available for tonight. So it's back up the road a bit, launch, and paddle up the river to a nice remote site with a north view over the lake and Maine rolling hills. After Christen's dinner of farafelli with mushrooms and a white wine reduction. We'll be eating well.

After dinner and set-up the wind died and the stars came out. And so did the no-see-ums. Wow, what a star show. The air was very clear and with no light pollution the stars were brilliant. Later we paddled out onto the water for a full view unobstructed by spruce. Many constellations were easily identified and several shooting stars made their brief showing. We're a few days before the Perseid meteor shower and the moon is not interfering.

Sunday morning we pack up and return to the car. In a short drive we find the trailhead to Azicohos peak and ascend it. The forest here is spruce and hemlock. At the top it is spruce and hemlock. There's a great view from the top where there was once a fire tower. We can see our whole route of Rangeley, Cupsuptic, Mooselookmeguntic, Upper and Lower Richardson, and Umbagog.

Next we're off to Rangeley Lake State Park for car-camping and dinner of fettuccine with scallops. In the evening we paddle out for the sunset.

Monday and we're all packed up and ready when our shuttle from Cupsuptic campground arrives. The headwinds have already started as we begin our expedition. So we hug the shore, pull hard to an island, then another hard pull to the western shore. From here its a slalom around docks, rafts, and moored boats toward the town of Oquossoc. From the boat launch we portage through town in gusty winds to the boat launch on Mooselookmeguntic Lake. Before launch we lunch on soup of freeze-dried black beans, vegs and spices. A family nearby lunches out of styrofoam clamshells.

The wind is now quite strong and straight against us as we paddle to our campsite on Cupsuptic Lake. Clouds have been building all day and now we get some rain. Its brief and light, but it looks like it could get more serious. So we paddle hard, always hoping Smudge Cove campsite will be just around the next point. Finally we're here and none too soon. We get the dining fly rigged and all our gear under it when the rains begin in earnest. But they don't last long and soon we're out exploring a trail along the lake. Nearby there is a rocky knoll, and below that is a landscape of large jumbled boulders and rocks all heavily covered heavily in moss with spruce trees. We expect to see ewoks swinging down from the trees. Along the way we find a birch bark tube about four feet long and eight inches in diameter, where the wood has completely rotted away and left the bark. What fun! We bring it back to camp. Christen makes beef chili. She's really getting into cooking with freeze-dried ingredients.

Later we find a nice long spruce pole, and cut two holes in our birch tube big enough for the spruce. We rig the pole across the fire ring by lashing it to trees, with the tube hanging vertically. Once past dusk, we added some loose birch bark at the bottom, and lit it on fire. Very soon the loose bark is engulfed in flame and smoke is rising through the tube as air is drawn in the bottom. Within seconds flames are shooting about four feet out the top while the small holes in the bark glow bright orange. In less than a minute the tube is consuming itself and soon releases itself from the spruce pole and falls over in a great conflagration. In five minutes all the birch bark is consumed and the campsite returns to darkness.

Tuesday dawns chilly with bright sun and no wind. I find a quarter cup of wild blueberries and make a breakfast cake. Christen brings out powdered egg, cheese and dehydrated sausage which she mixes up to accompany the cake.

Out on the water the water the winds are negligible until late morning. Then we have either headwinds or quartering headwinds for the rest of the day no matter which way we turn. We have a short portage from Moosela to Upper Richardson Lake, with headwinds of course even though we've turned 180 degrees. Camp is on an island with four other campsites. Wilderness this is not. And the red squirrels are camp pests. Cirrostratus clouds have moved in so there will be no meteors tonight.

Wednesday dawns with high clouds and no wind. Our tent looks east so we watch the sun rise without getting up. The whole length of Upper Richardson Lake is calm with few other boats out. Lured by a bald eagle, we stop for second breakfast and find wild cranberries growing, not ripe yet. The lake narrows and feels more like a wide river, with the east shore one long sandy beach. We stop for lunch and find moose tracks and ponds in the woods.

It's a short day and we're soon at camp at the point where the narrows open onto Lower Richardson Lake. Our campsite is on a small lagoon with a narrow channel between a sandbar and a rock jetty for access. In a few decades the sandbar may close it off. Strong winds continue to blow into our lagoon until evening. After a quick swim I make pizza for dinner. We walk the bluffs and rocky and sandy beach. Loons call all night while Perseids streak toward Earth.

Thursday morning dawns bright and clear again. In about an hour we paddle to the take-out and portage near a rustic set of cabins. Three quarters of a mile on a dirt road brings us to the Pond in the River. Here Christen finds fresh water mussels in the shallows which become part of a lunch of couscous-mussel au gratin. This we cooked by the ruins of a logging era donkey engine slowly rusting away in the woods. This was once used to winch rafts of logs across the pond. Further along we encounter the remains of the steam tug 'Alligator' at the take-out for the next portage. Quite a bit of the old boat is still there including the boiler, the engine, much of the drive train, and some of the stanchions that once stood along her gunwales.

Here begins the longest portage of the journey, about two and a half miles along a dirt road. It takes us two trips -once for our backpacks then return for the canoe (46lbs) and smaller bags. Along the way we find the Forest Lodge, former home of Louise Dickenson Rich, author of 'We Took to the Woods.' The home is now a museum showing life in the Maine woods in the '30s.

Camp is finally reached about 5pm at Cedar Stump campsite, at the lower end of the portage trail. Its been a physically exhausting day but the campsite is nice as are the neighbors. Pesto over tortellini for dinner and brownies for dessert. While we've seen other paddlers in their campsites as we pass, this is the first we've actually met any. A group of college kids and two men are here to play in the rapids of the Rapid River (class III-IV) and three fishermen in canoes like ours. The dam has scheduled a release over the weekend which attracts kayakers.

Friday breaks humid and calm but there is rain in the forecast for the afternoon. So we break camp and begin paddling early across the mirror-like waters of Lake Umbagog. It's so calm that a hatch of midges pesters us while providing food for fishes.

We can see a line of rain approaching, so we take shelter on shore. But it misses us. In another hour we've made it to camp on the west end of Big Island, and none too soon. Rain begins as we unload the canoe and rig a tarp. This is the first campsite we've had without a picnic table, and there's no good place for a tent. And for a good reason. When the rain lets up we explore, and things don't look right. There's supposed to be a small island nearby. Upon consulting the map we realize that in our haste to find our campsite with rain threatening, we found an abandoned one. Returning to the canoe, we scout further along the island and across a bay. There we find a proper site with table, tent platform (which we deign to use) and landing site. So we strike the old camp, toss it all in the boat, and re-locate. Much better. Dinner is rice and dal with cinnamon tapioca for dessert. Light rains puncuate the evening.

Heavy rains in the night, and Saturday breaks overcast and threatening. It's a short paddle to the end, so we're not in a hurry to pack. The tarp and tent have kept us dry, but they of course are wet. The winds have started by the time we're on the water, and of course they are headwinds. Soon they are are very strong and pushing waves near the limit of our boat. Then it starts raining. No matter; the end is in sight so we push on to Umbagog Lake State Park where the car is waiting and we drive home.

Cold canoeing in the UP

Journal
Canoeing in the Sylvania Tract, in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula
September 11 through 14, 2007
Schuy, Peter, Fred, Gary
Written by Gary Hochgraf


After three days paddling on the Wisconsin River, the first two warm and sunny, the last a steady light rain with falling temperatures, we were not quite as prepared as we should’ve been for the change in temperature in the UP. September can often be quite pleasant, but we picked the wrong week. We stopped at an outfitter to supplement our wardrobe with long underwear and hats. The drive north from Madison with canoes on the roof was blustery. We arrived in mid afternoon to register at the ranger station, then put-in onto Crooked Lake, at the north-east corner of the park. From there we paddled south, hugging the shore in a chilly headwind a fairly short distance to our first campsite, named Porcupine.
Campsites in Sylvania are set quite a ways back from the lakefront, unlike most other canoe wildernesses I’ve visited. At the site is a fire ring, set flush into the ground, surrounded by a large cleared area for tents. An assortment of large logs near the fire pit serve as benches or tables or a place to lean your pack. Heavy use has cleared all available firewood away from the center of camp to about 100 yards away. A trail leads off to a pit toilet in the woods. At Porcupine is a large tree trunk, about 24” diameter and broken off 30’ off the ground, which has become a favorite of the pleated woodpeckers. They have dug huge furrows in the trunk, and produced a large pile of wood chips at the base.
The woods here are very open. There is no understory of low plants or small trees, just bare ground with tall trees. We suspect the deer are overgrazing, and we have seen very well defined browse lines along the shores of the lakes. The woods are so open that you could drive a wagon through them. Sylvania was never logged - a virgin forest, and I was expecting to see some truly huge trees. But while there were many big ones, they were not much bigger than other areas in the northwoods.
The sky is heavy overcast and low, so we rig a dining fly, set up our tents, and cook dinner of rice and dal (lentils) with tomato, mushrooms and spices. Its not often that I use slow-cooking rice or beans on a trip like this, but it turned out quite good after a half-hour of cooking.
In the morning the wind was gone, but still overcast. Breakfast was blueberry muffins, then we packed up and paddled south down Crooked Lake past some small stands of wild rice (not yet ripe, but tasty nonetheless) then through a huge field of rice to the portage to Clark Lake. After a short paddle on Clark, we portaged another quarter-mile to Loon Lake.
We arrive at our second campsite about noon and have the whole afternoon to while away. All our paddling/portaging distances are short, often taking just a few hours. This is not a very big park, and long distances are just not very realistic. Its still chilly, but the wind has abated and the sun is out and strong. Our lakeshore is in shadow, so we take our reading books and paddle to the opposite shore and find comfortable spots on the shore to read and watch the world go by. By and by we return to camp and settle into making dinner - Schuy’s home-made tomato sauce with sausage over angel hair pasta. The skies are very clear in the evening, so we return to the lakeshore to watch the stars come out. Magnificent. All the early fall constellations are very bright, and the milky way is prominent.
We stay at Osprey campsite on Loon Lake two nights, so the next day is a day trip. The air is still quite chilly, but the morning sun is warm. We paddle east to the end of Loon Lake, and portage to Deer Island Lake. Here we see a flock of about fourteen mergansers at the put-in, and several bald eagles further along. One of the adults was harassing an immature. This is not the first time we have observed rather aggressive behavior in this species.
Rounding a point, we saw an otter! Or possibly two, up on the shore. I’d seen them out in the water on other trips, but to see the entire animal humping along on shore was exciting. He then stood up and watched us watching him, then scampered away, and we continued along.
The bright morning sun was giving way to a fast moving bank of stratus clouds as we arrived at the next portage. On the next lake, Cub, the skies were heavier, and by the end of the next portage to Big Bateau, as we finished lunch, the rains came. So we waited under the hemlocks until it let up a bit, and headed out. But it was only a brief intermission, and once we were out on the water, the rains resumed. It rained through the next two portages and one small lake, and we waited under upturned canoes at the put-in on Loon Lake. Eventually it cleared for good, so we paddled back to camp, some of which was with a significant tailwind. We have no ‘official’ word that the campfire ban is lifted, but the woods are soaked, and so are we. After a pot of tea, we build a fire and begin drying out.
Dinner of tacos, and we settle into bed early. The morning brings very unsettled weather. Cool temperatures, strong and gusty winds, clouds then sun then clouds again with a light mist, and another spot of sun. We take our time packing up to move to Balsam campsite on Clark Lake, hoping the weather will settle. It doesn’t, so we head north into the wind to the portage back to Clark. This is the biggest lake in the park, and we are at the downwind end, with the 20mph wind sweeping down the entire length. There are whitecaps out there, and we have small boats. And we get a few flurries of snow mixed with the occasional drizzle. Instead of putting in, we continue to portage around to another shore where there is slight protection, scout around, and head out. As long as we stay close to shore, the tall trees provide some protection, and we make good progress. Its tough going, and it snows again, not enough to accumulate, but enough to make already chilled fingers colder. We take out at the first campsite we come to, and build a quick fire, dry out a bit, warm up, and have a good lunch. We discuss our options. Stay at this site? Proceed to our assigned campsite further up the lake, into the wind? Or continue beyond that to the parking lot, fetch the cars and head home? We’re scheduled for two more nights of camping. We choose the latter. Once more we load the two canoes, and head into the wind. There is much less protection from the shore as we proceed further up the lake, and at times we are paddling in whitecaps. But our canoes are well designed wilderness trippers - a Kevlar Minnesota II by Wenonah, and a carbon Bell Mystic, and we make reasonable progress to the boat launch.
Schuy and I walk back a little over 2 miles to the parking lot at Crooked, retrieve the cars, return, and load the boats and gear. Its about 5pm when we hit the road, and arrive back in Ann Arbor about 4am.

Bicycle Connections

June 2011-March 2013 Bicycle journey of 21 months, from Sacramento California, north along the Pacific coast through the redwoods and into Oregon, then east through Eugene, Portland and Pocatelo to the Tetons. Then South through Wyoming (no shade at all), Utah (amazing), Arizona, more of California, then down the Baja peninsula. We took a ferry to mainland Mexico, saw the monarch migration, visited Oaxaca and Yucatan, then into Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, and Panama. Then by sailboat to Colombia, Ecuador and Peru, then by bus through Chile to Patagonia. 13,000km by bicycle, 5,000km by bus, plus ferries, hitching, etc. Read the whole journal at crazyguyonabike.com/doc/8669 Over 400 pages and 1700 photos. Adventure of a lifetime.

Journal Torres del Paine, Patagonia, Chile February 24 through March 5, 2013 Gary Nan Terry Dee Sunday 2/24 The bus from Puerto Natales, the nearest town, drops us at the trailhead at 1pm, with a six hour hike ahead of us. The weather is good, sunny with no wind. Good views of the mountains between clouds, and the trail is fairly level. We're in for ten days but only have to carry three days of food. We'll be eating at the refugios along the way. The hike takes us mostly through grasslands along the Gray River, then we enter a burned scrub forest which still smells of carbon and soot. The trail gets rougher as we get closer to our destination, over uplifted shale which is sometimes slippery under foot. More nice views over Lago Pehoe toward Cerro Paine Grande and the Cuernos. The peaks hold many small glaciers. We're camping at Refugio Paine Grande tonight where they feed us a generous cafeteria dinner and we pitch our tents among about a hundred others. Many languages are spoken here and the facilities are quite nice, except the showers don't drain and are nearly un-usable. Monday 2/25 Most of the tent city here is striking camp and heading out. We get breakfast at the refugio. Weather is nice, of high thin clouds, warm, and no wind. We look up to occasional views of the peaks. It's only 2:30 hours to Campamento Italiano, where we drop our packs and day hike up the French Valley. Wow. So beautiful. So impressive. We are surrounded by towering mountains, including Cerro Paine Grande (the highest) on one side and Los Cuernos (the horns) on the other. Nestled between are alpine glaciers, and at the mirador (viewpoint) we sit and watch massive blocks of blue glacial ice break free and crash down the cliff with a noise like thunder. Better than television, and somewhat like watching a meteor shower. Back down to Italiano, which is officially closed, and we ask if we can camp here anyway. No. They're putting in new bathrooms. Instead we have to hike two and a half more hours to the next place, Refugio Cuernos. This is the most expensive place on the route, charging 8,000 pesos ($16) per person to camp. We refuse, and after some haggling they relent. Tuesday 2/26 A long day of over six hours. It would've been longer if we had been allowed to camp at Italiano, but yesterday's extra hike cut a few hours off. Drizzly rain and mist through the morning with wet vegetation and a muddy trail. The toe on my new boots (bought about a month ago) has failed and leaks water. Vistas are generally short until the skies lift somewhat later in the afternoon. Our first views of Refugio Chileno are from a viewpoint high on the banks of the misty valley with the milky white and churning Rio Ascencio tumbling through it. It looks like the approach to Rivendell. Tent space is on wooden platforms perched on the hillside, and the recent rains has made them muddy. Horses supply this remote location and they are tied to a rail beside the tenting area. Fortunately we are given two platforms far enough away that we don't smell them. Wednesday 2/27 There is a mirador 1:30 hours further up the valley from here, and as we finish breakfast, yesterday's clouds are finally blowing away. Up we go. It's a steep climb to a terminal moraine of house-size boulders, with a stupendous view of the granite towers for which this park is famous for. Wow. Back down to Chileno where we take lunch, then do a three hour hike to Refugio Los Torres. Camping is pleasant on grass with shade trees and a few picnic tables. Dinner at the refugio is one of the best we've had in a long time, of pork with raisin sauce, rice with vegs, roll, and salad of tomato, avocado, and hearts of palm for Nan instead of the roll. Thursday 2/28 beautiful sunny day, warm with light breeze and high thin clouds. Scenery of high jagged peaks is lacking this day, so instead we notice wild flowers, golden bumble bees, a pair of hawks dancing on the air, a flicker, and crested cara-caras. We're in very different terrain today, with open forest, then down off the hills onto a broad river floodplain of savanna which reminds us of Africa. I almost expect to see elephant and zebra. The refugio is a run-down building with a surly caretaker, but nice grass for camping. We're off the very popular 'W' trail, so the population of tents is much less. Friday 3/1 The trail follows up the River Paine upstream through savanna when we're near the river, and rocky grasslands with shrubs when we're higher. We're in mosquito country too, worse in the campgrounds. As we proceed, we get nice views to the north and west onto glaciated peaks, the Los Perros Glacier, and Dickson Glacier, which comes out of Argentina. We're surprised by the lack of wildlife here. On the bus, before we got into the park, there were guanacos and rheas. We occasionally see big jackrabbits, and they say there are huemule (deer), more guanaco, rhea, fox, and puma, but in all this rich grassland we walk through, we don't even see signs of them. There are lots of birds, including hawks, condors, ducks, geese, and lots of small birds. The cold, silt-laden waters seem to be empty too, as we see no fishing birds, otters, or people catching fish. Refugio Dickson is in an idealic location with a big view over Lago Dickson to Glacier Dickson which glows pink as the sun sets. The staff here are wonderful, relaxed, and attentive. Dinner is a big piece of chicken with mashed potatoes and vegs. Very well presented. Saturday 3/2 Another carbon-copy breakfast at the refugio, but at least the eggs are well cooked. We also get toast with butter and jam, sliced cheese, and corn flakes. It's the same at every refugio. We have a steady climb through forest with rare views of peaks and glaciers. About an hour from camp we come upon a family of four carpintero negros, or large magellanic woodpeckers, flitting from tree to tree beside the trail. There's a waterfall on the Rio los Perros, where I watch a torrent duck on the rocks. The wind gets stronger as we approach camp. Hard to walk, but it keeps the mosquitos away. Sunday 3/3 There's no refugio here, so we're making our own breakfast and dinner for two nights. It's good for the variety and we can set our own schedules. We're on the trail before the sun is up. Today's goal is to tackle the 1100 meter high John Gardner Pass. It's a steady climb out of camp through the forest, where trail maintenance is way overdue. There are many bogs and muddy sections of trail. Soon we climb above the forest and are walking on broken rock scree. Snow patches and small glaciers high on the slopes above us make streams across the scree. I hear some peeping of a small animal beside the trail. It takes some time, but eventually I see two partrige-like birds well camoflaged amidst the rocks. They walk slowly and are hard to see. The view from the pass is incredible. Glacier Gray is spread out before us with a range of glacier-clad peaks beyond. The fars side of the glacier is six kilometers away. Glacier Pingo peeks out between mountains, and the edge of the great Patagonian Ice Field can be seen pushing over the peaks beyond. This ice field continues north beyond Mount Fitz Roy and is the world's third largest store of fresh water (behind Antarctica and Greenland.) The trail down to Campamento Paso is crazy-steep and takes a long time. Like the trail up the other side, it has been many years since a trail maintenance crew has come this way. Monday 3 /4 More horrible trail with views of Glacier Gray through the trees, until we arrive at a mirador at the snout of the glacier. At this point we rejoin the 'W' route, and the trail is smooth, rivers have bridges, trees that have fallen across the trail have been cut and cleared away, and there are many more people. Refugio Gray is home for the night, where the wind is blocked by the trees. Tuesday 3/5 Last day on the trail. We follow the shore of Lago Gray with blue icebergs floating about, then cross over to Lago Pehoe and Refugio Paine Grande, where we had camped the first night. We catch a ride on the catamaran ferry across the lake where busses are waiting to bring us back to Puerto Natales.

Botswana, 1991

This was a family trip, and now more than twenty years ago. In re-reading it I notice my writing style has improved :-) Gary Journal Botswana, Africa 5/25/91-6/19/91 Gary and Eva and Peter Hochgraf (age 2.5) and Joan Reeves Monday 5/27 It's Memorial Day back in the states. Yesterday Anna and John accompanied us to O'Hare airport for a 8:30 flight on British Airways to London. Peter fell asleep before we left the ground and finally woke up for breakfast. Eva and I didn't sleep very well, but Peter, on the floor in his sleeping bag slept a lot. Dinner was fair but they gave you all sorts of other stuff – a toothbrush, mask for sleeping, coloring books for Peter, etc. We landed half an hour early in London, checked most of our carry-on baggage for the day, found the tube, and rode it to Westminster Abbey. We walked to the River, saw Big Ben, Buckingham Palace, and other sights. On the train back to the airport, Peter took his nap. We got off at the last stop before Heathrow and had fish n chips. One day in London cost us over $40 for food, train, bag check, exchange, and a souvenir for Eva. We shot about half a roll of film too. We're now about ready to take off for Johannesburg, a 12.5 hour night flight. A flight attendant gave Peter a coloring book, colored pencils, and other things. He is now busy scribbling allover the pictures and having fun. Tuesday 5/27 We're now at Joan's house in Gaborone, Botswana. Last night Peter again fell asleep before dinner, but woke up about 1am and wouldn't go back to sleep. Eva and I took turns watching him until the sun rose (beautiful orange sunrise) when the whole plane-full woke up. Neither of us had enough sleep and we were both quite testy. Standing in line at Customs took forever but they spent very little time with us when our turn came. After Customs we met Joan, who drove us to her house. It's a bit cool here, and a t-shirt is sufficient only if you're in the sun. we met a nice man from Soiuth Africa on the plane. He does training sessions all over the world (mostly Africa) for an adhesives company. He offered us his home if we're ever visiting Pretoria. He also gave us some good hints about where to go, what to do. Chobe, Okavango and Victoria Falls were high on his list. Botswana from the air reminded me of Nevada except there are many trees, almost like the most heavily forested parts of Nevada. Joan has a lovely house, like a town-house with adjacent units, a front and back yard and parking space. She's got two lemon trees and lots of beautiful and interesting plants. The floors are wood and walls are plastered concrete. Botswana has a huge cricket about 3 inches long, all brown-gray and big and ugly. Wednesday 5/28 Peter woke us up and wanted juice, but once we were all up and awake he fell asleep again. After breakfast we went to the mall, an avenue lined with shops – clothes, druggists, groceries, hardware, post office, etc. and a few people selling wares in the open. In the open were mostly hand-made or grown things including beans, corn, leaves, bakets, leather goods, clothing, carvings, etc. The quality of the textiles and clothing is excellent, original and exciting. But theleather goods we saw were not well made, almost crude. I need a new wallet, so I'll keep looking. It was especially cold this morning due to overcast skies, so not many people were out. We also visited the University (UB) and met some of Joan's collegues. Thursday 5/29 A beautiful morning, cool air, warm sun, very light breeze. The air smells wonderful with many trees in flower. Today we're going to a small game reserve near the city. Maybe they'll have a nature trail or guided walk so we can learn some of the plants and their ecology. Afternoon- We just returned fro the Gabarone Game Preserve. It was a very short drive from Joan's. We drove in, and drove around a loop. The first thing we saw of special interest were weaver bird nests. Next we spied a turtle sunning on the road. Eva spotted an odd bird on a fencepost, and while we were watching it we observed many other birds. The first one has a HUGE bill and is a fairly large bird. The other of special interest was a kingfisher with a red bill. There was also a blackbird and some un-identifiables. We drove on to a picknic area and saw five ostriches – two male and three female. At the picnic area we had time to observe many birds. One with a bright red breast, a chickadee, a yellow bird like a meadowlark, a gray dove with a black band on the back of it's neck, and a long-tailed yellow bird, and some wren-like birds that went too fast for observation. At one point Eva tried calling to the chickadees by whisteling, and I tried my father's phshh, phshh sound. No birds responded but Peter burst out laughing. Joan didn't know what to think. After lunch we continued north, saw more ostrich and an eland crossing the road. Later we saw four gemsbok or oryx we saw the gemsbok a second time and continued seeing ostrich throughout the trip. Most animals we saw as they crossed the road. We saw a gray monkey with a long tail and a dark face, and a family of warthogs (now there's face only a mother could love!) While stopped on the road, I found a skull. We turned it in to the ranger station and they said 'twas probably a dog. This park is too small to support a predator, and ferral dogs are shot. The skull had large canine teeth. It is a very nice park, though small, but quite accessible and we saw many animals we've never seen before. Friday 5/30 Drove to see theOdi Weavers today. Odi is a village half hour north of Gabs, where they've set up a small weaving industry. First we went to the store, where we saw many heavy wool blankets, shawls, wall-hangings, etc. The store is in a grass-thatched concrete hut of about five rooms. The hut itself was quite interesting. The roof is about 6” thick grass, held up with logs 3-6” in diameter, and mostly held together with notches, pegs and wire. The center was open to the sky. The weaving building was also concrete but with a tin roof. It housed about 20 looms from Sweden plus several of a local design. The Swedish ones had foot pedals, shuttles, ratchets, ect, while the local ones were more for hand weaving. We bought a few things while touring, and Joan fell in love with ann unfinished wall hanging that was very nice. So she reserved it. They buy their wool and dies from South Africa, then dye, spin and weave it here. They've damed a hollow in a nearby rock outcropping to collect water, and have two large steel tanks. Near the dye station was a concrete-lined ditch leading away to a grassy area. I wonder about heavy metals in the wastewater there. I took lots of photos, as it was a very colorful place. Saturday 6/1 Went back to the mal today, stopped at the Kalahari Conservation Office to buy a t-shirt, and poked around the other vendors thinking about which African objects to buy. There should be baskets available in Maun plus other things in Vic Falls later on our trip. While Peter napped, I used a few lemons fromJoan's tree and made lemon merengue pie. We went out to eat at the Taj, an Indian restaurant. Heavy on the atmosphere, light on service, ok on the food. Also with us was a neighbor, Peter Harvard-Williams, who also works at UB. He knew more about what was offered on the menu, as we were quite lost. But we still needed the expanded version of the menu. After dinner we returned to Joan's for Lemon Merengue pie. Sunday 6/2 Eva, Peter and Joan trooped off to the grocery store again. The living style here seems to be to shop often then shop again. Unlike the style in the States where we stock up for several days at once. They returned with quite a haul but not enough to avoid shopping tomorrow. Tomorrow we will put together the last details prior to heading north. Gabarone is mostly shut down on Sundays, so this is a lazy day for most folks. In the evening we go out to the dam. Gabarone gets it's water from a reservoir east of town. Here they also do sailing and the government has a powerboat. The military is here because of the potential of terrorism to the city's water supply. For wildlife we saw lots of birdlife including a laughing dove, a blue waxbill, a blacksmith plover, and a marico sunbird. There were many others too but we couldn't ID them. Monday 6/3 Last day before heading north. And we've worn out each other's welcome. Eva is bored, Joan is frantically trying to wrap up all her various last details. It took forever to decide how much pula (money) to bring. Tuesday 6/4 Loaded up and headed north. It's hard to get used to the sun being in the northern sky. Crossed the Tropic of Capricorn a few hours out of Gabarone. The acacia tree scrub savana has given way to the mopane forest, which looks similar at a distance but the trees are very different. Saw some boabab trees – very funny looking trees. Just before reaching the Nata we began seeing palms. The Nata Lodge is surrounded by palms and is very pleasant. There are lots of birds, trees, palms, nice cottages, excellent meals, and general peace and quiet. Peter found a jungle-gym with a boat at one end and an airplane on the other. Wednesday 6/5 we drove into the town of Nata and through the village. There was a hut with it's thatch roof under construction and we stopped to observe. But we felt rather out of place there (at least I did) trying to communicate while they tried to beg. One of the women was blind and a man had teeth worn down to the roots. In the afternoon we drove out to see the pan. 10Km on a sandy washboard track through endless grasses with an occasional small pan to cross. At the beginning is a huge baobab tree so we stopped for a picture anound it. The trunk is about 3m in diameter and has many initials carved thereupon. The Makadikadi pan is a huge playa lake that stretches all the way to the horizon. The past several years have been wet, so the lake is full of water. The proprieters at nata Lodge told us they had seen flamingoes through binoculars on the far shore. We arrived and saw several heron, stork, some ducks and pelican. We put Pete in the backpack and walked toward the pelicans. Around the point we came upon a flock of 40-50 flamingoes! The sunset was beautiful, and we had just enough light to find our way back to the lodge. Thursday 6/6 Packed up and left Nata Lodge and headed north to Kasane and the Kubu lodge on the banks of the Zambezi river. The trees got taller and more dense, and wildlife more plentiful. There are some older pans in this area, some are coveredin grasses, others have been tilled and planted to sorgum and sunflower. On the way I saw a few ostrich and Eva spotted the first elephant. I missed that one but spotted the second. Much further along the road we saw one cross the road about a kilometer away. We stopped at the spot, and there he was. They are very big. There were also more on the other side of the road, two adults and two young. They moved off into the bush as we took photos, then the one on the other side crossed back to rejoin the others. He was a little upset with us and trumpeted at us. We also saw a troop a 20 baboons run across the road and I got some lousy photos of them. We made it to the Kubu lodge, checked in, and walked down to the river. We saw no hippos and no crocs, but flushed an anhinga, and saw other birdlife. Friday 6/7 we never saw any hippos or crocs and the much touted Kubu lodge was a disapointment with unpleasant help and poor food but beautiful grounds. After a late start we crossed into Zimbabwe about 1pm, and saw a few baboons on the way to Vic Falls. Before leaving Kasane we stopped at the Chobe lodge to see what they offered as an alternative to Kubu. It looked nice. Peter and I watched monkeys playing on the wall near where we were parked and near the garbage cans. We changed money in the town of Victoria Falls, bought groceries, and headed south for Hwanke Main Camp. We were told it was 60km, but it was actually 160! However the scenery was beautiful and the road hilly winding and smooth. Many villages along the way, and the mining town of Hwanke. Finally we made it to Main Camp and saw lots of wildlife on the road in. Monkey, kudu, springbok, warthog, guinea fowl, and a giraff nibbling on trees beside the road. Saturday 6/8 Got up good and early this morning with Joan and drove 25km into the park at 6am. Eva was feeling sick so she and Peter and stayed back. Just past the gate we saw giraff and a small herd of zebra, but the light was still too dim for a photo. Later, we saw lots of impala (we had earlier thought these were springbok) and stopped at a platform overlooking a large pan with some water in it. A goup of 20 spotted hyena was traversing the pan with some impala on the other side. Shortly three rhinos appeared at the edge and would appear and disappear behind the bushes. 'Twas a long shot but I took a photo anyway. Two yellow hornbills landed on the railing of the platform. On the drive back we spotted an animal that, had we been in South Dakota I would've called a bison. Back at camp there were two warthogs fighting on the lawn. We met our neighbors, a family from Germany with two young daughters, and their maid with her daughter. Peter made fast friends with the older girl, who's name happened to be Eva! And her father was Peter. We packed up and drove out from the camp, and stopped to get petrol. While the attendant was helping us, a small airplane pulled in behind us! Then little Eva and her family stopped too, and told us about the best place to go see game nearby. The Hwanke Game Lodge. We followed them there and sat in lounge chairs on their lawn and watched out over a watering hole just half a km in front of the lodge. First were impala and marabu storks and warthogs. Then some baboon and a kudu came through. A few sable antelope came for a drink and left. We had a great time and Peter played on their playground and with his new friends. We were about to leave when the elephants came. They came trooping out of the woods in a long string, and lined up shoulder to shoulder to drink from the waterhole. When all 27 had their fill the left in single file. We left too. On the way through the town of Hwanke we saw a working steam switch engine. They mine coal near here, so using steam engines is not unreasonable. This is a socialist country, so producing and using your own energy is encouraged. There is also a steam passenger train from Bulawayo to Vic Falls. We also see the very old telephone wires, where about 20 seperate wires are strung between poles with their glass insulators. About 40km before Vic Falls we stop where several men have set up a roadside curio shop. They had many beautifully carved hippos of all sizes from 6” up to 2' long. Big enough for Peter to ride on. We bought a few carvings of elephant, hippo and giraff. Our next stop is the Zambezi River Chalets, beautiful government-owned buildings well spaced out along the shore, with a long lawn leading down to the river. At the cabin next to ours a warthog was grazing on the lawn. Peter and I walked down to the river and spotted about four hippos on the far side. We enjoyed a nice sunset before dinner. Sunday 6/9 Got a good start on the day and headed out to the crocodile farm, then on to Victoria Falls. What a grand sight. The mist obscures the falls much of the time and sometimes it rains on you. There is a rainforest in the middle of this arid land, only as big as the falls themselves. We walk the trail along the precipice and marvel at the contrast to Niagara falls with it's paved access, sturdy railings, so many people and so much infrastructure. Here only part of the path is paved, and what railings they have are little more than a tangle of brambles along the edge of the abyss. Afternoon tea at the very grand Victoria Falls Hotel, then an evening game drive along the Zambezi river to end the day. Monday 6/10 Another early start, and we drive out to buy more woodcarvings and a marimba. Early lunch at the Victoria Falls Hotel, then we head for the border back to Botswana. Saw a few kudu and other antelope on the way, then made it through the border in record time to arrive at Chobe Lodge about 2pm. After Peter's nap we joined a truck safari into the Chobe Game Reserve. What a trip! Lots of guinea fowl and impala, plus kudu, bushbuck, waterbuck, hippos up close – about 300 ft, egyptian goose, white-faced duck, fish eagle, marabu stork, lilac breasted roller (beautiful bird), mongoose, and more. We had to wait for a herd of elephant to cross the road, then drove up to a high point overlooking the beach where they were drinking from the river. A riverboat also stopped by so their passengers could watch the great animals. Our driver then said he would show us some giraff, which he did! They were quite a ways off though. It's amazing how these guides who spend their lives guiding in these parks can know where to find the animals. On the way back the herd of elephant were heading back from the river, just as another herd was walking to the same beach. A fight errupted with lots of trumpeting and a big cloud of dust. We couldn't see the actual conflict from our vantage point, but all of the younger elephants would come running out of the cloud. It was quite exciting. We started back toward the gate, and suddenly the driver stopped, reversed a few meters, and pointed out a lion lying under a bush! He was so well camoflaged that it took some of us a while to see it. He was lying in a tawny patch of sun under a bush with a young female just beyond. We were all amazed that the driver spotted him at all. On the drive out we watched a beautiful sunset over the wetlands of Chobe. Back at the lodge, there was a small crocodile right in front of our chalet. In two hours I shot one and half rolls of film. Tuesday 6/11 Today we have a long drive from Kasane to Francistown. I drove the first 300km which was uneventful but very beautiful and involved lots of pothole dodging. There were a flock of ostrich on the road later. We checked into the Marang Hotel for the night (with hot showers. Those at Chobe never got very hot). The Marang has one of the largest thatched roofs in the world over their dining room. Peter enjoyed the playground. Wednesday 6/12 after a brief visit to the Marathodi weavers we drove to the airport for the flight to Maun. The flight was beautiful. We flew over the Makgadikgadi Pans with the Soa Pan project (soda-ash mining) and I could see the beach where we watched the flamingoes. It's amazing how big these pans are. There are many smaller pans between there and Maun. We spent an hour between flights at a curio shop by the airport in Maun, then boarded a 6-seater for the flight to Okuti Safari Lodge. We saw elephant and water buffalo from the air. 'Twas a bumpy flight. At the end of the short landing strip we met a truck (Peter calls it a 'bumpy truck') to take us to Okuti. On the short drive we saw giraff, hippo, crocs, zebra, impala, and numerous birds. At Okuti we met Rolf, the owner, who immediately offered us drinks and fed us lunch. After lunch Alan, a black man from Maun took us out in the boat for a river safari. Saw lots more hippo and many birds including african and lesser jacana, darter (very much like the anhinga from Florida), cormorant, pied kingfishers, white backed duck, and pygmy goose. Saw lechwe (an antelope) on the shore too. Then we watched the sunset as we headed back to Okuti. 6/13 thursday this place is really beautiful. The chalets are thatch over a concrete floor and walls (termite proof). Some of the other buildings have bamboo walls. Lighting is mostly kerosene (parafin) except for the kitchen which has a solar collector and battery. It's all wooded with many birds and the Okavango swamp on the doorstep. The swamp is mostly reeds with some open water – maintained by hippos. Birds on the water are plentiful. There is a very competent staff who happily take care of everything. Today we went for a game drive in the morning and another after lunch. We say lots of animals of all sorts. Hippo and croc in a lagoon near camp, zebra, impala, lechwe, and as a special treat, a pangolin (scaley anteater) common but rarely seen as they are nocturnal. The scenery everywhere is beautiful, bright sunshine, blue skies, great green trees, vast fields of brown and red grasses, bushes, tall pompous grass, and sage. The camp can accommodate up to sixteen people, but we're the only ones here. Each evening there is a fire going before we return from the afternoon's adventures. There are also hors-devours and drinks. Later, a magnificent and very proper dinner is served under kerosene lanterns. Peter gets confused with all the extra silverware and gives away the extra until he has a small knife, small spoon, and a small fork. He loves to sit next to Rolf, who will sometimes help him to eat. Fur lunch and breakfast Rolf usually comes late, which upsets Pete. Peter will play with the his two wooden trucks that we bought in Zimbabwe, driving them around and around the fire ring area. After all the adventuring in bumpy trucks and boats in the bright sun and wind, Peter is often ready for bed at dinner time. He'll eat the soup appetizer, pick at the main course, and maybe have a little dessert. Then he'll cuddle up to his mommy and fall asleep as we sit around and chat. After an hour or so we'll all turn in too. 6/14 friday. A group of six more people are coming in by lunchtime today, then rolf's wife will be here for dinner with another person bringing the weekly supplies. This morning we went for a game drive in the bumpy truck with Alan. He had seen a large herd of water buffalo yesterday, so we went in search of them and maybe lion too. First we found the lion a long way off, resting on a termite mound. We drove closer until we were stopped by a channel cut by hippos. Peter slept in Joan's lap for most of the lion hunt. The lion would look around, rill on her back, and sit up again. Eventually she got up an ambled over to another termite mound. Alan seems to drive smmother over the bumps than Rolf does. He plays the truck more like an artist. After watching the lioness for a while we set out again in search of the water buffalo. We drove about for like a kilometer from the lion, across pans and through woods without a road of any kind, before finding one. Around noon we headed back to camp with no buffalo sighted. Then, not too far from camp we saw one! Alan said the others must be in the woods close by, but it was time for lunch. The other party arrived too, all speaking german. I felt like I was in a foreign country. (of course I was) Many of them also knew English. In the afternoon we had Alan take us for another boat ride to look for a malachite kingfisher. After lunch, but before the river safari, I tried out their mokoro – a long narrow dugout canoe with a rounded bottom-very tippy. It is propelled and steered while standing up with a 10 foot paddle/pole. The blade of it flattens out like any paddle, but is forked slightly at the end and is very heavy. When used as a pole, the tip grabs onto roots and such at the bottom of the shallow waters instead of sinking into the muck. I paddled around a bit, then, feeling too much like crocodile bait, returned to shore. For the river safari, we headed out over beautiful blue waters, past lilly pads and flowers, and Alan took us up some hippo channels where the boat would just barely fit. We had to duck under the grasses to get through some spots. We saw pied kingfishers, darters, cormorant, and two crocdiles, but no malachite kingfishers. But we enjoyed the trip famoiusly. Pete was upset that Rolf was absent when we returned, and quite happy when he returned from the game drive with the other group. 6/15 Saturday Today we fly back to Maun then to Francistown, then drive to Gabarone. We got all packed up after breakfast, then went for a bit of a game drive on the way to thte dirt airstrip. On the road were the remains of an impala killed last night, near the hippo lagoon. There was a head and ears, and 20 feet away was the stomach. Rolf found brown hyena tracks, but usually a brown hyena will leave only the skull and nothing else! It was a bit of a mystery to him. At the airstrip there were impala on the runway. So as we boarded the plane, Rolf and his wife drove down the runway and chased them off. As we took off I saw Rolf waving to us. Then we saw several water buffalo milling about just beyond the end of the runway. The flights were enjoyable and we loved watching the beautiful countryside rolling by beneath the plane. Then we had the long drive back to Gabarone. No more game, just cows, goats and people. Peter was so happy to get back to Nana's (Joan) house that he didn't want to leave to go out for dinner. We had little food, and had run out of cooking gas, so we ordered out for pizza. 6/16 Sunday The first order of business is to get more gas and groceries. That done, we have lunch and Eva and I wash Joan's car inside and out while the laundry dries. Peter wakes from his nap complaining of stomach cramps and is not his usual bouncy self. So he went to bed early and awoke frequently during the night. Eva and Joan have been discussing various possibilities and should'ves. 6/17 Monday After a fitful night Peter awoke feeling much better. But Eva awoke felling worse. An uneventful day of last minute shopping, packing, etc. Pete and I picked five shopping bags of lemons from Joan's tree. We stopped at a store that sold crafts and furniture made by the handicapped plus other art-type objects from the area. So we bought more stuff. 6/18 tuesday More packing, shopping and other misc. details consume the day. Pete and I walked over to the playground and played for a while. By the end of the day we are ready for the long flight home.

Wind Rivers, August 13-21, 2011

Journal
Wind Rivers, August 13-21, 2011
Clyde, Terry, Dee, Nathan (Deet) Ray, Nan, Gary.
By Gary

Saturday 13
We collect in the lobby of the Best Western, Pinedale Wyoming. Also here are friends Bert and Marti who will help with the car shuttle.

We drive to the Elk Park trailhead about 20 miles and gain about 2000ft elevation. There are lots of cars in the lot, obviously a popular place to start a hike.

We're off! Pole Creek trail is very well worn and well used by both backpackers and horses and even a llama. Many people are carrying fishing poles. And many are wearing mosquito headnets. What are we getting ourselves in to?

We walk through pine forest and occasional alpine meadows to a nice view from Photographers point where we break for lunch. Soon after we leave Pole Creek trail for Highline trail and the terrain becomes more rugged. About 3pm we reach Hobbs Lake, our destination for the night.

It's a pretty lake surrounded by big lumpy granite outcrops. Nestled between the granite we find spaces for four tents, then hang out, cook and dine on top of a nearby ridge where a breeze helps with the mosquitoes. This year the snow pack was over 200% of normal and was slow to melt. That and a cool wet spring means the mosquito season started late and is still in full swing. We hope for a very cold night to freeze the little buggers.


Sunday 14
A slow steady rain in the morning. We wait before getting up until it stops and patches of blue sky appear. Once the sun is out the tents dry quickly and we're soon on the trail.

From Hobbs Lake we climb and descend much more than yesterday. The forests cease and we walk through meadows, boulder fields, and bare rock. At a nice overlook over Seneca Lake we break for lunch. There are many horses on the trail too and we have to step aside for them and for what they leave behind.

From Seneca Lake we have a big climb to almost 1100ft elev where the air is noticeably thinner, then down to Island Lake, our destination. There are several other groups here but it's a big lake and we're well spread out.


Monday 15
Today is a dayhike to Indian Pass, about 1200 ft. The morning begins cloudy but soon burns off to a beautiful sunny day. We follow the Titcomb Basin trail around our lake to the Indian Pass trail, and loose that within a few hundred feet. But the guidebook said it's not heavily used, so we continue. It's a lovely walk up a gorgeous valley beside a rushing stream.

The going gets tough where we have to scramble over some gigantic boulders. We pull out the map and realize we're way off the trail.

Clyde and Dee decide to turn back at this point, as they were'nt planning on going all the way anyway. Ray, Nathan, Terry, Nan and I find the trail and enjoy more hiking through stark barren alpine scenery. We cross snow fields, rock-hop through scree, skirt lakes and jump over snow-melt streams.

At 11370 ft we notice the weather has changed. There are dark ominous clouds to the west and the sun is no longer warming us. We stop for a snack and to review the situation. By the time snacks are done it is clear that the weather is moving in fast and the smartest choice is to turn back. A light rain begins to fall and we hear distant thunder as we descend. We meet two groups camped in this high valley. One of them is missing a member, so we keep a lookout for Caleb. The other group had just climbed Elephant Head, a prominent peak which we can also see from camp.

We often help each other over the difficult spots, and while helping Terry on the stepping stones over our last creek crossing in this valley, she slips and goes in thigh-deep. But I have a good grip on her hand and she's only in the ice-cold water for a second. We re-join the Titcomb Basin trail and can understand how we lost the Indian Pass trail this morning. The trail is rather indistinct near it's beginning and there are other trails going elsewhere.

A bit more rain is threatening but we make it back to camp and retreat to our tents while it passes and drops snow and hail on us. It's a short storm, and we re-join the others on a lovely big rock overlooking Island Lake and the Titcomb peaks for cooking and dinner. Nan and I are cooking together, but the others have each planned their own menus and meals. There is much sharing of extra food, water, stoves, and a small griddle.

Tuesday 16
Beautiful morning, not a cloud to be seen. A bit of frost on the ground and tents too. That should help with the mosquito population.

After breakfast we dayhike up Titcomb Basin. Wow. Magnificent scenery. Jagged peaks tower above us accented with snow. We are surrounded by crystal clear lakes and streams and wildflowers, and all above timberline. The wildflowers are prolific – buttercup, paintbrush, white columbine, a low white flower that grows in the marshes, others of white, yellow, magenta, and purple. We take lots of photos.

At the second lake Clyde, Ray and Dee turn back. The rest of us continue to where the rock climbers are camped for their assaults on the high peaks, including Gannet, the highest peak in Wyoming at 13809ft. The skies remain clear and deep blue all day.

Toward evening we watch two fly-fishermen catch and land a 20” cutthroat trout. We have front row seats for the show from our kitchen rock.


Wednesday 17
We leave Island Lake today and follow trails to Elbow Lake with full packs. The morning is beautiful and warms up quickly. There are many people at Fremont Crossing, where there is a bridge over the river. It's a good sized river here, as it drains all of Island Lake, Titcomb Basin, Indian Pass, Jean Lakes, plus minor ponds and streams.

From the crossing we climb and climb up to Lower Jean Lake. This string of lakes is all above timberline and we see trout in the lakes and some of the streams. With all the extra snow this year the lakes and streams are high. At one of our crossings some of our group change to sandals and wade the freezing cold water instead of rock-hopping. But then we have to cross back, and it's almost as bad a crossing. We should've stayed on the beginning side.

Lunch is on a big rock overlooking Upper Jean Lake, and there are trout in the stream right next to our rock. After the lakes we climb a pass at 11000 ft, all barren rock with views in every direction, including to the east – the back side of the west ridge that defines the Titcomb Basin.

Elbow Lake is very windy but there are almost no mosquitoes. There are also no trees, but we have snow patches not far from camp. As the sun sets the surrounding ridges turn rosy with alpine-glow.


Thursday 18
It's a short hike today, about 5.5 miles with no significant climbs. There is a shoulder of Sky Pilot peak very close to camp. Terry, Nathan and I climb it to it's 11200 ft summit and gain an outstanding view to the east to both sides of Titcomb Basin, the continental divide, a shoulder of Gannet Peak; to the south over Elbow Lake and Elbow Peak; and to the west down the Elbow Creek Valley and down to the plains. Pinedale is somewhere down there. Beyond the plains we see the snow-capped peaks of the Grosse Ventre range. The wind is blowing hard up here. I imagine it must be even stronger for those who are attempting Gannet and other 13000 ft peaks.

The other four went on ahead toward Summit Lake, and we descend and follow. It's a beautiful trail with beautiful weather through a barren rocky landscape accented with ponds and streams. We all meet up again at the trail junction near Summit Lake and after a leisurely lunch, head south to Borum Lake for the night. This lake is slightly warmer than Island Lake was (which was near freezing) so Nan and I take a very brief swim.

The wind has kept up all day, keeping the mosquitoes at bay. After dinner we have a fire as the wind becomes more inconsistent and the mozzies return. We see a moose across the lake and a mule deer comes down the trail.


Friday 19
Today we do an off-trail loop. After breakfast we walk around the end of the lake, over a small hill, and along Cutthroat Lake. Nan and Dee turn back at the lake, leaving Clyde, Nathan, Terry, Ray and myself. We follow our compasses and a map that Clyde has prepared over open land, skirting small hills and ponds for about two miles to intersect with an established trail heading east. We've seen lots of moose tracks, but along this section of trail there are tons of them. We can see for miles but spot no moose.

After a mile and a half on the trail we head south across country, which leads us to a steep downhill back to Boram Lake and to camp. Walking across this open land we can maintain almost the same speed as on the trail. We're accustomed to much more difficult off-trail hiking from experiences in the Smoky Mountains back east, and as a result get back to camp early and have a whole afternoon to while away. Some take naps,, others hang out and chat. In the evening the moose comes back down to the marsh at the far end of the lake.


Saturday 20
Up early and packed up to leave Boram. There is no wind this morning and the mosquitoes urge us onward.


Back up to Summit Lake and across the broad grassy plain it lies in. You could shoot a movie here of clashing medieval armies. After the plain we descend 2000ft to the Green River. There is spectacular scenery all the way with towering cliffs and pinnacles rising up above us and rushing streams below. All seen through tall pines and spruce. On a large boulder beside the trail we see a martin (in the weasel family) carrying a mouse. He's as curious about us as we are of him. There are huckleberries growing beside the trail too, and it's been a week since we've had fresh fruit.

We're hoping to find a campsite along the Green but it gets late before we do. A family hiking the other way tells us there is a beautiful campsite just a half mile ahead by a flowing stream. We go on, and stop after a half mile by a broad open bench by the river. Another hiker comes by and says 'yes, the stream is only half a mile ahead.' But we're all tired and this is a pretty spot by the river. The mosquitoes come out and drive us into our tents as soon as dinner is done.


Sunday 21
A good thunderstorm with lots of lightening and thunder comes through at dusk. Morning is chilly and foggy but the sunlight on the peaks is very picturesque. Our campsite is on a bench above the river and the valley is bounded by steep cliffs and spires, much like in Yosemite. Across the river is a grassy marshy plain which is only lacking in a herd of elk.

But the mosquitoes are bad here too once the day warms up. Further down the trail we find a mosquito-free spot to take a break. Below us are the Green Lakes, above us are mountains. The lakes and river are green from glacial flour, ground from rocks beneath the many glaciers in the hight peaks. The last few miles are hot with little shade. Bert and Marti meet us at the parking lot and we say good bye to a fun week in the Wind Rivers.

Guatemala

Guatemala
February 15-March 16, 2011.

We're here for a month, for the purpose of learning Spanish. We've both had some instruction before, but never used it much in conversation since then. We'll do a couple days in Antigua, a week of classes in San Pedro de la Laguna, a week in Nebaj, then a third week at another school which we had not booked in advance, but ended up back in San Pedro, as the smoke was unbearable in Nebaj and there were reports that Xela and Coban were just as bad.

Antigua was once the capital city of Guatemala, but after a few earthquakes and some volcanic activity, they moved it to the present site in Guatemala City. The city is built on a grid of cobblestone streets with lots of colonial architecture and many churches. Several of the old buildings are still just ruins from the tremblers so many years ago. It's very popular with the tourists, as it is only an hour from the airport and has a rich history.

Antigua is also our base for a hike up Volcan Pacaya. The trail goes straight up the cindercone. It was nice to be out in the woods and on a trail (even if we were traveling as a herd). At about 2km we reached the rim of the caldera and looked down on a 6 month old lava flow. The caldera is blown out to the west, and the south side rises high to an active fumerole, blowing gray smoke.

From the edge of the caldera we hiked down onto the new but solid flow. The rock is very light and vesicular and jagged. We met another group at a large trench which was really cranking out the heat. We eat marshmallows roasted on a volcano. How cool is that! As we descend, the sun sets in a burst of colors. In the distance is Volcan Agua and Volcan Fuego. Once it is truly dark, we can see red flashes from the active summit of Fuego. The nearly full moon helps light the path.

From Antigua we catch a bus to the town of Panachel on the North shore of Lake Atitlan, and catch a boat to San Pedro. Images of the countryside are of simple homes (corrugated tin, wood, adobe) with a plot of cultivated land, also steep hillsides with landslides onto the road from above or undercut it from below. Towns are more likely to have concrete houses, each within a walled courtyard. In some of the towns the walls form a continuous 8ft high canyon which we drive through.

The grounds of the San Pedro school are quite lovely and manicured with pathways running hither and thither to nooks between trees, many with a student and teacher. We meet Juana, our host, and follow her across the street to her compound and house, and our room for the week. It's a basic room but is private. We meet Happy, a cheerful cocker spaniel, and Pepita, a solid gray cat with yellow eyes. For US$150 per person per week we get four hours of one-on-one Spanish lessons, a homestay, and three meals a day.

First day of classes! After breakfast of avena de arroz (rice porrige) with melon and banana, we cross the street to school and meet Lorenzo, our teacher. Together we take a table under some trees near the lake and begin with introductions then a review of verbs. Nan has better vocabulary but I seem to have better pronunciation. We're about the same with gramar. We work at this until noon with a few breaks, then quit for lunch.

On our first day off we go into the nearby hills for a hike. First we stop at the local market. There's lots of fresh fruits and vegetables, a few chickens, and many people re-selling packaged goods or clothing or batteries and such. At one end we find a few women selling tacos and enchiladas which we buy for our breakfast and lunch. We also get some mangoes, little finger bananas, and a strange new fruit called zapote.

We find a nice trail along a shoulder of the San Pedro volcano through coffee plantations. Coffee prefers to grow with shade, and the avocado tree is one of the favorites. The ground is littered with thousands of ripe and over-ripe avocados. Mmmm. The trail we're on serves the coffee farmers and branches frequently. Eventually we work our way down to the next town down the lake, San Juan.
Back to school the next day, we're at a table by the lake. We start with conversation and try to describe what we did yesterday, in Spanish. By noon our brains are full.

Guatemala has a strong Mayan heritage, and San Pedro is proud of it's ancestry. Lorenzo, our teacher, explains many aspects to us in the course of our conversation practice. There was a war here from the 60s until 1993 when the Guatemalan Army was trying to eradicate the Mayans. There are many scars. There are several regional differences in Mayan culture and food. Here in the San Pedro area they speak Tzutuhil. Traditional food is often cooked wrapped in a large leaf with ground maize, like a tamale, with tomato, peppers, chicken, turkey, etc as may be regionally available.

After a little more than a week here in San Pedro we pack up and head North, across the lake, then four different chicken buses to our destination of Nebaj. We had heard that these chicken buses are retired school buses from the US. Not so. They are made by the same manufacturer, but are all quite new and gaily painted and decorated.

The terrain is mountainous and quite dry. The road is well paved with speed bumps in every town. The road twists and turns and with many hairpin turns, winds down to cross rivers and streams, then climbs back up to the ridges. We stop frequently to pick up and drop off passengers and their stuff, which is usually tied to the roof.

The driver of one chicken bus has ADD. We were seated behind him, and were amused. While negotiating a speed bump, he was changing gears, adjusting the volume on the music system, tooting the horn, talking with his assistant, talking with another bus driver on CB, and of course driving.

In the town of Sacapulas, our minibus driver stopped for a longer than usual break. We had gotten used to very quiet vendors in San Pedro and other towns. But here about six or eight roadside vendors descended upon us with baskets of fruit, soda, tamales, colorful popcorn balls all balanced on their heads. Each was constantly calling out their wares at full volume and as a song/chant. What a cacophony!

In Nebaj we are hosted by the family of Tomas and Rosa, along with Elena, the grandmother, and a bunch of kids. Freddy is 12, Marie is 24, Jacinto is 15, and there are more. It's hard to keep track of them all. The neighborhood is dirt roads with a variety of houses. This house is all concrete including a flat concrete roof with rebar sticking out. Other roofs nearby are corrugated steel, clay tile, or like this one.

Around 6pm we are summoned. The sauna is ready! We collect towels and such and head to the roof. The night is dark and the stars are out. The little cinder block room is lit by a single candle, and the walls are black from soot from the charcoal fire used to heat the big kettle. It's very warm and humid of course, and we wash up and pour basins of water over each other.

Elena, the grandmother, makes the tortillas right here. From a bowl of maize batter she takes a dollop. By patting and slapping it between her hands it soon becomes a thin disk about 10cm across, which she places on the hot steel plate over a small wood fire. She picks them up by the edge to flip and soon has enough for everybody.

Later, Marie walks with us to school where we meet our teacher, Hugo, who takes us to another nearby building, a hotel, and up onto the roof where there are a few classrooms. The smoke from thousands of wood cooking fires plus diesel trucks and buses, tuctucs, motorcycles, and small stationary diesels that power maize grinders hangs heavy over the city every morning. It stings our eyes and noses. Those who live here are accustomed to it.

Part of our package here includes a cooking class, scheduled for one afternoon. We meet Maria and two of her kids and learn to make boxbuls (pronounced bosh-bule), a traditional Ixil Mayan dish. Maria has a bowl of masa (ground lye-soaked maize) and a basket of guisguil leaves. We each take a leaf and she shows us how to smear masa onto it and fold it double. We soon make a pile of them, and Maria puts them all in a kettle of boiling water for 20 minutes over a wood fire on a low hearth. Meanwhile Maria places three chilis and six small tomatoes and salt on a stone grinding board and proceeds to turn it into a red salsa. The cooking fire lacks a chimney and the dark room is thick with smoke and burns our eyes. We opt to eat outdoors with chickens underfoot.

One day we take class to the market. Hugo leads us through town and into the main market area. We've been here before, but he knows the names of many of the strange and familiar fruits and vegetables. We pick up a shadow by the name of Diego, about 8yrs old, who follows us around for much of our visit. We also go into the big Catholic church in the center of town and watch a small assortment of people each doing a prayer ritual. It was a fun and interesting way to spend half the class.

Besides the smoke, Nebaj stands out in our minds as a prolific producer of litter. There is no municipal garbage service so trash either lands on the ground and stays there or is burned, adding to the smoke. The people here mostly speak Ixil, and our Spanish is of limited usefulness in the markets. There are very few tourists here. Some come for the trekking in the nearby Cuchumantanes, but don't stay in town very long, and there are some NGOs based here.

In addition to teaching us grammar and vocabulary, Hugo has also given us a history lesson of the area. The Mayans in this area are the Ixil tribe (pronounced Ee-sheel) and most of the people speak Ixil and not Spanish. During the 80's (Reagan's reign), the Guatemalan army engaged in a war of genocide against several of the Mayan tribes, especially the Ixil, with Nebaj as the center. The people fled into the mountains and guerillas took up arms against the army. Many people were killed or disappeared.

For our last few days in Nebaj have decided to take a trek here in the Chuchumontanes, the highlands of Guatemala. The air should be cleaner there. Our guide, Jacinto, served as police during the war/genocide, and laments the hardships his people endured. In the course of the hike we saw trenches dug as traps or foxholes, a partially exploded aerial bomb now used as a church bell, and he pointed out a town where the guerillas pushed the army back.

We start with a microbus ride in a bus built for 15. As we pick up and drop off passengers, we hit a peak of 26, with the driver's helper occasionally riding on a ladder on the back. The suspension bottoms out on the worst of the bumps, but I guess that's normal. We disembark in a town and follow substantial trails down down down, across a river, and up, up, up to the town of Xeo (shay-oo) where we get a traditional lunch of tortillas and guisquil soup. The path we follow would be barely passable with a very robust 4wd vehicle. The gradient is constant and unrelenting, for 2000 to 3000 vertical feet with switch-backs. It is very tiring, but the views are very nice. Ridge tops are around 8000ft above sea level.

At night the stars were magnificent, the most impressive we've seen, including a bunch of them which are not visible back home.

Breakfast is in a family's home in the town of Cotzul, tortillas and guisquil and egg soup cooked over wood on a hearth on the dirt floor. We are so much taller than these people, that we sit on an upturned stump of firewood. The chairs they have are barely high enough for a kindergartener.

Leaving Cotzul we drop several thousand feet of elevation at the same unrelentingly constant gradient. This is a pine forest, and is a source of lumber and firewood for the people who live here. It is not being over-exploited though, and the forest is healthy. So far. There's a nice river at the bottom, with a covered bridge. Another unrelenting constant climb, past two more villages, and on back to Nebaj.

After a week, we've had enough of Nebaj and it's smoke and litter, so we walk to the microbus stop, and bounce and twist our way to Quiche, change to a chicken bus to Encuentras, and a second chicken bus to Panahachel. Toilet facilities are rather sketchy at the bus stops, so we avoid eating or drinking until Pana, where we take a long break on the shore for lunch before joining a dozen others in the boat to San Pedro. How very different this town is from Nebaj. We're far from the only tourists now, the air is much cleaner, the ground not littered, and Spanish is very common.

From the Mayab school we take a tuktuk to our new homestay. Each homestay has been very different. Our first was directly across the street from school. This one is on the far side of town and up a long, steep hill. In Nebaj we were in a poorer neighborhood, and now we are among more affluent homes. At the San Pedro school we lived with a mother and teenage daughter. In Nebaj there were at least eight plus an occasional grandparent or neighbor. Our current host, Roberto, is an architect and builder/contractor. Also in the house are his wife - Eveth, two children - Cecilia age 8 and Francisco age 2, and Isabel, the housekeeper/nanny. Roberto has taught at the Mayab school, and Eveth teaches grade school nearby.

Most of the restaurants serve western fare – pizza, burgers, pasta, salad, and some mexican or tex-mex food, and the occasional Asian or Israeli fare. Mexican is also available from street vendors. There is a rich culture of Mayan and/or indigenous Guatemalan food, but none is available for sale except as street-food. We count ourselves very lucky as Roberto, Eveth and Isabel enjoy and know how to prepare some of their traditional foods. Over lunch we discuss the lack of these foods in restaurants. Even so, we get rather tired of eggs, black beans, and tortillas.

The classrooms of the Mayab school are in a garden setting. This school tries to teach a little Mayan along with the Spanish. One of their afternoon activities is a demonstration of a Mayan ceremonial ritual. I noticed many similarities between it and Pagan and Native American rituals.

The Mayan calendar is an important part of the culture here. On December 21, 2012, the 5,200 year old calendar will reset back to zero for the first time ever. There are hollywood doomsday predictions, but the people here view it as a very lucky event. I'm sure there will be celebrations. Mayan culture is based on circles, and to start a new circle is a glad tiding.

We are also here for the beginning of Lent, which is celebrated with a procession. The streets were empty of people and vehicles, although people were lined up along the edges. Leading were about 50 young men, some carrying large noisemakers, they were followed by at least 200 women walking solemnly in two lines. Then came a float with a statue of Jesus bearing the cross, carried by about ten men. There were stations along the way with lots of candles and incense. The float was turned toward each station and set down for words of prayer and invocation and hymns, mostly in tzutuhil as far as we could tell.

Nan's birthday falls on Sunday, our host family is not obligated to cook for us, and we have no classes. Wow. A totally free day! We opt for a hike along the lake. There is a nice path all along here, maintained by the people who use the lake. When every fourth person down the trail happens to be carrying a machete, the trail is automatically maintained. But the farther from town the more it deteriorates, so we head inland to a more major trail. This leads through an abandoned coffee processor to a beach, but they're burning the crops adjacent to the beach, and the smoke is too thick to continue.

Back through the town and we explore the old coffee facility. There's a very large concrete paved area, about two football fields, for drying the beans, several closed and locked adjacent buildings, and a large open structure with corrugated asbestos roof, where the beans were cleaned and hulled. Most of the machinery is still there, including an electric generator and it's engine, the hulling machine, large concrete vats, and various pipes from one vat to another. We sit there to eat mangoes and contemplate why so much effort was put into this structure, which seems nearly intact, and demand for their product remains high, and now it lies here abandoned.

We follow this trail back towards town a bit, then drop back down to the lakeside. We meet two local men resting on the lakeshore, and carry on a conversation in Spanish with them. We would not have been able to do this just a few weeks ago. All this learning is paying off! At the rocky point we take a break for a swim in Lake Atitlan. It's refreshing, then we sit on the rocks to dry and eat lunch.

We went out for dinner at the Clover restaurant, very good and a welcome respite from eggs and beans, followed by dessert next door where they also had wifi. Here we got to chat with the waiter/bartender who we had met earlier as a fellow student, and another customer from Oregon, who had been laid off and decided that was her impetus to leave the US go live in an affordable country.

On our last day of classes, Nan and I borrowed the information packet they hand out at the Mayab School office to prospective students. The English in this is horrible, as it started as rather verbose Spanish, and was translated using the Google translator. There were lots of words but little meaning, often the wrong word, and often the wrong grammar. It was quite a challenge.

We caught the 9am chicken bus to Chichicastenango, changed buses, and arrived back in Antigua early in the afternoon. Later we enjoyed dinner at a Thai restaurant. The going rate is about twice the price as it was in San Pedro.

Antigua is only an hour from the airport (instead of four or more from San Pedro) so we catch a morning bus, change planes in Ft Lauderdale, and arrive home about 3:30 am.

It's been a very fun month, and our Spanish has improved dramatically. It was interesting to learn about the Mayan culture and their very recent war, fueled by US funding and arms. It was also encouraging to see how resilient a people can be after facing such random and senseless killing.