Wednesday, July 3, 2013

Devil's Tower National Monument - Wyomig


We arrived early at Gillette Wyoming attending the 35th Annual Escapee's Escapade.  We decided to go see Devil's Tower National Monument with Barry and Donna, friends that we had met two years ago at an Escapee's Rally.  This photo is at a pull-out about 3-miles from the main entrance.


Here's a photo of Kathy, Donna and Barry in the parking lot.  We decided that after stopping at the visitor center we would hike the 1.3 mile trail around the monument. No two sides are alike.  From the eroded columns on the south to the smooth north side, the tower has many faces.  


 In 1906, President Roosevelt proclaimed Devil's Tower the first National Monument. He made Wyoming the home of both our first national park - Yellowstone and our first National Monument.


Although Devil's Tower has long been a prominent landmark in northeastern Wyoming, the origin of the mammoth rock obelisk remains somewhat obscure. Geologists agree that Devil's Tower formed from molten rock forced upwards from deep within the earth. Debate continues, however, as to whether the rock cooled underground or whether Devil's Tower magma reached the surface.


If you have certification and the proper equipment you can climb to the top of the monument.  If you click on this photo to enlarge it, you can see two climbers in their quest to reach the top.


Records of tower climbs have been kept since 1937.  Approximately 5,000 climbers come here every year from all over the world to climb on the massive columns.  Over 220 routes have been used in climbing the tower.


In the center is the flight of a Golden Eagle, one of four that we observed during our hike.  The Golden Eagle is a frequent visitor to the tower.


Devil's Tower is considered a sacred landmark by more than 20 Native American tribes. The Lakota refer to Devil's Tower as Bear Lodge, and historically used this sacred place for funerals, prayer offerings, and other ceremonies, as well as their Sun Dance ritual.  We observed several prayer blankets as well as prayer offerings hanging from tree limbs. 


The Wind Circle sculpture, which is of white marble with a black base stands an impressive 12 feet tall. The artist designed it to evoke the image of a puff of smoke from a sacred pipe.  The stone used in the sculpture and black granite base come from Italy Fantiscritti Quarry source of Michelangelo's marble.  The sculpture stone base comes from the Crazy Horse Memorial in the Black Hills of South Dakota.


Barry took this photo of Kathy and I in front of the sculpture with the tower in the background. 


I took this excellent photo of Barry and Donna in front of the Wind Circle sculpture.  We all agreed that it was worth our 63-mile drive to visit Devil's Tower.  We would recommend a visit for anyone traveling this area. 


Saturday, June 29, 2013

Waterton-Glacier International Peace Park


In 1932, Waterton Lakes National Park and Glacier National Park were officially joined together as Waterton-Glacier International Peace Park.  The Peace Park celebrates the peace and goodwill existing along the world's longest undefended boarder, as well as a spirit of cooperation which is reflected in wildlife and vegetation management, search and rescue programs, and joint interpretive programs brochures and exhibits.   The park is one-fifth the size of Glacier National Park. 


Rugged, windswept mountains rise abruptly out of gentle prairie grassland in spectacular Waterton Lakes National Park.  I decided it would only be fair to show pictures of this park along Akamina Parkway the main road leading into the park. 


Amid the peaks are the lakes of Waterton Lakes National Park, carved out of the rock by ancient glaciers. The Perfect place to view spectacular scenery, wildlife and enjoy outstanding recreational opportunities.


A place like no other, the uniqueness of Waterton Park is a blend of unusual geology, mild climate, rare wild flowers, and an abundance of wildlife.


Kathy caught this great photo of a mule deer prancing round the park.


Black Bears eating dandelions, along side Akamina Parkway.


We actually observed several bears at different locations along our drive.  These two bears were observed together. Sows normally keep their cubs for two years before kicking them out of the den.  

 

We caught this guy down near the campground by Cameron Lake.  


Speaking of Cameron Lake, the water is crystal clear and provides boat and canoe rentals. 


This is a photo of Middle Waterton Lake.  There are three lakes in the park, two lakes are composed of two bodies of water, connected by a shallow channel known locally as the Bosphorus. The two parts are referred to as Lower Waterton Lake, and Upper Waterton Lake, the latter of which is crossed at the tip by the Canada-United States border.


The Prince of Wales Hotel was built as an extension to the chain of hotels and chalets built and operated by the Great Northern Railway in Glacier National Park, Montana. Louis Hill, President of the Great Northern Railroad, picked the site for the hotel in 1912. It took until 1926 to get the land leased from the Canadian Government and construction began immediately thereafter.

 Hiking the Hump


This trail starts from the visitor center parking lot and is the most popular short hike in probably all of the mountain parks. It's also the steepest, climbing 800 feet in just over 0.9 miles. The trail swithbacks up Mount Crandell to a prominent outcropping reminiscent of the grizzly's hump.


Here you can see Akamina Parkway as it enters the park along Middle Waterton Lake. 


The views of the Prince of Wales hotel, the townsite and down the length of Waterton Lake are spectacular.


 Once known as Bear Mountain by the Piikani (Blackfoot) tribe for its hump like appearance, this rocky trail becomes a veritable staircase by the half way mark yet ends on the flat dome of the "Hump".


If you're one who likes to count switchbacks to know how close you're getting to the end - there's 18!!! Some are very close together but that's how steep it is. Just take your time and you'll get there.


At the end of this climb, you will be greeted by spectacular views of Waterton Valley and Mount Cleveland, the tallest summit in Waterton-Glacier International Peace Park.  


Here's a view of  the town and its surroundings.   


  The luminescent Middle and Lower Waterton Lakes glisten from this vantage point.  


A fellow hiker took this photo of us. The views of the rolling prairies to the north will give you unique and breathtaking insight as to why Waterton is described as "where the mountains meet the prairies".


A slice of history, a helping of mountain splendor, all served with high tea. Who could ask for more? The Prince of Wales Hotel fits the bill when it comes to location, location, location! This swiss chalet - all seven stories of it.


You can see many of the steps we had to navigate on our hike down the hump.


Some information regarding Bear's Hump.  Bear's Hump is a great way to start off your Waterton trip if you have never been.


Kootenai Lakes Hike 




The only practical way to get to Goat Haunt Montana, which is located on the northern border of Glacier Park, is to take the Waterton Boat Tour originating at Waterton Township in Waterton Lakes National Park, Canada. When we arrived at the dock there was one other person other than Kathy and me.  The lady said please inform them I have four people for the cruise.  She mentioned that they required a minimum of eight people to guarantee the trip.  

Here's a photo of the boat setting at the dock.  By the time the boat departed at 10:a.m it was completely full.  The fee was $40 dollars Canadian which I thought was a little pricey.  We informed the staff that we would like to return on the 2:25 p.m. departure from Goat Haunt.  


We decided to sit down near the back of the boat under the deck cover.  Our cruise down to Goat Haunt was beautiful. The sun was out, a little cool breeze, and the water was not too bad.


It was an incredible day for a cruise.  The reflections on the water were amazing the colors were great! 



When we got to the US and Canadian Border, the guide on the microphone pointed out the line that shows the border.


They clear the trees in that spot and go right up to and above tree-line on the mountain. It is really something to see. They also have a plaque/statue/marker there that marks the border.


We docked and cleared customs.  Kathy had her National Parks Book and got the Goat Haunt Ranger Station Stamp and away we went. We also had our Passports stamped entering U.S. territory. 


Here a photo of the Goat Haunt Trail head display. 


I never took any photos on the way to Kootenai Lake.  The first thing we noticed was that people were not  kidding about the mosquitoes. They were so thick that we wasted little time spraying repellent over our long sleeve shirts and around our face and neck. 


One thing that brought us to this lake was the possibility of seeing moose grazing along the lake.  We had seen many other wildlife in the park but we both wanted to see a moose.  After waiting about 20-30 minutes without seeing any wildlife we decided it was time to hike back.


There were several streams that we had to cross during our trip to and from the lake.  


It became immediately clear on the way to the lake that this was not going to be a trail like we had walked on our previous day hikes.


The trail was thick with underbrush and narrow. Though it was difficult to see our feet at times, the trail was fairly easy to hike as we covered the 5.6 round trip hike in less than 2.5 hours.


We decided not to use our hiking sticks on the return hike because the trail was thick with underbrush and narrow at times.  


The back country customs rangers welcomed us back to the US. We talked with them for 20 minutes and decided to return to the boat staging area.  We decided to get up front for boarding as we wanted to get on the top deck for our return.


On our return trip, the crew gave interesting information about the area on the 45 minute ride and pointed out many interesting features of the lake and its surroundings.


The scenery throughout the cruise was fantastic.  Here's a few pictures for you to enjoy. 






I managed to capture a photo of wind sail as we entered the final leg of our trip.  I can honestly say that Kathy and I enjoyed our visit to the Waterton Lakes National Park as much as our visit to Glacier National Park.  

Pulling up Anchor at Acadia National Park

 I thought it would be nice to add a few facts about Acadia National in each of the photos below. We decided that our last trip here at Acad...