Wherein Moominmama hikes in the John Muir Wilderness and joins a ceremony where Japanese Americans declare "Never Again is Now"... Driving into the eastern Sierras is like arriving on a different planet from the sand and sagebrush below. At 10,000 to 11,000 feet, the air has a chill, there's snow on the mountaintops, and everything smells of ponderosa pine and moist earth. Even the bird calls are different. After a week in the valley, the mountains were calling, and Moominmama drove up to hike in the John Muir Wilderness, choosing a three-mile trail up Mount Whitney to Lone Pine Lake. The days had been warm, but I wasn't sure how much snow I'd find on the trail. As it turned out, I got a good 2.5 miles before I had to put on microspikes to navigate the snow, which was firmly packed down. What spectacular views! And fascinating plant life. This is manzanita, a bush with tiny teardrop flowers that will eventually turn into berries. It is related to a bush I'd se...
In which Moominmama sees the amazing tides in the Bay of Fundy and slips on the ocean floor... The Bay of Fundy between New Brunswick and Nova Scotia is famous for its tides with a hundred billion tons of water pouring in and out of the bay with each cycle. Water can rise at high tide by as much as 56 feet, and at Hopewell Rocks, pictured above, it averages around 46 feet at high tide. According to the Mi'kmaq legend, the giant Glooscap wanted to take a bath and got Beaver to build him a dam across the mouth of the bay. A whale took objection and slapped the dam down, sending water rushing into and out of the bay with a force so strong it continues to this day. Since it pours in at about 6-feet an hour, the bay fills quickly and can be dangerous. Visitors are allowed to walk on the "ocean floor" at low tide but the staircase is closed as the tide comes in. In fact, the lower levels of the stairs flood. Moominmama joined the crowds for low tide to explore the rock features...
In which Moominmama rides the Nevada Northern Railway, and hikes in the Great Basin... Moominmama was hoping to take a train ride behind a 115-year-old steam engine here in Ely (pronounced: EE-lee), Nevada. Dropping by the station to buy a ticket for the next day, I was able to get some photos as they fired up the boiler on Engine #93. One of the interesting things about this railroad museum is that it's a living history museum (and national landmark under the U.S. Parks Service) with a complete rail yard. The cavernous machine shop holds up to eight locomotives or other train cars, and a new generation of machinists and mechanics is learning to maintain them. Unfortunately, old #93 dropped a wheel mechanism after I took this photo, and the machine shop was not able to fix it in time for Moominmama's trip a day later. Moominmama had to settle for a 1950s diesel engine instead - see photo above. Not the same at all. But as part of the visit to the rai...
I take it you did NOT get wet from the trip!
ReplyDeleteNope, that would have been a mighty chilly dip!
Delete