Category Archives: US National Parks

STONES RIVER – “BRAGG’S A GOOD DOG, BUT HOLD FAST’S A BETTER!”

Posted on by
Reply
Graves of men of Hazen's Brigade killed at the Battle of Stones River.
Graves of men from the 41st Ohio Infantry of Hazen’s Brigade killed at the Battle of Stones River.

A three-day affair to end 1862 and begin the new year, the Battle of Stones River – also known as the Battle of Murfreesboro – resulted in the highest percentage of casualties of any major battle of the American Civil War.  32.7% of the 78,400 who fought died, became wounded or went missing or captured after the battle’s end.  Four brigadier generals died either outright or from mortal wounds from the battle – two on each side.  Braxton Bragg’s newly renamed Army of Tennessee moved first on the morning of 31 December rolling through the Federal lines.  But true to his nature, Bragg would find a way to turn victory into a tactical defeat.  Much of Tennessee remained under Federal control as 1863 began.

Continue reading →

MCLOUGHLIN AND OGDEN – HBC REMINDERS LYING IN OREGON CITY

Posted on by
Reply
John Mix Stanley's painting of Oregon City 1850.
John Mix Stanley’s painting of Oregon City 1850.

The Hudson’s Bay Company provided the main source of European influence in the Oregon Country throughout the period of condominium rule shared by the United Kingdom and the United States – 1818-1846.  The Treaty of Ghent noted sovereignty sharing over the vast northwestern regions, but failed to say anything about how to conduct internal affairs.  Into the void, the HBC.

Continue reading →

HIGHEST OF THE HIGH SIERRA

Posted on by
Reply
Mt Whitney rises above the jumbled rocks of the Alabama Hills like the scene from Gladiator.

Mt Whitney is the goal of many who search out adventure and challenge in the High Sierra. It is the highest peak – 14,498 feet – in not only these mountains, but all the summits in the states south of Alaska beating out Colorado’s Mt Elbert by 65 feet and its neighbor to the south, Mt Harvard by 78 feet. Being the highest is a magnet.  A magnet means too many people and the result is the Mt Whitney lottery system.

But the crest of the High Sierra is so much beyond Whitney. There is a lifetime of peaks waiting for you here. The views are incredible and so can be the efforts to attain them.

Continue reading →

AWAY FROM THE VALLEY – A SIMPLE YOSEMITE

Posted on by
2
Jeffrey pine growing through the granite at Olmstead Point – Cloud’s Rest is on the right horizon and Half Dome is to the left.

For most visitors to Yosemite National Park, a visit equals a trip to Yosemite Valley. I do not have any statistics but would easily say most visits are limited to a quick stay in the dale that Ansel Adams describes as “Yosemite Valley, to me, is always a sunrise, a glitter of green and golden wonder in a vast edifice of stone and space.”

Nevada Barr, a mystery fiction writer best known for her Ana Pigeon series involving a myriad of national parks and law enforcement, related this tale about the park, “The story is, a man came up to Yosemite and the ranger was sitting at the front gate and the man said, “I’ve only got one hour to see Yosemite. If you only had one hour to see Yosemite, what would you do?” And the ranger said, “Well, I’d go right over there, and I’d sit on that rock, and I’d cry.”

Continue reading →

GAZING UP IN AWE – RAFTING DOWN THE GRAND CANYON

Posted on by
2
Moki Mac rafts running Unkar Rapids as the Colorado River transitions from Marble into the heart of the Grand Canyon.

The man who first led an expedition along the river responsible for one of nature’s most magnificent works offers a perfect description of the Grand Canyon –

The wonders of the Grand Canyon cannot be adequately represented in symbols of speech, nor by speech itself. The resources of the graphic art are taxed beyond their powers in attempting to portray its features. Language and illustration combined must fail.

jOHN WESLEY POWELL

I just finished reading Kevin Fedarko’s The Emerald Mile, a book about a trio of river runners who established a speed record for rowing the entire 277 miles of the Grand Canyon.  They were helped by near catastrophic releases of water from Glen Canyon Dam – release costing the Bureau of Reclamation over $32 million to repair spillway tunnels extensively damaged due to cavitation which literally ripped apart the insides of the tunnels.

Continue reading →

NATURAL EMULSIONS MANIFEST IN THE PAINTED HILLS

Posted on by
2
Sunsets seem to pop out the colors even more at the Painted Hills.

The Painted Hills can be magical. Geological stratigraphy on display. Reds, tans, blacks, browns all laid out in layers slightly tilted. Of the three units of the John Day Fossil Beds National Monument, this one attracts the most visitors. The Hills are closest in distance to large cities of any size – one and half to two hours from Bend (90 miles) and four to five from Portland (a little over 200 miles depending upon your route) – while the other units are another hour further on.

Continue reading →

ANCIENT DREAMS AWAKEN BY FOSSILS OF THE JOHN DAY

Posted on by
3

Sheep Rock with Picture Gorge to the right.

Thomas Condon, John Day and fossils all come together in the middle of Oregon.  The fossils came first.  Then, trapper and hunter, John Day, working with the Pacific Fur Company came west in 1810. He spent the final ten years of his life living in the Pacific Northwest.  He and fellow fur trader Ramsay Crooks were robbed and stripped of their clothes by Native Americans near the confluence of the John Day and Columbia Rivers.  History records four different dates for John Day’s death and posterity has left many geographic features named in his memory.

Sheep Rock from the John Day River near Cant Ranch.

The best known is the John Day River. Note – there is another smaller John Day River near Astoria close to the Pacific.  This river is the fourth longest river in the lower 48 United States without a dam along its entire length. It is the longest within Oregon and the Pacific Northwest – not that there have not been plans for one.  The section between Service Creek and Tumwater Falls is part of the National Wild and Scenic Rivers System.

Continue reading →

OLYMPIC RANGE FROM A HIGH PERSPECTIVE

Posted on by
3

The Best Experiences are not always the Easiest

The best visit to the Olympics goes on high. Olympic National Park, much like North Cascades, is a climber’s park. Standing atop one of the many peaks gives you a true experience to the wild wonderland.

Looking south to Mt Ellinor from atop Mt Washington in the southeast corner of the Park
Continue reading →

RAIN AND COVID? TIME TO BIRDWATCH AT RIDGEFIELD!

Posted on by
1

Rain is an all too common factor in Pacific Northwest winters. Grey days can go on for weeks at a time. The rain does not fall in huge dumps, but tends to lightly fall for much of the day. Short grey wet days. Cabin fever. No mountains to climb, so what to do? Then add on top of it the COVID pandemic. Perfect time to go birdwatch at Ridgefield!

A rainy day at Rest Lake along the Auto Tour Route at the River “S” Unit at the Ridgefield National Wildlife Refuge.
Continue reading →

MOUNT MARGARET – ON THE BOUNDARY OF MT ST HELENS

Posted on by
4

Written after a hike to Mount Margaret on the Boundary Trail in 2019 from a series of hikes up into the Cascades. It was a very good summer in there were no complications from forest fires which seem to mar things in August and early September in recent years.

Lakes mount margaret boundary trail
Lakes and the Backcountry near Mount Margaret from the Boundary Trail.

BOUNDARY TRAIL

Save the best for last? Mount Margaret lies along the Boundary Trail, the 53
mile trail running from Johnstone Observatory in the Mt St Helens Volcanic National
Monument to Mt Adams. The trail was built in 1910 to service fire
lookouts on the border between the forest reserves of the Cowlitz – to the
north – and the Lewis – to the south.

continue here