Thursday, September 27, 2012

North California 2012

Trudy and I escaped the August hot and humid Florida weather during a 2-week vaction in cool northern California. We stayed with with Trudy's sister Linda in Arcata and brother Frank at Whale Gulch.
 
POINT REYES NATIONAL SEASHORE, Limantour Beach 
We spent our first night at the Point Reyes hostel, and strolled
along the broad sandy Limantour Beach of the Pacific Ocean
the next morning.


NAKED LADY!
This bright lily, 'Naked Lady', is fairly common along many
 roadsides.
SINKYONE WILDERNESS STATE PARK, Lost Coast Trail
We hiked the portion of the Lost Coast Trail, from the Needle
Rock Visitor Center northward toward Jones Beach.

A small herd of elk were grazing near this large alder.
WHALE GULCH
 


MATOLE BEACH, west of Petrolia


TRINIDAD
Anemones in a small tide pool below
Trinidad Head
REDWOOD NATIONAL PARK, Orik

We got one of the fifty permits issued per
day to walk the Tall Tree Trail in the
Redwoods National Park,  north of Orik.
A more apt name for the trail would be
Incredibly Tall, Tall, Tall, Tall and Huge
Trees Trail!





MANILA BEACH, Arcata
A serene sunset at Manila Beach after a Friends of the Dunes
volunteer appreciation event.


PRAIRIE CREEK REDWOODS STATE PARK, Fern Canyon, Orik
Fern Canyon in the Priarie Creek Redwoods
State Park is a magical place! About 100
yards from the Pacific, Home Creek has
eroded this narrow canyon, 80 feet deep.
Water seeping from the walls provides an
ideal environment for five different kinds
of ferns. Five-finger fern (maidenhair fern)
seems to be the most common.


The trail takes you right up the shallow creek ... with clear
water and multi-color smooth, rounded stones.

PRAIRIE CREEK REDWOODS STATE PARK, James Irvine Trail, Orik





BEACH NEAR STONE LAGOON, Orik
The beach near Stone Lagoon/ located south of Orik, has the
MOST AMAZING DRIFTWOOD!




JEDEDIAH SMITH STATE PARK, Crescent City
Trudy and Linda on the seasonal bridge over the Smith River
from the campground to Stout Grove.


Stout Grove ... this is a temple of redwoods and fern.





Wednesday, September 26, 2012

Alaska May 2012

In May 2012, Trudy and I took a vacation to Alaska with Holland America to celebrate my retirement. This post contains 30 images from that incredible 13 day experience. We flew into Fairbanks, spent 6 days on land tours, including Denali, then boarded a ship for a 7-day cruise south through the Inside Passage from Seward to Vancouver.
 
DENALI NATIONAL PARK
Dall sheep at Polychrome Overlook on the Tundra Wilderness
tour


Caribou (aka reindeer)

After seeing moose sign on all the hikes, we finally saw moose
on the Tundra Wilderness tour.

View from the Rock Creek Trail, with spruce and aspen in the
foreground.

KENAI FJORDS NATIONAL PARK
A medium sized boat took us on a tour out in the fjord to see
glaciers and wildlife.


Steller sea lions and kittiwake gulls

Humpback Whale

Orca

Check out the huge size of the Holgate glazier in comparison
to the tour boat! The air remperature was in the 40's.


 
We boarded our cruise ship, the Statendam, in Seward to begin
the cruise south in the Inland Passage.

GLACIER BAY
Marjorie Glacier in Glacier Bay. This glacier is 250 feet high
above the water, and it extends 100 feet below the water. The
water temperature is 38 degrees.
 
CHILKAT RIVER, Haines
Eagle Creek Preserve float adventure on the glacier-fed
Chilkat River.


The horsetail was more green and lush than I had ever seen.

JUNEAU
Mendenhall glacier at Juneau

Trudy is holding a chunk of ice calved off the glacier.

Lupine speckled with tiny diamond-like droplets of rainwater.

We saw more humpback whales offshore of Juneau!

KETCHIKAN
We went boarded a hard-bottomed inflatable boat with twin huge
outboards for an excursion called Orca Beach Rainforest. This is
the shoreline of our destination, Betton Island, in the Tongass
National Forest.

Wearing the provided rain suits and boots,
we hiked the trail through the spruce and
western red cedar rainforest.



CRUISING THE INDLAND PASSAGE
Back on the ship, we indulged in the fine dining.

VANCOUVER
This is our cruise ship docked at Vancouver.

While in Vancouver, we had time to explore
Stanley Park.

... and have a huge bowl of chicken & ramen noodle soup!