Haleakala

Subalpine zone, Haleakala National Park

One of our last days in Hawaii J and I took a daytrip with the kiddos up to Haleakala National Park, the big crater in the middle of Maui. We wanted to see a wild Sandalwood tree (J's Master's thesis study organism), some Silverswords (plants native to Hawaii, some of which are endangered), and some Nene (Hawaiian Geese). We struck out on the Nene, but found some introduced Chukar near the top of the crater. I grumbled a little about the chukar, as a guy had pointed us to the trail saying "There's some Nene right over there!" Oh well.

The sandalwood was everything J had hoped, and even had some bracken fern (his PhD study organism) growing up and out of it. We stopped and botanized in the subalpine zone, where I would definitely spend more time given the opportunity. We saw some Vaccinium (Hawaiian huckleberries), a bunch of neat leguminous shrubs, and even found a cute yellow-faced solitary bee!

cute little male solitary bee!

The silverswords were beautiful, especially in the near-barren alpine zone where they grow. The visitor center at the top is just short of 10,000 feet elevation, and you can see everything from up there. We could see the ocean all around the island, and some of the nearby islands. It was beautiful. I'm glad we decided to head up country because we got to see some beautiful areas and explore some ecosystems that are very different from the beach.

On the long, winding drive up the mountain we saw some hitchhikers with longboards and helmet-cams, and realized they had just done something like this:



We totally would have picked up the guys just to hear their story, but with the carseats and kiddos we didn't have room for them. Bummer.

A little farther up the mountain we saw another pair of guys coming down on their longboards. Looked a little scary, but definitely a rush. The road is perfect for this; it's nice and smooth, long, well maintained, and low traffic. I'm under orders from my mom to not tell my brother about this.



Pretty amazing, don't you think?

Photos from Joshua Tree

A Joshua Tree after the rains. The whole desert was so vibrant with color that morning.

Leave it to Doodle to find a desert puddle to splash in.

Doodle was thrilled with this sunset, and kept talking about the pink sky.

My loves, hanging out on the rocks.

Joshua Tree

Anyone been to Joshua Tree National Park? If so, do you have any must-see suggestions for us?

...or not.

Change of plans. Life is too chaotic right now for a whirlwind trip to Yellowstone. We could pull it off, but it'd be one of those weekends that you need a weekend to recuperate from, which we're not really in the mood for. So we'll have another weekend on the homefront, canning and cleaning and playing and working and such.

We'll make it to Yellowstone. Just not this weekend.

(Special thanks to Daktari for the awesome Y'stone recommendations. Those will definitely come in handy whenever we do go.)

Yellowstone recommendations?

We're heading to Yellowstone this weekend. J and I have never been there. We'll be there for two days. What must we see while we're there? Where's your favorite place in Yellowstone?

Teton recap, part 3

Obligatory megafauna picture, taken near our first campground. Man are those animals big!

We spent J's birthday playing in the park. We found some boulders near Jenny Lake where J could work on some climbing problems (as routes are called in bouldering). Doodle and I found bugs and played in the dirt, occasionally cheering "Yay!" when Papa was doing well. This was, of course, preferable to when he was struggling to hold on and Doodle said "Uh Oh! Uh Oh!" repeatedly. I told her "honey, that doesn't help Papa," which made him laugh.

After some bouldering we played down in the lake for a little bit. Doodle loved wading in the water. We had a great time, and J got another camping birthday. (Happy 29th, my love!)

Any suggestions for next year's destination?

Teton recap, part 2

That first recap was pretty lengthy. I'll try to be more concise this time. Here goes...

We met J and FunEllen in Jackson after their climbing class. We went to the Snake River Brewery, where we had pizzas and beer. Mmmm. Below you will see one of the sacrifices I make as a Mom.


That's right. It was a tomato and basil pizza. Doodle ate ALL of my tomatoes. See the circular indents in the cheese? That's where my tomatoes were. I survived. I think it helped to have dinner with such cute people. J makes quite the brew wench...sorry, brew fraü.


We spent another night at Gros Ventre campground (the one with the nearby bison) in GTNP. The next day we staked out a campsite at Signal Mountain (on Jackson Lake), then went for a hike from the Lupine Meadows trailhead. We set out toward Garnet Canyon, but didn't make it there. Between a fussy Doodle and a late start, we decided not to push ourselves. So we hung out and had an easy hike.

At one point we were hanging out while J was bouldering right near the trail. I heard rustling in the bushes down trail from us, and froze while I waited to see what it was. I couldn't really tell until the animal lifted its head enough for me to see the ears...it was a bear!


Fortunately there were plenty of huckleberries around to occupy this young bear. I don't think it even saw us. Doodle was mesmerized watching it until it crossed the trail and passed out of view.


This is Doodle signing "more" because she wants more bear. Obviously Mama is not so keen on the idea of more bears.

After the bear sighting we left the bouldering spot and headed back to the car. We had a pretty uneventful evening, though our campground neighbors again were close and loud. *sigh* Guess I'm not big on packed, established campgrounds.

Tetons recap, part 1

Our trip to Grand Teton National Park was great. The past three years we have taken a trip to some high-elevation lake for J's birthday. This year we decided to incorporate a visit to a National Park we hadn't yet seen.

We knew we were off to a good start when 1) Doodle napped pretty much the whole way from Logan to Jackson, and 2) we saw a herd of bison as we neared our campground. This herd would stay near the road to our campsite for the duration of our visit, making for a happy Doodle whenever we drove that road.

The first night our friend FunEllen joined us, as she and J signed up for a rock climbing class the following morning. Doodle had fun trying to figure FunEllen out, and enjoyed being in the company of someone who makes up songs about nearly anything. The one not-so-wonderful moment of the day came at bedtime, when the campers across the road had lanterns a-blazin' and Doodle decided that no way, no how could she sleep out under the stars with lights like that around. J set the tent up in record speed while I tried to comfort Doodle (and tried to quietly reassure myself that not everyone in the campground hated us...yet).

The next morning there were moose in our campground. A pair of youngsters, the moose just meandered around and ate foliage. Doodle thought they were the greatest thing ever, and continued to talk about the "moo" for the rest of the trip. We were amused when one moose actually sniffed its reflection on the car across the road - the car that belonged to the late lantern people. When they woke up later we approached them, and asked if they had heard the moose by their tent. We then showed them pictures of the moose right next to their car. They were shocked, and had no idea that the moose were so close. That's what they get for staying up late with bright lanterns that disturb my baby! :-P

J and FunEllen left early that morning to meet their guide for a fun-filled day of climbing tutorial stuff. Doodle and I packed things up, then headed up to Jenny Lake for some exploring. One of the most popular hikes in the park is on the far side of Jenny Lake; the first half mile takes you to Hidden Falls, and the following half mile gets you up to Inspiration Point. There are destinations beyond that, but most people call it good once they get inspired. Anyhow. There are trails around the lake, but there's also a shuttle boat service across the lake. With Doodle's interest in boats, coupled with my desire to get to Inspiration Point before the hordes and to get back around the lake before J's climbing session ended, I decided to buy a one-way ticket across the lake. That meant boating over, hiking up, hiking down then hiking the 2.2 miles back around the lake, hopefully while Doodle napped. We embarked.

The boatride was easy and uneventful. Doodle was in the hiking pack on my back, so I really don't know what her facial expressions were while riding the boat. Once back on land, we trekked up to Hidden Falls. Some nice people offered to take our picture with the falls:


Then we continued on to Inspiration Point. The hike itself was great. The people though...ugh. Nearly every other person who passed us commented on either A) what a "trooper" I was for carrying Doodle up there, B) how she must be pretty heavy, or C) asked when their turn was to be carried like that. Wha?! I mostly just shrugged/smiled/looked at them like they had two heads, and continued on my way. I mean, really. Does it help someone who is carrying a heavy load to say "My, that looks heavy!" Nope. It does not. And really, I know she's over 20 lbs. I knew that before we started hiking, and took it into consideration. I'm really nowhere near SuperMom for carrying my daughter less than a mile up hill to see a pretty overlook. REALLY.

We made it up to Inspiration Point, which is quite pretty (see above). Then we hiked back down, encountering waaaaaay more people than one would typically like to encounter while hiking in the great outdoors. Especially when they're all full of helpful comments like those above. *sigh* Fortunately the trail back around Jenny Lake was more isolated, and Doodle and I got some peace and quiet. We saw a deer bedded down by the trail, which she thought was pretty awesome. However, no napping occurred. She was just dozing when a loud guy approaching from the opposite direction hollered "hey, your driver's asleep at the wheel!" to me. He even had kids with him, who I had assumed were his own. Perhaps not, if he's idiot/jerk enough to bellow that the kid is sleeping while standing right next to said sleeping kid. Grrrrrrr! Doodle woke up, and proceeded to fuss, whine or insist on walking herself for the last mile or so back around the lake. Gee, thanks loud guy!


The hike around the lake was really pretty, and I'm glad we took that route. We made it back to the car fine. Doodle finally passed out for a few minutes in my arms in the middle of the gift shop, where I proceeded to purchase things quietly without dropping her while reaching for my wallet in my back pocket. Mom skillz, yo. We then drove to Jackson to (in theory) hit some thrift stores, then meet J and FunEllen. Thankfully Doodle fell asleep on the drive there, as she really needed it. But that meant staying in the warm car for the duration of her nap. Ugh. So I sat for two hours in the car in Jackson. At least I had a book to read.

Return from Grand Teton

We're back. The trip was a success. Now there is laundry to be done, pictures to upload and blog entries to compose.

To keep you waiting for the details, here's a list of things we saw:

• Bison near our campsite
• Moose in our campsite
• Golden-mantled ground squirrels everywhere
• Black bear on the trail
• Bumblebees galore
• Megachile melanophaea - leafcutter bee
• Comandra umbellata - bastard toadflax (one of J's study organisms for his Masters)
• Pterospora - pine drop (a parasitic plant)
• Corallorhiza mertensiana - coral root orchid (yep, another parasite)

We had a great time. More to come soon.

Tetons - need advice

Alright, dear readers. I'm coming to you for advice. We're taking a trip in two weeks to Grand Teton National Park for J's birthday. We have never been there, and don't know much about the park and the sights. If you have been to the Tetons, please leave me a comment and suggest your favorite spot for hiking, climbing, wildlife viewing, etc. Thanks!