Gettysburg National Military Park
Posted: February 15, 2013 Filed under: Hiking, National and State Parks | Tags: Civil War, Gettysburg, landscape, Photography, Travel 2 Comments »
Last weekend, Lucas and I spent the day wandering through the battlefields of Gettysburg. This year is the 150th anniversary of the battle, and yet, I still found myself holding my breath and whispering as we walked across the fields of a place where so many people died. It is somehow amazing and horrifying and real.
It was nice to be there during off-season. Often we found ourselves alone or mostly alone on the various stops, and we were free to read every sign as quietly and slowly as we wished. And from the observation towers we could stand and look, unobstructed, for miles in every direction until the constant gusts of chilly wind forced us down.
My favorite places in Gettysburg are Little Round Top and Devils Den. A section of the battlefield that stretches from the rocky hill-top to a catacomb of boulders that served as an outpost for snipers during the battle. Some of the stone walls the soldiers built for cover on Little Round top are still there, making the ghost of the past that much more real. And Devils Den still feels as damp and narrow and cryptic as I imagine it did so many years ago, even with children (and adults) slithering through the cracks and crevices once inhabited by soldiers.
But the place that makes me the quietest, and the saddest, is the field were Pickett’s Charge took place. As I look out at the exposed, dry-grass of a naked field slowly rising to the high-water mark of the battle on Cemetary Ridge, all I can imagine is fear. How impossible it must have felt to walk out onto that field as the Union artillery rained down. Over 6,000 confederate soldiers died trying to cross this field, and it became the turning point of the battle, and most agree, the war. What a strange combination to face in this little Pennsylvania town.
In the blink of an eye…it’s almost time for a happy holiday!
Posted: December 19, 2012 Filed under: Beer, Big Cities, Central PA | Tags: Chihuly Glass, Photography, Travel, Troegs Brewery, Washington DC 2 Comments »It seems like the end of November and the begining of December slipped right through my fingers: a blur of Thanksgiving and grading (so many freshman composition essays!) and rain and mini-weekend trips and suddenly it is Winter Break. The holiday season is upon us.
Yesterday, I finally ushered in the first day of winter break, and the end to my first semester teaching four classes of freshman English at a local university. I am SO ready for a break from grading, but I am glad I will have more freshman to keep me on my toes next semester. But for now, I am looking forward to spending time with family, baking (my list includes recreating Julia Child’s crossant, yes please), reading (for fun), dreaming up summer vaction plans (backpacking here we come), and finally tackling my non-school-related to-do list items.
But late fall (we are still snowless here), wasn’t all grading and gray. We packed in a few local adventures to satisfy our traveling taste buds!
Washington, DC
Making our way to the monuments on a cool Novemeber day
Phipps Conservatory Winter Garden
Plus, Chihuly Glass!!!
Troegs Brewery…nothing like a pint of local beer
More from the kitchen soon…
Daydreaming of Lake Superior
Posted: November 9, 2012 Filed under: Hiking | Tags: Lake Superior, landscape, Photography, Travel 6 Comments »Today in Carlisle it is bright, the sun is polkadotted across the brick wall in our backyard, and for whatever reason, it has sent me into a pleasant daydream about Lake Superior. It is hard to imagine it has been over a year since I last lived along the cold, clear water of this lake. It seems that everyone who has lived there is captavated. It is an ocean-of-a-lake and is equally spectatular in its beauty and storm-raging power.
So in honor of this sunny, crisp, fall day, here are some of my favorite images from a place that is close to my heart…
Happy Friday!
Fall Colors and Campfires and Water on the Move: A Weekend at Ohiopyle State Park
Posted: October 29, 2012 Filed under: Camping, Hiking, National and State Parks | Tags: Camping, Fall, Hiking, landscape, Ohiopyle State Park, Photography, Travel 3 Comments »
I love the fall because it is, without a doubt, the best time to camp. The bugs are gone, the nights are dark and cool, campgrounds are mostly empty, and you can hike for hours without getting too hot. The perfect storm of camping.
So I was more than excited to head off into the woods for the weekend, especially since it was also an opportunity to recreate and re-imagine a father/daughter camping tradition from my early days out in the woods. Our little group of four has since expanded, and isn’t strictly father/daughter any more, hurray for Lucas joining our gang. But it still held the essence of what made all those early camping trips so wonderful: way to much food, laughter, walks in the woods, building campfires, long morning breakfast (fire included), and lazy evenings.
There is something so special about turning your cell phone off, forgetting about time or meetings or deadlines, and drifting into the pleasant cloud of the moment. Sitting around the campfire at night we sometimes just watched the fire crackle and hiss and lick at the logs in long, blue flashes.
Beyond the joy of camaraderie, we also experienced a spectacular display of fall colors, rushing rivers, and waterfalls. Ohiopyle State Park is one of my favorite places in Pennsylvania. I have been there several times, and I never get tired of seeing the Youghiogheny [yaw-ki-gay-nee] River rush in sweeping twists around corners and over boulders slowly carving a tree-lined gorge.
Along the banks of the river, and above our heads on the trail, the leaves rustled in bright shades of fall. My favorite are the yellow leaves. Crisp and striking against the blue sky, like blots of paint flung haphazardly on a blank canvas.
A wonderful fall weekend!
Badlands National Park, SD
Posted: August 29, 2012 Filed under: National and State Parks, Road Trip | Tags: Badlands National Park, landscape, Photography, Travel 3 Comments »The Road Trip Continues… Alaska to Pennsylvania
The last big, outdoor stop on our road trip was Badlands National Park. We spent the morning admiring the Mars-like qualities of this ever-changing, harsh landscape. It was too hot to hike, so we drove to each point of interest, and ate lunch under one of the few trees in the park offering at least a little bit of shade.
What I loved about this park was how drastically different it was. Our trip started out in mountains and woods and snow, and ended in wide-open, sand-blown, spires of gritty, colored rock. Beautiful.
I feel so lucky that we got to spend almost a month immersed in nature.
For the last few days of our road trip, we visited with family and friends, packed up a truck, and made the final push to our new home, Carlisle, PA. The end to a wonderful trip!
Custer State Park, SD
Posted: August 16, 2012 Filed under: Hiking, National and State Parks, Road Trip | Tags: Black Hills, Custer State Park, Hiking, landscape, Mt. Rushmore, Photography, Road Trip, Travel 4 Comments »The Road Trip Continues… Alaska to Pennsylvania
By the time we entered the Black Hills of South Dakota we had been on the road for 15 days, only one of which we spent in a hotel. We could put up and take down our tent with our eyes closed. We were road trip experts. But there were two things we weren’t prepared for: people and heat.
After spending so much time in the north, where we were still sleeping in a snow hat and gloves at night (in July), the heat of 90 degree days felt like being smothered. And it had been a long time since we had seen such thick swarms of people. It felt a little like wandering out of the woods into an amusement park. But, the scenery of Custard State Park made up for it!
Our destination was the home of Mt. Rushmore, Crazy Horse, and the scenic Needles Highway. While in the park we also spent time at Sylvan Lake and hiked to Harney Peak. For us, Mt. Rushmore and Crazy Horse felt too busy, so we looked at them from the road and moved along. Neat, but I’m glad we had more time for the Needles Highway and our hike.
The Needles Highway is awesome. The road, particularly the middle portion, switchbacks up and through granite tors that burst from the hills like candle sticks. The rock seems to have an artistic mind of its own. Each outcropping, stretches and bends and buckles in Play-doh-turned-rock kind of ways.
My favorite spot on the highway was the Cathedral Spires. A row of granite towers linked in a chain across the sky. It seemed like I should hear the trumpeted bellow of an organ at any minute. Another neat spots was a rock tunnel, that turned so sharply around a corner it looked like it was going to swallow the car trying to navigate its narrow channel.
We also loved our hike to Harney Peak. At 7,242 feet, it is the highest peak east of the Rockies and offers a wonderful 360 degree view from a historic stone fire tower perched amid larger boulders. The wind was blustery, whipping across the exposed peak, as we looked out across the Black Hills. Lovely.
Glacier National Park, Part 1
Posted: August 9, 2012 Filed under: Camping, Hiking, National and State Parks, Road Trip | Tags: Glacier National Park, Hiking, landscape, Photography, Travel 10 Comments »The Road Trip Continues… Alaska to Pennsylvania
I had planned to do one blog for Glacier National Park, but this morning as I sat down to write I realized there is just too much for one post. We spent four days in this fabulous park, and I wish we had more time. In order to maximize our time, we hit a different section of the park each day, sleeping in a new campground each night.
Our first night we stayed at Many Glaciers campground, in the northern part of the park, and woke up early (hoping to beat some of the heat) to hike Iceberg Lake Trail. This gradual ten mile hike is beautiful. It moves up along a ridge and in and out of the woods as it curls higher towards the lake.
Along the way, little creeks rushed across the trail turning the stone crimson red and wildflowers speckled the hill like multicolored freckles. On the open ridge line you could see out into the valley and above to the rugged mountains. The mountains here are so different than in Canada. They are darker and older looking, at the peaks they look broken and fragile, like the unfinished edge of a jigsaw puzzle.
Near the end of the trail we crossed into several snow fields, slick and icy under the afternoon sun. The snow packed trail ended at a half-moon of mountains surrounding the frozen Iceberg Lake, where we stopped for lunch. I loved the water falls formed by snow melt cascading down every crack on the mountain faces and the cotton-like puffs of clouds overhead. Beautiful. One of my favorite hikes in the park.
Another highlight from the park: the Going-to-the-Sun Road. Beyond the sheer craziness of creating the road, which is cut into the side of a mountain, and is constantly fight erosion and water, the views and stops along this make it a place I don’t mind being stuck in a car rather than out on a trail. The road twists and bends, and at one point, we drove directly under a waterfall. So cool.
More on Glacier National Park soon.
Lake Louise, Canada
Posted: August 6, 2012 Filed under: Camping, National and State Parks, Road Trip | Tags: Avalanche, Lake Louise, landscape, Photography, Road Trip, Travel 5 Comments »The Road Trip Continues… Alaska to Pennsylvania
When we arrived in the town of Lake Louise we went straight to the campground, which is right “downtown” (including a stop sign, a little corner of stores, and two restaurants). While we were waiting in line, a ranger came up to the car and told us there were still a few spots left in the tent camping area (which is separated from the RV section). Then in a nonchalant tone she tells us there is an electric fence surrounding the tent camping area. Electric! She explains that this is to keep the bears out. Yep. And then continues to tell us, in the same tone, that today in the RV park a grizzly charged several people. Hmm.
We had been living smack in the middle of grizzly country for 10 months and never had to sleep behind an electric fence. Crazy. But honestly, it was kinda cool. Our first and only night being fenced in 
After throwing up the tent, we decided to check out the famous Lake Louise. It wasn’t exactly what I expected. It is pretty, yes, but after all the beauty we had seen and would continue to see, it wasn’t our most impressive stop. It is touristy. A giant hotel fills one whole side and people poured out around the lake like ants on a good crumb.
There were even women wearing heels. Heels! And there I was in pants I had worn for at least the last four days. So maybe it just wasn’t my kind of outdoor experience.
But, the good news, just outside of Lake Louise is the Valley of Ten Peaks, which surround Moraine Lake, and holy cow this place is pretty. Lucas and I arrived in early evening just as the sun was about to dip behind the mountains and most people had already left for dinner. We sat up on “the rock pile” a literal pile of rocks facing the lake, and enjoyed the quiet beauty of the mountains.
And then…. we saw an avalanche. It was high up on the face of a mountain. It echoed like thunder, and then snow rushed down the face like a waterfall. It lasted long enough for Lucas to get out his camera, zoom in, and take a picture. So cool.
A wonderful way to end our time in Canada.
Next stop: Glacier National Park!
The Icefields Parkway, Canada
Posted: August 2, 2012 Filed under: Hiking, Road Trip, Uncategorized | Tags: Canada, Hiking, Icefield Parkway, landscape, Photography, Road Trip, Travel 4 Comments »The Road Trip Continues… Alaska to Pennsylvania
The Icefields Parkway is possibly one of the prettiest stretches of road I have ever driven on. And after a year in Alaska, that is saying a lot. The road is approximately 140 miles long and passes through Jasper National Park, Lake Louise, and Banff National Park. It cuts directly through the mountains like some kind of insane scenery-driven roller coaster. Jaw dropping.
Below are a few of my favorite spots along this amazing scenic highway:
Athabascan Falls
The sheer amount of water rushing and twisting over and under rock makes this place special. The first part of the falls is the most dramatic, a giant plunge into a smoothed out bowl of churning white water. The spray here was so intense we were covered in tiny droplets that blinked in the sun like Christmas lights.
After the initial drop, the falls cut through a deep canyon, crashing into the walls in violent bursts. I loved the curved face of the canyon walls, smoothed by time and water.
A bonus, in the early morning light, the mist created several rainbows that hung over the water like brightly colored ribbon.
Tangle Falls
This waterfall was unique in the way it stretched out across the rock face like tree roots, bending and splitting and reaching towards the clear, deep pool. And it did this again and again in a series of falls and pools, feeding into one another. A woven wall of water.
Columbia Icefield
The icefield, one of the largest accumulations of ice and snow south of the Arctic Circle, feeds 8 glaciers and gets up to 275 inches of snow fall per year. From the highway you can see it sitting on top of the mountains like a massive layer of icing, thick-white. I am always amazed to see reminders, like this, of how the world used to look, covered in endless layers of white.
Athabascan Glacier
Pouring, like over flow from a full sink, Athabascan Glacier slides down the side of a mountain to form a horseshoe-shaped tongue. At the toe (the lowest end of a glacier), the snow is dirty and dripping, but above it on the walls of the mountain you can see hanging glacier, glinting blue, and the cracks of an icefall.
We also liked the year markers indicating the ghost of what was once the toe of the glacier. The 2000 marker is almost 100 yards from where the toe now sits. Hard to believe how fast it is receding.
Hiking Wilcox Pass Trail
This trail cuts above treeline quickly, offering views of the Athabascan Glacier and the Columbia Icefield beyond it. We crossed over graying snow and thin, cold streams running clear and slick across the rocky bottom. But my favorite part was when the trail swung up and over a rocky hill into the pass. Here the alpine meadow, spotted with gray boulders, stretches out into a canvas of green. It felt like the setting for a fairy tale.
The Weeping Wall
This spot is right along the highway. You turn a corner and bam: a giant wall of rock with long thin vertical lines of water cresting over the knife sharp edge of the cliff and sprinkling towards the ground. It is so big that everything looks small. The water looks quiet and wispy, but I am positive that it is all much bolder and more intense than it looks.
Peyto Lake
The color of this lake is like a dream or maybe straight out of Neverland. I am almost surprised we didn’t see Peter and Wendy drifting by. So pretty.
Jasper National Park, Canada
Posted: July 30, 2012 Filed under: Hiking, National and State Parks, Road Trip, Uncategorized, Wildlife | Tags: Hiking, Jasper National Park, landscape, Photography, Road Trip, Travel, Wildlife 5 Comments »The Road Trip Continues… Alaska to Pennsylvania
After traveling for several days through the Yukon and British Columbia, we finally arrived in Alberta where we took our first two day stop at Jasper National Park. Talk about pretty. The Canadian Rockies are something to marvel at- towering jagged peaks of sheer rock. The area is snaked by rushing blue-green rivers and some of the prettiest lakes I have ever seen.
We were welcomed to the park by several packs of goats who are a car-stopping attraction in this area. Literally. They walk out in front of cars as if they own the road and don’t seem to mind when they block both lanes of traffic as they walk back and forth. Too funny.
Our other animal highlight in Jasper: a huge male elk! His velvet rack was impressive as he stood stoically on the side of a back road.
But my favorite part of the park during these first two days was our hike on the Sulphur Skyline Trail. It was an intense uphill climb, over 2,000 feet of elevation gain, but the views made it worth every lung-burning minute.
On the final shelf before the peak, we walked through a field of alpine wildflowers. It reminded me of pastel polka-dots scattered across green paper. So cute.
The wind picked up as we began the final ascent to the summit, a series of tight switchbacks up a rock/gravel knoll that would lead us to the treeless, boulder-topped peak. Lucky for us we hit the summit as the other group was going down so we had it to ourselves. A moment alone with the mountains.
The view…wow. It felt as if we had been dropped into the jaws of a shark, rows of razor sharp mountains piercing the blue sky in every direction. Wind pushed in fierce gusts that sucked my jacket tight to my skin. I never wanted to come down.
Beautiful.
