Sorry to disappoint, I know you all were hoping for tons of my rambling (ha!), but I’m only going to be able to post a mini update tonight…all did not work out quite as planned. The weather threw a little kink in my plans – gale force winds and fifteen foot waves on Lake Superior on Saturday delayed the arrival of my boat back to Grand Portage yesterday, and we did not make it back to the mainland until much later than expected. On the upside, I did survive my first major solo backpacking excursion though, and actually came back with less bruises than I started with for a change (I know, I was shocked, too…pleasantly shocked, but shocked nonetheless!) Unfortunately, I think my most lasting memory of the Isle Royale trip will be summed up in one word…”Rain.” I actually had to stop and do laundry this afternoon on the way down to Green Bay because all my wet, dirty, and just generally nasty hiking clothes were starting to make my car smell (moreso than usual…).

I’m heading to my friend Kathi & her husband’s house here shortly, and she and I will be leaving around 4am to set off on a little lighthouse tour of Door County that she’s put together just for me. Wednesday we’ll be heading up to Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore and catching the sunset cruise along cliffs. My original plan was to then backpack the length of the park, which was revised while I was home the other weekend to include only backpacking three-fourths of it…and now after the Isle Royale adventure, I’m a bit soured on backpacking and think I will just day hike to the spots that interest me. This will put me in Traverse City sometime this weekend (see how much progress I’m making Mike, I’ll be there long before Halloween at this rate!) and I’ll put together a full update then. I’ll warn you now that the pictures from Isle Royale were disappointingly few and far between – after the Mount Rainier incident, my camera was safely buried in my pack for much of the trip. But really, I don’t mean to make it sound like a terrible trip, I did see a wolf afterall, and met a lot of really wonderful people…more on all that later!

Greetings from the Duluth Public Library! I started the morning off at the Amazing Grace Bakery & Cafe (I had to text Paul and have him look up the address since I had a minor goof in my near perfect planning and never printed off the map) but my laptop battery died before I was able to finish my update. Thankfully, the library (which I stumbled across while driving around blindly trying to find the bakery) opened at noon, about the same time as the untimely death of my battery.

Having just posted an update two days ago, I don’t have a whole lot to say…hmmm, I think I’ve said that before and found plenty to ramble about! After leaving Rapid City I made my way to Badlands National Park. As Weather Underground had predicted, there wasn’t much by way of clouds, and although I snapped off quite a few pictures while checking out the various overlooks, I was dismayed to look at them later and find them to be utterly uninteresting. I salvaged precisely one shot from Saturday’s wanderings. Fortunately, the Weather Gods heard my desperate plea for clouds and brought in a thunderstorm the following morning. It even actually rained a couple drops, though I have to say that the bugs hitting my windshield, rapid-fire style, while driving through Idaho sounded a lot more like a rainstorm.

The clouds made all the difference and I feel much better about the photos from yesterday morning, though the Weather Gods were a bit too thorough in granting my request for clouds and I lost the sun about 45 minutes after it rose. I waited patiently (I started reading How to Shit in the Woods: An Environmentally Sound Approach to a Lost Art, a book about exactly that) and the sun did eventually come out again a little before nine. I hurried to get in some more pictures before I completely lost the good light (everything starts looking “flat” after a while) and found myself somewhat obsessed with the colorful Yellow Mounds near Dillon Pass.

Before I knew it, it was already 11am and I was just making my way out of the eastern entrance to the park. This was slightly problematic since I’d already been up since five and still had to drive ten hours to Duluth, with no time for a nap. I was also going to lose an hour crossing into Central Time. Road construction detours (I was a fool and didn’t inquire about the construction when I stopped at the Travel Info Center to use the restroom) added an extra hour to my driving. Luckily, since I was traveling on a Sunday evening, I at least missed out on all the potential backups coming through the Minneapolis area and the road construction on the highway up to Duluth – I was also glad the roads were fairly open coming through the Twin Cities since I couldn’t find the road I was on on my map and didn’t have much of an idea where I was at…abrupt lane changes are much easier when not in traffic! I finally stopped at a rest area about thirty miles south of Duluth at about 11:30 last night.

My alarm went off all too soon this morning at 4:45, which still felt like 3:45. It was miserable. I contemplated sleeping in, but I’d put in so many miles the day before to make it to my sunrise location on time that I finally convinced myself to get out of bed. This is one of those rare occasions when I wish I didn’t absolutely detest the smell of coffee. I started the morning off with a bottle of Orange Crush from the rest area vending machine, figuring sugar might help some. Mostly it made me quesy. I did make it up to Brighton Beach for sunrise though, which was pretty but not overly impressive, and then slept another hour before attemtping my search for the Amazing Grace Bakery.

I’ve also been in contact this morning with my friend “Windpoint” Kathi, whom I met at the Windpoint Lighthouse in Wisconsin while traveling three years ago. We hit it off and have kept in contact since, and it’s looking like I’m going to change my plans for next week a bit. She’s going to take a couple days off work and we’re going to explore the lighthouses in Door County. If there’s space on the Pictured Rocks boat cruise (I reserved my spot a couple months ago), she’s also going to accompany me up Munising for that. Should be fun!

In the meantime, I’m headed towards Grand Portage to catch the boat out to Isle Royale Wednesday morning. I’ll be backpacking on the island until Sunday, when the boat will pick me up again at a different location. If all goes as planned, I’ll fit in an update from Duluth again Sunday night. Depending on my timing, and the number of good shots I get on the island, posting new pictures may wind up waiting until I finish hiking my Pictured Rocks hiking excursion. So, cut me a little slack if you don’t see much new stuff for another two and a half weeks, it’s hard to find an internet connection in the backcountry, not that I’m intending to shove my laptop in my pack anyway!

On that note…I’m off…nature is calling, and I must take advantage of plumbing while I have it. And speaking of plumbing, I get to shower tonight at the campground, woohoo!

Hello from Black Hills Bagels in Rapid City! I love the internet…I was driving along Wednesday morning, contemplating my trip schedule, and realized that if I kept up with the photo editing enough, I’d have some free time Saturday to squeeze in a web update while passing through Rapid City. I stopped at the Fort Hall Reservation near Pocatello since they advertise free wi-fi and from the casino parking lot I was able to find myself a South Dakota wi-fi/food connection. Oh the joys of wireless!

Things have been pretty mellow since I left home late Tuesday afternoon. I feel like all I’ve really done the last few days is sit in the car. After getting on the road later that I’d hoped, I hit traffic on my way out of Salt Lake and was starting to think that I wouldn’t even make it out to Rozel Point before the sun set. I lucked out and the accident was cleared in enough time for me to get out to the somewhat remote northern shore of the Great Salt Lake with about half an hour to spare. Thankfully I’ve been out there several times before so I didn’t have to worry about not having time to scout a good location, and the sunset turned out to be one of the best I’ve ever seen. And I only encountered one little tiny snake who never hissed at me, and my sleep was never interrupted by a pelican attacking my car. All in all, a nicely uneventful trip to the Great Salt Lake, compared to my last two adventures there.

The good clouds cleared over night so I didn’t stick around the lake long the next morning and hit the road pretty early. Having already scouted out Fall Creek Falls on my way home last week I had no trouble finding them again, and this time was able to find a much better vantage point. Originally I’d thought I was going to have to climb down what looked like a dirt cliff (no thank you!) but it turned out to be rock and was very easily navigated. From there I continued on my way to Grand Teton National Park. I had planned on hiking there before catching sunset from Signal Mountain, but when I found myself constantly searching for a shady place to park and nap, instead of trailheads, I gave in and slept a couple hours. Grand Teton is just one of those parks that doesn’t call to me whatsoever, and the lack of good clouds for sunset added to my boredom there.

Thankfully, Yellowstone was much more interesting, and I was able to better entertain myself the following day. I was naughty though and sat around waiting for a geyser to erupt (it never did) without putting on sunscreen (I was all of thirty feet from my car so I had no excuse whatsoever, and come to think of it, I have a travel tube of sunscreen in my camera pack…oops) and I fried one shoulder and arm, and half my back. My Supersofar tattoo isn’t going to be pretty when that eventually peels, yuck. After giving up on the Great Fountain Geyser I headed to the Grand Prismatic Spring, which I’ve decided is my favorite spot in the park. There’s a big, steamy turquoise pool, but mostly its the bacterial mats that really make things interesting…lots of different patterns, and I spent quite a while shooting there. With one of the roads closed for construction, I knew I was going to have to take the long way to my campground on the other side of the park so I didn’t stick around the geyser basin for sunset like I’d planned.

While heading to the campground, I was reminded why I reallllly detest the crowds at Yellowstone…people get so excited to see wildlife (abundant in the Eastern side of the park) that they haphazardly park anywhere to try to take their pictures. There were probably fifty vehicles stopped along the river and turnouts, all to see a bear meandering along the riverside. It also doesn’t help that the bison aren’t particularly shy, and I had to repeatedly veer around the ones who were leisurely wandering down the road. There was literally a traffic jam yesterday morning while I was trying to leave the park when the herd of bison decided to cross the road. Can you tell that I don’t go the national parks to see the wildlife?

After leaving Yellowstone (after a most delightful shower with nice hot water and good water pressure, and no time limit) I spent several hours working on my photo editing from the new Park County Public Library in Cody, which was a great place to hang out at, minus the too-cold air conditioning. I stayed until Paul got off work, and then with no one to chat online with while I edited (have I mentioned how much I love love love the internet???), I headed for the Devil’s Canyon Overlook at Bighorn Canyon National Recreation Area. The park straddles the Wyoming/Montanta state line, and I’m not entirely sure if the overlook is actually in Wyoming or not, but there’s where I’m filing the pictures…I hate snakes, and that was very much rattlesnake country, which left me quite paranoid about hiking anywhere outside the parking lot. I did wind up going in search of a better view point, though I moved very slowly while scanning every thing in front of me for anything that might hiss at me. I wound up perched on a cliff edge for a while, but just never really felt like I was getting any great shots. I did text with Paul from Reaction Cargo for a while since I somehow had service off and on at lookout, and yes, we are still in business and so far I still have a job to go back to. Yay!

I had planned on staying at the campground at Bighorn Canyon and shooting sunrise there this morning, but since I was uninspired by my shots there for sunset, I opted to start the drive to Rapid City instead. Good thing, since I hit a lot of construction last night and made much slower time than expected. I’m not sure if I’d have made it to the bagel shop, which closes in 23 minutes, in time to get an update done!

And here I am, hurrying to finish before they close. They have the radio playing, and since I never listen to the radio, it’s so strange to be listening to anything random (and I’ve had to hear that Katy Perry “Las Vegas” song twice now, means I’ve been here too long!)…I downloaded the new Blue October album (which actually came out months ago, but I’m behind) last week while I was home. I have to say, I was quite disappointed. I told Chris that I’m putting Blue October on probation, if their next album isn’t great, they’re getting bumped off my Top Ten List. Most of the songs were just way too slow, or just plain sucked. That said, the three good songs on there are Really Good, and I have been obsessively listening to them in a major way.

I think that sums things up…I’m on my way to Badlands National Park, but Weather Underground says there’s a 0% chance of cloud cover so I don’t have particularly high hopes. We shall see…Tomorrow is a Driving Day, I’ve got a good ten hours to put in to get myself up to Duluth, Minnesota. I’ve got a couple wi-fi spots up there so I should get an update done Monday or Tuesday before I head out to Isle Royale to backpack for a few days…

New pictures added to the Idaho, Utah, Yellowstone, and Wyoming albums.

My little stay at home has flown by and now it’s time to hit the road. I’m already supposed to be on my way, and I haven’t even quite finished throwing everything in the car yet, so this will be super short….I’m headed for Grand Teton, Yellowstone, Badlands, and now that I’ve peeked at my itinerary, it looks like I don’t get an internet connection for almost a week, so look for an update when I get to Minnesota….

Hello from Salt Lake City! Well, Murray, if you want to be really technical…The important thing is that I am HOME! And I know I hadn’t been gone all that long yet, since the first leg of the trip was only 3 1/2 weeks long, but it’s still nice to come home and shower, spend time with Paul,  see friends, go to a show, eat hot food, and remind my cats that I haven’t abandoned them forever.

The last couple days on the road were pretty uneventful. I left the Staggering Ox and headed to Paul’s mom’s house, and spent that evening and the following morning with Peggy & Greg (Thanks again!). They fed me pizza and I helped them get their new computer and wireless network set up…now if we could just convince Paul to get internet at home! I  spent Tuesday and Wednesday hanging out among the hoardes of people at Yellowstone. Things got interesting Wednesday morning when several stealth helicopters landed in the Old Faithful area of the park. I’d heard rumor that President Obama would be coming to the park, but as my mom later informed me, he wasn’t arriving until Saturday so that must have just been a practice run.

I had good clouds that day and had a great time wandering around the geyser basins taking pictures of the pools, one of the few photo subjects I’ve encountered that actually are best at midday. The sunlight shines directly into the pools and intensifies the different colors. Morning Glory Pool, the most famous of the thermal pools, has been slowly losing its brilliant colors, though I thought it was still very pretty. Apparently people throw coins, rocks and other objects into the pool and it clogs up the “plumbing,” leading to temperature changes that in turn change the color of the water. The Park Service vacuums out as much of the debris as it can once a year to try to help offset the effect, but the pool continues look more green than blue.

I was supposed to stay in Yellowstone for sunset Wednesday night, but the geyser I’d hoped to shoot wasn’t predicted to erupt until after midnight so I wound up heading down toward Grand Teton National Park a little early. They’re doing major road construction through the whole chunk of road connecting the two parks and well into Grand Teton, and I wound up missing sunset altogether as I sat in construction-related traffic. The campground I had intended to stay at also turned out to be full already (so much for being told it almost never fills!) so I wound up just driving all the way down to my sunrise location and slept at the Snake River Overlook. Having arrived in the dark, I never had a chance to scout the place out, and when I got up the next morning, I simply could not see why everyone seemed to think this was such a great place to shoot sunrise. I wandered around for a while and eventually gave up and moved on to a couple other places down the road. I was highly amused to get home and change the month on my Ansel Adams calendar, only to find the photo for August to be the Snake River Overlook. His view in 1942 was infinitely more impressive – in the nearly 70 years since he photographed there, the trees on the bank of the river have grown quite tall and obscure most of the bend in the river as it winds towards the mountains.

I was originally planning on shooting sunset at the Rozel Point, at northern end of the Great Salt Lake, but decided with as busy as my short stay at home was going to be, it would be worth heading home early, especially since I was already planning on stopping at Rozel Point on my way back out of town. Since I had some extra time though, I did set out to find Falls Creek Falls, somewhere in the vicinity of Swan Valley, Idaho. My web research to find the location of the falls had not gone well, and what little information I did have was in the binder for the second part of my trip (a small portion of the two legs over lap since I’ll actually be heading back up through Grand Teton and Yellowstone on my way back East). I knew the falls dropped directly into the Snake River, and followed several back roads along the river before stumbling across Falls Creek Road. I drove down that several miles and Still never saw anything that would look like a water source for the falls, and finally gave up. Much to my surprise though, as I was driving back towards the highway, there were the falls! They were completely invisible coming down the road from the other direction, and hidden from view on the other side of the river by large trees. I shot off a couple pictures, but my goal had been mostly just to locate them so I’d be ready to stop there again on my way back to Yellowstone. As it turns out, if you know where to look, they’re exceedingly easy to get to, and very close to the highway. Go figure.

I got home late Thursday afternoon and have spent the last couple days cramming in as much time as possible with those near and dear to me, trying to get enough of a fix to hold me over for the next two months. I actually had meant to write this up right after I got home, but now it’s already Sunday, and come Tuesday I’ll be back on the road…my little vacation from my vacation is going by so quickly! And I have so much stuff to get done before then that I’m actually almost at a loss for where to even start. I still need to edit the Yellowstone/Grand Teton pictures, so look for new pictures sometime between now and Tuesday, and I’ll get my statistics updated then too. In the meantime, I still need to sort through the rest of the pictures (which won’t be included in my photo count) from Friday’s Monarch/Medicine Circus show (which was Awesome, a big thank you to Monarch for scheduling their CD Release Show for the weekend I’d be home), I’ve got backup discs to make, and I haven’t even written on the ones I made on the road yet…Oh, and grocery shopping, more laundry, repacking my car, and I’m helping out at my mom’s office again tomorrow. So much to do and so little time!!!!