Nebraska Notch Trail from Stevensville to Bolton Mtn and back the following day. It doesn't look like there will be much in the way of tree colors this fall. Too dry and hot? Maybe in the valley?
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| Wall of cloud |
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Friday, September 29, 2017
Caves and Ladders - Mansfield
A day around Mt Mansfield. Up Frost, over ridge to Mansfield top, back via trail that goes down near Gondola and along other side (Cliff trail?). Then down LT South to Taylor lodge via Clara Bow trail. Lots of caves and ladders for the second half of the day.
Nebraska Notch Trail from Stevensville to Bolton Mtn and back the following day. It doesn't look like there will be much in the way of tree colors this fall. Too dry and hot? Maybe in the valley?
Nebraska Notch Trail from Stevensville to Bolton Mtn and back the following day. It doesn't look like there will be much in the way of tree colors this fall. Too dry and hot? Maybe in the valley?
Tuesday, September 26, 2017
Back in VT
It has been crazy hot since I returned from the trip out west. Not just a few days but a few weeks. High temp records have been set the last few days. A few miscellaneous pictures from 9/17 - 9/26.
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| Well this isn't VT. This is a panorama that google created from some pictures taken at Estes Park CO. Their algorithm had a little trouble but still interesting? |
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| Returning to the LaPlatte - should be able to kayak into Dec the way the weather is going. |
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| And of course another Camels Hump hike |
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| Huntington hiking |
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| Shelburne Farms |
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| Yellow Hobie about to go away. A lot of good times on that boat. |
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| Old Dock run. |
Thursday, September 14, 2017
Trip out west - Driving back
9/14:
Mammoth caves. They say there are 400 miles of passages in this cave system. They are limestone caves with a sandstone shale on top that makes them dry caves for the most part. Where there is a crack in this "roof" the cave has moisture coming in and is more interesting. You get minerals and formations. The caves were formed by water moving through them. As you get lower in the cave system you are in areas that were formed more recently. I think the higher parts of the cave were formed 3 million years ago. Don't quote me on that. There is new cave forming now at lower depths where there is still river water running through.
The tour I went on went through 4 miles of passages! Kind of strange to be walking in a cave that long. You gained and lost elevation and about 1 mile of it was "wet" so you had a lot of formations. The guide explained that you can tell a lot by looking at the erosion in the rock. You can tell which way the water was moving and how fast for example.
Above ground was mid summer and very humid. Saw lots of deer and turkeys and heard a lot of different-to-me insect sounds.
As you are taking the tour the ranger turns on lights in each section of the cave as you get to it and turns off the lights behind you. At one point in the tour the ranger turned off the lights completely for a minute. Total darkness. You keep expecting your eyes to adjust but there is no light. Interesting!
There were some strange cave spider type creatures on the walls at points.
The camera did not do well in the caves. Lots of out of focus pictures unfortunately. For these low light situations, like sunrise on Longs Peak, you just have to remember how it was.
9/15:
Niagra Falls. This is a big waterfall! Interesting area but I wish I could have seen it 100 years ago. A combination of things made this a let down to some extent. Part of it was it was the end of the trip. Part of it was that it was NY so you get that unfriendly tourist trap vibe. A big part of it was customs. I wanted to see the falls from both sides of the river which means a quick trip to Canada and back. After feeling very free for the whole trip and having no hassles I was hassled going in and out of Canada. The US customs searched the van. I had been in Canada about 30 minutes. More pain to cross over to Canada than it was worth. The other thing is that every square inch of both sides of the river is filled with some man made thing. A building, a walkway, a tour boat, etc.
It reminded me somewhat of going to the Bio-dome in Montreal. Lots of cool animals but stuffed into an area with way too many people staring at them. Niagra Falls is what used to be a cool natural area filled with people. The future of an over populated world.
Anyway with all that said there is a nice loop on an island (goat island?) that you can walk around and see the falls from a number of angles. There is also a walkway up high that goes out over the river which was pretty good. You could also go down an elevator in this building and get out to the river bank level. There are the american falls and the canadian falls. Both impressive. The canadian falls are bigger and probably more impressive but they throw off so much mist it is hard to really see them. Lots of serious rapids in the river before the falls.
9/16:
Last day. Kind of sad but I did get to drive through the Adirondacks which is always nice. It is also nice to return to VT. Wherever you go it is always nice to come back to the lakes and mountains of VT and the slower pace and low population. The leaves were already turning in some places in the Adirondacks. Speculator and towns on the west side of the Adirondack park.
I ended up driving 8100 miles in total. A lot of driving but over a month so not bad. It was good to break up the trip out and the trip back with day long stop overs in places. There were many places I would like to have stayed longer. I do feel that I spent enough time at Glacier and Rocky Mountain which were the main focus of the trip.
Mammoth caves. They say there are 400 miles of passages in this cave system. They are limestone caves with a sandstone shale on top that makes them dry caves for the most part. Where there is a crack in this "roof" the cave has moisture coming in and is more interesting. You get minerals and formations. The caves were formed by water moving through them. As you get lower in the cave system you are in areas that were formed more recently. I think the higher parts of the cave were formed 3 million years ago. Don't quote me on that. There is new cave forming now at lower depths where there is still river water running through.
The tour I went on went through 4 miles of passages! Kind of strange to be walking in a cave that long. You gained and lost elevation and about 1 mile of it was "wet" so you had a lot of formations. The guide explained that you can tell a lot by looking at the erosion in the rock. You can tell which way the water was moving and how fast for example.
Above ground was mid summer and very humid. Saw lots of deer and turkeys and heard a lot of different-to-me insect sounds.
As you are taking the tour the ranger turns on lights in each section of the cave as you get to it and turns off the lights behind you. At one point in the tour the ranger turned off the lights completely for a minute. Total darkness. You keep expecting your eyes to adjust but there is no light. Interesting!
There were some strange cave spider type creatures on the walls at points.
The camera did not do well in the caves. Lots of out of focus pictures unfortunately. For these low light situations, like sunrise on Longs Peak, you just have to remember how it was.
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| These are alive. Some kind of strange cave spider. |
9/15:
Niagra Falls. This is a big waterfall! Interesting area but I wish I could have seen it 100 years ago. A combination of things made this a let down to some extent. Part of it was it was the end of the trip. Part of it was that it was NY so you get that unfriendly tourist trap vibe. A big part of it was customs. I wanted to see the falls from both sides of the river which means a quick trip to Canada and back. After feeling very free for the whole trip and having no hassles I was hassled going in and out of Canada. The US customs searched the van. I had been in Canada about 30 minutes. More pain to cross over to Canada than it was worth. The other thing is that every square inch of both sides of the river is filled with some man made thing. A building, a walkway, a tour boat, etc.
It reminded me somewhat of going to the Bio-dome in Montreal. Lots of cool animals but stuffed into an area with way too many people staring at them. Niagra Falls is what used to be a cool natural area filled with people. The future of an over populated world.
Anyway with all that said there is a nice loop on an island (goat island?) that you can walk around and see the falls from a number of angles. There is also a walkway up high that goes out over the river which was pretty good. You could also go down an elevator in this building and get out to the river bank level. There are the american falls and the canadian falls. Both impressive. The canadian falls are bigger and probably more impressive but they throw off so much mist it is hard to really see them. Lots of serious rapids in the river before the falls.
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| And another truck stop... |
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| Foggy start to the day |
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| This sign was at the only safe place you could have gone in the river. Strange. |
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| River next to Danger sign |
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9/16:
Last day. Kind of sad but I did get to drive through the Adirondacks which is always nice. It is also nice to return to VT. Wherever you go it is always nice to come back to the lakes and mountains of VT and the slower pace and low population. The leaves were already turning in some places in the Adirondacks. Speculator and towns on the west side of the Adirondack park.
I ended up driving 8100 miles in total. A lot of driving but over a month so not bad. It was good to break up the trip out and the trip back with day long stop overs in places. There were many places I would like to have stayed longer. I do feel that I spent enough time at Glacier and Rocky Mountain which were the main focus of the trip.
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