North to South

Let me start this thing again. I want it warmed up, because pretty soon I'll be in South America, and hopefully I'll be posting pictures along the way. Since the last post, I've missed a few trips that would have been worth an entry. I'll start bringing this up to date, including pictures to keep this entertaining.

But let's start with a small prologue for my South American trip. SA is one of the most unfamiliar places in the world to me, and after seeing pictures like this (which I stole online somewhere)

I decided it's where I need to go. I consider this my walkabout, or my vision quest. While I don't know much about either of those, I'm hardly bothered to look - because what I think they share is something instinctual. Although individually they may be ritualistic (I think, remember I haven't looked into any of this), there is a natural inclination to search for unfamiliarity, overcome the unknown, and return wiser... or something like that. I can't say my path is an untrodden path, but for myself, traveling solo and without knowing the language, I'll be out of my comfort zone - and like my Indian and Aborigine counterparts, that's what I want.

That's the teaser for the next round of postings to adorn this blog. Until then, enjoy a quick recap from some past outings:

I view this blog as post graduation chronicle, so here's something from shortly after August. For a short stint I was hired to work on a reclamation project in the Oil Sands region of Alberta, Canada. At my request it got turned into a road trip. On the way up, we managed to make time for a couple days of hiking in Theodore Roosevelt National Park, North Dakota. National Parks don't disappoint, and this place was great. 

The park protects an area of badlands, which are a desolate type of terrain, but which are strikingly beautiful.

We saw bison, elk, and a rattlesnake.

I was walking behind Josh (the post doc researcher on the trip with me), when the snake darted right between us - just a few feet in front of me. It made the next couple hours walking through knee high grass a little unsettling.

After a day's hike we camped upon a little knoll.

After figuring out where we were the next day, we hiked out, and continued our drive to the border. Montana is probably more desolate than the Badlands, actually. Without warning the highway turned to dirt, and then back again twenty miles later. Once at the border, things were still a little rough. It took five hours and several phone calls to higher tiers of the Canadian government before we, referred to as "the science guys," officially became Canadian immigrant workers and were allowed to enter the country through Saskatchewan.

I've always wanted to see northern Canada, and I think this counted. I couldn't take any pictures on the mine site, but this picture sums up the rest of what I saw.

Family and the Zoo

After the Olympics, I was to be dropped off at a distant cousin's house back by the Sound. So on our way out of the park I got a free shower at the park's hot springs resort and put on a clean change of clothes. With some time to kill we explored the Dungeness Recreation Area, containing a five mile "spit" into the Juan de Fuca Strait. 

The Spit.

The sliver of land was pretty cool, actually, with large driftwood and some sea monsters.

It was around dinner time when I arrived at my cousin's. Despite having never met them, her and her husband were absolutely great to me, being genuinely welcoming, kind, and fun to visit. It was a good time getting to know them, sharing stories, eating delicious food, etc.

The next day, after coffee and a good breakfast, I was given a tour of their village before being kindly driven down to Tacoma where I was to meet another friend.

Tacoma has, as I was told, the second largest city park in the U.S., behind only Central Park. Besides containing the Tacoma Zoo, Point Defiance Park contains gardens, forested trails, ocean boardwalks, and beaches. The friend I was visiting worked at said zoo, so after wandering around for a while, I met her there.

Japanese garden within the park.

I have mixed feelings about zoos, but the joy of seeing exotic animals is always accompanied by at least a bit of sadness, if not aggravation, from the zoo environment. Nonetheless, I got the inside scoop on zoo protocols and management thanks to my friend who has spent many years working within the volatile zoo industry.

But with business aside, here is a tiger.

And a really cool tree.

Olympic National Park

Out on Washington's Olympic Peninsula you'll find Olympic National Park. The park covers over 900,000 acres, containing rainforest, Pacific coastline, glaciers, mountains, deep valleys, and big rivers. The itinerary of this four day trip was hiking until we reached the Bailey Range.

After hiking through some big forests, we came across an elk. He paid no attention to us as we skirted around.

On day two, we could look Mount Olympus straight in the eye.  

The trek was a bit exposed.

And then it became a tad bit more exposed as we crossed the Catwalk.

 But there we were, on the Bailey Range, looking at it curve around the valley below.

And the Hoh River Valley is like no valley I've ever seen.

So we took a rest and soaked it in. I hung my flag.

It is Washington, so waterfalls were never far away.

Here were the accommodations.

There are a lot of things to take pictures of in this park. Including this deer, 

and a bunch of mushrooms.

Forestry in the Pacific Northwest

What's it like being a forester in the Pacific Northwest? After one day of job shadowing, this is how it appears. First, there'd be something pleasant about spending each day in these forests. 

Fewer work environments smell as fresh, feel as natural, or look so clean - even if these forests are far from virgin. These stands were intensively logged 70 or so years ago.

And they are still being intensively logged. Stands are clearcut here, and that's about it.

It would be unrewarding for me to lay out timber sales and see the trees cut. However, apart from forest road construction, I would argue forestry is less intrusive and detrimental than other industry and development. Nonetheless, like with intensive management of any crop, there are negative externalities that are undervalued or ignored. 

A forester's job includes laying out the harvest area and building roads. But most of their work probably goes into marking which trees aren't to be cut. A certain number of trees are to be left per area, in addition to stream buffers and wildlife habitat the forester deems valuable.

It's too difficult to discuss the merits and moral philosophy of current forestry operations here. But foresters who are environmentally conscious could certainly help balance the industry. And for me, it was neat to see and learn more about how we mange our resources.

Mount Dickerman

I followed the Mountain Loop highway into the Cascades for another solo day hike. I didn't see another soul all day. Just large trees down low.

Small trees up high.

And up very high, the trees were snowy.

Up very very high, there were no trees.

This also happens to be the extent of my tree knowledge.

From the top I had a nice view, with the peak I stood on having a sharp drop of a thousand or so feet. A couple thousand feet below, off in the distance, I could see several of these streaming waterfalls.

Before this trip I hadn't realized how mountainous the Cascades were. It's a nice place to be.

Eastern WA and Oktoberfest

Following Mt. Baker, we drove back via the Cascades Scenic Byway. It went through the heart of the northern Cascades.

Straight into the eastern rain shadow.

We found a state park along the highway with accessible rock climbing.

So we brought the rope back out.

 Eventually, we continued on to Leavenworth, a town modeled on a Bavarian village, for Oktoberfest.

It was the closest I've been to Germany.

Or at least what I imagine Germany to be like.

Mount Baker

It's been called Koma Kulshan, Tukullum, La Gran Montaña del Carmelo, and Mount Baker. After Mt. Rainier, it's the most glaciated peak in Washington.

I was happy to be in the high country.

In the morning we roped up, and climbing commenced.

We walked a snaking path, avoiding crevasses like these.

And into the mountain maze we entered.

Visibility stretched for over a hundred miles, with Mt. Rainier and the Puget Sound in view.

Here I am, pausing in front of a large ice fall. 

Plus, "the prettiest marmot on Baker"