Driving down the Pacific Coast....

After some time at the cabin in Idaho, we headed with the dogs over to the Pacific coast with the intention of driving down to San Francisco to catch our flight to Seoul.  We wanted to make the flight a direct one and as short as possible for the sake of the dogs.  The process for preparing to have an animal flown to a foreign country is a story all by itself and not the subject of this posting, but let's just say the whole experience seemed to give us both gray hair.

The drive down, however, was certainly memorable.  Starting with the Lewis and Clark National Park at Cape Disappointment in Washington, we headed south on Hwy 101 along the Oregon coast, catching some historical sites, such as Fort Stevens and Fort Clatsop, and some of the gorgeous beaches. Besides the beautiful scenery, what was truly nice about the Oregon coast is the liberal attitude towards dogs on the beaches.  Many US beaches today do not allow dogs at all, but Oregon does on all the beaches (as near as we could tell), and on many they could be off the leash, as long as they are under your control.  For our dogs, it was a sandy heaven.

We left ourselves enough time to explore some of northern California, focusing on the coast and the magnificent forests of Redwoods.  California was a disappointment to the dogs, however.  Most beaches did not allow dogs, nor were they allowed on the trails in the Redwood forests, meaning our tour through northern California was done largely through the windshield.

First stop was Cape Disappointment, Washington, which is part of the Lewis and Clark National and State Parks system.   The Lewis and Clark party spent some time there in the winter of 1805-06 and may be responsible for the Cape's name. 

The Cape's commanding view of the Columbia River made it ideal for coastal defenses, first established during the Civil War, as well as a light house.

We spent the night in lovely riverside Astoria, OR at the mouth of the great Columbia River. That itself was worth the treat of a waterfront room.

We also visited Fort Clatsop, where Lewis and Clark and co. spent the wet and miserable winter of 1805-1806. It has been reinvented as a "national historical park" and as such has sadly lost much of its original, i.e., historical, character. H was disappointed as it was difficult to tell what, if anything, remained of the original site. The big draw is the replica of the fort itself, which is okay as replicas go, but must replicas always come with guides dressed in tired looking period costumes?

Across the Columbia River are other Lewis and Clark sites, as well as coastal defenses dating back to the 1860s.

Coastal defenses at Fort Stevens from the Civil War.  Erected at the mouth of the Columbia River to defend against possible Confederate raiders, the fort was not completed until the waning days of the war.  Considering the minimal threat of Confederate ships attacking the Pacific Coast, the fort seemed a bit of overkill and a waste of money.  These are 15-inch Rodman rifled cannons, which were certainly not cheap.

Remake of a 200-pound Parrott rifled cannon.

Later, more modern guns, like this 155mm mounted on a disappearing gun carriage, were added.  It probably never fired a shot in anger.

The fort's only enemy "action" was in June 1942 when a Japanese submarine fired 17 rounds at the fort.  There was no damage to the fort, unless you count the backstop to the fort's baseball field.

Modern-day Fort Stevens is a park and includes an interesting museum.

The museum devotes considerable space to the Japanese fire balloon ("Fu-Go") attacks on the Pacific Northwest in 1944-45.   The Japanese launched over 9,000 of these incendiaries, but less than 300 were confirmed/seen in the US.  For additional information see:  http://www.japaneseballoonbombs.com/ or http://web.mst.edu/~rogersda/forensic_geology/Japenese%20vengenance%20bombs%20new.htm.

Lewis and Clark and old forts did not do much for the dogs, but they perked up once we hit the Oregon beaches.  I think you can actually see smiles on their faces.

Comic relief:  First time in the surf!

I am a happy boy.

While they loved the water, it was far too cold for us.

The scenery more than made up for it, however.

The Pacific Coast Redwood forests of Northern California were stunning.  Photos simply do not give these magnificent trees justice. Neither did we. By the time we reached them we were anxious about the myriad details of our upcoming move and focused on mundane issues like acceptable dog kennel sizes for international travel and how to keep dogs hydrated over long haul flights. We also did not have enough time to adequately explore these groves.

A week of hiking in Idaho and Montana

Hard to believe it is October and just a few months ago we were hiking in the wilds of northern Idaho and western Montana.  As we normally do in the summer, we spent some time out at our cabin in Idaho, although not nearly the amount we wished to spend there or on the trails.  Our plans to fly out of San Francisco for Seoul to shorten the flight for the dogs as much as possible cut into our stay, although it did give us the opportunity to drive down the coasts of Oregon and northern California (next blog).  Trail hiking opportunities were further limited by yet another late snow and heavy runoff in July.  As you will see by the photos, the roads into the trail heads and the trails were still snow-covered, and the creek crossings were sometimes tricky.  The weather too did not seem to want to cooperate.  It was sunny and close to 100 degrees all the way across the country, until we hit western Montana.  Then, the temps fell into the 60s, and it began to rain!  I am sure the folks broiling on the east coast at that time would have appreciated those temperatures.  Our days on the trail, however, were typical lovely summer days in the Inland Northwest with clear skies, temps in the 80s, and very low humidity.

There were a number of hikes we planned to do before heading off to Korea, but most were inaccessible, so we focused on those we could do and what we had time for.  None of them were long this year, and one, Rock Lake, is an old stand by we've talked about before in the blog.  Of the others, the Wigwams was spectacular while Chicago Peak is one we have been to before a number of years ago.

The trail in to Lunch Peak, Pend Oreille mountains. After a few miles of trudging through the deep snow, we gave up on this trail. 

Further down, however, the trail into Lake Darling was somewhat open (still lots of snow), and the dogs got an opportunity to do some swimming.  We also saw two moose on the trail; unfortunately, I was too slow on the camera draw to catch them on film.

Rock Lake did not disappoint.

Musashi, the Christmas puppy enjoyed the clear waters of the lake.

While you cannot tell from this photograph, there is a tremendous amount of water coming off St. Paul Pass in the distance. 

It is a beautiful place, and one of our favorites in the Cabinet Mountains.

The first creek crossing to get in, however, was a bit tricky.  A hiking party behind us turned back.

Next, we went to the Wigwams, and while the name may not exactly apply to the peaks in the distance,  the hike (through much snow) was worth the effort.  The photo does not do it justice, but what you are looking at is a spectacular headwall deep in the Selkirk Mountains, a few miles NE of Priest Lake, towering a few thousand feet above the drainage for Kent Creek.   The hike itself is only a few miles, but the road in requires a high clearance 4x4 vehicle.

Working our way up to the top with Priest Lake off in the distance.

The Seven Sisters and Chimney Rock.

The view from the top.

North towards Bonners Ferry and Canada.

The top.

Last hike of the summer...up to Chicago Peak, where the real challenge is just the drive up to the trail head.  Seven miles along a rough dirt road, with the last two requiring 4-wheel drive and a a high clearance vehicle.   This year, however, much of the last 2 miles was still covered in snow.  Made for a good hike though.

Which the dogs loved.

The trail, thankfully short.

The reward.  The flank of St Paul Peak to the left (which H climbed a few years ago) and St Paul Pass in the distance.  On the other side of the pass is Rock Lake.

Chicago Peak...so named because from a distance, it resembles a city skyline.

Happy dogs on the snowy trail.

Heading down.  Goodbye to the Cabinets for another year.