Category: Hiking & Travel

My brother Andrew and I went to Kasaan. There is a totem pole park there – a kind of outdoor museum of native culture.
Kasaan is possibly my favorite place on the island. It being winter, the cafe and indoor visitor center was closed. But we walked among the totems, saw the old long house, and had a kind of impromptu picnic on the beach.
It was a nice day, though quite cold – I think about 36° F (2 C), and windy.
Here is Andrew on the rocky beach.

I am with Arthur in Juneau.
He came here for two medical appointments – we’d decided when planning the trip to my mom’s in Australia that it was logical to just tack on the visit to Juneau to the end of that trip.
This did not work out well. We got to see the specialist this morning, but our delayed arrival due to the problem in departing Cairns meant that the general annual VA appointment was utterly cocked up by our missed day. And there seems to be little we can do about it. Arthur is being indecisive about whether to stay longer in in Juneau to get things taken care of, or to go on home and come back to Juneau later – both involve almost exactly the same level of extra expense, and without that as a guide, it’s hard to make a decision.
Meanwhile, I decided to walk around. I’ve never visited Juneau before, despite repeated visits to Southeast Alaska.
Here are some pictures.
The State Capitol building – one of the few non-purpose-built state capitols in the US (the only one?), it’s just a repurposed old office building.

The Russian church.

A neighborhood park called Chicken Yard.

Manila Square – there are a lot of Philippine people in Southeast Alaska (which I knew – I remember my surprise at hearing Tagalog on the streets of Ketchikan), so there is, apparently, a memorial of this here.

The Korean Restaurant that is closest to my new home (bearing in mind that that still means more than 500km by boat or plane from my new home).

A view of Juneau from in front of our motel.

A little hut in a field.

We drove over to Kuranda today, to visit some of my mom’s friends.
We saw Pat, whom I’ve met during previous visits. Here is a picture of Ann, Arthur and Pat beside the Buddha in Pat’s driveway.

We met Kirsten and Emma at their “block” a little farther west. They live in a big shed and have a dam and a small reservoir on their property. And some dogs.
Here is the dog Mickey playing fetch with a ring-shaped toy, looking cute because the ring wraps around the nose.

Driving back, there was a lot of rain – sheets of rain like falling oceans.
We stopped in Ravenshoe, the closest town to where my mother’s house is, for a late lunch. Here is the Ravenshoe Town Hall.

Looking the other way, here is the Bottle Shop (Liquor Store) and Motel.

Today my brother Andrew and I took a hike. We went out into the “backyard” – which is to say, up the mountain behind my uncle’s house. There is no trail. Nothing. People don’t go up there, for the most part – except every few decades to log trees, and occasional hunters.
We just kept walking uphill. Mostly a southward bearing, leaning a bit southwestward. I used the GPS on my phone to take regular bearings, every few hundred feet. And we tied plastic ribbon on branches to mark our path, too, which was useful for finding our way back down the hill.
Here is a screenshot of the navigation app I used, with all the little pink waypoints.

I took some pictures, and so did Andrew. The hillside got snowier as we went up, but easier, too, because even deep snow is easier than the really thick underbrush of the lower slopes, and once you get into the old growth trees higher up, there is much less underbrush.

I took a long walk in the morning. I walked east up out of town.
I looked south from the top of a hill.

I saw a cold horse, who said nay.

I saw something for the horse to eat, called hay.

In the afternoon, we went to have beer with some of my uncle Alan’s friends at a craft brewery in downtown Montrose.

[daily log: walking, 8km]

We spent the day mostly just hanging out with Patti and Alan.
My two uncles, Arthur and Alan, could almost pass for twins, though they’re not.

Later, I took a long walk, in a big circle around this subdivision and another, and the fields beyond.
I saw some sheep in a field. I said, “Happy Holidays!” to the sheep. The sheep answered, “Baa [humbug].”

I took a self portrait in fresh snow. This is a mere shadow of my former self.

[daily log: walking, 7.5km]

Yesterday I went back from L.A. to Jenna and Braden’s in Indio. We didn’t depart for Montrose.
Then today, in the morning, we departed. We drove across the Mojave Desert, taking a non-interstate highway shortcut between Indio and I-15 just south of Primm, Nevada. There was snow falling in the high desert.

Later we had lunch in Las Vegas, and we drove north on I-15. It went from 50 degrees (10C) in Las Vegas to 15 degrees (-10C) where we stopped for the evening in a motel. Much colder.

[daily log: walking, 2km; driving, 750km]

This morning, my dad, my brother and I went on a hike up the Arroyo Seco canyon, which stretches up into the San Gabriel mountains above Pasadena from the NASA-JPL campus on the north western end of the city.
Here is JPL.

Here we are, setting out. A rather low-quality selfie. I’m looking pretty scraggly, these days: my new Alaskan look, I guess.

Here are some pictures from along the trail.




We hiked about 6 miles, up and back down.
Later, we met James and Leia and we had a brunch at the Red Hen Cafe, a somewhat historic location in Altadena.
In the afternoon, I walked around Pasadena some. I like Pasadena. I lived here for about half a year, in 1992. But it was my dad’s birthtown, and where my grandparents lived when I was small, so we visited here often. Here is Pasadena’s iconic city hall.

[daily log: walking, 10km] 

We left Phoenix and arrived at Jenna’s in Indio, California, around noon.
It was nice to see everyone here. This is where we will spend Christmas.
I took a picture of Arthur with a cat.

Juli and I took a walk (as we often do when we see each other) and I saw a roadrunner in park.

We walked up a hill and I took this picture of the Coachella Valley. It’s notable that the valley is below sea level.

We had a big pasta dinner with everyone who is here.

[daily log: walking, 4km; driving 400km]

We drove past many rocks, on our way from Tucumcari, New Mexico, to Phoenix, Arizona.
Here is a very traditional-looking hilltop village in western New Mexico.

Here is the Salt River Canyon, coming down an alternate route (avoiding interstate highway) from Holbrook, Arizona through Show Low and Globe to Phoenix.

[daily log: walking, 2km; driving, 900km]

A day of driving.
A picture: cows and windmill – somewhere in eastern New Mexico.

Before leaving Dean and Pam’s I took a portrait of the three of them.

[daily log: walking, 2km; driving, 900km]

“Lotsa horizon around here.” – Arthur.
We visited people today. First, extended family of Dean and Pam’s up in Crescent, Oklahoma, on a farm. We had venison chili for lunch and later Arthur and I took a walk down the road.






Then later, we had dinner with my uncle Miles, his wife, along with my cousin Niki and her family. Clockwise, you see Ella, Abby, Niki, Jeremy, Kaitlyn, me, Arthur, Miles, and Nancy.

Then we drove to Clayton, where Dean and Pam have their farm.
[daily log: walking, 4km; driving, 300km]

I have arrived safely in Oklahoma City. I’m tired.
Rather than meet with Arthur and his friends Dean and Pam at their home in Clayton, Oklahoma, they contacted me as I drove down and suggested meeting in Oklahoma City, instead. This will enable an easier meet-up with other people tomorrow – a member of their family, on one hand, and a member of Arthur’s family (my uncle Miles), on the other hand.
So I drove to OKC (as Okhahoma City is universally abbreviated) and we are at a motel here. We’ll meet up with various people tomorrow.
Here are some pictures from driving down.




[daily log: walking, 1km; driving, 1350km]

Last night, Amy made a delicious dinner (which I tried to help with, at least a little). There was a roast and potatoes.

Today, I ran a few small errands, got frustrated with my bank, and decided to take a long walk in the giant park near Mark and Amy’s house.  I took a lot of pictures.
I went east on Cliff Road to the entrance to the Lebanon Hills Regional Park. I walked down a snow-covered path.

I saw some small lakes.


I had to find my way around a stretch of closed trail. These two signs were at opposite ends of the closed part.


I saw some trees.


I saw what, in summer, is probably a grassy hillside.

I came to a clearing in the trees and saw some humble, 21st century habitations.

I love Minnesota in the winter. It is probably what I miss most about living here.
[daily log: walking, 4km]

I drove east yesterday, and it was interesting to see the increasing amounts of snow on the ground as I progressed northeastward from Denver to Minneapolis.
After crossing from Colorado to Nebraska:

After crossing from Nebraska to Iowa:

After crossing from Iowa to Minnesota:

The Blueberry Tank in Mark and Amy’s driveway this morning.

[daily log: walking, km]