Less than a week!

I am excited, to say the least. This weekend I am finalizing my packing, making sure bills are paid, details taken care of. I will work the first of the week, Mo will arrive Wednesday from Oregon, and we leave for San Francisco on Thursday evening so we can be ready for our 6am flight to Chicago, and then on to Istanbul by way of Frankfurt. We are traveling with Go-Ahead Tours, a first for us, since past international travels have been mostly with Grand Circle. It’s a chance to compare. I am taking the laptop, and plan to write daily and upload photos as well. My last two international trips were journaled sporadically with pen and paper, so hopefully this time I will actually keep better track of everything. This trip has a fairly ambitious schedule, so it might be even more important to keep good track of things since it really can all run together after a few days.

Day 1 Nov 21- Istanbul
Board an overnight flight to Turkey from San Francisco via Chicago and Frankfurt.
Day 2 Nov 22 – Istanbul
Land in Istanbul, the ancient capital of civilization known previously as Byzantium and Constantinople.
Day 3 Nov 23 – Istanbul
On a guided tour of Istanbul, visit 15th-century Topkapi Palace, home of Ottoman sultans; the ancient Byzantine church of Hagia Sophia, illuminated by 30 million gold mosaic tiles; and the stunning Blue Mosque. Pass by the Hippodrome, an elaborate stadium once the site of ancient chariot races.
Day 4 Nov 24 – Istanbul
Free time to explore Istanbul. Plan to visit the Museum of Ancient Civilizations. Possibly join an optional morning cruise among the Bosphorus Straits, the ancient waterway that connects Europe and Asia. View Ottoman palaces and medieval castles during this half-day cruise along the Bosphorus Straits, which separates Europe and Asia.
Day 5 Nov 25 – Canakkale
Stop for a guided tour of Bursa, the first capital of the Ottoman empire. Continue to Canakkale, a town coveted in centuries past for its strategic location.
Day 6 Nov 26 – Kusadasi
A local guide leads a tour of Troy, where Homer’s Iliad comes to life. Tour the ruins, where experts have identified the relics of nine civilizations dating back 5,000 years. Then follow the Aegean coast to Pergamon, visit the ancient Greek Acropolis. Continue on to seaside Kusadasi.
Day 7 Nov 27 – Kusadasi
Visit Ephesus, one of the Mediterranean’s best-preserved classical cities. View the Library of Celsus, the Temple of Hadrian and the house where Mary is said to have spent her final days. This afternoon, opt for a journey to the village of Sirince for a firsthand look at Turkish rural life. The peaceful village of Sirince lies in the hills outside of Ephesus. On a walking tour led by tour director, stroll past some of the country’s best-preserved 19th-century architecture.
Day 8  Nov 28 – Pamukkale
Stop today at the ruins of Miletus. Next, visit Didyma’s Temple of Apollo.
Day 9 Nov 29 – Pamukkale
Take a guided tour of Pamukkale’s travertines, a cascade of snowy white calcium terraces formed from hot springs. The tour includes the ruins of Hierapolis, the Roman spa city built around Pamukkale’s calcium rich waters. In the afternoon, opt for an excursion to Aphrodisias, the best-preserved Hellenistic site in all of Turkey, dating back to at least the 1st century B.C. The site includes a temple dedicated to Aphrodite. In Aphrodisias, explore the city that honored Aphrodite, goddess of love. Ancient sculptures made of glowing marble date back to the late 1st century B.C. in this beautiful getaway.
Day 10 Nov 30 – Antalya
Cross the Kale River Delta to Demre. Visit the 4th-century Church of St. Nicholas. Continue to the ruins of Phaselis, an ancient Lycian city. Later reach Antalya, ancient retreat of Antony and Cleopatra.
Day 11 Dec 1 – Antalya
View the Old Town and visit the archaeological museum and Hadrian’s Gate. Later, a trip to Aspendos and Perge. Perge was settled for new Greek colonists and prospered under Alexander the Great. The ancient remains of the city include the Great Theatre, Hellenistic Gates Roman bath houses and a magnificent stadium.
Day 12 Dec 2 – Cappadocia
Stop in Konya. Visit the Mevlana Museum. Continue to Cappadocia. This evening, an optional excursion to see a Whirling Dervishes performance. The Muslim sect known as the Whirling Dervishes was founded in the 13th century by Mevlana Celeldin Rumi. Learn about this fascinating sect and its modern-day practitioners during this special cultural performance of dance, music and tradition.
Day 13 Dec 3 – Cappadocia
Tour the rock churches of Göreme and visit the towns of Pasabag and Avanos. This evening, attend a traditional Turkish Folklore Evening. Taste Turkish wine, snacks and beer at this authentic Cappadocian restaurant, carved out of sheer rock.
Day 14 Dec 4 – Istanbul
Enjoy a free day in Cappadocia or opt to visit the Eskigimus Monastery. After an included dinner this evening, board your return flight to Istanbul, where you’ll spend your last night in Turkey.
Day 15 Dec 5 – Istanbul
Depart for home .

Sequoia National Park

http://picasaweb.google.com/kyotesue/Sequoia#

We woke up in Kings Canyon to a very cold morning, but the sunny skies were encouraging after all the predicted rain and snow for the Sierra’s this weekend. We arrived at the boundary of Sequoia National Park in the early afternoon after driving some seriously rough roads throughout the national forest, the national monument, and the national park. Sequoia doesn’t lend itself well to much in the way of sightseeing aside from the major grove that is home to the General Sherman Tree and what is called Giant Grove.


There were several roads that were limited to us because of our length over 22 feet, but we still had time to walk the major groves, see the really big trees, and find a place to camp at the open campground called Lodgepole. It was still cold enough that we needed hats and gloves for hiking, and the warmth of our furnace was really welcome after we got set up for evening.

The campground at Lodgepole is extensive, more so than we realized at first, and there are loops that are by the river, and other loops that say “no generators”, and many delightful places to camp among the granite boulders. Lodgepole has a market and a visitor center that is open year round, although I wouldn’t particularly like driving those rough curvy roads in winter, even if they are plowed!

The store provided a nice bottle of wine and the heater made for a lovely afternoon nap in the sunlight streaming in through the window, and we didn’t need much else to be perfectly content.


The little coyote (photos at the Picassa link) was our camp mascot, trotting into the camp as we set up, and lying down to see if we were going to leave anything around for him. We saw him several times during our stay, always alone. He really liked Abby, so we kept a close lead on her while he let out playful little growls in his throat, and finally couldn’t help himself and he howled. In spite of his early visit, we never heard coyotes in the night, but Mo was careful to keep Abby on the leash when she went out. After a great bbq supper we went for a little hike in the twilight and found the trail for tomorrow, came back to camp and started the generator and watched a movie. Especially nice because there wasn’t anyone in the campground close enough to be bothered by it. Relaxing!

The next morning dawned bright and clear and just a bit warmer after only 28 degrees for the low and we decided that the hike was doable, gloves and hats of course. The hike was lovely, about 3.5 miles round trip and never steep enough to be a problem in spite of the 7200 foot elevation. The rock cascade was dry, with just a trickle of water that was mostly frozen, but it was still nice being there, and you could imagine just how magnificent those falls would be in the spring. Returning to camp we were entertained by a couple of trout playing in the shallows of the crystal clear river under the bridge.

We packed up the rig by noon and headed down the long slide of HWY 180 to the flat valley below, filled with smoke and smog and traffic. I would love to figure out a way to enjoy California without having to cross that valley! As mentioned in the Kings Canyon post, we were really glad that we did this trip this way, since we might not make it this far into this part of California again.

Kings Canyon

http://picasaweb.google.com/kyotesue/KingsCanyon#

Yes, I know the plans were to go to the Bristlecone Pine Forest on the eastern edge of California. One more time, Mother Nature had other plans. There were rumors in the air of bad weather, and sure enough on our expected travel day, we woke to snow falling in the High Sierra and closed passes. Even if we could have made it across HWY 50, the only pass open across the mountains, we would have run into more than 100 miles of 3 inch snow depths on HWY 395 traveling through the Mammoth area. No wayaround it, we had to come up with some other plans for our last trip out this year.

Before we left, the only requirement I had was that we not travel again across the wide, flat, and very boring Central Valley. We decided on a destination that was quite a way down on our to-do list, but was at least accessible, even if cold weather was predicted. With the days of tent camping behind us, cold was do-able. So we headed for the west side of the Sierras instead of the east side as originally planned, and set our sights on Sequoia National Park.

No matter where you travel in this state, however, it’s impossible to avoid the central valley, and we found ourselves headed south on HWY99 one more time into the smog and flatness of Fresno. Once out of town, east on HWY180, we again approached the Sierra Nevada. Only here, very different from my home near Jamestown, the mountains rise very abruptly from the valley floor. HWY 180 is a long steep road climbing 1000 feet every couple of miles until you reach the Kings Canyon National Park entrance at nearly 7000 feet. We were glad we had decided against towing the baby car, also glad that our 26 feet wasn’t any more than that. In fact, at 26 feet, we were too long for several of the national park roads that have a 22 foot limit.

The brochure for these two parks suggests that if you are towing a car with your rig, you should leave the rig and explore by car. The only problem with this plan is that most of the park is only accessible on foot, and what you can see by car isn’t exactly spectacular. The exception to this is the long downhill winding road into Kings Canyon. I would hate to have to drive down that road, and then turn around and drive back out the same day because I didn’t have my home with me. I was also very glad again for the tow-haul on the MoHo that helped with the constant downshifting as we traveled into this wild deep canyon that John Muir compared in all respects to Yosemite.

At the upper limit of the park boundary, however, is a section in the sequoia belt that had some groves of the huge trees, and the General Grant Tree. We stopped to hike the interpretive trails and wonder at these amazing living things before we continued on to our explorations of the park. The ranger was helpful, assuring us that our rig could handle the downhill road into the campgrounds on the Kings River, but also assuring us that we definitely should NOT attempt to go travel on the southern route out of Sequoia to Three Rivers on HWY 198. The maps said, “over 22 feet not advised” not prohibited, but that was a decision for another day.

The trip down the Kings Canyon was a bit obscured that first day by all the clouds in the mountains, and rain and snow falling at varying elevations. The temperature at the top was 37 degrees, and when we reached our campground at 4500 feet or so, it was still in the low 40’s. The night only dropped to 28 degrees at that campground, so again we were happy that we had decided to camp in Kings rather than in Sequoia at a higher elevation where the temperatures dropped to 12 degrees. F. Ahh, camping in October.

Our campground was one of two open on the Kings River, the Sentinal Campground, and when we arrived in mid afternoon was very nearly empty. A couple of people trickled in throughout the evening, and a surprising number of campers were in tents. I didn’t envy them as I watched them curled up in sleeping bags and woolen hats trying to enjoy their campfire, and sometimes there was a funny image of a person huddled over a sterno stove with their partner huddled in the passenger seat of their truck trying to read a book. Cold camping. ugh. We didn’t even opt for a campfire, and instead cooked warm soup and enjoyed the view from our warm cozy home.

The next morning dawned bright and sunny once the sun actually made it over the high mountains, and we traveled further into the park to road’s end and a short hike to the Roaring River Falls before we traveled up that long pull out of the canyon on the way to the next day’s adventures in Sequoia.

We were happy in a way to have been thwarted on our east side Sierra trip, because both of us knew that we might not ever come back in this particular direction and so might not make the effort to see these parks. We also both know that no matter where we live, the eastern Sierra is always calling us, and sooner or later we will find Laurie and Odel’s boondock paradise in the Alabama Hills, and see the Bristlecone Pine Forest. But probably not in October!

East Lake in the Newberry Caldera

I was really excited about finally getting to Waldo Lake this year but it wasn’t to be. Mo and I were there in 2004 and the lake has called to me since then. Oregon was catching up with California this weekend and lightning strikes caused fires in the Cascades that closed almost every highway crossing the mountains last weekend, including our route to Waldo Lake.

When Mo and I left Rocky Point on Thursday morning, we already knew that HWY 58 was closed so we decided to go up to the Newberry Caldera just east of LaPine.
The area is a fascinating view into recent geologic events on the east side of the Cascades with two lovely lakes and some nice campgrounds. Here is the link to the Cascades Volcano Observatory USGS website for the Newberry Caldera.
http://vulcan.wr.usgs.gov/Volcanoes/Newberry/Locale/framework.html

This change in plans worked just fine for Mo’s brother Roger and his wife Nancy, who planned to visit us for some kayaking and campfire time, since they live on the east side of the mountains anyway. Didn’t work so well for my daughter Deb from Portland who had planned to meet us Saturday night at Waldo. Ah well, maybe next time.

When we first left Rocky Point, the smoke was visible over the mountains, covering what we knew to be the Crater Lake caldera rim and billowing high and white like big cumulus clouds very much too close to home for comfort. By the time we reached East Lake, however, the skies were clear and lovely. The campground is first come first serve, and there are about 7 sites right on the water. Lucky for us, number 14 at the end of the front row had been recently vacated so we managed to get on the water even though the other sites were full. Site 14 is what they call a “premium” site and with our Golden Age Pass was only $7 per night, (half the regular 14. fee).

This particular site was actually used as a full hookup site for the camp host during the season, and we still had fresh water piped right to the site, although the power connections were locked up. We also actually had a solid asphalt pad. Not bad for a forest service campground in the mountains! Once camp was ready, I took off for a twilight glide across the lake. The water was reflective, glassy, and totally still except for the jumping trout. I have never experienced this kind of jumping fish all around me. I actually thought that I would eventually get some fish in my boat, and had more than a few jump into the air within arm’s distance. Amazing. Later we learned that the fishermen were having good luck that night with 16 inch trout jumping onto hooks using super bait. The next day wasn’t quite so good for the fishermen, but we still watched nice sized eating trout being caught both from boats and from chairs along the shore.

Friday morning I went for another paddle while Mo waited for her brother to show up and when they arrived, we sent them off with the kayaks while we watched the dogs. It was Nancy’s first time in a kayak, and like most people, she discovered that it wasn’t the least bit intimidating. Our boats are really stable and have a nice wide cockpit, which still doesn’t let anyone look particularly graceful trying to get in and out, but once you are in, it’s a piece of cake!

The weather cooperated, and after a nice ride, we all settled in for some hiking along the beach collecting pumice cobbles, and then a campfire and a planked salmon supper cooked on the grill. yum! It was nice spending some camping time with family, and nice that they only had less than an hour to get back home. It was also encouraging to hear that they had driven through thick smoke almost the entire trip up the hill and we were just out of it. I had an entire weekend with no smoke and no heat. A good thing!!

Saturday was cool, foggy and rainy most of the day, so after a good bacon and potato breakfast we spent most of the day relaxing and reading in the MoHo. I say “bacon and potato” because neither of us remembered to bring the eggs! I also created some entertainment for the two of us by trying to wind a large skein of ribbon yarn that kept us occupied for more than an hour at least. Good thing Mo is more patient than I am at that kind of thing. Finally, later in the afternoon, the weather cooperated a bit and we had time to hike the trail to the hot springs. Of course, at the time, I didn’t know the springs were there, and kept wondering where the strange poopy smell was coming from! When we did finally find them, they were a bit of a anti-climax, since the actual spring was only a few feet across and less than a foot deep of somewhat murky, barely lukewarm water. I was cold from the windy hike, and had been having visions of dropping my feet into a hot pool. Not this one. We even skipped our fancy supper, opting instead for some warm chicken soup and a half tuna sandwich by the damp fire. I had planned to relax on this trip, but maybe not quite this much.

Sunday morning opened to a cold foggy morning, but we decided to go out on the lake anyway since it looked so still and lovely, and the previous day the winds had come up before noon. It was a good plan, since by Saturday afternoon the rains started. We circled the entire lake, checking out the springs from the water side, and enjoying the views during the few moments when the clouds cleared a bit and we could see Paulina Peak above the caldera. I made potato salad and Mo grilled burgers for us for a great evening supper watching the rain come on the lake and being very grateful for our warm MoHo.

Sunday night was cold, with the temperature dropping to just a hair above the freezing level. We were also grateful for propane and a furnace that night, and slept all warm and cozy. Our optimism regarding the dawning of a sunny day wasn’t rewarded, though, and after a quick breakfast, and a look at the very low propane levels, we though we might as well head home. Four days without hookups is easy, except the propane hadn’t been completely filled for a few trips, and with the temperatures in the high 30’s we really didn’t want to hang around. Geez, you couldn’t even warm a cup of tea if the propane ran out!

By the time we got back down the hill to LaPine, the clouds were clearing and by the time we reached the HWY 138 intersection with HWY 97 the skies were completely clear and off came the heavy sweatshirts. Heavy smoke from the Lonesome Complex fire filled the upper ends of the Wood River Valley, and was especially thick along HWY 97 north of Chiloquin. Even though the fire is very close to the Wood River Valley on the crest of the Cascades, the smoke stayed north and wasn’t too bad right around Rocky Point, even though you could see it all across the valley down to Klamath. A very smoky summer indeed, first California and then Oregon. As I drove back home, through more leftover smoke from the months long fires in the Klamath Forest of northern California, I sighed and wished for winter rains to come here as well. By the time I got back to Jamestown, the car temperature reading was in the low 90’s. Still. But I had a break, a cool, damp, fresh, clear break from it all and am ready now to “dig in” (yeah, it’s soils stuff) for another couple of weeks before the next camping trip into some clear cold mountains on the east side of the Sierras.
Here is a link to the rest of the photos.
http://picasaweb.google.com/kyotesue/CampingAtEastLake#

Coming Soon – Waldo Lake

It’s over 100 in the shade today here in Jamestown. I have been indoors all weekend, knitting, among other small pursuits. It’s that in between time, where work and heat dominate life and dreams of the next adventure keep me sane. Waldo Lake is waiting for us in the high Cascades. Cool. Pristine. Ahhhhh.