Adventure Travel Photography Blog
Today’s scenic drive on the Platte River Road led me to a variety of rock formations. Given rocks fascinate me, I was pleasantly surprised with the western portion of Nebraska. I probably drove close to 150 miles before I made my first stop. Sometimes I like that, as I can zone out and listen to music or to books on CD…Stephen King’s The Dome is the current choice. Not surprisingly, it is weird.
ON THE ROAD AGAIN!
This morning we left Grand Island and headed northwest up Highway 2 in gusting winds through corn fields and farmland to Broken Bow, so named for a broken Indian bow found nearby. The winds are so strong in this area that trees are planted along the highways as windbreaks. The Broken Bow area came to be known as the Sod House Frontier, as when settlers first moved to the nearly treeless area, they built their homes, corals, pig pens, churches and school out of sod. Today the town is
small and modernized, relatively speaking. We stopped near the courthouse to snatch a cache…Nebraska checked off the list!
Well, I intended on doing some sight seeing today before heading west to Valentine, Nebraska, but I ended up slightly challenged in Sioux City. First, I expected a city of 80,000 to have a Firestone, and I needed an oil change in the next 500 miles to keep my warranty. No Firestones here, so I had to adjust my route.
I still planned on making it to Nebraska, but my final destination for the evening changed to Grand Island with a pit stop in Omaha. Of course, this required me to travel south along the flooded Missouri River which resulted in the main Interstate (I-29) being closed in several areas and sandbagged in others…DETOUR. I wasn’t really aware of the devastation. The flooding here is very bad. While I was able to stop at one overlook in Stone State Park, the other places I tried to visit in Sioux City were under water.
ON THE ROAD AGAIN!
Well, I considered driving an extra 155 miles to Hamburg, IA last night so I could start off my day exploring Waubonsie State Park while it was slightly cool. I’m so glad I didn’t do that for two reasons.
ON THE ROAD AGAIN!
We traveled quite a few miles up the Great River Road today. Beginning the day, we took another hike in Wyalusing State Park. It was a short walk along the Bluff Trail that took us to Point View overlooking both the Wisconsin River and Mississippi River. The Mississippi River flows 2,348 miles from Lake Itasca, Minnesota to the Gulf of Mexico. 15.8 million gallons of water flow past this point on the Mississippi every minute. The Upper Mississippi (above St. Louis) has 29 dams and is home to 100 species of fish. In addition, 175 million tons of material (40% grain) is shipped on its waters annually. One barge carries 1,500 tons of material. To put that into perspective, it would take sixty semi’s to do the same.
ON THE ROAD AGAIN!
I survived another storm yesterday. It came and left within an hour yesterday afternoon, but it was ominous. Dark black clouds rolled in as the wind swirled. I was pulled off in a roadside rest area, but I’m told the wind lifted the water off the lake, creating a water spout.
This morning we cruised up the “thumb” of Wisconsin. Our first stop was Cave Point County Park where Lake Michigan’s waves splash against dolomite cliffs. During rough weather, this can be a spectacle, though today it was calm enough for locals to take a dip. I’ve heard from a handful of folks over the last week that the water is warm. It’s all relative I guess…I’m certain it is at least 10 degrees cooler than I prefer.
ON THE ROAD AGAIN!
I forgot to mention one of the greatest parts to my Minnesota morning yesterday, despite the rain…the coffee shop I found, Java Moose Espresso, sold just the muffin tops…no stumps. Any Seinfeld fan has to appreciate that! Anyway, on to my next morning, I boiled some water for coffee and instant oatmeal at the Amnicon Falls State Park campgrounds in Wisconsin. Amnicon means “Where Fish Spawn” and the Amnicon River is an important spawning river for fish from Lake Superior.
ON THE ROAD AGAIN!
I survived a wicked thunderstorm last night. Thunder roared as lightning flashed and rain washed VANilla for over two hours. VANilla is a closer shade of white now that the red Utah clay has been washed away. I had planned to complete several short hikes this morning in the south end of the Theodore Roosevelt National Park, but after 2 inches of mud caked to my trail shoes over a hundred yard walk to the bathroom in the campground and knowing the forecast called for out of the ordinary 97 degree temperatures, I thought better of it.
ON THE ROAD AGAIN!
For a rainy day spent mostly in VANilla, I couldn’t have wished for anything better. There had been reports of a mama grizzly bear with two cubs roaming around the Jackson Lake Lodge area. On our way to our hike yesterday, a handful of cars and rangers were camped out alongside the road, so this morning around 7:45 I ventured to the same general area along with several others. I was willing to wait up to an hour, but much to my pleasant surprise, I only had to wait about five minutes. During the next 15 minutes, I think I took 83 shots. Every now and then, I just set the camera down and watched both the bears and the spectacle of photographers.
ON THE ROAD AGAIN!
Another lovely day in Grand Teton National Park! We beat the crowds to the Spring Lake Trailhead which we followed through burned forest, ferns, around a lake, and up Cascade Creek to Hidden Falls. The falls were ferocious, splashing down the rocks and spraying us from fifty yards away. With the shade and the spray, there had to be a twenty degree temperature difference from the direct sun.
ON THE ROAD AGAIN!