One Park, One Museum, One Stamp at a Time
A Beautiful DetourAfter spending a few days on Orcas Island in Washington state, my wife and I headed south for the next portion of our big summer road trip. We had a wedding to attend in Southern California at the end of the week and planned to spend a few days driving south. On our ferry ride off of Orcas, we spent some time looking at an Oregon map and deciding where we wanted to camp out for the night. We decided on Oregon Highway 138 as our destination, this scenic byway runs along the North Umpqua River and features numerous National Forest campgrounds. We pulled into the Eagle Rock Campground just as darkness was beginning to set in. We enjoyed a campfire before calling it a night. In the morning we set off for Crater Lake National Park; highway 138 connects to the park's north entrance. We had a long drive ahead of us so we did not spend a tremendous amount of time in the park but we were very pleased with the decision to detour to Crater Lake. June is still fairly early in the season at Crater Lake so many of the trails were still snowed in and the boat was not yet running. These facts helped ease our minds at how little time we were going to spend in the park. We stopped at a few view points over the lake and got some great pictures from different angles. We were hoping to hike The Watchman trail but it is still closed with snow. We made our way to Rim Village and walked along the path along the rim for awhile and took in as much of the crystal blue water our time crunch could allow. I had visited Crater Lake as a child as was glad that my memory was not exaggerated, Crater Lake was just as beautiful as I had hoped. New Units Visited: 1
Crater Lake NP Total Affiliated Areas This Year: 11 Total Units: 39
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Orcas Island GetawayI finished my school year on Friday, June 14, and immediately set off on vacation. My wife and I are planning on spending the next 6 weeks or so traveling around the western US. Our first stop was 4 nights on Orcas Island with some college friends. Orcas Island is the largest of Washington state's San Juan Islands located in the Salish Sea northwest of Seattle. We caught the 10 pm ferry to the island Friday night and settled into our rental home for the next few days. Orcas Island is a "U" shaped island with a sound making its way up the middle of the island separating the two larger sides of the island. The island is mostly wooded with a couple of small mountains as well as some agricultural areas. The one main town area, Eastsound is located along a crescent beach at the top of the sound that splits the island. Our rental home overlooked the Salish Sea just outside of town. A few highlights of our stay include the fun little town of Eastsound, Moran State Park, and Buck Bay Shellfish Farm. We wandered through Eastsound while they were hosting a farmer's market with live music. This event helped create a festive atmosphere that carried throughout the small town. We visited the Orcas Island Museum which told the story of life on the island through six themed rooms that were each housed in an original homesteader cabin that were rebuilt to form the museum. We also had a great time at Island Hoppin' Brewery; where we enjoyed some awesome beer and learned all about the island tradition of electing a pet as mayor to raise funds for charity. Moran State Park makes up a large portion of the eastern side of the island and is home to Mt. Constitution. The park is the 2nd largest state park in Washington and looked like an amazing place to go camping and hiking. We, unfortunately, did not have the time to do much camping but did take in the outstanding views from the top of Mt. Constitution, which you can drive right to the top of and avoid too much of a climb. Buck Bay Shellfish Farm was a little south of Moran State Park and was located just off the sound. Here you can enjoy calms, oysters, and crab fresh from the Salish Sea. The seating is all picnic table and there are a number chickens roaming the area. The crab was great and the setting made for a perfect afternoon picnic. San Juan Island National Historical ParkWe took a day trip on the inter-island ferry from Orcas Island to San Juan Island to visit the San Juan Island National Historical Park and Lime Kiln Point. San Juan Island NHP is made up of two camps, American and English, set up on opposite ends of the island. They represent remnants of an interesting moment in US history. The Treaty of Oregon was signed in 1846 and established the boundary between the two nations on the 49th parallel. The language of the treaty was vague when describing the border in the Pacific Northwest. The term "strait" was used but was not specific as to which body of water would specifically be the border. The San Juan Islands were located between the two straits in question and each nation claimed the islands. The English and Americans each set up military camps on opposite ends of San Juan Island. The two armies existed in peace for a number of years until an American settler shot and killed a pig from the English company's camp. The English wanted to arrest the farmer and tensions quickly rose and war seemed immanent. Cooler heads prevailed in the long run and war was averted and the British eventually pulled out of the islands and gave up their claim. The Pig War lasts as an interesting footnote in American history and is remembered in the modern park today. We started our day by heading south from the ferry terminal in Friday Harbor, the fun main town on the island, along the San Juan Islands Scenic Byway toward the American Camp. Here we all got out and explored the short trail through the park and took in the sights that greeted American soldiers in the mid 1800s. The camp is mostly wind swept tall grass as only a couple of buildings remain from the camp along with the parade grounds. I succeed in introducing my friends that were traveling with us to the NPS passport program and they all bought themselves a passport when they saw me picking up my stamps. From the American Camp, we headed up the coast to Lime Kiln Point State Park which is know for being a great whale watching location. We spent some time taking in the amazing views of the sea and Vancouver Island (my cell phone told me I was in Canada) while looking for whales. We were not lucky enough to catch a glimpse of any sea life on our stop but I did enjoy the view. Next we made our way to the English Camp on the northern portion of the island. The English Camp was a stark contrast to the American Camp. The American Camp was a desolate frontier post with few tress and little of anything else. American soldiers often complained about their posting on the island. The English Camp was a beautiful grassy area in a valley along an inlet surrounded by trees. The camp had a beautiful little garden area and a few historic buildings still remain today. The English soldiers enjoyed their time on the island and were actually upset when the British pulled them out when surrendering the island. San Juan Island NHP is a fun quick stop if you ever make your way to the San Juans. You can take in each camp in a short period of time and still enjoy some of the islands other locales. We had time to wander around Friday Harbor and grab a beer at San Juan Island Brewing Company before catching the last ferry back to Orcas. New Units Visited: 2
San Juan Island NHP, Pacific Northwest NST* Total Affiliated Areas This Year: 10 Total Units: 39 The Mountains Are CallingThis summer, my wife and I are embarking on an extended National Parks adventure through the southwest and Utah. We built a simple camper in the bed of my truck and wanted to test out our rig before taking off for a month long journey. We decided the only appropriate way to christen the new camper shell was at a National Park. The North Cascades complex comprises of three NPS units, North Cascades NP, Ross Lake National Recreation Area, and Lake Chelan NRA. The route into North Cascades is an epic road trip along Highway 20, the North Cascades Scenic Byway. The drive is scenic and wooded from either direction, but I was blown away by the approach from the east. We headed into the park from that direction which allowed us to take in some impressive views in the Okanogan National Forest, including the awe-inspiring Washington Pass. The park land along Highway 20 is technically the Ross Lake NRA, not North Cascades, since the hydroelectric project along the Skagit River is the major supplier of energy for Seattle and National Parks typically do not support that type of land use within park boundaries. North Cascades NP is made up of two units north and south of Lake Ross NRA and Highway 20. The majority of North Cascades can only be reached by hiking in or a seasonal unpaved road. North Cascades is a truly wild and untouched area of the beautiful Northwest that is being preserved for generations of outdoor enthusiasts. Lake Chelan NRA is made up of the area around Lake Chelan southeast of North Cascades. We set off after work on a Friday and ventured into the mountains and toward North Cascades National Park. The drive from our home in Spokane is about 4.5 hours so we decided to stay the night in the Winthrop, WA area. Winthrop is an awesome Wild West themed town nestled in the Methow River Valley and in the foothills of the mountains. Winthrop was founded in the 1800s and exists today mostly as a tourist destination and starting point for adventures into the National Parks and Forests that neighbor the town. We stopped for dinner at Three Fingered Jack's Saloon, the oldest legal saloon in the state of Washington. The food was good and the atmosphere was fun. If we were staying in town itself, we might have stuck around for a game of pool and a few drinks. From there we made our way down the block to Old Schoolhouse Brewery. The brewery is in an old schoolhouse overlooking the Methow River. They offered food, which looked pretty good, and had an amazing outdoor seating area along the river where live music was being played. I love to visit craft breweries wherever I travel and enjoyed the setting of this spot. The beer was solid but the atmosphere was great. After our visit to Winthrop, we made our way into the nearby National Forest to camp for the night. Mountain Peaks and Turquoise LakesOn the way into the park from the east along Highway 20 you will find Washington Pass. We stopped at the overlooked and were greeted with one of the most breathtaking views I have ever seen. The rugged peaks of the North Cascades seem to reach right out at you as the highway winds its way through the mountains. We had planned on trying to hike the Maple Pass Loop, found on National Forest land shortly before the National Park. I knew there would be snow on the trail but thought it was worth a shot since I had heard amazing things about the trail. It was a bad sign for us, however, when the trailhead parking lot was impassable due to snow. We parked along the road and gave it a shot anyways. I could see that the trail must be beautiful, but the snow made things too difficult for us and we turned back after reaching a clearing with some nice mountain views about 1.5 miles in to the hike. We spent the rest of the day driving around North Cascades National Park collecting passport stamps and getting a lay of the land. We spent two nights at the Gorge Lake Campground within the National Park. This is a small campground with only 8 sites is located directly along Gorge Lake. After exploring the area around our campsite, we made out way to Diablo Lake. The scenic viewpoint above Diable Lake is one of the most famous spots in the park and is a must stop. The turquoise waters are an intense shade of blue and are quite unique. We spent some time exploring the campground near the lake, a much larger campground than our own, and then I spent some time kayaking on the lake. We spent our final day in North Cascades doing some hiking and exploring. We started out in the tiny outpost of Newhalem. This community was formed to house workers of Seattle City Light that work as park of the Skagit River Hydroelectric Project. The first dam was constructed in 1921 and there are now three dams along the Skagit River within the Ross Lake NRA. The town has a general store and a visitor center as well as a couple of short trails. We walked the Ladder Creek Falls trail and it was my favorite stop of our trip. The falls are located just behind the power plant for Gorge Dam in Newhalem. You climb up an easy trail into a lush forest and get amazing views of Ladder Creek Falls. There is a light show that is performed on the falls at night but we did not return to see the show. After exploring the falls, you can stop into the powerhouse gallery and get an up close view of the hydroelectric power process. After Ladder Creek Falls, we headed back to Diablo Lake to hike the Thunder Knob Trail. This trail is 3.6 miles and is moderately easy. You climb up about 400 feet to a couple of great view points, one of the mountains and the other of the lake. It was a nice hike and a great way to wrap up our trip. We made our way back to camp to relax for the night and get an early start in the morning. We wrapped up our long weekend by driving to Chelan, the town on the southern shores of Lake Chelan. We visited the ranger station there and spent some time walking around the town. We enjoyed a barbecue lunch at a brewery downtown and then began our long drive home. Chelan looked like a fun town and I can see why the area is known as a vacation destination. Overall, the North Cascades were well worth the visit. The drive is gorgeous and there are breathtaking views at every turn of the highway. The park is definitely a hiker's paradise and there are numerous trails and backpacking opportunities to be had. We had an awesome time and it was a great start to our summer travel season. New Units Visited: 4
North Cascades NP, Ross Lake NRA, Lake Chelan NRA, Pacific Crest NST* Total Affiliated Areas This Year: 8 Total Units: 38 Quick Memorial Day TripMy wife and I decided to spend Memorial Day in North Idaho visiting Farragut State Park and exploring the naval history this unique park has to offer. Farragut State Park is located on the southern end of the deep-water Lake Pend Oreille. The park got its start as Farragut Naval Training Center during World War II. The camp was built to serve wartime training needs and was at its peak the 2nd largest naval training center in the world and the largest city in Idaho. Nearly 300,000 sailors received their basic training at the facility named after Civil War Admiral David Farragut. After the war, the park briefly served as a technical school before the land was transferred to the state of Idaho which created a state park on the site in 1965. Farragut State Park hosted the 12th World Scout Jamboree in 1967 as well as some US Jamborees and Girl Scout Senior Roundups. Today, Farragut State Park is a beautiful natural area that showcases what makes North Idaho special and is a unique naval history site. The park is home to wooded hiking trails, multiple disc gold courses, campgrounds, beaches, boat launches, and the Museum at the Brig, which highlights the park's military history. We started our day by driving from our home in Spokane to Lake Pend Oreille, about 1.25 hours away. We drove past the park initially so that we could have lunch in nearby Bayview, ID. This tiny town is nestled between the blue waters of Lake Pend Oreille and the rising forests and mountains of the Coeur d'Alene National Forest. Interestingly, Bayview continues North Idaho's naval tradition by hosting a Navy Acoustic Research Detachment. We ate at The Lake House Bar and Grill which is a floating restaurant in the marina of the small resort town. The food was great and the views were worth the journey. After lunch we headed back into the park and stopped by the visitor center. Here I picked up the park's stamp for the Ice Age Floods National Geologic Trail. Bayview and Farragut State Park sit on the spot where an ice dam held back Glacial Lake Missoula during the last ice age. When the ice dam gave way, a torrent of flood waters rushed across Washington and Oregon carving the channeled scablands and rippled prairies that exist today. Our next stop was the Museum at the Brig. Memorial Day is the season opening day for this museum dedicated to the naval history of Farragut and is housed in the former base brig. The museum features a number of exhibits on the training center, some restored vehicles, and an ice age floods exhibit. After the museum we explored a couple short trails and the beach area of the park. We made a stop at the Friendship Poles left as a reminder of the Boy Scout Jamboree. This trip was meant to be a quick trip and a fun afternoon exploring a nearby park. I would love to go back to Farragut a spend a couple of days camping and hiking in the park. New Units Visited: 0
Ice Age Floods NGT Total Affiliated Areas This Year: 4 Total Units: 35 I moved to Spokane, WA last summer after living in Southern California for a number of years. I went to college in Spokane and lived there previously for a stretch. One of my favorite sites in Spokane is Riverfront Park located in the heart of downtown. The park was built to house EXPO '74 and the area once housed the regions rail yard. The park is made up of land and islands along and in the Spokane River. It is a beautiful park and civic center that is a must visit if traveling to Spokane. In all of my visits to Riverfront Park, I had never gotten around to walking down to the lower falls area to see Spokane Falls. There are a series of falls in the park and then a large waterfall on the west end of the park. Every time I have driven by the river recently, I have made a mental note to make it down to the falls during the spring run-off. Easter Sunday 2019 was a beautiful spring day so my wife and I decided to finally make the trek to falls and spend an afternoon in the park. We started with brunch at one of our favorite spots, the Logan Tavern near Gonzaga. We then walked downtown along the Spokane River and made our way to the falls. They have been doing a series of renovations in the park in recent years and have added some new features. For those interested, there is a gondola ride that takes you over the falls and the river as well as a skating ribbon in the park. Riverfront Park has a series of hydroelectric stations near the various falls and the power company Avista has built a park open to the public near the main falls. It was a beautiful day and the park was a perfect way to spend an afternoon as we took in one of the great natural sites in Eastern Washington.
As my spring break from teaching came to an end, I set out on my first National Parks trip of 2019. April 1 brought the opening for many of Washington's state parks and made a few stamps available for the first time in 2019. I planned out a route from my home in Spokane to 5 sites in Eastern Washington representing a new NPS unit and stops on 3 NPS affiliated trails. Early Morning Drive Through the PalouseI hit the road early Friday morning with my first planned stop being Lewis and Clark Trail State Park outside Dayton, WA. This was going to be about a 2 hour drive south, a good portion of which would follow a portion of the Palouse Scenic Byway. The Palouse covers a large area of southeastern Washington state and is an interesting and serene landscape to take in while driving. The entire region is made up of rolling hills that resemble sand dunes and hills. The area was formed during the last ice ages as glacial floods swept across the area and winds blew dust from the large ice age lakes into the Palouse where it settled to create the rolling countryside that exists today. The region is home to abundant wheat farms and a number of small communities. I took highway US 195 south to WA 26 and then headed south toward the Snake River. A Day on the TrailsAfter leaving the Palouse Scenic Byway, I continued to head southwest and drove through the small town of Dayton. I stopped and wandered around to take in some of the historic buildings found along the highway. My first NPS stop was at Lewis and Clark Trails State Park to pick up their stamp for the Lewis and Clark National Historic Trail. This is small state park made up of a campground along a small river and a small interpretative area and picnic space. I was the first person to request the stamp since they opened earlier in the week and I got to break in the 2019 on the stamp. The Lewis and Clark NHT was the first of 3 NPS trails that I would make a stop in during the day. Whitman Mission National Historic Site.About a half hour after Lewis and Clark Trails, I passed through Walla Walla and made my way to the Whitman Mission National Historic Site. This small Parks unit commemorates the lives of Marcus and Narcissa Whitman as well as the Cayuse people that called the area home. The Whitmans and another family, the Spaldings, were some of the earliest settlers to travel across the United States and settle in the Pacific Northwest. Both couples traveled west as missionaries to spread their faith to the Native American populations of the Northwest. The Spaldings settled with Nez Perce nearby in Idaho and the Whitmans set up their mission with the Cayuse at Waiilatpu near present day Walla Walla. Narcissa and Eliza Spalding became the first white women to travel across the Rocky Mountains into the west. The Whitmans ran the mission for 11 years at Waiilatpu where they worked with local Cayuse people and began to serve as a rest stop and medical refuge for pioneers on the Oregon Trail. As more and more white settlers began to travel through the area, more and more disease began to spread among the Cayuse. Whitman, a medical doctor, tended to both white travels and Cayuse people. While Whitman's efforts seemed to benefit the white travelers, the Cayuse continued to die in large numbers. A group of Cayuse decided that Whitman was to blame for the death and disease inflicting their people. On November 29, 1847, Marcus, Narcissa, and 11 emigrants on the Oregon Trail were killed by a group of Cayuse. What became known as the Whitman Massacre. The killings sparked violence and war between settlers and the natives. The modern day mission and historical site is a small area that will not take terribly long to experience in full. There is a visitor center with a small museum and a video on the Whitmans and the Cayuse. I had watched the video on YouTube prior to my visit so that saved me some time at the site. Beyond the visitor center, there are two short loop trails to explore. The first climbs up a small hill past the mission cemetery to a monument overlooking the Walla Walla River valley. The return leg of this loop takes you along a refurbished portion of the actual Oregon Trail. There are wagon ruts and a replica wagon along the trail to demonstrate what the conditions may have been like. The second brief trail takes you through the former mission site. Nothing remains of the original mission so interpretive signs describe what the mission was like in the 1840s. Overall, the Whitman Mission site is an enjoyable, brief, NPS stop. The entire site can be taken in an hour or so. I found the video about the Whitmans and the Cayuse to be riveting history and interesting viewing. The site is its own Historical Site and is also a part of the Oregon National Historic Trail which adds an extra layer of history to your visit. A Few Stops in the Tri-CitiesFrom Whitman Mission I continued west into the Tri-Cities area. I made a quick drive through McNary National Wildlife Refuge and then stopped at Sacajawea State Park. Sacajawea is a small park located at the confluence of the Snake and Columbia Rivers. The park is a day-use area with multiple picnic areas and a beach. There is a nice interpretative center that focuses on Sacajawea and the native peoples that called the area home. The museum is worth a visit and is home to another stamp on the Lewis and Clark National Historic Trail. My next stop was for lunch at Ice Harbor Brewing at the Marina, a brewpub located on a small island in the Columbia in Kennewick, WA. The food was great, although I was not a big fan of the beer. The small island, Clover Island, is home to a light house and had some bike paths/trails to walk on if you have the time. The final stop for the day was the REACH Museum in Richland. The REACH is an awesome little museum dedicated to the geography, land, and use of the natural environment of the Hanford Reach and the area surrounding the Tri-Cities along the Columbia River. The exhibits on the Ice Age floods were very interesting and they had some fun interactive to demonstrate the floods and the impact they had on the geography of the area. Other exhibits include the wildlife of the Reach, the early settlement of the area, and the history of the Hanford complex of the Manhattan Project. I find the history of the Manhattan Project fascinating and would have loved the exhibits, except I visited the Hanford Reactor B last summer and was very familiar with the history. The exhibits and videos were well put together but had little new information for me. The REACH is a stop on the Ice Age Floods National Geologic Trail so I grabbed my stamp and hit the road for the 2 and half hour drive home to Spokane. All of these stops are very much doable in one day, even when starting in Spokane. Starting and ending in the Tri-Cities or Walla Walla would allow more time for exploring the different sites. If you planned your trip out in advance, you could time your trip to also include a tour of Hanford Reactor B through the Manhattan Project National Historic Park. New Units Visited: 1
Ice Age Floods NGT - Lewis and Clark NHT - Oregon NHT - Whitman Mission NHS Total Affiliated Areas This Year: 4 Total Units: 35 This post is not National Parks related but shares some of my recent adventures during my spring break from school. Flying Around North IdahoOne of my best friends is a pilot and has recently decided to sell his personal airplane. He wanted to take his Mooney for one last spin so he and I spent an afternoon flying around Eastern Washington and the Idaho panhandle. North Idaho is one of the most beautiful areas of the country that have visited and the two lakes we flew over, Lake Pend Oreille and Lake Coeur d'Alene, are gorgeous to take in from the air. We flew from historic Felts Field in Spokane to Sandpoint to refuel before spending a couple hours flying over the two lakes. My mother grew up in Sandpoint and it was fun to fly over my grandparents' former home and the various sites I used to visit while visiting the area as a child. We spent some time buzzing low over various islands and surfing clouds as my friend enjoyed his final flight in his plane. Quick Trip to RenoMy same friend is a works as a pilot professionally and had a long layover the night after our Idaho flight in Reno. Taking advantage of his flight benefits, I tagged along for a quick trip to Reno. I had never been to Reno previously and was excited to see what the city had to offer. The entire trip was a fun look into the lifestyle of pilots and flight crews. I caught both legs of the crew's workday on the way to Reno and learned a lot about what its like when the crew is on the road. My friend and I grabbed some lunch at In-N-Out Burger, a southern California staple that we both miss now living in the Pacific Northwest. Following lunch we ventured downtown to see what "The Biggest Little City In The World" had to offer.
We wandered through a few casinos, played a little blackjack, and caught some March Madness action in a bar. Deciding that we had inhaled enough stale cigarette smoke in casinos, we ventured off into downtown Reno to explore the river walk and some the art and architecture of the city. Following our trip downtown, we headed back to our hotel in Sparks and grabbed a couple more beers at Great Basin Brewing to watch the last NCAA tournament game of the day. The beer was solid and the food looked amazing (we didn't eat there, unfortunately). I love to visit local breweries while traveling and was not disappointed with Great Basin. The night ended with a little more blackjack and a soak in the hotel hot tub. We had an early start to the next morning so we kept the night pretty mellow. I got to experience the joys of a 5 am call time with the flight crew and caught a ride home. Overall, it was a fun little trip to a new city. Reno was an interesting place to wander around and was a very different experience compared to Las Vegas. Reno wasn't overflowing with people at every turn and had a slower pace and style. The downtown area had some cool spots beyond the traditional casinos and Truckee River flows beautifully right through downtown. Road Trip to PortlandAfter a long semester of teaching 6th graders for myself and of returning to school for my wife, we both decided we needed a nice, long, vacation over Christmas break. We started our trip with a road trip to Portland through the Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area. We made out way south from Spokane until we reached I-84 and headed west. This interstate runs along the Columbia River for the majority of the state of Oregon. It is an interesting drive and well worth the journey if you are in the area. I was five stamps and a new unit short of the bronze level award for the NPTC website and planned our weekend around trying to reach this goal. Along the river, there are a handful of stamping opportunities. I chose 3 stops for our day, Bonneville Dam, Multnomah Falls, and Vista House. The plan was to spend the day along the river, check into the hotel in Portland around dinner time, and get my last new unit of the year the next day at Fort Vancouver. All went according to the plan...until midnight that is. That is when politics got in the way and the government shut down for the rest of the calendar year. This meant I would finish the year one unit short of my goal, better luck next time I guess. Bonneville DamThe Bonneville Dam was a fun stop with far more to offer than I had expected. I find dams fascinating and they usually have visitor centers or tours available so I like to stop and check them out when traveling. Bonneville Dam has a visitor center on both sides of the river, in Washington and Oregon. From the Oregon side, you stop at a check point and go through a quick security screening. You actually get to drive your vehicle across the first set of locks onto an island that houses the visitor center. The center was far more elaborate than I had expected. There was the standard museum style exhibits on the dam but there was also a roof-top viewing deck and a fish ladder viewing area. The lower level of the center had a window into the fish ladder and exhibits on salmon and other fish that call the Columbia home. The complex was also home to a fish and sturgeon hatchery. The hatchery is a hundred years old and, apparently, been a tourist attraction the entire time. They had a walking tour of the hatchery and a sturgeon viewing tank. We wandered around for awhile, saw the massive sturgeon, and fed the ducks and salmon in the pond. Being winter time, the fish ladder and hatchery were not at their peak, but it was a fun stop. Historic Columbia River Highway Shortly after visiting Bonneville Dam, we turned off the interstate and headed off on the Historic Columbia River Highway, a former portion of the old US HWY 30. This narrow and winding road takes you through Ainsworth State Park, past a number of waterfalls, and up to scenic vistas overlooking the gorge. We stopped briefly at Horsetail Falls and then again at Multnomah Falls. We stopped in for the stamps here and looked around the old lodge. We had been here previously and have always wanted to hike to the top of Multnomah Falls but decided a late December afternoon was not the time for a prolonged hike outdoors. From here we made our way to Vista House. Vista House is over a hundred years old and was built to provide a rest stop and place to view the river on the old highway. Today it is a beautiful example of architecture that houses striking panoramic views of the Columbia River Gorge. I had never heard of the Vista House before planning out my route for this trip, but it is a must see if you have the time. The Historic Highway will take at least 30 minutes longer than I-84, probably longer if you stop places, but is beautiful and worth the time. After leaving Vista House, we decided to go check in to our hotel in Portland. We were not going to make it to Fort Vancouver NHP before they closed. It was that night that the government shutdown took effect so we were unable to visit Fort Vancouver in the morning :(. Instead we spent the day wandering around downtown Portland. We got lost in Powell's Books, checked out the Saturday Market, did a Voodoo vs Blue Star Donuts taste test, and grabbed some beers with friends. Breakside Brewery is amazing, just saying. Overall, it was a fun weekend trip to the Portland area. I had only ever driven through Portland and was glad to get a chance to experience the city. New Units Visited: 0
Ice Age Floods NGT - Lewis and Clark NHT Total Affiliated Areas This Year: 24 Total Units: 32 After a crazy summer, my wife and I entered into what seems like a just as crazy fall. I started my new job teaching in the Spokane area and my wife began her first semester as a full time student. She had been going to school at night for a couple of years and part of the reason we moved was so that she could focus on school full time. We each had spent long days and nights adjusting to our new environments and lives and were eager to sneak away for a weekend in Seattle, which meant that I could check a couple more NPS units off my list for the year. Wing Luke MuseumLocated in the Seattle Chinatown-International District, the Wing Luke Museum of the Asian Pacific American Experience is an affiliated area of the National Parks Service. We caught the light rail into Seattle from near the airport (we stayed with my aunt south of Seattle) and were able to get off in the heart of the Chinatown-International District. Seattle has long been a destination for Asian immigrants and, for a long time, Chinese immigrants in particular. The Wing is a beautiful museum in a renovated historic building in Chinatown. The museum has a number of exhibits that highlight the Asian Pacific American experience for people from various countries and cultures. There was an interesting section on cartoons that confront hate for South Asian and Middle Eastern Americans as well portrait galleries exploring the journeys of various Asian American groups. The museum offers a few tour options as well as their exhibit spaces. The admission ticket includes a tour of a historic Chinese run business and hotel which we participated in after a brief tour of the museum. They also offer a Chinatown tour and a Bruce Lee inspired tour that includes lunch at Lee's favorite restaurant. The hotel tour was interesting and provided me a new insight into the lives of recent immigrants to Seattle over the last hundred years. Many laborers would rent shared hotel rooms that provided little beyond a space to sleep while working to send money home to their families. The hotel had areas preserved to give guests a true experience of what the many hotels in Chinatown looked like as well as rooms designed to show what living spaces for families looked like over the years. Your admission is good for the day so I recommend taking the tour and leaving for awhile to grab lunch in Chinatown before returning to check out the exhibits. Klondike Gold Rush NHP - Seattle UnitA brief walk from the Chinatown-International District is the Klondike Gold Rush National Historic Park Seattle Unit. The Klondike Gold Rush NHP is located in the historic Pioneer Square area of Seattle, one of the oldest parts of the city. The entire area is a trip through history, but the Seattle Unit is a museum dedicated to the role Seattle played in the Klondike Gold Rush. As the nation's closest port city to Alaska and the Klondike, Seattle flourished during the Gold Rush. Thousands of treasure seekers flocked to Seattle to set off by land or sea for the prospect of gold to the north. The museum has two floors of exhibits and offers a couple of films on the gold rush. They have a little passport book of their own that guides you through the museum and each stage of a prospectors journey to the Klondike. They have little rubbing stamps that allow you to pass through each step in the journey. The NHP has also has a unit in Alaska that allows you to greater connect with the gold rush in that area as well. From the museum, we wandered around Pioneer Square and made our way to the Pike Place Market. There are also a couple of stamps available at the REI flagship store in Seattle which we took an urban hike to before heading home. We grabbed a beer at a cool brewery near Pike Place and had lunch at Piorshky Piorshky, which I highly recommend. Overall, we had an awesome day exploring Seattle. We had been to Seattle before but it is such an awesome city to wander around and experience. New Units Visited: 2*
Wing Luke Museum - Klondike Gold Rush NHP Total Affiliated Areas This Year: 23 Total Units: 31 Historic Reactor B TourAfter visiting with my grandfather again in the morning at Dry Falls SP, we packed up camp and hit the road for Richland, WA and the Manhattan Project National Historic Park. The Hanford Site is one of three parts of the Manhattan Project NHP, along with Oak Ridge, TN and Los Alamos, NM. The park consists of a welcome center with a few small exhibits on the outskirts of Richland and portions of site itself. You can book one of two tours offered by the park online in advance for free. They offer tours of historic Reactor B and of the former town of Hanford that was evacuated when the military arrived in the area. I had tried to tour the reactor years ago with a friend but life got in the way, so I was excited to spend the day at the reactor. We arrived at the welcome center about 30 minutes before our scheduled tour. They have a small exhibit area at the welcome center but overall there is not much to see. The Manhattan Project NHP has the traditional NPS stamp but they also have an awesome wedge stamp that combines with stamps at Oak Ridge and Los Alamos to make a circle. When your tour time starts, everyone gathers in a room and watches a video on the history of the Manhattan Project. The military needed a site to build the world's first full-scale plutonium production reactor. Hanford was chosen for its isolation and access to the Columbia River for water and power. The tour is at the reactor itself, which is about a 45 minute bus ride from the welcome center. With the two bus rides, the tour will take the majority of your day and you will want to bring snacks for the bus. We set out out for Reactor B around noon for our tour. The projected high temperature for the area was 117 degrees and we were boarding a bus to head off into the scablands. The majority of the Hanford site is under the purview of the Department of Energy, with the National Parks Service helping run the historic areas. The Hanford Site still has some active areas and there is a tremendous environmental clean-up taking place in some areas. You ride in the bus around the outskirts of the site and can see the government presence in a couple of entry ways. The tour bus pulls up to a nondescript gate in the middle of nowhere and the tour guide gets out and opens it to let the bus...pretty great to see after driving by the military entrance gates. The tour starts with a long and detailed presentation on the science and history behind Reactor B. If you do not enjoy science, you may fall asleep during this portion of the day. I now can fully describe the reaction process and design of the reactor in great detail. After this presentation, they lead you on a brief tour of the reactor and give you about an hour to explore on your own and take pictures. The temperature in the parking lot outside the reactor registered at 117 degrees, so we were a pretty subdued group after about 30 minutes of wandering around. You then take the bus back to the welcome center and conclude your tour. There are a few breweries and restaurants in the business park that houses the welcome center so you can grab a beer after a long day of history and heat. If you are a WWII history buff or into science, you will love this tour. I was impressed with the knowledge of the presenters and the amount of information I have retained from my visit. I would love to visit Oak Ridge and Los Alamos to round out my Manhattan Project stamp circle. New Units Visited: 1
Manhattan Project NHP Total Affiliated Areas This Year: 21 Total Units: 30 |
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