Gettysburg National Military Park, Gettysburg, Pennsylvania

Nephews Bob and Paul in front of the Visitor Center
at Gettysburg National Military Park.

The Killer Angels, MIchael Shaara’s historical novel, recreates the Battle of Gettysburg—those epic three days in July of 1863.   Considered the turning point of the “War Between the States”, more casualties occurred at Gettysburg than in any other Civil War Battle.

I was raised sixty-five miles from Gettysburg and feel fortunate to have visited the battlefields several times.  After reading Shaara’s superb book I’m itching to re-visit the legendary town, and on a June day several years ago I return with my sister and two nephews.

We arrive at Gettysburg National Park and begin looking for a parking space near the visitor center.  As we drive the lot I notice vehicles representing many states and Canadian provinces.  We traverse the rows of cars and my 8 and 12-year-old nephews shout out state names from each license plate while my sister writes them down.  How many different states make our list on this Thursday morning?  Thirty eight! 

Inside the Visitor Center the main attraction is The Gettysburg Cyclorama, a giant 360 degree painting depicting battlefield scenes from "Pickett's Charge" on July 3, 1863.  The artwork was originally completed in the late 1800’s by French artist Paul Philippoteaux.  Restoration of the deteriorating canvas was initiated in 2003 and in 2008, at a total cost of 16 million dollars, work was completed and the Cyclorama moved to its present location.  

Visitors stand in the center of the colossal circular painting
while receiving a narrated tour.

            The following two photos show scenes from the 360 degree painting.

We leave the visitor center and join a ranger-led talk at the Battlefield.  The park ranger offers insights into the minds of the generals as they positioned their troops around the edge of town.  After the talk we drive the battlefield loops, stopping to admire monuments and to climb the observation tower on Culp’s Hill.  The tower provides a dramatic overview of the town and battlefields, however on this foggy afternoon we're unable to discern many of the landmarks.  We’ll have to return on a clear day.

Paul sets his sights on the battlefield.

         This evening we’re lodged in downtown Gettysburg at The Best Western Inn.  The hotel is a National Historic Site and has been lovingly cared for—a lavishly decorated lobby and spotless, comfortable rooms welcome us.   

This elegant hotel also houses a restaurant and pub and is across the square from the historic David Willis House.  President Lincoln stayed in the Willis House with the home’s owner while finishing his draft of The Gettysburg Address.  This truly is hallowed ground.

Another plus to our downtown hotel is its location across the street from The Cannonball Malt Shop.  We finish our day by treating the boys (and ourselves) to delicious milkshakes.

  

It’s been a memorable day of travel through this small Pennsylvania town, home to one of the most consequential events in our nation’s history.

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             The Memorial Day observance originated after the Civil War to commemorate fallen soldiers.  This weekend, as we honor our nation’s veterans, let us pause to remember the ultimate sacrifice made by those brave young men during the Battle of Gettysburg.

If you’re a fan of Civil War history and you’ve never been to Gettysburg you owe it to yourself to make the trip.  Find out more by visiting these websites: http://www.nps.gov/gett/index.htm

http://www.gettysburg.com/

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          Have you ever played the license plate game when visiting one of our nation's parks?  Try it the next time you're visiting one of your favorite places and let me know how many states are represented there.

          This summer, take a few days to read or re-read The Killer Angels.

Need more vacation reading material? Next week I’ll link you to one of my favorite blogs—Vickie Bates’ “No Bad Language”—for thought-provoking, insightful summer reading suggestions.

Carlsbad Caverns National Park, Carlsbad New Mexico

        

            Blackened heads and bodies of Prickly Pear Cactus and Torrey Yucca litter the landscape like alien life forms incinerated during an intergalactic war.  A human-started fire in July of 2011 charred 30,000 acres of Chihuahuan Desert in Carlsbad Caverns National Park.  I pick my way through the death, dismayed by the destruction one careless person has wrought.

Charred carcasses of Torrey Yucca (left) and Prickly Pear.

           At Carlsbad Caverns though, it’s not this scorched above-ground world that people come to see—all the action takes places 750 feet below the earth’s surface.  Inside the Visitor Center the elevator doors close and with a whoosh I’m barreling toward the caverns at the rate of 8.5 miles per hour.  In one minute I’m deposited inside the entrance to The Big Room, the major attraction here in Carlsbad.  As I pass through revolving doors the sight greeting my eyes is anything but wild.  A cafeteria, souvenir stands and rest rooms fill the area.

I follow arrows to The Big Room and am relieved to find the commercialization outside replaced by a natural wonderland inside.  A 1.2 mile paved trail with handrails winds its way through lighted formations.  The cave is filled with sweeping draperies, giant cake-like stalagmites, long willowy stalactites and bulbous, popcorn-like stalagmites.   During my two hour cave exploration I see and hear other people occasionally, but on this weekday in March my experience is one of relative solitude.

Draperies are formed when stalactites grow
into each other.

Several of these "layer cake" formation may be seen
in The Big Room.

****

  The following morning I return to the park for the ranger-led King’s Palace tour.

Fifty-four other people join me and the ranger starts by asking for everyone’s home state.  New Jersey, Illinois, Vermont, Georgia, Texas, Colorado and Oregon are represented today, along with one person from Utah. (That would be me.)

We begin our journey and enter a series of chambers not open to the general public.  While we admire hanging draperies, stalactites and stalagmites the ranger tells of the cave’s discovery.  Early Indians were the first users of the cave but they didn’t venture much farther than a natural entrance.  In 1899 a ranch hand named Jim White discovered one of those entrances and he was hooked, dedicating the rest of his life to exploration of the caverns.  As I look around I decide it was mighty brave of Mr. White to be down here with only a dim, candle-lit lantern and no lighted paths marked “Exit” to find his way out—wouldn’t you agree?  

After learning more about the creation of this cave and the wonders it contains I have a question for the ranger: 

         “Are the caves ever vandalized?” 

         “Oh yes”, is the answer.  Many visitors touch or break off pieces of the caves.  At one point, rangers discovered 200 acts of vandalism in one month.  The park service’s message of preservation and protection obviously isn’t getting through to everyone.  

That being said, I highly recommend a visit to Carlsbad Caverns National Park.  You’ll be amazed by the mineral masterpieces in this underground showpiece.

A ceiling full of baby stalactites, also
known as soda straws.

A popcorn stalagmite, caused by
condensation on the surface.

****

The easy King’s Palace Tour enables everyone from kids to Grandmas to see a restricted part of the caverns; however other, more adventurous tours are offered.  Reservations are required—sometimes months ahead of time—for all ranger-led tours.  Check out descriptions of tours and activities, as well as information about the creation of the caverns on the National Park Service website: www.nps.gov/cave

I started the day above ground on the devastated landscape.  It may be 30 to 40 years before this area recovers; if you’re visiting Carlsbad Caverns and would like to see healthy, undisturbed Chihuauan Desert wilderness, travel 36 miles southwest to Guadalupe Mountains National Park. 

This map shows the range of the Chihuahuan Desert.
The desert covers parts of New Mexico, Texas and the
country of Mexico.

A healthy patch of Chihuahuan Desert in
Guadalupe Mountains National Park, Texas.

White Sands National Monument, Alamogordo, New Mexico

          Surreal is an overused word, don’t you think?  Here are a few synonyms: bizarre, unearthly, dreamlike, phantasmagorical.  White Sands National Monument combines all these adjectives while offering visitors an otherworldly sensory experience.

Decades ago I saw a picture of White Sands and I’ve been waiting for a chance to make the trip to Alamogordo, New Mexico ever since.  Now here I am on a crisp clear morning, standing among dazzling white dunes.  

The brilliant dunes of White Sands, framed by
The San Andres Mountains.

          It’s March and too early for wildflowers but that’s my only regret about being in the dunes today.  Even without flowers, photo opportunities present themselves everywhere I look.  

And it’s so quiet here.  The only noise I hear originates from three jets flying overhead on their way from nearby White Sands Missile Range.  But they’re gone in a flash.

The jets are gone and quiet returns to the skies above
White Sands.

           I sip my coffee and munch on a bagel in the deserted picnic area, watching as a family climbs a distant dune, sleds in tow.  Sledding the dunes is a popular activity and as I leave the area I notice a partially broken sled lying at the bottom of one of the dunes.  Why not?  I carry the sled up the hill, sit down, kick up my heels and slide down, sand spraying and hair flying as I go.  It’s fun.  But once is enough.

I didn't have to fight for a table at the park's deserted picnic area.

            Next stop: the trailhead for a 5 mile hiking trail.  I walk a short way up a hill where 360 degree views await.  Two hikers return from the loop trail and it’s only 9:00 a.m.  An early start, before the day warms and the winds arrive, is the only way to do this trail.

 On top of the hill a woman sits knitting, accompanied by two little dogs.   

“It’s a perfect day up here, isn’t it?” she says.  

“Yes.”, I agree.  “Are you from around here?”  

“No, we’re from Michigan—East Lansing”, she points to her husband who is standing atop the rise with a long-lens camera mounted on a tripod.  

“What kind of dogs are those?”  I ask.

“They’re Morkies, a cross between a Maltese and a Yorkie.” 

  “They look like they’re enjoying themselves.”   

       “Oh, they love it out here.  This is our first time in the southwest.  We started our trip in mid-December and have been traveling all over.”

I’m jealous.  Taking a few months to wander the country, stopping wherever the mood strikes and the scenery beckons, it sounds like heaven to this voyager. 

By the way, if you’re traveling with dogs New Mexico is an excellent place to vacation.  During my journey through the Land of Enchantment I noticed The Albuquerque Zoo, Sandia Peak Tramway and Carlsbad Caverns all providing kennels for your dogs while you enjoy the attractions. 

Mrs. Michigan and her Morkies.

These hikers enjoy a quiet morning on the dunes.

The one mile nature trail is my next destination.  The trail is interpretive; signs along the way use an illustrated kit fox to narrate.  The fox tells you where she lives, what she eats and how she survives this harsh desert environment.  It’s well done—a beautiful short hike.

Vegetation along the nature trail provides hiding places for
meadow voles, lizards, hares and ground-dwelling birds—
all are on the menu of the kit fox.

                                                          ****

             It’s always fun to learn something new while on vacation, and at the visitor center I do just that.  One of the rangers mentions the insect display under glass near the cash register, then points to a large black wasp with orange wings.  It’s the Tarantula Hawk, a type of spider wasp, and it delivers the most painful sting of any insect in North America.  If you see this scary Halloween-colored wasp stay out of its way or point it in the direction of the nearest tarantula, its preferred victim.

         When the wasp finds a tarantula she stings and paralyzes it, then lays her eggs on the unlucky arachnid’s body.  After the eggs hatch, the baby wasps have a fat, juicy tarantula to nourish them.  Luckily not too many locales host the Tarantula Hawk—look around your neighborhood and if you don’t see any tarantulas then you needn’t fear a bite from this frightening parasitic pest.   

 

You really don't want to be this close to a Tarantula Hawk.
I hope this one was already dead.
(Photo taken from an internet Images site.)

              So, was White Sands National Monument worth the wait?  Absolutely.  Visit White Sands yourself for a satisfying—dare I say surreal?—experience.  Find out more:  http://www.nps.gov/whsa/index.htm

Next week we’ll visit another New Mexico gem:  Carlsbad Caverns.

The Great Gallery in Horseshoe Canyon, Canyonlands National Park, Utah

          A day at an art gallery can be inspirational.  But adventurous?  Unlikely, unless you’re considering a trip to The Great Gallery in Horseshoe Canyon, Utah.
          Horseshoe Canyon lies in a remote section of Canyonlands National Park.  The trailhead is accessed by traveling 32 miles of dirt roads from Utah Highway 24 and then it’s a 3.25 mile desert canyon hike to the gallery.  This hike, described as moderately strenuous, involves a 750 foot climb out of the canyon and much of the trail is soft sand, which can be tiring but is well worth the effort.

I'm heading into the canyon.  The 6.5 mile round trip hike
features stunning desert scenery.

This photo shows the immensity of the rocks
in Horseshoe Canyon.  Can you spot me in
the picture?  Look for the black arrow on the
bottom left—it's pointing right at me.

            The Great Gallery's pictographs—or rock paintings—span a hundred foot rock wall in a protected alcove and it’s the type of art that leaves one speechless—an archaeologist's dream.  The drawings are believed to be from 2000 to 7000 years old and were made by The Ancients, a group of hunter-gatherers (pre-ancestral Puebloans or Anasazi) who traveled this canyon for 7500 years.  Many of the figures on the wall are life-sized and some are pigmented.  Can you imagine a dye that lasts for thousands of years? 

         This collection of pictographs has endured for millennia due to its location under an alcove in a hard-to-access area.  While safeguarded from the elements, rock art is still vulnerable to vandalism by modern humans; to combat this problem park rangers and volunteers are stationed at the gallery.  Rangers and volunteers will educate visitors and answer questions about the gallery as well.

          Archeologists are at a loss to interpret many of these renderings in stone. These images lead to endless speculation about the history and culture of a civilization far removed from our own.

The most famous panel in The Great Gallery.
Named "The Holy Ghost Panel" this artwork showcases a larger-than-life
mystical figure who appears to be a deity.  Are the other figures his followers?

What could these two life-sized figures represent?
One appears to have a crown, the other houses two fighting
ungulates inside his chest. 

Isn't this figure fascinating?  A healer?
A mother (or Mother Nature)? A cannibal?
Why is a bird perched on her right shoulder? 
Let your imagination run wild.

Is this a couple with the animals they've hunted
or are tracking?
Or are these ghostly figures "gods" of the hunt?

Before visiting The Great Gallery I thought all rock art was the same—a few etchings in the rock, some interesting, some not, maybe a couple intricate drawings thrown in among the stick figures.  And then I saw the artwork of The Ancients and was transformed into an admirer of this archaic artwork.  
After viewing this exhibit I think you’ll agree that rock art is neither boring nor all the same.  And I guarantee that even if you’re not an art aficionado you’ll never forget a day spent at this astonishing art gallery. 

How about you?  Have you seen rock art that captured your imagination?  That left you wondering—who were these ancient peoples and what were they trying to say?


                                                        ****


          Interested in visiting The Great Gallery?  Read more about it by visiting this website:  http://www.utah.com/nationalparks/canyonlands/horseshoe_canyon.htm

A valuable resource when planning a rock art viewing tour is this book: Guide to Rock Art of the Utah Region: Sites with Public Access by Dennis Slifer.

Visiting Rosalie and The Burn Plantations in Natchez, Mississippi

 "Welcome to Mississippi, It's Like Coming Home."

           Mississippi’s state slogan is one of the best and I found myself at home in Natchez while visiting two plantations which escaped the Union Army’s torches during the Civil War—Rosalie and The Burn.

           I arrive at The Burn Antebellum Bed and Breakfast on a bright spring afternoon and meet my hostess, Bridget Green, who shows me to my room and arranges for a personal tour of the home.  The Burn was given its unusual name by a Scottish gardener and refers to a babbling brook on the property, the word “burn” meaning “small stream or brook” in Old English and Scottish.  Antebellum—great word by the way—is of Latin origin and means "before the war".  In the southern United States "the war" means only one thing:  The Civil War.

Enjoy southern hospitality at
The Burn Antebellum Bed and Breakfast.

           I have time for an early dinner before my tour and I choose the Magnolia Grill in the Under-The-Hill district on the Mississippi riverfront.   My entrée of red fish almondine and fried sweet potatoes is tasty but my favorite part of the meal?  Two large glasses of sweet tea.

View of the Mississippi River from the Under the Hill
District in Natchez.

  After dinner I return to the B&B and meet my tour guide Nell, an employee of the B&B.  Nell serves me a glass of wine while I relax in the dining room and examine the pictures on the wall.  Nell returns and introduces me to the people in those pictures.  I meet John Walworth—original owner of The Burn—and his oldest surviving son Douglas, daughter Laura and her children, and daughter Lucy who died of yellow fever in 1853 at the age of 11.  Through the years many descendants of the Walworth family have called The Burn their home.

One outstanding feature of the home is an unusual semi-spiral freestanding staircase.  The floors, most of the window glass and all the molding in the rooms are original to the house, along with the dining room table and china.  The tour continues outside.   Azaleas are blooming, two large fir trees stand guard over the rear patio, and a giant Live Oak graces the circular driveway. The Burn, an historical treasure, is the oldest original plantation in Natchez.  

Semi-spiral free-standing staircase
in The Burn's center hallway.

Large Fir Trees guard the rear entrance
to The Burn.

           After the tour I retire to my room, The Douglas Room, in a building called the Garconierre.  This building, just a few steps away from the main house, was built to house the sons of the family after they reached the age of fourteen.  In the antebellum south it was common practice to house teenaged sons in the Garconierre; the families could remain ignorant of the boys’ shenanigans and the boys' behavior didn’t disrupt the household.  

  I’ll bet there are more than a few families today who could benefit from having a Garconierre on the property.

                                                              ****

The following morning I wake to birdsong, having spent a restful night in The Douglas Room—no teenaged monkey business occurring in the Garcionerre last night!

Hot coffee waits for me in a silver coffee server on the buffet table in the dining room.  I pour a cup and take a seat at the head of a long table in this cavernous room with two fireplaces. I’m the only guest of the inn today but that doesn’t prevent the staff from serving a breakfast feast.  The meal starts with fruit boiled in a sugary syrup and continues with eggs, bacon, grits, OJ and sesame seed rolls—a perfect way to greet the day.

After breakfast I drive the short distance to Rosalie Plantation where a docent greets me on the front porch of the mansion for the 10 o’clock tour.  I learn that Rosalie was built by a native Pennsylvanian; he came to Mississippi in the early 1800’s and made his fortune in the timber business.  

Opulence in the deep south.  Rosalie Plantation.

The Daughters of the American Revolution bought the mansion in the 1960’s and have retained many furnishings and period pieces from the mid-1800’s.  The home is large and lavish.  It’s hard to believe that some people lived so elegantly during that period of our nation’s history while others lived as homesteaders in meager claim shanties.

Like the Burn, Rosalie was not destroyed during the war.  Rosalie’s superb location—high on a bluff overlooking the Mississippi River—led to its status as one of the Union Army’s headquarters.

And how did The Burn survive?  The Union Army occupied the home and used it as a hospital for three years during the war. Sure enough, there’s a photo inside the home of Union Army soldiers posing on the front porch of The Burn.

While both these plantations represent a dark period in our nation’s history, the buildings themselves are remarkable examples of architecture and elegance in the antebellum south.  

Plantations which could benefit the Union Army stood a better
chance of surviving the war unscathed.
From this photo you can see why the Rosalie was chosen
for it's excellent vantage point on the Mississippi River.

                                                     ****

You can find more information on Natchez, Mississippi by visiting this site:  http://www.visitnatchez.com/

Go on and make yourself at home in Mississippi.  Visit The Burn—here’s their web address: 
http://theburnbnb.com/ 


If you would like to read about a visit to another of the south's fascinating plantations, see this previous post:   http://onedayinamerica.blogspot.com/2011/03/cane-river-country-louisiana.html

Horse Thief Canyon Trail in Utah's San Rafael Swell

           In the silence we can still hear hoofbeats pounding and see dust clouds swirling from herds of stolen horses thundering their way through this desert canyon.

                                                           ****
          Once a staging area for horse thieves and cattle rustlers, the Old Smith Homestead in Utah's San Rafael Swell is now used to stage a more benign activity—hiking Horse Thief Canyon.  
          The 1880's Smith Cabin is also rumored to have been one of the many hideouts of Butch Cassidy and his gang.  Does a locale exist in the intermountain west that hasn't laid claim to hosting the Wild Bunch during their criminal careers?

Smith Cabin—Home to Nefarious 1800's Activities.
 To view another Butch Cassidy haunt—mentioned in a previous post—click here.

            Unlawful activities far from our minds, two friends and I begin our Horse Thief Canyon hike in a sandy wash through a desert bursting with color.  Cactus and desert wildflowers bloom in reds, oranges, yellows, pinks and purples, their hues complemented by the cream and coral sandstone rock walls surrounding the canyon. 

The brilliant red blooms of the Claret Cup Cactus—considered

one of the desert's most beautiful plants.

Plains Prickly Pear Cactus.

Plains Prickly Pear Cactus plants take root in cryptobiotic soil.

To learn more about the fragile ecosystem of cryptobiotic soil, 
click here.

Orange Globemallow.

Scalloped Phacelia, Scorpionweed.

          We hike for a couple hours and then climb out from the wash to find table-top rocks perfect for a lunch stop.  The setting affords panoramic views of our surroundings—from the Book Cliffs area of eastern Utah to the Henry Mountains of south-central Utah.

          After lunch we turn to retrace our steps and peer across the vast expanse of rock and sky.  Everything looks familiar and nothing does.  With a sense of dread we realize we've lost the trail.  Where did we exit the wash?  We follow a series of rock cairns leading to steep drop-offs over cliff edges.  After more climbing up, over and around groups of rocks we find a cairn we'd seen on the way to our lunch spot. Descending from this cairn delivers us into the correct canyon and back onto our trail.

Rita and Robin begin the return to the trailhead.
But wait?  Where is the route back into the canyon?

Cairns—(a mound of rough stones built as a landmark)—
such as these guide hikers across slickrock.

Returning to the trailhead we re-live the tense moments before finding the trail; we've learned a sobering lesson today: It’s easy to become disoriented when hiking the San Rafael Swell and we were ill-prepared to spend the night in the desert.   

Relieved now, we enjoy a little laugh.  After all—if cattle rustlers and Butch Cassidy could navigate and survive in this harsh environment, well, maybe we could have done it too.  
       

                                                            ****
            
           Shade is non-existent on the Horse Thief Canyon Trail so it’s wise to hike this trail on a cool spring day.  The best time of year for wildflower viewing and photography in this area is (typically) the middle of May.  HIking the canyons, washes and slickrock of the San Rafael Swell can be fun—just don’t get lost.

The San Rafael Swell is a remote desert region in southeastern Utah.  You can learn more by visiting these websites:  http://www.sanrafaelswell.org/indexnew.html

http://www.blm.gov/ut/st/en/fo/price/recreation/SanRafaelDesert.html

                                                           ****
            Enjoy these flower photos from a subsequent visit to Horse Thief Canyon:

Hedgehog Cactus.

Lavender Evening Primrose—so named because the yellow flowers
fade to shades of orange or lavender upon drying.

Dwarf Evening Primrose.

Yellow Plains Prickly Pear.