Cross-country Skiing in Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming

          The calendar says "March" but if you're interested in one last winter fling there's no better place for it than Jackson Hole and Grand Teton National Park in Wyoming.

Winter scene near Taggart Lake Trailhead.

         Enter the park at Moose Junction and drive to the Taggart Lake Trailhead.  From there you may choose to cross-country ski the road to Jenny Lake, or snowshoe the trail to Taggart Lake.  If you choose to ski, the main road through the park is closed to vehicle traffic and is groomed for both classic and skate cross-country skiing.  Another ski trail cuts through the forest along the base of the towering Tetons.

Is there a better cross-country ski venue in the entire country?

Trail through the forest.

We choose this meadow for our lunch stop.  A downed log provided the
perfect perch—and view—for our al fresco dining experience.

          After a day in the park treat yourself to gourmet dining at Wild Sage Restaurant in the Rusty Parrot Lodge in downtown Jackson Hole.  Try either the Beef Tenderloin or Crackling Salmon entrees, then finish your meal with a spirited mug of "Wyoming Coffee".

Winter evening on the square in downtown Jackson Hole.

Interested in counting down the days of winter in Grand Teton National Park?  Visit this website for more details:  http://www.nps.gov/grte/planyourvisit/winter.htm

North Captiva Island, Florida

         It's not often I applaud the destructive force of a hurricane, but the 1921 storm which bisected Captiva Island deserves a tip of the hat for creating an island of calm in the sea of frenzied development along Florida's gulf coast.

If this is your idea of a relaxed beach vacation, then North Captiva
is the island for you.

         North, (or Upper), Captiva is accessible only by air or boat.  The island is a throw-back to the days before cars and highways.  Electric golf carts with attached wagons transport you and your gear to a rental house.  You may rent a golf cart to drive the sandy paths, and perhaps to visit one of the few restaurants or shops on North Captiva.   The pounding surf and the cries of ospreys and sea birds are the only sounds you'll hear on this tranquil isle.

White Ibises search for a tasty morsel in the sand.

A Snowy Egret takes off across the marsh.

White Pelicans congregate by an inlet.

        Search for shells, photograph birds, stroll the beach, or relax on your lanai.  February or March is the right time for a Florida get-away, and a week on North Captiva Island is the ideal tonic for those wintertime blues.

Colorful conch shells are found
in the frothy surf.

North Captiva beaches are littered with shells like these.
Shells keep the island's sand in place and provide food
for birds and fish.

A sampling of our shell collection.  Intact Sand Dollars are easy to find
on North Captiva's beaches.

         North Captiva memories will sustain you for a lifetime.  Plan your North Captiva idyll by visiting this website: http://www.northcaptiva.com/default.aspx?n=295377
         Fort Myers is easy to fly into and is the nearest Florida city to North Captiva.  Don't forget to bring your shorebird and seashell identification guides or apps.

Ahhh,  Florida.  

A Valentine's Day Hike around Trout Lake in Yellowstone National Park

          Grizzly bears—as well as hordes of people—have been reported to frequent the area around Trout Lake in Yellowstone National Park.  But that's during the summer months.  Visit Trout Lake for a snowshoe hike on Valentine's Day, as Tim and I did several years ago, and you won't be sharing the lake with either bears or humans.

These bison are lounging and foraging along the road on the way to Trout Lake.
No Grizzly Bears to be found in February.

          The trail ascends a steep hill into a forest of Douglas Fir trees, then breaks into the open where the lake and surrounding mountains come into view.  The short one-mile "lollipop" hike loops around the lake, crosses two bridges and rejoins itself in the woods for the return to the trailhead.  We completed the trail in a little over an hour and had the trees, the lake and the view all to ourselves.

Under one of the large Douglas Fir trees
along the trail.

Rita and Tim pose in the meadow where the trail leaves
the big woods.

Trout Lake is in the depression to the right.  The trail
continues around the lake and back into the forest.

         A Valentine's Day dinner at Pedalino's Restaurant in Gardiner, Montana is a fitting way to end the perfect winter day.  Pedalino's is open only one day during the winter season—February 14th.  Enjoy their superb Alaskan salmon entree while reflecting on your day of solitude in Yellowstone National Park.

        Trout Lake Trail is accessed from the park's north entrance in Gardiner, Montana.  For a description of the Trout Lake Hike, and other hiking destinations in Yellowstone's northern section visit this website:   http://www.yellowstonenationalpark.com/hikingtower.htm

       Click here to read about another of our winter adventures in Yellowstone National Park.

Time for some post-hike fun.  Tim creates the "Yellowstone
Snowshoe Snow Angel".  (Getting back on his feet was another matter...)

New Mexico's Big Sky Country

Having spent a week in New Mexico I would like to challenge Montana’s claim to the nickname "Big Sky Country".   After all, New Mexico is the state where rockets were launched and the atomic bomb detonated, where missiles are tested at White Sands Missile Range, where the sun is photographed every minute of every day from the National Solar Observatory, where the Very Large Array of satellite dishes keeps an ear to the sky, where an alien spaceship is said to have landed nearly 66 years ago. Yes, there’s a lot of sky and outer space to be studied, launched into, and even visited from in our nation’s 5th largest state.

                                                          ****

  The New Mexico Museum of Space History is my first space-related stop.  The four story museum’s mission is to educate visitors about the historic and scientific aspects of space and the U.S. space program.  Outside the museum a collection of rockets, boosters and missiles point toward the New Mexico sky—all are actual pieces and not replicas.  A Mercury space capsule at the museum’s entrance entices visitors to sit inside its cramped confines and imagine themselves as one of the first six U.S. astronauts to journey into space.

Outdoor rocket display at The New Mexico
Museum of Space History.

A Mercury Space Capsule—not much bigger than the astronaut
who rode in it.

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          If you had the chance to visit a town called Sunspot, would you go?  I think you would.   A mountainous 16 mile drive from the town of Cloudcroft in south-central New Mexico leads to Sunspot and The National Solar Observatory.  Here is a place dedicated to studying the sun.  During the summer researchers from all over the world make Sunspot their home.  

The self-guided tour takes visitors through a spruce-pine forest to the buildings which house the sun-spying telescopes.  One of them—the Tower Telescope—is 390 feet long, two-thirds of which is buried underground.  Kind of like an iceberg.  The long scope uses mirrors and lenses to take pictures of the sun every minute of every day.  This is the place to be if you want to be in the know on the latest solar happenings.

The observatory's museum was full of fun facts about the sun, such as this one:  If you harnessed the power of the sun in one lightbulb the bulb would contain 235 million, billion, billion watts–or some incredible number like that.

Keeping an eye on the sky:
The Tower Telescope.

****

    In Roswell the big draw is the International UFO Museum and Research Center. The museum documents the July 1947 crash of a UFO near Roswell and the finding of little green men (people) from the ship. The museum details reports of the crash sighting, U.S. Air Force findings and their subsequent “cover-up”.  It’s all here.  A research library in the museum provides further reading on the topic.  The museum is entertaining, if nothing else.
            Is there life on other planets?  Maybe so.  But I’m doubtful that the first contact with extraterrestrial life occurred here.  How about you?

What do you think?  Did this really happen?

This exhibit shows the likenesses of the aliens
discovered after the crash.

The UFO Museum contains a bit of humor too.

Also in Roswell is the Roswell Art Center and Museum.  The Museum showcases New Mexico artists and tells the story of Robert Goddard—Roswell’s most famous resident and the father of modern rocketry.  A Robert Goddard planetarium features daily showings of all-things-rocket.  This is a worthwhile stop on anyone’s trip through Roswell. 

                                                      ****

         How about it readers?  Are you convinced that New Mexico is indeed “Big Sky Country"?  Perhaps Montana should cede its nickname to New Mexico’s enchanted skies.

Sunrise, Sunset at Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge in San Antonio, New Mexico

         I don’t want to move, to speak, or even to breathe—so fearful am I of altering the dawn dreamscape before my eyes.  Burnt amber hues saturate the sky’s canvas. Then magenta appears, along with powder-puff blue.  Finally a roiling dusky orange steals in from above and below, threatening to engulf the heavens in flames.  We point our cameras skyward while the marshes at our feet reflect this celestial palette here on earth.

A pair of ducks float in a Kodachrome marsh.

         

         Where are we?  Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge in San Antonio, New Mexico.  Tim and I have journeyed south to see the Sandhill Cranes and Snow Geese which congregate here in winter.  Flocks of cranes soar overhead, their prehistoric cries lingering in the air.  Clouds of geese rise as one from their nighttime watery roosts, the whirring of wings mimicking the roar of a jetliner powering up for take-off.

Top:  Snow geese awaken after a good night's sleep.
Middle:  The geese lift off as a single organism.
Bottom:  The flock fans out overhead.

  

 The birding is rewarding but the display of color and light at dusk and dawn is astonishing.   

No,  your eyes don't deceive you.  We witnessed
sunrises and sunsets like these every day.

Sandhill Cranes at Sunrise.

         Regular readers of this blog know I’m drawn to the natural world and I’ve gaped and gawked at many a stirring scene.  But this time was different.  For three days in January of 2000 Tim and I experienced sunrises and sunsets so reverent that at one point I turned to Tim and whispered:  “I can’t believe I’m alive to see this.” 

By the dawn's early light.

Silhouetted Sandhills at Sunset.

         I’ve not returned to Bosque del Apache and I can’t help but wonder whether or not the birds are still abundant, the sunrises and sunsets still ablaze.  

 Readers, have you experienced a jaw-dropping sunrise or sunset?  Where was it?

Birding and sky-gazing are not the only activities at
Bosque del Apache.  This hiking trail gives visitors a taste of
 southern New Mexico's desert.

Coyote Buttes—Wind Sculpture on the Utah/Arizona Border

         The next time you're outside on a windy day consider the wind's ability to construct masterpieces of nature.  Coyote Buttes, in the Paria Canyon/Vermillion Cliffs Wilderness, is a one-of-a-kind example of wind-sculpted natural works of art.

         Several years ago, on a cloudless January day, Tim and I hiked Coyote Buttes North, commonly called The Wave.  This panorama of ridges and swirls symbolizes wild America; you may have seen the images below in coffee-table books extolling our country's scenic landscapes.

Perhaps you've seen this image on the cover of a "Scenic America" book
or calendar.  It's even better in person.

         

Giant "Cinnabons" like these line the trail on the way to
Coyote Buttes North.

Tim stops to compose a shot of this
natural playground.

We discovered the ideal lunch spot—atop these
sun-warmed rocks on a cold winter day.

 When you find yourself standing in a spot like this,
remember to thank the wind.

This view shows the terrain traveled on the way to "The Wave".

          The 2.5 mile hike to Coyote Buttes North crosses sand and slickrock.  Visitation is limited in this fragile area and a permit is required for those wanting to access the trail.  Contact the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) office in Kanab, Utah for more information.

           And, just a reminder, desert hikes can be deadly in hot weather.   This sobering post is proof of that sad fact:  https://onedayinamerica.blogspot.com/2013/08/death-in-utah-desert.html

Home Ranch Winter Getaway, Clark, Colorado

         Entering this Currier and Ives Christmas-card scene by motor car seems wrong some how.  A horse-drawn sleigh should be carrying us to the entrance of Home Ranch in Clark, Colorado . . .

"It'll nearly be like a picture print from Currier and Ives..."
This quote from the song "Sleigh Ride" describes our feelings
on arrival at Home Ranch.

         The Ranch’s cheerful employees greet us as we walk in the door; we’re shown to our room, The Bonanza, where we unload our bags and suit up for an afternoon of cross-country skiing.  Aspen Arches trail takes off through a tunnel of aspens, and skirts the horse pasture.  

Tim skies the Aspen Arches trail.

         After skiing we have a tough decision to make—lounge in our room or soak in the outdoor hot tub?  We choose the hot tub and watch a family flying down the hill behind us on inner tubes, their screams of exhilaration the only noise filling this peaceful afternoon.

         Dining at the ranch takes place in a large rectangular room; a wood burning fireplace adorns one end, two long tables fill the remaining space.  It’s a communal dining experience and, if that’s not your style, you’re out of luck at The Home Ranch.  This evening we dine with a family from Connecticut.   Jackie and Franz (originally from Holland) and their two kids have been vacationing at Home Ranch for the past six years, and they love these western adventures.

Hot tub in the foreground (intentionally left dark) and tubing hill
in the background.

         The following morning, after a breakfast of flapjacks and poached eggs, we dress in our long-johns and winter coats for a ride on the feed sleigh.  We walk to the barn and find two Percherons named Bob and Bill hitched to the sleigh.  Six other people arrive for the ride and soon we’re on our way.  Our sleigh enters the horse pasture and our wrangler Brady asks for volunteers to unwrap the 1,500 pound bale of hay and spread it about for the herd.  Tim busies himself with that chore—he says it’s hard work!—while I inquire about the use of draft horses.  Brady tells me that Home Ranch prefers feeding its animals with horses and sleigh, as opposed to tractors and ATV’s.  Nice and quiet.  But these brutes eat a lot of hay during the winter—up to 50 pounds a day for each of the 1,700 pound draft horses.

Rita and Tim pose with Bob and Bill.

Tim (green coat and brown hat) helps with feeding time
in the pasture.

         This afternoon we sign on for a 45 minute horseback ride in the snow.  I ride gentle Sequoia and Tim rides Hopi on our escorted outing, weaving through meadows and aspen trees.  After the ride it’s time for a final ski on the Big Meadow trail.  The views stretch from horizon to horizon, from valley floor to mountain peaks.  

Rita and Sequoia out for an afternoon ride.

The Lone Ranger rides again: Tim and Hopi cut a
striking figure on the trail.

Tim skies the Big Meadow with its expansive views.

        It may not have inspired a Currier and Ives print, but a winter weekend at Home Ranch combines 19th century outdoor experiences with 21st century lodging for an unforgettable stay. 

Visit this website to plan your own Colorado winter getaway: http://www.homeranch.com/

Interested in Ranch Vacations?  Read my previous posting about a trip to Lone Mountain Ranch in Montana.