Glacier National Park, in far northern Montana, is my very favorite place in the world. Jagged mountains, quiet turquoise lakes, abundant wildlife, cascading waterfalls, amazing trails, awe-inspiring vistas and beautiful historic park lodges come together to form an alpine paradise straight out of a dream world. Glacier’s remote location keeps it from becoming as severely overcrowded as many other National Parks have become in peak summer months, although every summer visitation seems to grow. Glacier forms one half of the extensive Waterton-Glacier International Peace Park in association with neighboring Alberta, Canada. I’ve been very fortunate to visit Glacier National Park many times over the last 20 years and always look forward to my visits. Here, I’ve assembled some of my favorite shots I’ve taken of this beautiful park over the years. I hope you enjoy these photos from stunning Glacier National Park.
Hello Everyone! This is the last post for January, which is hard for me to believe. The time really is going quickly here. I’m sure you’ll be happy to know that my political opinions won’t be making an appearance today. It’s been a rough couple of months, and being in Washington it’s hard to escape it, but I’m sure going to try. I have enough things to focus on without getting mired down in something I have very little control over.
The most exciting thing that happened this week is that my folks got their first vaccine shot. This is wonderful news and we’re very grateful to the folks at Howard University for making it happen. I’m really hoping the federal government will ramp up the vaccination as promised and that we can all have ours before the summer.
Young Mason continues to make me smile with his good humor and big smile. Last week we were sitting at breakfast and we were discussing each other’s shirts, which is a common occurrence over his morning meal. I had on a shirt from the amazing total solar eclipse I got to lead a trip to see in Wyoming a few years ago. He pointed out what looked like the moon to him, but was actually the sun so I explained what the eclipse was and how it worked and what it was like to see it. Once I was done explaining it, he hopped up and went and got one of his books about space and we looked at the sun and the moon together. It was pretty cool.
On one of our walks this week we were out in one of the parks in his neighborhood which has a grove of bamboo in it. He always points out the bamboo, and I ask if he sees any pandas around which he never does (but growing up in Washington, I know he will see them often at the National Zoo). A few minutes later he picked up a huge log and told me it was a panda and carried it all the way home. The next day we took his panda to “the lake”, which is really just a small pool along one of the creeks we visit, and he hurled it in. He really loves throwing things in the water, even things he seems to really like. I definitely don’t understand everything he does or says, and he would probably tell you the same about me, but we sure do have interesting adventures together.
Wrangell-St. Elias National Park is one of the most beautiful places I’ve ever been, and that’s saying something. Second only to Montana’s Glacier National Park in my heart, Wrangell-St. Elias is America’s biggest National Park, encompassing an area of over 13 million acres. Wrangell-St. Elias was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1979 and a National Park in 1980. Plate tectonics, volcanic activity and glaciation all worked together over time to form this magnificent landscape, but it was copper that brought people into these mountains in the early 20th Century. The Kennecott copper mines produced over $200 million worth of copper between 1911 and 1938 ($3.6 billion in today’s dollars)
Today you can drive on the old rail line until you get to the “end of the road” where you will have to cross the river bridge on foot. From there you can catch a shuttle to Kennecott and explore the park from there. Glacier Walks, Mill Tours and Ice Climbing are all on offer, or you can simply go for a hike. The hikes to the old mines high on the mountains aren’t long, but they’re pretty strenuous. After a long day in the park you can find good meals at the Kennecott Lodge or in the old town of McCarthy down the road. Alternatively, the north end of the park is accessible along the beautiful Nabesna Road. The season in Alaska is short, and there isn’t much happening once the businesses close so summer is definitely the right season to visit the Wrangells. I hope you enjoy these photos I took in the park during the last summer I spent guiding there (2017).
Hello Everyone! Another week has come and gone and January is moving right along here at home in Washington. We’ve had some warm and sunny days this week and trees are starting to bud and some plants are waking from their winter slumber. Mason and I continue our daily adventures around Glover Park, and my mom and I took a nice long trip out to western Virginia over the weekend. And, of course, the United States has entered a new presidential era. While all of these things have been great, and certainly good distraction, I don’t want you to think I’ve forgotten the reason why I am here, which continues to worsen by the day.
It was a year ago now that the first documented cases of Covid19 showed up in the United States. This coming week the death toll here will surpass the total number of Americans who died during World War II. In other comparisons as far as American deaths go, we are now suffering one September 11th every 18 hours and one D-Day every 30 hours. I can’t get my vaccine fast enough and hope my folks can get theirs before the end of the month. That would certainly be a step in the right direction. I’m also hoping the incoming administration will take the whole thing a lot more seriously. Had now former-President Trump taken it a little more seriously, I believe he would have won this election in a landslide. We’ve tried things his way for long enough and clearly whatever their plan or lack thereof is failing and I’m grateful we’ll be heading in a different direction.
Congratulations to now-President Joe Biden and our first female Vice President Kamala Harris. I’m certainly wishing them the best of luck in the days and years to come. This is not a partisan statement; I think we should all have that sentiment as a new presidential administration begins. If you wish failure on someone entering those positions, I would sincerely question your patriotism. I felt the same four years ago when Donald Trump took his oath of office. Knowing of his almost absolute lack of experience in government, I was hoping he would do what I would do in a similar situation – surround himself with the best and brightest to move the country forward and make him look good. Especially as an outsider, I would have sought out the most qualified people in the country regardless of political affiliation and brought them on board to help “drain the swamp” and do remarkable things. Instead he surrounded himself with people he believed would be loyal regardless of their backgrounds and dug deeper in the mud. Many of the issues which are important to me, like the environment and public education, took some pretty serious hits over the last four years. Outside of his policy decisions, he brought almost constant negativity and division and that’s from his own Twitter feed, not from the press. I’m really hoping that Biden can make some real progress over the next four years. As a country, we are definitely better together than we are apart.
Just before New Year, I was thrilled to be able to get away from the city for a few days and visit beautiful Cape Henlopen State Park in Delaware. Only about two and a half hours from my front door in Washington DC, Cape Henlopen felt a world away. Built on the ruins of Fort Miles, a World War II fort which protected the Delaware Bay (and Wilmington and Philadelphia along with it), many of the buildings and watchtowers still remain intact in the park today. Beyond that, there are beautiful long beaches which provide plenty of space to stretch out and enjoy all the recreational opportunities the area has to offer. I particularly liked the Fishing Pier which provided a view to the west and the setting sun. The park was quiet when I was there and I got to enjoy some of the wildlife in the area, from deer to horsehoe crabs. Cape Henlopen was a wonderful escape from the city and felt like a breath of fresh air after so many months. I hope you enjoy these photos from this beautiful Delaware state park.
Hello Everyone. It’s wonderful to be back with you this week. I hope you didn’t miss me too much last week, but it was nice to take a little break from this weekly post and get away from the city for a few days. I had a wonderful time over the holidays with my family here in Washington, and enjoyed a few days away at Cape Henlopen State Park on the coast of Delaware. This week I’m back hanging out with my 2 year-old buddy Mason and trying to get some things rolling here as I stare out across the year ahead. I feel good and feel like there’s a light at the end of the tunnel, and for me that’s good enough for now.
Our Christmas was a good one filled with cooking, carols and Christmas movies. We made some wonderful meals together over the Christmas weekend and definitely didn’t go hungry. It was nice to be home to catch up on some sleep and have a few lazy days around the house. Shockingly, we even got a few flakes on Christmas Day. It was far from a white Christmas, but it was nice to see nonetheless.
That Sunday I packed up Shadow Catcher and headed west across the bay and into Delaware. It was so nice to be on the road again, and especially on my way to the beach, even in the dead of winter. I sang island and beach songs the whole way there. It really is only about 2.5 hours between here and the ocean when there’s no traffic, and I really enjoyed the ride. I made a beeline for Rehoboth with the hope to have a little wander before the sun went down, and still get into camp before dark. I was surprised at how crowded the boardwalk was, and it wasn’t a good surprise. Regardless, I enjoyed my short visit there. Rehoboth was the beach we went to when I was a kid, and there is always something special and nostalgic about your childhood beach. I was sad to hear that Dolle’s Saltwater Taffy is closing down on the boardwalk and moving, because their sign is probably the most recognizable feature in the whole town. It simply won’t be Rehoboth without it and I was happy to be able to take some photos of it before they go. I also grabbed some delicious boardwalk fries from Thrashers and enjoyed them looking out over the sea. I was only there for about 2 hours, but it was a fun walk down memory lane.
Hello Everyone! I’m going to keep it short and sweet this week as I’m busy getting ready for Christmas with my family here in Washington D.C. and it’s already getting pretty late here as I begin this week’s post. It’s been a busy week, but not an overwhelmingly exciting one which is just fine with me. There’s been lots of Christmas music, Christmas movies, Christmas present wrapping and Christmas shopping, and I have been getting out into the city a little bit this week as well. I’ve spent most of the Christmases in my life here at home in Washington, so it feels very normal and comfortable to be here this time of year. Sadly, most of the things we normally do during the holiday season aren’t happening this year, but that just re-emphasizes the need to enjoy things while they last because you never know what the future holds. Either way, it’s always good to be home for the holidays.
The long anticipated vaccine has begun its initial roll-out, and I’m glad to see many government officials getting theirs and attempting to boost public confidence. There was also a stimulus bill which was passed this week. I really wish that congress was a little more in touch with the reality of the situation and had passed a much needed relief bill instead. There are plenty of people doing just fine out there for whom a check from the government isn’t really needed. There are others who are out of work, whose unemployment benefits ran out long ago and who only still have a roof over their heads because of the eviction moratorium. For many of these people $600 will be well received, but will hardly make much of a dent in their financial struggles. This needed to pass months ago as a separate bill and it needed to have a much clearer focus. I guess it is better than nothing, but not by much.
I had a great week with young Mason as he continues to grow and learn. Winter hasn’t broken his spirit at all and we’re still outside most days despite the cold temperatures. We’ve been enjoying the holiday decorations, walking on thin ice, and a couple of little arts and crafts projects as well. We made some really cool Christmas ornaments this week with some hollow plastic ornaments I got for just the occasion. We filled them with his favorite treasures from our walks - from berries and mushrooms to pine cones, cedar needles and holly clippings, and then hung them near the bottom of the tree so he can enjoy them whenever he wants. He still likes the firetruck, snowmen, rocking horse and White House more, but I think he likes the ones we made as well.
This week I also finally got my new crown on the tooth which has been missing since March. I am very happy and grateful for that, and hope to not break any more teeth for a long time. I also found someone to do one of the two repair jobs that Shadow Catcher still needs done to be ready to roll when the time is right. Between the vaccine and these things I just mentioned, I finally feel as though I’m making some progress towards my goal of getting out of here before the summer. That’s a really good feeling and I’m really hoping to end this year with those good feelings about the future.
Other than that, it’s been mostly preparing for the holidays and the meals we’re going to cook together. We’ve been doing a lot of shopping and I finally think we’re prepared to begin cooking tomorrow morning (Christmas Eve) and continue for the next three days. Tuesday evening, we went out to a wonderful drive-through light display at the Mormon Temple just outside the beltway..
Hello Everyone! We are now just over three weeks away from 2021! I, for one, will welcome the New Year with open arms and a heart full of hope for a better year for us all. For all of the challenges 2020 has brought both to me personally and to us collectively, I continue to be grateful for the blessings in my life and the opportunities that have come along as well. It’s been an amazing experience to spend time with a 2 year-old and a 13 year-old and help them along in whatever way I could this year. I’ve also gotten to spend a lot of time with my folks here in Washington and know that I’m helping keep them safe and vice-versa. I’ve also been grateful to have some time to explore my hometown more than I ever have before which has brought me a lot of joy and contentment. While I’m looking forward to getting a vaccine and getting back on the road as soon as possible in 2021, I will always look back at this year as a time I was able to stop, reflect on the blessings I have in this life and make real plans for the future.
Speaking of a vaccine, there’s definitely been good news this week on that front. The Pfizer vaccine has been approved and the first shots administered in the UK. Approval should be right around the corner here in the US, and then the long and slow process of administering it can begin. I read yesterday morning that the FDA’s initial perusal of the application for approval was extremely positive. I know there are plenty of people out there who have read a lot of whacky things regarding the upcoming vaccine and vaccines in general for that matter. With all the travel I’ve done in my life, I’ve gotten every vaccine available and will gladly step to the front of the line for this one. I have plenty of family and friends in the medical industry and they have their people who they listen to and trust. If they tell me this is a go, I’m in. I simply don’t have time to waste on conspiracy theories and look forward to moving ahead with my life.
This week has been another busy week with my 2 year-old buddy, Mason. I’m happy that he’s continued to want to go outside and play despite the temperatures dropping into the thirties and forties. We bundle up tight but we’ve still been getting outside and going for long walks in neighborhood. He really loves running through the big piles of leaves and spent today sitting in one and just throwing the leaves up and watching them float down. It was a joy to watch him enjoying such a simple pleasure so much, and he’s definitely gotten me to run through more leaf piles than I have in many a year. We continue to look for berries, acorns and pretty colored leaves and he has been good about having me take off his mittens so he can grab these treasures and then letting me put them back on immediately after. We’ve also been having fun watching dead leaves float down the stream in the park as well, which really is pretty cool. He’s enjoying the few Christmas decorations which have sprung up around the neighborhood this week, but is particularly fond of his Christmas tree at home and loves showing me all the different ornaments and the stocking his grandmother sent him. Today we were reading the Night Before Christmas, and he is starting to recognize “Danda” (Santa). In one picture with Santa and his reindeer he was telling me that the reindeer were named Nick and Matt which are his cousin’s names (Nick is the young man I tutor on Mondays). I couldn’t figure it out, and then realized the text talks about “St. Nick” and the only Nick he knows is his cousin. Since he knows who Santa is, the reindeer must be the Nick they keep referring to and since Nick and Matt are twins, his brother must be one of the other reindeer. At least that’s how my mind processed what he said. Either way, he’s enjoying the holiday season so far and I’m enjoying it right alongside him.
I had a wonderful Thanksgiving in New Hampshire last week and got out to do a little bit of exploring and to take these photos. It was lovely to drive around the small towns in the south of the state and I enjoyed seeing what they had to offer. Beautiful New England spires were ubiquitous, but I also found some stoic old industrial buildings and some incredibly still water to get some reflections shots. I hope you enjoy these photos from southern New Hampshire as much as I enjoyed taking them.
Hello Everyone! November is coming to a close and I doubt that I’m the only one looking forward to putting 2020 in my rear view mirror. Not that anything will magically change on January 1st, but I definitely believe that next year will be better than this one. Personally I’m looking forward to getting back on the road, seeing some new and beautiful places, catching up with some old friends and making some new ones. I feel like this year I just kicked it up into neutral in April and I’ve been coasting along since them. I remain incredibly grateful for so much that’s happened this year, but I won’t be sad to wave goodbye come New Year’s Day.
One of the biggest joys of this year has been hanging out with my 2 year-old buddy, Mason, who has kept me smiling for a lot of months now. I realized that I’ve now spent over 10% of his life with him. 10% of my life ago, Barrack Obama was still president, so it’s no small amount of time. This week we spent a little more time at the playground than usual. We don’t spend much time there because all the nannies in the neighborhood go there, mingle and let the kids they watch do the same. I don’t want any kids breathing and snotting all over Mason, especially now that cold and flu season is in full swing as I don’t want him or me to get sick. But with colder temperatures fewer people are there, so we’ve at least been able to get the kindergarten playground to ourselves a few times which he really enjoys. He was disappointed when I wouldn’t go down the slide with him, and I tried to explain that I was too big to go or I definitely would. Now when he sees a small playground in someone’s yard he says “Uncle Mike, too big” which I just think is really funny. One of the slides we use I have to pick him up and put him on, which was a nice bicep curl motion to it. I started doing “Mason curls” and counting to ten and he seems to really enjoy it too, so that’s been good for both of us. Beyond that, we’ve been seeing the forest leaves thin and disappear and the change of season has been interesting to watch for both of us. He’s learned some evergreens like cedar, holly and ivy and continues to pull whatever berries he can reach. It was another good stretch hanging out with him.
Last Friday we had a pretty quiet night at home. We had originally planned on heading up to New Hampshire to my brother’s place first thing Saturday morning, so we didn’t want to overdo it on Friday. We had some turkey sandwiches, some pumpkin eggnog and then watched Planes, Trains and Automobiles, one of the only really good Thanksgiving movies out there. It wasn’t as raucous as usual, but it was a fun Friday night with the family just the same…
A couple of weeks ago my mom and I set out to explore Maryland’s Lower Susquehanna Scenic Byway. This beautiful road started at the Concord Point Lighthouse in Havre de Grace where the river meets the Chesapeake Bay. From there, we headed on to the old 19th century Lock Keeper’s House which stands watch over what was once the Susquehanna and Tidewater Canal. On to Susquehanna State Park where we explored the historic village of Rock Run with its working grist mill and old Jersey toll house. We learned about the life of Confederate Brigadier General James Archer who grew up in the Archer Mansion overlooking the river. Crossing over at the Conowingo Dam, we cruised into the fascinating old town of Port Deposit before winding up in Perryville where the Principio Furnace and Rodgers Tavern offered up a final dose of history for the day. Standing on the west bank of the Susquehanna River we watched the sun set before turning our headlights towards home. It was a beautiful day cruising the wonderful Lower Susquehanna Scenic Byway in northeast Maryland and I hope you enjoy these photos I took along the way.
