Sunday December 17, 2006

Northern Lights

Last Thursday I drove up north of Saylorville Lake, to a location on a gravel road just off highway 17, and attempted to take a few pictures of the northern lights that were visible that evening.

Wednesday November 15, 2006

The Bridges of Madison County

Last Wednesday, November 8th, it was one of those rare fall days where the temperature was in the upper 70s, and it would've been just plain wrong to sit in an office the whole day. Fortunately, I rode the bike to work so mid-afternoon I headed south of I-35 and ended up down by Winterset. Despite having lived in Iowa my whole life, I'd never actually seen the covered bridges in this after. When I was headed into Winterset, there was a sign that pointed to the south saying that there was a bridge down that way. After heading down a number of miles of gravel roads, I found the Holliwell covered bridge:

Even better than the bridge itself, was everything that people had written on the interior of the bridge. Not the typical meaningless graffiti, but rather things like marriage proposals and memorials to loved ones that has passed away.

After stopping there for a little while, there was a sign pointing off to the south saying that there was another bridge nearby. After riding for what seemed like an hour (they really need to put the distances on those signs), I found the Imes covered bridge:

This one wasn't in its original location, instead its on the east side of St. Charles, right off the I-35 exit. A lot more geared towards tourists, it seemed.

After that, I headed back up to Grimes, and back to work. It was a good couple hours away from the office though, and a much needed break that day. I'll definately try to make it back down there when the weather is nice and check out the other bridges in the area. I'll also try to bring something better than the camera in my phone next time too.

Sunday September 24, 2006

Apple, I Really Expected You To Do Better Than This

Apple recently launched a promotion where were giving away a number of TV show downloads in iTunes for free. Even though I'm not a fan of any of those shows, I have made purchases through the iTMS in the past, and I thought this would be a good opportunity to see what the video quality is like. Then the problems started.

Their reponse:

Gee, thanks Robert. How about just giving me any explanation at all as to what error 8003 is? Even a technical explanation would be better than sending me to a knowledge base article that doesn't include that error code.

And this time, the response is even more helpful:

Let see, item 3, 4, 5, 6, 10 and 11 were all available in my original message to them. AGAIN, how about just giving me an explanation of what error 8003 is? By this time, there's plenty of guesses by people in the discussion forums on how to deal with this error, but no one that seems to actually know what it means.

Rather then encouraging me to make additional purchases through the iTMS, Apple has just guaranteed that I will never make a purchase through that store again. If a customer is unable to receive their downloaded purchases, even if free, and "iTunes Store is unable to provide technical support," I really don't feel like risking any further money on it.

Monday August 21, 2006

Plants from Glacier and Yellowstone

While wandering around the parks on during the trip, it really struck me how every single crack in a rock seemed to have a flower of some variety growing in it.

The plants in the first 5 pictures are from Glacier:

This is one is from the Earthquake Lake area:

And this final one is from Yellowstone:

Sunday August 20, 2006

Finals Days in South Dakota

Saturday was out last day on the road, before arriving at my parent's house. Coming through South Dakota, the drought they've been experiencing was stunning to see. There's little left of the corn crops, and in many places, the corn was bundled up into hay bales instead of being harvested.

Early in the morning, we stopped at Devils Tower.

There is a really nice trail that goes around the base of it, so I went on a nice little hike around it. In many of the trees and bushed, you could see prayer cloths left by American Indians.

Around the tower, there are some beautiful red rock formations:

This little guy was in one of the prairie dog areas around the monument. While he was eating, he'd tip backwards and his little feet would go up in the air.

After spending a couple hours in that area, we headed over to Badlands National Park.

Here's a couple pictures from inside the park:

After a very long day of driving, we made it to their house around 1 AM Sunday morning. After unloading the dogs, and a few essentials, I crashed on the couch for the night. Sunday morning, I headed back to Des Moines, and am finally home again.

Final Yellowstone odometer: 13245, 408 miles in the park.

It was an absolutely incredible trip.

Friday August 18, 2006

Forests, Dams and Passes

On the way out today, we went through Yellowstone one last time. I managed finally to get a picture of the Upper Falls:

We drove through Shoshone National Forest on the way out, some of the scenery was incredible.

Along the highway, signs were posted identifying the different types of rocks that made up the mountains, and their approximate age.

We stopped at the Buffalo Bill Dam, and on the way to the visitor's center, there was a number of pieces of old machinery removed from the dam during the 1985-1993 Dam Modification project.

Upstream Cableway Wench, "this cableway wench, which was used to install and remove the ball plugs, trash racks, and the bulkhead gate for the left abutment outlet works, dates to the construction of the Shoshone Power Plant in 1922."

Balanced Plunger Hydraulic Valve, "this 48-inch diameter value is one of two which were originally installed at the base of Buffalo Bill Dam in 1920 to supply water to the Shoshone Powerplant and Lower Level River Outlet Works."

Ball Plug, "this large wood and concrete ball plug was one of two used to halt the flow of water through the 42-inch-diameter Power Outlet Works conduits, located in the base of the dam."

This is a look downstream from the top of the dam, the Shoshone Powerplant is over on the left side:

And this is a look down from the top of the dam:

This is the Bullalo Bill Powerplant, its a little further downstream, and this picture is taken looking upstream:

We crossed the Powder River Pass, Kassi and I ran up to those rocks at the top of the hill, she'd been sleeping all day and needed to use up some of her energy.

The GPS unit I had with me showed a slightly different elevation, it was showing +/- 19 feet at the time, so it should be somewhat accurate. You can also see some other trip statistics on its display.

The view was great, and you could see the snow fences that the state uses to keep the pass open during the winter. You can see we're above the tree line here, too.

Tonight, we're in Gillette, Wyoming. Why is the carpet always green in Super 8s?

Thursday August 17, 2006

Earthquake Lake

This morning we headed down to the Earthquake Lake area. In 1959, the Yellowstone area was rocked by a severe earthquake, 7.5 on the Richter scale, and the epicenter was pretty much where we've been staying the last few days.

There was a landslide that blocked off the Madison River Canyon, forming a new lake, and killing 28 people.

During the quake, Hebgen Lake tilted - the north shore sank below the water line, and the south short rose. Waves in the reservoir crested over the dam at the west end of the lake, damaging it, but not destroying it.

At many point, the old highway though the area was destroyed either by landslides, or simply sinking under the water.

Looking out across Earthquake lake, you can see the trees that now have their bases underwater.

The landslide was caused when a wall of dolomite boulders broke loose, and the boulders and everything behind them slide down the valley.

When the rising levels of Earthquake Lake threatened the dam upstream, the Army Corp of Engineers created a spillway for the new lake:

When the lake filled, many of the cabins in the valley began floating on the surface. As the water level fell, a Ghost Village was formed by all these damaged, abandoned buildings.

Along Hebgen Lake, there was a small resort that was partially submerged when the land shifted. There's a rather dramatic story posted about how one of the buildings was occupied by a woman and her dog who were dumped into the lake. While escaping, the dog saved her from falling into new fissures that opened up, some as deep as 15 or 20 feet.

In all the times we've been out here since I was a kid, I can't remember ever visiting this area before.

On the way back, we stopped at the Campfire Lodge Resort for lunch. I ended up having breakfast, and it was excellent. Its a very small resort/resturant along the highway, and its worth taking some time to grab a meal there.

We're heading out in the morning, so the rest of the day is probably going to be packing and getting ready for the trip home, dad headed off to Idaho a bit.

Wednesday August 16, 2006

Artists Paintpots and Geysers

Rode into the park in the morning, and took a walk through the Artists Paintpots.

I eventually made it over to the Norris Geyser Basin. This first photo is of Steamboat Geyser, followed by various shots around the area.

Little Timmy after he fell through the surface?

A very tiny geyser:

After that, I rode up to Mammoth, and found elk wandering through town:

These are of Devil's Thumb:

On the way back, I took a 7 mile detour down a gravel road known as Blacktail Plateau Drive.

A petrified tree:

This next photo is of a female osprey, and two chicks. They were across the canyon from where I was, the male was circling overhead keeping a bald eagle away.

This is Tower Falls:

My dad swears there's a rock missing from the middle of the falls, I haven't had a chance to try and check on that. I was really irritates though when I seen this sign - the view from the bottom of the falls is wonderful, and I was looking forward to going down there all day:

The best part of the day by far though was the ride from Tower Falls down to Canyon Village. It was a freshly resurfaced, windy, twisty mountain road. I may have to go back tomorrow and find an excuse to take that road again.

Firehole Canyon Road and Rain (Tuesday)

We took a drive in the pickup through Firehole Canyon Road in the morning. Just after entering the park, we saw an elk:

Here's a picture from the canyon:

And this little guy was hanging out there, too:

We also stopped at the Fountain Paint Pots, here's a few:

On the way back, there was a female Osprey circling over the Madison River:

I caught an incredible sequence of her diving in the river, grabbing a fish, and taking off again. Here's one of the photos, you can see the fish hanging under her:

After going back to the cabin to pick up my bike, I returned into the park. Caught a photo of a buffalo:

And the Lower Falls on the Yellowstone River:

This is one of the Sulfur Caldrons:

Found this guy wandering through the Mud Volcano parking lot:

Here's Yellowstone Lake, taking from a hill next to the Fishing Bridge, it was starting to get very windy and stormy:

And here's the Fishing Bridge:

Do I even need to point out the irony?

And here's the last photo for the day:

I started back from Fishing Bridge, with the intention of stopping at all the various points along the way. Instead, I was greeted with a 2 hours rain storm, that included very cold mountain rain (not like we have in Iowa in the summer), lightening and high winds. The rain gear worked well, but I didn't have my waterproof boots or gloves on, so my hands and feet got very cold.

It was still a fun ride in the rain though, I was really impressed with how well the bike handled - I'm really going to hate coming back to the boring roads around home.

I'm Riding in the Rain

I'm sorry there was no update yesterday, I rode down to Fisherman's Bridge mid afternoon, and just after I started back, a thunderstorm hit. I spent the next 2-3 hours riding in heavy rain and lightening. I did have rain gear along, but after getting back rather late, I really didn't have time to put together the usual posting.

Yesterday morning, I managed to catch a sequence of photos of an Osprey diving into a river to grab a fish, it was incredible to see.

We're headed to Earthquake Lake this morning, and I'll try to have something for yesterday and today posted this evening.

Monday August 14, 2006

Life at Eino's

So this is where we're staying now:

Here's the building:

And finally, here's the view from the porch:

Its incredible.

We made it into Yellowstone National Park Today:

And one of the first things we saw was this bald eagle sitting in a tree:

Followed by Elk:

We took a quick trip over to Old Faithful:

You can see what happens if little Timmy wanders off the walkways:

This is runoff from Excelsior Geyser, I love the colors in these photos:

This is the Grand Prismatic Spring, 200 feet across, and the water temperature is 160 degrees:

I happened to catch White Dome Geyser from a distance when it was erupting:

And finally, this is Firehole Falls:

Sunday August 13, 2006

Arrived in West Yellowstone

When we left St. Mary this morning, I was able to get a few photos of the fire damage. These photos in no way show how extensive the fire was - one person told us that there were 37,000 acres that burned. The town and KOA were evacuated for 4 days.

Here's a few URLs with other information on the fire:

Red Eagle Fire Wildland Fire

Photos from the Red Eagle Fire - St. Mary, Montana

On our way up to St. Mary, you could see the guard rail posts had burned, they've taken most of them down now.

About 9 hours later, we arrived at the West Yellowstone KOA. Its a nice campground, but they've got a bit of an attitude that I didn't appreciate while checking in. They spend 5 minutes just trying to figure out if our trailer counted as an extra vehicle.

Here's the Kottage we're staying in.

In the morning, we're moving to the other resort where we're staying the rest of the week, and I'm a little uncertain if there will be any Internet access there (I really doubt it).

Saturday August 12, 2006

385 Miles in Glacier

Wandered around the park today, our last day here. The clouds were hanging a bit low in the sky this morning when I left, there was a light rain, then it stopped around 9:15.

My dad went rafting, and I was able to get a few good pictures of him as they passed under Belton Bridge. First picture is the bridge itself, at one point, it was the only acesss point into Glacier when flooding washed out all the other bridges in West Glacier. Only the cement portion was left, and they rebuilt the roadbed on top of it.

While waiting, there were three kids, two guys and one of their girlfriends, jumping off the bridge. I god a nice sequence of photos for one of their jumps, then they asked me to come over and take all their pictures one by one as they jumped. After a bit of coaxing from a passing boat, the girl finally jumped. I'm told the water is only about 20 feet deep at that point as well.

Here's his boat:

He highly recommends this place if you're ever in West Glacier:

Cute puppy picture:

Heading back through the park, I learned that when the clouds are at the same level as you are, you will get rained on.

I was very cold and very wet coming over the pass. I should've stopped to put the rain gear I had on, but it was raining so lightly, it seemed like overkill. Until it kept raining all the way up.

Random waterfall picture for today:

This one is to the west of Logon Pass, in a area where they were doing road construction. I'd wanted to get a picture of it every time I rode by, and I was finally able to.

There's an area just inside the east side of the park, with a sign that reads "Two Dog Flats." I had to get a picture of Dusti and Kassi next to it. I'm holding Kassi, and my dad is holding Dusti.

And one last bike picture (at Glacier, anyway):

We've loaded the bikes back up, and tomorrow morning we're headed off to Yellowstone.

Bike's final Glacier odometer: 12837

Friday August 11, 2006

O Canada! and Many Glacier

Once the weather cleared up after noon today, I rode up to Logan Pass. This is a waterfall that is coming down from that area as you approach it from the east.

Found this little guy on a trail:

Yes, the road heading down to the west is really as steep as it looks:

This evening, my dad and I rode up to Canada along the Chief Mountain International Highway. Here's Chief Mountain:

The highway briefly crosses back into the park:

And here's a picture of Canada:

Sadly, that's all the further we went, while I had my license with me, I didn't have my birth certificate or any other id that is required to get back into the US.

You could tell we were close to Canada, this bird looks like its freezing:

It was an extremely chilly ride up there this evening, I have to give Harley Davidson credit for their FXRG gear, the coat and boots kept me quite warm tonight.

From here, we headed down to the Many Glacier entrance to the park:

Incredibly beautiful area, especially as the sun is setting:

This is a stream that comes out of Swiftcurrent Lake:

And here's the lake itself:

There's a couple hotels and restaurants in the area, it'd be a great place to spend a night sometime.

And that brings Friday to a close. We've ended the stay here one more day, which mean we'll be leaving Sunday morning for the Yellowstone area. It looks like we're going to be skipping Missoula and the 400 ride along the river there.

Glacier National Park, Day 3, Rain

Great way to wake up this morning, rain, rain and more rain. It was raining yesterday evening, too, and since the campground receives their Internet access through a satellite connection, they've been cut off since then (that's why yesterday's posting didn't happening till a few minutes ago). No hiking this morning, and its getting late in the day to head off on what would be a several hour trip. Maybe tomorrow - we extended the reservation here by one day, so I may make it up there yet.