South Lake Tahoe

Climbing Mt. Tallac in 2004

I was in a 3 day backpacking trip with the Stanford posse over Mt. Tallac back in 2004. From the private trail head by Fallen Leaf Lake, we went straight up 3000 feet carrying 20 lbs backpack. It was one of the hardest hiking I've done.

Fast-forward 15 years and this trip is  now coming to an end. We drove 500 miles straight from Boise in this last leg of our journey. No hiking, no sightseeing; only charging stops for the first time in this trip. We made up for it the next day with Rubicon Trail.

Rubicon trail mostly follows the lake. The most scenic portion of the trail starts from Calawee Cove in D. L. Bliss Park and ends in Emerald Bay State Park for about 3.6 miles, one way. There was no shuttle back, so you either have to do the round trip of 7.2 miles, or turn around in the middle. We ended up doing 2.1 miles and turn back for the total of 4.2 miles. I knew I could get away with 4 miles and I did not want to push my luck, though another half a mile would've taken me to Farly Beach. Self discipline won the day.

View from Rubicon Trail

Boise, ID

Snake river no longer snakes by the time it reaches Idaho Falls. The water is rather green too; it's no longer crystal clear like when it left Grand Teton Mountains. It nonetheless meanders through Idaho, watering farms along the way, and we followed the river to Boise.

Snake River, Dammed in Idaho Falls

In my imagination, Idaho has been a vast farmland. Like Minnesota, only for potato rather than corn. Maybe it was shaped by my memory of Spokane that I visited  some 35 years ago. I was just out of college and the computer terminal manufacturer I was working for sent me there to troubleshoot the problem a potato processing plant was having with our terminal. I remember farm circles all over underneath as we flew in on a prop plane. Spokane is in Washington, true, but it is at the border with Idaho, it may as well be Idaho.

Snake River in Twin Falls

We were met with desert scape, not farm scape soon after we we left Idaho Falls. Large part of Idaho is covered volcanic rocks and they looked not unlike Nevada or Utah desert. In fact the Idaho desert spills into Nevada and Utah in the South and Oregon to the West. The farmlands are limited to the Snake River basins. Farmers draw water from the river and make the desert bloom with the gigantic wheeled sprinklers that rotates around. And that is the reason why the farms are circles, not rectangles.

In the north, the Rockies branches out to form the Idaho mountains. We originally planned on following the Bitterroot range to Salmon, and then switch to the Sawtooth Mountains on the way to Stanley.  That route would've gently drop us off at Boise. We had to give up on that because charging the car in the mountains was difficult. We instead followed Snake River here.

Snake River Canyon in Twin Falls, our charging stop after Idaho Falls, was too enticing to pass up. Tesla station was conveniently located at the top of it right off the Rim Trail by the visitor's center. We walked the rim and the bridge while charging and then drove down to the river. We were going to kayak the river, but the murky green river was not too inviting. So I asked the lad there about hiking trail instead. He pointed us to Augur Falls Trail several miles down the dirt road.

It might have been a good trail if we had time (and I had energy). We didn't, so we were going to hike a mile to the bridge and come back. Except that we didn't find the bridge. We took a wrong trail and ended up at a pond. The sun was beating down on us and there was nowhere to hide. Rim trail toward Shoshone Falls would've been a much more pleasant hike in retrospect.

So, there you have it: Idaho is mountains in the North and volcanic lava deserts in the South, not a vast potato farmland. Snake River then drapes across Idaho desert on its way to joining Columbia. We saw Columbia emptying into the Pacific in Astoria, we saw it beginning in Yellowstone, and then we followed it all the way to Boise, all in this trip. And now I can say I understand Idaho. If nothing else, this trip has been worthwhile for it.

Somewhere between Boise and Oregon

Yellowstone

Mystic Falls, Yellowstone

The original plan was to continue south from Missoula and follow Bitterroot Mountains to Salmon. Then turn West to Stanley on the way to Boise. Charging the car was a pain through Idaho mountains though -- we had to camp out in RV parks for 3 nights in a row, or pay millions of dollars at hotels that have EV charging station. So we gave up on it and headed West to Yellowstone instead.

Things have ways of working out. The sun was as intense as the last time we were here in 2017. But the air was breezy and cooler, a perfect weather for a day hike. The change of plan also saved us 2 days and afforded us an extra day of rest in Lake Tahoe before returning home.

I no longer remember if we stopped at Biscuit Basin the last time -- I'll have to sift through the pictures we took. But we didn't do any day hiking, and that I know. This time we walked to the trail head at the far end of the basin and hiked to Mystic Falls, for about 3 miles total.

We left Yellowstone through the West entrance and then followed US 20 southward to Idaho Falls. This gave us the view of Teton Mountains from Idaho, the opposite side from where we viewed in 2017. And now we can say that we know the Grand Teton, front and back.

Grand Teton from Idaho Side

Glacier National Park

Water here is not as milky. But it still retains that turquoise tint. The mountains are more lush too: the trees along Cedar Trail was covered with lichens like in the rain forest of Olympic National Park. The western side of the mountain must be getting dumped as the air rises to go over the 10,000 ft peaks. West Glacier gets 30 inches of rainfall annually while St. Mary on the eastern side gets measley a couple.

As we traveled eastward to Calgary, the landscape quickly turned flat as if the Rockies never happened.  Series of farms turned into ranches as we approach Calgary, a town known for cattle drive and stampede in its glory days. The mountain meanwhile ran away from us in southeastern direction and became invisible by the time we got to Calgary. The Rockies became visible once again past Fort McCleod as we travel south from Calgary. By the time we got to Cardston, we could see the peaks in the distance.

We got to St Mary, the launching point for Going-to-the-Sun Road, in the afternoon. We meant to leave Canmore before 7AM so that we would arrive at St. Mary by noon, but the hotel didn't serve breakfast till 7AM, so we were already an hour behind schedule when we left. We didn't spend much time in Calgary other than a quick charging stop. It was pouring and there wasn't much to look other than Bow riverfront anyway. But the stop for the Tesla charger and a bad Chinese take-out in Ft. Mcleod took an hour.

Luckly, Going-to-the-Sun road wasn't too long. It is only 85 miles, or 5 hours of drive including stops at a dozen points of interest.  We still had daylight left when we got to Moose Creek RV Resort past West Glacier, where we camped for the night.

I can't think of any scenic drive that matches this Going-to-the-Sun road. And there are scenic ones that we've driven through: Yosemite Valley drive, Zion National, From Prescott to Sedona, Grand Canyon Rim drive, etc. But the views from the harrowing Logan's Pass was more visceral. Maybe the cool temperature and lushness may have something to do with it.

We could've easily set up a base camp at Moose Creek and spent another day exploring and hiking Glacier national. Some dufus on the Net said that Banff is incomparably better than Glacier National, and I only scheduled 1 day in Glacier based on that misinformed opinion. I'll have to come back here, camp out and hike. Perhaps even backpack through the wilderness if I ever recover fully.

Banff, Canmore

Rundle Mountains

You know how you imagine things would look and then it turns out completely different when you actually get there. Canmore was one of them. I dismissed it as a no-where lodging town, much like Mariposa for Yosemite. Sitting across Rundle Mountains however, Canmore turned out to be a scenic resort town in its own right.

By the time we got to Golden BC, I was dog-tired; the 400 mile drive  from Seattle to Kamloops the day before, including stops in Vancouver and hiking Nairns Fall trail, took a toll.  Sitting down for lunch in Kicking Horse Chinese restaurant in Golden, I was thinking that we should stay in Golden for the night and then tackle Lake Louise in the morning. It's about the same distance to Lake Louise from Canmore anyway. But I already made reservation for 4 nights for whopping $750 and there was no cancelling it. So we marched on to Lake Louise and then to Canmore.

Lake Louise

Mirror Lake

Things have ways of working out. The sight of Lake Louise perked me up when we got there, and we charged up Agnes Trail to Mirror lake. It was harder hike than I imagined. It was 4 miles from where we parked, but the total elevation gain turned out to be 1000 feet. It was a real hike, in other words. I survived it with some help from my wife: she occasionally pushed me up on the way up and I leaned on her on the way down.  And now we had 2 full days, instead of 1, in Banff proper.

The next day we went into the town of Banff and hiked the trail to Bow Fall, the main tourist attraction in the park. It was only 1km long. After Agnes trail the day before, that was enough. Then we took Sulfer  Mountain Goldola and lounged at the top for an hour soaking in the view and the sun, and recovering from the hard hike the day before.

On day 3 I struck out on my own. After an easy day (yeah, now I'm calling 2km hike and a gondola ride an easy day), I felt I could tackle whatever's left. That's Moraine Lake trail, Johnston Canyon and Tunnel Mountain trail. That's total of 8 miles and it would've been impossible, of course. But that's how well I felt.

Moraine Lake was a bust. The parking was full, so I had to drive back to the overflow lot 6 miles away by the TC freeway. There, the line for the shuttle to the lake was 120 minutes. I turned around and headed to Johnston trail.

Johnston Creek

Johnston Canyon Trail was total of 4 miles from where I parked on the roadside. And it was about the same difficulty as the Sentinel Dome/Taft Point  hike in Yosemite, except that I did it faster in 3 hours. When finished, my legs were wobbly, but I still felt ambitious enough to go for Tunnel Mountain trail.


But the Tunnel Mountain trail was petty steep. The upper portion was only 1 mile and 800 ft in elevation, shorter and steeper than Agnes trail. The initial 0.1 mile in particular was straight up on stairs and the aftermath of Astoria Tower weighed on me. I gave up.

On the way to Tunnel Mountain trail, however, I came across Surprise Corner, the best vista point in the whole park that I didn't know about. You can climb down to the river from the top and it'll drop you right below Bow Fall. The view is just out of this world.

View from Surprise Corner

So, I hiked almost everyday since we left home. And 4 days in a row in Canada: Nairn Falls for 2 miles, Agnes trail for 4 miles, Bow Falls for 2 km and then Johnston Canyon for 4 miles. This trip has been twice as intense and twice as long so far, as the trip to Oregon last year. And I still was up and running by the time we left Banff. Should I declare that I recovered? Anybody not well versed with CFS would. But I know better. I'll probably will struggle for 3 weeks when I get back home. Then I'll settle into the steady state of 30,000 steps per week. (It would be nice to settle to 45,000 steps like in June, but the summer will be over by the time I'm done with the post-trip struggle). But you can always hope that the Spring is eternal.

Vancouver to Kamloops

What do you look like in the Summer?
A little sunnier in disposition, perhaps.
With the wet clouds gone, the blue glass boxes 
Lining your shoreline and boulevards 
Will shimmer under the sun
And your pale residents
Will come out from your belly 
And clog the trails of Stanley Park 

12 years ago, I wondered what Vancouver would look like in the summer. Now I have an answer. The picture below doesn't show it, but a lot of people were out biking and hiking in Stanley Park. Enough that a cop stopped me to point out that there were so many people on the road and I was driving too fast. Kinda embarrassing, but we had a long way to go and I was in hurry to get out of Vancouver.

Vancouver in Summer

We were skiing in Whistler back then, in the last days of 2007 just before I got sick with CFS. Now I'm here again,  hiking this time. Near Pemburton at the end of sea-to sky highway was a mile long trail to Nairn Falls along bluish grey Seton river. Since I gave up on Stawamus Chief Mountain trail in Squamish -- it was going straight up 1500 feet with lots of stairs -- I had to do this one.

Seton River near Nairns Fall

After Pemberton was the road to Kamloops that deserves a day of touring by itself. The Canadian Route 99 winds through the mountains culminating in Lilooets, a town of river and lakes surrounded by mountain cliffs. We descended on it at night with the moon, almost full, leaking its yellow light on the surrounding clouds. It was surreally beautiful and left me asking "what do you look like in daytime?"  I'm sure I'll be back for it, like I did for Vancouver.

Seattle

Kalaloch Beach

Climbing up Astoria Column was a big mistake. It's no more than 150 feet tall, nothing compared to 4 miles and 600 feet elevation hike I now am able to. But it was straight up  on spiral staircase. And it is always the sustained intensity that keels me over.  The next day I was  marooned all over again. The charging station at Kalaloch Lodge was about 300 m  away and I couldn't walk back to it after lunch. I had to send my wife to get the car despite she doesn't have a driver's license.

By the time we got to Sol Duc in the afternoon, however, I mostly recovered. In the past, such mistakes  would've costed me several days at the minimum. Now it's mostly one or two day affair. That's how far I progressed. Add the fact that I'm more exercise tolerant while I'm traveling, PEM is cut down to half a day.

Our 4500 mile trip to and from Canadian Rockies thus started.

It was  a smooth sailing till then. We left on Monday for CA coast and got to Eureka for the total of about 400 miles and millions of stops along the way for sightseeing and hiking.  More of the same the next day to Lincoln City, OR.

Somewhere North of Jenner, CA

Trinidad, CA

Cascade Head, OR

The original plan was to spend 2 nights in Lincoln city, so that I could get a full day of rest after hiking Cascade Head. Right after Cascade Head however, we went on to Aberdeen. And a smart decision that was. The Olympic Loop was just too big and it would've been impossible to make it one day from Lincoln City to Port Angeles. Starting the day from Aberdeen instead of Lincoln City allowed us to spend several hours in Sol Duc, hiking the trail to Sol Duc water fall and then dipping in the hot spring. And I tell you, alternating between hot spring and cold pool does wonders for your fatigue and ache after a long day.

Madison Fall in Elhwa Valley

View from Huricane Ridge

Entering Seattle over water via Bainbrige ferry rather than through land was yet another smart decision. For $18, we got to see the spectacular skyline from the water. And save at least one hour of travel time.

Seattle from Bainbridge Ferry

Gas Work Park in Fremont

Now here we are, perched at the Extended Stay in Bothell for 3 days. We stayed at Extended Stay millions of times during our cross-country trip in 2017, it's like coming home. And this is my opportunity to get some well deserved rest after 1,500 miles and charge up before the next leg to Banff.

I was here 12 years ago for the Whistler trip. We flew in and then rented cars to drive up North. We only had one day in Seattle. The dinner at the top of Space Needle was the highlight. (The rotating restaurant was no  longer, so we didn't go up this time.) Then we stopped there again on the way back for the New Years firework. I delegated the Seattle portion of the plan to someone else, so I don't remember the rest too well other than we hung out in the sculputure park and West Seattle.

The best way to explore a city is to divide it into neighborhoods and submerge yourself in them, one at a time. 3 days gave us enough time to do just that and we covered Fremont, Queen Anne, and Capitol Hill as well as Pioneer Square. Now I can say I have a better understanding of the city.

Despite the setback from climbing Astoria Column, I finished the week with 80,000 steps, the most ever. And, yes, the trip ended the PEM struggle after 5 mile hike prematurely by one week. In fact, it was over two days before the trip when I got busy with planning and packing.  Take a look:

Back in 2015

Yep, the 5 mile hike was a big mistake. 4500 steps yesterday, and I'm wallowing in that familiar feverless feverishness today. The gravity, about ten times as strong as it was yesterday, have me pinned down on the couch. I lay on my side -- pressing down on my iliotibial band relieves the thigh ache -- cross my ankles and have my legs stretched. Same thing with my wrists and triceps.

Yesterday was a brief respite: I did 6500 steps on Monday and paid price for 2 days. And now I'm right back in the pit. I am in about the same shape as I was in 2015 before the sudden improvement in June 2016.