Category Archives: National Parks

Count Them?

On our recent trip to North Carolina, we spent nearly every day at the Cape Hatteras National Seashore. Mild weather, expansive beaches, and lots of sea birds – what’s not to like? Here’s the scene we saw the first morning there:

Double-crested Cormorants and Brown Pelicans

The next morning we came upon this gaggle of cormorants on the beach, slowly sliding into the water as we approached.

As a pilot, I have always loved to watch pelicans fly, either in formation, or riding the “ground effect” of the waves.

I’ll leave you with one of the pretty sand dunes, with its streaks of dark sand and topping of beach grass.

A Visit to Mexico

Just across the Rio Grande from Big Bend NP is the tiny community of Boquillas de Carmen, which for decades, had a close relationship with park visitors – until 9-11.

Then, in early 2002, the crossing was closed and remained closed for eleven years. The residents moved away and worked and lived elsewhere, most 250 kilometers distant. Only since early 2013, have visitors been once again allowed to cross. The community, while still very poor, is rejuvenated. We had a wonderful visit – the highlight of our Big Bend trip.

You start with a rowboat across the Rio Grande. ($5 round trip)

Then take a burro, horse, or pickup to town. ($5 round trip)

Plodding along on a burro on a dusty trail in 80 degree temperatures, it was not hard to think about how long it would take to reach the distant mountains in the 1800’s.

We hired Estoban, a guide, to support the local economy and because he was helpful – Sally got in some good Espanol practice.

Some village scenes

We had a nice lunch in the shade – I had the goat tacos which were good, and about as adventurous as I get culinary speaking.

Many of the residents sell crafts – Sally bought from this woman’s family.

It was a great experience and a reminder of how good our relations have been, and are, with our Mexican neighbors.

Big Bend National Park

We just are finishing a road trip up to Big Bend National Park to get some sun and warmth and so we did – 37 degrees at night and mid-80’s during the day. We stopped at Casa Blanca SP and Seminole Canyon SP coming and going. Lots of straight driving at 75 but a good venture.

This is a view of the "Window" at the Chisos Basin

The Rio Grande

I’ll cover our international expedition next post.

Birds of Sequoia NP

I had several target birds on my list before we left for Sequoia National Park and While I didn’t do much serious birding, got all three on dog walks around the campground.

The most obvious were Stellar’s Jays, a raucous species if there ever was one. Anyone who has camped in the West likely knows these guys well – I just had never been in their area before. There was even a nest full of fledglings on a rafter on the entrance to the camp store, where hundreds of visitors pass every day. Some of these had already fledged and these were about ready to go.

The next life bird I got was a White-headed Woodpecker. They were active every morning but hard to photograph, especially with a leashed Vizsla “helping.”

The same goes for the Mountain Chickadee. They were calling and foraging high in the trees but not close enough for photos.

One morning, I heard a commotion down near the visitor center and found a group of about a dozen jays mobbing something. I was hoping for an owl or a hawk but this guy, which I think is a Common Raven, was not a very happy camper.

The last morning, these two young bucks with velveted antlers were right outside our camper. They obviously have gotten used to people. There’s no hunting in Sequoia NP.

I still have many shorebirds and seabirds that I am missing but the 4th of July weekend is not the time to go look for them. They’ll be here for my next visit.

Camping With Dane

Monday morning, Dane and I and our faithful Vizsla Penny launched for the long trip to Sequoia National Park.

Several months ago I went online to look for possibilities for campsites and wanted the mountains because I feared the temperatures elsewhere. I grabbed the only site available out of several hundred and as it turned out, it was probably the best campsite there.

The trip up was tough. We had to go through LA on I-5 (the five) and there were several serious backups. I’m not sure if it helps or not to have Google Maps tell you that “there’s a 25 minute delay ahead of you in five miles. You are on the fastest route.”

The temperatures were about 108 on the steep climbs north of LA and I watched the temperature gauge get higher and higher. Then I took a shortcut which looked good on the map but was as twisty and narrow a road I’ve seen. We entered King’s National Park and drove about an hour to our campground in Sequoia. Here’s Dane and Penny just below our site.

The campground was full with nearly every site having a campfire. The daytime temperature was in the low eighties -at 6700′ – and the nighttime temps were in the forties.

The first morning I was up early to walk the dog and met this young buck, whose antlers were in velvet, about 20 feet from the van. (I saw him and his brother/cousin each morning.)

One of the problems with National Parks is that they are not dog-friendly. You can not take them on any trails. I knew this but it’s still a pain. We took a drive down to the big redwoods Tuesday morning. Left Penny in the rig with hopes she’d not tear it up, and walked with dozens of others down to see the General Sherman tree – the largest tree by volume in the world. Going down was easy but still it was nice to rest.

Here is Dane in front of the tree and a shot of one of the many other stately trees.

The following day, we drove about a half hour over to the national forest where dogs are allowed. We cloned up an old logging trail where only elk and horse prints were visible, bushwhacked up to a mountaintop, and Dane tried, without success, to find a cell signal.

He took this photo of Penny and me before we headed back toward the van, with a slight pause for getting “unlost.”

The trip back Thursday was brutal. There was more traffic (getting a jump on the long weekend) and four or five major backups that went for five or ten miles at a time. Too many people for the 8 lane roads – and the thrill of having young Marines on motorcycles threading there way between the slow-moving cars and trucks, dodging wide mirrors, driving way too fast.

The outing was great. We got some exercise, ate well, slept well, and only got lost in the woods for about ten minutes. The Airstream worked well – I used the solar a few times to supplement the batteries, and Wednesday for lunch, we ordered pizza from the campground store. Now that is glamping.

A Couple of Life Birds

I had just pulled in Juniper Campground at Theodore Roosevelt National Park, selected s site, and walked with Penny back to register. Coming back I met a couple of birders from Minnesota who were just starting out on a short walk themselves. As I walked into my campsite, two birds flew in low, perched and then flew back into the underbrush. One had a lot of blue so I called to the birders and they joined me. I had one in the binoculars, was trying to sort it out, when Penny yanked at her leash, and I lost the bird. Meanwhile, we were joined by an experienced friend of theirs and the three of us studied the female. Combining our observations, we decided we had seen two Lazuli Buntings. A life bird but not as well-seen as I would have liked. Well, I fixed that the next morning when I saw several more and got this photo of one feeding.

That next morning was a great outing – just dozens of birds singing and cavorting. I found these two Northern Flickers doing some sort of courtship routine, stretching their necks up into the air, one after the other.

I then heard, then saw two Western Kingbirds gathering food for their brood. I thought I had already logged these but no, it was also a lifer. (There are many Eastern Kingbirds out here- their range is nearly 2/3’s of the country.)

Then I saw a guy, a Common Nighthawk, sleeping right out in the open. I had seen him or a buddy flying overhead the night before and I left him undid turned to get some beauty sleep.

There are still many calls that I can’t sort out – but that’s part of learning. I continue to be entranced by the repertoire of the Western Meadowlark. What a happy bird – just what I need from time to time.

Visiting Teddy Roosevelt Country

I had no idea how much water northern North Dakota had until driving mile after mile of ponds, ditches, even lakes. There were ducks everywhere but I was really surprised to see many cormorants and even more gulls.

We had awoken early due to a thunderstorm and more were forecast so we hit the road early on Sunday morning. Public radio is interesting here: they had a program, which is on routinely, where a professor, a Thomas Jefferson scholar, takes on the role. He was discussing design issues which he picked up from his time in France….. you get the point. Later, I tuned into a church service which sounded a lot like Episcopal – but of course was Lutheran. I tuned in after the sermon just as communion was starting so much of the broadcast was happy organ music while folks shuffled up to received the bread and wine. I sang along with one hymn but they could use a better organ. It was an interesting diversion and in a way, grounded me for the rest of the journey.

Before long, we came into fracking territory with open flares, pumps, and all the trappings of the Bakken shale oil boom – which has tailed off but still cranking. Thousands of white pickup trucks, big “man camps” with hundreds of small RV-style apartments, hastily thrown up motels and restaurants, and many miles of pipeline snaking across the green hills. It was ugly – much worse than the parts of west Texas we visited.

Fortunately, about 12 miles south of the worst of it, we came over this bill and the vista of the Theodore Roosevelt National Park. So how to react? Pull off and take a stupid selfie.

The Juniper campground lies along the Little Missouri River and like most NPS sites, does not have hookups nor does it take reservations. We have a nice quiet site and just a short path through the trees brings us to this sight.

The geological features here are truly amazing. There’s a scenic drive that Penny and I took Sunday evening. Here are a few shots from the drive.

The birding here has been quite good and I will let you know why in my next post. There’s no signal here – have to drive five winding miles to get coverage. Trying to do this with a cell phone, transferring some photos from my camera to my laptop and then syncing to my iPhone, is challenging. It’s a little backwards but driving the Lewis and Clark trail at 70, with air conditioning, kept things in perspective. And then Monday morning, as I was leaving the park to get some groceries, two big bison were in the road, just doing their thing. Which, whatever it is, is on bison-time. I blew the puny van horn, they just stood there. Finally, I eased between them too close for comfort. I had visions of having to call Progressive with a wild bull story.