Zipline

I'd been looking for an opportunity to try a Zipline and I found one on our trip to Hawaii.  My son Mark and Daughter-in-law Mimi were game to go with me.

The Zipline operated in an area of native forest and macadamia nut orchards.  We were encouraged to pick up macadamia nuts as we walked under the trees.

We took off from platforms, some we had to climb up to, others were almost at ground level at the edge of canyon.
At one point we walked across a narrow suspension bridge rather than zipping across.

With harness and two straps hooking us to a slide and cable, we were ready for our adventure.

Mimi

 

 

 

Ladies first!

Mark

 

Then the gentlemen

On the gentle Zips, the guides would some times have to reach out or climb out to pull in participants if they didn't have enough momentum to make it all the way to the next platform.  On other lines they used a block on a rope to stop you as you can see above.

I tried the video on my little Coolpix, not the best venue for learning a new skill as the action was pretty fast.  When I tried to take pictures while zipping I was unable to keep from spinning and if you watch the video you'll see I was out of control.  I would like to get another opportunity in the future and see if I can learn to control my flight.

  Linked to Outdoor Wednesday

The Parks of Moab

Our next stop was Moab, Utah where two National Parks and one State Park awaited us.

 Our first stop was Dead Horse Point State Park.  This afforded us a great view of Canyonlands and the Colorado River.

 We also had a view of some salt ponds where water saturated with potassium chloride and sodium chloride is left to evaporate and the salts are then harvested.  The mountains in the background are the "La Sal" mountains.  Fittingly, la sal means salt in Spanish.  The are sits atop a large deposit of Potassium and Sodium salts, the remnant of an ancient sea.

 This overlook was withing the boundaries of Canyonlands National Park.  We didn't go down into the canyons, it is rugged land and the roads are unpaved.

 The following day we headed to Arches National Park where the features are quite different.  We took several short hikes.

 On this hike our destination was landscape arch.  You can gage its size by the figure in the corner.

We didn't have the blue skies of earlier days but even on this gray, cloudy day the color of the rocks was spectacular.

You can find more scenes of the great outdoors at "Outdoor Wednesday" hosted for us by Susan at A Southern Daydreamer.

Climbing El Capitan

Rock climbing is a popular activity among some outdoor enthusiasts (not this one, though).

This massive rock in Yosemite is popular with rock climbers, and the meadow below is a popular place to watch the climbers.

 If you wonder why my shots are a bit fuzzy, the climbers were hard to reach with my 300mm lens.  Also, I was lazy and depended on the image stabilization feature of the lens rather that setting up the tripod.  The yellow circle indicates where the climbers in the next shot were.

 The guy in the upper right is preparing to pull up the gear that is down by his buddy.

 It takes most climbers at least two days so they must find a ledge or use a suspended hammock to sleep.

 This climber and his partner were on the other face, a bit to the left of where a rockfall occurred a week later.  Geotripper posted some information about that.

This group was below and to the left of the first and are hidden from view by a tree in the first shot.

This seems an appropriate entry for Outdoor Wednesday, hosted for us by Susan at a southern Dreamer.  Click the link to see more views of the world outside.

Denali Tundra

I've been playing hooky, off to my mountain hide-a-way where I am off the grid.  I'll try to finish with the Alaska photos before I return to my hermit life.  It's amazing how long it is taking me to finish a one week trip!

Our scheduled full day at Denali was another gray day.  Since there was no chance of seeing "The Mountain", we elected to go on a Tundra walk.

This is an amazing ecosystem, very different from anything I see in California although it does remind me of bogs I have visited in Maine.  There is a great variety of low growing plants.  We saw a variety of fungi.

There were mosses and lichen which provide sustenance for the caribou in the winter.

The tundra has a springy feel when you walk on it, rather like walking on a mattress.

There is a great variety of berries, these low cranberries were not yet ripe but blueberries were abundant and we picked and ate them as we walked along.

The miniature dogwood I have seen in Washington  but not in California.

This shot may not look like much but I find it quite interesting.  This beaver pond has been drained and you can see a feature that you would not see if it was full of water.   Do you see the pile of sticks at the left side?  enlarge and you can see it better.  I have drawn a yellow line where the beaver had his entrance to the lodge.

You can see more images of our outdoor world at

OutdoorWednesday hosted by Susan at a Southern Daydreamer.

Into Denali--Outdoor Wednesday

This was the day we would go into Denali National Park.  We left the lodge in Talkeetna early so that we could arrive at the train station in Denali before the train.  No, we weren't going to take the train but that is where we would meet the bus into the park.  They came once a day to pick up their guest and timed their trips to coordinate with the train from Fairbanks.

With few exceptions, private cars are not allowed inside the park.  There are three types of transportation, all on converted school buses.  There are tour buses and shuttle buses operated under contract with the Park Service and there are lodge buses, operated by the three lodges located at the end of the road deep inside the park.  We would take one of the lodge buses.

Since it is a seven hour journey there were several stops along the way for restrooms and for the snacks that the driver had along.  There were also stops for scenery and wildlife viewing.  And there were rules.  No one was allowed out of the bus when wildlife was in sight, you could open the window to take pictures but no part of the body was to be outside.

It was another drippy, overcast day.  I was confident, though, that the skies would clear before we left.

At the Eielson visitor center we saw this incredible piece of artwork

A four panel fiber art creation that was hand dyed, painted, embroidered and quilted.

I couldn't get it all in one shot.  It is magnificent!

The classic shot of Denali (Mt. McKinley) is looking south from wonder lake.  The driver stopped so we could get a picture.  See it?  Neither did we.

We reached our destination, the Kantishna Road House.  I couldn't believe that we had been on the bus seven hours.  Even with the clouds I found the scenery breathtaking and the trip went fast.

It is 91 miles from the depot to the Roadhouse, all but 15 are dirt road.  Passengers on the shuttle buses may get off and go hiking and re-board another bus if there is space.  Areas where wolves or bears have been sighted are off limits to hikers.

Find other view of the outdoors at Outdoor Wednesday, hosted by Susan at a Southern Daydreamer.