Last hiking day in SLC

 We managed to hike in three completely different biomes in our three full days in Salt Lake City. Day one (Big Cottonwood Canyon) was high alpine forest with wildflower meadows and aspen groves. Day two (Antelope Island, Great Salt Lake) was wide open, dry and rocky. 

For day three we chose Mill Creek Canyon and the Pipeline Trail. It was scrub oak and pine, with lots of shady areas in the tree cover and spectacular views of the canyon and down into the Salt Lake valley.

It was a morning well spent, about 4 miles of hiking at 6000 feet. We thought we'd try to find a nice lunch spot on our way back to town but the lines for a table were wrapped around the parking lots. Fourth of July long weekenders, presumably. So we ate leftovers at home, rested up during the heat of the day - high 90's yet again - and visited the Natural History Museum of Utah in the late afternoon.

This museum is one of the best I've ever been to. The architecture was gorgeous and the layout inside was really well done. Easy to follow floor plan and excellent exhibits - great overview on the history of the First Nations People plus loads on the geology and prehistoric animals. Plus every time you came to a bank of windows the view was absolutely stunning.

That's Antelope Island way off in the distance on the far right.

The solar panels on the rooftop are the biggest array of panels in Utah. It was a bit underwhelming. I think there are bigger fields than this in Simsbury. But it produces 25% of the electricity for the museum so good on them.

Day 2 in Utah

 The forecast called for another hot day so we got out early and headed to Antelope Island at the Great Salt Lake. When we arrived at 7:30 the temperature was around 70 degrees, but by the time we left four and a half hours later it was 95. It's definitely an advantage to be morning people!

The view of the island from the beginning of the causeway.

Our first hike was at Buffalo Point. Whoever named the point was unaware that the American Bison is not a buffalo. The views of the lake and the mountains in the distance were spectacular.

It looks like mist on the water but is actually the reflection of the clouds.

Here are my attempts of a selfie with Lee and one with my shadow, both from Buffalo Point.

Our next hike was at the Gravel Pit. (They really could use some help with naming things around here.) It was beautiful in its own way but some other adjectives come to mind first - desolate, harsh, barren. 

The knoll on the right is Buffalo Point.

You may not believe it but there's an antelope in this picture. We saw some more later but this one was special because it was the only other living mammal we saw on our Gravel Pit hike.

During the day we also saw a lizard and an owl and a whole lot of bison.

There was a herd of 300-500, or so the brochure said. We didn't count them ourselves.

This papa bison held up traffic while some females and their babies crossed the road.

We drove down to the Frary Ranch at the end of the paved road and walked around a bit but by then the heat was really building so called it a day. (But first zoomed in with my extended family for a quick 4th of July hello.)

The Wasatch Mountains overlooking Ogden.

Dinner was at the Red Iguana. It's unlikely we'll be able to stay up late enough tonight to see any fireworks.

Back on the plane

 Yesterday was the first time on a plane since we went to Hawaii for Christmas 2018. Some of that was unrelated to the pandemic. We'd been to Peru in 2017 and New Zealand in 2018 and didn't imagine that taking a summer off from traveling in 2019 would extend another two years, but here we are in 2021 and finally on a plane again. But not internationally. I'm not ready for that yet. The pandemic isn't over. 

But life is full of opportunities to weigh one's options and domestic travel feels safe enough. So we revamped our plans from a trip cancelled last year because of covid, packed our masks and hand sanitizer and took the leap. Here goes...

Salt Lake City. It's hard to believe that it's been nearly 45 years since I lived here. I really am that old. So much of what I've seen driving around the city, Holladay and Big Cottonwood Canyon looks unfamiliar. I think it's because I haven't had any interim moments to remind me of my life here. Anyway, I'm glad to have the chance to see it again.

Today we drove up Big Cottonwood Canyon to do some hiking. Keeping in mind that we are out of shape and a day earlier had been essentially at sea level, we chose a boardwalk hike around Silver Lake.

One mile boardwalk around the lake

We decided pretty early on that we could handle more and took a side trail to Lake Solitude. It was about 4 miles with an elevation gain of about 500 feet, starting from 8700 feet. We did okay for a couple of old, out of shape New Englanders. And boy, was it worth it. Beautiful.

The wildflowers were stunning.

We did not see any flying bikers. 

But we did see a sweet little family of ducks.

This little bird landed on a nearby branch and sang us a tune.
I'm on a quest to identify it.

We thought about doing another hike near the Brighton ski resort but decided we weren't up for more high altitude work so headed back to the valley. We drove through Holladay and saw my old house on Wildwood Road.

Then we went by my old junior high and high schools. They didn't seem all that familiar but it was cool to see them anyway. Plus we found a nice coffee shop in town with a pretty fabulous view of Mount Olympus.

The temperature is hovering in the high 90's with a relative humidity of 15% so we're spending a big chunk of the rest of the day lounging on the couch in our air conditioned Airbnb.

One more DC day

 On Sunday we skipped the bikes and hopped in the car instead. First stop was the George Washington distillery and grist mill. Touring both of the buildings was fascinating. I don't find myself drawn to studying history much but I certainly enjoy learning the things I come across on trips like this. We visited Mount Vernon a year and a half ago and I now know more about George Washington than I ever thought I'd be interested in. He was actually a pretty interesting guy.

We also made a stop at a park with lovely gardens and a pond and lots of cicadas.

A day outside DC

 On Saturday the weather cleared so we piled the bikes in and on the car and headed to the Mount Vernon bike trail. We parked next to the Teddy Roosevelt Island in the Potomac and headed south towards Alexandria. We parked there so we'd have the option of a post-bike hike if we felt like it. I was pretty wiped out by the time we got back to the car so no hike for me but I did take a picture.

We had nice views of the Lincoln and Washington Monuments, the Capital building and the runway at Reagan Airport.

One of my favorite parts was going underneath the roadway where there was play space - bike trail, basketball courts, picnic areas. It reminded me of Taiwan.

We biked past Alexandria before turning around and managed a very nice 22 mile ride.

In the evening we took a chance on an outdoor stand up comedy show in someone's backyard in the Mount Pleasant part of Washington. It was a lot of fun.

Manassas

 Today was a pouring down, all-day, flash flood warning, rainy kind of day. So no biking. But walking is fine so we visited Manassas, site of two major Civil War battles. The visitors' center had an informative but brutal video about the battles and we listened to a park ranger give a detailed overview of the second Manassas battle. I learned more than I'd ever known about the specifics of what the war was like. What an amazing loss of life.

Our walk around the area belied the brutality of what happened here 160 years ago. It was beautiful and it was peaceful.

For dinner we went back to our son's apartment and made lumpia, a traditional Filipino dish that involved a lot of vegetable chopping. Delicious.

Chopping veggies

Rolling the lumpia

Deep fried goodness

Back on the road again...

 It's not post-covid quite yet but it feels like it's time to venture out again. Not a plane yet - but soon! - and certainly not overseas - more thoughts on that another time - but in the car to see a son we haven't seen in a year in a half, that we can do. So we're off to the Washington, D.C. area, Falls Church to be exact.

 We loaded the car with our bikes so we can explore the bike paths of the greater DC area. Covid-19 laid me up for the better part of a year but I'm ready to be back in the saddle. We've done a little bit of hilly road riding but flat bike paths are more manageable. In fact, we did 18 miles the other day and I still had energy to get some things done later in the day. Definitely turned the recovery corner.

I am quite pleased that we didn't miss the Brood X cicadas. I thought we might be too late, but even through the closed car windows we could hear the noise. We've only just checked into our hotel so haven't been out to explore yet but there were plenty of dead critters in the parking lot to take a photo. I believe this lovely beast completed its life cycle as it had been destined to do and its offspring will reappear in 2038. Although the New York Times had some recipes I think I'll forgo the taste test. Unless someone offers me a hot plate of crisp, deep fired bugs with Thai basil and plenty of salt. That sounds good.