Beautiful Yosemite

Traveling from Sequoia to Yosemite, we were looking forward to a 4+ rated RV park on the banks of a bubbling river with blossoming flowers - according to the amazing website description. What we found when we arrived was a small strip of land on the edge of town wedged between an industrial park and a trailer storage area. Yes, there was a stream-like "river" that reminded Doug of the Little Calument River near Gary, Indiana, which used to periodically catch fire. Needless to say, we quickly moved to another campground. 

Although the new RV park was beautiful, with rolling hills and a quiet, secluded spot for our trailer, we immediately noticed how extremely dry and brown the landscape was due to the four year California drought. This was our first exposure to the severity of the drought, although we're sure it won't be the last. On our second day, there was a forest fire in the hills of Oakhurst, just outside Yosemite. It lit up a hundred acres and filled the air with smoke. Specially trained firefighters responded and were able to get the fire under control in one day. 

Unlike the first RV park, Yosemite did not disappoint. Yosemite is the grand-daddy of all the National Parks. It was the first land preserved by the United States government, set aside by Congress and given to California as the first State Park. Later, after Yellowstone became the first National  Park, Yosemite also became a National Park. The Mariposa Grove of Sequoias, next to the Yosemite Valley, was added as part of the park later on. The US Calgary and Buffalo Soldiers operated and preserved the park until the National Park Service was formed. 

The major attraction of Yosemite is the Yosemite Valley. The Merced River flows across the valley's flat floor at an elevation of 4,000 ft. above sea level. The valley is surrounded by steep, almost vertical cliffs soaring up another 3,000 ft. on each side. 

In the late 1800's, there was a  debate about how this valley was formed. Geologists of the day believed a great rift in the earth caused the valley floor to drop, creating the sheer granite walls with rivers dropping over the edge as waterfalls. John Muir, a famous conservationist, maintained that it was caused by powerful glaciers removing rock. He went on to say that the sheer walls were formed because they were solid granite and could withstand eons of erosion after glaciers removed the debris on the valley floor. It turns out John Muir was correct. It became a narrow valley with multiple waterfalls tumbling over the granite walls. 

The trip to the valley takes over an hour, and after going through a tunnel, visitors are greeted by a stunning view of the valley. We have included a photo of this view above.   Unfortunately, due to the drought and lack of winter snow in the higher altitudes, the falls are only flowing at about 1/3 their usual capacity and some of the smaller ones are expected to dry up during August.  But even with the drought, the valley is impressive.

During our time at Yosemite, Doug taught a workshop. He did a number of paintings both at the Merced River, the cliffs and waterfalls.  The paintings shown below include El Capitan, Merced River rapids and the Upper Falls.    

To see all of Doug's 2015 National Park Tour Paintings, Click here: 
http://www.dougtweddale.com/#!blank/c1hp2

Grand Canyon and Sequoia

We left Lake Powell and said our goodbyes to Doug's sister Deb and her husband Mike, but we'll see them again in a month when they join us at Yellowstone National Park. Our next destination was the Grand Canyon for four days, followed by a two day stay at Sequoia National Park.

It's been quite a sensory contrast going from one beautiful scenic location to another. Each place is unique and breath-taking, making it hard to imagine that anything can top it - until we go to the next spot and are struck with awe and wonder all over again. 

Grand Canyon North Rim

 As we left Lake Powell, the elevation was 4,000 ft. and the temperature was in the 90's. When we landed at our RV park at Grand Canyon's North Rim, we had climbed to 8,000 ft., with daytime temperatures in the mid 70's and nights in the 40's. One day, we had a thunderstorm roll through and drop an inch of hail, creating an instant winter scene. 

The North Rim was spectacular with red and rust colored walls in the foreground, accented by endless background layers shadowed in purple and blue, stretching all the way to the horizon. Doug's first painting was bought on site by a man from Seattle. He painted two more, one of which Sue has claimed to hang in the dining room at home. Sue's hikes around the rim were the best so far and she can't imagine any place better, so that must mean that more great hikes are yet to come! 

It was tough to leave the Grand Canyon, but we heard the Sequoias' beckoning call. We left morning temperatures in the mid 60's and embarked on a grueling eleven hour journey through the hottest desert areas in the state, including a pass by Death Valley. Temperatures were well into the 100's all day, with the highest being 113. On a few hills, we had to turn off the air conditioner to keep the engine from overheating. The car radiated heat like we were driving through a furnace. We were overjoyed to reach our campsite near Sequoia as it was higher elevation and cooler.   

Sequoia National Park

The majesty of the giant Sequoias is difficult to articulate. They are one of the oldest living species on earth and grow at high altitude on the west side of the Sierra Nevada Mountains, only in specific environments. As you stand and look up at them, you are surrounded by silence, along with a feeling of spaciousness much like being inside a cathedral. 

Rangers told us that they can't really determine the Sequoia's life span. Trees seem only to die when they fall over due to soil erosion or other causes. The oldest tree is called General Sherman, estimated to be 3,500 years old and possibly the oldest tree on earth. It's top was sheared off by lightning years ago, but the remainder of the tree continues to grow. 

Biologists have determined that Sequoias require forest fires to reproduce. Their cones are small and tightly closed with seeds the size of oat flakes. Fire heats and opens the cones to release the seeds. Meanwhile, their bark is up to two feet thick, resistant to fire and has strong healing properties.
Many trees have char marks from fire and you can see this in Doug's paintings. His favorite is a close up of the base of the trees, called Among Giants.

Next we are off to Yosemite National Park for two weeks and Doug will be teaching a workshop.

If you'd like to see all Doug's paintings so far, click this link to his website: 

http://www.dougtweddale.com/#!blank/c1hp2

  

Cruising Lake Powell

So, we’ve been on the road almost a month. Driving from place to place is an amazing display of horizon to horizon views for hundreds of miles.  Rain storms and giant cloud formations march across the view, followed by clear sky of the deepest of blues.  We’ve seen many rainbows, driven through many rainstorms and have seen buttes of fantastic shape and form lit up with brilliant reds, oranges, golds and browns.

We are also struck by the many moods of climate in each location, and the effects of elevation on the temperature and plants.  This morning, we left Lake Powell after a hot week of temps in the 90’s and very intense sun at 4,000 feet.  Desert cactus, sage and scrub bushes all able to survive the desert extremes surrounded us, as well as lizards, snakes, chipmunks and squirrels. Yet even with the desert dryness, it rained the night before we left.  A staff member at Lake Powell told us the lake has been rising 8 inches each day for a week, yet it is 80 feet down from its high water mark in the 1980’s. After driving only 2 ½ hours, we arrived at our campsite near the north rim of the Grand Canyon. Now at 8,000 feet, we are surrounded by pines and cool air fragrant with pine and high altitude freshness. 

The past five days have been wonderful, cruising Lake Powell with my sister Deb and her husband Mike in their boat. Lake Powell is a huge reservoir created in the 1950’s when the Glen Canyon Dam was built to harness the Colorado River.  Imagine a lake over 250 miles long with multiple canyons made from sheer sandstone walls. Travelling by boat, you weave in and out of the various canyon slots already created by the landscape before the dam was set.  The water is clear and deep, and you can go into very small canyons that are only a few feet wide and many hundreds of feet deep.  Only a slot of sky can be seen when looking up. To think that this was all made by the power of flowing water eating into the sandstone and shale is very surreal. 

 

One day we went to see Rainbow Bridge, which is one of the largest known natural bridges. It is nestled in a small canyon, accessible only by boat, followed by a short hike. This natural wonder of the world was formed thousands of years go by a stream slowly and relentlessly eroding the rock, while wind and gravity helped form a perfect arch for us to enjoy. Many famous people like Thomas Moran and Teddy Roosevelt traveled there on horseback with great difficulty in the hot dry desert before Lake Powell was created.

To the Navajo, Rainbow Bridge is a sacred place. They believe it tracks the movement of the sun each day, like a creation clock.  The Park Service has restored the site to match a photo from 1910, before the many tourist’s feet tread there. Now, they do not allow people to pass under the arch out of respect for the Navajo traditions and beliefs. Doug felt honored to paint such a sacred place and hopes you enjoy this photo of his work.  

Doug: For me as an artist, each location has been a wonderful and awesome parade of nature’s creation!  I want to stop and paint it all – but time calls and we have places to be.  Tomorrow I will be painting at the North Rim of the Grand Canyon and Sue will be snapping more photos and hiking the trails.  

Majestic Zion

It's hard to believe we've been on the road for close to three weeks already! We've bonded with the trailer and settled into a nice living style. On May 24, we arrived at Zion to an RV park full of motorcycles, ATVs, kids, and dogs. This was quite a shock after only meeting up with retired folks on the way here. Then, we remembered it was Memorial Day weekend. Everything settled down by Monday, although we are seeing more families now since school is letting out.

The daily temperature has gone from around 60-70 degrees at Mesa Verde to 85 to 95 here at Zion.
This just means we're up and out at the park in the morning and swim in the pool in the afternoon. Tough life, huh?

Zion is absolutely beautiful. The Virgin River has cut through layers of sedimentary rock over the centuries to create a sheer-walled canyon of immense size. The morning sun lights up certain canyon walls with shades of beige and brown. The evening light brings completely different lighting effects.
Doug's artist fingers have been twitching all week. He's been painting every day (see below for his latest) and had a student join him for a workshop this past week.  Sue has been hiking a different trail every day taking lots of pictures. This one is called "Rivendell".  To see more photos, visit Sue's Facebook page.

One day, we took a side trip to Bryce Canyon. While at Zion, we drove through the bottom of the canyon, looking up at the peaks and walls. At Bryce, we were at the top of the canyon looking down into it. The vivid orange and white colors of Bryce were very surreal and the vast landscape made it seem like we were on a different planet, 

DOUG'S PAINTINGS

Zion is amazing!  A deep canyon cut by the Virgin River.  I painted near a maintenance area for the city of Springdale this morning and a city employee told me the river cuts 3 - 4 inches deeper every year.  The towns here are set in this canyon ringed with rock.  He also relayed that in 10 years 5 homes have been destroyed by huge boulders breaking loose and rolling down.  So this canyon is a story of erosion and time.  The rock faces are often sheer and vertical, with subtle flavors of earth colors woven though the layers of rock.  When I went to the Zion Park Museum, in front they have a large informational sign with an enlarged representation of one of Thomas Moran's watercolors of the canyon looking up to the narrows with the Virgin River flowing down the center.  It showed Moran on a horse next to a wagon entering the park area.  How different it is to arrive today (thank goodness), but how timeless the view - essentially unchanged from his day.  

The paintings I am including are only a few of those I have done.  We have included a photo of me standing next to some of them under the shade of our trailer awning as a sampler.  The first is called "Heart of Zion".  I saw this sheer wall lit up by the morning sun and I knew I had to paint it. The second is called "Zion Splendor".  I painted it at dusk when the evening sun lit up the face of this amazing mountain.  It seems to extend out like a ships bow with all the earth tones lit up.  I know it looks surreal with all the vibrant colors, yet this is how it is.  My third painting is called "Virgin River Flow".  You can see this river looks much more benign than it really is.  A ranger said this river in flood has uncovered many new bluffs buried long ago.

Sadly, but with great anticipation, we leave Zion in two days for Lake Powell for some great times with my sister Deb and husband Mike on their wonderful boat.  We will share the experience of four people sharing the trailer, and all the fun we have.

  

Adventures with Conestoga Lite

We've named our trailer Conestoga Lite because it gives us the taste of pioneer life with less life endangerment. 

At the start of the five day journey to our first destination, we were excited and confident. Before long, however, we learned that RV trailer living is, well, different. It was challenging traveling 7-8 hours/day, setting everything up for the night, only to break it down the next morning.

We've decided the trailer is in charge. As soon as it seems we have all the nuances down, a problem pops up - sometimes due to our inexperience and sometimes we swear the trailer plays tricks on us. For example, we spent a half hour trying to figure out why the center lights weren't working, only to find the master switch was accidentally turned off. One night we ran out of propane and, therefore heat. The heater came back on eventually, but only when it was good and ready. Another day, we had no TV reception because the antenna cable decided to randomly disconnect from the trailer. As we said - the trailer is in charge. At various times, we've looked at each other and said, "What have we gotten ourselves into?".

It may seem kind of crazy to leave a spacious,  comfortable home and spend 3 1/2 months on the road in a trailer, but there is a wonderful feeling of freedom. While on the road, we listened to the audio book "Wild", about a woman who traveled over 1,000 miles on the Pacific Crest Trail. Her adventures and dangerous mishaps made us appreciate our luxuries. We figured if she could do THAT and survive, we had no cause to complain about our circumstances. Her strong spirit and driving incentive became infused in us. 

We arrived in Mesa Verde on Thursday, May 21st and settled in for a three day stay. Once we took in the amazing vistas and saw the ancient ruins, we turned to each other and said, "This is so worth it!"
                

  

  

Mesa Verde is the largest archaeological preserve in the United States and is best known for a large number of well-preserved cliff dwellings such as those pictured above. The people who inhabited Mesa Verde were ancestors of the Pueblo tribe called Anastazi and lived there from 400 to 1300 AD. Seeing these ruins in person and imagining the people who lived there was both humbling and inspiring. Sue was able to hike down to the site for close up shots while Doug painted the scene from above. 

DOUG'S PAINTINGS

 

I've included three paintings I did at Mesa Verde. The first is of the Anastazi ruins. The second is an amazing tree that Sue found near the ruins. i call it  "Anastazi Witness". The third is a rock butte I painted across the road from our campsite. Thunderstorms were coming through,so I was dodging raindrops. 

Our next journey will take us to Zion National Park in Utah for two weeks.  

Doug and Sue's 2015 National Park Tour Blog

Welcome all to our Summer National Park Tour Blog. This trip is the result of a dream long held by both of us in our own ways. For Doug, it has been something he has always wanted to do. It was in the category of one of those daydreams – you know the kind – a wonderful thought followed by the belief that it would never happen.  Sue has always been passionate about immersing herself in pure nature, enjoying hiking, taking pictures and just being absorbed by the beauty of it all.

It was really Doug’s passion for art that made this trip become a reality. The thought of doing a series of paintings in each of the major National Parks was exciting and, at first, he considered doing over the course of a few years – visiting one or two a year. Then the great gift of retirement offered the option to “just do it” and hence the RV trailer idea was born.   

We embarked on our journey on Saturday, May 16.  We will be visiting the following national parks/sites over the course of the summer: Mesa Verde, Petrified Forest, Zion, Lake Powell, Grand Canyon, Bryce Canyon, Sequoia, Yosemite, Redwood, Yellowstone and Glacier. We will then head up into Canada and come back east, entering the US through the Great Lakes. Our return date is sometime in the middle of August. (Yes, we ARE coming back!).  We look forward to sharing our experiences and Doug’s paintings with you via this blog.  

Doug Connects with Artist Thomas Moran

In preparation for this trip. I have been researching early National Park artists like Albert Bierstadt, Frederic Church, and the Hudson River School and found myself connecting especially with Thomas Moran. I have found a parallel in our two lives. Thomas Moran immigrated to the Philadelphia area from England and he painted many areas along Fairmont Park that I have driven past many times going downtown. He also dreamed of going west. In his day, it was via transcontinental railroad, followed by horseback to the sites we will be visiting. He was the first artist to paint Yellowstone.

Thomas Moran travelled with survey teams to these places and painted some magnificent works. His paintings, along with photos and surveys helped convince Congress to make Yellowstone the first National Park. His huge painting “The Grand Canyon of Yellowstone” was purchased by Congress and is currently located in the Senate lobby.

I am in awe of his achievements as well as the collective achievements of so many early people who passionately fought to keep these lands wild and undeveloped for future generations to enjoy. I highly recommend watching the Ken Burns series “The National Parks”. You will be amazed at how much continued effort it took to preserve and maintain these lands to keep them from being developed and lost forever.

  

I feel, in a sense that I am walking in Thomas Moran’s footsteps – another artist on a dream quest. Most of all, I realize that I am also fulfilling his dream by being able to walk the lands that he walked and view the same pristine views – exactly as they were when he first painted at Yellowstone. Amazing!