Bernheim in the Rain

Dick goes to volunteer at Bernheim Forest on a regular basis, but I haven't been for some time lately. When we received a notice about the dedication of the new Earth Measure sculpture, I thought it would be a good time to see what's new. Bernheim's website says:

 

Earth Measure is an educational, interactive and multi-dimensional earthwork that must be experienced to be appreciated. It poses questions on the fundamental forms of the circle, square and triangle. It invites discovery by all ages both physically and intellectually. It places the visitor in a meadow and beckons them to tune in to acoustic ecology and soundscape science. In other words, the sculpture both frames the environment through its “lens” and captures the sounds of seasonal wildlife through audio waves directed to the center of the listening dome or parabolic sphere. It is simultaneously simple and complex, scientific and artistic, monumental and graceful.

 

 

Despite the Weather Channel's prediction, it poured like crazy during the speeches and dedication. Soon after, of course, the rain stopped and eventually the sun broke through. Dick's class of first graders adjusted to the change, and so did I. Clad in raincoat, I set off for photos of the rain around the Big Meadow.

 

 

 

 

 

The sun comes out and the birds begin singing. All the dried flowers in the meadow are full of little seeds. Yummy, all the birds are coming to chow down on the seeds. I even found Field Sparrows and what I think is an American Tree Sparrow. What is a Tree Sparrow doing in a meadow?

 

The big fall festival, ColorFest, is this weekend, and there will be plenty of color for everyone to enjoy! Raptor Rehab will be there with live hawks and owls too. Just dress warmly, since the high temp won't be very high.

Rose Awards

Amy Langdon, Dick Dennis and Wren Smith

My husband Dick volunteers at many places, as I do, but I think his heart belongs to Bernheim Forest and Arboretum.  Wren Smith is a mentor for both of us, and they do a good job of letting volunteers know they are appreciated. The Louisville Convention and Visitor's Bureau sponsors awards for people who best represent our community to visitors and help bring those visitors to Louisville. This year Bernheim nominated Dick for the Rose Award - Recognition of Service Excellence! There are several categories, including Accommodations, Attractions, Dining, Transportation and Volunteers.  Well, Dick did not win in his category, but the whole awards luncheon was very exciting.

A new Louisville event, the Jack-o-Lantern Spectacular, will be held in Iroquois Park October 10 – November 2 with 5,000 carved pumpkins lining a ¼-mile trail, illuminated at night as an “art show” daily from dusk to midnight during the week and 1 a.m. on the weekends. Many of the pumpkins were displayed at the luncheon, and free tickets were presented to all attendees.

All the nominees were featured in a wall of photos. "Oh my gosh! This is the taxi driver we had last night!" I exclaimed. After our Beckham Bird Club meeting on Tuesday night, we couldn't get into my car. The Prius is not supposed to lock with the smart key inside, but it does if the battery is low. You guessed it - that's where my keys were. We called a cab to go home for the spare set, and Ras, a Mod Squad man for sure, was our driver. He was very friendly and outgoing, and we were delighted when he won his category of Transportation. I've always said Louisville is the biggest little town in the world! Four Roses was the big sponsor, so everyone got a long-stem rose to take home, and free drinks. I don't often drink bourbon at lunch!

Professional photographers took our photos before a green screen, then printed it with the fancy rose/city skyline in the background. We felt like such celebrities!

Lunch was in the big big big conference room. The sign said it had a capacity of 741, and it looked pretty full to me. I'm always astounded at these events. How in the world do they prepare all this food and have it hot and ready to be served to this many people at the same time? I ate more than I should have, but it was for a good reason, right? TV cameras allowed us to actually see the MC in the front via large TV screens, while spotlights played across the room just like the Oscars. What fun! Thank you Bernheim, for nominating Dick for this award.

Finally Camping Out

 

When I was a Girl Scout in elementary school, our troop went camping several times a year. I never realized what a rare and valuable experience that was, and never appreciated how much work our wonderful leaders put into those expeditions. Of course, we lived near the established camp called Ross Trails, in southwest Ohio, (which is now closed, I hear) so we didn't have to deal with tents and the cots were already set up. As adults, Dick and I have talked on and off throughout the years about going camping together. He and Andrew used to go with the Indian Guides, so he had a tent and some equipment. But I never could deal with the food end of camping, and we just put it off

 

 

A couple who volunteer at Creasey Mahan Nature Preserve are veteran campers, however, and Doug has organized campouts for up to 100 people with the Boy Scouts. Just what we needed! Camping out with training wheels! Come to think of it, we were the only ones there without children. 

Doug planned the meals and bought all the food, then showed us how to start a fire using dryer lint as tinder. You can get a little "flint and steel" starter for about $7 he says. We made hobo stew using canned vegetables and pre-cooked sausage or burgers, seasoned to taste and wrapped in heavy duty foil. Yum! Waiting for them to cook, and finding your supper among all the others was the hardest part.

 

We had lots of night activities planned. Biologists set up mist nets on the Preserve that night, hoping to catch some bats for banding and release. Since we had such a large group, however, we took a hike without flashlights, and in complete silence, just to feel the night. It's amazing how much you can see if you leave the lights off.  Of course, it helps that the Harvest Moon was shining brightly!

 

I brought out some of the mounted owls from the Nature Center and talked about owls, playing their sounds, but none were interested in investigating our group then. We did see a couple bats flying by the frog pond, but no moths came to our lighted sheet. A cold front had moved through the night before, and I don't think there were many insects around. Later that night, two moths were attracted to the bright camp lantern while we cleaned up for the night. Didn't want any raccoons tearing up our supplies! Singing around the campfire and s'mores entertained everyone just before bed. I thought I would remember more of the old Scout songs...will have to look them up before the next campout.

We got the tent and air mattress set up in the afternoon, and I knew to sleep in sweats that night since the temp would be going way down. Fortunately, my husband is very warm, but the cold seeped up from beneath, and I'm not sure if I really slept any or not. Didn't feel like it. I enjoyed listening to the crickets, and a pack of coyotes howled at the Harvest Moon somewhere. Once in a while we heard a Screech Owl and maybe a Great Horned Owl calling in the night. Overall, a very cool night, in both meanings!

When the sun rose, a mist covered the meadow, while we all enjoyed blueberry pancakes and leftover dessert from the night before. You just don't worry about counting Weight Watchers points when you go camping!  I'm looking up how to make coffee over a campfire for the next trip. Doug says it is possible to get the tent back in that little duffel bag it came in, but I'm not quite sure I believe him. Thanks you, Doug and Charon, for arranging a really fun campout!

What We Saw on Our Summer Vacation

Black Bear

When you meet someone at Glacier National Park, the first question they ask is "Have you seen any bears?" We hadn't until today, just as we finished our last hike and prepared to drive back to the condo. A group of people with binoculars are always looking at something good, like mountain goats or sheep, but the big prize is a bear, so now we can say we saw a bear at Glacier National Park.  The best thing is seeing it way up the mountain, and not on the path in front of you. Every ranger gives you the safety rules in bear country before going out on a hike. They love to sell you bear spray (mace) but the bells don't do any good at all. One story says the bear kept following the man down the trail as he backed away, stopping when he did. Finally the man figured the bear just wanted him to move out of the way. He did, and the bear went past him, like any other hiker in a hurry! I was glad this bear was way, way, way up the mountain. The 50x zoom on my camera was able to capture him pretty well.

American Dipper

As birders, Dick and I arrived with a list of target birds to look for. One was the American Dipper, or Water Ouzel, which walks on the bottom of rushing mountain streams, looking for tasty morsels under the rocks. We finally found two of them today after looking all week! Yeah! There are many other target birds we did not find, this trip at least. Guess we'll have to come back sometime and try again.

Cedar Waxwing

One of my favorite birds from home, this Cedar Waxwing sat in a tree for a long time posing for the camera, unlike most of the other birds we've seen this week. But where were the rest of his buddies? You normally find them in groups, not one at a time.

Gray-crowned Rosy-Finch

We had to explain what a "Life Bird" is this week. I'm so used to talking with birders, it never occurred to me that someone didn't know what I meant by that phrase. Now, you birders tell me. If I saw a bird in the years before actually becoming a birder, and starting to keep a life list, am I allowed to count it as a life bird now? That Dipper for example - we saw them in the Tetons years ago. Is it a life bird now that I keep a list or not? Many of our target birds eluded us, but we did add 6 new birds to our list: Barrow's Goldeneye duck, White-tailed Ptarmigan, California Gull (at the grocery store), Olive-sided Flycatcher, Gray-crowned Rosy-Finch and Pine Grosbeak.

I've seen more rodents here at the park, than any other park I've been in. The chipmunks are absolutely fearless, as are the various kinds of ground squirrels. The red squirrels have black tails, and the hoary marmot is huge. The ground squirrels chip frequently, sounding much like birds.

Almost any trail can lead you to a waterfall. This is Running Eagle waterfall, named for an actual Blackfoot woman who became a warrior and the chief of her tribe. Now, while water levels are low, the water comes out of the rocks. In spring, it will flow over the top. When the glaciers melt away completely, many streams will also disappear when the winter snows melt in the spring.

Marias Pass is where US 2 goes over the Continental Divide when traveling from west to east. I was really surprised the first time I sped past the sign, since it didn't feel like we were nearly high enough to be crossing the Continental Divide. At only 5,213 feet in elevation, the mountains tower over the pass, but remember, a pass is supposed to be a low place to cross higher mountain ranges. The pass proved ideal for a railroad, because its approach was broad and open, within a valley ranging from one to six miles wide, and at a gentle grade that would not require extensive excavation or rockwork. Construction of the railroad through the pass began on August 1, 1890, starting from Fort Assinniboine toward Marias Pass.

There are many quaint hotels and inns built early in the Park's history, and often related to the railroads. The Izaak Walton Inn, in Essex, however, takes the cake. Originally, it provided housing for railroad employees, and now it uses old railroad cars as hotel rooms for park visitors. What fun!

Amtrak still stops directly in front of the Glacier Park Lodge, which was built almost a century ago by the Great Northern Railway. One of the most striking features of Glacier Park Lodge is undoubtedly the massive logs used in the construction. The immense timbers that support the Lodge were probably 500 to 800 years old when they were cut and all of them retain their bark to this day. There are 60 of them, 36 to 42 inches in diameter and 40 feet long. The timbers in the lobby are Douglas fir and the verandahs are supported by Cedars from Washington. Each lodge or hotel in the park is fascinating, even to visit.

Now we are trying to find everything we brought, before getting on the plane tomorrow. The kids say our air conditioning at home isn't working. Sigh. I like being on vacation.

The Hiker's Challenge

 

We drove about 2.5 hours yesterday to the Many Glaciers area of Glacier National Park, the northern most section, unless you count Canada, of course. Since it was so far away, we decided to spend the night in a park facility, to get the real feel of visiting a National Park. It rained as we drove, but that didn't stop us from hiking, until it started raining pretty hard, and our ponchos weren't doing a really good job.

 

But as soon as we started back, the sun came out, so we ate lunch by a quiet lake...

 

 

...joined by a pair of curious Gray Jays. "What are you having for lunch? Won't you share with us?" he seemed to say.

The real adventure came when we checked in for our sleeping accommodations in the park. We reserved a cabin at the Swift Current Inn.  Turns out the cabins were built by the CCC crew in 1934, burned down in 1936, and were re-built in 1937.  Since then, very little, if any, remodeling has occurred.  We had cold water in an old kitchen sink for in cabin comforts, electricity for lights, but no heating or insulation of any kind.  The bath house was down the road, shared by ALL the cabins. We did go out after dark to look at the stars though. This is a real National Park adventure!

Dawn was crisp and beautiful as we crossed two lakes in large wooden motor boats. You can't ask for more than this!

 

Our goal was Grinnell Glacier, one of the few active glaciers remaining, and named after George Bird Grinnell - a geologist and ornithologist who spearheaded the creation of this park, so many things are named for him. A park ranger led us up the trail, advertised to require a 1,600' change in elevation, which started immediately.  Puffing, and panting, I rejoined the group as they stopped for breaks several times, but fell farther and farther behind. The rocky "steps" must have been built by a 20 year old who was 7 feet tall - they were certainly bigger than I could climb comfortably. Thank goodness I brought the hiking stick today, when I usually don't.

 

 

We saw wonderful examples of the park geology, learning why the red rocks are red, and the green rocks are green. Why some older rocks are on top of the younger rocks, and how rock can bend and twist (called "folding") in the right conditions. But no fossils, since these rocks were all laid down before there was any life on earth, to speak of.

 

 

We kept climbing, and climbing, and climbing. Above the tree line, the alpine meadows were delightful. The mountain goats that shared our trail certainly must have thought so, although we didn't see any nearby. The sun shone fiercer as we climbed, but incoming clouds made me worry about rain, after hiking in the rain the day before.

Puff, puff, puff ...are we getting near yet?  No, we weren't even ready to stop for lunch yet.

At Thunderbird Falls, water came directly down a vertical rock face on top of the hikers. The side of the trail next to the wall was wet, while the almost dry side was a sheer drop off. I didn't like either alternative, and just about had a meltdown, since I was on my own.  But I continued, because I didn't was to just turn around without telling Dick that I'd meet him back at the bottom.

No matter how hard I tried, I couldn't catch up with our group. Pairs of hikers, and families with young children all passed me on the trail. My acrophobia started acting up. Look at this section of the trail...do you blame me?  Finally, I loudly blew my wilderness whistle, kept on my vest for emergencies, to get someone's attention.  "Tell my husband I'm going back down," I shouted when the last person turned around. But my wonderful husband said he loved me more than reaching the glacier, and he came back to return to the valley with me.

He thinks we probably made it about 1,000 feet up, but the last 600 after lunch were supposed to be the hardest.  It felt like 2 - 3,000 already to me, so I made the right decision to quit when I did. Going down was faster, but still dangerous.  I was so glad to reach the bottom with no broken bones, and ride the boat back to the hotel where our car waited. Rounding out our adventure in the mountains, guess what - it rained all the way back to the condo again!

Up, Up to the Top

The Logan's Pass area at the top of Going to the Sun Road (6,647' elevation), has trailheads to several highly recommended hikes, so we boarded the free park shuttle, and headed back up the mountain as the sun cleared the peaks. This time I sat by the window and got photos of the u-shaped valleys far, far, far below us.

Can you believe it?  Some people (idiots, fools, etc.) choose to ride their bikes up the mountain on this narrow twisting road filled with cars and campers!  Makes me shudder. We actually had to slow way down until traffic cleared enough to pass them. I couldn't even pedal up a small hill, let alone a climb like this.

The moon was setting over the mountains as we started up our first trail. If it falls into this sharp peak, will it pop like a balloon?

Here we go, climbing the Hidden Lake trail off Logan's Pass, a mere 1.5 miles to the overlook, and rising about 400 feet. The subalpine area at the top is too cold and windy for plants to grow tall, and the growing season is pretty short since the snow doesn't melt until June. A boardwalk was constructed to protect the land and plants from people's feet. Everything was pretty dry and a few brave flowers huddled around the boardwalk, which probably gave them some protection from the wind.  A ranger told us about little pikas who collect grass to make hay and store it for the winter. They are having trouble because they can't stand the heat we are getting even at high elevations now.

As we topped a ridge (about 7,000 feet), water started flowing from the remaining snow fields on the mountain, babbling and chuckling on its way down over the bright red and green rocks. Suddenly, all the little alpine plants burst into bloom as far as the eye could see! Reds, yellows, purples, whites - you name it. The water made all the difference. It took a lot longer for us to complete the hike, since I had to stop and photograph each different flower we saw to be identified later. Bees and butterflies did their jobs pollinating all these blossoms before the weather changes. Still not completely satisfied with the focus ability of this new camera. Can't see through the viewfinder properly.

"Wouldn't this greenery be a great place for mountain goats to graze?" I commented to Dick, and in a few short minutes, we found 4 of them doing just that, 2 moms and 2 kids. All the people taking photos only 45-50 feet away didn't bother them at all.

At the overlook, we looked down into another beautiful clear glacial lake, and got out the iPhone for a panorama. This says it all, don't you think?  Very few glaciers remain, but the environment is used to having that water supply to rely on. The ranger yesterday said they are like water bottles, and now the bottle is going dry. All the plants and animals will have to adapt to new conditions, since the annual snowfall isn't as much as it used to be either. Some of them may not be able to make the change. As trees move to higher elevations, the subalpine plants will have to move higher too, since they need the sun. But they can only go up so far.

Dick really wanted to hike the High Line Trail while we were up there. That's the one where you have to creep across a cliff face in the first few minutes. Given my fear of heights, I wasn't enthused about it, but a lady on the shuttle said I could do it, just hold on to the chain. Well, I don't know if it was the altitude, lack of sleep, or just wisdom on my part, but I felt light headed most of the morning, so I made Dick a deal. He could go hike it, and I would wait for him at the Logan's Pass center. When he arrived back, he looked really beat. "I'm glad I went," he started, "And I'm glad you didn't." he concluded.  I agreed completely!