September 6, 2014 - New Campbell Creek Trail

Today’s event occurred on a beautiful early fall day. The temperature (55-60°) was perfect for walking.

We started out at the Sourdough Mining Company, as we have done for past YRE’s and regular events on the Campbell Creek Trail. However, instead of turning left onto the trail, we turned right onto a new segment of the trail and followed the Campbell Creek Greenbelt to the east.

While walking through a pleasant wooded section of the trail, we noticed how high Campbell Creek was, due to recent rains. Then we began to notice that the pavement was covered with hundreds of tiny slugs. It was hard not to step on them because there were so many of them. Yuck! At least they were tiny – not like the HUGE ones we saw on our Columbia River Gorge walks.

We crossed Campbell Creek using a nice wood pedestrian bridge and continued following the trail under four overpasses of the Seward Highway. There were some screens next to each underpass to keep snow from the snowplows from falling on the trail in the winter. They had nice designs of people enjoying outdoor activities. Too bad some lowlife felt the need to slash several of them.

Side view of Campbell Creek from the viewing platform

Soon we came to a short side trail leading to a viewing platform. We went down this trail to get a better view of Campbell Creek. Unfortunately, the trees have grown quite a bit since the platform was built, so it was hard to get a good direct view, but you could see the creek from the side.

Soon we came to Waldron Lake. Our kids used to play soccer here (a long time ago) and it looks like the field next to the lake is still used for soccer. We saw Canada geese, mallards, and other types of ducks in the lake.

Waldron Lake

The trail ended at an older subdivision. After two short blocks we came to Lake Otis Parkway, a very busy street. We had to go south for three blocks to the pedestrian tunnel under Lake Otis. On the way we encountered some other walkers who told us the tunnel was a mess. We decided to cross at the crosswalk instead, using the pedestrian walk signal. After crossing we had to go north for three blocks to get to Campbell Park. This is a popular park with a recently renovated playground. The new play structures were very colorful and looked like a lot of fun, but I forgot to take pictures.  :(

I forgot to take pictures, but I found this one on the web. Pun intended.

After making a big loop around the playground, we headed back to the start point, while the 10k walkers continued along the trail to the animal shelter.

Under the Seward Highway

Walk Route: B-

It’s always great to have a new route. The trail was very enjoyable, but the segment from 47^th to the playground was noisy and uninteresting, as was the segment under the four sections of the Seward Highway. 

Walk Instructions: B+

Extremely clear and precise instructions, but no map, no distance indications in the directions. Also, directions are easier to follow when they are numbered.

August 21, 2014 - Culpeper, VA - Streetscapes YRE

Wow! Culpeper is a wonderful little town with lots of history and lots of curb appeal. It is in North Central Virginia, about a 2 hour drive from Bethesda, but worth it. 

In 1749, 17-year-old George Washington was commissioned to survey and plot the town and county of Culpeper. In 1759, the town of Culpeper was chartered. During the Revolutionary War, the Culpeper Minute Men fought in a battle at Great Bridge. 

During the Civil War, Culpeper's strategic railroad location made it a significant supply station for both Confederate and Union troops. Culpeper County witnessed more than 100 battles and skirmishes during this period.

In the 20th century, construction of a highway bypass around the town pulled commerce and industry away from the once thriving town center. After years of decline, the town established a program to revitalize its downtown. In 1987 CUlpeper became a Virginia Main Street Community. Through hard work and dedication, Culpeper has become a vibrant town.

Our walk started at the Visitor's Center in the old Depot. The VC was well-stocked with helpful maps and other information and the staff was friendly and helpful, too. 

Many of the structures in Culpeper date to the late 1700's and early 1800's. The downtown Historic District features commercial many brick buildings of the vernacular, Italianate, and neo-classical styles. We started our downtown tour on Davis Street. What a great street! It ws full of restaurants, shops, inns, and even an old-fashioned hardware store. There was not a single chain store, restaurant or hotel downtown.

The Culpeper County Courthouse was built between 1870 and 1874 after an earlier courthouse was torn down.

Several veterans monuments are located near the courthouse.

One remarkable thing we noticed was how friendly the locals are. So many people said hello to us as we walked through their neighborhoods.

I have a lot more to say and a lot more photos, so I will continue this soon. Chec k back in a week for an update.

August 19, 2014 - Bethesda, MD: Cabin John Park YRE

Due to severe jetlag we opted for the 5k walk today. A 10k walk is also offered here.

The Start Point

The start point was at Aroma Espresso Bar in Montgomery Mall. In the winter or on a rainy day you can do this walk inside the mall. There are directions for it. It's a wonderful mall to shop in, too. We bought some sandwiches at Aroma to take with us on the walk. They were really good. I would go back there just for more sandwiches (or a salad, or a dessert, or whatever).

We didn't pay attention to the driving directions on the AVA website because we knew where the mall was. As a result, we didn't notice the very specific instructions about which mall entrance to use. Not surprisingly, we used the farthest possible entrance from Aroma, and probably walked another kilometer getting there and going back to our car.

The Walk

It is a short drive to the Cabin John Park and Ice Rink, where the walk actually starts. This is a terrific park, with woods, creeks, and trails; with indoor ice rinks and tennis courts; with outdoor ballfields and tennis courts; with a miniature train (we didn't see it); with a log cabin of historical interest; and with a very nice nature center and natural gardens.

We got onto a dirt rail about 5 minutes into the walk and stayed on dirt trails throughout the walk. The trails were rocky and rooty and hilly in places, making this walk a 2C. It was also rather buggy, but I had Off with me. The trails lead through pleasant open hardwood forest. The trails are well marked, with carved wooden signs and blazes on the trees. There are rustic bridges over the creeks and a few benches, but few other improvements. I didn't see much wildlife - a bluejay, some type of dove, and a few ordinary-looking brown birds. According to signage at the Nature Center, there are also some beavers, turtles, and harmless black snakes. I did see a small fish in the creek.

We didn't find the trail very busy on a weekday afternoon. We passed three dogwalkers, three or four joggers, a couple of mountain bikers, and a couple of other walkers. Dogs are required to be leashed and two of them actually were.

The Sycamore Tree Incident

About halfway through the walk we came to a lovely meadow with wildflowers and a birdhouse. The walk instructions told us to notice the beautiful large sycamore tree at the far end of the meadow. There were a couple of picnin tables and a small amphitheatre there. It was a lovely spot, except for the two underparented children, around 5 and 8, who had pulled one of the sycamore branches down. They were hanging on it and pulling leaves and seedpods foff. It looked as though they might break off the branch. I didn't see any adults around, although I could hear a strange cracking sound coming from the nearby woods, so I told them to let go of the branch because they were hurting the tree. They looked at me like I was from Mars. I repeated it. Nothing happened. One more time I said: "Let go of the tree," a little bit louder, and they reluctantly did. We walked on afew steps and then a man's voice started yellow at me: "Let go of the tree? Are you serious? Why don't you go back to your concrete building?" And so on. I was worried the confrontation would escalate, so we walked quickly away and I didn't get any photos of this magnificent tree, which was probably a couple of hundred years old. I felt very angry that some man would leave his children alone and then verbally attack me and accuse me of not caring about nature after he his children had blatantly disrepected nature. I also suspect that the cracking noise in the woods came from something he was doing that he shouldn't have been doing. End of rant.

Photos to be posted soon!

Walk Route: B 

There was more to see here than I expected.

Walk Instructions: A

Extremely clear and specific directions, keyed to the map.

August 3, 2014 - Haines, AK (Seasonal)

The weather was fabulous. It was shorts weather, at least for these Alaskans. So we put on sunblock and headed off the ship at 7:30 am. Today the Haines Skagway Fast Ferry was operating on its more limited Sunday schedule, so our plan was to take the 8 am ferry over to Haines and come back on the 1 pm ferry.

The ferry is a catamaran that travels at a speed of 22 knots.

It has its own dog (Lulu), a small crew, and free coffee. One of the crew members, Jess, welcomed us on board with singing. He entertained us during most of the 40-minute trip by singing sea chanties, pointing out waterfalls and other noteworthy sights, explaining the natural history and social history of the area, and teaching us a few words of Tlingit. The scenery was beautiful, too. The ferry ride was not so much transportation as a tour.

Upon arrival in Haines, we began our 5k volkswalk at the dock. The options were a 5k loop and a 9k out-and-back. These walks were sponsored by Dairyland Walkers, out of Wisconsin, and will probably only be available during the 2014 tourist season. The chance to walk in Haines is much appreciated. 

We started out walking along Beach Road, which followed the shoreline. The beach was full of tents, as the Southeast Alaska State Fair is going on in Haines this weekend. We came to a little park overlooking the water, and there were more tents and a camper park. On the other side of the road was an old cemetery.

We turned up Main Street, where the directions said we would find the Sheldon Museum and Cultural Center and the Hammer Museum. It was early and the Sheldon Museum was closed. I thought maybe the Hammer Museum was an art gallery and hoped it would be open. Well, it wasn't open, and it wasn't an art gallery. It was a museum devoted to hammers - as in tools. I would have paid the $5 to go in if it had been open.

We proceeded toward the Visitor Center ( open, and with public restrooms) and at this point we realized that the written volkswalk instructions and the accompanying map had diverged at the intersection of Beach Road and Main Street.

Back to that intersection, adding another kilometer to our walk. We proceeded for a few uninteresting blocks and then climbed a steep hill into a modest but tidy residential neighborhood.

We walked to what seemed like the edge of town, and then zigzagged through a more typical Alaskan residential neighborhood where you could see a lot of junk in yards, a lot of blue tarps, and a lot of houses that needed serious TLC to be rendered habitable.

Arriving at Main Street, we walked through three of the four blocks of downtown. There were some cute shops, all closed on a Sunday morning. The quilt shop was called Material Girls, and the book shop (which I was a little surprised to see here) was called Babbling Book. The IGA grocery store was closed, but it was going to open in 10 minutes (and there was already a line). We decided to buy some snacks there because we were not sure if we would find any place to get food on the remainder of our walk. (We were wrong.)

Main Street: You could shoot a cannon down the middle of the street and not hit anything

Back down the road toward the Visitor Center and onward toward the American Bald Eagle Foundation. Haines is the Bald Eagle Capital of the World. We didn't go in. Not sure if it was even open.

We shortly arrived at Fort William H. Seward, on a hill overlooking the water. It was built starting in 1903   during a time when there was tension between the US and Canada over the border. The buildings were all the same style and the fort was carefully laid out. The result was an installation that is much more attractive than most Army bases. All the buildings were white clapboard with red, blue, or green trim and shingle roofs. They were arranged in a square around a 6-acre parade ground. The officer's houses were really nice vaguely Victorian structures on the highest ground and facing the water. The officers got to bring their families and they could hire enlisted men (cheaply) to work as servants. Their duties consisted mostly of guarding and firefighting. Because it was very remote at the time it was considered foreign duty, so they got extra credit for their "deprivation." The Alaska Indian Arts Center is now in one of the buildings, and there are totem poles and a spirit house in the parade ground area. There were also more tent campers here.

At the end of WWII Fort Seward was decommissioned, and the entire cemetery was moved to Sitka. In 1947 a group of five WWII veterans bought the fort (85 buildings and 400 acres), sight unseen, with the intention of preserving it, living there, and operating small businesses there. Some of these families still live at the fort. These families contributed to Haines by starting what later became the state ferry system, Haines' art galleries and theater, the Hotel Halsingland (located in former officer's quarters), and  and Alaska Indian Arts (located in the former hospital).

It was not far back to the dock. We decided to forgo doing part of the 9k walk and just sat in the sun until it was time for the return ferry. We watched some of the beach campers go swimming in the ocean (Lynn Canal, to be exact). It was a warm day, but it wasn't warm enough to heat up the water much above 40 degrees F. I guess they just wanted to show off all their tattoos. 

The ferry trip back was extremely pleasant. Jess had a whole new act for the return trip. We passed the state ferry, the Malaspina, on the way back. It would seem to be the slow ferry.

The Malaspina

Walk Route: B-
Walk Instructions: F

July 30, 2014 - Vancouver, BC (YRE)

We started our volkswalk at the cruise ship dock and soon we found ourselves in Gastown. This is the oldest part of Vancouver. A lot of effort has been put into restoration, with good results. One of the first things we noticed was how polite Canadians are. They stop so you can cross the street, and they even wait in line at the bus stop.

One of the special attractions in Gastown is a "steam clock," built in 1977, but appearing to be much older. It is powered by steam and it emits a little cloud of steam from time to time. Every 15 minutes it makes a tooting noise.

After Gastown comes Chinatown. Vancouver has the third largest Chinese community in North America (after NY and SF). It reminded me of Chinatown in Honolulu, with lots of small grocery stores selling unidentifiable (to me) items.

 

We bought some almond cookies at a Chinese bakery, and soon came to the "skid row" area, which reminded of us of Portland, Oregon, though not nearly as dilapidated or depressing. After a bit we arrived at the Dr. Sun Yat Sen Gardens. This was a peaceful, beautiful retreat in the middle of the city. Mext to the garden was a monument to the Chinese railroad workers and dock workers who played an important role in the early history of Vancouver.

The next "town" was Yaletown. This was where the railway workers lived. It is now a residential, shopping, and cafe area, probably very expensive to live in, but fun to walk through. There was a row of beautifully restored houses that the workers once lived in.

Next we walked through a vibrant section of Downtown. There were small parks, food trucks, public art, concert halls, museums, and office buildings. The main library was in a stunning building designed by Moshe Safdie .

Part of one street was blocked off and there were some sculptural benches made of slices of wood. People were sitting on them, enjoying the sunshine.

One interesting thing we noticed about Vancouver is that there are lots of residential buildings in every section of the city, even downtown. Many of them are high-rises, but there are a lot of smaller buildings, too. We walked just one block away from one of the main downtown streets and found ourselves in a pleasant residential neighborhood with lots of trees and very little traffic. For a big city, Vancouver seemed very livable.

Back in the business district once again, we passed lots of coffee shops (think Seattle), and modern glass and steel office towers, fountains and mini-parks. People dressed in business attire were sitting in these parks and we didn't see any homeless people here.

Heading downhill towards the water, we finally arrived back at the cruise terminal and completed our 10k walk.

Walk Route: A

Walk Instructions: A+

July 27, 2014 - Juneau, AK (Seasonal)

I heard a nasty rumor that it would be 81 degrees and sunny today in Juneau. As with many rumors, it turned out to be false. It was in the upper 50's with intermittent drizzle. Perfect walking weather.

We started and ended our 10k volkswalk in heaven, otherwise known as The Alaska Fudge Company. Walking down Franklin Street, we realized that the cruise industry has brought enough jewelry stores and souvenir stores to Juneau to allow for one for each legislator. I do not exaggerate. Nestled in amongst the touristy shops are some very nice shops selling local art, Native art, quilting supplies, and Alaskan Amber-themed paraphernalia. (Alaskan Amber is a locally brewed beer.)

Juneau only has a few blocks of flat land and then it rises up steeply to Mt. Roberts. As a result, this walk has a lot of climbing. The route is cleverly designed so that you climb for one block and then go level for one block and climb for one block and level for one block, etc. You start at 1st Street, and by the time you reach 8th Street, you are way up there. At 4th you pass by the State Capitol building. It was open on Sunday because there were 5 ships in port today. On the opposite corner there was a historical museum that was closed. (It was also closed the last time we were here. I think it may be permanently closed.)

At the top of the hill(?) we passed several small houses where miners lived during the gold rush period. We turned inland and entered the canyon between Mt. Roberts and Mt. Juneau. This is a popular hiking area, and it was easy to see why. The road follows Gold Creek into the valley. You can see the flume built by the gold-miners, but there is little other evidence of civilization. We hiked down the road for a mile until it ended at a trailhead. There is a mining museum here, but we didn't stop in. It was beautiful here. This is a temperate rainforest and it is very different from the hiking trails in Anchorage. The trees are mostly evergreens and they are taller than the trees one sees in and around Anchorage.

After returning along the same road to the inhabited portion of Juneau we walked passed some interesting houses and then took a turn onto Calhoun Street. It curved around and led us past the Governor's Mansion, Cope Park, Gold Creek (again) and to the cemetery. Most of the cemetery was old and uncared for, but we passed by the cemetery of Joe Juneau, the person for whom Juneau was named.

We walked back towards "downtown" past some schools and took the bridge across Gastineau Channel to Douglas Island, then turned back to Juneau. We passed the state museum, which was closed for renovations until 2016.

Walk Route: B+
Walk Instructions: B

July 12, 2014 - Anchorage: Chester Creek/Tony Knowles Coastal Trail (YRE 902)

It was supposed to rain today, but it turned out to be nice so we headed downtown to do the Chester Creek/Tony Knowles Coastal Trail Walk. Our secret for this walk is to park at Westchester Lagoon and start the walk there. This works for us because it is always easy to park there and you have bathrooms when you need them. If you start at the Public Lands Information Center, parking can be a problem and so can bathrooms.

There was a bridge that had collapsed, so to get to the Tony Knowles Coastal Trail we had to detour through a neighborhood. The detour was marked, but not very well. Fortunately, the POC for this walk is on top of things, and has added written instructions for the detour to the walk instructions, so even a tourist ought to be able to figure it out.

The Tony Knowles Coastal Trail was great, as always. However, some of the bicyclists need to be a little more considerate and a little less reckless in their biking. Walkers need to remember to keep to the right side of the trail, as you can be passed on the left  without warning. You may also encounter bikers coming towards you at a blind curve and you wouldn't want to be too far over to the left if that happens.

There were a lot of beautiful flowers today, both wildflowers and the garden variety. They looked especially pretty at the Oscar Anderson House (National Register of Historic Places).

Flowers at the Oscar Anderson House

On our way down the hill at W. 1st Avenue we were repeatedly dive-bombed by a pair of seagulls.  They were either protecting some road kill that was in the road or protecting a baby bird that was in the road (or getting ready to kill the baby bird). They were not intimidated by my screaming at them.

After the nasty seagull incident we arrived at the Anchorage Depot (National Register of Historic Places). The bathrooms at the railroad depot always appear at just the right time and are always nice and clean.

The Anchorage Depot

Flowers at the Eisenhower Statehood Monument

 If you happen to do this walk on a weekend in the summer, you will pass the Downtown Market. If you are a visitor, make sure to take some time exploring this street fair,or at least stop and get something to eat.

Downtown Market (summer weekends only)

Upon arriving at the Old Federal Building (National Register of Historic Places), which now houses the Alaska Public Lands Information Center, the official start point for this walk, we noticed the usual hot dog carts outside. In addition, there was a park ranger with a display of various kinds of furs. I went inside, through the metal detector, to stamp my books. Maybe I'll stay and see one of their movies some day.

Left to right: Park Ranger with furs, tourists, reindeer sausage cart

Flowers and mutant plants in front of Alaska Public Lands Information Center

From there we walked over to the Visitor's Information Center and Town Square, where you can see some really vivid displays of flowers. You will also see why Anchorage is called "The Hanging Basket Capital of the World."

An ornamental cabbage in Town Square (Wyland mural in background)

We made a little adjustment to the next leg of the walk. Instead of walking down busy, noisy, boring A Street, we walked down E Street to the Park Strip, then over to F Street.

This sculpture represents whale ribs

This route took us through a charming old Anchorage neighborhood (South Addition) where we were able to see many beautiful gardens and (mostly) tasteful remodels.

South Addition house

At 14th we cut over to G Street to visit the Fire Island Rustic Bakery. This stop is a must whenever in the neighborhood. During this part of the walk we saw something I don't think I've ever seen before in Anchorage: a small plane flying over downtown with a banner behind it (for GEICO).

Then we headed back to E Street and down the hill to Valley of the Moon Park, where we connected with the Chester Creek Trail. There was a large group of Samoans celebrating a birthday, complete with a bounce house. I wanted to join in - it really looked like fun.

On the Chester Creek Trail we encountered Lidiya and stopped for a chat. She showed us some orange boletes (wild mushrooms) she had just found by the side of the trail.

Soon we were back at our car, and it was so nice out I almost didn't want to stop walking, but my feet know when I have done 10k, so that was the end of our walk.

During the walk, I said to Ken that it's too bad the route didn't go by the start point for the Anchorage Lightspeed Planet Walk, and it's too bad the walk didn't go down E or F or G Street instead of A Street. Upon returning home, I looked up my last blog entry for this same walk: July 18, 2012. I found that I had the same two comments after doing this walk almost exactly two years ago.

Walk Route: B-
Walk Instructions: B

Here are my comments from two years ago on the route:

1) A one half block detour from the Performing Arts Center takes you to the "Sun" at the beginning of the "Anchorage Lightspeed Planet Walk."  http://anchorageplanetwalk.org/index.html 

This is a very cool exhibit. The Anchorage Light Speed Planet Walk is a scale model of our solar system. Taking the walk, you experience the relative size of the planets and their distance from the Sun. The scale was chosen so that a leisurely walking pace mimics the speed of light. On this scale, each step equals the distance light travels in one second (300,000 kilometers or 186,000 miles).  You will be able to see Mars in Elderberry Park and Jupiter on the Coastal Trail at Westchester Lagoon on the Coastal Trail Walk. If you do the Kincaid Park walk, you will see Pluto.  Mercury, Venus and Earth are not far from the Coastal Trail Walk route (and perhaps are included in the Route for the Anchorage Historical Walk). 

2) I would rather walk down G Street from downtown, passing the Fire Island Rustic Bakeshop.  The current routing down A Street exposes walkers to a lot of traffic and the occasional group of homeless individuals loitering along the way.  The G Street route could cut over to E Street at 15th and follow E Street to the Chester Creek Trail.