Favorite Places: Metolius River

There are a few spots in the Pacific Northwest that I consider ‘favorites’: the Metolius River, near Sisters, Oregon is one of those. A friend of mine in high school days spoke enthusiastically about going fishing along the Metolius, but my first trip there didn’t come until later in life.

The Metolius emerges quietly from the earth in a small spring near Black Butte, with a view of Mt Jefferson. Within a short distance, it develops into a surprisingly large and beautiful river, before joining the Deschutes River at Lake Billy Chinook; and eventually flowing into the Columbia River near Biggs Junction, Oregon.

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Mt Jefferson from Metolius Spring

Although the pathway leading to the spring is surrounded by fenced and posted private land, it is reassuring to know that destination resort development in the area is prohibited by the Metolius Protection Act (Oregon House Bill 3298) passed into law in 2009.

My wife and I especially enjoy parking at the Wizard Falls Fish Hatchery off of SW Metolius River Road (NF-14) and contemplating the aquamarine blue water flowing over the flat bedrock near the wooden bridge. We also enjoy looking for American Dippers and Common Mergansers that frequent the river.

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Common Merganser - female

I have incorporated mental imagery from this bridge into my morning mindfulness meditation routine, and find it fits well with the concepts of stopping the ‘flow from the past’ and stopping ‘the flow to the future’.

Hiking trails are set on both sides of the Metolius from Wizard Falls leading upstream and downstream. Our current favorite is trail number 4018 heading upstream on the west side.

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Wildflowers along Metolius Trail 4018

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Metolius View from Trail 4018

Ponderosa Pine trees are one of the delightful features of the landscape, especially on the drive from Sisters to the Camp Sherman Road and on to Wizard Falls. Along the road are controlled burn areas which I also enjoy for the colors, textures, and shapes in the thick bark of the charred trees.

I am already looking forward to our next visit.

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Controlled burn area along SW Metolius River Road

Cruise to Goat Haunt

I read an article in a Montana travel magazine about the 2.25 hour roundtrip cruise to Goat Haunt Ranger Station at the south end of Upper Waterton lake and was intrigued by the enthusiastic description of this relatively little-known spot.

We took the cruise operated by the Waterton Shoreline Cruise Company—both in early June and in late September. The June trip was on an exceptionally calm day, whereas it was very windy on the day in September, making it feel much colder.

On both occasions, we just missed the chance to ride on the M/V International, the beautiful ship in use since 1927: In June it wasn’t yet in-service for the season; and in September, we watched from aboard the Connie Marlene as the International cruised to dry dock at the storage shed near Goat Haunt Ranger Station.

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M/V International at Waterton Village dock (June 2015)

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M/V International en-route to dry dock for winter (September 2015)

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Shed with dry dock for M/V International (June 2015)

Goat Haunt is in Montana, just across the international border which is cleared periodically by a work crew. People who choose to go hiking from Goat Haunt are required to show their passports across a picnic table at the ranger station staffed by Homeland Security personnel.

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US-Canada border on Upper Waterton Lake (September 2015)

On June 1, we walked a short distance ashore at Goat Haunt, taking in the views of the surrounding mountains and noticed the weathered sign marking the spot

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Looking northwest from shore at Goat Haunt (June 2015)

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Goat Haunt signboard (June 2015)

The Rockies present some wonderful opportunities to see compelling geologic features, and the Goat Haunt cruise is no exception: One of the featured spots is a remarkably sharp fold in the rock along the eastern shore of the lake.

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Rock fold along Upper Waterton Lake shore (June 2015)

The rock layers on the surrounding mountains display prominent layers which also draw the eye.

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Geologic layers on west side of Upper Waterton Lake (June 2015)

Waterton Village

The Waterton Lakes, in southern Alberta, near the border with Montana were named after the English naturalist Charles Waterton, (1782-1865). Waterton Lakes is the Canadian half of the Waterton-Glacier International Peace Park in recognition of the co-operative relationship between Canada and the US.

The entrance to Waterton Lakes National Park is a short distance after turning off Alberta Hwy 5/6 southwest of Cardston. Lower Waterton Lake lies on the east side of the entrance road, as does the iconic Prince of Wales Hotel closer to the village of Waterton.

Waterton is situated on the northwest shore of Upper Waterton Lake, and has a wonderfully quiet, small-town feel.

Walking became our default method of getting around in this delightfully quiet spot surrounded by the natural beauty of the lakes and rugged peaks.

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Looking west on Mt View Rd in Waterton village (September 2015)

Paths along the Upper Waterton Lake shoreline are especially picturesque.

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Looking north from path along Upper Waterton Lake (September 2015)

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View to the east from Waterton Village docks (June 2015)

The feeling of being in a remote village was enhanced each morning of our May visit by the appearance of several bighorn sheep right in front of the door of our hotel room.

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Bighorn Sheep in front of hotel room in Waterton Village (June 2015)

Browning to Waterton

One of the highlights in West Glacier is the Travel Alberta Visitor Information Centre. We stopped there in May 2015 and asked for advice about visiting Waterton Lakes, Banff and Jasper national parks. A very friendly woman there spent about 20 minutes marking routes with a marker pen on maps of Alberta. Thanks to her advice, we made the excellent decision to extend our road trip and visit all three of these parks in Canada.

The starting point for our drive north was Browning, Montana, and our first destination in Canada was Waterton Lakes a distance of about 74 miles (119 km). 

The St Mary Visitor Center, is situated at the east end of the Going-to-the-Sun Road, along the route to Waterton, and was a most enjoyable stop.  In May, we took Hwy 89, and in September we drove both Hwy 89 and Hwy 464. The drive along Hwy 89 is closer to the mountains, whereas Hwy 464 runs along the prairie—both are a lot of fun to drive, and provide great views of the mountains.

In late September, we turned left off Hwy 89 a few miles north of Babb, and drove up to Many Glacier Hotel. Along the way, the brilliant yellow leaves of the aspen trees were delightful.

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Aspen along Many Glacier Road (September 2015)

The Many Glacier Hotel was closed for the season, but the mountain views were stunningly beautiful.

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Many Glacier Hotel at Swiftcurrent Lake (September 2015)

Chief Mountain, an imposing block of Precambrian Belt rock that rises near the Canadian border, to the west of Hwy 17, is also visible from southern Alberta.* The mountain's appearance changed depending on viewpoint and atmospheric condition.

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Chief Mountain from Duck Lake (September 2015)

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Chief Mountain from Hwy 17 (May 2015)

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Chief Mountain through haze from southern Alberta, near Waterton (September 2015)

Traveling to Waterton Lakes from the US requires crossing the Canadian border, and there are two nearby border crossings to choose from: one at the Port of Chief Mountain, and the other at the Port of Piegan. In May, we crossed at Chief Mountain, and in September, we crossed at Piegan, as Chief Mountain was closed for the season. We found the Chief Mountain crossing on Hwy 17 to be preferable, as the highway is closer to Chief Mountain, and is a more direct route to Waterton Lakes.

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View from Hwy 89 (September 2015)

*See Roadside Geology of Montana, David Alt and Donald W. Hyndman, pp 69-70.

[Notation added.]

Hwy 2 to Browning

Montana Highway 2 traces the southern boundary of Glacier National Park, and is the only route to the east side of the park when the Going-to-the-Sun Road is closed. We drove Hwy 2 in May and September in 2015 and greatly enjoyed the experience both times.

Before our September visit, I read about the Lewis Thrust Fault at Marias Pass and stopped to have a look at the park’s most famous geologic feature. The fame derives from the tremendous natural forces that pushed 1.6 billion year old rock over the top of 70 million-year-old rock, as David Rockwell notes in his nature guide. The fault is visible as the thin horizontal, light-colored band at the middle of the mountains in the image above.

Beyond Marias Pass, on the east side of the continental divide, the landscape changes from the forests of the west side to the plains, a remarkable transition.

In May, as we neared the town of Browning, on the Blackfeet Indian Reservation, a rainbow formed against the dark clouds, which prompted me to pull over for a photo.

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Rainbow over Browning

As I turned around 180 degrees I saw an inspiring late afternoon view of the mountains in the park. 

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Hwy 2 looking west

Our hotel in Browning was very near the Museum of the Plains Indians, which is well-worth visiting. On both trips, we had a west-facing room, with wonderful morning and evening views of the Rocky Mountains of Glacier National Park.

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Morning view from Browning in May

Going-to-the-Sun Road

Before our second visit to Glacier, I did more reading about the park, particularly David Rockwell’s guide book (previously cited) as well as C.W. Guthrie’s Going-to-the-Sun Road, a fine history of the project.
This time, we drove from Pullman, Washington to Bigfork, Montana all in one day, a 5-hour trip. During the summer, we had seen news reports about wildfires that temporarily closed the east side of the Going-to-the-Sun Road; fortunately, the crisis had passed by the time we arrived, and the road was open. 
We were happy to be able to drive beyond the gate at Avalanche Creek, and made our first stop at the small turnout before the tunnel near The Loop. Here we examined the 1.3-billion-year-old stromatolites in the rock wall (fossilized cyanobacteria ‘mats’), as recommended by one of the staff at the Apgar Visitor Center.

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Stromatolites

We also stopped a few times after the The Loop to take in the stunning views of the Garden Wall, and spent several minutes looking at mountain goats up on the distant slopes (too far away to photograph).
We continued on to Logan Pass, and walked through the visitor center, along with the other late-season tourists from many different countries. We particularly enjoyed making a short hike along the Highline Trail leading out from the parking area, which provided great views.

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Logan Pass View to the West from Highline Trail.

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Logan Pass View to the East from edge of Logan Pass Parking area.

On the way back down the west side of the Going-to-the-Sun Road, I happened to be playing on the car stereo a piano version of Bach’s The Art of Fugue (BWV 1080), which turned out to be a wonderfully appropriate musical accompaniment to the warm autumn afternoon mountain drive.

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Yellow Leaves and Red Rock along McDonald Creek

A few days later, we drove several miles up the east side of the road along St Mary Lake from the visitor center at St Mary. 
Having read several descriptions and viewed videos, the actual experience of driving most of the Going-to-the-Sun Road exceeded expectations—it truly is an “engineering miracle” as described by Christopher White in The Melting World.

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St Mary Lake

Getting to Glacier N.P.

Up until recently we had only driven past exits to Glacier National Park off I-90 in Montana on our way to Yellowstone. Later, while we were still living in Singapore, I read Christopher White’s compelling book The Melting World, which centers on the detailed impact of global warming being observed in Glacier National Park by several research teams—this sparked my interest in actually visiting the park.

We finally got to make our first trip to Glacier in May of this year (2015), and enjoyed it so much that we went again in late September.

I did very little preparation for our visit in May, as I knew the Going-to-the-Sun Road was still closed for snow removal, and initially I wasn’t sure it made sense to go before it was open.

We drove up the Clearwater River and its tributary, the Lochsa River to Lolo Pass on the Idaho-Montana border, then continued via Missoula, to Polson at the south end of Flathead Lake. We enjoyed the views of the lake decided to make the short drive to Bigfork at the northeast end of the lake.

As we walked around the boardwalks of Bigfork (population 4,270), we happened upon a set of rental cabins and had a brief tour. We were so impressed with the quality of the cabins that we cancelled other reservations and spent three nights in Bigfork. 

Although it is a 45-minute drive to West Glacier, Bigfork has a decent (although confusingly laid out) supermarket, attractive shops, good places to eat, and a most enjoyable 2.2 mile nature trail easily accessible on foot from the cabins.

After driving to West Glacier and stopping in at the Apgar Visitor Center, we continued on the Going-to-the-Sun Road to the gate at Avalanche Creek. The parking area was so crowded (even on a weekday in May) that I almost gave up, but persisted and found a place to leave the car. 

The Trail of the Cedars boardwalk served as our walking introduction to the wonders of the McDonald Creek valley. My wife and I both enjoy walking along boardwalks, and this one with all the wonderful tall trees and helpful interpretive signs was a special treat. 

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Trail of the Cedars

I later learned from David Rockwell’s excellent Glacier: A Natural History Guide, that the geographic characteristics of McDonald Creek Valley are such that trees found in the rainforests of the Oregon and Washington coasts, western red cedar and western hemlock, also grow here (the eastern-most extent of their range).

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Interpretive sign at Trail of the Cedars

The Going-to-the-Sun Road was still closed for snow removal beyond the Avalanche Creek gate, so we walked from there to Red Rock Point and marveled at the clarity of McDonald Creek, and the rugged surrounding rocks and mountains.

On our second day of walking along the road, I spotted a large fresh pile of what I assume was grizzly bear scat, which led me to promptly return to our starting point as we weren’t carrying bear spray, and there were only two of us.

After two days of being in Glacier, we were keen to come back when the Going-to-the-Sun Road was fully open to cars.

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Red Rock Point, McDonald Creek

[Edited for style and clarity.]

Harvest Moon Eclipse

We happened to be in Waterton Lakes National Park on September 27, 2015 the date of the harvest moon eclipse. We drove to the parking lot of the Prince of Wales Hotel above the village around 7 PM to watch.

The lake acts as a wind tunnel making for frequent strong winds, and that evening was no exception, making it feel extra cold for the small group of fellow eclipse watchers. Below are two images as the moon rose over the mountains, before full eclipse.

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Heron Landing Triptych

I was out on a morning walk along the Delta Ponds in Eugene recently, and came upon this Blue Heron as it flew to land at a floating log. I selected three of the sequence of images for a triptych of the scene (click on the right-hand edge of the image to move to the next frame).

Low Season at Malheur NWR

January is a low season for birds at the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge in eastern Oregon. We noted that water levels in Malheur Lake were lower than other times that we have visited, and in fact, there were not many birds in sight. 

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View towards Malheur Lake with bald eagle in tree.

We will definitely return to this area a little later this Spring.

Foggy Oregon Winter

Fog was a persistent theme in Oregon in December and January this winter, which is not how I remember it being in the past (perhaps my memory is faulty). Great egrets fit nicely with that theme, as I found on an early January morning walk around Delta Ponds in Eugene.

Sea Stacks South of Cape Sebastian, Oregon Coast

We arrived back in Oregon from Asia in mid-December, and made a short trip to the southern Oregon coast. The photographic highlight of the trip was the sea stacks just south of Cape Sebastian, which were intriguing on a foggy evening.

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Sunset south of Cape Sebastian.

The sunsets were pretty interesting from there as well.

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Looking north from top of Cape Sebastian.

We also walked along the park trails at Cape Sebastian which provide long views both north and south along the coast.

Meiji Shrine Imperial Garden（明治神御苑）

We spent a few days in Tokyo on our way back to Oregon in November and December 2014, which gave me the opportunity to visit a few favorite places. The Gardens at Meiji Jingu is one of those special places that is beautiful to walk through on a winter day (even without snow).

West Side of Sanjusangendo (三十三間堂）

The outer wall on the western side of Sanjusangendo almost begs to be photographed. On our 2013 visit I chose a close, straight-on view of one of the windows (below), which over time I didn't find satisfying.

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Straight-on view of Sanjusangendo window (November 2013).

I like the angled view much better.

Yōgen-In (養源院）

Across a narrow side street on the east side of Sanjusangen-Dō is Yōgen-In（養源院）a beautiful small temple. We took a walk there one of the mornings during our stay in Kyoto in December 2014. The autumn colors lingering on the trees along path from the gate drew our eyes on the first day of our visit.

Inside Yōgen-In.

On another morning during our stay, we returned to Yōgen-In and enjoyed the low-angled morning light filtering through the trees.

Sanjusangendo, Kyoto (三十三間堂）

After leaving Singapore, my wife and I spent a few days in Japan in December 2014. We rode the bullet train to Kyoto and stayed in a hotel next to Sanjusangen-do (三十三間堂) and walked the grounds there after checking-in.

It was a cloudy and wet day, and I had low expectations for photography as I had not found much inspiration at this temple on our previous visit in 2013. As we were walking around, however, the clouds parted briefly, allowing a shaft golden light to stream onto the brightly colored walls surrounding the grounds of the temple and I made the image above.

West side of inner temple of Sanjusangendo.

We didn’t tour the inner temple building, but went around the perimeter to the west side, where an archery tournament is conducted that dates to the Edo era.

Narrow street on west exterior wall of Sanjusangendo.

Outside the temple, the narrow streets make for an interesting continuation of the walk—along the way, we found one of the shops that makes beautiful, high quality hammered aluminum pots, trays, and other kitchen items that was featured in an episode of NHK’s At Home with Venetia in Kyoto.

Rainbow Over Marina Bay

I have noticed very few rainbows during the nearly 6 years we have lived in Singapore. I don't know if that is because I haven't been paying attention, or if the atmospheric conditions aren't conducive to their creation. 

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On Saturday afternoon, I happened to look out and see a faint rainbow in between Marina Bay Financial Centre Tower 1 and Tower 3. A few moments later, I noticed the arc continued over the corner of Marina Bay. 

Perhaps I simply haven't been looking out at the right time to see rainbows.