Super Summer Sojourn 2003

Arches National Park
Jean and I arrived in the early afternoon and decided to proceed directly to Devil’s Garden for baking-hot hike out to Landscape Arch and environs. I returned in the evening to get the required sunset shots at Delicate Arch. The next day we toured Balanced Rock, The Windows Section, Skyline Arch, and Park Avenue before motoring on to

Durango
We met up with Heather and Tyler. We rode the D&SNGRR train to Silverton. Caught some excellent scenery and a cinder for both eyes. It was the 4th of July, so we got a fireworks show as well. From there, we proceeded the short distance to

Mesa Verde National Park
I took an afternoon tour of Balcony House; we all took a whole-day tour of the park, ending with a hands-on tour of Cliff Palace. Ten days after we left, lightning strikes started fires in the Park that caused an evacuation and closure. But for the moment, we were off to

Grand Canyon National Park
to enjoy the sights from the rim. I also managed to sneak in a few hikes below the rim. Jean arranged for us to take a float trip along the Colorado River through the twists, turns, cold water and hot air of Glenn Canyon. Next we headed northeast to

Monument Valley
and Goulding’s Lodge. Jean and I snuck into the Tribal Park before closing and got some sunset shots of the monuments. The next day we got a full tour of the park with a Navajo guide. Then it was back to Durango where Heather and Tyler headed back to Michigan. Jean and I motored south to

Chaco Culture National Historical Park
It’s 17 miles of dirt road into and out of the park. The Anasazi (Ancestral Puebloan) ruins are amazing, though. On our way to Bryce Canyon we stopped off for a quick tour of the

Antelope Canyon Slot Canyons
Spectacular erosional sandstone geology. Extremely difficult to photograph. A quick photo op at

Red Rock Canyon before entering Bryce Canyon
We hiked the rim and drove to the distant viewpoints. Then it was off to

Zion National Park
Zion Canyon is a desert swamp with more varieties of plant life than can be found in Hawaii. Red rock scale model of Yosemite? After a scary stopover in Tonopah, NV (don’t ever go there), we landed in Lee Vining, CA for another installment of the

Mono Lake/Bodie
pilgrimage before heading into

Yosemite National Park
The sky had been uncooperative since Bryce Canyon. But now it was getting plain nasty. Our attempts at morning and evening shots at Mono were closed down by cloudy skies or outright electrical storms. We got more of the same in Yosemite. We shot what we could while we were there. That’s all you can ever do!

Hilo Hewitt Hawaii Holiday 2003

My friend Paul Hewitt (author, Conceptual Physics) invited me to his home in Hilo; who was I to turn him down? Paul and Lillian took excellent care of me while I was there. We saw some sights (The Volcano, Waipio Valley, Hawaiian Tropical Botanical Gardens...), Paul introduced me to his friends (the important people on The Big Island), we took in some theater, and we talked physics, teaching, and life in general. I had a great time! You can see the photos at www.clubphoto.com if you do an album search for “phyz.”

2003 06 Hilo Hewitt Hawaii Holiday Photo Album

Kings Canyon 2003

Because of an apparent psychological defect, I have a need to be intimidated by my own camera. So I got a Canon EOS 10D digital SLR. With big travel plans looming just a few weeks ahead, I decided I needed to get out of Dodge and learn a few picture-taking basics on this beast of a camera. On a tip from Linsey, I headed to Kings Canyon (east of Fresno, north of Sequoia National Park). The scenery is beautiful; the air quality is not. Yosemite meets LA. Linsey’s eventually gonna fix the air there. Anyway, I snapped what I could on my self-inflicted crash course.

2003 06 Kings Canyon Photo Album

Yosemite Mono Bodie - Autumn 2002

I snuck out of town for a weekend getaway to Yosemite, Mono Lake, and Bodie. It was a bit smokey (there was a control burn in progress on the road across Tioga Pass), but the weather was nice and the crowds were surprisingly thick. I made it to Glacier Point, but the trail to Sentinel Dome was too packed to attempt. Proceeded to Mirror Meadow before crossing Tioga Pass to Lee Vining. Unlike what had been the case in March, Lee Vining was mobbed and noisy. There wasn’t a room to be had, so I stayed in Mammoth Lake. Visited the ghost town of Bodie the next morning. Then made the South Tufa loop in the afternoon. Then it was north on US 395 and over Monitor Pass and back to Sacramento.

2002 10 Yosemite Mono Lake Bodie Photo Album

Yellowstone and Grand Tetons 2002

After a week of settling into her new home in GR, Mom came out to join me on a trip to Yellowstone National Park. Neither of us had been there since 1982 (that’s nearly twenty years!) We spent several days there, and drove like crazy from point to point, but still missed out on a few destinations. But we made it to Geyser Hill, Upper Geyser Basin, Black Sand, Midway, Biscuit, West Thumb, and Norris Basins, Fountain Paint Pots, Firehole Lake Drive, The Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone (Upper and Lower Falls), and Mammoth Hot Springs. We saw buffalo, moose, elk, and deer. And we spent a day in Jackson Hole, as well. The weather for our Grand Teton photo shoot wasn’t too agreeable, but we made a go of it. And we did get some nice shots of the antler arches in town. [Jean staring down the malingering tourons is a rare gem.]

2002 07 Yellowstone and Grand Tetons Photo Album

Colorado-Utah Loop 2002

It began with a Baird-Ellenwood-VandeKopple hootenanny in Estes Park, Colorado.

2002 07 Colorado Photo Album

iMovie Bonus: Rocky Mountain Roundup


I returned via Utah, delving first into the Moab area.

2002 07 Southeast Utah Photo Album


Then on to Bryce Canyon before motoring back to Sacramento.

2002 07 Bryce Canyon Photo Album

B&GER Entry: 4. Colorado (June and July)

Several strands of the Baird Clan came together in Estes Park, Colorado, for a little Rocky Mountain get-together. Mom, Heather, and Tyler came from Michigan, Mary and Bryce came from New York, Carol, Dave, Bradley, and Katie came from Indiana, and I came from California. Doug, Janet, Patrick, and Alex came from, well, they were kinda already there! We did our traditional drive to the Alpine Visitors’ Center and took a few hikes within the park. And the round of minigolf at Tiny Town was the stuff of legends.

5. Southern Colorado and Utah (July)

After breaking camp in Estes Park, I headed across the state to Durango for more sightseeing. The train wasn’t running (due to fire danger), so I took a jeep tour of the area. Next, it was off to Mesa Verde. Again, fire danger closed the mesa to car traffic, so I took a bus trip to a guided tour of a cliff house. Then up to Moab and Arches National Park. I signed up for an “adventure hike” into the erosional landscape known as Fiery Furnace. Not for the faint of heart or unsure-footed. Then it was time to head over to Bryce Canyon National Park. Far too many good pictures in that park! Enjoyed a morning hike through the hoodoos and an afternoon drive to the southern end of the park.  I’ll need to get back to Arches and Bryce soon to get the many shots I missed.

Spring Break 395 - 2002

Spring Break 2002 I headed down US395. After driving several hours to get to Lee Vining, I recall a deafening silence when I emerged from the car. It was as if sound were being sucked out of my ears, it was so quiet. I visited the tuffs at Mono Lake, then headed down to Lone Pine, where I saw the Alabama Hills and Mount Whitney. I dipped into Death Valley (and got buzzed by a couple of Navy pilots) before making my final run to San Diego.

There I met up with Paul Hewitt, John Suchoki, and Leslie Abrams Hewitt. We gave a talk on the new Conceptual Physical Science Explorations textbook and lab manual. I also met Phil Wolf while at NSTA.

B&GER Entry: I hit the highway for backroad trip through the back side of California. First stop: Lee Vining and Mono Lake. In Late March, Lee Vining is a quiet, quiet town. I got some early and late morning shots of the tufas, had breakfast at Nicely’s, and headed down US 395 to Lone Pine. Woke up to a sunlit view of Mt. Whitney (highest peak in the lower 48). In a quest to get an unobstructed shot of the peak, I drove through the Alabama Hills, an evocative landscape where many of the old Hollywood westerns were shot. But I was due in Death Valley, where I was welcomed by an overhead salute from a pair of Navy pilots from a nearby base. It was a quick in-and-out in Death Valley, as I was next due in San Diego for a professional rendezvous with the authors of Conceptual Physical Science—Explorations. We co-presented a session at the National Science Teachers’ Association convention. Bedazzled by the enormity of the meeting, I stayed too long, and missed my date to see Natalie Merchant in Bakersfield. Oh well, it was an incredible spring break nonetheless.

2002 03 Spring Break 395 Photo Album

iMovie Bonus: Spring Break 395