Tennessee Valley trails

Lots of great day hikes, short and long, to choose from in the Golden Gate Recreation Area just past Sausalito, California.

Rattlesnake Ledge

An hour east of Seattle, this wonderful short day hike climbs gradually but directly to a prominent ledge in the protected watershed area near North Bend. A crisp Fall day, the fog lifted just in time to expose the lake directly below us.

Mt Rainier NP near Sunrise Entrance

Two wonderful day hikes: Naches Peak Loop and the Burroughs Mountain trail past Frozen Lake toward Glacier Basin.

Clear skies and crisp weather. Black bear just off trail minding his own business. The Emmons Glacier cascading down the mountain into moraine and forming the White River.

Columbia River to Pacific Ocean Oct 1805-April 1806

The Lewis and Clark expedition approached the End of the Trail in the Fall 1805 where the Columbia finally reached the Pacific! The team dynamics were so strong that Lewis and Clark organized a vote on whether to stay on the Northwest coast for the damp and cold winter or to attempt a late Fall return to the East which is what many on the expedition were yearning for. Contrasted to the stern command and punishing lashes of the British Navy at the time, this approach exemplified the early democracy of the USA and enabled the buy-in needed to last the winter.

They smartly voted for a winter camp which was built on the banks of a tributary of the Columbia near what is now Astoria, Oregon. They spent the long winter documenting their journey and kept structure with daily tasks such as boiling seawater to make salt to season their bland meat diet. This complimented the more dependable salmon diet. The best methods of fishing and smoking the fish were learned from the local Indians.

Miraculously the expedition completed the entire journey with only one loss of life (from suspected appendicitis.) The corps made the journey in Spring 1806 all the way back to St Charles and St Louis, Missouri.

Lewis and Clark - South Dakota to Oregon

We diverted from the Lewis and Clark route in South Dakota and picked it up again on the mighty Columbia River in northeastern Oregon on I-84 west of Pendleton. This is a little past where the Snake River joins the Columbia in the Tri-Cities in SE Washington. 

Here's what happened in between to our explorers:  

The Lewis and Clark Expedition made it through Lakota Sioux territory and to the friendly Mandan Villages in what is now North Dakota in time for the winter of 1804. They built Fort Mandan near Bismarck for shelter where they posted a sentry. 

In the Spring, when the ice finally broke in the river, the men left in high spirits progressing across to Montana to the headwaters of the Missouri River near Helena. (The white cliffs of the Missouri River in Montana are pictured.) 

But, at that point, the group ran out of river! Horses would be needed to cross the Bitter Root Mountains and beyond.

Lewis and Clark met warily with the Shoshone tribe, who were known as excellent horsemen.  In what was one of the great coincidences of American history, interpreter Sacagawea recognized the chief of the Shoshone tribe as her long-lost brother.  She had been kidnapped by a rival tribe as a young girl. After an emotional reunion, Lewis and Clark had the horses they needed in this critical trade. 

After an arduous journey on horseback across the mountains in Idaho, they finally reached the Snake River where the local Indians taught them to make excellent dugout canoes by burning large hollowed-out logs.

Sawtooth Wilderness, ID

Take the small speedboat ferry at Redfish Lake Lodge to the Redfish Inlet trailhead which leads to various day hikes and backpacking trips in the alpine zone of the Sawtooth Mountains. After the ferry, we traversed up the slope above Redfish Lake to Bench Lakes and then back to the lodge. (7-8 mi and est 1400 ft elevation gain.)

Mt Baldy, Sun Valley Ski Resort, ID

Great climb up 3300 ft to 9010 ft elevation. Reward is chair lift and gondola all the way back to the lodge. Gorgeous views and easy on the knees!

Grand Teton, Jackson WY

Leave from Teton Village and gain 4k feet in 12 minutes. Hikers arrive at Mt Rendezvous at an altitude of over 10k ft in the alpine zone, and the Teton Crest trail is easily within reach.

Colter Bay-Hermitage Pt, Grand Teton NP

9-mile hike down the peninsula with views of Mt Moran and the Grand Teton. Spotted an elk with huge antlers and also this osprey (shown above) with chick chirping from its treetop nest.

Yellowstone NP

Lots of driving through the park but lots to see in each section. Recommend 1400' hike up Mt Washburn near Canyon Village to park's highest elevation. A national treasure. Grizzly habitat but no signs of any and lots of people.

Grand Canyon of Yellowstone, Mt Washburn summit

Custer's Last Stand, SE Montana

Little Bighorn NM memorializes an infamous defeat on June 26, 1876, of Lt Col George Custer and his troops of the 7th Cavalry by the Northern Plains Indians. With the U.S. economy in a recession, news of gold in Black Hills, South Dakota, caused unforeseen events like the Indian treaty being broken by eager gold seekers swarming the region. Inspired by Sitting Bull and war leaders such as Crazy Horse, Lakota and also Cheyenne left the reservation in an attempt to resume their ancestral way of life in the unceded territory on what is now the MT-WY border. President Grant ordered the tribes to return or be treated as his hostiles by military force. While the Indians won the battle, the U.S. Army response to the 247 soldier deaths triggered a massive increase in resources to win the Sioux Wars. Further westward expansion continued at an aggressive pace.

Black Hills SD

Finished just before WWII over 14 years, Mount Rushmore captures four key presidents six stories high in an astounding feat of artistry and innovation led by a Danish-American sculptor. Nearby the Crazy Horse monument begun in 1948 by a Polish-American sculptor symbolizes the native people being forced to live in shrinking reservations and to change their way of life of living off the land and the bison. Crazy Horse led successful Indian factions against the U.S. Cavalry and after he surrendered was stabbed in the back while in captivity. Today work is still slowly being completed on the huge sculpture which will include Crazy Horse on a horse pointing to his lands, where "his dead lie buried."

Badlands NP, SD

Originally derived from Indian and French words of similar meaning, the term "badlands" has since been applied throughout the world to terrain similar to that encountered in the White River country: partly barren, semi-arid to arid regions where clays and other non-resistant layers are sculpted by erratic precipitation into convoluted formations.

Missouri River, Chamberlain SD

In 1804, in present-day South Dakota, Lewis and Clark met with three tribes living along the Missouri River. The talks had varying degrees of success, and as they left, one chief promised, "We shall look at the river with impatience for your return." But years later tension between the native people of the Great Plains and increasing numbers of white European settlers exacerbated by broken treaties, shrinking reservations, and a gold rush in the Black Hills inevitably resulted in violent resistance (1854-1890.)

The Missouri up to Council Bluffs Iowa and Omaha Nebraska

The Louisiana Purchase doubled the size of the United States. Jefferson's principal interest was understanding the geography for water travel for the purposes of commerce. A huge part of the expedition was also meeting the various Indian tribes across the land and introducing them to the U.S. For the most part Lewis and Clark and their men were greeted a little warily but warmly, and these meetings are a fascinating part of their 4,000 mile journey and the westward expansion of the USA.

Lewis and Clark Expedition

In 1803 President Jefferson directed Lewis and Clark to explore the vast Louisiana Purchase and the Northwest Passage to the Pacific Ocean. They traveled by keelboat and long canoes up the Missouri River starting in St Louis where it meets the Mississippi. By roadtrek, we tracked them to beautiful Kansas City. Now we're following the "Mighty Mo" up the Iowa/Nebraska border to South Dakota and beyond, where the longest river in North America flows through the Great Plains.

The Kerry Way

From Killarney, the birthplace of Hugh O'Flaherty, The Pimpernel of the Vatican (famous for his courageous acts during WWII) to Muckross (meaning wild boar peninsula) to Valencia Island, the Kerry Way can be walked one-way to the Atlantic or as a loop trip around the Ring of Kerry.