Category: River

North Cascades NP

Grand Coolie Dam — You know you've arrived in the Pacific Northwest when you start seeing massive hydroelectric projects everywhere. Grand Coolie is the world's largest dam.

Great Hike: Thunder Knob

First, I have to admit that until two or three years ago I had never even heard of North Cascades National Park. Second, I went expecting to appreciate one thing and came away also appreciating something very different. Third, I can’t believe how lucky I was to have had perfect weather. This visit for me was to virgin territory and once again I recognized that the National Park Service manages some wonderful parks.

My orientation pass through North Cascades gave me confidence that its nature was going to impress. Glaciers here had molded impressive mountain shapes, had carved valleys down which wide rivers now flow and which contain great lakes of clear blue waters. But what I also realized is that man had come in and harnessed all this for power, for recreation and for preservation. While I did choose a Great Hike, it’s not all that impressed me.

Animal Bridge Mountain River Road Travel

Yellowstone NP

Badlands Mountains — The scarred landscape of Badlands National Monument is something I cannot drive past, I must drive through. Besides, this time I had morning light and the Visitor Center was open!

Great Hike: Mammoth Hot Springs.

I can already tell that I have big problem with my theme: “One Great Hike Each.” Within U.S. National Parks pretty much every hike is great. For instance, in my one day in Yellowstone I went on three serious hikes. Each was remarkable in it’s own way. From past visits to Yellowstone I know this to be true of other hikes as well. Suffice to say I’m sticking with the theme and will simply explain my selection.

Bike Bridge Historical River Train Travel

A Path Down the Middle: C&O Canal

Post author By TravisGood
Post date September 20, 2010
No Comments on A Path Down the Middle: C&O Canal

C&O Mile 0 — Under the shadow of the Watergate and hidden behind a boat rental store you can find “Mile 0” of the C&O Canal. Here it drops into the Potomac which opens onto the Chesapeake and into the Atlantic Ocean.

Canal barges were pulled at four miles per hour but there was a time when people were betting they were the best option for moving goods, certainly better than those new-fangled trains. Hard to believe but in their infancy trains were slow and dangerous and didn’t have much of a hauling capacity. For a small window in history, the riverboat canal system and the railroad competed for supremacy. Seems hard to believe today.

America’s manifest destiny was to grow, to expand west. In post-colonial times this meant expand into the Ohio valley where fertile land and natural resources were bountiful. Critical to this expansion were communication and transportation and this meant connecting the east coast with the Ohio River. In the late 1700s this stirred the development of the C&O Canal along the Potomac River to link the Chesapeake Bay with the Ohio River. America was moving west.

Bridge Historical Museum River Train Travel

My Classic Farewell Embrace of London

Post author By TravisGood
Post date September 9, 2010
No Comments on My Classic Farewell Embrace of London

Tomorrow I fly home. So how do I typically spend the day before leaving London? Walking my feet off, of course! Today I covered the core of London from the Tower of London and London Bridge on the east to Buckingham Palace and Covent Gardens in the west. In addition I spent two hours in to the excellent London Transportation Museum. After 10 hours on my feet, walking and listening to audio tours, I was quite happy to collapse into a chair at a coffee shop. Ahhhhhhh …

Ever looking for interesting pictures to take I decided to take advantage of a special perspective: elevation. The Monument is a memorial of the 1666 fire that destroyed London and a celebration of London’s reconstruction. It stands 202 feet tall, the distance from it’s base to where the fire began on Pudding Street. I climbed the 311 stairs to a viewing gallery hoping that I could get some good shots and I think I did. While the subject matter isn’t novel I’m hoping you agree that the lighting, context and angles are special.

Another excellent trip to the U.K. complete!

How long till I return? 🙂

Bridge Historical Museum River Train Travel

Two Engineering Wonders and a BritRail Pass

Post author By TravisGood
Post date September 1, 2010
No Comments on Two Engineering Wonders and a BritRail Pass

Falkirk Wheel — Enter below and exit above or vis versa, this amazing combination of art and engineering reunited Scotland’s canals systems east and west. Great care was paid to how it appeared and the result is a world-class mechanical sculpture.

My primary goals today were to visit two extraordinary structures: The Forth Bridge, a rail bridge inextricably linked with Scotland’s identity, and The Falkirk Wheel, a boat lift which united east and west Scottish canals for the first time in centuries. However, if I was going to be out-and-about on a BritRail pass then I could do more.

Choosing the loosely defined theme of “bridges” I looked in to where else I could go. Perth offered three(!) bridges with pedestrian paths I could cross. Adding this to my first two choices could result in a loop … and what more could be found on the loop?

Bridge Historical Lighthouse Museum Ocean River Train Travel

Two Loops Around Newcastle

Post author By TravisGood
Post date August 31, 2010
No Comments on Two Loops Around Newcastle

Spire — Atop a government building was this tower but far from unique, this city expressed it's artistic character in many way.

After a day’s rest from my 84-mile walk I was feeling somewhat regenerated. My ambitions were small for this transition day. I thought a walking loop around town would be just right after which I’d hop a train to Edinburgh. I never should have talked with the hostel staff. I never should have learned about the £4.80 Daily Saver. I never should have been tempted to go on a grander Newcastle adventure.

Historical Lighthouse Museum River Train Travel

Another Day Tying Up of Loose Ends

Post author By TravisGood
Post date August 19, 2010
No Comments on Another Day Tying Up of Loose Ends

Yes, northern Wales has been the recent theme but I’m based in Liverpool and I’m not likely to ignore that fact. Besides, there’s much still to see so it would be silly not to squeeze in as much as possible. Tomorrow is Snowdon Mountain and Friday I relocate to Leeds to spend the weekend with family. If Liverpool is going to happen then today’s the day.

Much like Cardiff, Liverpool is packed with things to see and do. Previously I had focused on the Beatles, Albert Dock museums, and famous buildings. This time I packaged together many top sites into a walking tour which I started only after a boat ride around the River Mersey. Knowing that most everything opens at 10:00 and closes at 5:00 I planned to fill every minute with activity … and this I did!

Bridge Falls Historical Museum River Train Travel

Smoothly Trans-Atlantic

Bath is famous for many things and probably for these cascades on the River Avon too. However, I came back to this exact spot because the view is spectacular. Bath has so very much to offer.

If not an old shoe, it felt like a familiar shoe when I completed my trip to England by pulling out my Oyster prepaid card and swiping it to enter the Underground to board a Picadilly Line train to Padington. Everything had gone smoothly right down to sleeping which I forced myself to do for several hours in transit. When I strolled off the plane to Customs it felt like the start of a great day; I wasn’t dragging and cursing life. A good first stride in to a familiar and comfortable shoe.

Not wanting to schlep around my suitcase all day, I made my first stop my hostel in Bristol where I checked in and stored my bag in a locker. Then, back on the train for a 10 minute ride back to Bath, a town I’ve previously visited and been blown away by. It has strong Roman influences viewable even today. However, this visit would be different. My plan was to avoid the town’s key feature (the Roman baths) and take in the rest of what was in and around the once-walled city.

My first stop was the tourist information office where they provided me with a walking tour map. With that I set off on my way to explore. So what is there to be seen? A crazy number of interesting sites, among them:

– Jane Austin’s home

Hike Historical River Train Travel

The Six Faces of Harpers Ferry

Post author By TravisGood
Post date July 15, 2010
No Comments on The Six Faces of Harpers Ferry

I came here to practice my hosteling skills before heading off to Wales in August. I’ll be traveling the U.K. again by train and also doing lots of hiking so I’ll need to travel light. In contrast to last time when I felt burdened every time I relocated, this time I want to travel with less weight but with more technology. I’ll have more cameras, my kindle and iPad, and all the supporting accessories such as a wireless keyboard. Importantly, I’ll be traveling without my six pound laptop computer and this is a frightening prospect, hence my need to test things out with a stay at the Harpers Ferry Hostel.

As usual I knew very little about where I was going. Harpers Ferry is one of two National Parks in West Virginia and it stands at the confluence of two rivers: the Shenandoah and the Potomac.

Bike River Road Travel

Harrisburg’s Riverfront

It’s not part of some “grand plan” but many of the cities I visit lie along a river, the waterfronts are often revitalized, and with my bicycle in the back seat I can’t help but be tempted to take a ride. So I did.