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Popular Things To Do | Miscellaneous Things To Do Tips | All Tips (286)  | |  |  | The Grand Canyon | Tip Rating:   |  |  | |  |
In April, 2002 I had some time before a business meeting in the southwestern USA Rockies, near Phoenix, Arizona, only a few hours drive from the world famous Grand Canyon National Park. My wife and I quickly jumped into a rental car and headed for an overnight stay at Yavapai Point, on the South Rim at Grand Canyon Village. From there you can stare down 4500 feet to the Colorado River snaking its way along the bottom of the canyon. Across the 10-mile wide canyon at this point the North Rim is actually higher with a 5400 foot drop to the river, giving the Grand Canyon an average depth of almost 1-mile. The next morning, just outside the NP and only a few miles from the Rim we noticed that the Papillon ('butterfly' in French) Helicopter Co. had a very nice looking tour centre for flights over the canyon. Realizing that we probably would never be back to this area again, we decided to fork out US$115 each for their first ride of the morning at 9 AM (2nd photo). During the half-hour flight, headsets provide a narrative of the Canyon and what we were seeing (available in 9 languages). The views from the chopper were spectacular as we suddenly shot out past the rim and we were well satisfied as we finally drove away! We were quite impressed with the forested mountain landscape as we passed through the Flagstaff area just south of the Grand Canyon on both our north and southbound drives. Flagstaff is nestled in the San Francisco Mountains with its highest peak, the 12,750 ft. Mt. Humphreys shown in the 3rd photo along with some Ponderosa Pines. For more spectacular countryside, take winding Route 89A between Flagstaff and Sedona! Basically, the highway runs along Oak Creek, a small stream that has carved itself a path along a fault line in the mountains. The road drops from 6000 feet elevation to 4500 feet in just 12 miles so the drive offers more great views. As we neared Sedona, the mountains and their trees give way to the Arizona desert and its sandstone buttes, like the impressive ones in the 4th photo. Leave a Comment Directions: Southwestern USA, not too far from Las Vegas or Phoenix
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| | | | The American Rockies – Glacier National Park | Tip Rating: | | | | |
During a 2006 visit to Glacier National Park in Montana, we only had time for one decent hike. Following a hotel breakfast we caught the 8:30 AM voyage of the tour boat 'Chief Two Guns' to the end of Swiftcurrent Lake, followed by a short hike to Lake Josephine where we boarded a second boat, 'Morning Eagle' which dropped us off near the end of that lake. From there, we began our climb toward Grinnell Glacier on the Continental divide. The hiking trail to Grinnell had very sharp and deep drop-offs into the valley below for most of its length and this view shows the three lakes we passed on our way up. It was a great climb in beautiful weather, taking us just over three hours to reach Grinnell Glacier at a bit over 6000-ft elevation (2046-m). We next drove over the Rockies on the ‘Going-to-the-Sun’ Road where we crested the Continental Divide (2nd photo). A great view of the steep valley beside the 'Garden Wall' awaited us – we had just climbed up its other side! In this view, the slash winding along the mountainside to the right is the route the GTTS Road takes as it gradually descends to Lake McDonald on the Pacific side of the ranges. Even higher than the road is the Highline hiking trail, leaving from the Logan Pass Visitor Center. Unlike the eastern side of the park where the flat Prairies march right up to its boundary, the western side is a sea of mountain peaks that cover the ground all the way through Idaho and Washington to the ocean. We spent one of our four nights in the NP on the shores of beautiful Lake McDonald (3rd photo). At 10 miles long, 1 mile wide and gouged 472-ft deep by glacial action, this is the largest lake in the park. Because of the large and sparsely populated Blackfeet Indian Reservation located on the eastern side of the NP, there are more and larger populated communities on the Pacific side, making Lake McDonald one of the most popular destinations in Glacier NP. Of course, Glacier is just a sample of the many fantastic National Parks scattered all through the American Rockies! Leave a Comment Directions: Through the western states of USA as the Rocky Mountains ranges spread out below Canada
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| | | | The Canadian Rocky Mountains | Tip Rating: | | | | |
The number one geological attraction in North America has to be the Rocky Mountains. I have visited them on both sides of the Canada-USA border and have always been impressed by their majesty. The Canadian portion of the Rockies includes five UNESCO National Parks, including Jasper, Banff and Waterton Lakes in Alberta; Glacier, Yoho and Kootenay in British Columbia and Kluane in Yukon Territory. This 2004 view of Banff National Park brought our car to a standstill as we simply had to get out for a proper look! Castle Mountain, although not overly tall at 9390 feet (2860 m), is actually the first mountain of the main Rocky Mountain ranges that you will encounter when entering them from the east. Glacial action has worked at the mountain over the centuries, leaving a reddish mountain that seems to rise up in steps, with castle-like peaks. In addition to smoothing off the entire mountain, its eastern side (on the right here) was gouged out into a giant amphitheatre. Flowing in front of this impressive mountain is the Bow River. Its origin is not many miles further up the highway, but it eventually empties into Hudson Bay, half a continent away, via the Nelson River. Moraine Lake (2nd photo) in Banff is quite a nice little spot, nestled in the Valley of the Ten Peaks, famous because those peaks were featured for many years on the back of the Canadian $20 bill. The weather has had its effect on them too, with a whole section of the mountains between those two peaks has given way at some distant time in the past. The result is a huge fan-shaped mass of broken rock that has slid down into Moraine Lake. In the foreground is a couple enjoying one of the rental canoes that are available there. Leave a Comment Directions: Yukon Territory, northern British Columbia and along the BC/Alberta border
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| | | | Interesting mid-west US cities | Tip Rating: | | | | |
Business trips have taken me to some of the smaller cities in central America – interesting yet OTBP locations. The northern city of Milwaukee, Wisconsin was impressive with its effective use of the Milwaukee River as a tourist draw. Because it flows through the city centre, an amazing amount of work went into making this a great area to stroll, view, eat and relax in. I ended up there on the Saturday night of my arrival, sitting outside at the Rock Bottom Brewery patio while watching all the activity. The river is alive with boats of all sizes motoring up and down the waterway and pulling in to dock at the various restaurants. As evening fell, the strings of lights along the river combined with lights highlighting the tops of nearby buildings like stately City Hall gave the area a festive atmosphere. The City Hall building was built in 1895 in the Flemish Renaissance style, with only a narrow end view of its the bell tower shown in the 2nd photo. Another surprise was centrally located Kansas City, Missouri (3rd photo), especially its old Union Station in the foreground. Built in 1914 to handle the increasing rail traffic serving the American mid-west, this Beaux-Arts style building handled 220 trains in a single day during its peak years. It had a waiting room that could hold 10,000 people, its own power plant and various restaurants and shops. However, with dwindling rail traffic the building was abandoned by Amtrak in 1974 before being restored by a $258 million project in 1999. On the Gulf of Mexico, New Orleans was certainly different before Katrina hit! Although the French Quarter (4th photo) is a bit of a tourist trap, an evening stroll was entertaining. It is fun to watch all the goings-on and listen to the music! There are all sorts of different kinds of people and places, music on the street and bars/restaurants. An omen of things to come - it was strange to be able to look UP from the streets to see large freighters passing by in canals holding water at a higher elevation than where I was standing! Leave a Comment Directions: Down through the centre of USA, from near the Canadian border to the Gulf of Mexico
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| | | | Saskatchewan – home of the Canadian Mounties | Tip Rating: | | | | |
Most people who travel to Canada would like to see members of the famous red-coated Royal Canadian Mounted Police, the 'Mounties'. However, even living in Canada, it is not all that often that you see Mounties decked out in their 'dress' scarlet uniforms, since they are designed for horse-riding instead of today's more mundane police duties! However, if you happen to be in any good-sized town or city on November 11, you just might have your chance because this is when the country comes to a standstill for two minutes at 11 AM in remembrance of Canada's war dead over the decades. In 2006, it was a beautiful sunny day and quite mild for November in eastern Canada as the ceremonies wrapped up with a march-past. In 1999 we were able to visit the western ‘home’ of the Mounties in Regina, Saskatchewan to attend the graduation of one of our sons-in-law. The 2nd photo shows one of their practise marching and drill sessions leading up to the big event. The 'Troop' is lined up in the drill hall receiving their latest instructions beneath banners of the various Provinces and Territories of Canada. This Training Academy allows the force to train about 500 cadets each year in all facets of police work. Each Troop of new recruits usually consists of about 30 members recruited from across the country and sometimes members of foreign police forces. While in Regina, you should visit the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) Museum located on the grounds of their Training Academy Depot (3rd photo). There are many interesting artifacts and exhibits regarding the history of this famous force down through the years. This organization was formed in 1873 (just a few years after Canada became a country in 1867) as the North West Mounted Police. With the lawlessness and Indian troubles of the American West starting to creep into the Canadian Prairies, the government decided that a 300-man paramilitary force was needed in the West to maintain Canadian sovereignty and to uphold the law. Leave a Comment Directions: Regina, capital of the Canadian province of Saskatchewan
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| | | | Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula | Tip Rating: | | | | |
My wife and I finally made it to Mexico in 2003 when we arranged a trip to Cancun. It is so close to the Mayan ruins at Chichen-Itza that we thought that was also a "must visit"! We paid US$33 each for a fully-guided bus trip (8 AM to 6 PM) including lunch. These ruins date from about 514 AD and were abandoned by about 1250, with this view showing the 75-ft tall El Castillo (or the Pyramid of Kukulkan), the largest structure on the site and named by the Spaniards when they arrived on the scene in the 1500s. It has 364 steps (91 on each side) plus the top platform to equate to the 365 days of the year, in keeping with Mayan love of math and astronomy. The 45 degree angle of the steps is a bit daunting when you are on the top looking down - the steps are narrow and there are no hand-holds at all. It is possible that climbing is no longer allowed for safety reasons. Another fun spot was on one of the nearby ‘Mayan Riviera’ beaches at the Xpu-Ha Palace Resort, an ecological-themed site with thatched roof buildings spread out over a wide area of jungle and connected by a network of trails. We enjoyed a great buffet lunch with drinks on arrival we were given free snorkeling equipment to use in a sheltered reef area along its section of coastline. It was a great experience to float lazily along and have such a clear view of the many types and colours of fish swimming so close by. Later, we relaxed on the main beach at Xpu-Ha (2nd photo) before boarding the bus for ‘home’. For accommodations, you can have anything from the fanciest resort to the cheapest hovel. I booked Condominiums Brisas on the internet, comprised of 3 main blocks of rooms with a centrally-located convenience store, swimming pool area, beach access and security guards at the gate. We were on the 4th floor so had a great view of the Caribbean in one direction (3rd photo) or the Lagoon in the other direction. We paid US$85/night for our 9 night stay. Leave a Comment Directions: On the Yucatan Peninsula, Mexico's most easterly part
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| | | | Newfoundland – a world of its own! | Tip Rating: | | | | |
Newfoundland & Labrador, ‘where the land meets the sea’ is Canada’s easternmost province, and what a unique spot it is! In summer 2001, my wife and I decided that it was high time we made a trip to the island of Newfoundland to see what all the fuss was about. With fantastic rugged scenery, whale watching and two UNESCO World Heritage Sites very close to each other, we decided that a trip up along the westernmost shores of the island's Northern Peninsula would make a great holiday. On our way up the west coast we spent some time in Gros Morne National Park, one of the UNESCO sites and home to the fjord of Western Brook Pond, carved by glacial action during the Ice Age. This is the view as our tour boat began to enter the 2300-ft (700-m) cliffs of the fjord and the 2nd photo gives another perspective as one of the boats heads back out, after passing a floating dock where hikers in the park can be picked up. A few hundred miles further north and we reached the tip of the peninsula where the second UNESCO site is located, at L’Anse aux Meadows, an area first visited by Europeans when a 30-man Viking ship from Greenland, captained by Leif Eriksson, landed there during a voyage of discovery to the west (1000 AD). Eventually the settlement consisted of 8 wood-framed huts overlaid with sod roof and walls (3rd photo). There are even records of the birth of the first European in the New World taking place at this location (a boy named Snorri). However, this area had also been used by the native Inuit and Beothuk aboriginal population (called 'Skraelings' by the Vikings) since about 6000 BC. The result was eventual conflict and deaths, culminating in a retreat back to Greenland by the heavily out-numbered Vikings. There are still plenty of whales and icebergs floating around in these cold northern waters, so we took advantage of a Humpback whale watching expedition while we were in the area (4th photo)! Leave a Comment Directions: The large island of Newfoundland on Canada's Atlantic coast and the Labrador coastline stretching north toward Greenland
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| | | | The Appalachian Mountains | Tip Rating: | | | | |
One of the great natural wonders of eastern North America is the Appalachian mountain range, stretching for 1500 miles (2400-km) between northern Georgia, USA and Newfoundland, Canada. Although not nearly as rugged as the younger Rockies of the west, the Appalachians have their own softer beauty, having survived being ground down by the continental Ice Sheets in long ago times. The highest peak tops out at 6700-ft (2000-m) but there are many at 3000-ft or higher. I enjoyed this typical ‘smoky’ view of the mountains in Great Smoky Mountains National Park of eastern Tennessee in 2002 while on a business trip. According to Wikipedia, the name derives from “… the natural haze that often hangs over it. As in the neighboring Blue Ridge Mountains to the east, hydrocarbons produced by trees and other local vegetation—as well as higher humidity—produce a bluish cast to the sky, even over short distances” and modern day smog is not helping matters. Many years earlier, in March 1978, my wife and I explored these ranges a bit further north as we drove the back-country of West Virginia while escaping a Canadian winter. The scene of all sorts of odd bits and pieces shown in the 2nd photo greeted us as we explored the interesting back roads of ‘hillbilly’ country – it was a very enjoyable trip! Another more northerly trip (3rd photo) took us into a New England part of this range, with the beautiful fall foliage of the White Mountains of New Hampshire. The Appalachians are famous for having one of the longest hiking trails in the world – the Appalachian Trail (2155-miles) from Georgia to Maine with another 615-miles onward into Canada through New Brunswick and Quebec as the International AT. My wife and I recently enjoyed our hike to the end of this trail where the mountains of Quebec’s Gaspé Peninsula fall into the Gulf of St. Lawrence (4th photo). Leave a Comment Directions: Running along the east coast from Georgia, USA to Newfoundland, Canada
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| | | | The New England States | Tip Rating: | | | | |
The New England states of Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine are among the oldest in America and, in addition to having historic cities such as Boston and Hartford, they are famous for their ‘unspoiled’ wilds. Since I live next door to them, I have visited many times over the years and have had a chance to sample them for myself. In this case, my wife, children and I were canoeing in northern Maine’s Baxter State Park (home of the famous Mt Katahdin) when we came across this bull moose swimming in one of its lakes. While I fumbled with my camera, the wind blew us so close that he submerged and all his moose flies took flight and landed on us instead! The 2nd photo was taken along Maine’s Atlantic coastline in rugged Acadia National Park. This is an area famous for its multimillion dollar vacation cottages of the rich and famous, including the Presidential retreat at Kennebunkport, thanks to a custom established many years ago (before air conditioning) when the rich and famous fled the summer heat and humidity of regions further south. Inland, Vermont and New Hampshire both have their forested mountain areas, crisscrossed by back roads and providing beautiful vistas during the autumn as the deciduous tree leaves change colour (3rd photo). On a 1977 trip to New Hampshire, we were surprised to come across an abandoned relic of the days when wealthy Americans retreated to the cool airs of the northeast - the Crawford Notch resort hotel (4th photo). The small yellow blob standing on the verandah roof in front of an open window is one of us, as we explored the totally abandoned wooden structure which, sadly, burned to the ground within a year. Leave a Comment Directions: The bit of America east of New York
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on August 7, 2007
