Mindo, Ecuador

Heading to a cloud forest

If we were going to go to Ecuador, I was going to see some birds in a cloud forest. Mike got his wish to go to the Amazon. My turn.

We hired a driver to take us 2 hours to Mindo from Quito which was arranged by the Platinum Toucan Suites where we stayed during our 3 days in the mountains. They also arranged for a guide to take us birding at 6am. Boy, did he deliver. We saw so many birds, hummingbirds and 4 species of toucans. As we hiked through the hills, he would show us bird nests in the side of the hills and give us a peek in at the little mouths waiting for mom.

 There were plenty of ecotourism opportunities, hiking to waterfalls, rafting and ziplining. I had had enough of those experiences for a while and was ready to see some birds.

Our guide had lots of scopes and binoculars for us to use.

He helped us use our phones to get pictures of the 4 species of toucans flying around us.

This toucan chirping was so cool. It wasn't long before we recognized the sounds and find them ourselves.

 Toco Toucan

By 9 am the birds were getting quiet and not a lot to be seen. The guide just kept walking and telling us stories. He was willing to keep going as long as we would like, I was getting hungry. Even though we had a kitchen in our apartment, I voted to have brunch on the roof that a local lady made for us on our return. The neighbors would get together with their instruments in the mornings and would play music on the front porch. What a treat.

We arrived on a Sunday and the town was hopping, but the next morning it was almost a ghost town. 80% of the town's economy is tourism. The holiday was over.

A visit to a mariposa habitat was a treat other than the biting bugs that got me a couple of times. I had let my guard down since malaria wasn't an issue at this elevation. At least I hoped.

I had so many pictures of different butterflies but had to narrow them down to a few.

Butterfly crystalis

Amazon Owl butterflies confuse predators with yes on their wings.

 A driver was arranged to take us back to Quito in 2 days. I wondered if he would return and what we would do if he didn't, I like a backup plan. He was there bright and early, ready to drive the winding mountain road back to the city. We were glad we didn't attempt to rent a car and figure it out ourselves. A person can only be so adventurous.

Lake Wenatchee, WA

 Another state park

Our plans this year have been constantly changing due to the heat and fires in Oregon. We chose hosting this summer since so many campgrounds ae closed and many more people camping making finding last minute sites difficult to find. We hadn't previously volunteered in Washington and didn't know what to expect.

With a lot more last minute openings this year for camp hosts, we saw a last minute opening at Lake Wenatchee State Park for a camp host as we left Fort Stevens State Park on Oregon's coast. Lake Wenatchee is 20 minutes north of Leavenworth, WA in the middle of the national forest and North Cascades. 

Leavenworth is a Bavarian Village style town with an annual Bavarian Christmas celebration and one of the largest Oktoberfest celebrations outside of Munich. It offers up a little slice of Germany in the center of its Pacific Northwest landscape and nearby Alpine Lakes Wilderness.

The novelty of visiting Leavenworth wore off pretty quickly during our weekly trips to Safeway and running into traffic jams of tourists. Our plan to have a nice German lunch out quickly turned to burgers at the drive up burger place on the edge of town.

Lake Wenatchee State Park is a 489-acre camping park with glacier-fed Lake Wenatchee and the Wenatchee River. 

During their annual migration long ago, Native American tribes stopped at Lake Wenatchee for a feast of clams and salmon before heading west to trade with coastal tribes.

Ready for work in our little Gem electric vehicle.

The North Loop has room for larger RVs and we were in the South loop with 100 sites for small RVs and tents on the south side of the Wenatchee River. Our site overlooked the swimming area and had a nice breeze across the lake on warm days which kept most of the pesky mosquitos at bay. Both campgrounds had peaceful walking trails.

New Jr Rangers making a pledge.

Chiwawa Loop Road

Our cycle route was 7 miles to Plain and the Chiwawa Loop. The small "town" had the Just Plain Grocery, Just Plain Laudromat and Plain Hardware which turned out to be a boutique and coffee shop with hardware in the back.

We saw a banner at a resort on our return ride from Plain with Friday night music and tacos. A gal saw us dancing and asked me to two step with her since no one else was dancing and Mike was getting tacos. That was in between "mask off, mask on".

A bridge too bumpy to ride. Made my teeth chatter.

Happy campers leaving a message on our wood shed white board.

Stevens Pass PCT

The most difficult stretch of PCT in Washington, Section K puts hikers through a grueling 127-mile trek (a long ways between resupplying) over harsh terrain and treacherous conditions are rewarded with 

a true wilderness experience in and among some of the country's most pristine and beautiful surroundings. 

We headed out with our packs of "trail magic" (breakfast bars) on an easier 3 miles of this section. It wasn't long until we met a couple of south bound hikers that said they were headed to Mexico. I whipped out a couple of bars. They looked so happy and said they had run out of food and were so thankful. 

They weren't far from the highway and planned to hitch a ride to Leavenworth. We found the diner in Coles Corner that many through hikers stopped at, much closer with some really good food and had been featured on Diners, Drive Ins and Dives. Hikers that we had seen while out on the trails would stop and visit with us. It was amazing how much food they could put down.

Stevens Pass Ski area

Iron Goat Trail

The Iron Goat Trail is a walk along the old Great Northern railroad grade built over the Cascades in 1893. At the time it was built, it was considered the best engineered of the transcontinental railroads, taking us on one of the intricate switchbacks that once took trains up the Cascades Mountains. 

There were small waterfalls and several old tunnels with trails going up to the openings. We took the steep counterclockwise direction and were pretty warm when we reached the first tunnel.

The breeze was cool as we entered it. I thought we should just stay there. Many of the tunnels and snow bridges were built by 800 workers — many 

Japanese immigrants — who laid the train tracks across the Cascades through Stevens Pass. 

I know there is a trail somewhere around here.

Things went south as we headed west.

Tumalo State Park

Another Oregon State Park

 We love the little town of Sisters and the bakery is pretty darn good too. When you pull into the Old West town of Sisters, you feel like you’re making a getaway. This friendly little outpost in the foothills of the Cascade Mountains draws visitors for its profound natural beauty. It was a good stop while we waited to start hosting at Tumalo State Park.

Sisters was named for the trio of towering peaks to its west and is an artsy community with 1880s facades and small-town ambience.

Tumalo State Park

After receiving four emails requesting hosts for the month of May and no plans on the books, we gave them a call and thought a month as relief hosts might be ok. Little did we know that they expected an awful lot of their hosts. No wonder they had to make so many requests for a last minute cancellation. Fortunately, we know how to set boundaries and handled it just fine. When the evening ranger texted us to check in with some campers, we texted back that it was 9:30pm and we were off duty. He would have to deal with it.

We got a kick out of the mom merganser and her 12 chicks on our morning walks. They would bolt around as if they had double expressos with sugar.

Fortunately, we didn't see any of these but plenty of other wild life.

The Deschutes River Trail runs to Bend and makes a nice shady morning walk.

We would watch this mom owl with her two kids and eventually they left the nest.

Camp Sherman

We had plenty of time for get aways and headed to Camp Sherman. Located just 31 miles northwest of Bend, this "city" sits on the headwaters of the Metolius River with views of 10,497-foot Mt. Jefferson.

Although not exactly a large, cascading waterfall, Wizard Falls is a scenic stretch of gentle rapids on the beautiful Metolius River. A 6 mile round trip trail runs along the river. We plan to hike it when we return next month.

Tumalo Falls

The 97 foot waterfall is a short walk from the parking area, but the road was closed two miles from the falls. But the grade was a pleasant walk along Tumalo Creek

 After our bike rides, we stopped at The Bite in Tumalo,  north of Bend, Oregon. We found fantastic food, an amazing assortment of beers on tap, plus a great festive vibe with fire pits and music. it was like a backyard party. If the tables were all taken, a large box held folding chairs to use.

Even though we found this hosting experience not one of our best, we enjoyed the other hosts and had some great finds.