Trails & Trees - Part 11 - Royal Tyrrell Museum

13 August 2017

We’re not taking the most direct route across the continent. I wanted to take several-hundred-mile detour to Drumheller, Alberta to visit the Royal Tyrrell Museum. I heard about it because of the new exhibit of a “mummified” dinosaur that had scales and internal organs mostly intact. It turned out to be well worth the trip -- this is one spectacular dinosaur museum. I’d put it on the must-see list for any dinosaur enthusiast.

The nodosaur, Borealopelta markmitchelli, that was the original reason for coming here.

The museum has kept a number of specimens intact in the rock in which they were discovered. This one is a juvenile Gorgosaurus libratus.

Another in situ specimen -- Tyrannosaurus rex.

A balcony view of an Albertosaurus skull that also shows a portion of the huge gallery below.

Euoplocephalus skull.

It’s not just dinosaurs. This is a small section of a large panel of carboniferous-era plants. There was also a conservatory garden of contemporary versions of dinosaur-era plants, as well as a gallery or two of recent fossils such as mastodons, mammoths, and giant sloths. Something for fossil-lovers of all sorts!

Trails & Trees - Part 10 - Mickelson Trail

Saturday, 12 August 2017

Prairie dogs on our way out of Wind Cave National Park.

Our route took us on the back side of the under-construction Crazy Horse monument near Mt. Rushmore.

The Black Hills of South Dakota are home to the 109-mile long Mickelson rail-trail. We rode most of the Hill City to Mystic section. This section includes a relatively high pass (for this trail) at 5436 ft and two tunnels. It’s a relentless 2% grade from Hill City, and I had difficulty -- it’s different riding 3-mile 2% grade at 1500 ft and riding a 7-mile 2% grade at 5000 ft! We turned around at the first tunnel, about 2 miles shy of Mystic -- I really didn’t want to add to the return climb!

Lon near the summit at Redfern.

A gate across the road where the trail goes into the Black Hills National Forest.

Tunnel A, our turn-around point.

After our ride, we got back into the car and headed for Montana.

Our route cut across the extreme northeastern corner of Wyoming.

Clouds were building over Montana. I was also intrigued by the brilliant red rocks on the hill tops here.

The view from our campsite in Makoshika State Park near Glendale, Montana.

Trails & Trees - Part 9 - South Dakota & Wind Cave National Park

Friday, 11 August 2017

We blasted across South Dakota today at 80 mph on I-90. It makes for miserable gas mileage, but it really makes a difference when you’re driving 400 or 500 miles in a day.

Eastern South Dakota -- agricultural and grazing land with gentle hills.

South Dakota “badlands” toward the western end of the state.

We spent the night in Wind Cave National Park. Even though it’s quite close to Mt. Rushmore and other Black Hills attractions, the campground was far from full.

We toured Wind Cave, a “dry” cave known for unusual rock (calcite) formations.

The only natural entrance to Wind Cave is this small hole. Air pressure differences causes air to flow in and out of this entrance at speeds up to 70 mph (although it is usually less than that!).

“Boxwork”, a calcite formation in Wind Cave.

A closer look at boxwork.

More boxwork.

“Frostwork” and “popcorn” are the other calcite formations in Wind Cave. Since it’s a dry cave, there are no stalactites, stalagmites, or flowstone formations. 

Trails & Trees - Part 8 - Northern Minnesota

Thursday, 10 August 2017

It’s a “Trees” day. We headed up north to visit the “Lost Forty” -- a section of virgin timber that was not logged due to a surveying error. Since we were in the vicinity, we also decided to go to the headwaters of the Mississippi in Itasca State Park.

The “Lost Forty” is a stand of virgin timber in the Chippewa National Forest. A surveying error showed it at the bottom of a lake, so it was not logged in the early 20th century. The large white and red pines are 300-400 years old.

Despite their age, the harsh growing conditions of the north woods mean that they are not that large in diameter compared to trees I’m familiar with in the south. Lon is standing next to one of the largest white pines.

Looking up into the canopy of a large white pine.

Another white pine canopy.

Sue (and few hundred other visitors) rock-hop across the beginning of the “Mighty Mississippi” as it flows out of Lake Itasca.

Trails & Trees - Part 7 - Twin Cities

I’ve got a minimal Internet connection, and we’ve already finished today’s bike ride, so I’m going to try to get a few more blog posts up.

Tuesday, 8 August & Wednesday, 9 August 2017

We spent two days in the Minneapolis area visiting with friends and family.

The Twin Cities area has an extensive network of bike trails. Here is Lon at Lake Calhoun.

The Cedar Lake trail shows just how close to downtown Minneapolis we were.

We also got a tour of the WestRock mill in St. Paul. The offices are in a classic Art Deco building.

Minneapolis has a city-wide broadband wifi network. Just about every street corner had a wifi router on a lamppost. Unfortunately, it is subscriber-based, so we couldn’t use it.

Total Solar Eclipse

A brief interlude from “Trails & Trees" with very slow cellular internet.

We went to Madras, Oregon, for the eclipse. Amazing experience! Here are a few photos.

Lon viewed the partiality phases through filter-equipped binoculars.

Sue was set up to take photos.

Ritz Crackers make an acceptable pinhole camera for the partial eclipse phases!

Totality was AWESOME!!!! The temperature dropped about 10°F. The corona was much brighter than I expected it to be. Two minutes went by incredibly fast!

The return of full-sun after the eclipse. I can count six sunspots.

An incredible experience. Plan now for 2024!

Final eclipse photos here.

Trails & Trees - Part 6 - High Trestle Trail

On our way from Naperville to Minneapolis, we took a detour through Iowa to ride a small section of the High Trestle Trail -- the section with the spectacular bridge.

Before we started our ride, we came across this fawn and doe who were remarkably unconcerned about encountering humans with bicycles.

Decorative piers on the eastern end of the bridge -- matching set is on the western end. The bridge was built on the concrete piers of a 1971 railroad bridge that replaced the original 1913 trestle.

The superstructure on the bridge is an art installation that is outlined in blue lights at night. Next year we hope to return to ride the entire 25-mile trail and see the bridge at night.

A view from the overlook on the western end of the bridge.

Sue at the overlook.

The western end of the High Trestle Trail is 2.5 miles west of the bridge in the small town of Woodward, Iowa.

The end/beginning of the trail is marked by a bicycle hung high on a utility pole.

An emergency bike repair station is also at this end.

This trail was definitely worth the extra two or three hours of travel today!

Trails & Trees - Part 5 - Happy Birthday!

The most essential reason we were in Naperville, IL (Chicago suburb) today was to celebrate my Mom’s 90th birthday. Her birthday was August 1, but we celebrated today with an ice cream social at her nursing home with the vast majority of the extended family in attendance.

Happy 90th Birthday!

Trails & Trees - Part 4 - Morton Arboretum

Today’s post combines trees and trails with a walk in the Morton Arboretum in Lisle, Illinois.

“Origami in the Garden” is the current exhibit at the arboretum displaying origami-based bronze castings by artist Kevin Box. Most (but far from all) of the sculptures featured cranes. This one at the entrance is “Botanical Peace”.

A large origami squirrel and acorn (“Seed Sower”) are just outside the visitor center.

Near the entrance to the Children’s Garden is “Emerging Peace” -- a caterpillar emerging into a chrysalis emerging into a butterfly.

“Hero’s Horse” -- Pegasus

“Master Peace” -- an obelisk (pagoda?) of 500 cranes.

The reflective base of “Master Peace”.

A modern origami crane based on the origami art of Robert Lang. Part of “Migrating Peace”.

Of course there is more to the arboretum than this art installation.

A magnificent old ash tree.

David and Amos get the kaleidoscope view of an herb planter in the Chidren’s Garden. The base spins to give a varying kaleidoscopic view (below).