June 29, 2026 - Delilah

 

Title: June 29, 2026 - Delilah
Hike Info : Description : Extra Photo's : Flowers and Plants

Hike Info:

Type: Lookout

Description:

I got up a few minutes before 0500 this morning-I will be tired this evening. But I wanted to get an early start to Delilah for several reasons. First, I was not there all of last season. The last time I was there was November 2024. There is a bit of anxiety over will I remember what is in Delilah? What has changed since my absence? Second, the last two weeks I did some hiking in Minnesota. My left knee had some ache in it. With coming up the 72’, 80 stairs of Delilah, will my knee bother me? Third, how tired will I be climbing those stairs? Also how will I feel after three days?

I leave a few minutes after 0600, even for me, this is a bit early. I stopped at Costco for gas and discovered that I did not have my Costco card. If I had thought for a few seconds, I would have realized that I had my Costco app which had my Costco card on it. Instead I started to look for an attendant. But right beside me was Richard who would be going to Delilah to pick up supplies for storage. He swiped his card for me. The rest of the drive to Delilah did not have a problem, except for constant glare from a dirty windshield and the sun.

I get to Delilah around 0800. The road is just as “interesting” as it was two years ago. I load up the basket, which is one a pulley system, with things and take my backpack up to the cab. The knee did not act up and I took my time, stopping at each level for a breath. Not too bad. I made a second trip to pick the remaining food and water and my sleeping bag. I think I am good for the day now. Fears two and three down.

Now to familiarize myself with Delilah. In truth, not much has changed. There are a few small differences: a radio to listen to CalFire; new kitchen utensils, a few things moved. I think I will do OK.

I do my first scan. While I was doing that, Richard and Jan drive up. After while Richard comes up and we talk awhile. He had posted on FaceBook a couple of days about going up to Mitchell Peak and realizing there was a lookout there at one time. This got us into a discussion of lookouts which are no longer there and where they are. He talked about a fire in Arizona called the Pocket Fire which is burning close to Sedona. There are several things I told him I would send him:

• List of California lookouts, current and past-from PeakBagger. PeakBagger seems to have the most comprehensive list, but there are other sites which have lists and sometimes more detail:

  • Fire Lookouts

  • National Historic Lookout Registry

  • Forest Lookouts - some of the lookouts, have interesting news articles

• Blog entry for Henness Ridge lookout

• Blog Entry for Crane Flat lookout

• Blog entry for the book Call of the Canyon, a novel by Zane Grey about East Oak Canyon near Sedona.

And now it is time to act like a lookout. I take the weather-it is a really clear day, with only a few far away clouds. Then I go into service at 0929. Then start doing my scans about every 15-20 minutes. At 1000, we get the weather and staffing. Fortunately I record this as I can never get the staffing.The weather I get from a website. At 1059, Sierra does a roll call of lookouts. There are only three of us: Buck Rock, Delilah and Signal.

The morning has gone by pretty fast. I pretty much have been doing regular scans and listening to the radio. Something which I do at the start of each season at the lookouts is to go through the eight orientation points for the firefinder. The purpose is to validate that the firefinder does not need adjustment. What it does do for me is to identify landmarks in each direction.

By 1230, it is time for lunch. The usual, a peanut butter and Nutella sandwich with chips. Then I do another scan and take the afternoon weather. Not too much change from this morning. After doing another scan, I do a couple rest periods. During the rest period, I set a timer for 15 minutes, turn the radio up and lay down. If something happens on the radio I would respond appropriately. At the end of 15 minutes, time to do another scan.

That is pretty much my afternoon and evening-not resting, but doing things in 15 minute increments. Scanning, then refreshing myself on locations close to Delilah. On my list of sites, I get to about 6 miles out, which is about 65 locations. It is not that I memorize them. Most of them I have a good idea where they are. If I do not, then I have my spreadsheet. Every other 15 minute segment, I do something personal-answer emails, read, write this blog. There is a small thing of keeping the hummers happy. So I refill their sugar water.

At 1600 the mundane is broken. I need to respond to Sierra’s status check-they do that to make sure we all are still alive. Sometimes we get distracted and do not respond quickly and have to sheepishly say we are really here afterwards. At 1800 I went out of service with Porterville and Sierra. And that is the end of my work day.

Strawberry Full Moon with a little bit of a cloud

After going out of service, I rested for about half an hour. Then I fixed myself dinner of Sherri’s enchiladas and Stagg Chili. Maybe not high class cuisine, but it is filling and I eat it all. After that, I go down and do a 25 minute walk down to the saddle, taking pictures of a few things.

I will make sure that I am back in the tower by 2010. Why you ask? I want to get paid, as I get paid in sunsets. The setting sun should be around 2020. Sunsets are a yin and yang thing. If there is a spectacular sunset, that usually says that there is a lot of pollution in the air. Today, the sunset was not spectacular, which means there is not a lot of smog. But there is enough that I took many pictures.

Occasionally I make it into a lookout on the night of a full moon. That is tonight. There are a lot of clouds and I wonder if the moon will come out while I am awake. It finally comes out and I am able to get some nice shots. Enough to get some ooh’s and aahs.

After that, I talked with Sherri for about half an hour. It is after 10 before I snuggle inside of my sleeping bag.

Extra Photo's

Full Moon covered by a cloud

Pine Flat and Setting Sun

Looking towards Finger Rock in the evening

Content Hummer

Yokut/Squaw Valley

View from the Outhouse

Afternoon cloud buildup beyond Spanish Mountain

 
Flowers and Plants

Dandelion in the evening sun

June 26, 2026 - Return to Fresno

 

Title: June 26, 2026 - Return to Fresno

Hike Info : Description

Hike Info:

Type: Walking, Plane

Trail head: Home2Suite Downtown hotel

Trail: Along the Mississippi, part of the Grand Round

Destination: Loop

Distance:  3.95 miles - As plotted on Google Earth

Description:

I got up at 6:15 and saw no lightning to report. Then just lollygagged around for awhile until Sherri got up so we could have breakfast. It is the usual breakfast at our Home2Suite-by usual I am that most anything you might want you can have. The man who is taking care of the food is fast, cheery and friendly-with an attitude which you just wish he was your neighbor.

After breakfast, we get our final bit of packing done. We get checked out of the hotel at 10, leaving three bags at the front desk while we do one last venture into the city.

The first place we go is back to the Visitor Center. Sherri wants to get some gifts she saw last week. The visitor center must choose their people to be extra friendly. While Sherri was browsing, Steve and I talked about various things local. It was enjoyable.

Boom Island Lighthouse

When we left, we headed towards the Federal Reserve-not to go in, but because there is a path down to the river. Along the path are a series of models with descriptions of how Minneapolishas grown since its beginnings. Interesting to see how bridges went up and buildings were built, then disappeared and then new ones built in their stead.
But the main reason why we wanted to do this is to walk north along the Mississippi. Many people accompany us, or at least are on the same path. While we no longer move fast, if we ever did, we are moving a bit slower than yesterday, more of a stroll than something brisk. But we are out here to enjoy not to break records.

We enjoy watching the Mississippi flow by us. We do not see any boats on the river, but see runners across the way going on the trail, returning around the circuit. By the way, the circuit we were on yesterday, the Grand Round? This path is part of it. I can see that the Grand Round is not something you do in one day, unless maybe you are on a bicycle.

 

 

View of the Mississippi

We stop at benches to rest, enjoy our final hours in Minnesota, and talk with each other. We do not try to evaluate this trip; only to enjoy the remaining moments.

Our walk takes us as far as the Plymouth Avenue Bridge-we do not cross it, just turn around and start our walk back. We have plenty of time for our ambling back. We do stop and have our lunch around 12:30. Then it is back to the hotel to pick up our bags. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Gary's Confusion

Along the way, I realized my confusion with Minneapolis streets-at least downtown. Our hotel is on South 2^nd. But is that S 2^nd St or S 2^nd Ave. By now I can somewhat navigate and we find it on S 2^nd Ave. We make it there about 1:30. 

 

 

 It is a short walk to the Fifth St Station where we pick up the Blue Line Metro at 1:50. The Metro takes us all the way to Terminal 1 at the airport. There, we navigate the maze to get to the Alaska Air ticket counter. We got rid of the suitcase, which weighed 35 pounds at the checked luggage counter. When I was dragging it around and lifting it up, it seemed heavier. Then on the gate E2 to wait for an hour and a half.

The plane out of Minneapolis departs pretty close to on time. This is hopeful. We have the same seats as going over 17D&E. Looking back at row 16 and 18, they both seem to have more leg room. Something to note. This is a 737-8Max plane. The flight is uneventful and we land pretty close to the expected arrival time.

This gives us about two hours in Seattle. Sherri grabs a chicken sandwich. I am still content from the sandwich we ate on the plane earlier-you know, my Peanut Butter and Nutella sandwich. I also go to Sherri’s new favorite chocolate place, Dilettante Chocolates. and buy her some chocolate-another 9 piece assorted truffles(expensive, but so good) and some mint creme truffles.

Our plane out of Seattle is late, taking off by about half an hour late. But the pilot thinks we will be making up time because of a tailwind. Rising to cruising altitude, there were a few bumps, but not bad. The original flight was about two and a half hours. But this flight took just a bit over an hour and a half. Was there that much tailwind? Or was the original time inflated? I will never know. We landed about 10:50. By the way, the plane is an Embraer W175. We were in seats 14C&D.

We picked up our checked bag. Steven comes by shortly, about 11:15. It is good to be back and good to see Steven. Within half an hour of arriving home, I am in bed. Sherri comes to bed a few minutes after I do.

June 25, 2026 - Minneapolis, The Grand Round

Title:  June 25, 2026 - Minneapolis, The Grand Round

Hike Info : Description : Extra Photo's 

Hike Info:

Type: Walking

Trail: Chain of Lakes, Grand Round

Destination: No Set Place, just want to enjoy the Chain of Lakes area.

Distance: 5.95  miles - The mileage was calculated by plotting it on Google Earth. Red linbes on map is where we walked' yellow is the bus route.

Description:

Today should be a relaxing day. We actually decided what we wanted to do last night. Minneapolis has something called the Chain of Lakes. Towards the bottom is Lake Harriett and Bde Maka Ska. We will start off by taking the bus to Bde Maka Ska and decide what to do from there, probably go north and see what happens and what we feel like doing. After all, isn’t Minnesota the Land of a 10,000 Lakes?

I got up at 6. No lightning to report, so nothing there. I just continue writing stuff, mostly on my blog entries. Once Sherri gets up and gets ready, we go down for breakfast-well, she has to wait a few minutes while I finish writing up a thought.

 

On the way down, we meet a couple from Virginia. We talked a bit before getting our breakfast. Where we sit there is a man and his son who are here for the Special Olympics. Actually his younger son is in the Olympics. Sherri finds out they are from where her uncle lived near Bentonville.

Then it is back up to our room. We spent a few more minutes getting ready to go. Then it is time for us to head out.

Bde Maka Ska

 

I do not know what it is about this city, but whenever I go out, I lose track of which way to go. I did it yesterday and I did it again. Fortunately, I have Sir Google to keep me straight. At least to let me know where I am heading, even if I am heading in the wrong direction.

Instead of Hennepin & 3rd, I ended up at the 5th St station. We caught the E Line which took us all the way to Hennepin&33rd. Then it was a little over a half mile to the lake. Sherri is usually mesmerized by houses which are different from the usual builder’s cookie-cutter styles. These houses, while not fancy, do have some character. Something which says that somebody built them the way they wanted to live in them.

Flower on the Lagoon

We then get to the path which runs around Bde Maka Ska-this is the Ojbiwe name for this lake. When I think of an urban lake, I think of something small. Not something which could have waves on it. Or in this case could host a horde of sailboats. That is this lake, maybe 3,000’ across and a mile in length.

We have come in on the mid-point of the east-side of the lake. The path actually is broken up into pedestrian and bicycle lanes. Do we want to go around to the west side or just head north? We decided to head north as there would be an opportunity to go around several other lakes. Walking beside the lake is pleasant. This community does make good use of this park.

A bit more, about the path we will be following, loosely today. The Chain of Lakes is part of a loop around Minneapolis called the Grand Round. It is about 51 miles of trail, running through 55 miles of parkways, touching all of the lakes. Much of the route is in parks, but some follow roadways. We have walked on some of it while on the trail close to the Mississippi.

When we get around to the north part of the lake, we go under West Lake St and come across a lagoon between lakes. There is a certain amount of beauty here. Both the stillness of the water, the lily pads and the ducklings swimming in a row.

To get to where we want to go, we need to cross over the channel and get on the trail. Now we are on the west side of the Lake of the Isles. It looks like there are two of them: Raspberry Island and Mike’s Island. This sounds like two names which are not very much in tune with each other. But then again, I was not the one naming them.

Our first view of the lake shows what looks like a boat with water wheels on each side. Later on we saw it and realized it is a skimmer of anything which might be floating on the surface, such as algae. We stopped and rested and just enjoyed what we were seeing. Then we continue around the west side. We will be leaving the lake towards the northwest side of it.

When we pass by a woman, she wonders if we have any water? I have an unopened water bottle from the hotel in my pack which I gave her. She looks like she is not doing well. So we made a move to stay with her. But a nurse comes up and offers to do that. The nurse would provide better information and care than what we would, so we left her with the bottle.

After leaving her, we make our way away from Lake of the Isles. For whatever reason about two months ago, Facebook started showing me things for Minnesota. One set of things was bookstores. There is a bookstore just north of this lake called BirchBark Books. It specializes in Native American interests.

I am curious if there was anything which I would recognize or even that I might be interested in. There was a book with an interesting title, Bad Indians Book Club by Patty Krawec. I usually find books about bookstores or book clubs to be pretty lame. But how lame can a book with a title starting with Bad Indians? Turns out it is more of a discussion about certain books which whites should read about Native Americans. Good reads has it as a 4.08, so it probably is an OK read.

Signs at BirchBark, but lots of places expressed this

But I do buy one book: Onigamiising: Seasons of an Ojibwe Year. I will skim the first and last chapter of a book to get an idea if it is worth my time. The last chapter talked about how Native Americans treat their elders with respect. That seemed like a good way to end a book about both an annual season and the season of life. Note: Goodreads rates it only marginally better than the Bad Indians book.

Sherri also bought a book, Braided Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmberer. We paid for both of the books and then headed back to the northern part of the lake. This is where things slightly started to fall apart. First, instead of heading east to the northern part of the Lake of the Isles, I realized later that going west would have brought us to another lake, Cedar Lake. At the northern park of the lake, we get into the Kenwood Park neighborhood. Some very nice houses which Sherri stops and admires frequently.

But the problem is that we are getting boxed in by a freeway or having to wander and zigzag through streets to reach the next lake. But clever me sees that there are some walking paths which will take us to Cedar Lake. Unfortunately, while me being clever can be contested, the fact is that there were paths which connected to other paths which on the map seemed pretty straightforward, but on the ground lacked being able to decipher which to use.

So we headed off on a perfectly good pedestrian path. But was we kept going along, I realized this path was not going to get us to Cedar Lake. The path is pretty exposed and while not hoit by Fresno standards, it was warm enough that we needed to consume water. Which brings another problem into focus: we had given away our second bottle of water and we were down to the last third of the remaining water.

We sat down, had lunch and examined the map and the situation. I figured out where I went wrong, so we backtracked and found where to cross tracks to get to the proper path. I think much of this is new and they do not have any signage up. There are three paths all heading in the same direction. I chose one path which Sherri was right-it was a bicycle path. We get onto the pedestrian path and walk that.

There was not a water fountain or faucet in sight. But we do see Cedar Lake. As we pass by Cedar Lake, Google Maps tells me that the pizza parlor we had discussed going to might be a possibility. Now instead of walking 30 minutes, we could walk 7 and take the 9A bus to right in front of the place.

The place is Bryn Mawr Pizza. While the pizza looked good, I do not think we were in the mood for pizza. They also had sandwiches. I ordered a Club and Sherri a Heavy Veggie Hoggie. The sandwiches were good, nothing exciting. But it did hit the spot. They refilled our water bottle. Sherri got a soft drink and I got a bottle of water. I think those may have done just as much good as the sandwiches did.

While we were eating, Sherri noticed a book store across the way, Big Hill Books-it bills itself as being the happiest bookstore in Minneapolis. We went in and browsed around. I think we were both tired and not terribly excited about any books, so no books were bought. But the bookstore looked like it had the standard fare of interesting titles.

While we were eating, we discussed what else we could do. I saw that there was a garden back where we picked up the bus earlier. We decided to go and see as the garden had an interesting title: Eloise Butler Wildflower Garden and Bird Sanctuary. We took the 9C bus back to almost where 9A picked us up. Then walked north about a third of a mile to the Gardens.

The Garden is situated in a ravine and is about 15 acres in size. There seems to be three sections: woodland, wetlands and prairies. We do not go into the prairies section. The paths have a thin layer of cedar mulch over them rather than gravel. As you walk, there is a sense of softness and silence, allowing you to enjoy the peace of the area. There are signs along the way which identify plants along with an occasional short note. This is a garden for you to enjoy just being there rather than to educate or strike you with awe.

What helps with this sense of peace is that the garden is not in bloom. Sure, there are some flowers scattered about, but nothing overpowering or begging you to take a picture. The areas we wander through give a sense of different shades of green to lull your senses. I think if I lived here, this may be a once a week meditation walk.

We leave the gardens a little before 5 and head back to where we left the bus. We pick up the 9A bus which takes us downtown where the E Line brings us to Hennepin and 3rd. From there it is just a three block walk back to the hotel. The rest of the evening is rest, shower and pack for tomorrow. I am in bed by 10.

Extra Photo's

 

Morning from our hotel

Walking the Butler Garden trail

City View from our lunch spot close to Cedar Lake

Lake of Isles

Lagoon between Bde Maka Ska and Lake of the Isles