The Traveling Widower

Tag: Solo-travel

  • More Bears and Lousy Drivers on Glacier Point

    Panoramic view of a mountain landscape at sunset, featuring a prominent granite peak, lush green vegetation, and a colorful sky with scattered clouds.

    10th, Sept, 2026

    I had a very quick recovery period from my Alaska adventure – I returned on Saturday night, and was leaving for Yosemite on the following Thursday. A short trip – I was meeting some friends of ours (I still use the plural…hard habit to break) on Friday, to tour around the park and I wanted to try and capture some Milky Way shots over Half Dome, so I planned to get there the day before, and maybe even get a short hike in. I’ll never learn.

    There are a couple of routes for driving to Yosemite from Sacramento, all of them circuitous with a lot of 2 lane winding roads. I chose my favorite, which avoids all highways, and passes through a lot of the smaller towns. A fun drive. This time it was a pain, with lots of slow traffic – I made it to the park around 2PM, after three and a half hours. I had hoped to get there a lot earlier, but overslept by two hours, a rarity for me.

    I had a choice as I sat in more traffic just past the entry (road work) – I could go to the hotel and relax for a while, or head up Glacier Point to check it out for the evening photo session, and hike for a while. I should have gone for the former. The drive to get to Glacier Point goes past Bridalveil Falls, and then 15 miles on winding, 2 lane Wanona Road, and another 16 miles up to Glacier Point. And I planned to do that again before sunset. Dumb. Yosemite is not quite as crowded as it would be before Labor Day, but there were still hordes of tourists, most of whom are from the flatlands and have never driven on a mountain road. Or understand that there are turnouts along the road for a good reason – if you have a line of cars behind you, with drivers who appear to be screaming at their windshield, then maybe you should pull over and let the go buy.

    A line of cars parked along a winding road in a mountainous area, surrounded by tall trees and rocky terrain, with a prominent mountain peak in the background.
    Not real..AI generated

    So, my 34 mile drive turned into a frustrating, very lengthy, blood pressure climbing experience – I opted out to stop most of the way up to cool off and stretch my legs on a hike. The constant braking was not helping my cramp prone legs.

    There were two hikes starting from the same place that I’ve always wanted to do, both relatively short. One went up Sentinel Dome (nothing like that other one with the cable route), and the other to Tioga Point/Fissures. I opted for the one with the least elevation gain – the Fissures. 

    A narrow pathway winding through a forest of tall pine trees, with shadows cast on the ground.

    And once again, I somehow managed to forget the fact that I live at sea level, and was now hiking at about 7000’ with no preparation. My heart did not. The trail was easy, but my BPM was pretty high, so after about three quarters of a mile, I decided maybe I should just go back to the hotel. Which entailed traveling behind the slow drivers once again. Even worse – one of the big park buses. At least he pulled over once there were about 20 cars stacked up behind. But, I still managed to get to the hotel by 5:30…and had to leave again by 6:30. Not a lot of time to relax.

    After snarfing down the sandwich I brought along and unpacking, I headed back to the car for what I hoped would be a stress free drive to Glacier Point, a mere 34 miles. No luck there. Apparently, this is the place to be for sunset, along with the Tunnel View which is along the way. So I once again had drivers crawling along at every turn, ignoring the lines of cars behind them. There are turn-offs pretty much every mile along the road, and one car ignored them all until close to the end. Grrrrr. And as I sped up for the last mile, I had to brake quickly. Bears!!! Black bears of course, a mother and two little cubs. I stopped as did a car approaching from the other direction, and the bear family ran off into the woods. Nice to see. But no photos….darn.

     I made it to the parking lot by 7:30, with enough light left to find a reasonable place to shoot Half Dome with the Milky Way. The view was spectacular without the stars, And the viewing areas and parking lot were crowded – a very popular place for sunset photography, and for night sky viewing.

    I was the only person with a tripod and camera, which attracted people for some strange reason – I guess it’s odd to see someone who is not photographing with their phone. So I got to talk to a lot of folks, which I enjoy. One couple came over and asked if I could take their picture. Of course! He handed me an antique camera – a Kodak film camera! No screen to review the image….how primitive.

    A person holding a Kodak Ektar H35N half frame camera with a silver and orange design.

    Eventually, nightfall came about, and the stars appeared. I was using the PhotoPills application to figure out where the Milky Way would be – unfortunately, it was very thin since the brightest sections had already passed. Not very impressive. So I just settled for taking starry night photos with Halfdome as a backdrop. It was pitch black up there, which is always fun for me, trying to move around without tripping and falling off a cliff. But I was not alone this time – there were large groups of star gazers, walking around with flashlights. Not a good thing when you are taking long exposure (30 second) shots. Even worse – a newly wedded couple brought a photographer along, and setup right behind me…taking flash photos. More stress. 

    I played around with with the camera, took a bunch of shots but nowhere near what I expected, and decided to head back to the hotel much sooner than planned. The Milky Way was not going to get any better, and I was getting tired after a lot of driving. So, I very carefully hiked back to the car, and started the long way back. It was extremely dark, and just getting out of the parking lot was a challenge. But once I found the road, it was easy driving….until I quickly came up on someone who clearly had never driven at night, on a mountain road. Going 15 mph below the speed limit, and constantly braking, then speeding up, then braking. Pretty soon, he had four cars behind him and of course, ignored all the turnouts. When we reached the main Winona road, I was hoping he would turn left. No such luck. I now had another 12 miles ahead with this idiot, before we hit the Bridalveil Falls turnout. And with all the unnecessary braking, my right leg was already beginning to cramp. 

    To make a long, miserable story a bit shorter:

    1. I did not ram into his car out of frustration, nor did one of the cars behind me speed up, pass me, and fire a shotgun out his window to blow the guy off the road.
    2. I did pass him eventually when we reached the two land loop road
    3. My leg did cramp up, and I did have to very carefully drive the last 9 miles back to the hotel, where I had one of those magic shots of pickle juice waiting for me. Always works for cramps.

    So after all that, I went through the 30 photos I got – not what I was hoping for (beautiful Milky Way cutting through Half Dome), but there were a few nice, starry night shots, with the granite peaks below. These all had to be heavily curated with Light Room Classic – just a little artistic creativity added. Here’s a few:

    A panoramic night sky filled with stars over a mountain landscape, featuring visible constellations and meteors streaking across the sky.
    Night sky filled with stars above a mountain landscape, featuring a prominent rock formation, clouds, and silhouetted trees.
    A starry night sky over a mountainous landscape, featuring the Milky Way and multiple shooting stars, capturing the beauty of nature.

    Today my friends show up, and we’ll tour around the park. A nice, relaxed drive. I may go to a closer location tonight, the famous Tunnel View parking lot, a few miles away, and try for a few more night sky shots. What the heck…I’m here.

    Peace

  • Life On The Ursus – Cruising For Bears in Katamai National Park

    A black fishing vessel anchored in a calm sea, with mountains covered in green vegetation in the background.
    The Ursus

    August 29th, 2026

    I’m sure anyone who started their first semester college career in a dormitory, remembers that unsettling feeling when you walk into your room for the first time, which probably has a bunk bed, limited space, and a shared bathroom down the hall or in your multi-bedroom suite. Now shrink that down to the size of a medium sized closet, and picture two adults in that same space, with a tiny bathroom shared with two adults in the adjoining tiny cabin and you’ve got the living quarters on the Ursus. It’s cramped but comfortable and functional. But you do have to coordinate showers and potty breaks with your neighbors – the doors lock on both sides so you have to remember to lock the other side upon entry, and unlock it on the way out. And remember to put the seat back down…..something most men learn after 48 years of marriage.

    The Ursus was formerly a crab boat, used in the Deadliest Catch TV series. When the boat was replaced on the series, the owner had thoughts about using it for tourism in Alaska. Eventually, he wound up in partnership with Natural Habitat Adventures, and it was modified for bear tourism. There’s not that much you can do with a small crab boat to accommodate a large number of guests comfortably – as you can see in the photo, there a small section of cabins aft on the boat for the crew quarters, the wheel house and a kitchen. The rest of the boat has holds for the catch, big winches and space for the crab pots, and other related activities for catching crabs. So what they did was build two structures in the middle of the boat, each with two small cabins and a shared bathroom. You can see that on the photo – the white structure, with two windows (the cabins) and a very small window in the middle for the bathroom. The passageway between the two structures (I call them shipping containers) is covered, so you can get over to the kitchen without getting too wet.

    A narrow hallway with wooden planks, lined with black and red boots on both sides, leading to a yellow threshold. In the background, there are two white outdoor chairs.
    Corridor and four cabin doors

    You can also see all the boots outside the cabins – no room to store them inside. Each cabin has a sink, a bunk bed, and a large cubby hole for your stuff. You can store luggage and bags under the beds. The beds are comfortable, with extra blankets if it gets cold. You get towels of course, which never really dry off. It is a lot like camping.

    That’s it for accommodations. They use the cranes to move the skiff off and on the boat, and the guests can hang round in the kitchen/dining area/lounge. Very cozy, and it’s kind of fun sitting and watching the cook/chef do her thing. The guide and crew all hang around – it’s like a big, family gathering. 

    Interior view of a cozy kitchen and dining area featuring wooden walls, a round table set with glassware and a laptop, and bear-themed artwork on the walls.
    Interior of a cozy wooden dining area featuring a large table set with glassware and utensils, a decorative photo of a bear on the wall, and a round window allowing light and a sea view.

    It works, as long as you are not expecting all the creature comforts you get on a cruise ship. No spa, no bar, no waiter service/room service and no internet. You are on the Ursus to be out with the huge bears, and enjoy the company of your fellow photographers. You are not there to be pampered.

    Another nice feature on the Ursus was the wheel house, which you could hang around in whenever you wanted – you get a 360 degree view of the world, and can chat with the captain while the ship is moving. They also let me steer the ship.

    A man steering a boat from the helm, wearing a black puffer jacket, with a view of the ocean in the background.
    Not really – an ornamental wheel

    So life on board was a lot different than being on cruise ship – you just need to adjust…quickly. Really, it was a lot of fun, since everyone is suffering with the inconveniences together. Everyone eats together at the one big table in the galley. We all gripe and laugh about pulling the waders on and off. It’s a group experience throughout the trip. My little shipping container group of my roommate and two retired school teachers, also had the pleasure of enjoying the initial ride out in the float plane that had to turn around in the storm. More good stories to laugh about. One of the teachers had been on the Ursus before, and the other group of four had one person who had been on the trip multiple times. We all had a great time on board.

    Here are a few more photos from the ship

    View from the cabin of a boat showing the water and distant mountains.
    Interior view of a boat deck with wooden flooring, featuring two gray chairs, life vests hanging on a rack, and storage areas. Mountains and cloudy sky are visible through the open deck.
    Boat's stern viewed from below with sky in the background

    Today (Monday) is our last full on the Ursus, and out with the brown bears. I’ve done some pretty crazy trips so far since my wife passed – this one is by far the most adventurous – and one I’ve thoroughly enjoyed. Jan would absolutely never have gone on this, but she would have enjoyed my stories for sure. 

    Peace.