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Day 5 – Monterey Bay Whale Watching // Monterey 2024

Isaac Church — Thu, 15 Aug 2024 03:30:57 +0000

Today is a very exciting day, as we’re doing something unlike anything we’ve ever done before! Faith and I are headed on a whale-watching tour. We are leaving Walker at the house to play with his cousins, since the boat company doesn’t allow children under 3 (they actually don’t technically allow pregnant women either, but we talked them into it).

Breakfast

After feeding Walker breakfast, Faith and I headed to Captain + Stoker to grab some breakfast and coffee. Faith got a flat white, I got a pour over, and we got a couple pastries (vanilla cream filled bun and an orange-cinnamon morning bun) to split, plus a little something for later.

Captain + Stoker

The coffee was just as excellent as before, as were the pastries..

Captain + Stoker

Monterey, CA

Excellent coffee, pastries, and atmosphere. My only complaint is the shortage of seating.

* – Would definitely visit again

** – Exceptional, must visit if you’re in the area

*** – Worth making a special trip to eat there

For more info on food ratings, click here.

Fisherman's Wharf

We arrived at the marina, only to find out that boarding had been delayed until 10:00 due to [rough seas, I think]. The guides advised us to go ahead and take two Meclizine (Dramamine) to get it active in our system to prevent seasickness, especially for Faith since she’s pregnant (we had cleared it with her midwife beforehand). To kill some time, Faith and I walked around the Old Fisherman’s Wharf, observed some of the Monterey Car Week exhibitions, and explored more of the waterfront area.

Fisherman's Wharf

There were an immense amount of sea lions, which were both extremely loud and smelly. We stopped in a public restroom on the wharf – it was definitely the loudest restroom I’ve ever been in, as there were hundreds of sea lions barking directly beneath me, below the pier!

Fisherman's Wharf

Crêpes-in-Waiting

Monterey Car Week

After walking past several lots full of cars that are each worth more than our house, we came across a French crêperie, and decided to stop in for a lemon-sugar crêpe as a snack.

Crêpes of Brittany

Monterey, CA

Great crêpes in a cozy little cafe. Very good service, and the owners were very nice. A great place to find refuge indoors on a chilly morning, accompanied by some hot breakfast.

* – Would definitely visit again

** – Exceptional, must visit if you’re in the area

*** – Worth making a special trip to eat there

For more info on food ratings, click here.

After finishing off the delicious crêpe and filling up our waters, we strolled through more of the car show displays, and slowly made our way back to the boat docks.

Monterey Car Week

A Whale of a Time

Boarding the Sea Wolf II, we sailed out of the harbor and headed out towards open water. First, it’s worth talking about why Monterey is such a big whale-watching destination in the first place. The Monterey Canyon, a mile-deep submarine canyon, is just offshore, and provides ample depth for deep-water species of marine mammals and fish to come very close to the coastline and stay there for extended periods of time.

Monterey Canyon

You can read more on the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary’s website.

The ride out to the canyon was very rough on the choppy water. People were getting seasick left and right. I had never been out on the open ocean in a boat this small, but I gathered it’s not usually that bad. The crew offered lots of ginger chews, additional Meclizine, and reminded everyone to keep their eyes on the horizon line. Overall, they were very helpful and reassuring to those who got sick, although some people were clearly not suited for the voyage.

Soon, we got closer to the canyon – far enough out that we couldn’t see land in any direction, and the crew began to talk us through the aforementioned geography. They also reminded everyone of the spotting procedures; we were supposed to call out the location of any sightings using the “clock” system. Soon, we saw lots of birds hovering over the surface of the water, a sure sign there was a whale nearby.

Then, boom! Out of nowhere, a humpback breached out of the water, twice in a row. I was actually the first one to spot it, and called out, “two o’clock”. I managed to fire off a burst with my camera, but unfortunately my lens instantly fogged up when I took the cover off, so my photos are mostly blurry.

Monterey Bay Whale Watch

After a short lull, we saw two more humpbacks working together to corral their lunch. They put on quite the show for us, and would stay nearby for a while.

Monterey Bay Whale Watch

We ran across pod after pod of humpbacks, and some of them got extremely close to our boat. One of them actually went underneath our both, which literally took our breath away! It came so close I probably could’ve reached over the side and touched it as it went by.

Eventually, we got caught in “whale jail”. It’s illegal to run the boat motor when whales are within a certain distance, and we were surrounded by [I have no idea how many, but definitely more than 12] humpbacks at one point. We were at the mercy of the rolling ocean, and the boat was rocking side to side at a greater-than-45-degree angle. This triggered another round of seasickness for some people, but Faith and I had crested the proverbial hill and our inner ears were in great shape by this point. At the end of this post, there’s a video I took towards the end when the boat stabilized and I was finally able to get my phone out without hanging onto the railing for dear life.

Monterey Bay Whale Watch

After breaking out of whale jail, I looked down and noticed some friendly creatures bumping our boat and playing with each other. Our guide told us these were Dall’s porpoises, a lightning-fast marine mammal that can dive over 1,600′ deep and swim at over 36 MPH.

At one point, we saw a blue whale surface very briefly, but I was not able to get a picture of it. We saw lots of other creatures either briefly or from a distance, including a couple other types of whales. Up close, we saw lots of seals, sea lions, and sea otters.

Monterey Bay Whale Watch

Doll's Porpoise

Here’s the official/final list of marine wildlife spotting from the boat company:

17 humpback whales (tail throwing, lunge-feeding)
1 blue whale
5 fin whales
1 minke whale
4 Pacific white-sided dolphins
7 Dall’s porpoises

Land, Ho!

The ride back in towards the shore was much smoother. The Meclizine was really kicking in now, so the gentle rocking of the boat almost lulled us to sleep. We were both thankful for the anti-nausea medicine, otherwise I don’t think we’d have enjoyed the trip at all. We arrived back in the Monterey harbor, greeted by the of US Coast Guard station, docks, fishing piers, and the barking of the sea lions.

Monterey Bay

I don’t give star ratings to activities (just food), but I would recommend this as a must-do experience in Monterey, or in California/on the west coast, for that matter.

Snacks, House, Snacks, House

Quite famished from the deep-sea excursion, we decided to get a bowl of the famous clam chowder from Old Fisherman’s Grotto. It was delicious – definitely the best chowder I’ve ever had. When we ordered, the cashier headed back into the kitchen and brought out a guy who was definitely my doppelgänger, short red beard and all. I should’ve taken a selfie with him. Also pictured below is the final spinach and Gruyère pastry from Captain + Stoker that we ate as a snack on the boat. It was also delicious.

Sitting on a bench, we simultaneously enjoyed our chowder and a view of the harbor, and then headed back to the house for the afternoon.

Old Fisherman's Grotto

Monterey, CA

The best clam chowder I’ve ever had.

* – Would definitely visit again

** – Exceptional, must visit if you’re in the area

*** – Worth making a special trip to eat there

For more info on food ratings, click here.

I was struggling immensely to stay awake, and was still pretty hungry, so I decided to run back out for another snack and some caffeine. First, I stopped at Captain + Stoker (again), this time to get a kouing amann (French butter cake pronounced “koon-ya-mahn”) and a Guatemalan pour over. Then, I headed to downtown and got a cardamom morning bun from Ad Astra Bread Co., and a small sample cup of fantastic olive oil ice cream from Revival Ice Cream. The morning bun was fine, but a bit dry and definitely overpriced, while the ice cream was excellent. Best of all, there was no line, and I got a couple pints (bees knees and dark chocolate) to-go for later this week.

Captain + Stoker

Revival Ice Cream

Ad Astra Bred Co.

Revival ice Cream

Monterey, CA

Though expensive, this is excellent ice cream. You need to get the olive oil!

* – Would definitely visit again

** – Exceptional, must visit if you’re in the area

*** – Worth making a special trip to eat there

For more info on food ratings, click here.

Back at the house, I chugged my coffee down in hopes that it would wake me up. Instead, I think the caffeine acted as an accelerant for the Meclizine, because I fell asleep (completely zonked) almost immediately on the couch, and didn’t remember anything until William woke me up a few hours later.

Dinner

After a short trip back to the neighborhood park, we regrouped for dinner back at the house – this time having Asian shrimp stir-fry.

Asian stiry-fry

Lamborghini

I headed back out to fill up the car with petrol at a very tight-squeeze station, made a brief stop to take photos of the sunset and another high-dollar sports car at Del Monte Beach, and then returned back to the house.

Del Monte Beach

We all headed to bed early, exhausted from a long day. All our appendices were very sore from stabilizing ourselves on the boat!

Video

Here’s a short video from today’s adventures.

The Best Things we Saw Today

Isaac

The best thing I saw today was… “the whales lunge feeding”.

The best thing I ate today was… “the clam chowder, and all the pastries”.

Faith

The best thing I saw today was… “the whale going under our boat”.

The best thing I ate today was… “clam chowder”.

Conclusion

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Tomorrow, we’re headed south on the Pacific Coast Highway.

– Isaac, Faith, and Walker

Monterey Bay Whale Watch

The post Day 5 – Monterey Bay Whale Watching // Monterey 2024 appeared first on Isaac Church // isaactchurch.com.

Day 4 – Yellowstone National Park // Church Trip 2021

Isaac Church — Fri, 02 Jul 2021 12:00:00 +0000

Today, we explored Yellowstone National Park. We visited Mammoth Hot Springs, the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone, Artist’s Paintpots, Norris Geyser Basin, and Gibbon Falls.

Yellowstone National Park

I promised some fun facts in a prior post, so I’ll make good on that now:

By the numbers:

2,221,766 acres // 3,472 sq mi (larger than Rhode Island and Delaware combined)
10mi north of Grand Teton National Park, connected by the John D. Rockefeller Jr. Memorial Parkway
Named after the “Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone”
From 1886 to 1916, the US Army oversaw management of the park
1,000+mi of hiking trails
Lowest elevation: 5,282′ (Reese Creek)
Highest elevation: 11,358′ (Eagle Peak)
Average elevation: 7,733′
96% in WY, 3% in MT, 1% in Idaho
5% water, 15% grassland, 80% forests
Yellowstone Lake is 131.7 sq mi, with 141 mi of shoreline
1,000-3,000 earthquakes annually
10,000+ hydrothermal features
500+ active geysers
290+ waterfalls
67 species of mammals, 285 of birds, 16 of fish, 5 of amphibians, 6 of reptiles
9 species of conifers, 1,000+ of flowering, 186 species of lichens, and 225 invasive plant species

Fun facts:

World’s first national park – established March 1, 1872
The park sits on top of an active supervolcano
About half the world’s hydrothermal features and half the world’s geysers are found in Yellowstone
Home to the largest concentration of mammal species in the lower 48 states
Wolves were absent from the park for 70+ years, and were successfully reintroduced starting in 1995

Once again, we got a fairly early start (around sunrise), and after consuming some breakfast in the car, we once again climbed the road back to Mammoth.

Mammoth Hot Springs

First thing, we headed to Upper Terraces of Mammoth Hot Springs. Dad was not able to find the drops he needed last night at the grocery store, so after we drove the upper loop and made a few stops, they let Faith and me out, and headed back to a pharmacy in Gardiner.

Mammoth Hot Springs

Bacteria growing in the water

Mammoth Hot Springs

The lower end of the hot springs has no driving loop, so Faith and I walked the boardwalks down to the bottom, where they picked us up an hour or so later.

Mammoth Hot Springs

View of town of Mammoth below

Mammoth Hot Springs

Active vs inactive springs

Mammoth Hot Springs

While Mom and Dad were coming back up the mountain towards Mammoth, they saw quite the ironic site with a road sign and some elk.

Elk congestion

Silver Gate // Golden GAte

From Mammoth, the Grand Loop Road steeply ascends through the Silver Gate (Boulder Field), and then the Golden Gate and Rustic Falls. It’s easy to see how these areas got their names. The “Silver Gate” boulder field is formed by a rock slide, while the Golden Gate Canyon was formed when a river carved through the yellow rock.

Rustic Falls

Continuing south, we passed Sheepeater Cliffs (big rocks; decided it wasn’t worth a stop), Roaring Mountain (been there, done that), and Norris Geyser Basin (we’ll get there eventually). Veering left/east on the Norris-Canyon road, we continued on to our next destination.

On the way to Canyon

Norris Geyser Basin Overlook

Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone

I’ve been surprised at the number of people who’ve never heard of the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone, considering it is the namesake of the park. The canyon, containing the Yellowstone River, ranges between 800-1200′ deep and 0.25-0.75mi wide. No matter what angle one views it from, it’s magnificent. However, if you only have time for one stop, I’d recommend Artist Point.

Starting our canyon exploration via the North Rim Drive, our first stop was Lookout Point.

Lower Falls from Lookout Point

Lookout Point

Lower Falls from Lookout Point

Lookout Point

From there, Faith and I hiked down to Lower Lookout Point. It’s a moderately steep climb, but doable for most people with a sense of determination and a water bottle or two. Like with the Tetons, the views were unique from every perspective, and we enjoyed them all.

Lower Lookout Point

Next, we headed farther downstream from the falls to Grand View and Inspiration Point, eventually circling back to the car and heading to the South Rim Drive.

Grand View

Information sign

Grand View

I remembered seeing what appeared to be an opening in the forest ahead, which I presumed to be a park, or open country. While my attention was attracted by the pack animals, which had stopped to eat grass, my saddle horse suddenly stopped. I turned and looked forward from the brink of the great canyon, at a point just across from what is now called Inspiration Point. I sat there in amazement, while my companions came up, and after that, it seemed to me that it was five minutes before anyone spoke.

Charles F. Cook, upon first viewing the Canyon in 1869

Inspiration Point

Our first stop on the South Rim Drive was Upper Falls View, which, almost unbelievably, has a view of Upper Falls. If you look closely on the right side of the falls, you can see people at the Brink of the Upper Falls viewpoint, where we stopped on our first night in Yellowstone.

Upper Falls View

Artist Point was our only stop on the south rim of the canyon with a view of Lower Falls. As I mentioned before, I think this is the best viewpoint because it allows you to see the canyon, river, and falls simultaneously. Unfortunately, we had to skip the South Rim Trail and Uncle Tom’s Trail because they were closed due to bear activity.

Artist Point

There are perhaps other cañons longer and deeper than this one, but surely none combining grandeur and immensity with peculiarity of formation and profusion of volcanic or chemical phenomena.

Lt. Gustavus C. Doane, during the 1870 Washburn expedition

Artist Point

LUnch // Canyon Village

Since we didn’t have much breakfast, we opted to stop for an early lunch around 11:00 in Canyon Village, the services hub for the Grand Canyon area. There’s a grocery store, multiple gift shops, outdoor outfitters, cafeteria, visitor education center, and even some cell service! For being so remote, it’s a surprisingly well-equipped place.

For lunch, Mom got a pulled pork sandwich, Faith got an elk-pepper jack dog, and Dad and I split an elk-pepper jack dog and a bison dog. Everything was excellent, especially the elk dogs. We browsed the gift shops for a while, grabbed some dark chocolate huckleberry bon-bons for dessert, and headed out.

Lunch at Canyon Village

Huckleberry Bon-Bons

Artist's Paintpots

It would’ve made sense for our next stop to be Norris Geyser Basin. Unfortunately, there was a medical emergency in that area (we later heard a couple people got overheated), and they closed down the road temporarily. Instead, we drove just south to the Artist’s Paintpots. Faith and I walked around the boardwalks, while Mom and Dad rested in the car.

Artist's Paintpots

Norris Geyser Basin

Finishing up at the Paintpots, we drove back to Norris to see if the basin road was open. Luckily, it was. Norris is a very fascinating area, with lots of vibrant, and violent, features. We had to hurry around the boardwalks because some ominous-looking storm clouds were rolling in.

Norris Geyser Basin

Located at Norris, Steamboat Geyser is the world’s tallest active geyser, but unfortunately, it’s not predictable. When it does erupt, it sends water shooting 300 feet into the air. In the pictures below, you can see where the minerals and toxins from its eruptions have destroyed the trees for hundreds of yards in its path. While we were there, it was erupting in bursts around 20 feet tall.

Steamboat Geyser

Norris Geyser Basin is the hottest, oldest, and most dynamic of Yellowstone's thermal areas. The highest temperature yet recorded in any geothermal area in Yellowstone was measured in a scientific drill hole at Norris: 459°F (237°C) just 1,087 feet (326 meters) below the surface! There are very few thermal features at Norris under the boiling point (199°F at this elevation).

National Park Service

Nuphar Lake

Norris Geyser Basin

Gibbon FAlls

One last stop on our way out of the park for the evening: Gibbon Falls is viewable from a roadside pullout, and is a wide waterfall that drops 84 feet. One can take a trail down to the bottom of the falls, but we opted to simply view from above.

Gibbon River

Gibbon Falls

Dinner // Island Park

Leaving Yellowstone, we headed east and south towards the small town of Island Park, ID to find our cabin. A quick pit stop at a West Yellowstone grocery store let us replenish some of our supplies. Before we found our cabin, we had to find dinner. We’d originally planned to eat at a place called Last Chance Bar & Grill at TroutHunter, but when we arrived, there was a 4+ hour wait. The host recommended we try another place nearby, so we drove back up the main highway, drove several miles down a dirt road, and ended up at a place called Lakeside Lodge.

Driving to Island Park, ID

The food was pretty good, but like most restaurants near the park, it was overpriced. Faith got the Trash Can Nachos (a tower of chips served in an aluminum mold), Mom got Double Ranch Chicken Breast Gratin with whipped potatoes and vegetables, Dad got a ribeye with baked potato and vegetables, and I got a Black & Blue NY Steak Salad with a balsamic vinaigrette. We also got some onion rings to share. Everything tasted fine, but it was a 2-star meal at a 4-star price point. The view of the lake, at least, was outstanding. Next time I’ll know to make reservations for this area.

Dinner at Lakeside Lodge

After dinner, we checked in to our cabin. I believe it’s the first time time I’ve ever checked into lodging at a gas station. It was a very nice gas station, and Faith and I picked up a pint of Idaho-made maple nut ice cream to split for dessert.

Reed's Dairy Maple Nut Ice Cream

The ice cream was incredibly good (or maybe it was just in contrast with our average dinner), and our cabin was very nice as well. I was pleasantly surprised, especially considering it was one of our cheaper stays. I guess that’s what you get when you stay a long way from the middle of nowhere. You also get some complimentary welcome gifts, apparently. We got some pancake mix, huckleberry syrup, huckleberry hard candy, and an “Idaho Spud” candy bar. We decided to save the candy bar for later so we’d enjoy the ice cream.

Our VRBO cabin in Island Park

Idaho Spud Candy Bar

The Best Things We Saw Today

Isaac

The best thing I saw today was… “the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone”.

The best thing I ate today was… “the elk-pepper jack dog at lunch and the maple nut ice cream”.

Faith

The best thing I saw today was… “Mammoth Hot Springs”.

The best thing I ate today was… “my nachos at dinner”.

Jerry

The best thing I saw today was… “the elk at the ‘Congested Area’ sign”.

The best thing I ate today was… “my ribeye at dinner”.

Amy

The best thing I saw today was… “the Lower Falls at the Grand Canyon”.

The best thing I ate today was… “the picnic at Canyon Village, but mainly because of the ambiance”.

Video

I did something new and started compiling some videos from each day. It’s not amazing quality (just from everyone’s phones), but I hope it helps bring the landscapes to life!

Conclusion

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– Isaac, Faith, Jerry, and Amy

Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone

The post Day 4 – Yellowstone National Park // Church Trip 2021 appeared first on Isaac Church // isaactchurch.com.