Croatia's Dalmation Coast

Croatia is a tiny country, smaller than West Virginia, but it packs a lot worth seeing into that small space. Dalmatia, the southernmost region of Croatia, strung out along the Adriatic coast, encompasses about a quarter of the country's area and includes 79 little islands. It is packed with lovely and historic towns, stunning scenery, kind people, and many delightful restaurants and cafes.

The best way to see the islands and visit the smaller towns is to book a tour on small boat. Last fall, along with my family, I went on a seven day excursion from Split to Dubrovnik and back, with lots of stops in between, aboard a 38 passenger boat, the M/S Desire. This post focuses on Split, the second largest city in Croatia. I'll follow up with another post or two on the other towns.

Split's main attraction is Diocletian's Palace which was built for the Roman Emperor, Diocletian, in the 4th century as a place for him to retire. Here is a view of the peristyle, or central courtyard, the heart of the palace.

Original construction of the palace included twelve sphinxes from Egypt. This one is the best preserved of the remaining three.

Wander through the palace and you can spot other original decorative elements, such as this mosaic floor,

and the round vestibule, or waiting room.

Today you can see the sky through what was once a domed roof.

It is fascinating to explore the narrow alleys,

the impressive basement (which now houses vendors of local wares),

and open courtyards.

Today the palace is a fascinating patchwork of private residences,

shops, hotels, and restaurants.

Speaking of patchwork, here are a few images of patchwork that I have been stitching away at recently.  I worked on a few pieces for Denyse Schmidt's Free-Wheeling Single Girl quilt-along during this trip, using fabrics from my visit to Phoenix. I will need nine of these to make up an entire quilt so I am clearly way behind on but it's fun to work on here and there.

And here is a top that I finished almost a year ago, using up some blue scraps. I've finally picked out a backing for it, so maybe I'll have a finished quilt soon.

Teton Gems

Study any trail map of Grand Teton National Park and you will notice quite a few high lakes. Some are right along main trails and are consequently popular destinations for hikers. Others remain anonymous on the map and far from any regular trail. These are invariably the spots my family is most eager to reach. There is a lot to be said for this strategy: it takes you away from the busiest trails and gives you a chance to see some of the most spectacular and unspoiled terrain in the park. This summer's destination was Coyote Lake. We began at Granite Canyon Trailhead.

It is hard to beat the feeling of boots on the trail first thing in the morning. The day awaits. Adventure beckons. New vistas are about to reveal themselves.

Sighting this buck within the first mile was an auspicious start to the day.

We headed for the Open Canyon trail and made our way towards Mount Hunt Divide,

enjoying the shade and flowers along the way. I especially liked the intense purple of this monkshood.

Instead of continuing up to Mount Hunt divide, we branched off the trail to follow the creek upstream. A few minutes of scrambling led us to open, flower-filled meadows,

rocky slopes,

and eventually to a big cirque which contains three gems, Coyote Lake and two smaller un-named lakes. 

This gives an idea of the cirque's size. I didn't have a wide angle lens with me, so I took a series of images and stitched them together.

From the right perspective you can see where Coyote Lake got its name. It looks like a coyote's head. In this photo you can see the ear in the top right and the snout in the lower left.

Coyote Lake, at more than 10,000 feet above sea level, is above tree-line, surrounded by sheer cliffs and slopes of alpine meadows. This fragile terrain is protected by its relative inaccessibility and the prohibition on camping in the area.

It was a great spot for lunch and just enjoying the brilliance of the day. Eva took some time to write in her journal.

For our return, rather than back-tracking, we chose to cross the saddle between Coyote Lake and Mt. Hunt, a route described as "steep, but very do-able." It was, though it took a bit of route finding to avoid getting cliffed out on the way down. 

It was a hot day and we happily refilled our bottles with cool mountain water.

Our strategy of choosing a less traveled route was a great success. Aside from spectacular scenery,

we saw quite a lot of wildlife, including round, glossy coated marmots,

adorable picas,

and energetic ground squirrels.

Our moose count, which reached nine by the end of the day, remained above our people count until we neared the trail head at the very end of the day. That was a record for us and made for a truly memorable day.

For a more detailed description of the hike, take a look at RootsRated.com.

Aside from stitching together photographs, I recently stitched a small stack of  gem-toned squares into a pillow cover,

and quilted it with bright yellow thread. Fun. And nearly instant gratification.

My next post will be about a summer trip to Maine, where we attended a beautiful wedding in Blue Hill and visited Acadia National Park, and about the quilt I made as a wedding gift.