Hello all, one last time. We are finally home safe and sound, and are writing this last post together.
First of all, we would like to thank all of you for taking the time to follow us on our adventures across America. We started this blog mainly to console our worried families and to entertain any other friends and family that felt like checking in on us on a lazy summer afternoon. As the trip progressed, we were shocked and flattered to realize just how many people were reading the blog every single day. To date the blog has been viewed over 1,200 times throughout the last seven weeks. So again, thank you all for reading our stories that were sometimes boring, sometimes outrageous, and sometimes ramblingly long. We hope you have enjoyed reading this, because we have certainly enjoyed writing it. It has been the trip of a lifetime, and we savored every moment of it. We are, however, thrilled to be home again with our family and friends, and are excited to find jobs and start the beginning of our "adult" lives.
In closing, we have compiled a list of lessons that we have learned during our travels. We thought we would share them with you all, they may come in handy some day. So here they are:
1. Always carry cash.
2. Never trust rock squirrels. They may be cute, but they really just want your lunch.
3. Never get gas at the first place you see.
4. A long hike down is just as long of a hike back up.
5. When hiking, always bring a wallet. You never know when a good snack stand is waiting on the other side.
6. If your neighbor uses a bear bell, don't laugh - there's probably a good reason for it.
7. There is no such thing as too many beans.
8. There is such a thing as too many jelly beans.
9. Find the best enchiladas in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. For the best all-around Mexican food, go no farther than Blackfoot, Idaho.
10. Never take a good shower for granted.
11. Not much is better than a cheap place to stay. Nothing is better than a free place to stay.
12. Deodorant melts. Make sure it's standing upright.
13. If Laura says she isn't hungry, pull over at the next place to eat anyways. She'll be starving by the time you get there.
14. When you're in the desert, sand will eventually end up everywhere. Accept it and move on.
15. Just because you're on summer vacation does not mean you should leave your winter wardrobe at home.
16. If the Ragu looks bad, just shake it around a little. It'll be okay.
17. When you're far from home, everyone who sees your license plate will be sure to remind you of it.
18. If a hotel is $35 a night, don't expect that price to include towels.
19. If you're going to do something dangerous, wait until you've survived to tell your mom about it.
20. Apparently air mattresses can only be inflated or deflated between the hours of 10pm and 6am.
21. When budgeting for a vacation, always bring twice as much as you think you'll need. Those gift shops will get you.
22. As difficult as it may be to accept, there is life outside of Gilmore Girls.
23. If you are going to spend two months with the same person, make sure you really like them.
24. Never take oxygen for granted, you'll miss it at 10,000 feet of elevation.
25. If you are thinking about taking a trip, do it.
That's all folks! Good night, and good luck.
Laura & Elijah
Thursday, July 21, 2011
Sunday, July 17, 2011
Colorado
Hey everyone! Laura here. I am currently laying on the couch at one of my relative's house enjoying my last night in Denver. It is amazing to realize how much we have come to appreciate the little victories on this trip, such as sitting on a couch, or washing your clothes in a functional machine rather than a sketchy stain-producing laundromat washer. Needless to say, we've been having a great time in Colorado. We spent our first two nights out of the Rocky Mountains in Colorado Springs, and after finding the cheapest priced motel we could find, we each took long, hot showers for the first time in weeks. It was glorious. What was even more wonderful was that before arriving, I did my research and found out that Colorado Springs is home to a Dunkin Donuts, one of two Dunkins we have found since leaving the east coast. I had two gift cards, and so we dined for free both mornings. The first morning was a rather stressful experience, since apparently the Thursday morning shift is the least important shift of the week, and is therefore put in the hands of a polite but completely incompetent man at the register that doesn't know what a wheat bagel looks like, and an Asian woman that speaks the absolute minimum amount of English needed to get through her Dunkin Donuts interview. Her co-worker couldn't communicate with her, and we certainly couldn't either. Elijah spent a good five minutes trying to convey to her that he wanted one six-piece order of hash browns, rather than six nine-piece orders of hash browns. It sounded like a regular comedy act, but early in the morning while watching the silly guy manhandle my cup of coffee, I wasn't laughing. On the upside, we did eventually get everything that we asked for, and since the cashier was incapable of running my giftcard through the register properly, he finally gave up and gave us our breakfast for free. This was all fun and games after I was happily fed and caffeinated, but at the time I was in no mood.
After our eventful morning, we drove around to many of the small towns surrounding Colorado Springs, all of which were lovely and full of charm. We had one box of pasta left from camping, and we planned on cooking it up for lunch in the park in Old Colorado City to save money. As with an unfortunate amount of our cooking plans over the past weeks, just as my stomach began to growl, the rain began to fall. So instead of going out to dinner, we used our restaurant budget on lunch, and were left to cook the pasta for dinner. It was actually rather convenient because Old Colorado City was having free blues music in the park that evening and I thought it would be nice to cook up our pasta to eat during the concert. Of course, it didn't go quite as poetically as that. As soon as we parked on a side street right in front of a house full of construction workers, Elijah insists that he is not comfortable cooking in the park at a picnic table. So what do we do? We set up camp right there on the curb in front of the construction workers, and cooked our pesto pasta right there. Elijah filled up his pot with water from the library, and we sat like hobos on the curb with our little camp stove humming away. Once our food was done, we carried our pot of pasta, a blanket, and my bowl to the park and had a lovely dinner while watching a one man blues show on stage. Despite the absurdity, it was actually a very pleasant evening.
The next morning we hesitantly returned to Dunkin Donuts, warring between the prospect of having to deal with the same employees but still wanting a meal covered by a gift card. With a stroke of luck, we found that Friday mornings are host to a bunch of completely capable set of workers, and we got our breakfast quickly and seamlessly. While eating breakfast, I surprised Elijah with tickets to the Colorado Rockies game that night for his birthday, which he had been whining about going to since Arches. So after breakfast we headed to Denver to stay with my Aunt Patty's brother and his family, with Patty arriving the next afternoon. We made a bee-line for the washing machine, and enjoyed a lazy afternoon eating cereal, watching tv, and doing laundry. That night we went to the baseball game and other than ten minutes of rain, it was a great game. On Saturday we went to get an oil change, and since of course it couldn't JUST be an oil change, we had to get our serpentine belt replaced as well. As far as car problems go it wasn't a horrible problem, and shortly after we returned back to the house Patty arrived and a raucous party ensued.
We had intended on leaving Colorado this morning, but the World Cup final was on and we were easily persuaded into staying another free night with fun family and good food. We are leaving first thing in the morning for Kansas City to get ourselves some delicious barbeque before heading out to Cincinnati the next morning. We will blog once more in a day or two.
Happy Birthday mom!
Laura
After our eventful morning, we drove around to many of the small towns surrounding Colorado Springs, all of which were lovely and full of charm. We had one box of pasta left from camping, and we planned on cooking it up for lunch in the park in Old Colorado City to save money. As with an unfortunate amount of our cooking plans over the past weeks, just as my stomach began to growl, the rain began to fall. So instead of going out to dinner, we used our restaurant budget on lunch, and were left to cook the pasta for dinner. It was actually rather convenient because Old Colorado City was having free blues music in the park that evening and I thought it would be nice to cook up our pasta to eat during the concert. Of course, it didn't go quite as poetically as that. As soon as we parked on a side street right in front of a house full of construction workers, Elijah insists that he is not comfortable cooking in the park at a picnic table. So what do we do? We set up camp right there on the curb in front of the construction workers, and cooked our pesto pasta right there. Elijah filled up his pot with water from the library, and we sat like hobos on the curb with our little camp stove humming away. Once our food was done, we carried our pot of pasta, a blanket, and my bowl to the park and had a lovely dinner while watching a one man blues show on stage. Despite the absurdity, it was actually a very pleasant evening.
The next morning we hesitantly returned to Dunkin Donuts, warring between the prospect of having to deal with the same employees but still wanting a meal covered by a gift card. With a stroke of luck, we found that Friday mornings are host to a bunch of completely capable set of workers, and we got our breakfast quickly and seamlessly. While eating breakfast, I surprised Elijah with tickets to the Colorado Rockies game that night for his birthday, which he had been whining about going to since Arches. So after breakfast we headed to Denver to stay with my Aunt Patty's brother and his family, with Patty arriving the next afternoon. We made a bee-line for the washing machine, and enjoyed a lazy afternoon eating cereal, watching tv, and doing laundry. That night we went to the baseball game and other than ten minutes of rain, it was a great game. On Saturday we went to get an oil change, and since of course it couldn't JUST be an oil change, we had to get our serpentine belt replaced as well. As far as car problems go it wasn't a horrible problem, and shortly after we returned back to the house Patty arrived and a raucous party ensued.
We had intended on leaving Colorado this morning, but the World Cup final was on and we were easily persuaded into staying another free night with fun family and good food. We are leaving first thing in the morning for Kansas City to get ourselves some delicious barbeque before heading out to Cincinnati the next morning. We will blog once more in a day or two.
Happy Birthday mom!
Laura
Wednesday, July 13, 2011
Rocky Mountain National Park
Hello all, this is Elijah.
It was nice to be at such high elevations, away from the desert heat for a change. The drive from eastern Utah to northern Colorado on I-70 was actually quite interesting. We drove on what is apparently the section of interstate that the U.S. Department of Transportation is most proud of, as it wound along canyon walls, over rivers, and THROUGH mountains. Some parts of the highway passed by huge open fields that housed several pieces of fracking infrastructure. What was incredibly frustrating was that every piece of fracking equipment was powered by a solar panel.
We just left Rocky Mountain National Park today, the last of the parks on our tour across America. As to be assumed, we loved it like all the rest. It is a beautiful park high in the mountains, full of blooming wildflowers, fantastic wildlife, and of course incredible views. Each park we've visited has had its own unique features. The Rockies, as one can guess, has elevations like none we've ever experienced.
The first full day we started out by taking a hike from a trailhead that started at almost 9,500 feet. The trail took us up farther to three lakes, each surrounded by snow-capped mountains. When we arrived at the third lake, the temperature was in the low 50's and there was snow all around. That was quite a shock for us, especially since we had been in the desert just one day earlier. Next we took a hike that started from a little lower, just under 8,500 feet. This trail was much more level in comparison to the first one. We stopped by a pond and saw little mallard ducklings swimming with their momma, plus a female ring-necked duck. We continued on the trail a ways, only to find ourselves not feeling the need to go any further. We decided to turn back and make for the pond again to watch the ducks. Just as we watched a garter snake in the water take a snap at one of the ducklings, a family came down from the direction we had just turned back from. They asked us if we had made it up to the lake they had just visited, and we said no. They were extremely excited as they told us that there was a big bull moose wading through the lake, nibbling on the water lilies. We immediately dropped everything and ran up the trail as fast as we could. It took us about 10 minutes to run up the steep, rocky 3/4 miles to get to the lake. I timed us taking only 6 minutes to get from the point we had originally turned around to the lake with the moose. We rounded a corner when we finally came to the lake, and quickly realized that as beautiful as the small lake looked surrounded by mountains, it was moose-less. Feeling defeated we slumped down on a rock in hopes to catch a glimpse of the moose maybe coming out for one last nibble. No such event materialized.
The next day we took a nice, leisurely stroll up to another mountain lake. This was another very steep hike, and the altitude really started getting to us. The lake was beautiful, of course, but by the time we got there we were beat. We weren't used to hiking with so little oxygen. It was amazing how much more difficult it is to perform the same way with such an increase in elevation. When we got back down we decided to have a nice, slow evening at our campsite. We were going to have chicken noodle soup on a brisk night, our last night camping. With all the outstanding weather we have been fortunate enough to encounter the entire trip, of course it was drizzling when we went to make our dinner. Nevertheless, I surprised myself by actually starting a fire in the rain. When the soup finished, there was still a light rain, but everything was pretty wet. So we spooned ourselves some soup and sat in the dry car. As we ate we were listening to the radio, and happened to catch a weather alert, which described a huge storm with flash flood warnings pushing its way north from the Denver area. If anyone isn't a real whiz in Colorado geography, we were north of the Denver area. However, the rain around us had since stopped, and it looked like the clouds were breaking. We were able to sit and enjoy the fire for a while. Afterwards we got ready for bed, looking to turn in early for a good night's sleep. As we got back to the car after changing into pajamas and brushing our teeth we heard low rumbles of thunder. A slight drizzle started up as we packed our things into the car. All of a sudden the drizzle turned into an ever-increasing downpour, and we were only half way between our car and the tent. As I mentioned earlier, we had had such great luck weather-wise all trip, but this night, when it was raining mountain lions and coyotes on us, the zipper on the tent's rainfly was stuck. It took me a while to un-snag the zipper between Laura's screaming at me and getting soaked, but I finally was able to break the zipper free and we dove into the tent. As we dove in, we saw intensely bright flashes of lightening, quickly followed by huge crashes of thunder. The storm itself lasted only about 30 minutes, but it rained just about the whole night.
After waking this morning, somewhat wet and desperately needing a shower, we made ourselves a hearty breakfast of eggs and sausage to finish off our time camping. We are now in Colorado Springs, about an hour south of Denver. We'll be here two nights, then spend two nights in Denver. It's looking like we might be home a couple days earlier than we had originally anticipated, due to a combination of fatigue and dried-up funds. Laura will work on getting pictures onto Facebook later this evening.
Take care.
Elijah
It was nice to be at such high elevations, away from the desert heat for a change. The drive from eastern Utah to northern Colorado on I-70 was actually quite interesting. We drove on what is apparently the section of interstate that the U.S. Department of Transportation is most proud of, as it wound along canyon walls, over rivers, and THROUGH mountains. Some parts of the highway passed by huge open fields that housed several pieces of fracking infrastructure. What was incredibly frustrating was that every piece of fracking equipment was powered by a solar panel.
We just left Rocky Mountain National Park today, the last of the parks on our tour across America. As to be assumed, we loved it like all the rest. It is a beautiful park high in the mountains, full of blooming wildflowers, fantastic wildlife, and of course incredible views. Each park we've visited has had its own unique features. The Rockies, as one can guess, has elevations like none we've ever experienced.
The first full day we started out by taking a hike from a trailhead that started at almost 9,500 feet. The trail took us up farther to three lakes, each surrounded by snow-capped mountains. When we arrived at the third lake, the temperature was in the low 50's and there was snow all around. That was quite a shock for us, especially since we had been in the desert just one day earlier. Next we took a hike that started from a little lower, just under 8,500 feet. This trail was much more level in comparison to the first one. We stopped by a pond and saw little mallard ducklings swimming with their momma, plus a female ring-necked duck. We continued on the trail a ways, only to find ourselves not feeling the need to go any further. We decided to turn back and make for the pond again to watch the ducks. Just as we watched a garter snake in the water take a snap at one of the ducklings, a family came down from the direction we had just turned back from. They asked us if we had made it up to the lake they had just visited, and we said no. They were extremely excited as they told us that there was a big bull moose wading through the lake, nibbling on the water lilies. We immediately dropped everything and ran up the trail as fast as we could. It took us about 10 minutes to run up the steep, rocky 3/4 miles to get to the lake. I timed us taking only 6 minutes to get from the point we had originally turned around to the lake with the moose. We rounded a corner when we finally came to the lake, and quickly realized that as beautiful as the small lake looked surrounded by mountains, it was moose-less. Feeling defeated we slumped down on a rock in hopes to catch a glimpse of the moose maybe coming out for one last nibble. No such event materialized.
The next day we took a nice, leisurely stroll up to another mountain lake. This was another very steep hike, and the altitude really started getting to us. The lake was beautiful, of course, but by the time we got there we were beat. We weren't used to hiking with so little oxygen. It was amazing how much more difficult it is to perform the same way with such an increase in elevation. When we got back down we decided to have a nice, slow evening at our campsite. We were going to have chicken noodle soup on a brisk night, our last night camping. With all the outstanding weather we have been fortunate enough to encounter the entire trip, of course it was drizzling when we went to make our dinner. Nevertheless, I surprised myself by actually starting a fire in the rain. When the soup finished, there was still a light rain, but everything was pretty wet. So we spooned ourselves some soup and sat in the dry car. As we ate we were listening to the radio, and happened to catch a weather alert, which described a huge storm with flash flood warnings pushing its way north from the Denver area. If anyone isn't a real whiz in Colorado geography, we were north of the Denver area. However, the rain around us had since stopped, and it looked like the clouds were breaking. We were able to sit and enjoy the fire for a while. Afterwards we got ready for bed, looking to turn in early for a good night's sleep. As we got back to the car after changing into pajamas and brushing our teeth we heard low rumbles of thunder. A slight drizzle started up as we packed our things into the car. All of a sudden the drizzle turned into an ever-increasing downpour, and we were only half way between our car and the tent. As I mentioned earlier, we had had such great luck weather-wise all trip, but this night, when it was raining mountain lions and coyotes on us, the zipper on the tent's rainfly was stuck. It took me a while to un-snag the zipper between Laura's screaming at me and getting soaked, but I finally was able to break the zipper free and we dove into the tent. As we dove in, we saw intensely bright flashes of lightening, quickly followed by huge crashes of thunder. The storm itself lasted only about 30 minutes, but it rained just about the whole night.
After waking this morning, somewhat wet and desperately needing a shower, we made ourselves a hearty breakfast of eggs and sausage to finish off our time camping. We are now in Colorado Springs, about an hour south of Denver. We'll be here two nights, then spend two nights in Denver. It's looking like we might be home a couple days earlier than we had originally anticipated, due to a combination of fatigue and dried-up funds. Laura will work on getting pictures onto Facebook later this evening.
Take care.
Elijah
Sunday, July 10, 2011
Arches National Park
Hey everyone! We have finally finished our ten day visit in the desert. This morning we left Arches National Park, and are now in Colorado on the way to the Rocky Mountains! We had a great time in all of the desert parks, but we are both looking forward to a change of scenery, and especially a drop in temperatures. Even though our last three parks were all desert climates, each one had something different to offer, and Arches was no exception. The landscape was relatively flat, with large rock formations scattered around. It was not a canyon in the same way the Grand Canyon was, and the peaks were not as mountainous as Zion. The formations were relatively easy to climb, and it was fun to hop up to the top of a rock and see a great view of the surrounding land. As the name implies, the highlight of the park was the rock arches that were formed by erosion over time. There were arches in the middle of rock structures, arches that stood on their own, and arches that stood on top of other arches. Each one was unique and quite a sight to see. We spent the two days hiking the trails to visit the arches scattered throughout the park. Since Arches is a relatively small park, we were able to see almost all of the highlighted attractions. The most famous arch in the park is Delicate Arch, a free standing structure that is best seen by taking a steep mile and a half hike to its base. After walking around a large formation, the arch appears quite suddenly, and its sheer size is breathtaking. It is much larger than either of us expected, and it is absolutely beautiful. My favorite part about the arches is how much prettier the landscape looks when seen through an arch. Each hike was interesting and above all very rewarding.
While the temperatures did soar well into the 90s, it also rained about twice a day, like clockwork. We would go on a morning hike, eat lunch, and within an hour of returning to our campsite it would rain. We would then go out for a late afternoon hike, come back and eat dinner, and it would rain again. For an area that complains about only getting a few tenths of an inch of rain per month, it seemed like plenty of rain to us. The nice part was that the rain kept the temperatures down, and the majority of stay was almost pleasant.
On our last day we planned on having mac and cheese for dinner. We had found a box at a supermarket that only required water, and so we picked up Western Family's finest shells and cheddar for a break from beans. We were super excited all day for dinner, myself in particular. Because of all the strenuous hiking we had done, I was starving by five o'clock, and so we started cooking. When the shells had finished cooking, I took Elijah's pot over to the shrubs to drain the water through the little collander in the lid. When most of the water had drained, I gave one last shake, and the lid slipped off the pot, dumping all of the shells out onto the sand. I let out a shriek, and looked over at Elijah's horrified face. Not thinking clearly, I started grabbing handfuls of boiling hot shells off the sand and putting them back in the pot, determined to save our dinner. I was so absurdly distraught that I plunged my hand straight into a prickly pear cactus, and came up with a handful of needles rather than a handful of noodles. After that, Elijah brought me out of my insanity and I left the shells where they were. Luckily, we had another box of pasta that we had been saving for pasta salad, and so all was not lost. We still got our mac and cheese, and some desert critter had a nice feast of macaroni that night.
After the mac and cheese debocle, we hiked back up to Delicate Arch to watch the sunset, and had a very nice last night in the desert. We will be in Rocky Mountain National Park for the next three nights, and then we will be done with camping for the remainder of the trip. Once we are in towns again, I will catch up with the backlog of pictures from our two weeks of camping. We will blog in a few days when we get to Colorado Springs.
Hope you all had a nice weekend,
Laura
While the temperatures did soar well into the 90s, it also rained about twice a day, like clockwork. We would go on a morning hike, eat lunch, and within an hour of returning to our campsite it would rain. We would then go out for a late afternoon hike, come back and eat dinner, and it would rain again. For an area that complains about only getting a few tenths of an inch of rain per month, it seemed like plenty of rain to us. The nice part was that the rain kept the temperatures down, and the majority of stay was almost pleasant.
On our last day we planned on having mac and cheese for dinner. We had found a box at a supermarket that only required water, and so we picked up Western Family's finest shells and cheddar for a break from beans. We were super excited all day for dinner, myself in particular. Because of all the strenuous hiking we had done, I was starving by five o'clock, and so we started cooking. When the shells had finished cooking, I took Elijah's pot over to the shrubs to drain the water through the little collander in the lid. When most of the water had drained, I gave one last shake, and the lid slipped off the pot, dumping all of the shells out onto the sand. I let out a shriek, and looked over at Elijah's horrified face. Not thinking clearly, I started grabbing handfuls of boiling hot shells off the sand and putting them back in the pot, determined to save our dinner. I was so absurdly distraught that I plunged my hand straight into a prickly pear cactus, and came up with a handful of needles rather than a handful of noodles. After that, Elijah brought me out of my insanity and I left the shells where they were. Luckily, we had another box of pasta that we had been saving for pasta salad, and so all was not lost. We still got our mac and cheese, and some desert critter had a nice feast of macaroni that night.
After the mac and cheese debocle, we hiked back up to Delicate Arch to watch the sunset, and had a very nice last night in the desert. We will be in Rocky Mountain National Park for the next three nights, and then we will be done with camping for the remainder of the trip. Once we are in towns again, I will catch up with the backlog of pictures from our two weeks of camping. We will blog in a few days when we get to Colorado Springs.
Hope you all had a nice weekend,
Laura
Wednesday, July 6, 2011
Zion National Park
Hey-o everybody, this is Elijah. Here we are on our last night in Zion, and getting strangely good reception. We've had an awesome time here. When we first arrived on the 4th of July we quickly learned that our desert campsite had no shade in the afternoon, when it's typically about 100 degrees. Great. To cool ourselves down we went into the nearby gift shop to get our Zion shopping done. The desert here hasn't seen rain in about a month, and it's so hot and dry that there are no campfires or fireworks allowed. So to celebrate the U.S.'s Independence we cooked rice and beans over my small backpacking stove, and later treated ourselves to a bottle of beer each, tortilla chips and salsa. The next day we got up early and went for a treacherous hike up to Angel's Landing. It was a very steep hike, about 2.75 miles one-way. The last half mile or so followed a narrow, almost completely vertical edge, with a clear view of the canyon floor thousands of feet below. Our only chance of keeping our balance was entrusting our lives to a chain railing that was provided for at least most of the cliff-scaling. The view from the top was totally worth the climb, though. We had an awesome 360 degree view of Zion Canyon, a sea of red/orange rock cliffs dotted with a surprising amount of greenery for a desert, and the Virgin River meandering along the bottom. The climb down, however, may have been even tougher because we were now facing the long way down, just inches from where we placed each careful footstep.
After lunch and a quick cool-down session we took a walk on the Emerald Pools Trail. It was a nice hike that took us passed some cool green pools of water. They were green because of the algae that grows in them. To treat ourselves and cool off that night we went to a nearby store to get ice cream for dinner. We both had peanut butter fudge ice cream and it was glorious.
The next day started off with a bang when Laura and I both saw summer tanagers when we were in different places in the campground. We headed out to Weeping Rock, a cliff of sandstone that has a constant flow of water pouring out of the cracks. On that short walk we saw a bright orange, black and white black-headed grosbeak. Once we got to the rock it looked and sounded like a jungle because it was so lush and wet. The rock was covered with hanging gardens that included western and golden columbine.
From that trail we headed up the Hidden Canyon Trail. This was another steep climb, with more cliff's edge chains to hold onto. It wasn't as dangerous as Angel's Landing, but still provided great views of the canyon. When were done with that hike, however, we were just about out of desert clothing. So we collected our dirty clothes at our site and brought them to a laundromat in the nearby town. Besides the dryer eating one of our quarters, it was pretty uneventful.
Tonight the weather has cooled down, and it looks like there's a mighty storm brewing. Sleeping has been difficult when it's been so hot at night, so hopefully a little rain will drop the temperature some. We're off to Arches National Park in eastern Utah tomorrow. What's another 3 nights in the desert?
Until next time.
Elijah
After lunch and a quick cool-down session we took a walk on the Emerald Pools Trail. It was a nice hike that took us passed some cool green pools of water. They were green because of the algae that grows in them. To treat ourselves and cool off that night we went to a nearby store to get ice cream for dinner. We both had peanut butter fudge ice cream and it was glorious.
The next day started off with a bang when Laura and I both saw summer tanagers when we were in different places in the campground. We headed out to Weeping Rock, a cliff of sandstone that has a constant flow of water pouring out of the cracks. On that short walk we saw a bright orange, black and white black-headed grosbeak. Once we got to the rock it looked and sounded like a jungle because it was so lush and wet. The rock was covered with hanging gardens that included western and golden columbine.
From that trail we headed up the Hidden Canyon Trail. This was another steep climb, with more cliff's edge chains to hold onto. It wasn't as dangerous as Angel's Landing, but still provided great views of the canyon. When were done with that hike, however, we were just about out of desert clothing. So we collected our dirty clothes at our site and brought them to a laundromat in the nearby town. Besides the dryer eating one of our quarters, it was pretty uneventful.
Tonight the weather has cooled down, and it looks like there's a mighty storm brewing. Sleeping has been difficult when it's been so hot at night, so hopefully a little rain will drop the temperature some. We're off to Arches National Park in eastern Utah tomorrow. What's another 3 nights in the desert?
Until next time.
Elijah
Sunday, July 3, 2011
Grand Canyon National Park
Hey everyone!
WOW. So I had heard rumblings about the Grand Canyon being pretty deep, but on foot, with a huge pack on your back in the blazing heat, wow. It's REALLY far down. But we made it, and even though it was the toughest hike either of us have ever done, it was also one of the most amazing experiences we've ever had. So to start at the beginning, we set our alarm for 3am on the first morning so that we start our hike by 4 and hopefully beat the heat. Elijah's watch alarm went off at 3, he turned it off, and all of a sudden it was 3:45. Whoops. We finally got up, broke camp, drove to the trailhead, and finally started our hike around 5:30am. The trail was wide and well kept with rocks lining the cliff edge of the trail. About a quarter mile down, Elijah spots a nest of Mexican Jays. Most of you know that Elijah is unnaturally obsessed with birds, and so this took over our attention for a good couple of minutes. Finally he put the binoculars down and we continued on our way. After a few moments, the trail began to narrow, and the rocks that provided a barrier between us and the cliff's edge disappeared. Very quickly the trail became outrageously perilous and difficult. We found ourselves trying to climb over waist high rocks, sliding down slippery slopes trying to catch ourselves before sliding off the edge, and weaving under and over trees, all terrifyingly close to a steep drop off the canyon wall. We started muttering to ourselves, "hmm, didn't expect this," and "yikes, I wonder how the mules carry people through this." We had been told this was the easiest trail (if any hike down the Grand Canyon could be easy) and the most hiker friendly, and it was certainly not turning out to be such. Finally, the "trail" turned down a very steep rock, and appeared to simply drop off the edge of the canyon. Finally Elijah turned around and I said, "I'm not sure, but I don't think we're going the right way." We looked off in the distance and saw the beautiful wide trail with families walking down together with their children, and we looked at the bleak "trail" ahead of us, and finally came to the conclusion that our path was probably not going to cross with theirs, and we turned around. We wound back over rocks and under trees, grabbed onto tree roots while shuffling across the slanted path. After about a half an hour, we came out onto the trail where we had stopped to look at those damn birds. Apparently, we had gotten so distracted by the birds that we didn't see the very first switchback in the trail, and just blew straight ahead off of the main path. What the heck, we're just a couple of kids from New York, how were we supposed to know how to get down the Grand Canyon? So now we had not only slept in, but had just lost an hour in our treacherous detour, and so we hurried on our way. The main trail now felt like a cake walk, and we reached the 1.5 mile rest house easily. We continued on to stop at the 3 mile rest house, and then onto the Indian Gardens Campground about 4.5 miles down the trail. It was about 9am at this point, and we decided to stop there for the afternoon to wait out the heat. While hiking, we had to be constantly eating salty snacks and alternating between water and gatorade to keep our body temperatures down. By the time we stopped at the campground, it was already pretty hot and we found a shelter to pass the time in. It was very pleasant in the shade, and we had a nice relaxing afternoon. I read a book while Elijah napped, until he woke up and stared at me until I agreed to play with him. We played cards, had lunch, fought off the feisty ground squirrels that tried to burrow into our packs, and went to a ranger program about rattlesnakes. Finally around 4pm when it was slightly cooler, we put our packs and boots back on and finished the 4.7 mile hike to the bottom of the canyon. As we got closer we began to see streams that flowed down to the river, and all we could hear was rushing water. Then out of nowhere we rounded a corner and the Colorado River was in front of us. It was absolutely huge with a very fast current. We hiked alongside it until we saw an amazing silver bridge for hikers to cross. After the surprisingly long walk across the river, it was only a short ways to the Bright Angel Campground where we would be spending the night. The campground was located along a gentle stream with large rocks that formed perfect little swimming holes. We ate our dinner, set up camp, and went to bed. Even in our mesh tent with plenty of ventilation, we were sweating. It must have been in the mid 80s, and Elijah decided to cool down by sprawling out, squishing me into the tent wall. It was not the most comfortable of nights, but the stars were incredible.
The next morning we woke up around 8am, and it was already hot out. At about 9, we walked to the rangers station to look at books to check out, and we happened to walk past a thermometer. It was nine o'clock in the morning, and it was already over 100 degrees. We didn't look at the thermometer anymore after that. We spent the day at the creek in the shade either swimming, playing cards, or dreaming of the Wendy's frostys that we were going to get as soon as we got out of there. You might wonder why we always seem to have obsessive food cravings on every hike we take, but when you are sitting in a 120 degree pit eating hot pasta salad out of a ziplock bag, your mind has to go somewhere. Those frostys were the only thing that got us out of that canyon, let me tell you. As a matter of fact, we are sitting in Wendy's right now, fed and happy. (Side note: WE FOUND CHACO TACOS TODAY!! We've been searching since Yosemite) Anyways, we had a pleasant day despite the heat enjoying the incredible scenery, and around 4pm we started our 4.7 mile hike back up to Indian Gardens for the night. It was a steep, difficult climb, but we finally made it to camp in time to watch a beautiful sunset from inside the canyon. We went to bed early and woke up at 3am the next morning (we actually got up this time). We were hiking by 4, and sweating by 5. The climb was steep and never ending. At each rest stop we collapsed in exhaustion. At the final rest stop with only 1.5 miles to go, we saw a Bighorn Sheep laying down on a giant rock near the rest house. It was awesome. What was not awesome, was the last 1.5 miles. Apparently, this last stretch is called "heartbreak hill." Well no one told us about that until we had reached the last quarter mile, and it got to a point where we could not walk 100 yards without collapsing on a rock to catch our breath. It was getting hot, and we could barely move. Finally, FINALLY, we reached the top and collapsed onto a bench at the bus stop. Unfortunately, we still had a 10 minute walk to our car, and the slightest incline made our eyes water. Upon arriving at the car and finding that our fuel canisters had not blown up in the heat while we were gone, we were giddy with happiness. We still cannot believe that we actually hiked the Grand Canyon, it is surreal and amazing that we had this opportunity. We have now showered, eaten, and are heading to the North Rim of the canyon for the night before heading to Zion National Park tomorrow.
I hope you all have a great 4th of July!
we will post again in a few days,
Laura
WOW. So I had heard rumblings about the Grand Canyon being pretty deep, but on foot, with a huge pack on your back in the blazing heat, wow. It's REALLY far down. But we made it, and even though it was the toughest hike either of us have ever done, it was also one of the most amazing experiences we've ever had. So to start at the beginning, we set our alarm for 3am on the first morning so that we start our hike by 4 and hopefully beat the heat. Elijah's watch alarm went off at 3, he turned it off, and all of a sudden it was 3:45. Whoops. We finally got up, broke camp, drove to the trailhead, and finally started our hike around 5:30am. The trail was wide and well kept with rocks lining the cliff edge of the trail. About a quarter mile down, Elijah spots a nest of Mexican Jays. Most of you know that Elijah is unnaturally obsessed with birds, and so this took over our attention for a good couple of minutes. Finally he put the binoculars down and we continued on our way. After a few moments, the trail began to narrow, and the rocks that provided a barrier between us and the cliff's edge disappeared. Very quickly the trail became outrageously perilous and difficult. We found ourselves trying to climb over waist high rocks, sliding down slippery slopes trying to catch ourselves before sliding off the edge, and weaving under and over trees, all terrifyingly close to a steep drop off the canyon wall. We started muttering to ourselves, "hmm, didn't expect this," and "yikes, I wonder how the mules carry people through this." We had been told this was the easiest trail (if any hike down the Grand Canyon could be easy) and the most hiker friendly, and it was certainly not turning out to be such. Finally, the "trail" turned down a very steep rock, and appeared to simply drop off the edge of the canyon. Finally Elijah turned around and I said, "I'm not sure, but I don't think we're going the right way." We looked off in the distance and saw the beautiful wide trail with families walking down together with their children, and we looked at the bleak "trail" ahead of us, and finally came to the conclusion that our path was probably not going to cross with theirs, and we turned around. We wound back over rocks and under trees, grabbed onto tree roots while shuffling across the slanted path. After about a half an hour, we came out onto the trail where we had stopped to look at those damn birds. Apparently, we had gotten so distracted by the birds that we didn't see the very first switchback in the trail, and just blew straight ahead off of the main path. What the heck, we're just a couple of kids from New York, how were we supposed to know how to get down the Grand Canyon? So now we had not only slept in, but had just lost an hour in our treacherous detour, and so we hurried on our way. The main trail now felt like a cake walk, and we reached the 1.5 mile rest house easily. We continued on to stop at the 3 mile rest house, and then onto the Indian Gardens Campground about 4.5 miles down the trail. It was about 9am at this point, and we decided to stop there for the afternoon to wait out the heat. While hiking, we had to be constantly eating salty snacks and alternating between water and gatorade to keep our body temperatures down. By the time we stopped at the campground, it was already pretty hot and we found a shelter to pass the time in. It was very pleasant in the shade, and we had a nice relaxing afternoon. I read a book while Elijah napped, until he woke up and stared at me until I agreed to play with him. We played cards, had lunch, fought off the feisty ground squirrels that tried to burrow into our packs, and went to a ranger program about rattlesnakes. Finally around 4pm when it was slightly cooler, we put our packs and boots back on and finished the 4.7 mile hike to the bottom of the canyon. As we got closer we began to see streams that flowed down to the river, and all we could hear was rushing water. Then out of nowhere we rounded a corner and the Colorado River was in front of us. It was absolutely huge with a very fast current. We hiked alongside it until we saw an amazing silver bridge for hikers to cross. After the surprisingly long walk across the river, it was only a short ways to the Bright Angel Campground where we would be spending the night. The campground was located along a gentle stream with large rocks that formed perfect little swimming holes. We ate our dinner, set up camp, and went to bed. Even in our mesh tent with plenty of ventilation, we were sweating. It must have been in the mid 80s, and Elijah decided to cool down by sprawling out, squishing me into the tent wall. It was not the most comfortable of nights, but the stars were incredible.
The next morning we woke up around 8am, and it was already hot out. At about 9, we walked to the rangers station to look at books to check out, and we happened to walk past a thermometer. It was nine o'clock in the morning, and it was already over 100 degrees. We didn't look at the thermometer anymore after that. We spent the day at the creek in the shade either swimming, playing cards, or dreaming of the Wendy's frostys that we were going to get as soon as we got out of there. You might wonder why we always seem to have obsessive food cravings on every hike we take, but when you are sitting in a 120 degree pit eating hot pasta salad out of a ziplock bag, your mind has to go somewhere. Those frostys were the only thing that got us out of that canyon, let me tell you. As a matter of fact, we are sitting in Wendy's right now, fed and happy. (Side note: WE FOUND CHACO TACOS TODAY!! We've been searching since Yosemite) Anyways, we had a pleasant day despite the heat enjoying the incredible scenery, and around 4pm we started our 4.7 mile hike back up to Indian Gardens for the night. It was a steep, difficult climb, but we finally made it to camp in time to watch a beautiful sunset from inside the canyon. We went to bed early and woke up at 3am the next morning (we actually got up this time). We were hiking by 4, and sweating by 5. The climb was steep and never ending. At each rest stop we collapsed in exhaustion. At the final rest stop with only 1.5 miles to go, we saw a Bighorn Sheep laying down on a giant rock near the rest house. It was awesome. What was not awesome, was the last 1.5 miles. Apparently, this last stretch is called "heartbreak hill." Well no one told us about that until we had reached the last quarter mile, and it got to a point where we could not walk 100 yards without collapsing on a rock to catch our breath. It was getting hot, and we could barely move. Finally, FINALLY, we reached the top and collapsed onto a bench at the bus stop. Unfortunately, we still had a 10 minute walk to our car, and the slightest incline made our eyes water. Upon arriving at the car and finding that our fuel canisters had not blown up in the heat while we were gone, we were giddy with happiness. We still cannot believe that we actually hiked the Grand Canyon, it is surreal and amazing that we had this opportunity. We have now showered, eaten, and are heading to the North Rim of the canyon for the night before heading to Zion National Park tomorrow.
I hope you all have a great 4th of July!
we will post again in a few days,
Laura
Thursday, June 30, 2011
Why stop at the top?
We're going down!! We're spending tonight at the south rim of the Grand Canyon, waking up at 3am, and beginning our descent to the bottom! We spoke to a ranger today, and while it is definitely dangerous, we are confident that we can make this hike safely. We will only hike during the nighttime hours when it is cool, and will spend the hours of 10am - 4pm in the shade. We will have access to plenty of water, and there is a ranger station at the bottom. We will take one day to hike the 9 miles down, and two days to hike back up. Well we're off to bed, and in less than six hours we'll be up and outta here! Wish us luck!
Laura
Laura
Death Valley and Las Vegas
Hey guys! Quick post about our day yesterday. We went to the town of Big Pine for breakfast because we had seen an adorable looking country kitchen there the day before. We asked our very nice waitress about Death Valley, and she gave us a motherly warning about the danger, and that it's called "death" valley for a reason. So after breakfast we filled up the gas tank, topped off the coolant, filled our water bottles, and cautiously headed south listening to Elijah's new Death Valley playlist. As we entered the park at a 4000 ft elevation, the same as in big pine, I was shocked that the temperature didn't instantly jump to 100 degrees. I was also surprised at how mountainous the terrain was. I always thought of the desert as just flat sand for as far as you could see, but as we drove in, there were hills all around that varied from red rock, to dirt with small green plants, to bare sand. It was absolutely beautiful. Our next shocker was the first time we tried to get out of the car to take a picture and I almost fell over. The wind was blowing at an amazingly high speed, which made it hard to take many pictures. We drove down from 4000 feet to 1000 feet uncomfortably fast, and then jumped back up and back down. The car was not happy. Finally we drove into a tiny little country town in the middle of the park that had a sign that read "elevation: sea level". I took a picture. Until this point it had only been in the 80s, so we figured it would be safe to get out and have lunch at the little saloon. When we got back to the car, the thermometer read 108 degrees. Surprisingly it didn't feel unbearably hot, but nonetheless we were ready to get out of there. It was a pretty eerie place because it was beautiful, but at the same time uncomfortable, seeing the huge expanse of desert with no one to save you if things went wrong. We hurried on, only stopping at the visitors center for some souvenirs, of course.
Once safely out of Death Valley, we set off for Las Vegas! It has been a very surreal feeling this whole trip to tell people things like "oh yeah we went to Yosemite, then Death Valley, then Vegas, then Grand Canyon." Very strange. Anyways, we stayed at the same hostel chain that we stayed at in San Fran, and got our room for $34. We went out last night to see the strip, and went to the section with Paris, NY, and Caesar's Palace. We saw Elvis, a ninja, and hello kitty, and more show girls than I ever care to see again. Apparently, girls really do get up on poker tables and dance around in their underwear at casinos. I had always hoped that was just a Hollywood exagguration. Guess not. We decided that the strip was a little too expensive for us, so we headed back to our area for the casinos with 99 cent margaritas. Its a strange town, but we had fun and are now ready for the Grand Canyon. We saw a sign for Dunkin Donets last night for the first time in weeks, and so we are headed there now to get my fix.
We will try to post after the Grand Canyon on the way to Zion if we can find service. Hopefully, we will be at the bottom of the canyon at this time tomorrow!
Until next time,
Laura
Once safely out of Death Valley, we set off for Las Vegas! It has been a very surreal feeling this whole trip to tell people things like "oh yeah we went to Yosemite, then Death Valley, then Vegas, then Grand Canyon." Very strange. Anyways, we stayed at the same hostel chain that we stayed at in San Fran, and got our room for $34. We went out last night to see the strip, and went to the section with Paris, NY, and Caesar's Palace. We saw Elvis, a ninja, and hello kitty, and more show girls than I ever care to see again. Apparently, girls really do get up on poker tables and dance around in their underwear at casinos. I had always hoped that was just a Hollywood exagguration. Guess not. We decided that the strip was a little too expensive for us, so we headed back to our area for the casinos with 99 cent margaritas. Its a strange town, but we had fun and are now ready for the Grand Canyon. We saw a sign for Dunkin Donets last night for the first time in weeks, and so we are headed there now to get my fix.
We will try to post after the Grand Canyon on the way to Zion if we can find service. Hopefully, we will be at the bottom of the canyon at this time tomorrow!
Until next time,
Laura
Tuesday, June 28, 2011
Yosemite National Park
Hello all, Elijah here. We are now in Bishop, CA for the night, after having spent 5 nights in Yosemite. We had an awesome time there, and there's so much to talk about. To make it easier to follow along, I'm going to split it up by day.
Day 1:
Thursday, 6/23, we pulled into the park in the late evening after having taken a long (but totally worth it) detour to the Jelly Belly factory. We campsites already reserved for all 5 nights - the first 3 on the west side of the park, and the last 2 at the south end of the park. Our plan was to see if we could get ourselves into a walk-in, first-come first-served site in the famous Yosemite Valley, in the center of the park. When we were checking into the first site, however, the ranger told us that because campground reservations are insane in Yosemite (which could be a blog post itself) it would be in our best interest to just keep the sites we already had reserved because there was a great chance that nothing else would become available. We decided to take his advice, so we found our campsite, set up camp and made dinner, loaded our food in the bear locker, and settled in for an early night. Bear locker, you might ask? Apparently the black bears in Yosemite National Park are the smartest in the world. They have been known to break into cars when they detect some sort of scent, be it food, shampoo, sunscreen, even chapstick. The bear lockers are big metal boxes (about 3' x 2' x 4') that needs opposable thumbs to unlock. Everything with a scent is required to be stored in the bear locker provided to each site.
Day 2:
Since we knew how popular Yosemite National Park is, we figured that Yosemite Valley would be swamped with people on the weekend. Because of that, we decided it would be best to spend time in the Valley on Friday and Monday, and hopefully miss the bigger crowds. It seemed like a good idea until the first parking lot we pulled into - the trailhead for a short hike to the base of Bridalveil Falls - was full. Instead we had to park on the side of the road to get a chance to see Bridalveil Falls. I'm sure many of you are aware that the water levels in Yosemite are much higher this year than average because of all the snowfall tis past winter. Because of this, many of the waterfalls, including Bridalveil Falls, are gushing water. Laura wasn't able to get a picture at the base of the falls because there was so much mist spray.
As we left that trail, we started taking a good look around Yosemite Valley. It was absolutely incredible. It's difficult to put into words just how magnificent the scenery is. Everywhere you turned there was something awesome to look at, be it Yosemite Falls (highest waterfall in North America), Half Dome and El Capitan (both famous peaks), the lush greenery of the meadows on the valley floor, or all the fascinating rock formations.
To cut down on traffic and congestion on the park roads, Yosemite offers a free shuttle service around Yosemite Valley that stops at all the major points of interest. We took this shuttle up to Mirror Lake. Like most hikes in Yosemite, it was a fairly steep climb, and also like most hikes in Yosemite, it was well-worth the steep climb. Mirror Lake, years and years ago, used to be just a river. However, two huge boulders have since fallen into that river to create the lake. The river still feeds and drains the lake, but the lake itself is quite breathtaking. The water was incredibly clear, and the lake is surrounded by huge cliffs of granite. We spent the early afternoon hiking around the lake, and went as far as we could past it before we were turned around by signs reading, "CAUTION: Rock Fall Area. Trail Closed." On the way back we stumbled upon a sea of cairns. For those of you that don't know, a cairn is a small rock sculpture usually used by hikers to mark a trail. This mass of cairns, however, was obviously for decoration. As we wandered through them, being impressed by the different ways people were able to balance rocks together, I decided to build one for the two of us. It stood for about as long as it took Laura to take the picture because afterwards I got greedy and tried to add more rocks, which knocked the whole thing over.
A ranger told us that, for whatever reason, everyone always leaves Yosemite Valley at about 5:00 pm everyday, and that makes a huge traffic jam. So we wouldn't have to deal with the traffic later on, we decided to go for another hike up to a viewpoint of Upper Fall, the first half of Yosemite Falls. The hike was only a mile and a half, but the trail gains about 1,500 feet in elevation. Because of that, the trail was very steep, and once we were high enough there was little break from the sun. But like all the other trails in Yosemite, the juice was certainly worth the squeeze. Once we were at the viewpoint, we could feel the mist from the waterfall, even though we were still a ways away from it.
We were hoping to fit another hike in that day, but we were pretty beat from the Upper Fall trail so we decided to call it quits for the day.
That night we heard the first rumblings of an air mattress pump in the campground. As we soon learned, apparently 10:30 at night is a great time to inflate an air mattress, and they can only be deflated between the hours of 5:30 am and 6:30 am.
Day 3:
We woke up early on Saturday and headed for Toulumne Grove, home to some giant sequoia trees. It was a very nice, easy hike on a warm morning. Laura's birding eye is really improving, as she spotted a white-headed woodpecker AND a western tanager (insert Sean Carroll's excitement here). Once we got to the grove, we were stunned with how big the trees were. Costal Redwoods are the tallest tree in the world, but because of there width, Giant Sequoias are the largest. In fact, they are the largest organism by volume on Earth. It took us a while to really take in how massive they are. There weren't many in the grove, just as there aren't many anywhere that they grow. That's because even though Giant Sequoias can grow to over 250 ft. tall and over 30 ft. wide, their seed is only about the size of a single oat. Therefore, it's tough for their seeds to germinate and make new trees.
After the Toulumne Grove we headed for the Glacier Point area of the park, which is just south of Yosemite Valley as the western tanager flies. Unfortunately, we are not western tanagers, and there is no road that conveniently connects the two areas. We got a little lost in the park looking for the road that would take us there, but finally ended up at the trailhead to Sentinel Dome, another large peak in the park. It was another easy hike with some slight inclines before the top of the dome. Getting to the top required a steep climb through ankle-deep snow. That's right, snow. the view from the top of the dome was unlike anything I had ever seen before. Standing in one spot and turning 360 degrees, we could see El Capitan, Yosemite Falls, Yosemite Valley, Half Dome, Vernal and Nevada Falls, and the Sierra Nevada range off in the distance. I spent a lot of time trying to take it all in, but it was almost overwhelming.
On the way down from the Sentinel Dome trail, we tried to take the Taft Point Trail, which shares a trailhead with Sentinel Dome. Unfortunately the trail was covered in snow, and there were signs of strong warning posted by the rangers advising people to not hike on the trail. Instead we headed back to our campsite for an early dinner and a good night's sleep.
Day 4:
On Sunday we moved to our new campsite at the south end of the park. Before we checked into our site we did another hike in the Mariposa Grove, which is famous in Yosemite for its absolutely enormous Giant Sequoias. These trees really live up to the name "Giant" Sequoia. It was unbelievable how big they were.
After the Mariposa Grove we headed to the trailhead of yet another hike. This was an easy three and a half mile meadow loop. In the beginning of the hike we found the tiniest baby bird I have ever seen on the ground. It looked like it was a robin chick, but it couldn't have been bigger than a half dollar. I set it off to the side of the trail so it wouldn't be trampled in case the mother decided to rescue it. The rest of the hike was quite pleasant. To top it all off, we found a good sitting rock overlooking a meadow, and saw a red-breasted sapsucker.
Day 5:
On Monday, we were hoping to be able to ascend Half Dome, but were unable to. Since it is such a popular hike, the park gives out a limited number of permits to do the hike, usually well in advance. Unfortunately, there were no permits for us to do that hike. Instead we spent the day hiking up to Vernal and Nevada Falls. The trail took no time getting extremely steep. We followed along a river, got a good view of Vernal Fall (the lower of the two), and came to a junction in the trail. We decided to take the longer yet less steep John Muir Trail up to Nevada Fall. On the way up we had to step to the side of the trail to let a mule train pass. Finally at the top, we could see a looooong ways down. The trail opens up at the top of Nevada Fall, so we found a spot along the river with plenty of shade to eat lunch. Laura then insisted on laying in the sun for a few minutes, which I was much too impatient for. While she laid in the sun, I took a peak over the fall, but quickly stepped back from the fence when I noticed how far down it was just passed the fence.
After taking a few pictures, we began our descent. At the junction we decided to take the famed Mist Trail down. It's named the Mist Trail because of the mist that usually comes of Vernal Fall as you are on the trail. However, because the water levels are so high, it was more like the rain trail. We got absolutely soaked coming down the 600 slippery, granite steps. It was somewhat pleasant though, because it was such a hot day.
We made it back down to Yosemite Valley just in time for the 5 o'clock rush hour out of the valley. We figured we'd better stick around and let the traffic thin out, and suddenly had an unexplainable craving for Choco Tacos. We quickly made for the Yosemite Valley Store, only to find there were, unfortunately, no Chaco Tacos. To keep our spirits up Laura got an ice cream cookie sandwich and I got a pint of mint chocolate brownie ice cream. Both were consumed within a matter of minutes.
On the drive back to our campsite, we decided to take a detour to the Glacier Point area to watch the sunset. Glacier Point looks out over the whole valley, so again we could see everything. That was nice, but the sunset was sort of a let-down. In any case, it was a great ending to the awesome time we had in an awesome park.
After passing snow on the ground during our drive out of the park, we are now in the desert, only about 20 miles from Death Valley. We're driving across Death Valley tomorrow on our way to Las Vegas, then it's on to the Grand Canyon the next day. We will still have to make a decision on whether we want to use our permit to hike into the canyon, or just stay on the rim where we also have campground reservations. That decision is weather-depending, and will be made pretty much on the spot when we show up at the Grand Canyon on Thursday.
Take care.
Elijah
Day 1:
Thursday, 6/23, we pulled into the park in the late evening after having taken a long (but totally worth it) detour to the Jelly Belly factory. We campsites already reserved for all 5 nights - the first 3 on the west side of the park, and the last 2 at the south end of the park. Our plan was to see if we could get ourselves into a walk-in, first-come first-served site in the famous Yosemite Valley, in the center of the park. When we were checking into the first site, however, the ranger told us that because campground reservations are insane in Yosemite (which could be a blog post itself) it would be in our best interest to just keep the sites we already had reserved because there was a great chance that nothing else would become available. We decided to take his advice, so we found our campsite, set up camp and made dinner, loaded our food in the bear locker, and settled in for an early night. Bear locker, you might ask? Apparently the black bears in Yosemite National Park are the smartest in the world. They have been known to break into cars when they detect some sort of scent, be it food, shampoo, sunscreen, even chapstick. The bear lockers are big metal boxes (about 3' x 2' x 4') that needs opposable thumbs to unlock. Everything with a scent is required to be stored in the bear locker provided to each site.
Day 2:
Since we knew how popular Yosemite National Park is, we figured that Yosemite Valley would be swamped with people on the weekend. Because of that, we decided it would be best to spend time in the Valley on Friday and Monday, and hopefully miss the bigger crowds. It seemed like a good idea until the first parking lot we pulled into - the trailhead for a short hike to the base of Bridalveil Falls - was full. Instead we had to park on the side of the road to get a chance to see Bridalveil Falls. I'm sure many of you are aware that the water levels in Yosemite are much higher this year than average because of all the snowfall tis past winter. Because of this, many of the waterfalls, including Bridalveil Falls, are gushing water. Laura wasn't able to get a picture at the base of the falls because there was so much mist spray.
As we left that trail, we started taking a good look around Yosemite Valley. It was absolutely incredible. It's difficult to put into words just how magnificent the scenery is. Everywhere you turned there was something awesome to look at, be it Yosemite Falls (highest waterfall in North America), Half Dome and El Capitan (both famous peaks), the lush greenery of the meadows on the valley floor, or all the fascinating rock formations.
To cut down on traffic and congestion on the park roads, Yosemite offers a free shuttle service around Yosemite Valley that stops at all the major points of interest. We took this shuttle up to Mirror Lake. Like most hikes in Yosemite, it was a fairly steep climb, and also like most hikes in Yosemite, it was well-worth the steep climb. Mirror Lake, years and years ago, used to be just a river. However, two huge boulders have since fallen into that river to create the lake. The river still feeds and drains the lake, but the lake itself is quite breathtaking. The water was incredibly clear, and the lake is surrounded by huge cliffs of granite. We spent the early afternoon hiking around the lake, and went as far as we could past it before we were turned around by signs reading, "CAUTION: Rock Fall Area. Trail Closed." On the way back we stumbled upon a sea of cairns. For those of you that don't know, a cairn is a small rock sculpture usually used by hikers to mark a trail. This mass of cairns, however, was obviously for decoration. As we wandered through them, being impressed by the different ways people were able to balance rocks together, I decided to build one for the two of us. It stood for about as long as it took Laura to take the picture because afterwards I got greedy and tried to add more rocks, which knocked the whole thing over.
A ranger told us that, for whatever reason, everyone always leaves Yosemite Valley at about 5:00 pm everyday, and that makes a huge traffic jam. So we wouldn't have to deal with the traffic later on, we decided to go for another hike up to a viewpoint of Upper Fall, the first half of Yosemite Falls. The hike was only a mile and a half, but the trail gains about 1,500 feet in elevation. Because of that, the trail was very steep, and once we were high enough there was little break from the sun. But like all the other trails in Yosemite, the juice was certainly worth the squeeze. Once we were at the viewpoint, we could feel the mist from the waterfall, even though we were still a ways away from it.
We were hoping to fit another hike in that day, but we were pretty beat from the Upper Fall trail so we decided to call it quits for the day.
That night we heard the first rumblings of an air mattress pump in the campground. As we soon learned, apparently 10:30 at night is a great time to inflate an air mattress, and they can only be deflated between the hours of 5:30 am and 6:30 am.
Day 3:
We woke up early on Saturday and headed for Toulumne Grove, home to some giant sequoia trees. It was a very nice, easy hike on a warm morning. Laura's birding eye is really improving, as she spotted a white-headed woodpecker AND a western tanager (insert Sean Carroll's excitement here). Once we got to the grove, we were stunned with how big the trees were. Costal Redwoods are the tallest tree in the world, but because of there width, Giant Sequoias are the largest. In fact, they are the largest organism by volume on Earth. It took us a while to really take in how massive they are. There weren't many in the grove, just as there aren't many anywhere that they grow. That's because even though Giant Sequoias can grow to over 250 ft. tall and over 30 ft. wide, their seed is only about the size of a single oat. Therefore, it's tough for their seeds to germinate and make new trees.
After the Toulumne Grove we headed for the Glacier Point area of the park, which is just south of Yosemite Valley as the western tanager flies. Unfortunately, we are not western tanagers, and there is no road that conveniently connects the two areas. We got a little lost in the park looking for the road that would take us there, but finally ended up at the trailhead to Sentinel Dome, another large peak in the park. It was another easy hike with some slight inclines before the top of the dome. Getting to the top required a steep climb through ankle-deep snow. That's right, snow. the view from the top of the dome was unlike anything I had ever seen before. Standing in one spot and turning 360 degrees, we could see El Capitan, Yosemite Falls, Yosemite Valley, Half Dome, Vernal and Nevada Falls, and the Sierra Nevada range off in the distance. I spent a lot of time trying to take it all in, but it was almost overwhelming.
On the way down from the Sentinel Dome trail, we tried to take the Taft Point Trail, which shares a trailhead with Sentinel Dome. Unfortunately the trail was covered in snow, and there were signs of strong warning posted by the rangers advising people to not hike on the trail. Instead we headed back to our campsite for an early dinner and a good night's sleep.
Day 4:
On Sunday we moved to our new campsite at the south end of the park. Before we checked into our site we did another hike in the Mariposa Grove, which is famous in Yosemite for its absolutely enormous Giant Sequoias. These trees really live up to the name "Giant" Sequoia. It was unbelievable how big they were.
After the Mariposa Grove we headed to the trailhead of yet another hike. This was an easy three and a half mile meadow loop. In the beginning of the hike we found the tiniest baby bird I have ever seen on the ground. It looked like it was a robin chick, but it couldn't have been bigger than a half dollar. I set it off to the side of the trail so it wouldn't be trampled in case the mother decided to rescue it. The rest of the hike was quite pleasant. To top it all off, we found a good sitting rock overlooking a meadow, and saw a red-breasted sapsucker.
Day 5:
On Monday, we were hoping to be able to ascend Half Dome, but were unable to. Since it is such a popular hike, the park gives out a limited number of permits to do the hike, usually well in advance. Unfortunately, there were no permits for us to do that hike. Instead we spent the day hiking up to Vernal and Nevada Falls. The trail took no time getting extremely steep. We followed along a river, got a good view of Vernal Fall (the lower of the two), and came to a junction in the trail. We decided to take the longer yet less steep John Muir Trail up to Nevada Fall. On the way up we had to step to the side of the trail to let a mule train pass. Finally at the top, we could see a looooong ways down. The trail opens up at the top of Nevada Fall, so we found a spot along the river with plenty of shade to eat lunch. Laura then insisted on laying in the sun for a few minutes, which I was much too impatient for. While she laid in the sun, I took a peak over the fall, but quickly stepped back from the fence when I noticed how far down it was just passed the fence.
After taking a few pictures, we began our descent. At the junction we decided to take the famed Mist Trail down. It's named the Mist Trail because of the mist that usually comes of Vernal Fall as you are on the trail. However, because the water levels are so high, it was more like the rain trail. We got absolutely soaked coming down the 600 slippery, granite steps. It was somewhat pleasant though, because it was such a hot day.
We made it back down to Yosemite Valley just in time for the 5 o'clock rush hour out of the valley. We figured we'd better stick around and let the traffic thin out, and suddenly had an unexplainable craving for Choco Tacos. We quickly made for the Yosemite Valley Store, only to find there were, unfortunately, no Chaco Tacos. To keep our spirits up Laura got an ice cream cookie sandwich and I got a pint of mint chocolate brownie ice cream. Both were consumed within a matter of minutes.
On the drive back to our campsite, we decided to take a detour to the Glacier Point area to watch the sunset. Glacier Point looks out over the whole valley, so again we could see everything. That was nice, but the sunset was sort of a let-down. In any case, it was a great ending to the awesome time we had in an awesome park.
After passing snow on the ground during our drive out of the park, we are now in the desert, only about 20 miles from Death Valley. We're driving across Death Valley tomorrow on our way to Las Vegas, then it's on to the Grand Canyon the next day. We will still have to make a decision on whether we want to use our permit to hike into the canyon, or just stay on the rim where we also have campground reservations. That decision is weather-depending, and will be made pretty much on the spot when we show up at the Grand Canyon on Thursday.
Take care.
Elijah
Thursday, June 23, 2011
San Francisco
Hey everyone, Laura here. So when I said we'd be able to post a lot while in San Francisco, I was just kidding. I forgot how much there was to do, and how little time we had. On our first full day we went back to Chinatown to walk around and do some shopping before going to the baseball game that evening. We went to the first game of the Giants vs. Twins series, and it was an interesting game to say the least. The Twins scored 8 runs in the top of the first inning, and so for the rest of the game even the slightest error from the Giants caused an unnecessary amount of profanity from the fans sitting in the bleachers with us. The final score was 9-2, so at least the massacre was short lived. On our second (and last) full day we went to the Berkeley/Oakland area. For those of you that saw my facebook status about stalking Green Day and laughed, I was serious. We went to Berkeley first to see 428 Gilman st., which is the tiny old club where Green Day, as well as many other bands, got their start. We then went to Yogurt-land (a super awesome frozen yogurt bar) for lunch (thank you Cass) before heading to Oakland in search of Billie Joe Armstrong, Green Day's frontman. We found his neighborhood, but unfortunately we couldn't pick his giant house out from the crowd. Creepy, I know, but awesome just the same.
As we were leaving our hostel yesterday, a rather brightly colored pamphlet caught my eye. I picked it up to find an advertisement for none other than the Jelly Belly Factory, only 45 minutes away. This was an immediate game changer, and I told Elijah that Yosemite would just have to wait. So this morning we left San Francisco and headed out in the opposite direction of Yosemite to the Jelly Belly Factory. We got a free tour of the factory, free samples, and a free bag of jelly beans each. After our tour, we treated ourselves to Jelly Belly soda, a jelly bean shaped burger, and a jelly bean shaped pizza. It was fantastic. We walked out with over 6 pounds of jelly beans, as well as various other goodies.
We are finally on our way to Yosemite, and we will be there for five nights. It looks like we're going to have great weather, so we are super excited. We probably won't be able to blog while we're there, so we'll blog next week when we get to Lone Pine, CA.
Have a great weekend, even if its not as cool as ours.
Laura
As we were leaving our hostel yesterday, a rather brightly colored pamphlet caught my eye. I picked it up to find an advertisement for none other than the Jelly Belly Factory, only 45 minutes away. This was an immediate game changer, and I told Elijah that Yosemite would just have to wait. So this morning we left San Francisco and headed out in the opposite direction of Yosemite to the Jelly Belly Factory. We got a free tour of the factory, free samples, and a free bag of jelly beans each. After our tour, we treated ourselves to Jelly Belly soda, a jelly bean shaped burger, and a jelly bean shaped pizza. It was fantastic. We walked out with over 6 pounds of jelly beans, as well as various other goodies.
We are finally on our way to Yosemite, and we will be there for five nights. It looks like we're going to have great weather, so we are super excited. We probably won't be able to blog while we're there, so we'll blog next week when we get to Lone Pine, CA.
Have a great weekend, even if its not as cool as ours.
Laura
Monday, June 20, 2011
Redwood National and State Parks
Hey folks!
We have finally arrived in San Francisco, and are thrilled to be back in civilization for a few days. We spent the last four nights in various Redwood parks, and backpacked three out of those four nights. The first day we went to Prairie Creek State Park, and set off on a four mile hike into the woods with our packs on our backs. This was my first backpacking experience, and it was definitely a challenge to carry that much extra weight on your back, even if only for a few miles. As we set off into the forest, we were immediately amazed by the size of the trees. They are not as wide as Sequoias, but can still reach about 22 feet in width, and are much taller. We were surprised to find the floor of the forest looking more like a jungle than a typical deciduous forest. There were huge ferns covering the forest floor for as far as we could see, making it one of the greenest places I've seen since we left Central America a few years ago. It is a truly humbling experience to be in a forest with species old enough to have seen a dozen generations come and go. Anyways, we reached our backcountry site in a heavily wooded area, but with the Pacific Ocean visible through a gap in the trees, only a quarter mile away. We spent the evening down at the beach looking at the suspiciously large amount of crab skeletons, and all of the perfectly round and smooth rocks scattered among the sand. It was awesome to sit on the beach facing the ocean, and to be able to turn around and see the forest directly behind us. We headed back to camp near dark and watched the sunset over the ocean through the trees. It was a great day.
The next day, we made the four mile hike back out to our car, and headed south to the Redwood National Park to backpack for the next two nights. We stopped at the rangers station to get our backpacking permit and a map, and talked about our plans to a very nice ranger. He gave us suggestions and advice, but since we were too cheap to buy a decent map, we left with their free map, which was just a crappy sheet of paper with some trails scribbled on it. We had to drive about eight miles into the forest to a locked gate, and then once through the gate it was another seven miles on an unpaved road to the trailhead. By the time we gathered our food, packed everything up, and set out on the trail, it was pretty late in the afternoon. We were tired from the hike earlier that day, and were eager to knock out this two-three mile hike so we could set up camp and get dinner cooking. The first mile or two was great, especially as we walked through the Tall Tree Grove, which was a mile long loop in the middle of the trail surrounding some particularly awesome redwood trees. Then we got to Redwood Creek, a rather wide stream of water that ran through the park. We remembered that the very nice ranger that we spoke to had told us that there would be a seasonal bridge at this creek, and so we stumbled up and down the bank searching for a way to get across. Finally, Elijah spots an orange sign on the other side of the creek, and through binoculars we see that it reads "trail" with an arrow pointing into the woods. It was getting late, our packs were heavy, my feet hurt, and I was thoroughly agitated. With no other choice, we took off our shoes and socks, and since I was wearing jeans I rolled them up as far as I could go, and we began our trek into the water. I don't know why we didn't think to get out our flip flops and water sandals, but by the time it occured to us, it was too late. The water was cold, and pain of our barefeet on the rocky creek floor was drastically intensified by the weight of our packs putting even more pressure on them. From the shore, the water only looked to be about shin deep, but the farther we went, the deeper it got. As we got to the center the water was at my thighs, and all I could think to do was to stare at my brand new thousand dollar camera around my neck dangling just inches from the water. I could barely balance enough to keep from slipping, and I was getting slightly hysterical from the pain in my feet. Then out of the corner of my eye, I see something floating past me. I looked over in time to see the bottoms of Elijah's new zip off pants floating down the creek. I yell out "ELIJAH! YOUR PANTS!" but it was too late. I then realized that when I took the binoculars out of Elijah's pack to look at the sign, I had forgotten to strap his pant legs back onto the top of his pack. My bad. When we reached the other side of the stream, Elijah waded around looking for his pants while I stood in guilty misery on the bank knowing it was my fault that his silly new pants were gone. He finally gave up, and as we walked up to the trail we saw the seasonal bridge stacked up in a pile in the woods, doing nobody any good. Stupid, stupid creek. Anyways, we finished the last half mile (directly uphill might I add) to our ridiculously remote campsite. There was a couple at the campsite next to us that first night, and the woman walked around the entire time with a bear bell around her neck. It was loud, and sounded like a cat collar. We thought it was silly, and laughed.
The next day our neighbors left, and we decided to do a day hike on a trail from the paper map we had gotten from the rangers station. The trail turned out to be very undeveloped and rugged, and after about four or five miles we decided to turn around because we were completely worn out from the past few days of backpacking. On our hike back, we started noticing some huge bear tracks that we did not remember seeing on our way out. Then, after seeing a particularly large track, we heard a huge growling noise and froze. We slowly backed up a few feet and stopped, absolutely terrified. The trail, if you could even call it that, was very narrow, and there was thick foliage on either side that we could not see through. After a few horrible minutes of wondering what it would be like to be left mangled in the woods, we realized that the growling noise was just the creaking of a redwood in the breeze, and we continued on our way. We did not have a bear bell, but we did have two metal water bottles, and we spent the next few miles banging our water bottles together and timidly peaking around every corner in the trail. Finally, the trail widened out, and as we were within a mile of our campsite, we finally started to relax a bit. We were exhausted, and Elijah had gotten bored of banging the water bottles together. It was then, about a half mile from camp that we heard a huge crash up ahead, and saw a black bear dart across our trail. Again, we froze, and backed up. This was no tree creaking, we had actually seen the bear. Luckily, black bears are very skiddish, and it ran off as soon as it heard us. We waited until we couldn't hear it anymore, and we proceeded slowly. We were absolutely terrified. When you see a Grizzly bear in Yellowstone on the side of the road with armed rangers standing by, you pull out your camera and admire the animal. When you are miles away from ANYONE with no way of contacting someone in an emergency and you stumble upon a bear, you freak out. Of course, as soon as we got back to camp the wind picked up for the remainder of the evening, and each and every creak of a tree sounded like a bear ready to pounce. Needless to say, we were pretty relieved to pack up the next morning and hike the two and a half miles out, even the last mile that was the steepest climb I've ever hiked in my life.
We still had one night left to camp, and we ended up deciding to car camp at a well populated state park, with an annoying little boy for a neighbor. Whatever, the biggest animal we had to deal with was a tiny little rabbit, so we were happy. This morning we finally set out for San Francisco, and after the long beautiful drive down the coast of Northern California full of hairpin turns around cliff edges, we have arrived. We are staying at a very nice hostel right in the middle of downtown, and we had a fantastic dinner in Chinatown, and went out for Ghiradelli ice cream with a friend of Elijah's from Ithaca. We will be here for two full days, and plan to go to a Giants game, the Fisherman's Wharf, and Chinatown while we are here. Then on thursday morning we head out to Yosemite National Park! We will be able to blog often before we leave.
until next time,
Laura
We have finally arrived in San Francisco, and are thrilled to be back in civilization for a few days. We spent the last four nights in various Redwood parks, and backpacked three out of those four nights. The first day we went to Prairie Creek State Park, and set off on a four mile hike into the woods with our packs on our backs. This was my first backpacking experience, and it was definitely a challenge to carry that much extra weight on your back, even if only for a few miles. As we set off into the forest, we were immediately amazed by the size of the trees. They are not as wide as Sequoias, but can still reach about 22 feet in width, and are much taller. We were surprised to find the floor of the forest looking more like a jungle than a typical deciduous forest. There were huge ferns covering the forest floor for as far as we could see, making it one of the greenest places I've seen since we left Central America a few years ago. It is a truly humbling experience to be in a forest with species old enough to have seen a dozen generations come and go. Anyways, we reached our backcountry site in a heavily wooded area, but with the Pacific Ocean visible through a gap in the trees, only a quarter mile away. We spent the evening down at the beach looking at the suspiciously large amount of crab skeletons, and all of the perfectly round and smooth rocks scattered among the sand. It was awesome to sit on the beach facing the ocean, and to be able to turn around and see the forest directly behind us. We headed back to camp near dark and watched the sunset over the ocean through the trees. It was a great day.
The next day, we made the four mile hike back out to our car, and headed south to the Redwood National Park to backpack for the next two nights. We stopped at the rangers station to get our backpacking permit and a map, and talked about our plans to a very nice ranger. He gave us suggestions and advice, but since we were too cheap to buy a decent map, we left with their free map, which was just a crappy sheet of paper with some trails scribbled on it. We had to drive about eight miles into the forest to a locked gate, and then once through the gate it was another seven miles on an unpaved road to the trailhead. By the time we gathered our food, packed everything up, and set out on the trail, it was pretty late in the afternoon. We were tired from the hike earlier that day, and were eager to knock out this two-three mile hike so we could set up camp and get dinner cooking. The first mile or two was great, especially as we walked through the Tall Tree Grove, which was a mile long loop in the middle of the trail surrounding some particularly awesome redwood trees. Then we got to Redwood Creek, a rather wide stream of water that ran through the park. We remembered that the very nice ranger that we spoke to had told us that there would be a seasonal bridge at this creek, and so we stumbled up and down the bank searching for a way to get across. Finally, Elijah spots an orange sign on the other side of the creek, and through binoculars we see that it reads "trail" with an arrow pointing into the woods. It was getting late, our packs were heavy, my feet hurt, and I was thoroughly agitated. With no other choice, we took off our shoes and socks, and since I was wearing jeans I rolled them up as far as I could go, and we began our trek into the water. I don't know why we didn't think to get out our flip flops and water sandals, but by the time it occured to us, it was too late. The water was cold, and pain of our barefeet on the rocky creek floor was drastically intensified by the weight of our packs putting even more pressure on them. From the shore, the water only looked to be about shin deep, but the farther we went, the deeper it got. As we got to the center the water was at my thighs, and all I could think to do was to stare at my brand new thousand dollar camera around my neck dangling just inches from the water. I could barely balance enough to keep from slipping, and I was getting slightly hysterical from the pain in my feet. Then out of the corner of my eye, I see something floating past me. I looked over in time to see the bottoms of Elijah's new zip off pants floating down the creek. I yell out "ELIJAH! YOUR PANTS!" but it was too late. I then realized that when I took the binoculars out of Elijah's pack to look at the sign, I had forgotten to strap his pant legs back onto the top of his pack. My bad. When we reached the other side of the stream, Elijah waded around looking for his pants while I stood in guilty misery on the bank knowing it was my fault that his silly new pants were gone. He finally gave up, and as we walked up to the trail we saw the seasonal bridge stacked up in a pile in the woods, doing nobody any good. Stupid, stupid creek. Anyways, we finished the last half mile (directly uphill might I add) to our ridiculously remote campsite. There was a couple at the campsite next to us that first night, and the woman walked around the entire time with a bear bell around her neck. It was loud, and sounded like a cat collar. We thought it was silly, and laughed.
The next day our neighbors left, and we decided to do a day hike on a trail from the paper map we had gotten from the rangers station. The trail turned out to be very undeveloped and rugged, and after about four or five miles we decided to turn around because we were completely worn out from the past few days of backpacking. On our hike back, we started noticing some huge bear tracks that we did not remember seeing on our way out. Then, after seeing a particularly large track, we heard a huge growling noise and froze. We slowly backed up a few feet and stopped, absolutely terrified. The trail, if you could even call it that, was very narrow, and there was thick foliage on either side that we could not see through. After a few horrible minutes of wondering what it would be like to be left mangled in the woods, we realized that the growling noise was just the creaking of a redwood in the breeze, and we continued on our way. We did not have a bear bell, but we did have two metal water bottles, and we spent the next few miles banging our water bottles together and timidly peaking around every corner in the trail. Finally, the trail widened out, and as we were within a mile of our campsite, we finally started to relax a bit. We were exhausted, and Elijah had gotten bored of banging the water bottles together. It was then, about a half mile from camp that we heard a huge crash up ahead, and saw a black bear dart across our trail. Again, we froze, and backed up. This was no tree creaking, we had actually seen the bear. Luckily, black bears are very skiddish, and it ran off as soon as it heard us. We waited until we couldn't hear it anymore, and we proceeded slowly. We were absolutely terrified. When you see a Grizzly bear in Yellowstone on the side of the road with armed rangers standing by, you pull out your camera and admire the animal. When you are miles away from ANYONE with no way of contacting someone in an emergency and you stumble upon a bear, you freak out. Of course, as soon as we got back to camp the wind picked up for the remainder of the evening, and each and every creak of a tree sounded like a bear ready to pounce. Needless to say, we were pretty relieved to pack up the next morning and hike the two and a half miles out, even the last mile that was the steepest climb I've ever hiked in my life.
We still had one night left to camp, and we ended up deciding to car camp at a well populated state park, with an annoying little boy for a neighbor. Whatever, the biggest animal we had to deal with was a tiny little rabbit, so we were happy. This morning we finally set out for San Francisco, and after the long beautiful drive down the coast of Northern California full of hairpin turns around cliff edges, we have arrived. We are staying at a very nice hostel right in the middle of downtown, and we had a fantastic dinner in Chinatown, and went out for Ghiradelli ice cream with a friend of Elijah's from Ithaca. We will be here for two full days, and plan to go to a Giants game, the Fisherman's Wharf, and Chinatown while we are here. Then on thursday morning we head out to Yosemite National Park! We will be able to blog often before we leave.
until next time,
Laura
Wednesday, June 15, 2011
Crescent City, California
We're finally in California! Before we left Bend, Oregon, we spotted a great fruit stand to stop at. We perused the selection, and finally settled on a couple peaches, nectarines, and a pint of raspberries. Even though the stand accepted credit cards, we wish we had had cash on us. When I handed my card to the gentleman, he informed me that his wife had the card scanner, so we would have to wait a few minutes for her. That was no big deal to us, because it gave us time to search for more snacks among the produce. While we waited, the owner of the fruit stand made polite chit-chat with us - asking where we were from and what we were doing in the area and whatnot. However, things took an awkward turn once the question was popped, "So are you guys Christian?" Stunned, I quickly said, "Uhhh, no." Luckily there was no wrong answer. Finally his wife showed up, we payed, and were on our way. Leaving Bend, we took a big detour to check out Crater Lake National Park in southern Oregon. It essentially is a large, clear mountain lake, and happens to be the deepest lake in the United States. It took us longer to get there than we expected because the north entrance was closed because of snow. We drove an extra 40 or 50 miles or so and reached the west entrance, which was luckily open. Once on the rim drive, there were some great views, and we saw some gray jays, clark's nutcrackers, and a couple really cool steller's jays. Unfortunately only about a mile of the rim drive had been cleared of snow. It was still worth the detour though because we took a real scenic route from there to Crescent City, California, which is where we are now. We drove through winding mountain roads, and saw our first glimpse of redwoods. I have already seen some of the biggest trees in my life, and we haven't even hit the National Park. Once we got here to Crescent City I dipped my toes in the Pacific, and we found a motel room that didn't look like it would give us an STD. Crescent City is a little more run-down than we had expected. No worries though, because now we're close to our redwoods backpacking excursion! We won't be able to blog for a few days because we will be camping for a while. We'll be in San Francisco on Monday, so we'll blog again then. Laura is about to put a bunch of new pictures up on facebook, so check them out!
Elijah
Elijah
Tuesday, June 14, 2011
Oregon
Greetings from Bend, Oregon!
We left Boise this morning and continued on our westward journey. We crossed over into Oregon, and within minutes we began winding through beautiful green hills contrasting with bright red rock. Luckily we had plenty of gas and didn't need to go to the bathroom because we were completely on our own for two or three hours. We stopped in the town of Burns and had lunch at an adorable little cafe, and sat next to the funniest old british couple that purchased two bottles of wine in the wine shop connected to the cafe while they ate their chicken salad sandwiches. It is so funny to us that everyone we meet out here is just as fascinated by us New Yorkers as we are of them. The two ladies that worked at the cafe were super friendly and we chatted about our journey, her son, and the diversity of our country. It was fantastic.
After lunch, we took a thirty mile detour south to check out a wildlife refuge that boasted of some fantastic bird watching. We drove the half hour down the main road to a posted bird lookout over a very large marsh area where we saw many different varieties of water foul. There was a map posted that showed a long gravel road that ran along the marsh, but eventually brought us back up to Route 20 to continue us on towards Bend. We decided to take that road, but when we got to it we saw a sign on the right side that said "Road Closed." We deliberated, and decided that it was probably for the winter season, since the twenty yards of road we could see looked fine. Ten slow, bumpy miles down the road, we realized that the sign had not just been a friendly suggestion, but the road was actually closed, and for good reason. Long story short, Elijah ended up pushing the car out of a little stream that happened to cut through the road into the lake. Whoops. (don't freak out mom, the car is fine, I promise) But on the upside, we saw some really cool birds in that ten miles. So we turned around and drove back, afraid to find a policeman waiting for us at the entrance to the closed road. Once back on the main road, we stopped for some more bird watching, including my favorite sighting of the day, the white pelican, and finally got on our way to Bend.
When we got to Bend, we stumbled upon the Rainbow Inn (yes, I'm serious) for a ridiculous $45 per night. (Yes, I'm REALLY serious!) We went out for a great Thai dinner, and are super excited to finally reach California tomorrow. The sunburn on my nose from Yellowstone has finally reached its peak pealing stage, guaranteeing me instant shoobie status the moment we cross the border tomorrow. I might as well complete the outfit with socks, sneakers, my giant tourist camera, and a bagged lunch on the beach. Oh well.
Tomorrow night we'll be in Crescent City, and it will be our last night in a motel before we start camping our way down the coast in various Redwood National and State Parks. As usual, we will blog whenever we can. Below are some pictures from yesterday and today.
Talk to you soon,
Laura
Giant Potato!
White Pelicans
Sorry mommm
We left Boise this morning and continued on our westward journey. We crossed over into Oregon, and within minutes we began winding through beautiful green hills contrasting with bright red rock. Luckily we had plenty of gas and didn't need to go to the bathroom because we were completely on our own for two or three hours. We stopped in the town of Burns and had lunch at an adorable little cafe, and sat next to the funniest old british couple that purchased two bottles of wine in the wine shop connected to the cafe while they ate their chicken salad sandwiches. It is so funny to us that everyone we meet out here is just as fascinated by us New Yorkers as we are of them. The two ladies that worked at the cafe were super friendly and we chatted about our journey, her son, and the diversity of our country. It was fantastic.
After lunch, we took a thirty mile detour south to check out a wildlife refuge that boasted of some fantastic bird watching. We drove the half hour down the main road to a posted bird lookout over a very large marsh area where we saw many different varieties of water foul. There was a map posted that showed a long gravel road that ran along the marsh, but eventually brought us back up to Route 20 to continue us on towards Bend. We decided to take that road, but when we got to it we saw a sign on the right side that said "Road Closed." We deliberated, and decided that it was probably for the winter season, since the twenty yards of road we could see looked fine. Ten slow, bumpy miles down the road, we realized that the sign had not just been a friendly suggestion, but the road was actually closed, and for good reason. Long story short, Elijah ended up pushing the car out of a little stream that happened to cut through the road into the lake. Whoops. (don't freak out mom, the car is fine, I promise) But on the upside, we saw some really cool birds in that ten miles. So we turned around and drove back, afraid to find a policeman waiting for us at the entrance to the closed road. Once back on the main road, we stopped for some more bird watching, including my favorite sighting of the day, the white pelican, and finally got on our way to Bend.
When we got to Bend, we stumbled upon the Rainbow Inn (yes, I'm serious) for a ridiculous $45 per night. (Yes, I'm REALLY serious!) We went out for a great Thai dinner, and are super excited to finally reach California tomorrow. The sunburn on my nose from Yellowstone has finally reached its peak pealing stage, guaranteeing me instant shoobie status the moment we cross the border tomorrow. I might as well complete the outfit with socks, sneakers, my giant tourist camera, and a bagged lunch on the beach. Oh well.
Tomorrow night we'll be in Crescent City, and it will be our last night in a motel before we start camping our way down the coast in various Redwood National and State Parks. As usual, we will blog whenever we can. Below are some pictures from yesterday and today.
Talk to you soon,
Laura
Giant Potato!
White Pelicans
Sorry mommm
Oh Boise!
Here we are in Boise, Idaho. Since our last post, we spent two nights in Blackfoot, Idaho, home of the Idaho Potato Museum. Unfortunately, the full day we spent there was a Sunday. Therefore, the potato museum, along with just about everything else in the small town, was closed. No worries though. We had a nice, lazy day together, which included drying out the tent, strangely authentic Mexican food for lunch, and a rousing game of mini golf with a mountain view in the background. On Monday, we finally made it to the Idaho Potato Museum, which shares a small building with the Blackfoot Chamber of Commerce. I'm not sure what any of you are picturing a museum celebrating the history of the spud to be like, but I lost myself in excitement among the old potato farming equipment, the burlap sack tuxedo worn by the first Idaho Potato Commissioner, and the display case celebrating the life and times of Mr. Potato Head. We spent more time and money in that small gift shop than in any gift shop so far. One of the best parts of the museum was the free box of Idaho Potato hash browns we received with the price of admission (the slogan says, "Free 'Taters For Out-Of-Staters!"). Once we took pictures outside in front of the worlds largest styrofoam potato we set off for Boise. The drive from Blackfoot to Boise was, well, just like driving a few hours through Idaho might sound. There was one highlight, though, when we stopped in Twin Falls to check out an awesome bridge over a big gorge with the Snake River at its base. We happened to get there just in time to see two people base jumping (jumping off then parachuting down) from the bridge. We arrived in Boise in the mid-afternoon. So we checked into our motel and headed for downtown Boise. It's a pretty cool (small) city, and the people almost remind me of Ithaca. There was a stunning number of dreadlocks and bike riders, especially for a place where it's sometimes hard to tell whether the locals' necks or their voting habits are more red. After walking around for a bit, we found a nice Italian restaurant to eat at to celebrate our five year anniversary. Again, strangely authentic. Laura was mad though when the waiter brought out the bottle of wine we ordered. He brought two glasses, but only poured a little for me at first. He held the bottle for me to read, and I'm assuming waited for me to try the wine. I took a look at the bottle, slurped down a swig of the wine, and said, "Hmm, it's quite good," as if I had any idea what I was doing. He then poured Laura's glass, then topped mine off. Laura had trouble dealing with the fact that I was the one that got to decide whether or not the wine was good. Maybe it's because of the whole sexist thing, or maybe it's because I know very little about wine. In any case, the meal was fantastic. Now we're getting ready to head to Bend, Oregon. It's supposed to be a cool little town, but it's also just another place to get to. We'll be in California the next day!
Oh Boise!
Elijah
Oh Boise!
Elijah
Sunday, June 12, 2011
Pictures
Here are a few pictures from the past week for you guys. Enjoy!
Laura
Badlands National Park
Mount Rushmore
Yellowstone National Park
Elk!
*So Laura had gone to recycle the soup cans from our dinner on our third night in Yellowstone when a woman approached me while I was cleaning up the rest of dinner. She was holding a big box of knit hats, and asked me if I would like one because it was supposed to be real cold that night. I said I would love one, and she held out the box and told me to take one. While perusing through the selection, I asked if it would be alright if I took one for my girlfriend as well. She said, "Of course! She would freeze without it!" So I took two hats, thanked the woman, and she left.
Laura
Badlands National Park
Mount Rushmore
Yellowstone National Park
Elk!
*So Laura had gone to recycle the soup cans from our dinner on our third night in Yellowstone when a woman approached me while I was cleaning up the rest of dinner. She was holding a big box of knit hats, and asked me if I would like one because it was supposed to be real cold that night. I said I would love one, and she held out the box and told me to take one. While perusing through the selection, I asked if it would be alright if I took one for my girlfriend as well. She said, "Of course! She would freeze without it!" So I took two hats, thanked the woman, and she left.
Saturday, June 11, 2011
Yellowstone National Park
Hey Everyone! Laura here. We made it through Yellowstone! We have finally thawed out, cleaned up, and even washed our clothes here in Idaho, and we're feeling pretty good. Since Yellowstone was one of our biggest stops on the trip and covered almost a week's time, buckle down for a pretty long blog post today. We figured the best way to cover everything is to break it down day by day, so here we go..
Day 1
On Tuesday morning we spoke to the friendly couple that owned the motel that we stayed at in Greybull. They had a lot of good advice and suggestions, and sent us on our way with maps and books of information. As I ran out to the car to get something while Elijah talked to them, I knocked over a waist high plant holder with a huge plant in it that was directly outside the door. Not only did the plant fall over, but it completely flipped upside down. I freaked out, picked up the stand and plant holder, scooped up as much dirt and plant remains as I could, plopped it back in the holder, and ran off. It was a bad start to the morning, especially since Elijah had haggled this poor couple down to $55 for the room the night before. Anyways, we head off to Yellowstone, and as we start climbing up the Rocky Mountains the temperature plummets, the winds pick up, and it starts pouring rain. The snow capped peaks that seemed so harmless in the far distance grew closer and closer, until we found ourselves with five foot snow drifts on each side. As if this wasn't bad enough, we then see a sign that says "Avalanche Zone next two miles." Great. We get through the avalanche zone without getting buried, and we are trying to buck up our spirits. We were in Yellowstone for goodness sake, we would deal with whatever came, and it would be awesome no matter what. As if to encourage our determination, a little ways down the road we see a bunch of cars parked on the side of the road and a dozen people staring at something on the side of the road. We pull over, and about 50 yards away is a mother grizzly bear and her cub. It was AWESOME. We had heard that we may see a bear, but we didn't think we would within an hour of entering the park. We get to our campground, set up, and get out our winter clothes. It was the strangest feeling to come from the 90 degree Badlands, and then having to cover up our sunburns with pants and winter gear. As dinnertime approaches, it's still pouring rain and there was no way we could make a fire or even fire up Elijah's camp stove. So we headed to one of Yellowstone's general stores that had a little restaurant as well as a gift shop, and we spent hours happily in the warm building deciding between a dozen coffee mugs, patches, and postcards.
Day 2
After a long night in the low 30s with nonstop rain, we drove up to another area of the park that had a great canyon and waterfalls that is called the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone. It was still very cold, but other than the occasional shower, the weather was very nice. For three out of the four days we were in the park, I wore three long sleeve shirts, (one of which was an under armor type base layer) a fleece, a lightweight winter jacket, and a hat and gloves. Apparently, my body produces as little body heat as a living person possibly can because with all that, I was still freezing. But with the sun out, it was tolerable. The falls were beautiful, as was the drive back to our campsite. Since the park is so big, we had to do a lot of driving to be able to see a good amount of the park. There were pull-offs about every quarter mile, so we would drive and look for wildlife on the side of the road that we could stop and look at.
After a day of almost no rain, it started pouring again right before dinner time. Therefore, we decided to find a restaurant in a different area of the park for dinner. Lucky that we did, because on the way there we saw a male elk RIGHT on the side of the road. We thought that was so cool, until we drove fifty feet further and found the female nursing a baby elk a little further off the road. It was SO cool. On the way back from dinner, we must have stopped a dozen times to look at different birds* and animals. Yellowstone is like a zoo, but cooler because it's all in the wild.
* Elijah here, real quick. We saw both common and barrow's goldeneye ducks today, as well as a bunch of grey jays and black-billed magpies. On the way back from dinner, we also saw a bald eagle perched on the shore of Yellowstone Lake.
Day 3
After another cold night, we woke up to find that our tent zipper had frozen shut. Yikes. All we could think to do was sprint to the car and blast the heat until we were warm. We quickly packed up, and headed out to a new campsite for the second two nights. Luckily, our new campsite was almost a thousand feet lower in elevation, which translates to at least five degrees warmer. On the way to the campground, we stopped at Old Faithful* to watch it go off, which is every 90 minutes. While we waited, it started snowing. It was a pretty cool sight.
*When we pulled up to Old Faithful, there was a pack of bison roaming through the parking lot. Whatever, they do what they want.
Day 4
This was our last day, and a beautiful one at that. We drove up to the northwestern corner of the park to the Mammoth Hot Springs, which is at one of the lowest elevations in the park. It figures that in the one place that we least expected to get a sunburn, I still managed to torch my face on this last day when the temperature soared to a scorching 57 degrees, allowing me to whittle my layers down to two long sleeved shirts. I felt naked. With the weather so nice, and in the only area of the park that was completely thawed out from winter, we were able to take an awesome six mile hike. We saw tons of animals, that I will let Elijah embellish on because most of them were birds*. It was a great day, and a good end to our time in Yellowstone. Even though the weather was challenging, it was definitely a unique time to see the park, and we took advantage of everything we could.
*I could write pages and pages of how excited I was to see each species, but instead I'll simply list them all. On that one hike we saw elk, bison, barrow's goldeneye, common goldeneye, mountain bluebird, chipping sparrow, american three-toed woodpecker, american flicker, williamson's sapsucker, yellow-headed blackbird, american coot, lesser scaup, and mountain chickadee. Last, and certainly not least, we saw TONS of western hemlock, cousin to my favorite tree, eastern hemlock.
*This morning we were able to get up and out of our site in less than in hour. We would have made great time on the road had it not been for the pack of bison that decided to take an early morning stroll down the main park road. Once we passed them, we made our way south. Leaving the south entrance of Yellowstone, we drove through Grand Tetons National Park. It was so cool. There was a huge snow-capped mountain range with the Snake River in the foreground.
We're now in Blackfoot, Idaho for two nights, and are planning to visit the Idaho Potato Museum on Monday morning before we head out to Boise. We had our first ever laundromat experience today, was about as mundane as it sounds. Our goal is to eat potatoes with every meal while in the state of Idaho, and our dinner was a good start. We'll let you know how that goes.
Until next time,
Laura & *Elijah
Day 1
On Tuesday morning we spoke to the friendly couple that owned the motel that we stayed at in Greybull. They had a lot of good advice and suggestions, and sent us on our way with maps and books of information. As I ran out to the car to get something while Elijah talked to them, I knocked over a waist high plant holder with a huge plant in it that was directly outside the door. Not only did the plant fall over, but it completely flipped upside down. I freaked out, picked up the stand and plant holder, scooped up as much dirt and plant remains as I could, plopped it back in the holder, and ran off. It was a bad start to the morning, especially since Elijah had haggled this poor couple down to $55 for the room the night before. Anyways, we head off to Yellowstone, and as we start climbing up the Rocky Mountains the temperature plummets, the winds pick up, and it starts pouring rain. The snow capped peaks that seemed so harmless in the far distance grew closer and closer, until we found ourselves with five foot snow drifts on each side. As if this wasn't bad enough, we then see a sign that says "Avalanche Zone next two miles." Great. We get through the avalanche zone without getting buried, and we are trying to buck up our spirits. We were in Yellowstone for goodness sake, we would deal with whatever came, and it would be awesome no matter what. As if to encourage our determination, a little ways down the road we see a bunch of cars parked on the side of the road and a dozen people staring at something on the side of the road. We pull over, and about 50 yards away is a mother grizzly bear and her cub. It was AWESOME. We had heard that we may see a bear, but we didn't think we would within an hour of entering the park. We get to our campground, set up, and get out our winter clothes. It was the strangest feeling to come from the 90 degree Badlands, and then having to cover up our sunburns with pants and winter gear. As dinnertime approaches, it's still pouring rain and there was no way we could make a fire or even fire up Elijah's camp stove. So we headed to one of Yellowstone's general stores that had a little restaurant as well as a gift shop, and we spent hours happily in the warm building deciding between a dozen coffee mugs, patches, and postcards.
Day 2
After a long night in the low 30s with nonstop rain, we drove up to another area of the park that had a great canyon and waterfalls that is called the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone. It was still very cold, but other than the occasional shower, the weather was very nice. For three out of the four days we were in the park, I wore three long sleeve shirts, (one of which was an under armor type base layer) a fleece, a lightweight winter jacket, and a hat and gloves. Apparently, my body produces as little body heat as a living person possibly can because with all that, I was still freezing. But with the sun out, it was tolerable. The falls were beautiful, as was the drive back to our campsite. Since the park is so big, we had to do a lot of driving to be able to see a good amount of the park. There were pull-offs about every quarter mile, so we would drive and look for wildlife on the side of the road that we could stop and look at.
After a day of almost no rain, it started pouring again right before dinner time. Therefore, we decided to find a restaurant in a different area of the park for dinner. Lucky that we did, because on the way there we saw a male elk RIGHT on the side of the road. We thought that was so cool, until we drove fifty feet further and found the female nursing a baby elk a little further off the road. It was SO cool. On the way back from dinner, we must have stopped a dozen times to look at different birds* and animals. Yellowstone is like a zoo, but cooler because it's all in the wild.
* Elijah here, real quick. We saw both common and barrow's goldeneye ducks today, as well as a bunch of grey jays and black-billed magpies. On the way back from dinner, we also saw a bald eagle perched on the shore of Yellowstone Lake.
Day 3
After another cold night, we woke up to find that our tent zipper had frozen shut. Yikes. All we could think to do was sprint to the car and blast the heat until we were warm. We quickly packed up, and headed out to a new campsite for the second two nights. Luckily, our new campsite was almost a thousand feet lower in elevation, which translates to at least five degrees warmer. On the way to the campground, we stopped at Old Faithful* to watch it go off, which is every 90 minutes. While we waited, it started snowing. It was a pretty cool sight.
*When we pulled up to Old Faithful, there was a pack of bison roaming through the parking lot. Whatever, they do what they want.
Day 4
This was our last day, and a beautiful one at that. We drove up to the northwestern corner of the park to the Mammoth Hot Springs, which is at one of the lowest elevations in the park. It figures that in the one place that we least expected to get a sunburn, I still managed to torch my face on this last day when the temperature soared to a scorching 57 degrees, allowing me to whittle my layers down to two long sleeved shirts. I felt naked. With the weather so nice, and in the only area of the park that was completely thawed out from winter, we were able to take an awesome six mile hike. We saw tons of animals, that I will let Elijah embellish on because most of them were birds*. It was a great day, and a good end to our time in Yellowstone. Even though the weather was challenging, it was definitely a unique time to see the park, and we took advantage of everything we could.
*I could write pages and pages of how excited I was to see each species, but instead I'll simply list them all. On that one hike we saw elk, bison, barrow's goldeneye, common goldeneye, mountain bluebird, chipping sparrow, american three-toed woodpecker, american flicker, williamson's sapsucker, yellow-headed blackbird, american coot, lesser scaup, and mountain chickadee. Last, and certainly not least, we saw TONS of western hemlock, cousin to my favorite tree, eastern hemlock.
*This morning we were able to get up and out of our site in less than in hour. We would have made great time on the road had it not been for the pack of bison that decided to take an early morning stroll down the main park road. Once we passed them, we made our way south. Leaving the south entrance of Yellowstone, we drove through Grand Tetons National Park. It was so cool. There was a huge snow-capped mountain range with the Snake River in the foreground.
We're now in Blackfoot, Idaho for two nights, and are planning to visit the Idaho Potato Museum on Monday morning before we head out to Boise. We had our first ever laundromat experience today, was about as mundane as it sounds. Our goal is to eat potatoes with every meal while in the state of Idaho, and our dinner was a good start. We'll let you know how that goes.
Until next time,
Laura & *Elijah
Monday, June 6, 2011
Big Horn or Big Freeze?
So scratch the backpacking in the Big Horn National Forest idea. Driving through northeastern Wyoming, seeing the snowcapped mountains in the distance, we got to thinking that maybe our backpacking would be snowed out. But knowing the two of us, we continued on anyways. We pulled off I-90, and headed for the hills (literally. Well, more like mountains). Winding back and forth between switchbacks in the road, we had some great views as we began to drive up the mountain. There were herds of mule deer in the distance, and we even passed a longhorn cattle ranch. The road up the mountain became a wee bit sketchy once the pavement stopped. We knew it was time to turn around when an ATV pulled out in front of us, right by a sign in the road that said, "Road closed to all vehicles except ATVs and snowmobiles." Alas, we turned back, headed back to I-90, and continued north another 15 miles or so. We got off and started on a new road towards the mountains, this time with much greater success. The drive up this mountain, again, was amazing. The red rock cliffs peering out over the pines were something out of one of John Muir's diaries. As we continued upward, however, we noticed the snowcapped mountain top inching ever-closer. Sure enough, what started as an 85 degree day at the base of the mountain eventually turned into a 53 degree day at the top - in less than an hour. As we continued to drive passed closed trail after closed trail, our hopes of finding a spot clear of snow in which to camp were dwindling. Finally we came to the entrance to the camping area we were aiming for. Sure enough, the entrance was covered in about a foot of snow. We quickly decided that our lack of snowshoes, with the addition of lack of daylight to come (it was already about 7 o'clock), gave us no choice but to seek a motel - or at least a dryer piece of ground. With this in mind, we still could not resist pulling over time to time on our drive down the other side of the mountain to take some pictures. Just as we left the base of the mountains, we noticed the skies just behind us were quickly turning black. The winds picked up and a few drops of rain fell on the windshield. We didn't want to take any chances with that kind of weather, so we quickly drove out of the storm. Finally we made it to the town of Shell, but apparently everyone in a town with a population of 50 (literally) already has a place to stay, as there were zero motels. So on we went, finally reaching the town of Greybull. We drove around town looking for the best price, and finally settled on the Greybull Motel, which is where this free wi-fi is coming from. Here we shall sleep, and dream of good weather in Yellowstone for the next five days, which apparently is not going to happen.
Elijah
Elijah
Badlands National Park
Hey everyone!
Well, we made it through our first national park! We might be a bit more red than when we started, but that's okay. So Badlands, named by both the Indians and the French as bad lands for farming and settlement, are AWESOME lands to camp in. We drove in around mid day on Saturday, and were completely stunned by the landscape. I don't know if any of you have seen pictures of the badlands, but if not, I suggest googling it until I can get some pictures up, its insane. The landscape is essentially a desert on top of a prairie, and the arid areas are full of giant sandstone formations. I don't even know how to describe it correctly, it was just incredible. So when we got to the visitors center, we talked to a nice ranger that happened to be from Buffalo, NY, and we decided to stay in a designated camping area rather than camp in the backcountry due to a lack of water, which we felt was pretty important. We set up camp, and then went for a hike. That first day we hiked about 2 or 3 miles, including a rediculous quarter mile hike that takes almost an hour to do because its a quarter mile straight up a formation wall, and on Sunday we hiked a tough 12 miles in the heat. Smart? Probably not.. but totally worth the burning sensation I have in the crease of my elbow right now. Let me tell you, I seriously discourage ignoring the skin behind the knees and elbows when applying sunscreen, just take my word for it. Anyways, aside from establishing our base burn, we saw lots of cool birds that Elijah can talk more about because I've already forgotten what they were, deer, and strangely enough, we saw a lot of bunnies? I don't know, but they were adorable. We saw a few snakes, which was a little frightening since rattlesnakes are a concern in the grassy areas. At camp, we set up Elijah's new tent that is made of mesh, with a solid rain flap to go over it. Since it was not going to rain either night, we slept with the rain flap off and were able to watch the amazing display of stars that the badlands are famous for from within our tent before we went to sleep.
So early Sunday morning, we heard sirens and saw a bunch of ambulances flying past our campsite. Later when we went into a nearby town for gas, we got the scoop from the always nice locals. Apparently, two deputies were chasing some outlaw (oh yeah, we're in the West for sure) through the park, and one of the deputy's car flipped. They said that the outlaw drove through two baricades, and at one point threw his baby out the window. I think they ended up getting him, and the deputy is going to be okay. It was crazy, its like the wild wild west out here. Speaking of which, we left today and stopped for breakfast in the town of Wall, SD, a good old western town with a population of around 300. We saw some awesome looking cowboys buying stuff from the leather store, and if I had any less dignity, I would have taken a picture of him.
After Wall, we went to Mount Rushmore which was, like most things, nothing like the pictures. But don't worry, I took too many pictures anyway. On the way out we saw a women wearing spurs, and we stared rather rudely.
We are now headed to Bighorn National Forest for the night. This will be my first real backpacking experience, meaning we will be leaving the car and hiking in with all of our gear on our backs. I'm not going to lie, I'm a little nervous, and very conscious of the sunburn on my shoulders that has to hold about 50 liters of weight in a few hours. Oh well, it will be an experience at the least. Tomorrow, we head out to Yellowstone! I hope I don't buy out the ENTIRE giftshop... but I might. Ill let you know next time. I won't be able to post pictures until we get to Idaho in a week, but we'll try to post when we can.
Laura
Well, we made it through our first national park! We might be a bit more red than when we started, but that's okay. So Badlands, named by both the Indians and the French as bad lands for farming and settlement, are AWESOME lands to camp in. We drove in around mid day on Saturday, and were completely stunned by the landscape. I don't know if any of you have seen pictures of the badlands, but if not, I suggest googling it until I can get some pictures up, its insane. The landscape is essentially a desert on top of a prairie, and the arid areas are full of giant sandstone formations. I don't even know how to describe it correctly, it was just incredible. So when we got to the visitors center, we talked to a nice ranger that happened to be from Buffalo, NY, and we decided to stay in a designated camping area rather than camp in the backcountry due to a lack of water, which we felt was pretty important. We set up camp, and then went for a hike. That first day we hiked about 2 or 3 miles, including a rediculous quarter mile hike that takes almost an hour to do because its a quarter mile straight up a formation wall, and on Sunday we hiked a tough 12 miles in the heat. Smart? Probably not.. but totally worth the burning sensation I have in the crease of my elbow right now. Let me tell you, I seriously discourage ignoring the skin behind the knees and elbows when applying sunscreen, just take my word for it. Anyways, aside from establishing our base burn, we saw lots of cool birds that Elijah can talk more about because I've already forgotten what they were, deer, and strangely enough, we saw a lot of bunnies? I don't know, but they were adorable. We saw a few snakes, which was a little frightening since rattlesnakes are a concern in the grassy areas. At camp, we set up Elijah's new tent that is made of mesh, with a solid rain flap to go over it. Since it was not going to rain either night, we slept with the rain flap off and were able to watch the amazing display of stars that the badlands are famous for from within our tent before we went to sleep.
So early Sunday morning, we heard sirens and saw a bunch of ambulances flying past our campsite. Later when we went into a nearby town for gas, we got the scoop from the always nice locals. Apparently, two deputies were chasing some outlaw (oh yeah, we're in the West for sure) through the park, and one of the deputy's car flipped. They said that the outlaw drove through two baricades, and at one point threw his baby out the window. I think they ended up getting him, and the deputy is going to be okay. It was crazy, its like the wild wild west out here. Speaking of which, we left today and stopped for breakfast in the town of Wall, SD, a good old western town with a population of around 300. We saw some awesome looking cowboys buying stuff from the leather store, and if I had any less dignity, I would have taken a picture of him.
After Wall, we went to Mount Rushmore which was, like most things, nothing like the pictures. But don't worry, I took too many pictures anyway. On the way out we saw a women wearing spurs, and we stared rather rudely.
We are now headed to Bighorn National Forest for the night. This will be my first real backpacking experience, meaning we will be leaving the car and hiking in with all of our gear on our backs. I'm not going to lie, I'm a little nervous, and very conscious of the sunburn on my shoulders that has to hold about 50 liters of weight in a few hours. Oh well, it will be an experience at the least. Tomorrow, we head out to Yellowstone! I hope I don't buy out the ENTIRE giftshop... but I might. Ill let you know next time. I won't be able to post pictures until we get to Idaho in a week, but we'll try to post when we can.
Laura
Friday, June 3, 2011
Plural of Bison
As it turns out, the plural of bison is bison. Please ignore every 's' after the word "bison" in that last post.
Baby Bison Season
After a great day in southwest Minnesota, we're finally in Sioux Falls, South Dakota! To finish the story of the tiny town this morning, it apparently has a large hispanic population, as there were two Quinceanera shops on the one tiny Main Street. After that town we took some back roads back to I-90. When we got back on I-90 we saw soooooo many windmills! There had to have been at least 10 wind farms, each with at least 15 or 20 windmills. Just before the South Dakota border, we decided to get off and head to Blue Mounds State Park. We ate our Subway sandwiches in the company of goslings, then went for a hike alongside a bison range (no big deal). After hiking about 2 miles through the sun-scorched prairie, we spotted some bison in the distance - about three-quarters of a mile from where we were standing. Continuing our hike, we came across a herd of at least 50 bisons, and were able to walk within about 500 feet of them. When we stopped to take pictures of them, the herd started moving toward us. When all was said and done, they came within 15 feet of us. It was cool to see them make formations as they moved towards us - females and babies in the middle, males flanking both sides and ultimately making a wall in front. The baby bisons were ADORABLE. They were completely clueless that we were around, and continued to frolic through the tall grass. Once the bisons realized that these two puny humans were no threat, they turned and walked away. We left the bisons be, hiked back to the car, and headed towards South Dakota. Sioux Falls is only about 20 minutes from the border, so we still have a ways to go through South Dakota.
FYI: Tomorrow we start camping. Two nights in Badlands National Park, one night in the Bighorn National Forest in Wyoming, and four nights in Yellowstone National Park, also in Wyoming. Because we'll be in the wilderness, we will post when we can. No post for a week or so does not necessarily mean we're dead.
Elijah
Here are a few pictures from today. We will post the rest onto Facebook. Enjoy!
Hilarious.
FYI: Tomorrow we start camping. Two nights in Badlands National Park, one night in the Bighorn National Forest in Wyoming, and four nights in Yellowstone National Park, also in Wyoming. Because we'll be in the wilderness, we will post when we can. No post for a week or so does not necessarily mean we're dead.
Elijah
Here are a few pictures from today. We will post the rest onto Facebook. Enjoy!
Hilarious.
Faribault, MN
Okay so get this, Elijah and I left the pathetic little Best Western this morning in Cannon Falls MN, which was not a suburb of Rochester as we thought, but rather 50 miles north and completely out of the way, but whatever, its all part of the adventure. Anyways, the hotel had like 3 customers, and the coffee was just brown water, so when we left around 8, I was still in my pre-coffee mood. As we were driving through the rolling fields of Minnesota, I was thinking about how beautiful it was, but that I was never going to get my coffee. But then, out of nowhere comes the tiny little town of Faribault, MN. Elijah noticed that my face was pressed flat against the window as we drove past main st., and so he parked and we walked into town. Incase any of you don't know, I am mildly obsessed with tiny towns, so this was heaven to me. I kept saying that I just wanted to find a little coffee shop and then we could go. A few minutes later, we found "the coffee shop." That was the actual name of the shop. It was AWESOME. So we sat and had cafe lates and watched everyone walking in and greeting everyone in the shop. Well that's all for now, I was super excited so I thought I'd share.
Laura
Laura
Thursday, June 2, 2011
Minnesota
Hello everyone! This is Elijah - my first post of the trip. I used to think that the Pittsford Wegmans was a big deal, then we went to the third largest Whole Foods in the world last night in Chicago. I was overwhelmed by the wine and cheese bar, people carrying glasses of beer around the store, and the fantastic gelato. We left Chicago around 9:00 am Central time, and made it out of the city in great time. The longest part of our drive today was through Wisconsin. There are sooooo many farms - HUGE farms - throughout the state. We got of I-90 and to find a farm to sell us some Wisconsin yellow cheddar. Come to find out, a farming state doesn't have many farm stands. Apparently everyone can make their own cheese. Finally we found a cheese store and treated ourselves to a small block of 5 year aged cheddar. We ate a couple slices of that cheddar sitting on the banks of the beginnings of the Mississippi River just over the Minnesota border. And so brings us to the land of 10,000 lakes. We've successfully completed the Rochester to Chicago to Rochester experience. On the way to Rochester, Minnesota, I think I saw a moose. It could have also been a bear, or just a cow. That is still up for discussion. We walked around Rochester, grabbed some dinner, and watched a guy on a bike kick a car passing by. It was just like being home again. Now we're at our motel about half an hour north of Rochester and watching the spelling bee. Tomorrow, on to South Dakota!
okay this is Laura now, I just wanted to post a picture of my purchase today at the cheese store. It made my day.
okay this is Laura now, I just wanted to post a picture of my purchase today at the cheese store. It made my day.
Wednesday, June 1, 2011
Chicago
Hey folks,
So we are about an hour outside of Chicago, and the one hour time change just kicked in on our phones, so that's exciting. Its been a pretty long drive, but that's okay, its the longest driving day we'll have the whole trip. We hit some pretty heavy traffic, we've been driving against really strong wind all day, and it looks like we'll make it into Chicago just intime for rush hour. I drove the first 5 hours while Elijah practiced his Blue Heron immitation, napped, played along to the All American Rejects on his harmonica, and drummed on everything in the car. Now he's driving, and I'm listening to Green Day in peace. We're pretty sick of Indiana, as we were of Ohio, and Pennsylvania before that.
Well that's all for now, we're looking forward to a nice night in Chicago and super excited for some Minnesota accents tomorrow.
Until next time,
Laura
So we are about an hour outside of Chicago, and the one hour time change just kicked in on our phones, so that's exciting. Its been a pretty long drive, but that's okay, its the longest driving day we'll have the whole trip. We hit some pretty heavy traffic, we've been driving against really strong wind all day, and it looks like we'll make it into Chicago just intime for rush hour. I drove the first 5 hours while Elijah practiced his Blue Heron immitation, napped, played along to the All American Rejects on his harmonica, and drummed on everything in the car. Now he's driving, and I'm listening to Green Day in peace. We're pretty sick of Indiana, as we were of Ohio, and Pennsylvania before that.
Well that's all for now, we're looking forward to a nice night in Chicago and super excited for some Minnesota accents tomorrow.
Until next time,
Laura
Tuesday, May 31, 2011
and so it begins..
Hey everyone, so Elijah and I decided that it would be a good idea to start a blog for our upcoming road trip across America. We have some worried moms, curious relatives, and jealous friends, and so hopefully this will be good for everyone. Plus, we don't want to have to tell the same stories over and over again until we die, so this way everyone can read about them at once. Feel free to leave comments, text us, facebook us, or call us. We'll have our phones with us, unless we're in the middle of the woods, or getting eaten by a bear, or if we're lucky, a moose (jk mom.. promise.)
Well we are leaving first thing in the morning and heading to Chicago to stay with a family friend of Elijah's, and we are excited for a free place to stay, a delicious meal (I've heard she's an excellent cook), and the first leg of the trip out west to be done. We will update as much as we can, at least as much as we have cell reception, and tell you about our adventures. Hopefully Elijah will help out with the blog so that I am not entirely in charge of taking pictures, shooting video, AND blogging. you will easily be able to recognize his posts from mine, since his will probably all be about whatever birds he saw that day.
well...here goes nothing!
talk to you all soon,
Laura
Well we are leaving first thing in the morning and heading to Chicago to stay with a family friend of Elijah's, and we are excited for a free place to stay, a delicious meal (I've heard she's an excellent cook), and the first leg of the trip out west to be done. We will update as much as we can, at least as much as we have cell reception, and tell you about our adventures. Hopefully Elijah will help out with the blog so that I am not entirely in charge of taking pictures, shooting video, AND blogging. you will easily be able to recognize his posts from mine, since his will probably all be about whatever birds he saw that day.
well...here goes nothing!
talk to you all soon,
Laura
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