So we arrived in Yellowstone on Wednesday June 9th and we were there until Sunday June 13th. Thus far Yellowstone has been my favorite national park due to all of the wildlife that Kevin and I saw. We literally got there on Wednesday night set up camp and then explored the rest of the park the entire time we were there. The weather was not the best as it was about 50 during the day and 30 at the night (if not colder). There are 5 entrances into the park and we went through all of them - each has different landscapes. The east entrance is a beautiful drive as it over looks Yellowstone lake and the grand Tetons, and is a very mountainous drive. However, the views are what you go for during this drive. If you want the wildlife drive you must go out toward the northeast entrance through lamar valley. You will see herds and herds of buffalo, families of pronghorns, sheep, elk, and deer. And those are the things you will see without the telescope. If you are to get yourself a telescope in this area you will see families of wolfs, black bears, and grizzly bears. Kevin and I have binoculars but they were really not good enough if you wanted to see really far. However, the people with the scopes were very friendly and would always let us look through them to see what they had spotted (more often than not it was a grizzly bear). You always know where an animal has been spotted in Yellowstone as the cars and pple just flock like wild animals to one spot. In fact Kevin and I actually were the first ones to spot a single wolf running through the woods. It was awesome. We were driving about 8 mph and this wolf was running right along side our car. He looked like he was on a mission to find his next meal. Kevin got a video of it that i am sure he will post on his blog. We also saw a coyote on our last day which is similar to the wolf but a lot smaller. I recommend this park to everyone - even though it is crowded in some places it is so worth it - We also went to mammoth hot springs which is northwest in the park. These are a site to see as well - as i have never seen anything like them before; however, they do smell like rotten eggs. It's basically boiling water that creates all these different colors and produces heat from all the sulfer gas and microorganisms that grow in this type of enviornment. We did see old faithful as well, but to be honest that was the least exciting portion of the park. We actually stayed in the old faithful inn on Saturday night with Kevin's friend Eric as he works at this 106 year old hotel. All in all I had a great time in Yellowstone - couldn't of asked for a better experience.
After Yellowstone we drove south to the grand Tetons and back packed a night in the back country. We had a two day backpacking trip planned, but things had to change due to snow in the Tetons. These mountains are huge, and its not like the gradual increase that you are used to seeing in the mountains out east - these are straight up peaks that can go up to 15,000 ft in elevation. All of the peaks were covered in snow so we backpacked to this place called the lower paintbrush. Our view at the top overlooked Leigh lake (at least i think that is which lake it was there are a couple of them). We were in bear country so Kevin and I were careful about eating and cooking around our campsite so we basically hiked up a nearby hill to do all our eating and cooking and brushing of the teeth - anything that involved smell we did up there. Oh yea it was raining the entire time that we were up there as well - which made it interesting, but it was actually relaxing. We both got a great night sleep as we were feeling really drained from the trip that day.
Oh and i forgot to tell you that we went to the rodeo outside Yellowstone national park in a city called west Yellowstone, MT. This was my first rodeo and it was a really good time. It was outside at a small place where you could bring your own beer and tickets were only 10 dollars - i actually thought about Davy (my brother) when i was there. For some reason i thought he would enjoy it maybe it was the cowboy boots. Anyway Kevin and I got called up for a little game as they were transitioning between events. We went into the "ring" and they gave us blindfolds to put on (there was one other random guy doing this event with us) and told us that the winner would win 100 dollars. Well we put on our blindfolds and all of the sudden i felt about 6 bananas in my hand, and soon after the rules were explained as to whomever can eat all these bananas the fastest will win the money. I immediately thought crap Kevin is about to win this 100 dollars. Well about 10 seconds later i hear a whisper in my ear telling me "whatever you do do not eat the bananas," so i think to myself alright what is the deal here. Well the announcer tells us to start and soon after my blindfold is taken off and i look to my left and the other guy's blindfold is taken off and then i look to my right and Kevin is just shoving these bananas in his mouth as fast as he could. It was classic i was dying laughing. They removed his blindfold after he had downed about 4 of them and he soon realized that he had been scammed -Obviously no money was involved and Kevin was a good sport - we did however get to keep the bananas :).
From the Tetons we drove to Logan, UT where he stayed with another one of Kevin's friend from undergrad who goes to Utah State University. I am currently sitting in Moab, UT which is right around the cornor from Arches National Park. We will be visiting there tomorrow. I will do my best to keep updating my blog.
Tuesday, June 15, 2010
Tuesday, June 8, 2010
Grand Canyon to Bend, OR 5/28/10 - 6/8/10
Its been a while since i have had some time to actually sit down with a solid Internet connection and update my blog. To be honest i don't even know where to start with everything that has been going on for the past two weeks. Kevin and I have seen so many incredible parts of the US. Just a little update of what we have seen and where we have been: the grand canyon, Zion National Park, Washington, UT, mammoth lakes, CA (huge ski community), Yosemite National Park, San Francisco, Costal Highway 1 in CA, Eureka, CA, Redwoods National Park, a beautiful drive through Oregon to Bend, OR. I want to add before i go into a little detail about our trip that i have only spent a day (actually not even a full day in OR) and i really love this state. The scenery is so detailed with huge trees and clear running water in the rivers and streams. It was actually a little surreal driving through the state b/c i have never been in an environment like that before. So far if i did move off the east coast (which i probably wont do dont worry mom) i would come to OR.
Anyway ill do my best to hit some of the highlights of the trip that you all have missed thus far. When we arrived in the grand canyon we got there in just enough time to catch the sunset on the south rim (where we were staying). We stayed in a nice campground not far from the rim of the canyon - just a short bike ride away. The wildlife in the canyon is very tame - you could get within 10 yds of the elk and deer (not recommending that you do so; however, pple did do this). They are so used to being around people they just go about their business eating. Kevin and I kind of did our own things in the canyon as he got a permit to go down to phantom ranch for one of the nights. While he did that i stayed on the rim and did some day hiking. While i was there a little boy actually fell off the edge of the canyon about 30 yds down onto a rock. You have to understand the when you are standing on the rim is not a complete drop off it is somewhat gradual. I had just gotten to this trail when they had rescued the boy from the ledge. He did not die, but he did break both of his arms.
From the grand canyon we went to a smaller canyon known as Zion National Park in Virgin, UT. Here we couch surfed with a couple in Washington, UT: Carol and Bud. They were very welcoming and made us a great breakfast in the morning to start our day. Zion was different than the grand canyon in the following ways: way smaller, and you drop off in the valley of the canyon instead of the rim (top) of the canyon. With that said Kevin and I parked at the visitor center of Zion and road our bikes 8 miles to what is known as the riverwalk/narrows walk. I enjoyed the bike ride there were huge rocks (all different types - limestone, sandstone, a bunch of other stones i cant remember at this moment) which made all these different colors esp. when the sun hit them. We arrived at the riverwalk and did a short little hike upstream where the trail ended at the narrows. Now the narrows is a path you can walk; however, you are submerged in water up to your knees - might i add the water is FREEZING. I tried to walk it; however it was more challenging than it actually looked with the current moving at a pretty steady pace, stepping on slippery rocks, and my legs being completely burning within 30 seconds. With that said i lasted about 30 steps and of coarse Kevin made it all the way across to the other side ha :). Anyway moving on.....
We drove to mammoth lakes after Zion which is in CA. Not a short drive - and the drive through southern NV is brutal to say the least. There is absolutely nothing going on except desert. When we arrived to Mammoth Lakes there was a lot of snow on the side of the roads and the mountains were covered for the most part. Definitely was not expecting to see all of that. Later we found out that this place was one of the biggest ski resorts in CA.
From here we left for our four day adventure in Yosemite national park. The drive from mammoth was only suppose to be 2 hours; however our 2 hours later turned into 7 hours due to the massive amounts of snow that were inhibiting us from taking the 2 hour route. We had to take it with a grain of salt - there was not much we could do about it at this point. Anyway this drive was the most interesting/scary drive i have ever been on. the GPS took us on this road called Wards Ferry Rd (i will never forget it!). Basically we were on a two way cliff that only fit one car. I mean this was a serious cliff with no guard rails and we were probably 300 ft in the air (at least). I mean the scenery was awesome, but i could not fully enjoy it cause my heart was pounding and my palms were sweating - haha - It was an experience that i will never forget. We arrived in Yosemite later on that day around 5. Kevin's friend Cali was already there and he was going into the back country with us for the next 3 days. Our first destination within the back country was 2 miles past little Yosemite campground. The hike up was intense but worth the treck as we pasted over 2 waterfalls with scenery that can not be seen anywhere on the east coast. There were waterfalls, snow, greenery, widelife, huge rocks, bridges, and natural water streams pretty much through the entire trail. I could really write this entire blog about our experience in Yosemite, but i do have a couple of things that stick out. One - we had to carry bear cans with all of our food in it along with anything with scent (chap stick, toothpaste, advil, etc). Anyway we did see a bear in the valley of Yosemite and Cali and Kevin saw one on their hike up to half dome (i choose to do another hike that day). Anyway one of the nights we were hanging out by the camp fire i was really thirsty so i ventured away from the campfire to go get my water bottle and i had my head lamp on and when i shined my light into the woods i had 4 eyes looking right at me. Naturally i immediately turned around looked at Kevin and said there are animals over there looking at us. He shined his lights onto these creatures and in the end we thought it was a raccoon but it could have been deer or i think its was a mountain lion...haha just kidding. Later on we saw the eyes again and it was about 6 deer just eating some food.
After Yosemite we headed to San Fran where we stayed with my mom's best friends daughter Johanna and her husband Brain. They were completely generous to take us in under super unexpected circumstances as we had a hotel and things went wrong (long story). San Fran is probably my favorite city i have been to thus very (very very close running with New Orleans) . The city has its crazy parts and its beautiful parts. When i say crazy i mean crazy - there are some completely cracked out people in the city esp. this area known as Tenderloin. As Kevin stated if you want to teach your children the negative effects drugs have on the body take your children to Tenderloin ( a area right in downtown San Fran). When we ventured away from the downtown area we made it to the water and walked up and down the strip to the famous pier 39 ( i think that was it is called) and fisherman's waft. We took a boat tour on the san fran bay were we got to see alcatraz, the bay bridge, the golden gate bridge, dolphins, seals, kit surfers(which i have never seen before or heard of), wind surfers, sailors, and boats. It really is a city with a ton of active pple and things to do all around you. One funny story before i move on because i feel like this blog is really long. We were walking in fisherman's waft and we had just come out of a store and there were not a lot of pple on the street at this particular point well i was walking minding my own business when all of the sudden this man with these tree branches jumped out and scared the living SH*T out of me. I screamed like a little girl - and literally grabbed onto kevin and of coarse everyone was looking at me b/c obviously he had done this like 5 min before to someone. Anyway i laughed after the fact - and the crazy thing is this homeless man doing this has a bucket FULL of money from pple tipping him from scaring pple cause its so good. Later i found out that this guy has been there for years and years doing this and his name is the bush man (Johanna informed me of this). Alright enough of that..
We drove up 1 on the coast of CA to Eureka, CA where we couch surfed with a couple named Macie and Rhett. A little town right on the coast which would have been a lot better if the sun was out, but as we later found out the weather in Eureka is the same year round 50-65 degrees. We left for redwoods national park the next day where the trees can range from 300 ft tall. Walking in the redwoods was kinda like walking in the rain forest. The atmosphere was very moist and the scenery was very green with verns everywhere growing next to these huge trees. We saw a lot of elk in the area, and as we drove through the park we made our way to Bend, OR where we couch surfed with a younger guy name Tymon. Like i said before OR is legit - and Bend is a sweet city with a ton of activities - a very athletic community with a laid back attitude. It is going to be hard to leave this place - i wish i could explore more of the city. However, we leave for Boise, ID tonight and then for Yellowstone the day after.
Anyway ill do my best to hit some of the highlights of the trip that you all have missed thus far. When we arrived in the grand canyon we got there in just enough time to catch the sunset on the south rim (where we were staying). We stayed in a nice campground not far from the rim of the canyon - just a short bike ride away. The wildlife in the canyon is very tame - you could get within 10 yds of the elk and deer (not recommending that you do so; however, pple did do this). They are so used to being around people they just go about their business eating. Kevin and I kind of did our own things in the canyon as he got a permit to go down to phantom ranch for one of the nights. While he did that i stayed on the rim and did some day hiking. While i was there a little boy actually fell off the edge of the canyon about 30 yds down onto a rock. You have to understand the when you are standing on the rim is not a complete drop off it is somewhat gradual. I had just gotten to this trail when they had rescued the boy from the ledge. He did not die, but he did break both of his arms.
From the grand canyon we went to a smaller canyon known as Zion National Park in Virgin, UT. Here we couch surfed with a couple in Washington, UT: Carol and Bud. They were very welcoming and made us a great breakfast in the morning to start our day. Zion was different than the grand canyon in the following ways: way smaller, and you drop off in the valley of the canyon instead of the rim (top) of the canyon. With that said Kevin and I parked at the visitor center of Zion and road our bikes 8 miles to what is known as the riverwalk/narrows walk. I enjoyed the bike ride there were huge rocks (all different types - limestone, sandstone, a bunch of other stones i cant remember at this moment) which made all these different colors esp. when the sun hit them. We arrived at the riverwalk and did a short little hike upstream where the trail ended at the narrows. Now the narrows is a path you can walk; however, you are submerged in water up to your knees - might i add the water is FREEZING. I tried to walk it; however it was more challenging than it actually looked with the current moving at a pretty steady pace, stepping on slippery rocks, and my legs being completely burning within 30 seconds. With that said i lasted about 30 steps and of coarse Kevin made it all the way across to the other side ha :). Anyway moving on.....
We drove to mammoth lakes after Zion which is in CA. Not a short drive - and the drive through southern NV is brutal to say the least. There is absolutely nothing going on except desert. When we arrived to Mammoth Lakes there was a lot of snow on the side of the roads and the mountains were covered for the most part. Definitely was not expecting to see all of that. Later we found out that this place was one of the biggest ski resorts in CA.
From here we left for our four day adventure in Yosemite national park. The drive from mammoth was only suppose to be 2 hours; however our 2 hours later turned into 7 hours due to the massive amounts of snow that were inhibiting us from taking the 2 hour route. We had to take it with a grain of salt - there was not much we could do about it at this point. Anyway this drive was the most interesting/scary drive i have ever been on. the GPS took us on this road called Wards Ferry Rd (i will never forget it!). Basically we were on a two way cliff that only fit one car. I mean this was a serious cliff with no guard rails and we were probably 300 ft in the air (at least). I mean the scenery was awesome, but i could not fully enjoy it cause my heart was pounding and my palms were sweating - haha - It was an experience that i will never forget. We arrived in Yosemite later on that day around 5. Kevin's friend Cali was already there and he was going into the back country with us for the next 3 days. Our first destination within the back country was 2 miles past little Yosemite campground. The hike up was intense but worth the treck as we pasted over 2 waterfalls with scenery that can not be seen anywhere on the east coast. There were waterfalls, snow, greenery, widelife, huge rocks, bridges, and natural water streams pretty much through the entire trail. I could really write this entire blog about our experience in Yosemite, but i do have a couple of things that stick out. One - we had to carry bear cans with all of our food in it along with anything with scent (chap stick, toothpaste, advil, etc). Anyway we did see a bear in the valley of Yosemite and Cali and Kevin saw one on their hike up to half dome (i choose to do another hike that day). Anyway one of the nights we were hanging out by the camp fire i was really thirsty so i ventured away from the campfire to go get my water bottle and i had my head lamp on and when i shined my light into the woods i had 4 eyes looking right at me. Naturally i immediately turned around looked at Kevin and said there are animals over there looking at us. He shined his lights onto these creatures and in the end we thought it was a raccoon but it could have been deer or i think its was a mountain lion...haha just kidding. Later on we saw the eyes again and it was about 6 deer just eating some food.
After Yosemite we headed to San Fran where we stayed with my mom's best friends daughter Johanna and her husband Brain. They were completely generous to take us in under super unexpected circumstances as we had a hotel and things went wrong (long story). San Fran is probably my favorite city i have been to thus very (very very close running with New Orleans) . The city has its crazy parts and its beautiful parts. When i say crazy i mean crazy - there are some completely cracked out people in the city esp. this area known as Tenderloin. As Kevin stated if you want to teach your children the negative effects drugs have on the body take your children to Tenderloin ( a area right in downtown San Fran). When we ventured away from the downtown area we made it to the water and walked up and down the strip to the famous pier 39 ( i think that was it is called) and fisherman's waft. We took a boat tour on the san fran bay were we got to see alcatraz, the bay bridge, the golden gate bridge, dolphins, seals, kit surfers(which i have never seen before or heard of), wind surfers, sailors, and boats. It really is a city with a ton of active pple and things to do all around you. One funny story before i move on because i feel like this blog is really long. We were walking in fisherman's waft and we had just come out of a store and there were not a lot of pple on the street at this particular point well i was walking minding my own business when all of the sudden this man with these tree branches jumped out and scared the living SH*T out of me. I screamed like a little girl - and literally grabbed onto kevin and of coarse everyone was looking at me b/c obviously he had done this like 5 min before to someone. Anyway i laughed after the fact - and the crazy thing is this homeless man doing this has a bucket FULL of money from pple tipping him from scaring pple cause its so good. Later i found out that this guy has been there for years and years doing this and his name is the bush man (Johanna informed me of this). Alright enough of that..
We drove up 1 on the coast of CA to Eureka, CA where we couch surfed with a couple named Macie and Rhett. A little town right on the coast which would have been a lot better if the sun was out, but as we later found out the weather in Eureka is the same year round 50-65 degrees. We left for redwoods national park the next day where the trees can range from 300 ft tall. Walking in the redwoods was kinda like walking in the rain forest. The atmosphere was very moist and the scenery was very green with verns everywhere growing next to these huge trees. We saw a lot of elk in the area, and as we drove through the park we made our way to Bend, OR where we couch surfed with a younger guy name Tymon. Like i said before OR is legit - and Bend is a sweet city with a ton of activities - a very athletic community with a laid back attitude. It is going to be hard to leave this place - i wish i could explore more of the city. However, we leave for Boise, ID tonight and then for Yellowstone the day after.
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