White Sands

It's more than just a missile test range...

Wave after wave of snow white gypsum sands to wander around. It's way more fun than it sounds.

Main Street America

I returned to civilization with an overnight stay in Durango, CO, thanks to Henderson ex-pat Walt Dear.  Most definitely one of the cutest downtowns I have been in on this trip.  And probably the most functioning as well.  This downtown must be what they all used to be like.  Every storefront occupied, lots of shoppers.  The bookstore on Main was amazing, and there were so many good places to eat I had a hard time deciding what to do for dinner. 

I was enjoying Durango so much, I thought I might stick around for an extra night or two, but I woke up to these angry grey clouds.  So then the choice became leave or stay for a week until the snow is gone.  Me and cold weather don't get along so well, so I headed out. It was kind of sad to leave after such a short time.  It felt like a place I would enjoy spending time in.

It's also pretty clear that the small business owners in town have a good sense of humor.  Just a couple of examples...

Big. Like, really big

This area of Utah is filled with larger than life formations, they might as well just make the whole bottom half of the state a national park.  If for no other reason than the clean, clear air.  I felt like my lungs were getting cleaned out.  They say that the visibility is better in Capitol Reef NP than anywhere else in the country.  Funny enough, they used the Ohio Valley as a comparison to make that point, and I had always thought of our air as not being so bad.  Live and learn, I suppose.

Jacob's Chair.

Seriously, how does this happen?

Back to Utah...

Strange bedfellows...

On my first night back in Utah, I stayed in a cute little campground in a tiny, tiny roadside town.  There was only 1 church (Mormon) and no gas stations.  I set up my tent in an apple orchard and woke up to the these guys as my neighbors.  Who keeps a donkey, a horse and a llama? And why?

From there I headed out Bryce Canyon.  I had been told by several people that Bryce Canyon & the Grand Canyon are the same, and not to bother going to both.  I guess it's a good thing that I didn't believe them because the two are totally and completely different.  They aren't even formed in the same way.  Bryce is beautiful and different, but nowhere near as grand.  I think I'm a grand canyon girl.

I have noticed these man made rock pillars in parks across the country. I'm not sure what the point of them is, they're just set up randomly right off the beaten path.  In Bryce, a whole city had been created. They seem to fit better here than in most places because they actually resemble the natural formations.

The real Grand Canyon

When I got to Grand Canyon Village (located on the South Rim of GCNP) I was pleased to discover how much I enjoyed everything.  I had been afraid that my first Grand Canyon experience would prove to be completely negative.  Turns out that the Grand Canyon is now one of my favorite places.  It is a beautiful park, with much to see and do.  Most visitors don't venture below the rim of the canyon, but there is so much to do that even then you can occupy yourself for a few days.  There are historical ranger programs and exhibits, architecture from the early 1900's, scenic hikes and plentiful wildlife.  Seriously, the place is lousy with elk.  They were everywhere!  My first night there one wandered into my campsite while I was setting up Ricky.  The bugling call is pretty impressive.

I intended to spend a day and evening at the park and then head on to Zion NP, thinking that I would be able to cover most of the rim trails in that time.  There are a couple of really long trails that go down into the canyon, but you really need a day to go down and a day to come back up.  At the bottom is Phantom Ranch, a kind of oasis for those who make it all the way down.  Only problem is, it books up a whole year in advance. 

Acting on the advice of a helpful volunteer ranger, I put my name on the standby list to get a bed at Phantom Ranch for the following evening.  Come back at 6am, they told me. You're number 6 on the list, but you might make it.  I did try not to get too excited, but I really wanted to go!

Must have been my lucky day!  Not only did I not oversleep, but I got a spot!  I left the South Rim at 7:45 am and headed off down the South Kaibab Trail. 7.1 miles to my destinations. All downhill.

This is a view of the trail right at Skeleton Point, at which point I still had cell phone service.  Sent a picture to my dad and said I thought I might be over halfway.  I'm pretty sure he was laughing at me. Only 3 miles in...

Almost at the bottom, and you can see where the Colorado River crossing is.  They call this the Black Bridge.  Very inventive, I know.  It's a type of cable suspension bridge, and apparently the cables had to be carried into the canyon on the backs of men.  I would most definitely not signed up for that experience.  That is one steep trail, some places have a grade of 22%.  On the trip down I learned the value of a switchback.  On the trip back up I learned to curse them.

Once I finally reached the bottom, 3 hours after beginning, a break was in order.  It felt so good to take off that backpack.  Phantom Ranch was like it's own little world. There's a phone so you can connect to the rest of civilization, but really who would want to?  There is a little camp store that sells sundries, t-shirts ( I had to get one - they're exclusive), postcards stamped "mailed by mule" and the best lemonade ever.  In that same building they serve dinner and breakfast family style.  I was seated for both meal with a group of Methodist travelers from Nicholasville, KY who know all of my childhood pastors.  If that doesn't prove how small the world can be, I don't know what does.  I literally drove across the country and hiked into a hole to meet up with folks from my backyard.  At least the food was good.

Amazing sight of the day: A man trying to break the record for fasted trip from the North Rim to the South Rim.  I saw him RUNNING UPHILL as I was hiking down and just assumed he was crazy.  He did the whole trip in 3 hours, 16 minutes. He did not break the record.  

The next morning I set out right after breakfast on my trip back to the top.  For the hike up you take a different trail, the Bright Angel Trail, which is longer but not as steep.  9.6 miles in total.  Steep or not, I still felt like giving up right around mile 6.  The thing is, you don't really have a choice but to keep going.  Sure, I could stop and sit down, but then what?  Eventually you're going to have to make it back up some way.  Once I got my brain to grasp that concept it was just a matter of putting one foot in front of the other (sometimes very, very slowly).  Remember those switchbacks I mentioned? Thats what they do to a trail in steep places, making it zigzag back and forth to lessen the grade.  They are quite demoralizing.  You climb and climb and feel exhausted, then look down and you've only gained 50 feet of elevation.  It's always best to look ahead... And in the end I overcame. Even those damn switchbacks. 6.5 hours for the hike back up.

This is the Colorado River bridge that connects to the Bright Angel trail.  Care to guess the name?

 Silver Bridge

As I left in the early morning, I got to see the Canyon wake up.  The early morning mists and sunlight were too beautiful to catch with my little point & shoot camera, but I can tell you that I have gained a newfound respect for pink granite of the vishnu schist.

This is my only physical battle scar.  A blister from the trip down became an open wound on the trip up. Poor little pinky toe.  

Greedy Americans, or Kate gets exasperated

Today I drove east from Las Vegas with the intention of heading to the Grand Canyon. Unfortunately, I was swayed from course by two of the worst detours ever.  And trust me, after traveling often as a child with my father, I have been on some pretty awful detours.

First I came to Hoover Dam.  You think, it's right there, I gotta see it.  So, I turn off the road and follow the signs.  A new bridge has just opened this past year that routes traffic away from the Dam.  So now to get to the dam you have to go down a winding dirt road.  Ok, just not so much fun.  Then you get to a security checkpoint.  Apparently they are worried about the security of the dam, and check all incoming traffic. Ok, I get that.  Sounds like a good idea. Until they decide that they need me to fully unpack my tent so they can be sure there are no 'dangerous articles' inside.  Seriously?  They could have just taken a peak, lifted the cover, and stuck an arm inside, but no. It had to go up all the way.  I think they were just curious and wanted to watch me set it up on the side of the road.  I suppose I'd get bored out there, too. Then, I finally make it to the dam.  A big sign says parking, points to the left, and has a price of $7 listed.  So I pull in and pay.  After I walk across the dam, I find the free parking, which they neglect to mark on any maps.  Very nice.  Then I thought I'd go to the visitors Center to learn me sumthin' about that dam, but it has an entrance fee too!  $8.  Just to go inside.  If you want to take a tour? $30!!  My guess is that they're trying to pay off that shiny new bridge. And the worst part is, it wasn't even that cool.

Second stop on the day of bad decisions: the Grand Canyon Skywalk.  So much potential!  Such an epic fail.

I turned off the highway at the designated point and proceeded to drive into the middle of nowhere.  And then a little further.  And then the pavement ends, and you drive a little further. 45 miles of badly maintained gravel road.  Poor Ricky is still covered in dust! And then, finally, I come to a parking lot. 

A little background. This area of the Grand Canyon is part of an indian reservation, so the Skywalk is run by the Hualapai tribe.  They apparently made some type of hardship declaration to the federal government, and now they are allowed to use the canyon for monetary gain. So they build the skywalk, fly helicopter & small plane tours out, etc.  Advertised Skywalk charge is $30.  A little steep, but then when you consider that the American Indian has been through, you feel a little bad about complaining.

Anyway, I get to the visitors center and am informed that not only do you pay to walk out onto the skywalk, but every visitor must also pay an entrance fee of $40.  WTF?  And who turns it down after driving through an hour of teeth jarring gravel road?  Talk about leaving a bad taste.  And the Skywalk wasn't even that cool. It doesn't extend far enough out over the canyon rim.

One last gripe about the experience.  I had thought that the whole operation would be staffed by Hualapai indians, but around half of the positions were filled with caucasians.  I asked my bus driver if there weren't enough indians or what the reason might be. His answer? They weren't interested in working. Oh, well, that makes so much sense. Let me just pay another hundred bucks to some lazy person sitting on their couch.  It's like privatized welfare.

I did find another example of Mother Nature taking back her own.  This is the body of a cable housing that was part of a guano mine.  Didn't work out, and the skeleton is all that remains.

Las Vegas

 Fremont Street!  I think it's a cool place to be, even if none of the "big" casinos are there anymore.

Also, I think that the addition of the overhead light show is pretty cool. It's fairly obvious that whoever designs the shows is on something pretty strong, but that probably just makes for a better show.

 Retro is in.  And the Vegas strip doesn't have Glitter Gulch. Best strip club name ever.

I'm going to go on and call this the biggest slot machine in Vegas. It's the biggest one I saw, in any case, and thats all that really counts.  It was hilarious to watch people play this one. Mostly drunk, all smoking. Nobody won though...

I did succumb to the flashing lights and put $4 in a nickel slot machine. Turned out ok for me.

Death Valley

Man, was Death Valley hot!  Keep in mind that I wasn't even there during the summertime. It was 100 degrees when I visited in mid October.  I thought it was one of the more interesting parks I've visited so far, but you could not get me to go back in July.

One reason that I like Death Valley so much was because there are so many different spheres of interest to examine.  It's not just all desert, like I thought. 

I took a tour of Scotty's Castle, which is not really a castle. What it is is a really awesome ranch house built in the 920's in the middle of the desert.  It has so many cool features, I would consider it a luxury house even by today's standards. Hand carved redwood beams, specially designed wrought iron fixtures and even a pipe organ.  It's amazing to look at, even more so when you consider that everything in the house had to be shipped in by train and mule.

There was actual desert, of course, but I liked the salt flats better.

They call this salt flats area Badwater Basin.  Looks like sand, but it's really a salt crust that seeps from the ground. It really is salty though, I tasted it.  Just like table salt.

It's also the lowest point in the United States.  Way, way lower than sea level.  In the photo below I am standing on the salt flats, and the tiny white sign on the rock wall denotes sea level.  282 above where I'm standing.

There are also mountains surrounding all of the low areas, so you can get in some pretty good hikes. And everywhere that there was an oasis has been turned into a visitors center or resort.  I stayed at the Furnace Creek Resort, which is built around a natural spring.  I will confess that the whole reason I wanted to stay there is because they use this natural spring to feed a swimming pool.

Just to give everyone an idea of how hot and dry it is there, after swimming I took a shower.  Before I got back to the car, maybe a 5 minute walk, my hair was completely dry.  Crazy.

Home on the Range

As I was driving through middle of nowhere California I started seeing signs referring to the 'range', usually in reference to fire prevention.  So apparently, this is what the range looks like.  I confess, I had a much more romantic idea in my head.

I did finally get a good sunset shot.  Then a helpful park ranger stopped to tell me that the vibrant colors are mostly due to the amount of pollution in the atmosphere to the west.  And that this air pollution travels eastward and damages all the giant sequoias.  Yet another reason for me to dislike LA.

We slept lakeside.  Ricky likes water.

Big Trees

This stop brought me face to face with my first taste of the artistic side of the CCC.  Yes, this entrance sign was carved and painted by the boys back in the day. Looks pretty good if you ask me.

Unfortunately, not everything holds up as well as that sign.  The 'Auto Log' is a giant sequoia that you used to be able to drive down, but now it's rotting so no more vehicles allowed.  The tunnel tree can still be driven through, but Ricky is too tall. He did hold the camera for this shot though!

These big guys are called the Sentinels.  Doesn't look like it, but that is not a small car driving between them.  Good guards, I think.

This photo was taken from the top of Moro Rock.  To get there, I had to do some more rock scaling with negligible hand railings.  Never thought I'd get so comfortable with that, but I guess you can get used to anything.  Apparently, this canyon is as deep as the Grand Canyon, but I can't imagine thats all there is to it.

My campsite was not far from this rock, and I can tell you that it is COLD at 8000 feet.  I must find more blankets before I get to the grand canyon...

Highway 1

After leaving a fog covered, rainy San Francisco behind I took off down highway 1.  It took awhile to get away from the smog, but man was it worth the wait. It is indeed a beautiful drive.  I took my time driving down the curvy, bike heavy road and stopped often.  I think I stopped for 4 different hikes just in Big Sur.  Came across this idyllic cove and wished I could get down to the beach for a swim.  Until I remembered that the water is around 50 degrees.

Ricky and I camped at Limekiln state park. The campground sits along a creek in the forest, but there is also a beach along the ocean side of the property.  A nice mix, if you ask me.  I hiked out to the lime kiln remnants that gave the park its name early the next morning.  I love seeing evidence of nature retaking the world.

Seals!

I know they look dead, but I promise I saw almost all of them move.

Fleet Week

I did manage to pull into San Francisco just in time for Fleet Week.  Highlights of the entertainment were supposed to be the Blue Angels, but they had to cancel their performance because of fog.  This fog is trying to ruin my trip!  We did get to see the Snowbirds, the canadian version of the Blue Angels ( or Blue Angels lite).  They did some sky writing, drew a heart and attracted a huge crowd to the wharf.

We also happened upon a very interesting Italian Heritage Parade.  I insisted we stick around to watch because I am parade starved in between Mardi Gras seasons.  Didn't take long to notice a few head scratching additions to the line up.  Keep in mind, this parade is supposed to celebrate Italian heritage...

First up, lots of soldiers.  This one I'll give them, as it is fleet week...

 Next, we have male asian dancers and chime music.  Even Pip couldn't explain the correlation.

Lastly, we have horse mounted cowboys.  Perhaps my history is a bit rusty, but I do not recall any stories about the Wild West Italian wranglers.  They had guns too, shooting blanks into the air that sounded entirely too real for the situation.  Scared the crap out of me.  As Pip said, way too much going on for that. At this point, we left the parade. Enough surprises for one day.

One thing this parade did do right is throw goodies.  And entirely appropriate goodies, too!  Miniature Salami Sandwiches! Yum Yum!