Sequoia N.P. to Kings Canyon N.P. to Bridalveil Falls Campground, Yosemite National Park, CA

Day 45

Liv won a cold water competition at Toulamine Falls.  It was an easy hike to the falls, but I lost my cool trying to keep my legs in the alpine pool and had to concede.  Unfortunately, we had to watch a German boy play in the water in his underpants.  Odd child.

By noon we were on the road, driving into King's Canyon National Park and seeing Grant Grove where the tallest tree on Earth grows.  King's Canyon was very beautiful, but unfortunately we had to hammer through and my next adventure will have to dedicate a few nights there.

Driving out of the mountains, the temperature continuously rose, and my missing of a pivotal turn resulted in a very slowly and stupidly windy mountain road.  The constant switch-backs almost brought Liv to vomit.  It's a good thing she didn't.

Returning to the mountains outside of Yosemite, we had the uneasy feeling the forest fires were still burning throughout the park.  As we neared the park entrance, we passed a small convoy of CalFire units leaving the park, which was promising.  At the gate to Yosemite National Park, the ranger couldn't guarantee us a site, so we recklessly drove the park road to Bridalveil Falls Campground and scored a spot.  To our dismay, a fiesta has entrenched itself across the road from our site, but by 11:30 they had fiesta-ed their stereo out.

The site was excellent, except for the midnight grizzly visit to the tent 30 feet away in the neighboring site.  I woke up hearing the mother frantically whispering about a bear in the site, followed by the father's urgent comments and their young son starting to cry.  I purposefully didn't inform Liv of the developments so she could continue to sleep well, but apparently she was just as aware of the bear as I was.  By morning the only sign of the bear was the lack of the family that once occupied the site.

Sequoia National Park, California

Day 44

Liv laid down the law on the obnoxious kids parading through our site before we got up.  It was awesome but the Korean family's overly disrespectful antics led us to move to a more secluded site.  After breakfast, we took the shuttle to Moro Rock, a massive monolith where we climbed to the top and took in the impressive view below.  I explored the sequoia grove around Moro Rock, but Liv staid back due to a case of bearanoia.

We hiked the easy trails around the museum (high quality museum) and watched the SUV crowd corner a bear between the parking lots and road while they vied for pictures.  Idiots.  Walking around the Sequoia Marsh, we met a second bear napping in the grass.  He was relaxed by our presence and continued sleeping as more cameras were unholstered.

I took a late afternoon run to Toulamine Falls where the hikers I passed warned of a grizzly on the trail.  I saw nothing but did my best to make more than enough noise.  A very beautiful run and the legs felt excellent at the high elevation.

Again, I closed out the day with a swim in Toulamine Stream and nearly froze my ass off.

Porter, CA to Lodgepole Campground, Sequoia National Park

Day 43

Some mangy dog stole Liv's slipper outside our tent at the Friend's RV Park. And, thankfully a toothless man with a 400 lb wife rescued the slipper and proceeded to tell us about said wife and her digestive problems. This creeped us out so we stashed the tent and hit the road for Sequoia National Park.

The ride through rural California was scenic and the GPS gave us a nice detour through some citrus farm roads. We entered Sequoia National Park on fumes and managed to secure a site at Lodgepole Campground. The site was nice but we were sandwiched between a massive Korean family with absolutely horrible children. I don't mean to enforce a stereotype, but the family honestly ate rice continuously from 7AM until about 1:30PM.

We hiked to the Sherman Tree, the largest tree on Earth, then made our way around other famous Sequoia's. The trees are massive and enormously beautiful.

I took off for a trail run from the tent, planning on running through the Sequoias but I ended up getting lost and encountered a group of horses making their way down the trail. I ducked out of sight of the riders before they saw me, but the horses got startled and stampeded their way around a bend, nearly getting out of the control of the handlers.

In the evening the temperature quickly dropped and my cleansing swim in the Tuckaho Stream was colder than I'd hope. Today was a quality day and much more enjoyable being removed from the filth of Vegas and the desert.

Las Vegas, Nevada to Porter, California

Day 42

Jimmy Buffet's Margaritaville was our source of a very expensive but good breakfast. Next it was off to the Clark County Library for some interneting, followed by some $44.00 drinks at Caesar's. The drinks were horrible, but they had the novelty of coming in a 3' long pink glass. While Liv made a phone call to Erika back east I put a dollar into a slot machine at Paris, Las Vegas. The thing did its magic and kindly returned a $2.00 victory. I immediately cashed out with the knowledge that I took Vegas to the bank.

Deciding that Las Vegas is a place to visit only once and 115 degrees is a horrible temperature to be in, we got back in the Wagon and headed for California, stopping in Primm for dinner. The drive to Bakersfield , CA through the Mojave was nothing grand and even though we were passing through the desert there was surprisingly large amounts of traffic. The only saving grace of the ride was doing it at night when the temperature was only in the 90s.

At the California border, we got searched at an agricultural checkpoint, subsequently losing our grapefruit to my dismay. By the way the inspector reacted to seeing the delicious fruit one would guess we were smuggling Russian weapons.

Around midnight we rolled off the road in Porter, California at the sight of the Friend's RV Park. Friend's my ass, this place was a first-class dump where the RVs were no longer vehicular and the residents the domestic dispute type. We quickly set the tent and used the Wagon as a poor means of protection against the local color.

Hurricane, UT to Las Vegas, Nevada

Day 41

We opted against poaching the Willow Wind RV Park and we met the owner in her office to remit payment.  She gave us a deal and the code to the laundry room, which was much needed since our last washing in Colorado.  The strange thing about this little Utah woman was the humming bird that lived on her right shoulder.  It was a good looking bird though and little guy seemed happy living amongst her Minnie Mouse pink tee-shirt.  During the spin cycle I put in a call to Stevie P to see how things were back east and he seems to be surviving alright.

At noon we hit the road right as the temperature really started to get stupid.  In Overton, Nevada we got off the highway, expecting to swim at Emerald Bay on Lake Mead.  Well, Emerald Bay has dried up and the shoreline is now about 5 miles away.  We found this to be true about every place with "Bay" or "Beach" in its name.  Finally we discovered a houseboat marina/resort where we debated swimming, that is until the catfish (numbering in the hundreds) stalked us along the dock with their big stupid mouths groping at the surface.

Finding Lake Mead to be the greatest disappointment of the past 4,000 miles, Liv made the executive decision to shack up in Las Vegas for the night while we ate humus at 115 degrees.  I required a stop at the Hoover Dam, where we found free parking and walked across the massive structure.  The construction on the new road crossing above the dam was impressive and should cut down on traffic considerably.  The Hoover Dam was the saving grace of the last three hours of torturous heat but the dropped water level is a testament to the greed of Los Angles and the insanity of putting cities in the middle of a desert.

In Las Vegas, Liv got us the cheapest room on The Strip: $53.00 at Casino Royal.  It's probably the crappiest hotel on The Strip, but it's location was central and the price perfect.  We cleaned the grime of the day off before heading into Caesar's Palace to search out dinner.  Finally by 10PM we exhausted all the classy choices and settled for the steakhouse attached to our hotel.

We walked the strip, seeing the checklist of casinos: Bellagio; New York, New York; The MGM Grand; Treasure Island, Herrah's; Excalibur, Ballys, Mandalay Bay; Paris, Las Vegas; and the Flamingo.  The Bellagio was quite spectacular and we watched their fountains perform to the National Anthem at midnight.

By 2AM we had enough of the massive groups of Hispanic men passing out fliers for companionship along Las Vegas Boulevard and we decided to call it a night.  The air conditioning sure beats the 128 degree reading the Wagon had around 2PM. 

North Rim Grand Canyon, AZ to Hurricane, Utah

Day 40

Driving into North Rim, we passed a car that had flipped off the road and the NPS Fire Department was working to stabilize the victim.  It's curious how long the guy was trapped in his car because of the road's remoteness and where the nearest hospital lies.

Anyways, we started hiking the North Kaibab Trail into the Grand Canyon at 9:30 to beat the afternoon heat.  Before setting out on the Trans-North America trip I had set a goal to do a rim-to-rim run, however, I've learned it's 14 miles to the Colorado River from North Rim alone and the rangers say it's a near impossibility to hike to South Rim in one day.  That in mind, we planned to hike no more than two hours into the canyon, giving us about 4 hours to hike back out.  For the first mile of the hike we followed a mule train, constantly avoiding their acrid piss puddles and making slow progress until they took a prolonged water break.

Seventy-five minutes into the hike, 3.5 miles along the trail, and about 3,000' below the rim we decided to take lunch then climb back out.  The temperature had been rising steadily and we had no plans to run out of water before returning to the Wagon.  The views of the canyon were amazing, but unfortunately the layout of the trail made it so we never could see the Colorado River.  The hike back out was far easier than hiking down and we passed more groups completely unprepared for the heat that we would have liked.

Back at North Rim, Liv showered while I ran the Uncle Jim's Trail along the top of the canyon.  It was an enjoyable run, except for the ankle rolling, and my breathing was almost 100% at the 8,000' elevation.  Returning to the Wagon, Liv informed me the glove box couldn't open, a seemingly harmless nuisance that threaten the future livelihood of the trip.  We spent almost two hours fighting with it, resorting to asking a ranger to shoot the glove box open with his riffle.  He refused and we finished the day with our perishables possibly trapped for eternity.  Damn you Volvo for building a quality glove box.

Driving out of North Rim, we aimed westward for Lake Mead.  Dropping a few thousand feet back into Utah saw the temperature rise as usual but the desert sunset was one of the best of the trip.  Making it to Hurricane, Utah, we hoped to camp at Sandy Hollow State Park, but arrived at the heavily fortified gate two minutes past closing.  Heading back to town, we found the Willow Wind RV Park where kids were prohibited and the grass meticulously manicured.  Setting the tent away from the Winnebago crowd, we set camp after talking to the rather unenlightened park residents.

Hopefully we'll be able to hit the road tomorrow morning sans payment.

Zion National Park, UT to North Rim, Grand Canyon N.P to Kaibab National Forest, Arizona

Day 39

Zion National Park is a beautiful place but it has a very odd fundamentalist vibe to it.  Apparently the area was settled by Mormons about 100 years ago and their influence has caused for biblical names on everything.  That make senses, but the park staff seems to have this strange aura that makes it feel like somebody's about to get converted.

Anyways, I took off for an early morning run up Watchman Mountain while Liv slept in.  The tail was a bit treacherous clinging to a cliff face, but the view up the valley from the summit was worth it.  Returning to the site, I found Liv still asleep so I completely struck camp, then we headed to the Zion Lodge for breakfast. The food was delicious and a well needed divergence from oats and dehydrated milk.

We revisited the Emerald Pool Trail, hiking to the Upper, Middle, and Lower Pools.   Upper Emerald Pool was the most spectacular of the three and we joined a group of Germans cooling off in the shade beneath the hanging waterfall.  Unfortunately, the Park Service prohibited swimming in the pools about 10 years ago because the water was getting to funky from people nastiness.  We hiked out through The Grotto as the temperature rose past the high 90s and we depleted our water supply.

We took a quick dip back in the Virgin River to cool off before driving south to the Grand Canyon.  Utah was more of the expected barren heat, but as we drove up into the Kaibab National Forest in Arizona the temperature dropped slightly and trees returned.  Most of the forest outside of the North Rim entrance was recovering from a large fire a few years back and the remnants of the burn were startling.

We walked around the Grand Canyon Lodge and took in the views above Bridal Canyon in North Rim, Arizona.  Ten miles across the canyon was South Rim where the typical tourist garbage was abundant, but at North Rim it was considerably more relaxed and free of the tacky treats that come with tourism.  The rim trail was crowded and we took a sick joy in watching the overweight Americans struggle with the paved trail.

The Park Service campground was booked solid (despite the numerous empty sites), so we drove out of the park to the NFS Fire Roads where dispersed camping allows free camping wherever you can throw a tent.  We attempted to find an overlook off of FR-22, but after 90 minutes of nothing, we retreated and found a nice spot on East Rim off FR-611.

The sunset was amazing over the Grand Canyon as lighting struck the surrounding vastness below our site.  It was a little distressing camping in near isolation, but Liv cooked an excellent dinner over the fire, which calmed the nerves.

Bryce Canyon to Zion National Park, Utah

Day 38

We drove about 3 hours from Bryce to Zion National Park after I watched a solo sunrise at Sunrise Point.  The Park Service really nails their location names.  The relative coolness of Bryce was replaced by the scorching heat of the Utah emptiness.  No towns, no life, just heat along the drive.  Luckily, the Wagon had some sweet country jams for us to rock out to as we saturated the car's interior with perspiration.

We entered through the North entrance (again a creative name) of Zion and ended up in traffic at the Zion-Mount Carmel Highway Tunnel.  The canyon views were impressive and the beehive shaped mountains were a stunning curiosity.  We took a campsite at South Campground (more artful naming) and I found a swimming hole in the Virgin River for us to cool off.

After dinner, we took the Zion Shuttle to Zion Lodge through Zion Canyon (Zion...Zion...Zion ..blah) and hiked to Lower Emerald Pool.  The pool, which sat below a hanging waterfall, was most pretty and likened itself to a desert oasis nestled in a pocket of the canyon.  We wanted to hike further, but the encroaching darkness made us turn back (only after I ran a half mile up the trail to quickly check things out and nearly take a few rocks to the face).

As we lay in the tent soaking in the enormous heat, we tried desperately to fall asleep before the inbreds in the RV across the road started their shenanigans.  Well, Liv made it, but I got the pleasure of listening to "Pa! Damnit, cook me up some mo' o' dems hot doggies a'for I com out ther".  It's a good day when you cap it with hot doggies at midnight.

Bryce Canyon National Park Hike

Day 37

Bryce Canyon National Park puts the rest of Utah's parks to shame for two very excellent reasons.  It's more than 8,000' elevation causes temperatures to drop into the 40s at night and it remains cool through mid-morning.  Oh, also there are trees here which means Mother Nature actually intended for things to live here, unlike other places we've seen completely void of anything but sunburns and dehydration.

Started out at 9AM hiking the Navajo/Queens Garden/Peak-a-Boo figure-8 loop that provides a nice dosage of the Amphitheater Section of Bryce.  We debated taking a mule ride through the canyon, but opted against it to save money (and we didn't have reservations).  The trail was very crowded and the overwhelming amount of Germans made us feel like outsiders.  Conveniently, the increased amount of German's was directly proportional to the decreased amount of obese Americans.  Funny how that works.  The views along the 5 hour hike were astounding with the orange-white canyon walls and hoodoos contrasting sharply with the crisp blue sky and deep green pines.

The Wall Street portion of the trail was the most amazing place thus far on the trip.  The trail cuts through the base of the canyon walls that tower a few hundred feet above with shear cliffs only a few feet apart.  Directly in the middle of the cut, a cluster of pines shoots skyward, sandwiched by the bright orange cliffs.  It's tacky and cliche, but words can't do it justice.  Then the trail immediately rises from the floor to the top of the Amphitheater with 27 switch-backs along the cliff face, a delightfully tedious section of trial.

It was along these switch-backs where we found a man from Modesto, California who couldn't use his legs but walked a quarter of the way down the Amphitheater wall using his crutches.  Liv offered to take his picture since his gloved hands were too awkward to set up the camera.  He was more than gracious for her offer, then seeing him struggle to climb out of the canyon, I gave him an arm for support and the three of us very slowly made our way up.  The rest of the hikers annoyingly looked on as our slow progress blocked the trail, but to hell with them.  Getting to the last section of the trail where a railing began, he refused any more help and wanted to finish on his own.  I protested, but he insisted and it was empowering watching him climb his way out.

We rested back at the tent for a while before I headed out for a run to Bryce and Inspiration Points.  The run was excellent along the rim of the Amphitheater and the 8,300' elevation wasn't as damaging as I had thought.

We ate dinner at Bryce Canyon Lodge (buffet salad bar where I overloaded on food to rationalize the expense) where the host was a Grade-A dip shit.  He got a wag of the finger.  The sunset was taken in at Inspiration Point and wasn't as inspiring as the map pointed out, then we hiked to the base of Wall Street as it got dark.

Today, was  a stellar day.  A tip of the hat to Bryce Canyon.