Tag: out-west

We made the drive up the eastern side of the Sierras (past Mt. Whitney-highest peak in the lower 48) up to Lee Vining area and Mono Lake. Mono lake is almost 1 million years old and has these spires, or “tufa” rising up out of them. Its high salinity make it home to a special kind of bug larvae that attracts a special kind of bird to the lake. It was quite an eerie scene, and we would have spent longer, but we were ready to head into Yosemite.

We entered on the eastern side of the park via Tioga Pass. The eastern part of the part if Toulumine Meadows, a sub-alpine meadow at elv. 9000 feet or so. It’s a much less crowded part of the park, and so very beautiful; imagine crystal blue streams running through meadows with wildflowers and snow-capped mountains in the background and you have the Meadows. We hiked up to Lemebert Dome for a good view of the area. My heart was racing; I forgot we were at such high elevations and that hiking would require extra effort! There are lots of domes in the park caused by a plate subduction, heating, upwelling, rapid cooling, then breaking, causing most to have one gently-rounded side and one to have a steep face.

For being the less-crazy park of the park, the Meadows were still teeming with people and it was difficult to find parking; I’m worried about the valley tomorrow. We then drove along the pass to a couple of overlooks. Before we knew it, it was 6pm and we had a decision to make; drive back to the hotel for an early night so we can have an EARLY (5am) start tomorrow, or stick around a little longer. We chose the former, given that we were behind on posts and sleep thanks to DeVa. Staying in the park is IMPOSSIBLE unless you book many, many months in advance. I found a campsite, but after reading about SERIOUS bear issues (aka they’re not afraid of people and break into cars regularly), we bagged the camping idea

On the way into town (Modesto, CA), I found a place called “Bob’s take and Bake” – they make a pizza that you put in the oven. It got fantastic reviews on Yelp.com, so I figured we’d try it, given that we were staying at a SpringHill Suites. If it was anything like the TownePlace suites we stayed in earlier, it’d have a kitchen, right? Wrong! We get here only to find a teeny tiny microfridge in the room. Ooops. Not to worry! If I microwave the pizza long enough, it’ll cook like an oven, right? Well, actually it kinda worked, but it was kind of humorous trying to shove an entire pizza into a microwave for 20+ minutes of cooking. The whole floor smells like pizza now and I know they’re jealous bc it was actually really fantastic pizza.

To avoid the crowds, we’re waking up super early to get to Yosemite before the daily mass of 20,000 people descends upon Yosemite Valley. Wish us luck! Please send calming “serenity now” thoughts our way, otherwise, I might go Jersey on some poor, unsuspecting “touron”. (Jk, that’s why I’m having JD drive).

[pe2-gallery album=”http://picasaweb.google.com/data/feed/base/user/116540931850597192007/albumid/5740735668581118961?alt=rss&hl=en_US&kind=photo” ]

All trip long, JD has been commenting “wouldn’t the stars be so great in Death Valley”? After looking at the map and the many, many miles required to get there, I dismissed the idea somewhat. Just out of curiosity, however, we decided to ask some of the park rangers we were meeting along the way if DV was worth it, and was it safe in the summer. The answers were “absolutely” and “yes, if you come prepared”, respectively. We figured it was just crazy enough and the closest we’d ever be; why not?!

The day started with a 4-hour drive from Bakersfield, CA to DeVa (as they call it). We passed many tiny towns that still required you to slow to 25 (everywhere else, we didn’t see a speed limit posted), and a large naval weapons base. Upon arrival, we wanted our picture next to the park sign – hello HEAT! It hits you like a slap in the face and is so oppressive…more on that thought later…

At over 3 million acres, DV is the largest National Park in the lower 48. Thus, driving distances within the park are pretty far. I think it was almost 30 miles until we reached the ranger station where we had to show my universal park pass and get our map. From there, we saw the Mesquite Sand Dunes, which are surprisingly, a rarity in DV. They are about 100 feet tall and look like they are straight out of the Sahara Desert. Very coo, except for the warnings about the sidewinder rattlesnakes that call these dunes home. JD wanted to venture out to the tallest dune, but it turns out that the heat plays tricks on you; that would have been a two mile trek each way through sand in 115-degree heat. We thought better of it, and drove on.

Next up, Devil’s Golf Course. Driving along the main highway, it didn’t look like much of a pull-off, but after bumping along the dirt road for 2-miles, we were rewarded with really cool dried out blobs of mud with salt crystals all over the top. The terrain is so tough that “only the Devil himself would play golf out here”, hence the name. It’s actually dangerous to walk through, because the salt crystals are SHARP and you can cut yourself or trip and break an ankle. We then drove on to Harmony Borax works; not too much to see there, but we learned a bit about how they used to mine Borax from DV. 20-mule team (most famous Borax brand out there) also called DV home and got their name from the 20 mule teams that pulled up to 60 TONS of cargo out of the valley all year, except summer.

The road then took us to Badwater, the lowest point in North America and home to the famous salt flats. There actually is a standing pool of water by the side of the road there, but bc of its high saline content, prospectors’ horses wouldn’t drink it, hence the name badwater. It had actually rained in DV over the past weekend, so the salt was soft enough to write your name in. The salt flats are formed by an underwater aquifer fed by the HUGE surrounding mountains (you thought DV was flat? Ha! Telescope peak, right across from the lowest point is 11,000 feet). The flats are 5 miles across and you can walk as far out as you like. I made it only a little bit before feeling overwhelmed by the heat. JD offered to carry me back to the car, but we made it! (low point of the day – heat-1: audrey-0.)

We then drove over to Artist’s Palette and Zabriske point for a beautiful sunset. You wouldn’t believe the colors in DV. (And you probably thought it was white/yellow?) The colors are almost like the grand canyon. Reds, yellows, purples and greens. It’s amazing: all a result of the mineral deposits. I’ll let JD’s pictures of the sunset do the talking on the point.

We were now faced with a challenge. Where to stay? Even though it’s low season, there was not a room to be had in the park. Our options were camping (night time low of 86) or driving 2+ hours to the west side of the park to stay in a run-down motel for $100 a night. Frugality won out, as well as JD’s desire to see the stars at night, so we pulled over to camp at Emmigrant Pass. Yes, the stars were AMAZING. Knowing that most critters in the park (namely rats, scorpions, black widows, rattlesnakes and coyotes) are nocturnal had us not too keen on sleeping in our tent on the ground, so instead we cleared out the back of our Ford Escape, collapsed the back seats and made a makeshift bed out of our sleeping bags (you wouldn’t dare want to curl up inside of it) and inflatable pool floats. Not to dwell on it, but it was one of the worst night’s sleep we’ve ever had. Oh well, waking up to sunrise in the park made up for it and nothing a little coffee couldn’t fix once we hit the road.

Back to the heat. How to describe it? Imagine a sauna cranked all the way up (we hit 122 today) and a hot wind in your face making it hard to breathe. It’s so hot that you don’t even sweat when you’re outside bc it’s evaporating so fast. The minute you sit down in the car, however, you start to sweat buckets. We brought nearly 3 gallons of water for the two of us and nearly drank it all; the amazing part is, we did not have to go to the bathroom but once. When they say “bring lots of water” they aren’t kidding! All in all, DV was so above and beyond expectations. Despite all the discomfort, we’re so glad we went and hope to return again sometime, as there is so much to see in the park. What a pleasant surprise!.

PS – google “Scotty’s Castle” – it’s quite a hilarious story about a hoax of a prospector who claimed to have built this nice house in the middle of the desert from his gold findings. Ha!

[pe2-gallery album=”http://picasaweb.google.com/data/feed/base/user/116540931850597192007/albumid/5740751454251557569?alt=rss&hl=en_US&kind=photo” ]

Big trees! You may think you have seen “big” trees, but words and pictures cannot do these giants justice. I like the phrase they use on the park website: “come feel small in a good way”. Indeed.

Standing in front of a sequoia, you feel an immense awe and reverence for these giants that have lived centuries before you were born and many more after your time has come. The forest is silent; it’s as if these trees command the respect of all that is around them. We learned a great deal toady about how these trees survive in a very specific climate, their reliance upon and subsequent growth after forest fires, and the movement in the late 1800’s to protect these giants from logging and destruction. I could write pages, but I would definitely recommend reading up on their life cycle for 5 minutes. It’s really a fascinating story and a testament to the beauty and genius of Mother Nature.

Our day was not without some level of “excitement”. Living on the east coast, we’re used to limestone caverns, but out in these parts, marble is the cave type of choice. We thought it’d be a cool thing to see Crystal Cave in Sequoia, so upon entering the park, we immediately bought tickets and made the 45 minute twisting descent via car to the cave. Upon arrival, we had to put all food and toiletries in bear boxes in the parking lot, lest they tear into our rental car in search of food. (We saw a black bear amble across the street on the drive down, so we heeded their warning). We then had to hike down a VERY steep path the the entrance to the cave. Sitting at the mouth of the cave, you could feel the 50 degree air sigh out upon you.

Just as we put our jackets on to prepare for the tour, the park ranger starts talking in a concerned tone on her walkie-talkie radio. She then stands up and says “Everyone remain calm. The power is out in the cave due to an electrical fire that is burning near the exit route. We must evacuate immediately. I know it’s a steep hike out, but please go as fast as you can and cover your mouth when you pass so as not to inhale smoke”…and they weren’t kidding; the fire WAS burning right along our exit path. Although bummed we didn’t get to see the cave after all that effort, we did get our money back and it did make for a memorable experience. In the end, I’m glad that our safety is their top priority. No hard feelings there.

We then made the most of our time in the park by seeing the General Sherman tree, the largest living THING on earth (the stats are staggering – look ’em up!), hiking around the “giant grove” in a nice meadow, then hiked up to Moro Rock, for an awesome view of the 14,000 foot peaks in the area. The descent from the park was so steep and filled with switchbacks – we descended 7,000 feet over just a few miles of road. What a day!

[pe2-gallery album=”http://picasaweb.google.com/data/feed/base/user/116540931850597192007/albumid/5740739916257738193?alt=rss&hl=en_US&kind=photo” ]

Kings Canyon – what an amazing surprise! It’s been called “Yosemite without the tourists” and we like that idea a whole heck of a lot. The main attraction for the day was Zumwalt Meadows, which sit at the bottom of a glacially-carved canyon, much like Yosemite Valley. We went on a guided nature walk with a park ranger who talked about the natural inhabitants of this meadow (plant and people). It was very informative. The whole drive into the canyon, we followed to King’s River, which was classified as a Class 6 river – meaning it’s so swift and high (they had lots of snow this winter – it’s fed by snow-melt) that not even a pro can raft it.

Every twist an turn in the road provided a fantastic vista that had us wondering, yet awfully glad, that why more people don’t visit this park.

[pe2-gallery album=”http://picasaweb.google.com/data/feed/base/user/116540931850597192007/albumid/5740748830008877329?alt=rss&hl=en_US&kind=photo” ]

Today was yet another gloomy start in SF. Our first stop was Monteray Bay – we did 17-mile drive and then continued along Hwy 1. We wanted to stop at Pt. Lobos, but the parking lot was full, so we kept on driving. Eventually we broke out of the fog/mist and into sunshine. The cliffs along the coast were pretty, but nothing like the mountains we had just come from. We stopped and saw the elephant seals at Piedra Blancas –

and then toured Heart Castle (amazing – I’d stay there forever!). We had a quite bite at a yummy burger place and then drove inland to Kingsburg for our next of the National Parks.

[pe2-gallery album=”http://picasaweb.google.com/data/feed/base/user/116540931850597192007/albumid/5740757977385420737?alt=rss&hl=en_US&kind=photo” ]

I guess over the course of 14 days of travel, there’s bound to be an “off” day. Today was exactly that. We woke up to grey skies (yet again) and no clear plan, because we had blown through most of the city attractions yesterday. We couldn’t find a hotel along our driving route that wasn’t SUPER expensive, so we decided to stay in SF overnight and explore the area. I didn’t feel much like paying for parking again, so we decided to drive down to Ano Nuevo to see the elephant seals.

The drive down would have been pleasant, but you could barely see the coast thanks to the thick fog. We encountered traffic and road work and it took almost two hours to get there (it should have been just over an hour). We find out there’s a fee to enter, we pay up, then have to hike 2+ miles to get to the lookout point, which still requires binoculars to see them. The docents in the park were super knowledgeable, and I learned a great deal about this California icon, including the fact that we’ll be able to see them even better tomorrow at a road-side stop near San Simeon. *face palm*.

We returned to our car at 5pm hungry, tired, sand in our shoes and very few pictures to show for it. We then hopped in the car only to encounter horrific traffic on the way back to the hotel, which is in the completely opposite direction of where we’re headed tomorrow. On a brighter note, we ordered some pizza and are watching an old-school Harry Potter (I think it’s #2) on TV. We’re hoping for an early start tomorrow to make up for today’s bummer of a day.

[pe2-gallery album=”http://picasaweb.google.com/data/feed/base/user/116540931850597192007/albumid/5740732696583823921?alt=rss&hl=en_US&kind=photo” ]

I don’t know if it was the wine, the week catching up with us, or the comfy bed, but we managed to sleep till 8:30 west coast time (going back east is going to be hard =). It actually worked out quite well, because we were behind the rush hour traffic. We were told to drive into the city, which I think was bad advice, because parking fees were through the roof. The garage we were told to park at also was in a not-so-great park of town that we had the pleasure of walking through to get to the more tourist-y attractions. First stop – Lombard Street. JD’s knee was bothering him pretty bad, so the hills were quite a challenge, especially going down them. We walked down Lombard street and out to the water by Ghiradelli Square.

The ice cream sundaes looked AWESOME there, but we hadn’t had a real meal yet and thought better of it. We encountered a beggar who had a non-stop banter of rhymes about why you should give him your green. He made me laugh, so I had to give him a dollar.

We then carried on past the cannery and Fisherman’s Wharf. Tourists galore, which was a welcome change from the lack thereof we encountered upon entering the city. We stopped and had a bowl of clam chowder in a sourdough bread bowl and then enjoyed a British tumbling troupe performing on the street.

My favorite stop of the day was actually a designated National Park that consisted of four 150-year old sailing vessels on display. You could actually walk through them and learn about the important roles they played in San Fran’s Maritime economy. We then walked down to Pier 39 to see the sea lions sunbathing. We then trekked our way up to Coit Tower and through some beautiful gardens on the way back down to the ethnic neighborhoods. First Italian, then Thai, then finally Chinatown. We had a bit of a hard time picking out a restaurant, because of lack of English speakers or English menus. We finally settled on a noodle shop that was ok, but not great. Oh well, it was a neat experience.

We headed back to the hotel, but first stopped to pick up a 6-pack of some local brews bc our hotel room has a fridge and the beer selection out here is so exciting and different. Cheers!

[pe2-gallery album=”http://picasaweb.google.com/data/feed/base/user/116540931850597192007/albumid/5740746155433099169?alt=rss&hl=en_US&kind=photo” ]

After last night’s long haul, it was so nice to be able to sleep in a bit, have a leisurely breakfast (double bonus because it was provided by the hotel),pack our belongings, and come up with a vague plan of attack for the wineries we wanted to hit up. Neither JD nor I are wine experts by any means; I don’t even drink wine, and he just knows he likes it.

We decided our first stop would be at Hagafen, which had a free “tasting for two” coupon online. It’s the only Kosher winery in Napa. (Not that it matters to us – it’s that free part =) They’re a small winery (7,000 barrels a year), which was a great way to start. The lady poured us one of each of their wines and explained how it was made and the flavors we would taste. I went into the day thinking most places would resent the fact that we were there, mooching off their wines, with no real intent to buy $100’s of dollars worth of wine (we figured one bottle was a) all we could afford b) all that would fit in our suitcase). But no! Everyone was so nice and so happy to have you there and tell you about your wine, regardless of what you may look like or how much $ you had in your pocket.

After tasting at Hagafen, we asked for some recommendations, and they gave us a bunch of 2-for-1 tasting coupons. Next, we went to Judd Hill. (Another Jewish winery – kinda made us chuckle that we were on the Jewish wine tour at the start). Great wine – JD fell in love with their reserve, but at $75 a bottle, we kept moving. Next stop was Baldacci – good wines, nice setting. At this point, we needed some food, so we went to a Mexican Cantina that was a top pick of the locals for cheap, fast food. And boy, was it cheap, fast, and pretty good, except too spicy for me to eat. We then went to V. Sattui. Good wines, rude service (being a bigger and fancier place, I guess we didn’t look the type that they needed to take really good care of. They had beautiful grounds though, and you could tour their wine cellar and read about their history, so that made the visit worthwhile. Lastly, we went to Sutter Home, which is distributed EVERYWHERE, but they had free samples and the people were really nice, so why not?

For the day, I believe we didn’t spend more than $50 for lunch, a bottle of wine and ALL our of many samples – enough to make JD quite content and sleepy for the car ride =) I did manage to sip a little bit of most everything and learned the various tastes of the different varieties. I think I like Rogue and bubbly, sweet wines the best. (You gotta start somewhere, right?). JD learned that he likes Cab Franc, which is the drier predecessor to Cab Sav. Very cool.

Come about 4:30pm, we had our fill of wine and most places were getting ready to close down, so we made our way towards the coast. We were told that Bodega Bay is a wonderful area to visit with lots of wildlife. We made campground reservations in Sonoma Coast State Park. Well, getting there was no picnic. For whatever reason, Google maps took me on a two-lane road that was in actuality, more like 1-lane wide with nothing but switchbacks and cliffs for 15+ miles. It was horrible. As we finally neared the coast, we saw a giant wall of gray in front of us. Fog/drizzle. Not to worry, it will clear up….or not.

We get out to the beach area and it’s 55 and damp. We got out of the car, took some pictures and headed for the campground, seriously wondering whether or not camping in this was going to be fun in any way, shape or form. We drove through the campground and saw every single spot occupied by giant tents and RV’s with grills and showers and shower cabanas. We have a two-person tent from Walmart, two sleeping bags, and granola bars. Feeling woefully insufficient and not prepared, we called the hotel we’re staying at Fri and Sat in SF and asked if they had room for us tonight. They did and we happily drove out of the grey and back into the sunshine for an hour and a half. Oh well – that’s two nights in a row that we’ve chosen not to camp. I did a little research about our future camping locations and both places appear to have a healthy tick population….hmmmm….I think I’ll be booking a hotel just in case….maybe we’re not as rugged as we once thought….

Tomorrow we’re off to explore the big city of San Francisco!

[pe2-gallery album=”http://picasaweb.google.com/data/feed/base/user/116540931850597192007/albumid/5740734628140994625?alt=rss&hl=en_US&kind=photo” ]

Hi! Today we explored Lassen Volcanic National Park. Not many people get a chance to visit this park, given its’ somewhat remote location and the fact that it’s snow-covered and impassable most of the year. Lassen has the highest concentration of geothermal features in the world (including the world’s hottest fumarole (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fumarole) and the snowiest place in California (it’s an 11,000 foot peak with the park road cresting at about 8,500 feet). We entered the park from the NW entrance (which was closed up until a week ago), and were initially not impressed (maybe we were sleepy from the long drive through nothing to get there). We read signs about how the volcano (Mt. Tehema) errupted violently in 1915. We saw some volcanic rocks that fractured like puzzle pieces as they cooled.

Any misgivings that we may have had were soon cast aside as we made our ascent into the park. Rivers and waterfalls flowed right next to the road thanks for the snowmelt (It was 60 at the top of the mountain, 75 when we entered at the base). We saw a fantastic blue lake as we continued our ascent. Finally, we reached Bumpass Hell, the main attraction in the park. We got out our trekking poles and boots only to find a sign that read “trail conditions: dangerous” =/ I read online that there was still snow covering much of the 3.5 mile round trip hike, but the path through the snow was VERY well worn, so we carried on. Most of the hike was like downhill skiing without the skis. I guess it’s a novel experience getting to hike through deep snow in late July. Plus, falling in snow is a lot better than falling on rocks ;^) Just as we were beginning to doubt this endeavor, we were rewarded by some of the most bizarre sights one could imagine amidst 10,000-foot peaks and snow: the smell of rotten eggs, steam vents, blue (acidic) water, bubbling mud and smoking lakes.

The park has a system of board walks set up to allow people to get a better look at the 300+ degree vents without burning themselves (even though there were footprints off the path =/ One group was even so stupid as to have their little dog off its leash). A bit further up the road, we saw more bubbling mud and steam vents. It certainly was something you don’t see every day. We’re glad we decided to visit one of the more bizarre and beautiful National Parks.

Despite being tired, we decided to make the trek down to Napa area this evening to afford us a more relaxing day tomorrow. We stopped for Mexican food along the way. Tomorrow we’re looking forward to wineries galore and camping on the beach at Sonoma Coast State Park. Cheers!

[pe2-gallery album=”http://picasaweb.google.com/data/feed/base/user/116540931850597192007/albumid/5740742867140223265?alt=rss&hl=en_US&kind=photo” ]

Our day started in Bend, Oregon. What a cool little up-and-coming artsy town! Breakfast at the Mill Inn was WONDERFUL! (Seeing as we’re eating lots of PB&J sandwiches while touring, a multi-course, hot meal was a welcome change!) We then drove out to Pilot Butte, a dormant volcano within city limits. Did you know that Bend is one of only three towns that has a volcano officially in it? The other two are in Portland and Hawaii. Alas, it would have been a great lookout, but it was closed.

Then, it was off to the Cascade Lakes scenic byway. Despite “road closed” signs, we snaked our way around a few business parks to make it on the hwy, that was in fact, NOT closed =) The 50+ mile detour brought us past no less than 10 pristine lakes. The water was so flat you could see perfect reflections of snow-capped mountains in them. The air was so fresh and crisp. The forest was so quiet, you could hear the birds and the trickle of water. Every lake we pulled into had a handful of campers and fishermen on paddle boats. The serenity and beauty of these hidden gems was truly breathtaking. It’s going to be awfully hard to go back to NC =(

After meandering past the lakes, we arrived at Crater Lake NP. Wow! We pulled up to our first overlook and had to scramble up snowbanks so tall, that rangers had cut stairs into them. Standing on the rim, we were at elevation 7,000 feet. The water was such a deep shade of blue. For a park that is only accessible 3 months of the year (they get 40+ feet of snow there annually), it was surprisingly not crowded. We drove around Rim Drive until we reached Cleetwood Cove. From there, we descended 700 feet over the course of 1 mile (hiking poles to the rescue!) to reach the boathouse on the lake. Unfortunately all the boat tours for the day were sold out, but we enjoyed the different perspective from down below. We heard you could swim in the lake; we thought it’d be cool to claim you swam in one of the deepest lakes in the world (7th, in case you’re wondering; formed by a volcano that collapsed thousands of years ago). As it turns out, there is a rock outcropping about 20 feet about the water that you can JUMP off of into the crystal blue 45-degree water. This was an opportunity not to be missed, and thankfully, we were wearing quick-dry hiking gear. The pictures of us in free-fall are pretty cool, no?

Lastly, we drove out to the Pinnacles, which are these 100-foot spires that stick out of the earth, formed by hardened steam vents when the Volcano was erupting. Very cool! Afterwards, we headed west, back to spend the night in Medford, OR to rest up for our next part of this adventure. Stay tuned!

[pe2-gallery album=”http://picasaweb.google.com/data/feed/base/user/116540931850597192007/albumid/5740743924244191393?alt=rss&hl=en_US&kind=photo” ]