Trek America

well the 21 day trip that has just wrapped up in LA was one of the most rewarding travelling experiences i have embarked on across this long journey of mine. I normally travel independantly as we did on our way around the globe, and then on my numerous trips into europe. But after my experience last xmas in meeting some great new people and having a really good time on an organised group trip, i felt that this 3 week road tripping van tour around some of the coolest cities and nicest national parks on the western side of the States should be pretty awesome.

SAN FRANCISCO

The Vibe of San Francisco was amazing, the Golden Gate Bridge and its almost evil veil of rolling mist was incredible. We took a bay cruise with beers, said hello to the seals that have taken over some of the jetties at pier 39 and explored the mecha of seafood restaurants around the area. Took a cable car ride down from the top of San Fran after walking up through china town and the steep inclines along the way to Lombard St, the famous winding descent filled with flowers and offerin great views of the bay. we did the night tour of alcatraz which was interesting but not as cool as i had hoped, then had a cherry fight in our hotel room.

Sun one side, gloomy mist the other

YOSEMITE

Yosemite was a beautiful park, the weather cleard up on our first morning there for our hikes. Kenny and Morty, two Danish friends went all the way up to half dome, a 17 mile hike. I pansied it and did the Nevada Falls trail, which was very pretty and gave me some great images, but after returning to the lodge and hearing the boys tell there story of half dome, i realised i should have just done it. We only saw one bear and sadly it was from the Van window as Emily, our tour leader freaked out on me when i asked to get out of the van to take a picture. it was a good hundred yards away with plenty of other people between me and it. It wasnt that big either. we doubled back after it being spotted and shouted out the window to a family that where fishing on the other side of the road (which was where it was heading until it was nearly hit by a car and turned around) that a bear was very close to them, but the lady obviously didnt speak english cos she just smiled and waved.

The view of the Half Dome and Nevada Falls

pool and spa party that night included shotgun and strawpedo races, lots more laughs and severe drunkeness. another tour leader from a different trek tried to tell us to go to bed, i fought hard not to tell the bitch not to suck my balls, even emily didnt like her.

ZION NATIONAL PARK

Night sky at Benton Hot Springs

slept under the stars and watched the sunsetand the moon and stars rise in a natural hot spring at Benton, then moved on to Zion National Park. Now this is one beautiful place. we sprung up early and took the shuttle into the park to the trailhead for the angels landing hike. the hike up offered amazing views back down the valley as the sun rose high enough to light up the corridor, and then once we were atop this huge plateau the views out (and down) were incredible. The last incline was steep and rugged, some places offering nothing but massive drops on either side of a narrow path. i found out on the way back down that the day before a father of foour had fallen off, in fron tof his wife and kids. poor bastard.

The view from Angels Landing

we also hiked the narrows, basically ankle to thigh deep water all the way up a canyon. Again lovely spot with some amazing natural rock formations and brilliant colours. BLOODY HOT!

BRYCE CANYON NATIONAL PARK

Bryce Canyon National Park came next, somewhat smaller than the any other of the parks we visited, but no less, if not more impressive. The erosion has left amazing patterns in the remaning rocks, thors hammer is just one of many impressive formations remaining in this canyon that you can navigate the rim of in half a day. We came back for sunset but as i feared we were an hour or so to late as the canyon falls out of the light well before the sun actually goes down.

Looking down into Bryce Canyon


MOAB/ARCHES NATIONAL PARK


Moab was sweet. we hiked to delicate arch in Arches national park, i wsa slightly dispointed with Arches as it was less than i expected in terms of the numbers of these natural formations that we saw, however i did spend our free day there mountain biking rather than hiking in the park so i guess that kind accounts for that. Matt, Kenneth, Morten and I hired bikes and headed for AMASA BACK trail, it consisted of steep rocky climbs, technical descents, speedy rock singletrail, and some absolutly breathtaking view from the top of the amazing mesa that we climbed. Without the most eyegasmic vistas iv have had the pleasure of view whilst riding a mountain bike. the sheer size and scale of what was surrounding us put me in pleasure overdrive.

Delicate Arch and stone bowl

So anyway, we thought AMASA BACK was a loop, it was not. towards the top it was poorly sign posted and we only had small piles of rocks and the odd white spot painted on the rocks. As the we went further and further, it became more and more a rock surface and dirt (with visible tire tracks) became more and more scarce. It was boiling hot, pushing 40 without doubt. after blasting our way (in between losing the trail and finding again) as far as we could figure we could go, it became aparrent that we couldnt find the loop and would have to turn back. water was running low and we had to be back at camp and return the bikes.

A view from up on the Mesa. scale is hard to portray, it was BIG.

we soon realised due to not paying huge attention to how we were getting down, that the climb back up so we could back down the othe side was going to be considerably slower, and thirstier work. We also realised that it looked almost the same in every direction. luckily we were on top of a bug mesa and not out in flat desert or we would still be there now. It was one of the hardest rides out of anywhere i have done, for a while it was kind of scary (in the back of my mind anyway) but once we found our bearings and discovered memorable parts of the trail, it was just a matter of getting back..... without water. Dehydration sucks.... i managed to scam a couple of small bottles of water from a guy once we were off the mesa, but between four of us it went quickly, and we still had a 5 mile ride back into moab. when we found the first place that sold drinks (sadly mcdonalds!) i felt dead, my knees felt like i rusty hinges and my arse felt like i had been raped by a freight train. the relief of being back in civilisation was a great feeling. after lieing down for 10 minutes or so at camp i jumped up to the sound of thunder and both quads cramped simultaneously like i have never cramped before, i could feel tennis balls through my shorts!

The Jets, prior to our predicament, another great view, ( my bike: Intense 5.5 EVP )



MONUMENT VALLEY

Monument Valley was next, we descended down from Utah out onto the plains, i got a good shot of the famous highway with the buttes in the background, the spot were forest gump stops running if anyone can remember. We took a jeep tour with a Navajo Indian around the park and learned of ancient myths and stories of his ancestors. He also spoke about the recent Redbull air race, the rock face that tom cruise climbed for mission impossible 2 (on a blue screen back gorund, totally fake. As well as the butte were metallica and bon jovi have actually played and filmed music videos. we had a native american dinner under a huge rock face and continued on around the park. we stopped at one sacred spot were there is a large hole inthe top of a large rock face the comes out and overhangs above a semi circular formation. it resembled something similar to the dome of the pantheon if anyone knows it. he told us some more stories and then asked us to lie back and close our eyes and relax. He played a traditional Native instrument like a flute for about 5 minutes or so. it was a powerful moment i can tell you. i think it was longest concious moment that the entire group was silent for the whole trip. outstanding.

Monument Valley. simply stunning.

we were dropped off in the carpark to return to camp as the sun was setting over the valley, the navajo sang to us an ancient song and then asked all of us to sing songs from our heritage, after the poms sang god save the queen, the germans, dutch and danes, their anthems, it was my turn...... "working hard to make a living....."


Lake Powell was boating paradise, Matty and Lubeek, we gotta fly the boats over!! it was party central at eastons campground. after discovering that our atv rides were going to be "guided" and only for half an hour, we cancelled our booking s and decided to get rockstarred in their BYO bar area. a pool table, stereo with ipod connection, dance floor etc, the part was on. we made punch so strong that people wer drunk by 6.30pm, and i mean trollied!! some great photos from that evening. morty even got offered and email address and some "pictures" from some church chick that was partying with us!!!

THE GRAND CANYON

The grand canyon has a lot to live up to. Its awesome reputation, the enormity of its size, the hype of how fantastically amazing it is. I sadly was not as impressed as i had hoped when i first laid eyes on it, i think mainly due to the fact that we had seen so many other large canyons, cliff, plateaus, and mesa that it sort of lost its edge. It wasnt until i flew over it in a helicopter that it truly sunk in. Flying at relativly low level across the trees leading to the edge of the canyon, then sense of speed is good (approx 200kph). as we slung out over the edge of the canyon and over the abyss, its like you suddenly just stop. Its so vast that even though your still travelling at the same speed, its almost like your not even moving anymore, and its so much more impressive from above, especially when the day before you hiked down into it and even worse, up back out of it, in 44 degree heat!! The canyon looks good from the viewpoints at the top, but you have to explore it more before she really grabs a hold of you and puts you in your (very small) place.

The Canyon from the air

Sunrise at the grand canyon. its early, your tired. you will never experience anything like it, anywhere else in the world. a magical moment forever etched in my memories to the tune of some of my favourite music, dangling over the edge of a stupidhundred metre cliff, watching the light slowly fill the cracks and ravines, and the colour dance and change every minute. then when the sun first peaks over the horizon, it only lasts 5-10 seconds, but its natural morphine. mother nature was a chemist in another life....

Prior to the sun rising, Canyon rim.

LAS VEGAS

VIVA LAS VEGAS!! stinking hot vegas, i knowit ws hot in the desert, but vegas was just crazy. it felt like it was 50c. i think the concrete and tarmac, and the hot wind made it worse than it actually was, but damn it was sweaty. well actually it wasnt because it evaporated so fast.



we took the party bus around vegas for a couple of hours, a huge contraption like a nightclub on wheels, very freakin cool!! it had a pole, big tvs, awesome soundsystem and a ridiculous amount of booze. then we hit the bars and casinos, i forget a lot of it, but we got a taxi from the mirage casino back to the hotel at some hour. it was still atleast mid 30's at 2am.

part of the strip, including the MGM Grand

we explored several of the other big casinos the next day, Bellagio, Mirage, Caesars palace, the Venetian, i forget the rest, then later that night we went to a chapel were the married couple on our tour renewed there vows, which was an interesting experience. The n we went and played beer pong, folowed by checking out the New York, New York casino.

THE BITTER END

our final days in california were spent in San Diego, around Pacific Beach area. it reminded me of the beach culture of the surf coast in Victoria. we didnt do heaps really just dinner and drinking at camp, climbing trees and other general shennanigans. Checked out the aircraft carrier USS Midway and learnt quite a bit about the landing and launching of aircraft from a carrier. probably the highlight was visiting the bar from the movie TOP GUN after dinner at Hooters.



on our last day we went to universal studios LA, all we did really was go around to all the rides and have fun. Terminator 2 3D was cool, the big drop in the Jurassic Park ride was fun and the back to the future experience was the highlight of the day. We stole a free night in the hotel (all 7 of u in one single hotel room) so that those of us still left at the end of the day could drink our remaining alcohol and have one last dinner together.

last night on the booze with (l-r) Lee, Morty and Kenny

The trip was easily the most fun i have had travelling, not neccessarily the greatest sights i have ever seen, but a lot of tremendous places, great experiences, some lifetime friends and great memories. Its sad that its over, even though i was tired at the end, i would have said yes if emily had have asked if we wanted to keep going.


Now im just hangin out in LA at a friends place in El Segundo. its in between, Santa Monica/Venice Beach, and Manhattan/Hermosa beach. went to a party last night in a backyard of someones place at Venice Beach. his backyard was better than the beer garden at any pub i have been too. a large pond with fish and a waterfall, palm trees, a bridge over th pond down towards the fire and then a bar at the back. and i mean an actual bar, except the beer and other drinks are free. the garden was spectacularly layed out and the oil torches and decorative lighting were brilliant. only about 100 people there though....