I packed up early and headed to Sequoia N.P. this morning. The first stop was the groove of General Grant Tree, the worlds 3rd largest living tree. The size of those giants is absolutely unreal. It looks as if they are made out of plastic, too enormous to be real. After that I went to the groove of General Sherman Tree, the worlds largest tree, with a volume of over 2.7 million lbs. It is quite awe-inspiring to be standing next to another living thing that began its journey in life 200 years before Jesus walked the earth. The forests of [View Full Entry]

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Today, concluding the 2nd full week of road tripping, I packed up and headed out of Yosemite around 8 a.m. It was about a 3-hour drive to get to the entrance to Kings Canyon and Sequoia National Parks. The 2 parks are connected with Kings Canyon being to the north. I couldn’t get reservations for a campsite because they were all booked up so I decided to head to Kings Canyon because it is usually a lot less busy. It took about an hour to drive to the campgrounds that are deep inside the canyon floor. It was an awesome drive [View Full Entry]

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Today I feel that I managed to see everything I wanted to at Yosemite. Yosemite Falls were all dried up so I only did the short hike just to see them. It would be awesome to come in late spring or early summer when the water is rushing. They say you can hear the falls thundering all the way down the valley. After the falls I took a couple pics of El Capitan. It’s the largest granite monolith in the world and pretty awesome to see as well. Then it was off to Glacier Point, which has an amazing vista of [View Full Entry]

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Made it to California! It only took 2937.5 miles. I’ve been to Cali before but the air has a little sweeter smell when you come on your own terms. Arrived at Yosemite early this afternoon and set up camp. I didn’t really have a chance to do much sight seeing today because I arrived later than I wanted to. Ill just have to start early and get all the big stuff in tomorrow. I plan to stay tonight and tomorrow at Yosemite and then Sun. night at Sequoia National Park, then its westward to the Pacific and L.A. Cheers, Josh [View Full Entry]

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I departed the Grand Tetons on Wed around 8 a.m. Snapped a couple last minute pics of the range before heading west out of the park. It was time to get some serious miles in. I drove about 7 hours until I arrived at Twin Falls, ID and stayed the night. I didn’t really find anything I was looking for in Idaho. They do have world famous potatoes but that’s about it. Tonight I am in Reno, NV. I have an awesome hotel room at The Nugget Resort & Casino. It only cost $50 and I managed to win half that [View Full Entry]

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I arrived at Grand Teton around 11 a.m. this morning. I am only here for a day but the main attraction is the Teton Range itself and I got some good pics along the way. I first drove to the top of Signal Mountain and got some pics. It feels like cheating driving to the top but I was a little tired from yesterday anyways. After Signal I went for a easy 6 mile hike around Jenny Lake. The lake is at the base of Grand Teton and you really get a sense of how awesome that mountain range is. There [View Full Entry]

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Decided to go on a longer/harder hike on the eastern side of Yellowstone today. Avalanche Peak Trail climbs 2150 feet in 2 miles to the summit at 10,566 feet. The views of the surrounding mountains were fantastic. Saw a lot of mountain wildflowers and butterflies, but more importantly I found what I was really searching for, SNOW! I don’t know why but I got the biggest kick out of seeing snow in August. So what did I decide to do? Make a snow angel of course! I think the vid turned out nicely. After I found the snow I continued up [View Full Entry]

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I started out at 8 a.m. this morning so I would have a chance to get a large portion of the park in today. As I was going to grab a coffee and a sandwich for breakfast I was pleasantly surprised when I managed to spot a grizzly. He was smaller but I managed to get a couple pics in before my camera died, hence the very important lesson of the day today. He came a lot closer than it looks like in the pic. It was very unique indeed to be that close to a grizzly in the wild. After [View Full Entry]

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Today I left for Yellowstone bright and early. After I got to the park I decided to go exploring for the first few hours because the campsite was not ready yet. I stopped at West Thumb and got my first taste of the amazing geysers and hot springs that are abundant here. The water of the hot springs was so clear and blue, absolutely beautiful. Next I decided to just go ahead and get Old Faithful over with. It was definitely worth seeing. I was out looking at a couple other ones near it but managed to get back quick enough [View Full Entry]

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Today I started out by leaving Rapid City and heading West through Sturgis. I was expecting to see thousands of Harleys but was thoroughly disappointed when I only saw a few. Perhaps it was because I just stayed on the interstate or maybe they venture out during the day only to come back and tear it up at night, whatever the reason I would say that I saw far more in the surrounding areas earlier in the week. Guess I'll just have to come back some other time to hear the rolling thunder of all them hogs. First stop after Sturgis [View Full Entry]

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