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Published: October 18th 2010
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Mt Robson
Mt Robson in the snow. nice but cold! Well we have had a very busy and fun filled month since leaving Revelstoke - it is going to be a bit of a stretch to get all that we have done written down, plus it would probably put you to sleep! I am writing this as Juz is driving us up the Interstate 15 away from Sin City and back towards some cooler mountains in our seemingly all of a sudden very spacious van. But I am getting a little ahead of my self.
We met Karina and Brendan in Revelstoke and and promptly shoe-horned 2 more mountain bikes, snowboards, a bike rack plus around 75 kg of miscellaneous gear into Chad. Amazingly it all fit in quite comfortably. Less suprisingly the extra 250kg of weight did little for Chad’s already sedate pace, and made cornering and breaking ‘exciting’. The only real downside was the elaborate packing and unpacking rituals to get the bikes out, but hey - when you have 4 adults living in a space smaller than the average bathroom that ain’t half bad.
In a nut shell our travels have then taken us from Revelstoke to Banff and Jasper via the Icefields Parkway, tramping at
Mt Robson and then after about a week and a half to the American Border. After a much dreaded and surprisingly painless boarder crossing near Glacier NP in Montana we high-tailed it a beige speed 8 (max speed 80kmhr) to Yellowstone NP. After a few days of tedious drudgery looking at Bison and boiling things (geysers), we moved south to Jackson Hole and Grand Teton NP to be wearied by a fresh round of American mega fauna, lakes to swim in and more biking than you can shake a stick at.
(just crossed from Arizona back into Utah - this has to be the definition of travel writing!) Once again we headed south towards Salt Lake City via a river gushing from the base of a cliff thats flow stops and starts every 18 minutes. After a very brief stop in SLC we headed to Park City which hosted the Winter Olympics back in 2002 for a couple of days of single track heaven and some very generous American Hospitality. Time being a short commodity as we needed to get K & B to Vegas by the 16th of October we spent a while tramping and biking in Moab, walked
mtb moose
ran into this guy in Jackson down and spend a night in the Grand Canyon and went canyoning in Zion NP. Finally we had a night in Vegas, which is in one word Bizarre. I haven’t been any where else where you are constantly implored to buy a 'hot babe’, fire a machine gun and gamble.
The highlights of the last month for me have been as follows:
Weather: after spending the last couple of weeks at work with my breath steaming in the cold, we kind of thought that we had had our two months of summer and were dreading spending the next four months in the van freezing our butts off, but after a snowy and cold start on the Icefields Parkway, the weather has been as a rough rule warm and dry. We finally feel that we have had a decent summer. Yay!
People: We have met some really cool, generous folks. In Park City we were having our usual ponder as where to freedom camp, when Brendan got talking to a random bloke who offered us their front lawn to park on. Before you know it we are having a beer with Jim and Debbie, who for the next
two days give us free reign of the shower (!!!) and laundry as well as some great food and company. A real home away from home. Thanks Jim and Debbie!!!
In Moab we met again a Canadian couple (Dan and Liz), who we first met in Yellowstone when they were impressed by the Tardis like qualities of Chad. In Moab they shared their campsite with us in the full campground, Dan shuttled us in Chad for a Mountain bike ride and then dropped the van back, and that evening they cooked us a choice dinner. Bliss! We hope that you are having a great time on your travels Dan and Liz!
Wildlife: The wildlife has been amazing, ranging from watching two brown bears eating berries in some bushes just metres away, to the great herds of bison in Yellowstone. Moose were a something we were desperate to see and after a long time of nothing, all of a sudden we saw lots. They were always docile and placid looking however we did meet a panicky mountain biker who had nearly been trampled by moose. Ho hum.
Mountain Biking: two words: AMAZING and PLENTIFUL. I am rather enamoured with it.
(Surprise surprise - juz!!!)
Awesome Foursome: It was a blast travelling with Karina and Brendan. Travelling as four like minded people across this natural playground was sweet. Have fun in South America guys.
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