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Published: August 5th 2007
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You wait ages for a blog and two come along at once. As Mrs Deane mentioned the internet access over here is poor. Very poor. Not much of it and very expensive.
The American wilderness on the other hand is absolutely beautiful. Over the last few days we've meandered through or past Yosemite, Mono Lake, Sequoia and Death Valley national parks on our way to some rest and relaxation in Vegas. We've both been mildly ill - the evidence of this will be in the dearth of beer reviews.
Our first day out into the interior of the US was mainly a driving day as we covered about 4 hours over to Yosemite. The temp gradually rose from about 70 to about 90 before dipping again as we started to head up into Yosemite. The tent was back, putting in a sterling performance once again over a couple nights camping in the park.
By the time we pulled up at the main entrance to Yosemite it was getting a little late and we were very tired so we just spent the evening chilling with a little food in one of the campsites. We had a little wander before
settling down for the night.
It was freezing. I think we forgot to take into account the fact that we were at 7000 feet but we think it dipped to about 40 Fahrenheit. We just survived.
In the morning we were up early and off exploring. We headed up and over Tioga Pass (10000 feet up) and down the other side and out to the little ghost town of Bodie. Back in the day (gold days) this place had over 10000 people living there and was a little lawless. Towards the end of its days the town was pretty much abandoned and has been left exactly as the people left it. All intact, still goods in the shop windows, open mines, etc and is a very strange place.
Next up we headed to Lake Mono. An incredibly salty lake that has natural springs underneath that bubble up forming strange tufas (or doofas as we thought they were called). These are strange jaggedy formations everywhere as you can see on the pics and make it look other worldly.
We just managed to squeeze in climbing a volcanic crater (not active as far as we know) before we
headed back over the hill for another cold night in the tent. The second night wasn't as bad as we were at a lower altitude so not quite as cold.
Day two in Yosemite was in the valley. A stunning place that I would have appreciated a little more if my illness hadn't reduced me to a quivering wreck. Like a trooper, I managed to make it to all the sights but it was tough. We visited Bridalveil Falls, The Happy Isles, Mirror Lakes, Yosemite Falls, El Capitan, The valley floor and Glacier Point.
The place is stunning. In terms of natural beauty it's probably up there with New Zealand. Beautiful. We probably managed about 2 hours worth of hiking around (all in short bursts) before finally succombing to tiredness and heading south.
As we rolled into Fresno for the night it was 99 Fahrenheit. This was back at normal sea level and it was about half six in the evening. Hot, hot, hot. A very nice motel there - directly next to McD's. No contest on what dinner we had. And breakfast. Very nice.
The following day was a day of big trees and bigger
trees. All really cool. First up was General Grant, a very proud looking tree. I don't know why though as he was only the third biggest tree in the world. He's got time on his hands though - he's only about 1700 years old. A veritable spring chicken. While over near him we saw a good twenty or so other huge trees. They are a little imposing and make you feel very small. An interesting fact - if hollowed out Granty would hold 37,000,000 ping pong balls.
We then drove south for the big daddy. General Sherman. This bad boy is the single biggest living thing on the planet. Not a bad claim to fame. He is big too. He's not growing any taller anymore but is getting wider. Big, big tree. By this stage we were both feeling rough so we managed to get through the rest of Sequoia national park through some trees with tunnels, fallen down trees, more big trees, double trees, tree groves - generally lots of things to do with big trees.
We stayed the night in Lindsay. A small town just off one of the highways. Lindsay (Hi Linz) is hot (about
102 Fahrenheit) but to be honest there's not much to do there.
Our final day in the national parks (for now) was one I had really been looking forward to. Death Valley. The hottest place on earth. It was a long, long drive to get there but very much worth it. We entered the national park about 1.30pm and it was just getting toasty at about 105. After a spot of lunch we meandered down into the valley. As we approached the valley the temp went 106, 107, 108... very rapid and topping out at 117 Fahrenheit. A good temp I think.
Apart from the heat the valley is beautiful. The strangest landscape I have ever seen I think. Really weird rock formations, sand dunes, salt flats, strangely coloured rock formations. You couldn't spend more than about 5 minutes in the heat unless you were mad.
Talking of mad...
We finally landed in a location at the right time. As we had descended into the valley we were a little surprised to see a couple guys jogging past us. As bright as anything, just enjoying a casual jog in the heat. And then a few more.
And some more. By the time we were down in the valley the mad folk were looking a lot more ragged and had swapped the running for walking.
Turns out we had turned up on the perfect day to witness the Badwater Ultra Marathon. Something that maybe I will compete in some day. Maybe. Silly folk.
At the end of our day in the valley we even got to the lowest spot in the Western Hemisphere at 282 feet below sea level. Again it was fairly hot. Look closely at the photos and you can probably see the beads of sweat on our foreheads.
Overall, Death Valley was my favourite National Park. Surreal and forbidding. A unique place.
After the valley, we rolled into the relative coolness of Vegas. Although 100 degrees at 8pm isn't that cool.
See you all in a few weeks. Unless of course you are a random person reading this that we have never met. Then we probably wont see you. Who knows hey?
Mr Billy-Bob Randy Wakeman the third & Mrs Deane
P.S. I'm a little upset. I know I'm losing my hair almost as quickly as Homer
Hammond, have a
little grey on the temples and have developed a little Vertiligo but I think it's outrageous that I have yet to be id'd in the states. Maybe my boyish good looks have finally deserted me...
Beer 168: Seabright Resolution Red, USA, Bottle, 7.4%, 8.0, a good beer despite my raging illness
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