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Yosemite valley
The money shot, an amazing view of the valley and falls. Doesn't look real does it!Since I last wrote we've been in four states.. California, Nevada, Arizona and now Florida.. We (well, me actually - Stu) have driven 2500 miles... Our national park extravaganza is now over... But it took us through amazingly contrasting terrains and climates... not to mention wildlife (sometimes too close for Sarah's comfort but exciting for me - Stu) and miles and miles of walking!
So we started off in Yosemite National Park... Stu thought this would be the highlight of the trip and it really even surpasses our expectations (seriously it was the most amazing place I've ever been - look at the picture - it's like a painting on the front of a fantasy novel - the sheer granite cliffs you can see are over a mile high! - Stu).
To begin with we suffered a few mishaps on the way there as the we had to take an 80 mile diversion, just miles from the park entrance due to a rock fall. The drive in was stunning though. There is still snow at the top of the mountains and the views really take your breath away. (I was prepared to be unimpressed as I have seen some beautiful
El Capitan
We got lost, but ended up with breath taking views of the sheer granite face of El Capitan, so not such a disaster.. things on my travels, but I was still blown away!! - Sarah) After a few photo opportunities that could not be missed we were soon ensconced in our campsite, bear proof boxes and all.. (Yes they have LOTS of black bears, who will happily break into your car to get hold of something as small as a bubble gum wrapper, they are also partial to shampoo, so all our toiletries went in the metal box too...)
The first day we did a small 5 mile hike around the mirror lake. It turned out to be a bit more of an adventure than we had anticipated as, being the wet season (snow melting on the mountains and glaciers and draining into the valley) the path was severely flooded in places, so we had to go 'off road' to get around the mini lakes.. We met a nervous looking English guy on the trail who had just seen a bear and was singing wildly to keep it away.. (a good tactic along with banging tin plates, we're told..) He was relieved to be able to walk the last part of the trail with us!!
The next day we decided on an easy
Sequoia National Park
Stu driving under a fallen Sequoia log. they were massive! 13mile meadow walk.. Oh dear, flooding was not just limited to the Mirror lake. We back tracked and lost the path so many times, it ended up being an eight hour marathon. We even ended up half way up one of the cliffs on a disused path making our way out of the valley (err it looked a bit like the path we should have followed!), but at least it had one of the best views of the valley we saw whilst in the park. (Was a tad nervous when we had to climb over recent rock falls though!! - Sarah) Finally we were back on the right route and going through a forested area that lead back to the village.. We had chosen this trail because it wasn't widely used and we would have most of the walk to ourselves.. (Yosemite village is really crowded with tourists and cars..)
So when we heard heavy footsteps in the trees we were interested to find out who was tramping around... Stu went to investigate (shouldn't really have left her on her own but I thought it could be a bear and I'd never seen one in the wild - Stu). But
Snow still on the ground.
It was warm enough for shorts and sandals, honest! when he was about 20 metres in front and peering into the bush Sarah found out that it was in fact.... a large black bear. Sarah ran down the path screaming (Not the best thing to have done I now realise after reading my 'what to do if you meet a bear' leaflet, oops.. - Sarah) but Stu missed the whole sighting as he was too far ahead. (I was quite on edge after that - Sarah; but I was cursing that I'd missed him - Stu)
On our last day in Yosemite we turned hardcore and decided to hike to the top of Yosemite falls. A steep seven mile round trip... 3 thousand feet up and three thousand feet back down... It was very hard on the legs, but we still managed a very respectable 4 hour time (the rangers estimate 8hrs for this hike!!) The views of the falls were gorgeous and we got covered in spray from the falls at times..
With our legs still aching, we drove to Sequoia National Park. Famous for its huge Sequoia trees, which are the biggest living things in the world. We arrived to the campsite to find ominously that
A giant Sequoia
Sarah looking dwarfed by this beast of a tree.. there was thick snow on the ground, stream on water running through the sight due to snow meltage and a big sign saying that a bear had been spotted in camp, gulp! We found a sight which was free from ground snow and then headed off in search of the 3000 year old 'General Sherman' tree, the biggest of the park's Sequoias. It was impossible to get good pictures of the trees, they just too immense to fit in the frame!!! But Stu's pics turned out great. We did a small hike in Giant forest which took in some of the most famous sights, including a cabin which had been built in a hollowed out tree, a tunnel which you drive under and a group of meadows surrounded by these giants (I don't have any hiking boots, so was hiking in snow in hiking sandals!! I even managed to fall down a big hole, up to my waist when what I thought was solid snow turned out to be a snow drift! You have to see the pic of me hiking in sandals and shorts in the snow, very funny! - Sarah)
After a seriously freeeezing night in our
Death valley
Check out the temp on our thermostat.. Hot is not the word! tent in which we wore all our clothes with sleeping bags we drove 8hrs to Death Valley National Park. (From 7000 feet to -200 feet below sea level!) (We were lucky enough to see a bear on the way out of the park, on the road ahead.. we stopped and watched about 50 feet away. It was such a 'moment' and the bear acted like we weren't even there, magical!)
It is baffling how different the weather can be in just one American state - snow and sun, desert and alpin forests.. The thermostat in the car jumped up alarmingly as we headed East. First to the 80's and 90's and by the time we arrived at our campsite it was 114f (45c in old money) degrees of dry heat - and it's only spring! (It was so dry and hot you barely sweated, which was weird!) I don't think I have ever felt heat like it! We checked out a few of the sights of the park which revolved around rocks and salt and sand.. But we really couldn't do much, it was just so hot and kept jumpig into the car for the air-con!!! We were looking forward
Death Valley
The vast salt flats were hot hot hot! to the temperature dropping at night.. (I've seen many nature programmes that say something to the effect "desert animals not only have to endure the extreme heat of deserts during the day but the cold nights that can fall to below 0" - so we based it on that - Stu). It dropped alright - to about 104 (only 40c)... So we spent one of the most disgustingly sweaty nights ever, tossing and turning in our sauna-like tent, nice!!!
We were up and out of there by 6am and on the road to Las Vegas, Nevada for some much needed luxury and a proper bed!!!! It didn't cool down much though with temps of around 100 degrees still! We checked into our hotel Circus Circus on the North of the strip and before Stu knew what hit him Sarah was dragging him down Las Vegas boulevard to the super posh Bellagio casino for a Buffet lunch... $18.95 each (about 12 pound) later we were sitting in the plushest restaurant I have seen in a long long long time, deciding between all you can eat steak, roast dinner, sushi, pizza, Asian and anything else you can possibly mention.. Oh and
Desert driving!
The road went on like this forever. Thank goodness for A/C. not forgetting the to die for puddings. (I had five!!!!! - Sarah). Feeling a tad sick (Stu had three main courses, which he ate slowly to fit in as much as possible), we waddled back to the hotel to find we had to move room (We were staying in the major cheapo rooms, miles from the main casino) as our bath was faulty. (I thought what the hell, it's America, and complained that moving was 'most inconvenient' and they upgraded us to the 29th floor of the Skytower baby!!!!!!! - Sarah). A great improvement on our scuzzy budget room, Yippee!!
We visited and photographed all the cool casinos like the Venetian, Caesars Palace, MGM Grand, the fab New york New York etc.. We played some 2 cent slots and computer black jack... Whilst your playing (even on the 1cent slots) you get free alcoholic drinks and if you tip the waitresses a dollar, you are guaranteed your drink will never run dry... We even won a few dollars and of course lost it again.. But it sure was fun!!! (I've side tracked myself a bit and I don't want to babble on too much, but let me just say Las
Food, glorious food..
The buffet at the Bellagio in Vegas. $18.95 for all you can eat. (yes I ate them all!) Vegas is FANTASTIC!!!! I loved every second of the time we were there and I'm going back as soon as I can afford it. I was gutted to leave, especially after I found out they have a real life Coyote Ugly bar!!! - Sarah).
Way to soon, it was time to get back in the car and get to Grand Canyon National Park, Arizona for our long awaited hike into the canyon. We were lucky enough to get passes (you need to book six months in advance and then still aren't guaranteed a pass) to stay two nights on the canyon floor. Which meant we would be carrying all our gear and food for two days the 6.9 miles down,. via the South Kaibab trail, to the canyon floor's Bright Angel campsite. We must be getting really fit now, because the climb down wasn't as bad as we expected, even with our massive packs (mine was 25lbs and Stu's was 40lbs). We got down in about 4hrs, even after stopping for lots of photos.. Just as we were walking along the final piece of trail (me walking ahead as usual) I heard a hissing noise.. I had just nearly walked
Slotastic
Playing the slots in Las vegas into a rattle snake. Stu said we were lucky, the Grand Canyon Rattler is rare.. I don't agree. So then there was more screaming and running by me, aahh!!! (Check the pics for proof!) (we were lucky, it was about a metre long rattled at us and reared up and everything... it would stay still for a photo though so I only got a blurry one. It was exciting but it did make me wary of bushes when we walked past them which was probably a good thing! Never thought I'd see a rattle snake, bear and dingo in the wold though! - Stu).
(I was so nervous about the hike out. - Sarah) You go up via the less steep, but 3 miles longer, Bright Angel Trail. It's 9.6 miles long and has little shade. There's all sorts of signs warning that you can die if you don't eat and drink enough. The rangers estimate it takes 8-12hrs to hike out.. It's hard enough walking for that long, but up hill is a joke!! We started walking at 5am. We have found out we are definitely competitive hikers, so we were pleased to be catching up with some
New york City?
Or New York New York casino in Vegas. check out the rollorcoaster around it! groups who had left earlier than us. We actually passed about 17 groups in all on the way up and managed a very impressive 4.5 hours up. I was flabbergasted we managed it so quickly. The bonus of course was we were at the top before it got too hot as well which really helped. The sense of achievement was fantastic at the end. We were truly lucky to have seen the bottom of the grand Canyon, what an experience it was, unforgettable!!! (Yosemite was better though - Stu)
The west coast is great and I'd definitely recomend it highly to anybody!
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jimandmel
James King and Mel Simpson
Crazy scenes!
Looking goooooooooood! Don't bother coming home, it's overrated and far too expensive. At least we've now got some warmth (I'm wearing shorts..), all of 20 degrees. Jim and Mel xx