Touring California and Alaska

North America
June 17th 2010

Published: June 19th 2010

Arrived San Fran tired and jet lagged. Hired the Bongo van - home for the next 2 weeks and set sail for Paso Robles. Stayed overnight in Paso Robles - a nice wine area. Unfortunately the wineraries were closed so we couldn’t try the local drop - opening time was 11.00 am.

Headed to LA via Highway 1 and 101 following the coastal route through San Louis. Didn't know there were offshore rigs off the coast of LA in this area but we saw plenty. Hunted by the cops at one stage for taking photos from the van while just off the bitumen (obviously not far enough off the freeway). The officer was not happy.
Eventually ended up in LA - 2 nights in a hotel in Glendale. Caught a bus into Hollywood - saw all the usual things in Hollywood. The tour of Beverly Hills was interesting. Houses lavish - gardens nice and well maintained. Gardeners obviously on the job - not the stars. Did not see any celebrities just lots of flash cars!
Late in the afternoon we bussed out to Santa Monica because we wanted to see the pier. It was great but by the time we

On Bright Angel trail south rim

Early morning walking Bright Angel trail

decided to return to Glendale the express buses had stopped. Experienced the other side of Hollywood on the 3 buses we had to catch. Met some very interesting characters that evening and clearly alcohol and maybe other things are an issue. Also saw the good side of LA when a bus supervisor gave us a lift in his car to the next bus stop. He took pity on us.
Left LA the next morning (Tues 8 June) on our way to the south rim of the Grand Canyon. Cruising out of LA was a breeze. From the hotel drove to the freeway and joined 5 lanes of traffic sitting on 70 mph. Have not seen a speed camera - rule is you drive at the speed of the traffic. If that is 70 mph you do 70 mph or get in the right lane.
At Bastow picked up parts of the old Route 66. Some parts were still usable but most of it needed a 4 wheel drive. This part of the trip included the Mohave Desert at 44 degrees C. Only things visible were rocks and some hardy plants. Saw a Coyote on the prowl.
Stayed in Seligman where

Mules

Passing mules on the Bright Angel trail

Route 66 was a big thing. Paid $60US for the night to stay in the Elvis room at our themed motel.

Next morning drove to South Rim Grand Canyon via Williams. Stayed in the Yavapai lodge and went on the desert view sunset tour - a great introduction to the S Rim at 7,800 feet. Made a big effort the next morning to set out early to hike down the Bright Angel trail into the Canyon. Early starts are critical because of the heat and the further down you go, the hotter it gets. Met the mule riders going down to the trailPha to ntom Ranch. Mules are good on the steep trail. We loved the beauty of the Canyon. Pictures just don’t do it justice. We took 1 hour to go down and 1.5 hours to climb back up. Not too bad for oldies!! Saw lots of unfit young people struggling!!! A big highlight was seeing a Californian Condor - an endangered bird with a massive 9 ft wingspan. The ranger explained how lucky we were to see it on the cliff as there are only about 70 left in California.

Next day we headed off on

Bright Angel Trail

Leanne on the Bright Angel trail

the 220 mile trip around to the North Rim of the Grand Canyon, camping in the Bongo Van. North Rim was freezing and much higher at 8,900 feet. This Canyon is one heck of a hole in the ground. Talk about awesome views. Successfully managed the whole camp site thing and Bushy Graham did a great job of a roaring campfire to keep us warm.

Next day the weather turned it on. We were driving up to Mount Royal, highest point of North Rim when we got caught in a huge hail and snow storm. Road quickly got covered in and we had a few slippery moments on the road. Had to go back to the North Rim Lodge a beautiful old hotel where lots of people gathered to sit out the weather in the warm. Yummy hot chocolate.
Next day we set off for Zion National park, about a 5 hour drive. Zion is different to the Grand Canyon cause instead of looking down from the cliffs you are at the bottom of the canyons looking up. I loved the change of scenery which was dominated by the up departed massive red and white cliff faces and the

Yavapai Point

View from Yavapai pt south rim

coolness and beauty of the Virgin River valley.
Next day we left Zion and drove to Las Vegas and surprise surprise, we just looked at nothing but desert all the way. Hit the Vegas freeway and went straight to the airport to meet Lauren and Adrian who had flown in from Las Angeles.
We had 3 super days touristing - headed to Red Rock Canyon, Hoover Dam, played golf at the Bali Hai course (right under the runway) and it was 100 degrees F. We played well considering the heat and the wind. The Hoover Dam was definitely a highlight. Did the full tour and went into the tunnels behind the dam wall etc, say the hydro power turbines and learnt quite a lot about the geology of the area, how they diverted the Colorado River and how much concrete was poured to make a whacking big wall.
Said goodbye to L & A (they flew up to San Fran) and we set out for Mammoth Lakes via Death Valley. What an experience that was driving across the desert but then climbing 8,000 feet up from Death Valley to the start of the Sierra Nevada Mountains. The signs tell you

Zion National park

Cliffs in Zion National Park

to turn off the air conditioner to prevent the car from boiling. There are radiator stops along the way providing water for boiled motors! Here in Mammoth we are at 9850 feet. It is quite cold and there are metres of snow on the slopes - they are still skiing here despite the fact that it is summer and a lot of snow has melted. The snow makes the scenery look so beautiful but gosh it can get windy.
Tomorrow we head through the Tioga Pass to Yosemite and then to San Fran for a night before we depart on the Sea Princess (21 June) for 10 driving free nights/days.

About 1pm we boarded the Sea Princess and alter that afternoon sailed from San Francisco under the amazing Golden Gate Bridge and immediately hit the Bay fog, a strong head wind and moderate seas. Spent two days out in the icy cold Pacific Ocean before arriving in Victoria, the capital of British Columbia. Teamed up with an American family of 9 and rented a mini bus for 5 hours of touring Victoria. The guide was an expert in speed tours and the highlight was the beautiful Buchart Gardens -

Bali Hai golf

Golfing in Las Vegas at Bali Hai

truly amazing landscaping with sunken gardens, Japanese gardens, rose gardens and the list goes on.
On returning to the ship with 30 mins to spare, we sailed to the port of Juneau where we visited Mendenahall Glacier and nature centre- by this time we are really up to speed on the geological formation of the Earth and the role played by glaciers. Also enjoyed the sights from the 1800ft Tom Roberts Cablecar.
Sailed overnight to Skagway where we experienced a trip highlight - an hour and a half flying in a chopper up to the Mead Glacier. We donned our safety vests and crampons (ice walking boots) for the visit. Our pilot Doug was so good with explanations of flying in the mountains carefully staying in the valley and avoiding cloud because of the dangers associated with flying in cloud and snow covered high mountains (both look exactly the same and it is easy to fly into a mountain).
The views were just stunning. We took lots of pictures to help us remember just how stunning it was flying up to the glaciers. Landed on ice and immediately learnt about using a ski pole to check soft white cracks to

Lake Ellery

Melting ice on Lake Ellery, Tioga Pass, Yosemite National Park

make sure you don’t fall into a crevasse that may be up to 600 ft deep!! Any time we were near a crevasse, Doug checked it and then held onto us as we leaned over to peer in at the deep blue ice. He bashed some ice and pushed it over the edge. It took 2-3 seconds to reach bottom. It was deep. We could hear water rushing through the glacier and into a river under the ice. After 40 mins we were getting cold in spite of the layers and it was time to say goodbye. Flew back to Skagway drinking in the amazing views all the way.
After a walk around the old port shops of Skagway, we went on a bus tour driving the route taken by the gold diggers over the White Pass Summit to the border with British Columbia. Sad story for them - when the miners made it over the pass, after a year of walking/climbing and carrying supplies on their backs, there was no gold. Now the trail is a famous walking trail with the tourists being the gold.
Again sailed in the evening for the Glacier Bay National Park. We were on

Leaving San Francisco and the Golden Gate bridge

deck at 6am, the sun was shining, the air was freezing and the sea lions and whales were swimming as we entered Sitakaday Narrows. The Park rangers boarded the ship and stayed with us until 6pm. They explained about the geology of the Fjord, the wildlife, the sea with its 25 feet tidal changes etc. Saw numerous glaciers, Reid, Lampugh, Margerie, Grand Pacific and John Hopkins. It is impossible to imagine the weight of the ice that has been compacted over thousands of years and the power it creates to shape the land formations. The ship then turned around and we headed out of the Fjord and back to the entrance to the Bay. Again we met up with the whales who put on a spectacular show with spouts going up across the bay, whales swimming beside the ship, flippers splashing, tails fluting and two breaches. Everyone was on deck to see the spectacle. When we finally left the Bay, we were sunburnt and exhausted and ready for nice hot food - Alaskan Crab Legs and grilled Halibut was popular at our table.
Ketchikan was our next port of call where we had a wildlife tour booked. Yes more chasing

Under the Golden Gate

things down on the sea but this time the main objective was to see a bear in the wild. Ketchikan proved to be a beautiful port. So small but still there were 7 cruise ships in the harbour and we had to be tendered in to the dock using the ship’s life boats. It took sometime to tender 2000 people between the ship and the harbour.
We joined 8 others on our bear hunt and headed up into the island canal wildlife park. After 20 mins going at 30 knots, (freezing cold) we saw our first bear sighting on one of the island beaches. He was a big black bear eating lichens and crabs. We were all so excited but we had to be silent as the boat edged closer to the bear. He put on a great show of munching grass, wandered around for ages and then disappeared into the forest. Mission accomplished!!! Saw lots of bald eagles, a deer, harbour seals, their pups and another sighting of a black bear. Spent time watching it and then it was time to head back to Ketchican for an hour of shopping and then into the tender and back to the

Looking back at the Golden Gate

ship. Another great day in Alaska.
Today (Tuesday 29 June) we are resting after all our Alaskan sea adventures. It is formal night on the ship so we need to resuscitate some clothes and head to drinks at 7.00. It is a tough life but someone has to do it.

Leanne and Graham

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