Yellowstone NationalPARK

This will probably be my last post for about a week, because we are heading towards Black Rock City, where the Burning Man festival will take place – starting tomorrow. Due to our tremendous time management I only have one hour to summarize the last couple of days, before the Starbucks closes. Here we go.

We both were looking forward to the Yellowstone Nationalpark, which has a great recommendation, being the oldest National Park in the states. Before we entered, we stopped at a Lake in the Grand-Teton Nationalpark. Great camping spot.

Spot for the night

Once again, our time management couldn’t have been worse – we entered the Yellowstone on a Friday…  Somehow we always manage to reach the most touristic places at the busiest times, with the exception of Vegas where it probably would have been better on a weekend. Nevertheless, it is a huge park and I was eager to catch my first fish on American soil, so I decided to get a permit and try it the legal way. Sadly, it wasn’t the right season to fish with the specific equipment I brought. Due to the constant heat all the lakes where pretty dried up – no fish for Vince. The park itself had some scenic points as well as changing geological landforms, which was pretty amazing. Nonetheless, it was packed with tourists, to a point where it did not feel like being in the wilderness. It felt like being in a car park with nice views, which somehow is distinctive for the American lifestyle. They love the “drive thrus” as much as the Aussies. I was annoyed by that fact when I worked in the liquor store in Australia, where I was the perfect victim, and I still do not like them now. Therefore, we spontaneously decided to make a huge loop and head out of the west entrance. It definitely was the right decision. We even saw a rare owl as well as a couple of bison`s – striking creatures – on our late exit route.  

Pshhhhhhh

Huge fire in the forrest

Muh

I literally stepped in bison poo for that picture

Leaving the Yellowstone behind, we made a quick stop at the Craters at the Moon National Reserve. After spending the night on a parking lot, we nearly left without exploring the nature, which turned out to be pretty cool.

At Twin Falls we realized that you actually need to prepare yourself for the burning man in advance, when it comes to the basic provisions as well as knowledge about what actually happens on this unique festival. After we read a couple of blogs we decided not to join a camp in – more details in about seven to nine days – and headed towards Reno, where we would make our final arrangements. So the last days, we spend most of our time preparing. Exciting for us, maybe not for the outside reader. 

Twin Falls bridge

However, I still caught my first fish on the American continent, when we spend the night on a field close to the Highway.

thrill of the chase look

thada!

Two days before the festival, we met with the former roommate of Flo – Anja -, who spends her vacation with two friends, Anne und Jana. Flo and I scouted a nice place near Lake Tahoe, the Indian Creek reservoir and we had a relaxed day with the girls.

Anne told the best jokes

That’s it for now. We packed our car with 30 gallons (113,562 Liter) of water, loads of snacks as well as to crazy, sweet bikes which are totally on fleek. There are probably a lot of things we forgot and didn’t consider, but there is something about driving up to a dessert with a fully packed car and not knowing what actually awaits you. A thrill of anticipation and tension. A mechanic in Reno told us to prepare for anything – it will probably happen. We`ll see tomorrow.

Unpimped

Ready to go

Cheers

Vince

Grand Canyon to Bryce!

I know I said that before, but after two weeks, I am now completely back in the traveling rhythm. Even the aversion of updating this blog is back, despite knowing how good it can feel to squeeze the latest events in short passages. But that’s part of the deal and I am willing to keep it.

Before entering Las Vegas, we already had booked a hostel room in “The Cat” in advance. Having a bed for yourself, being able to shower as well as having air conditioning felt quite nice after the devastating heat of the Death Valley. Nevertheless, I never was and still am not a big fan of hostels. But visiting the city of sins it is a necessity. On our arrival we were told, that there will be a meteor shower that night. Those things are quite rare and it was supposed to be the perfect night for it. So we decided to book the tour after all, for just 20 bucks each. After the hostel crew squeezed nearly 20 people in two vans, we drove out for 90 minutes to escape the air pollution of Vegas. Sitting next to me, a car sick Japanese girl, who updated me on her feeling sick status by writing on her phone. So that added a nice twist to the drive. Without vomit on me or in the van, we finally arrived at the beach, where some people went cliff diving and others just relaxed and enjoyed the shooting star show. The place itself wasn’t that bad, however some people were pretty annoying. The undisputed winner was a Danish lad who, referring to himself, jumps out of planes and opens businesses on a regular basis. He also had really helpful tips, how to get over my fear of jumping down cliffs by night – not! Flo and I isolated ourselves after a while and shared the same, pleasant feeling of being totally fine with the fact, that we both don’t like and neither need this sort of hostel adventure. The next night, we went out on the main strip of Vegas. The pokies didn’t favor us that night, but we still had a great time exploring the turmoil of people, shops, casinos and lights. I even found a phone case, that contained beside an iPhone, two credit cards, which I returned for a 20 dollar finders-fee to the rightful owner, who was kind of ungrateful.

No money - no nuthin!

Fire!

Even though it was quite an experience to visit Vegas, I was happy to leave the city and this hostel after two nights. Don’t get me wrong, Hostels can be a good thing, especially if you stay there for more than a week. But if you are just passing through, and don’t really feel the need to be motivated by the staff, it can be somehow annoying. Next stop, Grand Canyon.

Grand Canyon:

Having our Yosemite experience in mind, we both didn’t really knew what to expect when we reached the maybe, most touristic place in America. Nonetheless, we were both amazed by the scenic landscape. We spend our time, visiting various viewpoints, climbing every rock there was and absorbing the truly amazing feeling of getting lost in the depth of the valleys. After we watched the sunset at the amazing lipan view point, it was time to leave this unique place, which is definitely worth a visit.

Picture for my mum

Cooking session

Heading north, we passed a beautiful scenic drive, were we took a freezing cold dip in the Colorado River and played an epic game of boule.

Bouled that smile of his face!

It is interesting how places like the Grand Canyon immediately set a new bar for what you deem worthy of photographing or even stopping for. They leave lasting impressions, which you automatically compare with the following ones. The night at the eureka dunes did that to the meteor shower with the horde of apes and now, there is a pretty high bar for mountain ranges as well as scenic viewpoints. Thanks Canyon the Grand!

On our way to the Zion National Park, which Flo was eager to visit, we stayed at an outstanding camping spot close to Kanab, where we met a French family, which is traveling the world for a total of four years. Also I totally forgot to mention, that in America it is allowed to camp for free in the National Forrest`s as well as in the National Monuments, which we have been mostly doing in the last week. It is pretty easy to find amazing spots, when you follow random off road tracks, which are as frequent as Germans roaming through New Zealand.   

Zion National Park:

At Zions National Park we decided to hike a popular track, the angels landing. We started the hike at midday and I really enjoyed the possibility for a decent workout (örkoute). On the main track itself were a lot of pedestrians, which nonetheless didn’t affect the outstanding experience. Arriving on top of the mountain, you could overlook the whole valley. It was truly amazing, being on top and having such a clear view. It reminded me of a climbing track I did almost a year ago, when I was traveling the west of Norway with my brother and a friend of mine. That Scandinavian-track was definitely way more exciting and even a bit dangerous, but didn’t finish in such a breathtaking overlook. In total this was one of the best hikes I ever did.

Leaving the Zion, we made a quick stop in Cedar City, where I bought my first camera ever. So there will be better pictures from now on. Thanks to the superb zoom, even pretty decent close ups!

The next day we made our way up to the Bryce Canyon, where we did a quick, impressive hike and left within the same day. Summarizing the last days, made me realize that we literally did nothing else within the last week than spending our time traveling through National Parks, which definitely entailed some amazing experiences.

When we left the Bryce Canyon we stayed the night in the Grand Staircase-Escalane National Monument. Just another ravishing nightspot along the way, where I got the chance to fully test my new camera.

Spot for the night

Alda Vadda

At this moment we are on our way to the oldest National Park of the United States of America, the Yellowstone National Park. It is quite a drive up there, so we spend the last day driving up to a suburb of Salt Lake City, made a quick stop to recharge our laptops, and are probably arriving at our desired destination in a couple of hours. After the Yellowstone, we have nearly a week to make our way up to Reno, where we will prepare for the Burning Man festival, which starts at the 28^th of August. So I will definitely get back to writing on our way to Nevada.

Greets Vince

Murrrriccccaaaa!