Two weeks after Burma and freshly recovered from jet lag, it’s time for me to head to a new vacation. I have a very good reason to be on vacation again and an even better one to go to Jordan. First, I’ve got a bunch of days to take before they expire (no carry over…) at the end of June. Why Jordan? Because a very cute brunette is spending a month there to take some advanced Arabic classes and I’ve got to visit here there… a month is an awful lot of days afterall ;)
Bryce Canyon National Park
Leaving Zion and its wonder behind, we head north-east to Bryce Canyon national park. We get there in a few hours and set up camp in no time, we’re getting really good at it ;) We plan on having a nice camp fire tonight and it looks like a very good idea since it’ll be on the cold side tonight. Camp fire means s’more of course but also light painting and beer. All that activity keeps us warm and it’s a good thing because the temperature keeps on dropping. When we go to bed it’s below 0C…
Angels landing
Angels Landing, last stop before paradise. The name itself is as much a threat as a promise of a breathtaking view. And the least you can say is that it’s true on both accounts. But let’s back up a bit. After two days in the narrows and because we are people enjoying all the aspects of life, we went right away to the restaurant without even stopping for a shower. When the food arrive on the table, everyone fell silent for 5 good minutes which is unusual for such a large group ;)
The Narrows
You have two way of hiking the Narrows. The tourist way is about the lower section. The adventurer does the whole thing en 2 days. Needless to say our group chose the second option. After all the minor setback from yesterday and this morning, we’re finally in the bus for a 2 hour drive in the mountain to reach the beginning of the trail. It’s not that simple to reach it actually. The region is dug by countless canyons and we drive on roads excavated from the cliff. It’s a bit scary but the views are amazing.
Prologue
Excitement had been growing day after day over the past few weeks. It was finally time. After countless conversations, excel spreadsheets with organizational details, gear needs, planning; after a the shopping frenzy, after having tested our tents in central park, it was finally time. We were not traveling on the same flight but we were able to gather rather easily at Las Vegas airport. The first step was to get our SUV for the week. In Las Vegas, rental companies are far from the airport so we have to take a bus to go there…
San Francisco
Friday night, I’m finally done with my work assignment in Sacramento so I pack and go; objective: the city of the 49ers. I want to try to get there before sunset to snap a few pictures of the sun setting on the pacific before enjoying SF by night. It’s around 30C in Sacramento but I now know that SF is a meteorological abnormality. It’s only 1h30 away by car but my phone tells me the temperature is down to 15C when I reach the bay area. I’m on schedule for once but upon arrival, I can only witness SF being overrun by clouds. They climb from the pacific and fall down into the bay. I won’t get my pictures of the sun setting on the Pacific tonight clearly but thinking quickly I come up with a backup plan.
Post Mortem
Bear box
When you stay in the park, you don’t keep food with you at night because you’re not the only one who likes food. Squirrels like food but they are not the threat. They could be if they were to organize in gangs but it’s free for all in the squirrel world. The problem is the bear. But every problem has its solution. To avoid a nightly visit of a hungry bear at night (even though a bear could definitely keep you warm at night) or to avoid having your car open like a can, there’s that thing called “the bear box”.
Marathon
Preps
I wake up at dawn (according to my criteria’s) and am on my way to the valley south of mine. It’s an hour away since I don’t have a flying car. Today I want to first take the Mist Trail then the Panorama Trail then the 4-Miles Trail. I’ll then have to walk back to the car. From what I saw on the map it should be 25-26km with 2000m of difference in height. Clearly it won’t be easy but I’ve got a healthy mix of optimism and madness so I don’t see that as a problem. For that hike, I reorganize my camera bag to fit a big water bottle and some cereal snacks on top of my second lens. My camera is around my neck, ready to shoot!
Yosemite
Even though I’m based in New York, for work reasons, I’m spending 2 weeks in Sacramento California. Planning on taking advantage of this, I have in mind to visit the famous Yosemite National Park over the weekend. Riding my faithful red ride (rental car) and equipped with my prehistorical GPS, I’m heading to the park. It’s 3h30 to 4h away with only a small part on the highway. The speed limit is only 65mph on the highway anyway so it’s super boring it’s going to take a while no matter what