Crater Lake

OK…we’re almost caught up here. After Yosemite, Jo and I parted ways. She headed home and Leland and I continued north. The plan was to stay at Lassen Volcanic National Park; however, that ended up being a 415 mile trip and getting out of Yosemite and then around Tahoe takes forever! We stayed in Quincy, CA that night and enjoyed an evening in a hotel. The next morning we cruised through Lassen Volcanic National Park. Lassen is one of the least visited parks in the U.S. and is absolutely gorgeous. After spending a few hours in Lassen we headed to Crater Lake National Park.

Crater Lake was our home base for the next five days. There is a reason Crater Lake is a National Park, it is, without question, the most beautiful place I have ever seen.

We spent our first day riding the rim of the park and stopping off at the viewpoints. Now, when I packed I planned for California and Reno, but not cold a$ Oregon. The second day was spent remedying that problem. We motored off to Bend to get a new rear tire for Leland and a sweatshirt for me (thank you REI!).

We went to Oregon Cave National Monument the next day. Now, I was not expecting much. I thought that if I’d seen one cave I had seen them all. However, it was a really cool experience. We stopped in a large chamber that had amazing acoustics and our Ranger guide convinced two of the Korean ladies in our group to sing a traditional Korean song to show off the acoustics. The song was beautiful and the sound was amazing. Along with the cave being beautiful the ride from Crater Lake to the cave and back was also stunning. The only unfortunate part is my camera broke the night before...boo!

The last day at the lake was spent climbing Mt. Scott, the highest point in the park. It was a great hike that gave panoramic views of the lake, the Klamath Valley, and even Mt. Shasta in the distance.

On our way to Reno (I had a state education meeting to attend) we stopped at Lava Beds National Monument just on the California/Oregon border. Lava Beds has 24 caves that are open for exploration by visitors. All of the caves have some special feature that makes them worth exploring.

Overall I put 3,000 miles on the motorcycle in 18 days. I saw some stunning scenery and became very confident and comfortable on the motorcycle. A heartfelt thanks goes to Jo for putting up with the pets for 10 days by herself and to Leland for going with me.

Yosemite

After King’s Canyon and Sequoia we ventured north to one of the most visited National Parks in the system: Yosemite. We actually stayed just south of the park in a Forest Service campground because the park was so busy. From our campground it was about 45 minutes to the Yosemite Valley. Our first drive down to the valley was slow due to a prescribed burn. Little did we know how much that burn would affect our trip. We first spend some time floating down the Merced River, it runs through the heart of the valley and is the ideal way to see the whole valley: El Capitan, Half Dome, the Upper and Lower Yosemite Falls, Sentinel Dome and all the others. The float was relaxing and provided spectacular, if not smoky, views.
After the float we spent some time doing the typical, touristy crap. We took the shuttle and went to the lower falls, as well as the visitors’ center, walked Cook’s Medow and watched climbers on El Cap.

On our second full day we returned to the valley and took the five mile, uphill, slog to see both the Vernal and Nevada Falls. The biggest issue, in my opinion, with Yosemite is all the flippin’ people. In almost any other park (Yellowstone being one exception) a hike listed as “five miles, strenuous” would not be taken by the common visitor. However, at Yosemite said trail was inundated with visitors that were not prepared for such a hike.

Despite all that, the falls were beautiful.

Our Third day was spent on the Glacier Point road. We climbed to the top of Sentinel Dome (the second highest point in the park) and looked at…smoke. Remember that prescribed burn...it was so hazy due to the burn that you couldn't make out any distinct scenery.
We motored out of Yosemite that last day, going through the Tuolmne Meadows and out of the park.

Overall, I don’t think I feel the need to return to Yosemite, except maybe to go up Half Dome. It was crowded and difficult to appreciate due to the crowds.

Back to Our Regularly Scheduled Programming - California Part Two

Okay, faithful readers. Stick with me here. We've been so busy that we have to back up, post a bit more about our trip to California and Cory's trip to Oregon before we move on to our latest getaway this past weekend to Utah. Yes, this has all happened in the month of July. Stick with me ... the next few posts are going to fly by fast.

So ... I take you back to California. We were near Mojave eating Mexican food and visiting exotic cats ... remember?

I’ll be the first to admit it: If I’m a sucker for national parks, then I’m definitely a sucker for those national parks that float under the radar. Well, it doesn’t get much more under-the-radar than Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks, two joined parks that live in the shadow of the famous park to the north, Yosemite.

We arrived at the southern entrance to Sequoia National Park well into the afternoon, and knowing we were looking for a first-come, first-served campground, we took off up the windy road into the park at a 35 MPH clip. I fumed in frustration as we passed one full campground after another as we drove all the way through Sequoia before finding one lonely, vacant spot in Kings Canyon. I was quickly rewarded with a stunning sunset as the boys set up shop at our campground.

Our first full day in the area was spent exclusively in Sequoia National Park, south of the Lodgepole Visitor’s Center. Sequoias are the largest trees in the world by sheer volume (not by height), and the largest of all is the General Sherman. It’s a big tree, to be sure, but the three of us (Cory, my dad and I) found more solace on the less crowded, more spectacular Congress Trail. Once we got off the beaten path, we were able to wander up to, around and between the trees. In two places along the trail we came upon mini “groves” of sequoias, which were called The House and The Senate. Cory took some spectacular pictures of the light coming through the canopies.

I’ve tried to pinpoint what it is that really makes these trees so magnificent, and I think that it’s that every one of them, while all sequoias, are very different from each other. Because they’ve survived thousands of years of forest fires, disease and harsh weather, some of them are hollowed out in parts or grown over rocks and other natural barriers. One of my favorites had partially swallowed up a gigantic rock and it looked like the tree trunk was blowing a piece of bubble gum.
In an area called Crescent Meadow we saw a bear scratching on a log (thanks to Cory’s good hearing), and happened upon Tharp’s Log, a fallen, hollowed out sequoia tree which this guy lived in for 30 summers while his cattle grazed. We also climbed the 400 steps to Moro Rock, which looks out over the Sierra Nevadas. While it has the potential to be beautiful, there were somewhere close to a gazillion people on the trail (including a really stupid woman wearing high heels and a short skirt smoking a cigarette … really? Really?).

Kings Canyon was a lot less crowded. It also has a large grove of sequoia trees, including the second largest tree in the world, the General Grant. Near this grove is an area of sequoias that were pillaged way back in the day. The trail that runs through here is actually called Stump Trail because that’s all that’s here. You can get on top of the Mark Twain Stump with a ladder, and it’s impressively large, though quite sad.

One of our favorite sequoias was an oversized snag, which means it was dead and burned out. It was off a dirt road and unmarked, but what made it so special is that John Muir had removed pieces of it to study once it had died. You can still see where his ax marked the tree. It was very cool to think we were standing where John Muir once stood.

To really escape the crowds, we took the Kings Canyon Scenic Byway to Road’s End where … well … the road ended. This far back in the canyon we ran into backcountry hikers and anglers. Once here, we decided to take a long hike—nearly 10 miles round trip—to this gorgeous waterfall called Mist Falls. We met this guy there who hikes out to the falls up to ten times a year to try to take the perfect picture of the falls, which he hasn’t achieved yet. The hike was totally worth every step, and we were lucky (?) to see four snakes, two of which were rattlesnakes. Though none of us is particularly fond of snakes, it is pretty cool to come upon them in the wild—especially the rattlers.

The other really spectacular thing we did in Kings Canyon National Park was drive up to Panoramic Point. I guess you could liken the overlook point to Moro Rock, but it was far less crowded and I, personally, thought the view was much more rewarding.

Like any vacation duration, our time in Sequoia and Kings Canyon was, of course, too short. But we had to move on to bigger, though not necessarily better, and more popular places.

Sweeping vistas and camping under the stars,

JoAnna

Interlude

Jo and I went and saw Le Reve last night. We got a great deal on the tickets and it all benefitted the Human Rights Campaign. Part of the ticket price included cocktails at XS, a new hotspot at the Encore Casino down on the north end of the strip. We met our friend Alice at the club and had a few glasses of wine before heading in to the theatre.

There was not a single bad seat in the house. As you can see Le Reve (French for The Dream) is a water based show. The first thing you see as you enter is a bed floating in the center of the stage.

From there it is 1 1/2 hours of pure amazement. Synchronized swimmers stay under water for inhuman durations. Performers dive off of different parts of the theatre and different apparatus as well as swing from the ceiling. The water level rises and falls to allow for parts of the stage to be revealed and danced upon. The highlight of the show (for me) is when one performer drops 96 feet from the top of the theatre straight in to the dead center of the pool of water. You could hear the crowd exhale in relief when he emerged from the depths of the pool.

The one thing I really enjoyed about Le Reve was the fact that there was no "wasted time." Often when watching shows I can tell when they are doing a big scene/act shift because the clown character trots on out and does a shtick. Usually the shtick is funny, but more often then not it drags the pace of the show down. Le Reve moved and by the time it was done I was amazed by how much the production had accomplished in such a short time. The show ended with a beautiful display of giant flowers blooming from the ceiling and the sides of the stage.

Le Reve has quickly placed itself in my top five shows on the strip, falling only behind KA for its beauty and showmanship. A definite must see.

Dreaming of Water in the Desert,

Cory

A Trip to California - Mojave Area

I promise, we haven't fallen off the face of the earth! Instead, we took a vacation to California where we stood face-to-face with endangered wild cats, ate Mexican food at a restaurant made famous by astronauts, hugged some of the largest trees in the world, encountered not one but two rattlesnakes, heard a bear sniffing around our campsite and braved the crowds to visit one of the country's most famous national parks. ... WHEW! ...

So, where to begin?

This was the first leg of my journey as a 2009 Roads Scholar. This was also Cory's first journey by motorcycle. This meant that I drove alone, learned how to charge my computer via cigarette lighter and posted blogs on my travel blog, Kaleidoscopic Wandering, where I could. Cory boosted his confidence aboard his Honda Shadow. We had great fun ... see ... here's us smiling:

Seriously, though, we discovered so many places that this will have to, again, be split into numerous blogs. For now, let me tell you about Mojave, California.

Mojave itself is known for its air and space port. We had coffee at a little cafe in the air port, and it was fun to watch little cessnas come and go as people flew in for breakfast. Apparently Mojave has ideal conditions for testing aircraft. I'm sure it's seen more than one plane crash in its day. It also has such neutral weather that it's one of those places where planes are parked when they aren't needed. There are acres of planes just hanging out in Mojave. It's a little bizarre, actually.

The most interesting parts of our time in Mojave weren't actually in Mojave at all. We ate at Domingo's in Boron for dinner. While appearing to be a run-of-the-mill Mexican restaurant from the outside, the inside is basically a museum for air and space memorabilia. Domingo Gutierrez has been in business for more than 30 years, and his restaurant is where nearly flight members eat before they depart and when they land. The walls are covered with signed pictures, flags, buttons, patches and posters—all significant in air and space history.

He was kind enough to share more of his goodies with us, which he keeps in his back office. My favorite thing was a picture of the crew from ST-112 wearing Mexican garb. Domingo has even been invited to the launch of STS-128, which is happening in August. He will dine with the crew at their pre-flight meal then watch the lift-off from the VIP section. I wrote another blog about Domingo's at my travel blog, which you can check out here.

The second really cool thing we did in the Mojave area was go to the Exotic Feline Breeding Compound, which is in Rosamond. This facility is home to more than 75 different wild cats of 17 different species and it was FASCINATING! Sandy, the director of the EFBC, gave us a tour of the compound and took the time to answer all of our questions.

The primary purpose of the EFBC is breeding endangered cats to ensure their continued existence in the wild, which means these cats are definitely wild animals. They aren't imprinted by humans (though they know Sandy's voice), and they have very cat-like characteristics and defense mechanisms. Although I'm a softie for anything "cat," I think I liked the fishing cat, Frisbee, the best (though the jaguarundi were very interesting as well). If you're interested in reading just a touch more about the EFBC, feel free to check out my travel blog posting here.

I'll leave you with that tonight. In short order we'll post stories and pictures from our time in Sequoia National Park, King's Canyon National Park and Yosemite National Park. Cory extended his trip with a motorcycle ride into Oregon with my dad, so I'm sure he'll have plenty to share from those adventures as well.

I also know we still owe you all the full portfolio of pictures from Peru. We'll get everything up at the same time. It's on the list ... you won't have to stay tuned forever.

Leaving you with a California sunset ...
JoAnna