Prepping for Burning Man

This weekend has been a flurry of activity as I prep for my journey to Burning Man. There's so much to think about: extreme temperatures, transportation, water (both how much to take and how to collect and carry grey water out), costumes, wind, dust, etc., etc.

I ended up buying a bunch of random clothing pieces at second-hand shops and stuff I found around the house to put together costumes out on the playa. This includes a black leather corset, a black suede jacket with red fur, a crazy green shawl/cape with fringe, wings, a headband with devil horns, a hideous tie-dyed swimsuit pullover, a huge St. Patrick's Day hat and all the Hawaiian garb we used for the Mud Run a few months back.

We went grocery shopping yesterday, and since we usually stay out of the middle aisles where all the preserved foods are, I was surprised when we started walking down those aisles to discover how much stuff does NOT need to be refrigerated. Cory set me up with a few basic meals, and then we bought bagels, peanut butter, crackers, fruit cups and the like to keep me going. I've heard that people aren't normally very hungry once they get there, so I'm sure I've totally overpacked on the food, but better overpacked than underpacked, I guess.

I picked up a second hand bike to ride around the playa. Cory was AWESOME this morning replacing the tube in one of the tires, lubing up the rusty chain and wiping the whole thing down. He told me to go slow and coast ... apparently the brakes work about 75% of the time. That's pretty good for $10.00. My favorite part of the bike is the tag attached to it that says it was confiscated by the Las Vegas police department. I am the proud owner of either a stolen or drug bust bike. Go team me!

Finally, there are all these little details to think about. I've stocked up on ear plugs and dust masks. We bought water bottles to mix up a vinegar water solution to combat the harsh playa dust. I'm using rebar to hold my tent and shade structure down in the wind. I've got goggles to protect my eyes in dust storms. Again ... I've probably overpacked, but I'm okay with that.

My favorite part of everything I've packed is a postcard Cory created for me to pass out as my bartering tool. It's a collage of photos he took this summer as we traveled around ... me as a Roads Scholar, him as my favorite travel buddy and photographer. It's a great postcard, and I'm so excited that, even though Cory isn't going to Burning Man with me, I'll be able to share his part of my journeys with other people.

So that's where things stand now. Today is a whirlwind of last minute details, and then tomorrow I take off! In less than a week the Man burns. I'll be back a week from tomorrow with yet another exciting travel adventure under my belt.

(I wrote a bit more about the Burning Man preparation at Kaleidoscopic Wandering. Check it out here.)

Burn, baby, burn ...

JoAnna

Middle of Nowhere, Nevada

Last weekend Jo and I ventured 5 hours Northeast of Vegas to Great Basin National Park. This was the last of our summer trips and we were excited to explore this under visited gem of the National Parks System. The drive was boring and long (think Pullman to Ellensburg for you Washingtonians), but we did listen to some good music and chatted about this and that on the drive.

When we arrived in Baker, NV (the gateway town to the park) we stopped off at the park's visitors' center and found out that there were very few camping spots left at the Wheeler Peak campground and that we needed to hurry up there to claim our spot (all sites are first come, first serve), but we also needed gas. Getting gas required an 8 mile trip out of town. Baker and Great Basin truly are on the edge of nowhere, Nevada.

We managed to get gas and secure our camping spot. The entire campground was gorgeous and there were very few spots that were not surrounded by beautiful pine trees. Wheeler Peak campground sits at the base of Wheeler Peak and is at a 10,000 ft. elevation. The 12 mile drive from the Lehman Visitors' Center (the one in the park) is straight up hill. After setting up camp we toodled on down to the Lehman Visitors' Center and scheduled our Lehman Cave Tour for Sunday morning. We also took our first hike along an interpretive trial just behind the center.

The little hike was nice and we learned a lot about the flora of the park and a bit about its history. Afterwards we decided to head back up to the hill and do the "Lakes Hike" that had a trailhead by the campground. The lakes were gorgeous and it was a beautiful afternoon. While hiking the lakes we decided that the next day (Saturday) would be best spent going up Wheeler Peak.

Now, Wheeler Peak is not just a little day hike. Scroll back up and look at the elevation for the campground ( go ahead)....

We started the hike at 10,000 feet. We ended at 13, 069 feet. The peak is the 2nd highest point in Nevada (the highest being 13, 149 ft.). From the trail head it is 4.1 miles to the top of Wheeler Peak.

The first mile and a half or so was a beautiful winding path with a very slight incline that went in and out of an aspen forest. However, once we stepped out of the tree line we had 2 miles of switchbacks and steep inclines all hiking on this:Talus (loose rock at the base of a cliff) is much like sand in that it is a 2 steps forward, one step back type of material. Not only was the terrain difficult, but there were parts of the hike that were buffeted by heavy, cold winds without any barrier to protect us. When we did make it to the top, there was a definite feeling of accomplishmentThe hike down was easily more treacherous than the hike up. We both spent time slipping and sliding down the hill until we hit the tree line. The rest of the day was spent relaxing and warming up. Little did we know that it was going to hover around freezing that evening at our campground.

On Sunday we broke camp and headed to Lehman Cave. The cave tour was about 90 minutes and was very interesting. Lehman Cave is a limestone cave, which tend to have some pretty spectacular cave formations. Lehman is rare in that it is one of the few caves known to have a formation known as shields. Shields occur when two formations grow together to make a circular protrusion

The tour was a nice way to end our trip to the park. We stopped and had coffee in the gift shop after the tour and then hopped in the car and headed home.

As an aside, how many of you read these? Could you let us know in the comment section of this entry? Thanks!

-Cory

Another weekend away - Bryce Canyon and Cedar Breaks

A couple weeks ago, Cory and I took a weekend away to explore another one of Utah's famous national parks. This time it was Bryce Canyon, which is about an hour an a half further than Zion. We arrived on Friday afternoon and set up our tent outside the park in a sprinkle of rain. I was a little thrown off by our campsite because, although we had reserved a spot, it was sort of a first-come, first-served type of deal, nothing was numbered, there was only one potable water spout for the entire campground and two outhouses served everyone as well. It was all run out of a Cheveron station. Very strange.

Anyway ... we got set up, then decided to drive into Bryce Canyon National Park. It is a disorienting park because the entrance is at the north end, and you drive south to the furthest point in the park. It's a relatively small park - only about 18 miles from one end of the road to the other. The main portion of Bryce is serviced by a shuttle bus, but the rest of it can only be reached, but car, so we drove to the southernmost point - Rainbow Point - and began to make our way back north, stopping at every pull-off point along the way.

Bryce is at a much higher altitude than the other parks of similar structure (Zion, Grand Canyon), and everyone warned me to dress in layers because I would be cold, but I was surprisingly comfortable. I was also pre-warned that this was no Zion, and I agree with that as well. It took me awhile to realize that the reason why most national parks are spectacular is because you can look out at what makes them so fantastic; you are surrounded by the park's beauty. At Bryce, you stand on what makes Bryce so famous. If look out in the distance, you just see land and even small towns. So when we stood at Rainbow Point and other look-outs the first day, I wasn't all that impressed. It was beautiful - yes - but not spectacular.

There isn't a lot of hiking in the southern portion of Bryce Canyon National Park (though we do plan to return next summer to hike for a few days below the rim, a trail that winds all over the souther part of the park), so we sort of did the touristy thing, pulling off to take pictures of the delicate rock features along the road. I thought the natural arch was pretty cool, but I would have liked to have hiked below it and see it from below.

That night we got a touch of soothing rain, which sounded so relaxing tapping on the outside of our tent, but by the morning it was dry and the sun was out.

We got up and caught the shuttle bus and headed to Bryce's most famous point of interest: the Amphitheater. We rode the shuttle to the southernmost stop (Bryce Point) and began our day of hoodoo viewing. The hoodoos - the orange rock features that stick up like otherworldly creatures - are actually quite stunning. Very unusual and like anything I've ever seen before. We rode the shuttle from stop to stop, plotting our course for the afternoon's hike and taking an array of photos. We stopped to eat our picnic lunch at the Bryce Lodge, then headed toward Sunrise Point to begin our hike.

While most people drop down onto the Navajo Trail or make it below the rim just a couple hundred feet before realizing they'll have to hike back out, we headed in with full gusto. An afternoon storm was coming in, and lots of people rushed out while we just pulled on our ponchos for a few minutes of rain.

Being at the bottom of Bryce Canyon among the hoodoos is a lot different than being on top looking at them. In fact, my entire perception of the park changed once we had left the rim. (You can read more about this in my Kaleidoscopic Wandering post.) We wander thrugh a good portion of the Queens Garden Trail (the highlight of which was probably the fantastic cairn garden we happened upon), then bypassed the Navajo Trail and headed to the Peekaboo Loop Trail. This 3-mile trail was definitely a moderate hike, with lots of uphill and downhill. Once we hiked onto the trail and were facing the park to the west, we were completely surrounded by the hoodoos. It was absolutely stunning. The trail continues to meander through arches carved into the rock and into shaded areas where lone bristlecone pines grew. Cory took some really gorgeous photos of this hike.

We finally made it back to the Navajo Trail, the most popular trail in the park because people can walk through the hoodoos in an area called Wall Street. Basically the hoodoos are so close together that you can barely see the sky. I will admit, it was a very cool site, unfortunately there were a million and a half people there, so some of the grandeur of the occasion was sucked away by the masses. Nonetheless, it was fun to walk through the hoodoos and up the switchbacks (which we found surprisingly not steep at all - other people were truly huffing and puffing, though).

I'm glad we took the time to walk our seven miles through the Amphitheater. I think Bryce Canyon, while a spectacular park, is not fully enjoyed until leaving the rim.

We decided to take a different route home, which led us to Cedar Breaks National Monument, a little-known, under-visited beauty also located in Utah. Read more about Cedar Breaks in this post on Kaleidoscopic Wandering, but suffice to say that I agree with the statement that, if it was located anywhere else, Cedar Breaks would be considered a natural wonder. It's a small park and we didn't spend much time there, but at more than 10,000 feet in elevation, it was a refreshing stop before heading back to the Las Vegas heat.

And ... though the camping stuff is unpacked once again, the summer is still filled with exploration and wonder. Check back for upcoming trips to Great Basin Natonal Park and Burning Man. Not to mention our usual array of Las Vegas fun and interspersed craziness. Gotta love life!

Canyons and cliff faces,

JoAnna