Well.. you try to find an original title for this post! I mean, what else can you call that thing? It’s a canyon, and it’s grand! There’s no other word for it. It’s huge, it’s gigantic, but none of these words capture how majestic it is; it’s just grand!
The main difference I noticed with our other hikes is that, usually, every turn gives you a different perspective and a different landscape. Here no. It’s so big that you can walk for hours inside and around it and always look at the same thing!
Only the passing clouds and the changing light allow for a change in scenery.
So of course, you end up taking 50 times the same photo, and now I have too many to choose from!
Our first view of the canyon on a cloudy eveningA little campfire to beat the cold nightGoing down the beast the next morningA little break, we come from the ridge up there As we pass under a stone archUnder the mid day sun, only the clouds draw shadowsBack on the rim to admire the sunset
So this time we’re camping at Wahweap, on the shore of lake Powell, in Glen Canyons.
The campground happens to be sitting just on the border between Utah and Arizona.
It’s notable because Utah and Arizona are in 2 different time zones, so technically, it’s not the same time between one end of the campground and the other end.
Since we plan to visit Monument Valley around sunset -and Monument Valley is in Arizona- we decide to stick to this timezone and plan to leave around 2pm, to reach before 5pm.
In the meantime we take a bath in the lake, with a great view on Glen Canyon’s geology.
We leave on time and reach Monument Valley around 4:30pm and we’re fairly proud of our perfect organisation as we enter the park.
There the Navajo ranger explains to us that it’s actually 5:30pm and the scenic road is already closed, because in spite of being in Arizona, Navajos live on Utah time.
Except in winter, when they switch to AZ, because… why not!
So no Monument Valley for us ☹️
But we still get to see the main ones from outside and soon we’re advised to check another site, “the Valley of the Gods”, a bit further north, after the town of “Mexican Hat” (because why not)
It’s a maintained dirt road that goes across beautiful “western landscapes” and it totally makes up for our initial deception.
Only it’s pretty late already and we’re about half way down the road when the sun has set. So we get a little thrill driving on a bumpy dirt road with an economy car in complete darkness 🙂
Today we only did a day trip to Bryce Canyon on our way to Lake Powell.
If you come visit Bryce Canyon, spare yourself the full road with the many viewpoints turnouts. They’re beautiful indeed, but you can just spend a bit more time in the trails between sunrise and sunset points, just near the park entrance ; everything you want to see is just there. (We only figured that at the end of the day!)
From above, the canyon seems filled with thousands of stone arrows pointing upwards. The trails lead you into a maze of switchbacks overlooked by giant stone guardians, and under stone arches.
After the fabulous Narrows, we spent one more day exploring the trails of Zion.
We walked the « Emerald lakes » and understood that we were indeed in the country that invented marketing. Everyone was complaining « If i see one more muddy pond, I’ll really get mad! Where’s the emerald ?! »
But we had already been warned by the Routard, and the walk is nonetheless beautiful.
We also did the watchman trail which takes you to a big cliff overlooking the valley, where you feel like that Indian watchman on his horse, waiting to attack the Pony Express!
So for our 15th wedding anniversary we got ourselves a good… 12 hours in the car 😬
Starting from Yosemite, the plan was to go celebrate in mighty Las Vegas in the evening. And sleep in a hotel! With a shower!!
On the way we would drive along beautiful lakes and mountain roads and east-west across Death Valley on 190. Ok it’s a long drive but we should make it by evening to the restaurant Mary had selected, and what better panorama to celebrate an important date! ❤️
So, yes. That was the plan.
And it started rather well, but by the time we reached Death Valley, we realised that 190 was closed so we had to drive around the valley; 2 more hours!
Later down the road, somewhere along the mojave desert, all traffic was stopped for an hour because of a -pretty bad- car accident.
(By the way, « speed limit » is not really a thing in Nevada!)
So by then, Mary’s restaurant plans were already screwed and she was starting to get pissed!
We reached mighty Vegas around 9pm and we could maybe have rushed straight to some restaurant but we desperately needed a shower first, so we stopped by the hotel and got out again around 10pm, by which time most decent restaurants were already closed to make way for the crazy Vegas nights.
We went for a stroll on the Strip and Fremont St to get the vibe of the neon lights and maybe eat something.
We lost some more time trying to park and finding our way around and we got there pretty tired.
By this time Mary was very tired and upset; she didn’t want to eat anymore and more or less hated me! Leo and I had a hot dog with fries.
In our tired eyes (plus walking with a kid who’s not allowed anywhere), Las Vegas looked like a noisy, tacky, vulgar place filled with homeless junkies and pathetic cowboy pimps! And Leo to keep asking why half naked men and ladies were dancing with whips on Fremont St 🫣
We went on to check the big casinos on the Strip. Caesar’s Palace looked much more inspired by an Asterix comic book than anything in actual Rome while the Bellagio’s fake Eiffel Tower looked like a radio antenna.
So yeah, all in all, we weren’t really in the mood. It was « Hélas Vegas » for us 😛
It was 3am already so we decided to call it a day and go enjoy our king size bed instead.
After 20mins of more driving, we managed to reach another hotel, with the same name and looking exactly the same but on the other side of town!!
#fail
So if you ask me the secret for a long and happy married life, I’d say accept when you’re tired and let the storm pass by 🙂
3 nights of camping and our routine is already in place: reach the campsite at dusk, mount the tent in the dark, inflate the mattresses, hide the food in the bear box, find the bathroom area with the head light, brush, go sleep, wake up around 7am, deflate the mattresses, fold the tent, find that there was a shorter way to the bathroom area, brush, be ready to go.
Last night, to spice things up a bit and for a more authentic American outdoors experience, we got some wood, a lighter, and marshmallows! 😋
For the American nature lover, camping is a way to revive the good old cowboy experience. And the cowboys did not have showers!
Well, they didn’t have flush toilets or RVs either, but there has to be some convenience in the US of A.
The point is that showers are nowhere to be found on campgrounds. I don’t know how how other people do it, but after 3 days without a shower we were more than happy to jump into the cold waters of the Merced river.
The next day we decided to follow Abhishek’s advice and go for the Nevada falls trail. A steep, 3200ft elevation, 4 hours hike to the top of a giant waterfall, and the same way down.
Once up there, you seem to be facing the half dome at eye level. And the waterfall drop gives you the shivers !
After fighting some enraged squirrels 🐿 for our food, we decided to take another chill dip on the top part of the river.
Quote:
– Mary: Remi and Cecile would probably have done the round trip in 2 hours?
– Me: yes, walking on their hands!
Ok, but for our little family, it was quite a steep hike!
I mean for them of course, for Mary and Leo! I’m the strong one 💪 I was literally dragging them up and encouraging them: « Come on! One step at a time! You can do it! »
.. by the time we were back down, 8 hours later, they were both perfectly fine, but I was exhausted , with cramps on my legs and blisters on my feet! 🥵
I’d been awaiting this occasion for months and there he was, standing straight and majestic in front of us, his big black scar reminding everyone of his last battle against the fire.
In spite of his old age, the General had kept beautiful features, and, one could say, he remained quite green!
A bit shorter than his brothers, General Sherman claims to be the largest Sequoia tree in the world, by the volume of his trunk.
What a fascination to walk amidst these giants, and even inside some of them!
Interestingly, fires are beneficial to sequoias! Most mature sequoias have a big burn scar. They’re made to resist but the most extreme fires and after the battle is over, they have more room and a fertile soil for their offsprings. The fire itself helps open the pine cones and spreads the seeds.
Time has come to let go of the comfort of Abhishek’s house, pool and king size bed, and hit the road for real.
For the first time, I actually got a chance to spend some time with my cousins, beyond a quick meetup at a family reunion. We had a wonderful time and Leo loved playing with his chachas!
So we rented a car for this part of the trip, because one just can’t do anything without a car in the US, and we headed south to Cambria, our first stop.
Mary wanted to meet a friend of hers there, and it was a good excuse to drive along the beautiful western coast.
And there we started our camping tour. There’s always a part of me that finds it fun and exciting, and then the rest of my body that just feels the discomfort 😄
I must admit that our sleeping bags are more optimised for saving saving space in the bags than for resisting the cold! So we ended up plugging them together so we could cuddle inside and keep ourselves warm!
Raahi - A traveling family 