I finally made my way to Yosemite after visiting beautiful San Francisco. I hurt my shoulder in Austin and haven’t been able to climb much, but was able to do a nice long 21 mile hike by myself into the wilderness. I started at Happy Isles which is in Yosemite Valley, and made my way up to Clouds Rest by way of Little Yosemite Valley Campground. It was a beautiful place. My hike to Clouds Rest was everything and more I dreamed of when I first set out on my trip wanting to get out into the wilderness.
Clouds Rest was around 9500 feet and Yosemite Valley is at around 4,000 feet. This made for quite the uphill climb, but was well worth the view of Half Dome and all of Yosemite Valley. Clouds Rest, I just found out, is the highest peak near Yosemite Valley. w00t!
I met some great people at the communal fire pit at Little Yosemite Valley and made good use of my Steripen water purifier provided to me by the always gracious Jason Prohaska. Thanks Jason! So far I am parasite free! As long as I don’t get Diarrhea in the next 3 days I’d say I’m set!
I spent a lot of my time in San Francisco doing a freelance project to make some money so I could pay off some of my car trouble debt. I was still able to see a lot of the city and enjoyed my time there. San Francisco is still one of my favorite cities.
Thank you to those of you who let me sleep on your couches! After San Fran I went out to Yosemite for some camping!
My drive from Santa Monica to San Francisco was pretty amazing. Driving up the Pacific Coastal Highway was something I had been wanting to do since the idea of my trip started in my brain many months ago. Driving up the PCH through Big Sur was like driving through the clouds. Clouds and Fog rolled over the road and up the mountains as I drove up the windy road to San Francisco. It was a beautiful drive on a beautiful day.
For all of those who have heard me talk about how amazing Roscoe’s Chicken N Waffles is…I finally got my second beautiful taste of it in Hollywood. I had chicken and waffles at Roscoe’s when I worked in LA during college…and hadn’t tasted its sweet combination in a long time. The last time I had chicken and waffles was in Brooklyn with Becca and Nate…but I have to admit…Roscoe’s just can’t be beat.
I apologize for the lack of updates. I have been quite busy traveling around. Here are some photos of my time in Southern California. This included the drive in through Indio and Palm Springs, Santa Monica, LA in general, and San Diego. Much more to come as soon as I get some more internet connectivity.
Just left Yosemite (National Park) and will getting back to San Francisco this eve. I will post pictures and such from my time in California once I have some stable internet connections. Thanks for the patience, boys (and girls).
I have to say, firstly, that most of these photos were taken my Greg Mitchell. He has an underwater camera and we brought it along with us for the trip. We drove down to La Jolla Cove, which is just north of San Diego, and spent the day looking at fish, and sea lions, and exploring a cave on the other side of the cove. I have to admit, I never expected to go snorkeling in October. Ever.
One of the few necessary stops along my way was Tucson, AZ for my friends wedding. I had planned on stopping here since the beginning of my trip and was happy to arrive in the desert once again. My time in Arizona involved a lot of drinking, seeing old friends, and a really nice wedding.
One of the best parts of my time in Tucson was the sunset that (UPDATE:) my friends and I saw from atop ‘A Mountain.’ It was the best sunset I have ever seen. Just as I thought it wouldn’t get any better, it just got more and more beautiful until the sun was finally gone behind the mountains.
After all the excitement of the wedding, I dropped everyone off at the airport I headed towards San Diego…but was twarted by another car problem. I slowly made my way up highway 85 towards Phoenix where I was eventually towed into Avondale (just outside of Phoenix) to a Subaru dealership. Turns out I needed a new LEFT front axle (after already replacing the RIGHT front axle in PA). Luckily, they had the part and I was out of Arizona after only one night in the unbelievably depressing QUALITY INN. Anthony Bordaine kept me company all night as I learned much about Russia and South American culture & cuisine. Thank you Anthony…where ever you are.
In the morning, I cut across the lonesome desert of western Arizona and made it into California just as the sun was setting over Indio & Palm Springs. I got into Santa Monica as it got dark and met up with my friend Greg, whom has been nice enough to let me stay at his place. So far so good…if nothing else, I made it all the way to California.
I met my good friend Adam Yeager in Austin, TX (as I mentioned before) and headed westward across the great and immense state of Texas towards Tucson for our friend Brian’s wedding. We hiked through Guadalupe Mountains National Park, explored Carlsbad Caverns, and saw Roswell, New Mexico. Roswell was one of the most depressing places I have ever seen in my life, but was worth the experience. I also enjoyed my drive through New Mexico more than any other state so far. It was gorgeous. We hit a lot of bugs on the way through texas..and a bird. We almost hit a huge rattle snake and a Coyote once it got dark. All in all, we got to see a lot of the desert wildlife, even though half of it ended up all over my bumper in liquid form.
I almost made it across the desert without having car trouble…but need ANOTHER front axle (a left one this time). I am stranded in Phoenix for the time being and will hopefully be in California by tomorrow assuming they can fix the ole’ dirty bastard Subaru by then. I was just getting excited about my car because it made it to 111,111 miles….sigh. The good news is that I am slowly becoming immune to the mental stress that comes with car problems. It seems that it is just part of the trip.
At any rate, thats the way she goes…and I will post pictures of my time in Tucson in the mean time. Enjoy.
Pittsburgh, PA -- Sept 10 Harrisburg, PA New Bethlehem, PA Sandusky, OH Saline, MI Sleeping Bear Dunes, MI Pictured Rocks, MI Apostle Islands, WI St. Paul, MN Minneapolis, MN Luverne, MN Badlands Natl. Park, SD Rushmore Natl. Mon., SD Spearfish, SD Jackson, WY Salt Lake City, UT Yellowstone Natl. Park, WY Jackson, WY Oakland, CA Santa Cruz, CA Sonoma Co, CA Jackson, WY Destin, FL Houston, TX Salt Lake City, UT Pittsburgh, PA Harrisburg, PA Brooklyn, NY Harrisburg, PA Pittsburgh, PA Salt Lake City, UT Jackson Hole, WY Pasco, WA Seattle, WA Tacoma, WA Portland, OR Eugene, OR Crescent City, CA Eureka, CA San Francisco, CA Yosemite Natl. Park, CA San Francisco, CA Santa Monica, CA Avondale, AZ Tucson, AZ Roswell, NM Guadalupe Mtns, TX Austin, TX Houston, TX New Orleans, LA Baton Rouge, LA Savannah, GA Brunswick, GA Hostel in the Forest, GA Charleston, SC Aiken, SC Black Mountain, NC Boone, NC Abingdon, VA Red River Gorge, KY New River Gorge, WV Vandalia, WV Morgantown, WV Pittsburgh, PA Harrisburg, PA Brooklyn, NY -- August 09
