On My Own Again

Man, I am not good at regular updates on this thing. I have never been able to keep a journal, and this is not so different. I'll do my best.

I am currently sitting in Adriana Palmeira's kitchen sipping coffee and enjoying a leisurely morning. I have been here for about a week now, including two nights spent on Hilary Maynards couch in Oakland California. For those of you who don't know who these people are, Adriana is my dear friend Hugo's wild and incredible mother, and Hilary is my splendid friend/10th grade science teacher. Fantastic.

I left off in Zion National Park I believe. Our second day there we did another hike up to a point called Angel's Landing. I think a bunch of people have died falling off of it. It's only about four and a half miles round trip, but it's not an easy hike. The bulk of it is a traverse up a mountainside on a paved path, gaining about 800 feet in those two miles. Not bad. Then the last half mile or so is a vertical scramble up another several hundred feet. There are chains set into the rock to aid you as you climb, though we rarely found them necessary. The view from the top was stunning and we had the luck of seeing a California Condor up close and personal while sunning ourselves at the summit. There are pictures on facebook and hopefully I can get some loaded up on here soon.

That afternoon we said farewell to our (adorable) friend Simon, who had given us a ride to the park, and made our way to the Cedar City bus stop, bound for the big ditch. In Cedar City we made friends with the gas station attendants who were manning the bus-cum-gas station, who were lovely. We boarded the bus and made it all the way to Vegas before I realized I'd left my iPod and charger in Cedar City. Crap.

We stayed in the Grand Canyon Hostel in Flagstaff, Arizona. The first day we missed the shuttle up to the Grand Canyon and so contented ourselves with wandering the awesome city of Flagstaff (it really is a wicked cool town). The next day we drove up to see that big hole in the ground with a tiny German woman named Caroline and her massive, blonde, German baby, Johannes. The canyon was spectacular. Can't wait to go back and do an overnight, back-country trip down to the Colorado river (which runs through it).

Zac and I left for Los Angeles that night and arrived the following morning. We found a very bizarre hostel for 20/night and stayed there the first night. Wandered the city the next day, then Zac headed back to Minneapolis. I took a late night bus to San Francisco and here I am.

I have been relaxing for the most part, traveling can take a lot out of ya. Today I am going to go for a hike in Marin and visit friends at the Children's Hospital and Research Center Oakland.

I'll try and be more regular with my posts, then they won't be so tedious!

After a week in the magical land of Moab, we decided it was time to move on, but not before we visited Arches National Park, waded a mile down the Colorado River with our wallets and cell phones tied around our heads, attended a remote desert rave, and hiked the highest peak in the LaSalle Mt. range (@ about 12,700 ft.).

After saying our goodbyes, we got a ride to the Grand Junction, CO bus stop from our friend Matt. We took the 5 am bus to St. George, Utah and got a ride down to Mosquito Cove Campsite (a free site just outside the park) from a fellow drifter. We befriended our ride (he's about our age) and he has been kind enough to transport us to and from the park today, super awesome.

We did a short hike today, Zion is stunning. We were driven back to the visitor's ctr. by an impressive thunderstorm, but we plan on a full day of hiking tomorrow!

Next stop: Grand Canyon

The Moab Vortex

After hours spent at the Wall library, we boarded the bus going west. We met a friendly fellow Vermonter who boarded at Rapid City who was very entertaining (though slightly drunk) and had a pleasant ride into Bozeman, Montana. We arrived in Bozeman at four in the morning and made a frigid one mile hike to a backpackers hostel.

The next day we explored the town and relaxed at the hostel. We tried to find a shuttle into Yellowstone National Park but were unable to work it out. We spent one more night in Bozeman then decided it was time to head south!! Bozeman was a very cool town and definitely deserves more exploration, perhaps in the summertime.

Next stop, Moab, Utah. Once again, we boarded the trusty Greyhound bus and spent a very long sixteen hours driving through stunning mountains and sleeping in the Salt Lake bus terminal to end up in Green River, UT, about fifty miles outside of Moab. Hmm, so how were we to get from Green River to Moab? We hung around the bus stop cum gas station for a bit, looking for a likely ride down to Moab and were lucky enough to hitch a ride with a friendly retire couple from California who were on a cross country rode trip. They had a lot of good advice about parks to hit up and sights to see across the US.

Once in Moab, we bid farewell and hunted down the only hostel in town, a cool little place called The Lazy Lizard Hostel. Turns out, it's the coolest place on the planet. We have been staying here for six days (we'd planned to spend about two) and have access to kitchen, shower, and hot tub for only $9.80/night. Good freakin' deal. Not only is it cheap and convenient, it's full of awesome people that are doing the same kind of thing as us and are happy to show us around. See the funny thing about Moab is that it's reallllly hard to leave; most of the people here have been staying here from one to six weeks.

The first day, Zac went on a solo hike and I went out on a bike ride with a guy named Shane who we met in the hostel. I was expecting a nice, easy, introductory ride- it ended up being 36 miles round trip.

The next day Zac went on another hike and I went on a ride with Shane, and two other guys from the hostel, Joe and Matt. We rode Slickrock, and infamous mountain bike trail of rolling petrified sand dunes. It kicked my butt, but was entirely worth it. Zac went on another hike up to a gorgeous shallow valley not far from the hostel.

Our days have continued on in this manner all week, a few highlights were skydiving on Thursday (Zac, Joe and I went. It was by far the best thing I've ever done), kickball on Friday night, and the incredible steak that Zac cooked for dinner this evening. We plan on leaving tomorrow, but we'll see... it really is hard to leave Moab. We'll post pictures soon, just need to figure out how from my phone.

That's all for now!

First Leg: Minneapolis to Wall

We left Minneapolis on Thursday morning bound for Wall, SD (yes, the home of Wall Drug, the small town's pride and joy) and made the ten hour trip without incident. Upon arrival, we sought out the Wall Chamber of Commerce, as well as the National Grassland's Visitor's Ctr. to get some topo maps and directions towards the Buffalo National Grasslands (where we could legally camp for free). Unfortunately everything in Wall, SD closes at 4:30.

After a much needed glass of chocolate milk, and with the help of a friendly gas station lady, we shouldered our packs and began to trudge south down highway 240, in search of the National Grasslands. Everything around Wall is grassland, so distinguishing a farmer's field from national land proved tricky. After a 3 or so mile trudge, and with the sun rapidly disappearing, we came across a sign announcing that we had in fact reached the grasslands.

We found a nice little nook where a cow had apparently depressed the high grasses and left it a nice level place for us to make camp. After a rushed dinner of canned chili (delicious) and Zac's super speedy tent raising, we snuggled into our sleeping bags and were out for the night.

Next morning we made our way back to town. It is currently thirty degrees and snow/sleeting outside. Our original intention had been to hike the 7 miles south to Badlands National Park today, but given the weather, we think we'll just catch the next Greyhound going west.

Unfortunately the next bus doesn't come until 4:00 pm so we are killing time drinking 5 cent coffee, looking through the touristy shops, and hanging out with the nice library lady. 3 hours to go!

Kora and Zac