The long journey home

I finally got to see a little fall colour on the drive from Toronto to Detroit. Not a lot but enough to satisfy.


It is time now to say farewell to North America, at least for the time being. I am at Detroit airport awaiting the first of 4 connections that will hopefully land me in Brisbane 3 days from now.



Over the past 225 days I have visited 5 countries; 28 states, 4 provinces and 9 islands.


The big questions that will be asked are what was the best...



Best town : Savannah, Georgia for its southern belle charm, live oaks and spanish moss.



Best national park : Very tough to call as there is so much to dazzle and amaze but Zion in Utah is way up there.



Best natural phenomenon : The Colorado River carving the immense canyons through the Utah and Arizona deserts . WOW!!!



Best Man-made phenomena : Biltmore, Asheville, NC. The holiday house and garden of the Vanderbilts - oh to be that rich.


Best moment : Standing alone, but for a silhouetted deer and a lazy looking bison, in the grasslands on South Dakota at dusk.



Worst moment : Killer mosquitos both in Canada and Tobago.



Best meal : 3 courses in New Orleans - gumbo, jumbalaya and bread and butter pudding. Oh so good for the tastebuds, oh so bad for the waistline.



Greatest annoyance : TIPPING. Aaaaaarrrrrgggghhhhh!


Thankyou to all the people who have looked after me over the past few months and to the great many wonderful people I have met and shared experiences with. Especially Chris and George and your three hospitable sons on the east coast, Paula, Don and Bella on the west, Marie, Lutz, Ingela and Mats in the islands, Bron in NYC, Andrea in Portland, Dovi in San Diego and the awesome crowd from the Canada trek. You've all helped to make this such an amazing adventure.

My love to you all... always.

Oh Canada

I have been a city gal for the past few days. 3 in Montreal mostly enjoying the quaint residential steets but also visiting the main tourist sights like the Mont Real that overlooks the downtown area and the olympic park and botanic gardens. Also enjoyed the farmers market and have since been doing the same in Ottawa - farmers market and the beautiful government buildings that look like fairytale castles. I'm quite taken with the locks on the canal here which is adding to my desire to learn to sail a boat. Last night I went to a sound and light show at the parliament building which was very much a "look at me - I'm Canadian and we're the best" display but had some trippy effects like the windows of the building seeming to pop out in 3D and change colour then turn into wild animals and stuff like that.

Lake Country

I'm back in Canada and pretending that I can understand French. Have just arrived in Montreal and first impressions are good. Very European, very friendly, very happening. I'll be here for 3 days so plenty of time to explore and enjoy.

The past couple of days driving through upstate New York have been wet and windy. It's not the spectacular scenery I have been experiencing over the last couple of months in the west coast mountain ranges but none-the-less it is pleasant and it could be described as pretty. The lakes seem like oceans - especially with this wind, there have been waves big enough to surf. Ontario's coast is dotted with thousands of tiny islands which would be awesome to explore if only one had a boat. Thes rocky outcrops also mean lots of cute lighthouses. The landscape is very rural with farmhouses and barns beside fields of hay and corn. I passed quite a few pumpkin patches with the biggest orange pumpkins imaginable. Here comes Halloween. Every now and again an Amish buggy trots by and once in a while the fields change to forests which are all the possible shades of green with hints of the first yellows and reds of fall.

I had an iffy moment crossing the border as I said I was visiting as a tourist and had come from Detroit. The official didn't believe that anyone could be a tourist and choose to go to Detroit. Poor Detroit - surely it can't be that bad!

The weather has taken a sudden turn towards winter here. The temperature has dropped 20 degrees in the last 2 days and finally, after having perfect sunny days for so long, I have been inundated with rain. In a way it didn't matter because I went the Niagara Falls and the spray there is drenching anyway.

For a mind-boggling statistic, the falls flow at an average of 1833 cubic metres per second. There are 2 main falls, American and Horseshoe, with a little baby, Bridal Veil, in between. On one side is the USA and the other Canada. As all my readers are all highly educated persons, I'm sure you all know this already.

So onwards and upwards, now I am following the shore of Lake Ontario into the abyss of Canada.

Cuyahoga NP

This morning I visited the local farmers market for some fresh supplies at cheap prices then took a scenic drive through Cuyahoga National Park. This is a pretty little forest reserve in northern Ohio with some pretty autumn trees, friendly wildlife and babbling streams. Unfortunately for me, on mt little wander through the forest, it started to rain, then to pour so I got an extra shower for the day.

I continued north, back to the shores of Lake Erie and onward and upward through Pennsylvania and into New York.

The bad news of the day is that my rental car had a moment with a low concrete post and now needs some cosmetic surgery on the passenger side.

Ohio

After a brief stop in Chicago I landed last night in Detroit and immediately left heading south towards Ohio. My plan is to go around the southern side of Lake Erie, then up to Niagra and Canada before completing the loop on the northern side of Erie.

Once in Ohio I took a little detour to the Amish country through the cornfields. Lots and lots of cornfields! The photo below is not actually mine. The fall colours are not at this stage yet although some trees are just starting to turn golden. My camera has stopped focusing so I'm onto pics with the phone and I can't upload these till I get back to Australia. So y'all will have to wait.

San Francisco

My last 3 days were spent in and around San Francisco. As I have been here before I have already done most of the big tourist things like the Golden Gate, Alcatraz, etc. So this visit I headed north to Sonoma County for a day of wine tasting which was delicious although the wines are pretty expensive compared to Aussie ones. We also stopped of at Muir Woods - a Redwood forest. Redwoods are the coastal brothers of the Sequoias and while not as big in girth are taller and very fairylandish with lots of ferns and babbling streams in the understory. These trees are where the Ewok scenes from Star Wars are filmed although the Ewoks seemed to be in hiding during my visit.

Just to stick with the fairyland theme I went to a theatre production of Peter Pan which was very cleverly done. It was a round theatre with the stage in the centre and many of the lighting, sound and visual effects above and around the audience so it felt like really being in Neverland!

As on my previous jaunt in Frisco - I found it a charming city although this time there were many more homeless in the streets - I guess that's because it's warmer now so they're out and about. I had 3 days of great weather with only one evening of fog on the bay.

It is September now so fall is almost upon us and I have only a fortnight left of my trip. The bag is getting heavier and heavier which is telling me that's it's time to take it home! My fianl adventures are to be had in and around the Great Lakes so across the country I go again!

More California

Kings Canyon National Park is not far south of Yosemite and is similar in much of it's scenery with towering granite walls decorated with inconceivably long waterfalls crashing into the canyon. It doesn't, however, have the throngs of tourists. This seems to correlate to less marked trails so I didn't do any major hikes but enjoyed the drive all the same.

My next destination was Sequoia NP just to the south of Kings Canyon. (Sequoias are trees - really, really big trees - in case you didn't know.) The grandaddy of the forest is General Sherman, who is the world's largest known living thing. He stands at 83.3m with a base circumference of 31.3m. The trunk is an whopping 1487 cubic metres. He stands among an army of sequoias of slightly smaller but similar proportions so it's pretty mind-blowing and difficult to leave without a crink in the neck.

I left the Sierra Nevada for the hot valley below and crossed to the Pacific Coast through dry but pretty hills and vineyards and popped out at a cutsie little town called Cambria, shrouded in fog. It's a bit like California's version of Nimbin by the look of the people in the streets.

I day-tripped north along a windy coastal Hwy 1 to a village called Big Sur where I did a few short hikes along the rugged beaches, cliffs and hills. The area reminds me a lot of Victoria's Great Ocean Road, right down to the eucalypts planted in every gully.

One interesting stop I made along the way was Hearst Castle. Hearst was a media magnate many years ago who had a fascination with European architecture and art so he decided to build a bit of Europe on the Californian coast. The castle is spectacular, sitting all alone on the top of a hill, overlooking the ocean and the wealth that Hearst must have accumulated was obviously vast. The whole place, while now owned by the State Park Service, seemed a bit show-offy but was worth the visit just to see how the mega-wealthy choose to spend their money.

Yosemite

At almost 10000 feet I entered Yosemite via Tioga Pass from the east. It was a beautiful, still morning and the reflections in the lakes were stunning. I climbed Lembert Dome, a granite colossus that reminded me of the Pyramids at Giraween although I guess that is like comparing an elephant and a mouse. They're both mammals with 4 legs and a tail but exist on a very different scale. As I travelled down into Yosemite Valley I began to realise just how massive a scale we're talking about. These are some serious granite mountains.

Like many of the national parks I have visited it is difficult to describe Yosemite in a way that does it justice. In the valley I did 2 hikes - both about 4miles one way and that way is straight up then straight back down again. The first was to the top of Yosemite Falls, an 11.6km round trip with an 823m elevation gain and the second to the top of Nevada Falls, a measley 8.6km round trip with a 610m elevation gain. I can tell you that I've found some new muscles in my legs!

I stayed in the valley for a night of very little sleep as every few minutes a voice would yell 'Get out bear, get out!" followed by some earth shaking as said bear ran by my tent, grunting and snorting into the forest, only to return a moment later. My mid-night pee was the scariest of my life!

I'm now in Fresno and it's a balmy 110 degrees (43 in the rest of the world). Aaaah summer at last!

Back in the Wild West

Since my last post I have moved about a bit. I took a long but scenic train trip from Vancouver, BC to Portland, OR where I had another weekend of shenanigans before a flight to San Francisco, CA. I picked up a car and headed inland, staying the night in Sacremento before continuing on to Lake Tahoe.

What a beautiful place! The water is pristine in clarity and colour and the geography is quite remarkable as it is a perfect but massive caldera. I took the gondola up to the top of the ski field for amazing views of the lake and the Californian valley to the west and the Nevadan valley to the east. I would love to come back here for a week of skiing in the future.

I continued down into Nevada and goldrush country and have stopped for the night in Bridgeport which has little more going for it than Halls Creek and like HC has, nearby, a very cool little preserved ghost town called Bodie.

Lakes Mono and Tahoe

Vancouver with the Crofts

I've spent the last two says with Paula and Don (Paula being a high school friend of Mums) and their 5-year-old grandaughter, Bella. Yesterday we went to the aquarium and saw the dolphin show and the beluga whales, then caught the seabus across to north Vancouver's farmer's market for a late lunch and did a drive along the shore for some great views of the city and the harbour.

This morning I found a shoe sale and became enamoured of a pair of 8" heels then we joined all of Don's Vancouver rellies on a jaunt up Grouse Mountain where we saw raptors, grizzly bears and lumberjacks. We were up above the clouds with Vancouver somewhere underneath in the morning but by afternoon had some stunning views. I also tried my first beaver tail.

Don's brother, Gary, lives in a mansion overlooking the city and harbour with a jacuzzi, sauna, swimming pool and movie theatre amoung it's million rooms, where we had a scrumptious dinner to end a delightful stay in Vancouver.

Vancouver Island

I ventured over to Vancouver Island today. It was rather further than I thought, taking 4 and a half hours each way but the ferry ride is picturesque and I saw all the sights that I set out to see.

The downtown area of Victoria is very pretty with a couple of grand hotels that look like castles. The old town faces the waterfront and the weather was again spectacular so everything looked bright and shiny.

The highlight of the day was Butchart Gardens. For every gardening enthusiast this place is a must-see. It is a century old garden in the site of an old quarry, although you would not know it as the water features and plant arrangement cover any leftover industrial signs. There is also a quaint Japanese garden and an incredible array of colours and flowers at this time of year.

Vancouver Island is pretty big and there are some other points of interest that I would have liked to explore if I had more days here but I must leave some things for my next visit to Canada.

Vancouver

I have just said farewell to the rest of my tour group as they headed back to Seattle. I have remained in Vancouver as I didn't see much of the city other than the inside of bars over the past 2 days. I am in much need of sleep and my liver has asked for some long service leave after an abusive fortnight!

The excitement of the day today was a whale watching trip and we were rewarded with lots of orcas as well as sea lions and seals. Two of the orcas were having fun balancing salmon on their noses for the major part of the morning. Their mum obviously didn't teach them not to play with their food!

I have also cycled around Stanley Park in Vancouver and visited Granville Island Markets but these need to be explored in greater detail over the coming days.

It is nice to be back in civilisation after 2 weeks in the wilderness and it's wonderful to sleep in a real bed again. Travelling in a group has been a lot of fun and we managed to make it through without any major dramas which I think is pretty good considering the close confines in which we were living for the fortnight. My bank balance has suffered considerably so now it's back to eating spam and noodles for a while!

Out of the Rockies

We had a beautiful drive along the Icefields Parkway - they say America's most scenic drive - and stopped for an afternoon climb on one of the glaciers which was very cool.

Have seen more stunning lakes with icebergs and waterfalls in Jasper and then we finally got hit with some serious rain. Luckily we were heading down from the Rockies when it started so it did not hamper our style much.

We headed to Clearwater Lake where we loaded up some canoes and headed up the lake for a 3 hour paddle to a stunning little campsite in the middle of the Canadian wilderness. There was just us and the bears (and a few mozzies).

The following night was back to more civilised digs at a Buffalo Ranch before our final run into Vancouver.

Banf

Well there are some amazing mountains and lakes and then more amazing mountains and lakes, a few glaciers and waterfalls then yet more amazing mountains and lakes. The weather has been very good to us and we are all getting as well as could be expected in a large group in confined space.

I have been averaging 12km hikes each day with much of that steep up and downs. We have seen many deer and elk, one moose and a grizzly bear with cubs.

Lake Louise and Lake Moraine were definite highlights as far as turquoise and aqua water go. There is less snow on the peaks than I would have thought but we did find plenty on the icefields parkway and did a glacier walk onto one of the glaciers which was pretty cool - in temperature and in awesomeness.

We are now in Jasper where there are... surprisingly... amazing mountains and lakes!!!

Onward and Upward

I have now started the first organised group tour of my life (unless you count school camps). We are 14 with an American guide, a fellow Aussie, 2 Danes, 2 Belgians, 2 Italians, a German and 3 Britons. With the exception of one 18-year-old whippersnapper, we are all mid to late 20s and are getting along very well so far.

The first 2 days have been mostly driving. There have been some big forest fires around so the views have been hazy but today dawned much clearer.

I'm now in Golden, near Yoho NP and today went on a white water rafting trip. We did one grade 4 rapid which was rather exciting and took a dip in some expletively cold water!

I'm on dinner duty tonight so must be off.

Seattle

My final day in Seattle was led by my host and tour guide, Snuggy. We went to the Boeing headquarters. As there is now an international airport on Harslett Farm I though I should look into getting myself a 747 for the bargain price of $375million. The boeing shed is the largest building in the world, going in each direction for a couple of miles. It was quite interesting although the scale of things is hard for my little brain to fathom! So in order not to overheat - we then went on a beer brewery tour and tasting. Lots and lots of fun and lots and lots of beer! The day ended with a trip to the top of the Space Needle for some stunning views of Seattle, followed by a hailbut dinner and a sunset overlooking Puget Sound and the Olympic Mountains. Beautiful!!!

Mt Rainier

Today was rainier - and yet it was perfectly clear and sunny...ba-dum--cha. Sorry, a very poor joke. The weather here continues to be perfect (weird for this part of the world) and Mt Rainier is a national park southeast of Seattle. It is advertised as the 4th highest peak in America outside of Alaska. I wonder how Alaska feels about being excluded like that, however, Rainier is magnificent. It is a snow and glacier covered volcanic cone that stands way above all the surrounding mountains. Mt St Helens to the south probably gave it a run for its money until it lost it's head in a bit of a tantrum so now Rainier stands proud and tall and all alone. At this time of year the wildflowers are in full swing and there are pretty cascades in every gully. The mountain itself is just one part of the magnificent views which last for a jawdropping- breathtaking-mindboggling 360 degrees.

And then in the evening, back in Seattle, the alien spacecraft has arrived...

Seattle

Seattle is definitely a city I could live in. There's water on all sides and mountains on all sides - very pretty. They tell me it rains a lot but I haven't seen a cloud for weeks so I'm not sure I believe it!

I was a REAL tourist today and did a duck tour - the vehicles that are buses and boats in one. It was very tacky but lots of fun. The city is full of weird 3D art which makes it really interesting for photographing, especially when the background is sparkling blue lakes and snow-capped mountains. The best sclpture I've seen is a giant troll living under the freeway bridge - what a clever way to beautify an ugly space. There is also a music museum where the building exterior looks like one of Jimmy Hendrix's smashed guitars. It's right next to the Space Needle so it's all pretty out of this world!

Portland Parties

It has been another fun-filled weekend in Portland. Friday afternoon happy hour turned into an all-nighter on the terrace at Andrea's apartment. Saturday involved brunch and a hen's party then Sunday was a trip up Colombia Gorge (the Columbia River is the border between Oregon and Washington) and dinner at an amazing Peruvian restaurant.

Today I'm off to Seattle to hopefully have a couple of days of detox!

Mt Hood

In the absence of Andrea who ditched me for a week of fun in San Francisco, I have taken over her group of friends in Portland. Wednesday evening was kickball, in which we had a resounding victory, then dirnks and more drinks with great people.

Thursday I convinced Erin to take me sightseeing to Mt Hood, which is a beautiful snow-capped mountain that is the main feature of the Portland skyline. We had lunch at Timberline Lodge, a ski resort that is still operational now, in the middle of summer. After eating way too much we felt the need for a hike so did a 7mile round-trip to Ramona Falls. A nice walk through the forest in the shadow of the mountain.

Back in Portland I was whisked away by yet more friendly people for another baseball game, complete with beer and hotdogs, where the Beavers had a resounding loss. I did have a victorious evening though, because I sucessfully (I think) explained the rules of cricket to 2 American lads!

Oregon Coast

I'm covering the compass from Portland so today went west to the area between Astoria and Lincoln City. The Oregon Coast is beautiful with sandy beaches, rugged rocks, temperate rainforests, sandunes and many quaint towns and villages. Much of it reminded me of WAs southwest but with more habitation.

The weather was overcast and very misty but with an air temperature of 60F, I had no intention of finding out the water temperature so the greyness actually added to the beauty. Given the moss growing on tree branches and the ferny forest floor, 99.9% of days here must be pretty damp.

Mt St Helens

A short drive north of Portland today into Washington State to visit what remains of Mt St Helens. It is 30 years since it blew itself up so it is the same age as me! It is a pretty amazing sight. It is still doing the tiniest bit of smoking but is half a caldera with the missing half spread out in the valley below, having avalanched off or exploded out of the side. Mt Adams sits not far away and still has its cone top so it's cool to see what St Helen would have looked like.

The devastation that the eruption caused to the surrounding forest is also mind-blowing (or literally tree-blowing), even after 3 decades. 45 metre tall forests just disintegrated and all that remains now are stumps as far as the eye can see.

Portland

I've spent the weekend with my Mexican friend, Andrea (AKA Bubba) who was at Grace College at the turn of the century. We played a lot of sports against one another and also, briefly, rugby together. Andrea is a marketing guru for Nike and for anyone who knows her, is coming to Australia again this summer.

We have combined some fun Portland activities with a lot of alcohol consumption so it has been very like college days. I have had my first Kickball experience (baseball without the bat), a real baseball game of the Portland Beavers and I am now a solid BEAVER BELIEVER! An international beer festival (like the Soiree of yesteryear) a tour of the wine country (beautiful - and the wines weren't bad either) and lots of other eating, drinking and being merry.

Portland is a pretty city with lots of green spaces and tree-huggers. Bicycle paths abound and right now the weather and temperature are perfect for life in the outdoors. Andrea has gone to San Francisco this morning for a conference so I have a couple of days use of her car to see some things outside of the city. There is a lot to see and do within a couple of hours with beaches, mountains and rivers all over the place so I shan't be idle.

Rocky Mountain Farewell

I have had one last day of hiking in the Rocky Mountains and it did not disappoint. Lots of sparkling lakes and rocky peaks.

So now, after 3743 driving miles and about 50 hiking miles in 3 weeks, my mountain adventures are to be put on hold for a while now as I head west to Oregon. See you again when I get there!

Estes Park

The drive from South Dakota to Colorado goes through some serious cowboy country. So I turned up Garth Brooks on the radio and yeehared my way back to the mountains.

This morning I joined a crew going rock climbing. Unfortunately after a couple of climbs my leg injury from the Tetons reaggravated itself and I then became a belayer for the rest of the morning. I thought it would be a good idea to stretch out the leg in the afternoon so did a leisurely hike around some twinkling lakes in Rocky Mountain National Park.

Big Rock Sculptures

South Dakota has exceeded my expectations. The area south of Rapid City is filled with things to see and do. This has caused it to become a bit cheesy in places but it's not hard to sift through to get to the good stuff.

The major attraction is of course the 4 fellows on the hill. They being 60 foot faces of Washington, Jefferson, Roosevelt and Lincoln. So now I can tick the Mt Rushmore box of places been, things seen. One funny story, the sculpture's secretary was fired for writing a memo where she misspelled the word winch with an 'e'. She wrote One wench is to be available for use by the sculpture at any time he may choose to use it.

Just down the road from Rushmore, is a half finished mountain sculpture called Crazy Horse. It is a depiction of an Indian warrior atop his horse pointing to the distance as he says My lands are where my dead lie buried. It is not yet finished and to give some perspective, the 4 president's heads will fit into the size of Crazy Horse's face and hair. So you could say it will be fairly big!

From above ground to underground, my next stop was Windy Cave which is, as caves go, not super exciting. The interesting thing about the caves is that 135miles of tunnels have been mapped and it is believed this is only about 5% of the total length but it is all within 1 square mile. For all this only one natural entrance has been found and it is about 1 foot in diameter.

Also underground, I visited a mammoth archaeological dig which was pretty cool. There have been several specimens found and they are still digging. It is thought that the area was once a hot spring and the mammoths liked to bathe in it but it had steep sides and they couldn't climb out so died of exhaustion and sank.

Back up on the surface, I enjoyed hiking through the grasslands in Custer Park and while the scenery is not spectacular like the Rockies, it is very pretty and somehow soothing on the soul. I came face to face with a bison bull and after flaring our nostrils at each other, watched a pronghorn antelope prance off into the sunset as the prairie dogs cheered him on with their barking. For the first time in a very long time I felt content and in tune with the universe.

South Dakota

Well, Obama seems to be solving the great depression with roadworks. On my drive from Wyoming east towards South Dakota I spent somewhere in the vicinity of 4 hours waiting and smelling the sweet scent of liquid asphalt.

Despite this it was a beautiful drive. From the Rockies, I briefly popped into Montana then back to Wyoming which starts to flatten out into rolling grasslands. Just think Dances With Wolves without the bison and with barns and hay bales. After crossing the border I headed to Badlands National Park. I've seen badlands in Death Valley and Petrified Forest NPs but these ones are much bigger and being surrounded by green prairies makes them pretty unique.

Yellowstone

Yellowstone was possibly my REASON for coming to North America. It is what I expected and yet it is not. The landscape is a world away from the Grand Tetons, yet it in reality it is but a few miles.

Yellowstone is unlike any of the other NPs I've been to as it covers such a vast area and has within it, several different exhibits. I realise as I write that I'm not explaining myself in the words that Yellowstone deserves but words seem inadequate. Like the Grand Canyon it has to be seen to be believed.

The park encompasses a very large caldera which scientists schedule to erupt every 600 000 years or so. We are currently past the 600 000 year mark. Yellowstone lake has receded on one side and risen on the other indicating a bulge in the earth's surface, a precursor to a volcanic eruption.

Yellowstone has unequalled wildlife - bison, elk, moose, bears, wolves, to name a few. Then it has all the habitats required for these creatures - forests, lakes, rivers, grasslands, mountains. It has it's own Grand Canyon, complete with its version of Niagra Falls. The crowning glory of Yellowstone is of course it's thermal activity - Old Faithful Geyser, mud volcanoes, fumaroles, hot springs, calcified terraces...

I feel like a robot regurgitating recitations (say that 10 times fast!) and this place does not deserve that. I AM IN AWE and you should see it for yourself before it erupts and is gone forever.

By the way - when it erupts we are all gone forever! Food for thought.

Grand Tetons

I'm having some difficulty with the little letters on my mini keyboard as my hands look like they are blown-up balloons. I'm not sure if this is from altitude or frostbite - all will be explained shortly...

But first... I have removed myself from Salt Lake City (missed Jenny and Co by 2 days) and headed north through 15 minutes of Idaho and then, via hill and dale, to Wyoming. Hill and dale is a little unfair, it's more gargantuan peaks and vast canyons - incredibly, incredibly beautiful. I am now in Grand Teton National Park. The Tetons were named by French chaps and tetons means 'tits' in English. Look at the photo below and pretend you are a virile male who has not seen a woman for many months ie. use imagination... then just think it's lucky the French didn't discover the Grand Canyon first!

In seriousness this mountain range is spectacular. The valley below is wide and gently undulating then suddenly these jagged peaks shoot skyward and beckon to be climbed.

Today I answered the challenge but in true Alec Harslett fashion, was underprepared for such a venture. Starting at dawn, I circuited Jenny Lake, an easy 5 mile walk and climbed up into Cascade Canyon, a further 6 miles. All was well and it was only 9am. Then I reached the snow line, and here was me in sneakers, shorts and a T-shirt. But of course I plugged on and as the going was a steep uphill was keeping myself warm enough until I met a fellow hiker, equipped with thermals, goretex and an ice-pick. Lucky for me he was up to the challenge so became my pathmaker. We climbed over a 10700 foot pass, carved steps for ourselves down a near vertical ice slope and trudged through 10 foot snow down the adjoining canyon. 22.3 miles later I returned to my vehicle.

I cannot put any weight on my right leg without excruciating pain and have elephantitis hands but what an AWESOME hike!!!!!!!!!!!

For Bob

This morning I received a phone call from home to say, sadly, that my Grandfather, Bob, has passed away. Wherever you are now, Pop, I hope you are at peace.

I visited two of the places that make this area famous. The first was Antelope Island, which is in the Great Salt Lake. It is a fairly barren island but is home to quite a large herd of bison which I was lucky to see. They are imposing-looking beasts but looked pretty harmless as they grazed on the edge of the lake.

The second stop was Park City where the downhill events of the 2002 Winter Olympics were held. Needless to say the area looks a bit different at this time of the year to what it did during the games! There is a good museum and our Alisa Camplin is featured a few times (first Aussie woman to win a gold medal at a winter olympics - now does toothpaste ads).

God Bless America

On a whim I decided to do a spot of white water rafting today. It was the Sevier River, central Utah and was two hours well spent.

I then meandered my way up to Salt Lake City which reminds me of Toowoomba during the Carnival of Flowers. I'm sure it is a very different scene in the winter time! It's a pretty place and very clean and conservative - at least the town centre which is based around a large area of squares belonging to the Mormon Church and their huge Temple. Tourists are made very welcome in the area and I spent the afternoon catching up on my general knowledge of the Bible with all the Missionary Sisters hanging out around the temple. As it turns out, I'm familiar with most of the chaps; Abraham, Jacob, Isaac, etc because they are the names of the mountains in Zion Canyon.

As the sun sank low on the horizon a blue-grass band began to play, starting with some praising of Jesus and ending with some prasing of America. This is to be expected as the 4th of July long weekend has now officially begun.