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!!!