Travel Itinerary
JULY
They pass through Angeles National Forest and travel up the coast to camp the first night in Pinnacles National Park where they encounter friendly visits by racoons, deer, and mice.
JULY
They pass through San Francisco along the historic Golden Gate Bridge to visit Point Reyes National Seashore. Staying for the sunset, the boys then traveled through the dark to stay in a hotel in Willits.
JULY
They were in for quite a sight at night, though. Leaving the campground after sundown, the two made their way to a clearing on a nearby highway for their first viewing of the comet NEOWISE.
JULY
After viewing magnificent trees and big banana slugs, they arrive at the coast for a breathtaking overlook of the Pacific. After exiting the park, they continue up the 101, but take a mighty detour on the historic Newton B Drury Scenic parkway to get in some final views of some of the largest trees on earth. On this evening, they finally entered OREGON to stay in a hotel in Medford.
JULY
They spent all day exploring their 3rd National Park in 5 days, completing the full drive around the edge of the crater where a volcanic mountain collapsed over 7,000 years ago to give way to the deepest lake in the USA. Christian even jumped into the freezing lake for a polar swim! They stay late to catch the comet NEOWISE behind a setting sun on the opposite side of the pristine lake.
Upon exiting the park they pass through a vast open pumice desert in the moonlight crossing through Umpaqua National Forest to reach Eugene.
JULY
With views of the magnificent 11,249 foot stratovolcano, the boys were inspired to set up camp and immediately begin exploring.
JULY
After only 3 days in Oregon, the two leave Mt Hood to head towards the Olympic Peninsula in WASHINGTON. They arrive at COHO campground in Olympic National Forest.
JULY
They leave from the North Fork Trailhead following along the large river through dense rainforest to make it up to the Wolf Bar backcountry campsite. Along the way Christian both jumps and falls into the river, setting the adventures back a bit before they return to their campsite for the night, with bright skies until around midnight.
JULY
They meet a new friend during their visit who was a longtime ranger of Mt. Rainier who recounts stories and memories of working in such a wondrous place. This evening as the sun dies, they push on to Spokane, almost done with their time in Washington.
JULY
Headed north towards the Canadian border, the two pass through Flathead National Forest to arrive at Big Creek campsite along the North Fork Flathead River. They prepare for the day ahead of them in, you guessed it, Glacier National Park.
JULY
They hike along the Continental Divide Trail to Virginia Falls, also viewing St. Mary’s falls and the uncompromising Saint Mary Lake. They see mule deer, elk, bighorn sheep, and mountain goats throughout the park, as well as plenty of the park’s namesake: glaciers. They even spotted a bear!
Quite an eventful day in Montana before returning to their campsite just outside the park.
JULY
They drive to the corner of Montana, Idaho, and Wyoming to Cabin Creek Campground in Custer Gallatin National Forest just outside of West Yellowstone and set up camp for the next few nights.
JULY
The figure eight roads through the park provided a lot of ground to cover, so they started on the northern loop viewing mud pots, steam vents, and travertine terraces.
In the afternoon they head towards the southern end of the park, with intent to see some geyser action, including Old Faithful. After a few easy hikes, plenty of animal sightings, including more bison and two bears, and viewing Old Faithful go off at sunset, the boys headed back to camp from the long day.
JULY
The Grand Teton range, which spans about 40 miles of Rocky Mountains, appears to jet straight up from the land, towering over the valley of the park by 6,000 feet. This park sits on a direct fault line, and the Teton mountains were formed by natural uplift over the tectonic plate that the valley sits upon.
These magnificent mountains did not disappoint, as Austin and Christian had a field day of hikes around Leigh Lake and Jenny Lake, as well as critter sightings of everything as small as a chipmunk to as big as moose. They traveled all through the Jackson valley, taking in all the sights of the mystical mountains before heading back through Yellowstone to their same campsite.
JULY
They crossed through the Wyoming parks taking in their last views before passing through Jackson for lunch and pushing on towards Utah!
JULY
JULY
These formations in the park are left behind by Lake Bonneville, the large salt water sea that once stood over the center of the Colorado Plateau until about 16,800 years ago. This region is so unique that you can find triassic tracks from ages ago right alongside biological crust made up of living organisms in the soil!
After an exciting day and night exploring this unique land, the two camp for another night in this unique park to watch the night sky light up with stars.
AUG
On this day they drive through Dixie National Forest to arrive in Bryce Canyon National Park. Viewing bright colored hoodoos all shades of red, orange, and pink, they drive through the park to look out over the canyon. Bryce’s highest point sits atop 8,800 feet in elevation and looks out over the Grand Escalante Staircase stretching out so far that you can view the Grand Canyon in Arizona on the horizon.
After a few hikes, the two stay in Bryce for the night to view a magnificent show of stars in their second Dark Sky Park in a row.
AUG
Entering from the east, they are greeted with petrified sand dunes before crossing through a tunnel and into the main Zion Canyon. The Virgin River carved out a magnificent red rock canyon with walls over 3,000 feet tall on both sides of the valley floor.
After a trek across multiple climate zones, new lands, and many unique ecosystems, Austin and Christian enjoy their final day in a majestic park going on a few hikes including the famous Angels Landing. They spend the night in the town of Springdale as they prepare for their last push back to California.
AUG
As they cross through vast, hot deserts and over some lower Sierra Nevada mountains, they reflect on the trek they made over the past 3 weeks.
Looking back on all the adventurous days, star-lit and peaceful nights, dozens of wild animals and unique flora, as well as the vast largeness of the land they covered, they learned how everything has its place in the world.
Closing Thoughts
Each ecosystem, much different than the last, are all interconnected even though they seem disparate.
The deserts in southern Utah are connected to the glaciers and mountains in Montana, and while the volcanoes in Oregon and Washington are unique to themselves, they are intertwined with the volcanic activity in Yellowstone.
While Pinnacles in California offers unique rock formations, they appear similar to the hoodoos of Bryce Canyon even though they’re a thousand miles apart, with different types of stone forming them, and being shaped by different forces.
Each separate state contains large ecosystems that have within them small, independent circles of life feeding back into the earth where they came from, while being cosmically intertwined with the larger scope of the land that physically connects all of them across the continent.
What we do affects each of these spaces, and how we treat and respect these spaces feeds into their very survival.
We must protect these lands and ensure the biodiversity of these parks stays intact because when these seemingly far natural spaces can thrive, so can humanity.
Native Lands
Micqanaqa’n Los Angeles
Yokuts Pinnacles
Me-Wuk Point Reyes
Pomo, Yuki, Nomiki Redwoods
Hoopa, Yurok, Northern California
Karuk, and Shasta
Klamath and Molalla Crater Lake
Wasco and Wishram Mt Hood
Quinault, S’Klallam, Olympic
and Chehalis
Yakima Mt Rainier
Ktunaxa (Blackfoot), Glacier
Kalispell, Salish, Kootenai
Shoshone, Cheyenne Yellowstone and Teton
Ute, Goshute, Utah
Nuwuvi (Southern Paiute),
Pueblos
Mojave and Southeastern California
Newe (Western Cheyenne)
For more info, please visit www.native-land.ca
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