AN AWESOME TRIP TO THE CANYONS......

It all started some two years ago. Jerome and Laurent had done a trip to the Canyons on the west coast of the US. The photos I saw left me quite breathless. Could anything be so beautiful - and to use the American word - awesome as this? But how could I go? All the organized trips I saw left me stone cold and didn’t even cover the number of miles or sites that they had seen. I needed someone to « second » me - another driver and someone who had the same enthusiasm as I did concerning such a trip. A week? Two weeks? Was it  easy to organize from Paris?

My choice went to two very sweet men I had met a few years ago in Turkey. David and Frank. They were travelers and had already taken in Mexico this year during the school holidays. Both teachers and would be available in the months which were suitable for traveling in that part of the world. They were both very enthusiastic when I approached them about such a trip. That was back in January. Frank then set to and by April had produced the most detailed itinerary in the form of a little booklet that I have ever seen for a trip.                 

Photos of proposed hotels along with all information (wifi, micro-wave, ‘fridge, swimming pool…..) , mileage and kilometers between the different sites, the must do’s in each park or reserve. If you ever want to do a trip of any kind, Frank is an expert on setting it up and planning the route along the way.


Flying into San Francisco was quite something......

Two weeks and over 5,000 kilometers. I had not driven for some years and the Friday before we left, I hired an automatic « Smartfortwo » for the day so Swan and I could visit a feline cat reserve outside of Paris. Well that little car helped me to get my confidence back but was nothing like the Chrysler we hired at the San Francisco airport.

And our "new home"

The Little Smartfortwo

And I was the first to drive as Frank had not driven an automatic before. We were only 59 kilometers from the airport and I got through very well, or so I thought.

1500 photos later and 12 stops along the way, it took me three days just to try and sort the photos. I think the beauty of each site speaks for itself, so I have no intention of writing long chapters about each visit. A few pointers though if you intend doing such a trip……

CARS
Hiring a car is simple. I don’t know if you can hire a manual drive. For someone who hasn’t driven anything sophisticated, the American cars do everything but talk. Now I come to think of it, they talk too.

        Warning signs about lights, doors etc. make you jump to attention. Different buttons which I were certainly not used to - a second Park button - programming speed and then taking your right foot off the accelerator was a bit too much for me. Hands on the wheel, OK but « look Mum, no feet » did not reassure me.


        Many of the roads are long and monotonous - using the control could be dangerous as it’s not too long before you feel sluggish


        A GPS is essential but needs to be programmed. Roads are well marked but even with a GPS, you can get lost. One day we did over 240 kilometers in the wrong direction.

        There are many sinuous roads along the way. You climb and climb and climb again with drops on one side of the car which look as if they have no bottom to them.

        Police have all the rights. On one occasion a police car was following someone for speeding (for one horrible moment I thought it was me). The culprit pulled over a few metres from me on the side of the motor way and then to my horror as I was driving, the police car swung in front of me and if I hadn’t been able to brake fast, I would have smashed into the car’s door. Even if  it was not my fault, the Police (we were told) would have accused me for reckless driving. I was shaking for the rest of « my driving session ».

        Petrol is cheap by European standards. Filling up the Chrysler meant around 50$

        Food

        An old and dear friend had lent us a cooler. An indispensable article on such a trip. Frank prepared our lunches everyday. Water and wine could be cooled and food fresh.

Preparing

then eating....

        Supermarkets and food shopping areas at Petrol Stations are widespread. BUT if you like natural foods like yoghurt or cream cheese, forget it: The only yoghurt I found along the way to my liking was flavored with vanilla.

        Ryvita or just plain biscuits are not easy to find either. I seem to remember that it was the 3rd day before I found something suitable.

        The supermarket and food markets in general are what seem to be miles long and filled with sugary foods. Cakes, sweets, sweet drinks and even the preprepared dishes are full of sugar with believe it or not, a calorie indication on them.

Slender (?) and mini skirt

       Before this trip,  I have never seen so many obese women - men too - but the women were, on the whole, immense. This one is slender

        Beware. Restaurants along the way are few and hard to come by, plus the fact they close around 9/9-30pm. Food is covered in sauces. One evening I chose to eat a steak without the sauce - the meat had seen better days.

Sauce on everything

A delicacy, but what? 

Open after 9pm

Meat just sogging in sauce - I ate no-more

       The homeless don’t starve in San Francisco! Clients ask for « doggy bags » with the food left over in their plates and then hand it over to the first person to be found. That’s easy. I was appalled by the number of homeless on the streets - and many were agressive too.

ANIMALS
In nearly all the parks there were "safety" garbish tins which the bears couldn't get into in. We did not see a bear - alas - we were also told not to feed the animals and yes, they were all very tame, even posing for photographs

Flying high - wish I could

He was old

And he just loved to pose

Hiding but then he came out

 little something to eat?

Oh, is someone there?

Not important. I'm hungry

Eating flies so why bother about me?

But don't come too close

And I

next to him

was sitting ....

Our first stop was Sequoia  National Park. 

After a rather a restless night we drove the 4 hours from Santa Clara to the park. While I was driving, the rain poured down in what seemed like torrential flooding. Oh no, was this the weather we would have along the way? There were days when it was cloudy bright and certainly the different sites would be much better if the sun shone but although I know the men were upset about this, it didn’t worry me as suddenly I saw other images - you’ll see that when we get to Antelope.

The weather remained overcast for a while but walking through this huge forests and discovering the Sequoia trees was quite a new  experience.

 Troubled sky

Entering the park

The park is famous for its giant sequoia trees, including the General Sherman tree, one of the largest trees on Earth.
The oldest known giant sequoia based on ring count is 3,500 years old. Giant Sequoias are among the oldest living things on Earth. The  bark is fibrous, furrowed, and may be 90 cm (3.0 ft) thick at the base of the columnar trunk. It provides significant fire protection for the trees.

Looking up at the tallest tree

Walking through the forest

The tallest tree

And again

Me coming down from it

And down I come

You see many trees which have been singed, burnt by bushfire and it’s strange to see something like this, half alive and yet seemingly half dead too.





 

We walked one of the main trials which led to the General Sherman Tree before arriving at Moro Rock. 400 steps to get to the top. Then I had to admit something to my fellow travelers. Something curious happens to me. If there is no barrier I have a strange feeling that overcomes me « I can fly » - my daughter hauled me back on a rock in Brittany years ago. The same thing happened on the Moro Rock. I was (apparently) too close to the edge and some man grabbed my T-Shirt and pulled me back. From then on, I did not venture too close to the edge of cliffs - goodness know what would have happened.

Climbing up to Moro Rock - not for me

Where I wanted to fly.....

We had been told to visit the Grand Canyon early in our trip rather than leaving it to the end. Jerome and Laurent had said it was rather « second best » after all the other majestic parks we would visit.
Nearly five million people see the 1 mile deep (1.6 km) Grand Canyon each year.

Most of them (90%) see Grand Canyon from the "South Rim ». We were amongst that crowd.

As an introduction to such a site, I was bowled over. Could anything be so large, so deep, so rocky with « ducks » and so many sculptures in the rock surface that the eye can’t take in all it sees?

The colors are for ever changing. Purples, beige, reds….we walked, we drove to the unavoidable points to see. I know the names as Frank had planned each site so well, but although the iPhone tells me exactly where the photo was taken (Grand Canyon for instance) it too gets a little confused about the names of the different points Was it Mather Point? Grandview Point? Lipan Point or Desert View? We walked. We stopped and so many photos were taken.

Unfortunately too, all the photos began to look similar even though the colors changed all the time.  Here are just a few to tell the story.

The trees were magic

A painting by MORAN tells it all

The trees were beautiful

A lovely sky

And a very viewed duck - see the people?

I was not happy looking down

I have to admit it too, the photos of « Three Rivers » and The Grand Canyon are mixed up with those of the Grand Canyon . Looking at Wikimedia I found this…..

Welcome to the Sierra Nevada foothill village of Three Rivers, California, located at the main entrance to Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Park. Three Rivers is a small, creative Sierra Nevada foothill village, with businesses and residences following the five forks of the Kaweah River.
 It is the gateway town for the Ash Mountain Main Entrance to Sequoia-Kings Canyon National Park home of the largest living things on earth, the Giant Sequoia trees.

This leaves me confused. So where were we and what photos are related? I do know that Frank loved the village where we ate that evening. It’s true. It was  full of life. A rare spot in comparison with other over night places we stayed in.

The following morning we were off to Monument Valley and to stay in a highly recommended hotel « The View Hotel »

Looking up at the View Hotel totally intergrated into the Park

This is Navajo Indian Country and alcohol is forbidden. For some reason too, the time changes and we add an hour. The state changes too as we are now between Arizona and Utah.

The weather was overcast again and the extraordinary rock sculptures did not perhaps look their best in a cloudy/bright lighting. I didn’t mind, just as long as we would see the sunset - and the following day - the sun rise.

See the tiny stretch of road?

The visit can only be done in a car along sandy roads were it would be easy to get bogged down. One car I was following did just this and then I sailed up the steep sandy hill without any problem. Felt quite proud of myself. 

The rock formations are characterized by a cluster of vast sandstone buttes. I would think that they had the same meaning to the Indians as Ayers Rock or Uluru in Australia. Each formation has a name and the sculpture can be seen easily along the way with the full formation. Unfortunately I didn't note down the names at the time but these had something to do with the three nuns....

Sure, it was disappointing not to have the sun and yet, when we got to the hotel, the sun appeared. The sunset and sunrise were unforgettable.

I know this is the thumb....

And then the sunset (but without the glass of champagne...) but from my hotel balcony.....

Monument Valley has been featured in many forms of media since the 1930s. Director John Ford used the location for a number of his best-known films…John Wayne, Clint Eastwood. Real American cowboy country - so we are told. So perhaps we have all seen such photos and yet it seemed to be new to me.

The hotel was a joy to stay in. The dinner in their restaurant was the worst I have eaten in a long time.

And so we move on. The following day after a very good breakfast at the same hotel we drove to the Glen Canyon Dam.

The dam was built to provide hydroelectricity and flow regulation from the upper Colorado River Basin to the lower. Its reservoir is called Lake Powell, and is the second-largest artificial lake in the country, extending up river well into Utah. It can only be visited in a group and with a guide. Far down into that water there are boat trips which in my book may have been more interesting than the visit to the dam itself. We were told a lot and I even asked questions. Now I can’t remember a thing.

Firsy view of the dam

and of the bridge from the water lever

this time higher up

a strange colour

growth pushing it's way out

See those little boats below? I would have loved that

After this we drove to Horseshoe Bend. Just three miles from Page where we would be staying that evening. There is a steep sandy dune to climb up and in 37° it was not easy to do so. Unfortunately I ran out of drinking water and also unfortunately the cliff is not protected. Once again, something was pulling me to the edge but this time, I stopped and after taking a couple of photos, stepped back to admire as much as I could. Not only was it a 300 meter drop to the water,  there was a spectacular view and  looks like a perfect horseshoe on a meander.

The perfect horseshoe

I was getting too close

The right side of the Colorado

is full of algae

the face looking up at you

the othe side looks quite clear

both sides

And again......

What I was really looking forward to was Antelope Canyon. We would visit both the Lower and Upper Canyons. Overcast again and I could see the disappointment written of the faces or my companions.

Antelope Canyon is visited exclusively through guided tours. In part because rains during monsoon season can quickly flood the canyon. Rain does not have to fall on or near the Antelope Canyon slots for flash floods to whip through. We were told that in 1997 eleven tourists killed in Lower Antelope Canyon by a flash flood. The guides also showed us the best places to photograph, where the Canyons had changed shape. They were controlled morning and evening as the rock structures changed frequently and were not always easily accessed. We took buses to each site which along the sandy roads was a very bumpy ride...

Rocks which had fallen a few weeks before

The lower Canyon has  sinuous tracks winding up and down, tracks which we walked along in single file....I would like to add, that none of these photos have been changed. The colours were as we saw them and that is without much sunlight....

The entrance

First small gallery

walking along

and looking up to the sky and seeing the faces

golden waves

a passage way

oh so many faces

Toward the end

A few words from Wikipedia……The Navajo name for Upper Antelope Canyon is Tsé bighánílíní, which means "the place where water runs through rocks." Lower Antelope Canyon is Hazdistazí (advertised as "Hasdestwazi" by the Navajo Parks and Recreation Department), or "spiral rock arches." Antelope Canyon was formed by erosion of Navajo Sandstone, primarily due to flash flooding

As the sun had still not come out, I could feel the reticence about visiting the upper Canyon. Thank goodness I insisted. The tracks are not so sinuous but the twists and bends continue.....The sun came out. We decided to go......

The formations were breathtaking.

Looking back up

the sun is trying hard

catching the sunlight

throwing sand to the sun

and there is the sun

and out we came to cloudy bright....

 It's quite obvious that I took many more photos. A 100 perhaps. I still love to look at them and see the different shapes and sculptures. Perhaps Wave Rock in Western Australia is the closest thing to what the Antelope Canyons although outside,  but I don't like crude comparisons....

There I am next to the wave

the Antelope experience will stay with me until  I leave this planet....




The following day there was a 3 hour drive to Bryce Canyon. 

It’s like thousands of delicately carved spires rising in brilliant color Millions of years of wind, water and geologic mayhem have shaped and etched the pink cliffs at Bryce, which isn't actually a canyon but the eastern slope of the Paunsaguant Plateau. I’ll use the great American word « Awesome ». We walked down the Queen’s Garden Trail and up to Sunset Point and along to Inspiration point. From the Bryce Point you could look down onto an amphitheater or peaks. Could anything be more awesome than this?

First look down

and further away

we walked along here

and here too

still walking

look at those faces

majestic

 the trees were mysterious

and these huge sculptures too

not to mention the ally ways


 

Zion Park

was a bit of a let down for me. We could walk along the river on a track looking over what seemed to be a dry river bed. The water - when I finally got to it - was not something that I would plunge into. Ice in running form. The waterfalls were not that expressive either and when it came to looking at the Upper Emerald Pool, I renounced and left the men to it. I had not come to look at my feet. The tracks were so sandy and perilous, to slip would be easy and I did a couple of times. Thank goodness David was there to catch me

The middle pool

Not much water

Looks like a painting and yet us untouched

Water fall?

En route for Las Vegas. The Strip maybe something to see but I could have given it a miss.

The largest most vulgar amusement park that I have ever seen. The ***** hotels were cheap but then you were expected to gamble and lose a lot while you were there. We did not. 

The Bellagio Hotel fountains were a sight to look upon

But as too

Excalibur,

France (the French bistro was a good place to eat in and the first and only restaurant or bar where we could drink an espresso),

Paris in the daytime

                              Italy

Eygpt

America of course

a day of gambling

Handbags

See the name of the musical

And the queue up to get in

The Strip

The Strip

Bellagio Hotel

If only I could have seen that exhibition....

Looking up

at Hotels

of course....

See the name of the show?

American and Paris

and our hotel The Flamingo with its wedding going on

Our hotel - the first built on the Strip

At first I wondered if they were real.....

But they were.....

Have to book six months ahead....

Kitsch is the only word I can find for such bad taste…




As Laurent pointed out to me, this is perhaps an image of the American way of life. Eat, spend and enjoy yourself? Not me at all.

I was glad to leave the following morning. We were heading for Bishop and Death Valley. It could only be « living » for me after the Las Vegas experience.

Hot, hot, hot - some 40°. Even if dry heat, this time I did find it a little too hot. It’s a furnace.  It is the lowest, driest, and hottest area in North America.It also contains salt pans one of which is called the Gold Course which is the vestige of a dried up lake for over 2000 years. The dramatic landscape around you helps generate these extremes. In the low valley bottom, the desert sun heats the air. The valley's steep mountain walls trap rising hot air and then recirculates it down the bassin for further heating. This is why the temperatures can be sizzling. It's also the driest place in North America with an average rainfull of 2 inches (5cm) a year on the valley floor. Only very occassional summer thuderstorms or the most powerful winter storms bring rain into the valley.

Looking from Dante's View (Shoshone)

another view (Shoshone)

and another (Shoshone)

and one more (Shoshone)

too (Shoshone)

Dante’s view is extraordinary. Here you can see just how desolate the valley is. You are now overlooking Badwater which is the lowest point in the US. Some 86 metres below the sea level. The whole area is eerie and I would think a little like the surface of some far away planet. Dry, unwelcoming the hottest part of the earth but still a very pleasant relief after the previous day.

Edna Brush Perkins (I guess she is an American)  quoted in 1922

"How could rocks and sand and silence make us afraid and yet be so wonderful"

Devil's Golf Course

To walk on very carefully

Along way off were a couple

and I went off too

The salt lake

Leaving

Sandy and cruel

Well I wouldn't want to find myself alone on those salt flats in Badwater Basin which is 282 feet below sea level and the lowest point in North America 








 It was time to leave.....I may never see this place again, but perhaps it will mark my memory a lot more than many other things....

He must have been mad in that heat

Looking back

and again

and saying goodbye.....

Our last park before getting to San Francisco would be Mono Lake and Yosemite Park The mornings always seemed to be cloudy bright although by midday the sun was shining.

Lovely formation but......

Still cloudy bright

Granite rocks as I love them....

A bit of history all the same. I picked this up in the Visitor’s centre.

« In 1941, the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power began diverting Mono Lake's tributary streams 350 miles south to meet the growing water demands of Los Angeles.
In 1962, Mono Lake had already dropped almost 25 vertical feet.     Deprived of its freshwater sources, the volume of Mono Lake halved, while its salinity doubled. Unable to adapt to these changing conditions within such a short period of time, the ecosystem began to collapse. Ever since there is a committee endeavoring to protect the system The lack of an outlet causes high levels of salts to accumulate in the lake. These salts also make the lake water alkaline.

This desert lake has an unusually productive ecosystem based on brine shrimp that thrive in its waters, and provides critical nesting habitat for two million annual migratory birds that feed on the shrimp and black flies (that also feed on the shrimp) ».

Effectively the water felt slimy and the black flies seemed to accumulate in their 100’s over the water surface. 

The sun came out and the whole scene changed.

Without the sun and looking those beasts

They are hiding this time

The sun is trying to shine on Mono Lake

To come out on Mono Tufa State Reserve

And it more or less did !

Yosemite was the last park.

It is best known for its waterfalls, but within its nearly 1,200 square miles, you can find deep valleys, grand meadows, ancient giant sequoias, a vast wilderness area, and much more. Looking at the falls from far off, they seemed like a tap running and nothing more. 

I loved the granite rocks though which took me back to my childhood in Granite Rise where my brother and I spent the summer holidays climbing over them - jumping off them -

Ajouter une légende

I didn't jump on them, but I did climb down

A little more desertic than Tasmania

Breathaking

all around

and another photo to be taken

Before we left

what majestic trees

Like a fan .....

Then comes Glacier Point. Fantastic, breathtaking and AWSOME and any other superlative that you might come up with.

Was I at saturation point? The last miles of the drive into San Francisco were not easy for Frank and especially to find out hotel.

Coming into San Francisco, I took these photos from the car. Paul told me the following evening that it was the drought that caused these dried out hills which were not desert at all as I thought, but dried out underbush..

The hotel was a really minimalist affair,  but just across was the parking where we left the car. 

We discovered China Town on our first afternoon .....

The tramway crossing China Town

Main Street

graffitti walls

The Gate

More graffitti

And fast food too.

We separated our ways the following day. I’m sure that their walk around San Francisco was an eventful one and all the important parks and sites visited. I just got lost wandering up and down hills - and oh are they steep.

Looking down - and up

See what I mean? Rue Lombard

Lovely facades

and some beautiful buildings

who was she?

reminded me of Montreal with the stair cases

going down to go up

How do they park?

Looking up

Ok, so wait for me....

Not to mention Lombard Street with its flower beds which didn't hide those very twisty bends.....

Rue Lombard- hiding the twists and turns

I wouldn't have minded being them.....

Rue Lombard- I'd like to have done that too

waiting for an hour to take the tramway - for me that was a must -

That's the queue

Turning the tramway

the two men push it to turn around

And up I go

 finally finding Union Street and those quaint little shops. But looking down from the Coit Tower onto San Francisco disappointed me. The city looked so flat which was definitely not the case. In fact if I had been set down in the city blind folded, I could have been in Melbourne or Sydney. The harbor, for me though,  is not nearly as beautiful as in Sydney even if it is thought to be by many who have visited both.

Going up to it.....

The Coit Tower

The tower - and we didn't climb up

First views of the city

It looks so flat

...but isn't 

A city view

A harbour view

A gum tree - moved me

the view didn't

and I thought of my roots!

A little art while we waited to go up in the lift. I think we were all pretty certain that it was Diego Rivera's (1886-1957) but in actual fact, they were wall paintings done by quite a few of his "pupils". Although different artists their work was very close to Rivera's and also a unity.They depicted scenes that the artists knew from life in San Francisco.

Victor Arnautoff (1886-1957) City Life

Victor Arnautoff (1886-1957) City Life

And down to the city

 A sports car parked, illegally I would think !!

A stretch car next to garbish tins....

The Alliance Francaise

Arman (1968-) Hermes & Dionysis - 1968

A main bank

Even cars have graffitti ....of a kind....

Dubuffet....

Justin Herman Plaza

Unidentified sculpture at the Justin Herman Plaza

There is was. The Golden Gate Bridge. We drove across it and left the car in a parking spot before walking across the bridge and back again. Fortunately we had arrived earlyish as the crowds were there by the time we walked back the some 2700 meters.

The suspension bridge is one of the most internationally recognized symbols of San Francisco, California, and the United States.  I would call it vermillion and hardly golden and when I asked around to find out why it was called golden - no-one seemed to know. 
Now I do with a little help from Internet of course.

Actually, the term Golden Gate refers to the Golden Gate Strait which is the entrance to the San Francisco Bay from the Pacific Ocean. So it is not named after its color at all…I can assure you that there is nothing golden about it, but my goodness what a structure.

The trip was drawing to an end. 15 days of an unforgettable scenic ride though country which I could never have dreamt of. Those who described their experience before I had been there, said the same. I didn’t believe it could be so impressive, inspiring awe….    could the sites be classified ? Could I say which for me where the most impressive - I’ll turn it around. Las Vegas and Zion will not mark my memory buds but for very different reasons. Vulgarity in the first place and having to look so hard at my feet and where I was walking in the second.

If you haven’t been to visit the Canyons - GO. It’s worth every minute.