May, 2004 Massachusetts -- West Bound!

Well Ive been on the road for 3 weeks now, and everything is going great. I just so happen to be staying at a motel with internet access, and figured i'd make an update. I'm in Jackson, Wyoming which is a nice town. Just had sushi, and I'm planning my week in the Tetons.

I've changed my plans considerably, having buzzed through the midwest (which didnt quite excite me). Heres a run down of what I've been up to...

Started heading west on Rt2, and then picked up rt20 in New York. I quickly threw out the idea of taking all secondary highways, and hopped on I90. Hit the finger lakes for the afternoon, and then continued to Lake Erie in Pennsyltucky. Presque state park was beautiful, and then I hit Cleveland, Ohio. Grabbed lunch downtown, went to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and then checked out the Navy Pier. Went up through Michigan, hiked at Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore. Spent the night at a state park right on Lake Michigan, I was the only person there. Checked out central Michigan, and then headed up into the upper peninsula. Watched a supertanker go through Soo Locks in Sault Ste Marie, and then went down through Wisconsin. Green Bay and Milwaukee were both disgusting towns (sorry, no offense) but I spent the day at the EAA museum in Oshkosh. Stayed in a motel in southern wisconsin that got flooded out from those big storms, spent the day in Chicago, went to Mall of America, St. Paul, and a national wildlife reserve in Minnesota. Went to Pierre South Dakota, and spent a couple days backcountry hiking in the Badlands. Got upclose and personal with a bison there. Went to the black hills, mt rushmore, and then headed into wyoming. Devil's Tower, Bighorn National Forest, and Cheyenne. Into colorado where I spent 3 days hiking in Rocky Mountain National Park. Climbed the high dune in the Great Sand Dunes national park, Royal Gorge, and beautiful Mesa Verde. Black canyon of the Gunnison wasnt as exciting as I thought it would be, and now I'm back in Wyoming. This is an abbreviation of my adventure thus far, and I've left out countless things I know.

Upcoming, I have a week in the Tetons/Yellowstone area, a week in Montana, a few days in northern Idaho, and then I'll be off into Western Canada and Alaska.

This trip so far has been absolutely amazing, more than I ever thought it would be. I already have about 2000 photos and about 3 hours of video. Everything from marmots running away with my stuff high in the rockies, to views from the skydeck of Sears Tower in Chicago.

Until my next update (which I dont know when), I wish everyone the best!

- Nick

Nick,

Sounds like the adventure is going well. thanks for the update!

Mark

It's sounds like you're having a wonderful time. I can't wait until your next update. Enjoy!

Grabbed a motel tonight to clean up and they had high-speed internet service. I just went through customs, and am sitting in a cabin in Alaska. Well actually its kind of a cabin/gas station/restaurant. Man am I grubby after spending a week in British Columbia and the Yukon.

(Here is the update...)

The Tetons were beautiful, spent the day hiking and sitting on the shore of Jackson Lake. I spent all of 4 hours in Yellowstone, driving in via the south entrance, and exiting in the north. What a crowded, smelly, zoo. Sulphur and diesel fumes were all I could smell. I spent the afternoon in Helena, MT and then headed up towards Glacier National Park. Got rained out. I did drive the "Going to the sun" road, and walked around some. No hiking though. Decided not to spend time in Idaho, and crossed right into western Washington. The cherries are ready to harvest, so there was an incredible population of Mexicans. I went to a Mexican dance and saw a band which was different. Then I headed up into BC. The wilderness in western Canada is simply amazing. I got great photos/video of bighorn sheep, black bears, caribou, and many other forms of wildlife. WILD, as in on the side of the highway or on trails not in a zoo. I just reached Alaska about an hour ago, so I have yet to explore. The alpine lakes tinted with glacial silt are some of the most beautiful things I have ever seen.

Once again the trip is going great.
Until the unknown next time...
- Nick

By the way, I sure do wish I had someone to "Share the gas". I think my Visa Check Card feels abused after passing through Canada >) !!!

Nick, I don't want to state the obvious, but you DO know that sulphur is one of the natural "fragrances" of Yellowstone, right? :)

What was it that made you decide to pass up on Idaho? And what exactly does "glacial silt" do to the appearance of a lake (I've never heard of this so I am curious!). It's probably just another thing I have to add to my list of musts -- the green flash, the Aurora Borealis, and now glacial-silted lakes!

I hope you are taking millions of photos! Bob

I did a quick search and found a few pictures...this stuff looks pretty nasty:

http://www.naturalphotos.com/sekercioglu/alaska/pages/ALS3-DNP-Silt.htm

http://www.goodmigrationsphoto.com/silt.html

http://www.farlimas.com/skyeye/skydatatext/space131text.html

I so wish I could trade places with you for a few days! One thing I've always regreted was not traveling more before life got too complicated.

I'm looking forward to any updates.

Take care and enjoy!

Even though I haven't posted in this thread, I'm sure there are a lot of people like me following your adventure. Anxiously waiting for the next update. And can't wait to see some pictures.

Sitting an an internet cafe in north-western Washington, sucking on a blend of peaches, simple-syrup, and ice. Nice and refreshing. Just finished up with some grocery shopping after customs stole all my produce upon re-entry of the US. Those bas***ds probably had a real nice meal! They tried taking 10 bottles of San Pellegrino I bought in Prince George, but I flipped out. They gave me a bunch of rigamarole, but eventually let me keep them.

Anyhoo, I had an ok time in Alaska. Everything there is so expensive to take advcantage of tourists. I'm not talking about food or fuel, I'm talking services like motels and campgrounds. But here is the rundown...

Fairbanks is pretty much the armpit of Alaska, and I spent all of 3-4 hours there. After checking out the downtown area, I headed for Denali National Park. Unbelieveably crowded, and the one road in the park is restricted to park busses after only mile 15. The busses take 11 hours round trip to go down one 90 mile road. I don't think so. Camping was almost $40. But once I parked at Savage River and started hiking off trail it was very peaceful. Phenomenal views of Denali (McKinley) and the whole Alaska range once you ruck up some hills. Just south of the park there are also some nice views from the highway. Anchorage is a nice place, and I grabbed some King Crab there. The local brews come from the Glacier brewhouse, or Alaskan brewhouse. I quite enjoyed the Alaskan Amber. Kenai peninsula was great. Went to Kenai Fjords National Park and did some hiking around Exit Glacier. Then it was back towards the Yukon. I had had enough of the tourist zoo. I honestly have to say that the stretch of highway between Lake Kluane and in the Yukon and Fort Nelson in British Columbia offers the best experiences in the far north-west. Less people phenomenal scenery, great hiking, amazing wildlife, and cheap campgrounds/motels. Yukon won over Alaska for me.

Had some trouble yesterday in Vancouver when after attempting to pay for lunch at a little sushi shop my debit/visa check card was declined (Payed for it with these heavy $2 coins you seem to unwillingly aquire and stockpile). None of the banks could solve the problem either. I had $10 on me. So I ended up leaving there prematurely, and headed for the US where I faced an hour and a half in customs. Couldnt by more gas, couldnt get groceries, and couldnt get cash. But then thankfully it worked at a motel. My bank couldnt figure out what happened, but today it works again, and I withdrew some extra cash just in case it happens again. I really wanted to try some ethiopian food in vancouver, but oh well.

Headed for Seattle and pike place market tomorrow. Going to do some serious taste-testing. I'll have to do some hiking at Rainier national park and Mount St Helens to make up for it. So until next time, it's back to the road (my peach drink is pretty much gone anyways).

- Nick

Ok so it didn't last a year, but I'm exhausted. I never would have guessed that traveling is so tiring. I'm absolutely exhausted. The tally came to 20,000 miles of driving and over 300 miles of hiking... in 3 months. I retuned home before running out of money, and already landed a better job than the one I left. Certainly something I can look back on as a highlight of my life.

Here is a chronological list of some of the highlights.
Of course the real adventure consisted of the places in between, the little towns with their festivals, and state parks that always seemed to be peacefullly empty.

Finger Lakes, NY

Presque State Park & Lake Erie, PA

Cleveland & Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, OH

Sleeping Bear Dunes Nat'l Lakeshore, MI

Leelanau Point State Park, MI

Soo Locks - Sault Ste. Marie, MI

Pictured Rocks Nat'l Lakeshore, MI

EAA Museum Oshkosh, WI

Milwaukee, WI

Chicago, IL

Jelly Belly Jelly Bean Factory, WI

Upper Mississippi Nat'l Wildlife Preserve, MN

SPAM Museum, MN

Mall of America, MN

St. Paul, MN

Pipestone Nat'l Monument, MN

Fort Pierre Nat'l Grassland, SD

Pierre, SD

Wall Drug Pharmacy, SD

Badlands NP, SD

Black Hills Nat'l Forest, SD

Mt. Rushmore Nat'l Monument, SD

Devil's Tower Nat'l Monument, WY

Bighorn Nat'l Forest, WY

Cheyenne, WY

Rocky Mountains NP, CO

Royal Gorge, CO

Great Sand Dunes NP, CO

Durango, CO

Mesa Verde NP, CO

Black Canyon of the Gunnison NP, CO

Grand Tetons NP, WY

Yellowstone NP, WY

Helena, MT

Glacier NP, MT

Spokane, WA

Prince George, BC

Fort St. John, BC

Whitehorse, YK

Kluane Lake, YK

Fairbanks, AK

Denali NP, AK

Anchorage, AK

Kenai Fjords NP, AK

Wrangel St. Elias NP, AK

Garibaldi Provincial Park, BC

Vancouver, BC

Seattle, WA

Mt. Ranier NP, WA


Olympic NP, WA

Olympic Coast via Rt.101

Salem, OR

Oregon Coast via Rt.101

Crater Lake NP, OR

Lassen Volcanic NP, CA

Redwood Nat'l Park, CA

California Coast via Rt.1

Sonoma, CA

San Francisco, CA

Monterey, CA

Big Sur, CA

Los Angelas, CA

Joshua Tree NP, CA

Death Valley NP, CA

Las Vegas, NV

Hoover Dam, NV

Zion NP, UT

Grand Canyon NP (North Rim!), AZ

Navajo Nation, AZ

Monument Valley, UT

Arches NP, UT

Moab, UT

Saguaro NP, AZ

White Sands Nat'l Monument, NM

Roswell, NM

Guadalupe Peak NP, TX

Lafayette & Cajun Country, LA

Baton Rouge, LA

Everglades NP, FL

Florida Keys

Miami, FL

Washington, DC

I'll be moving into a new apartment closer to my new job, so as soon as I get my own webspace I'll make a website with pictures and video. Speaking of which, I have about 3000 photos and 7 hours of video. I'll also include some stuff on planning, and things I would have done differently or the same.

Getting out around the country is something everyone should do. I'd also encourage people to do it when they're younger and physically able to experience what it's like to hike up a snopwcapped mountain in California, climb the ladders within the ruins at Mesa Verde, or walk all day in cities like San Francisco or New York. Don't just be a passer-by in a 30ft motor home, get out and really experience our country. I got a great taste of Alaska, Western Canada, and the Lower 48, so now I can use my vacation time at work to visit my favorite places in depth. I also now have experience traveling, so places like Europe, Africa, Asia, and South America seem closer. I'm already revving up for a trip to Portugal and North Africa this fall!

You only live once, and physical ability is quick to go, so get going!