Zoo Atlanta/Brasstown Bald

Wednesday, August 8, 2007

Today, we visited Zoo Atlanta, one of the nicer zoos I've been to, probably second only to the San Diego Zoo. We were there when it opened and headed straight for the Panda Bear exhibit. Zoo Atlanta has three pandas: 11 month-old Mei Lan and her parents Yang Yang and Lun Lun. When we arrived, the bears were sort of lounging around, chomping away at some bamboo. It wasn't long however, before Lun Lun roused her daughter and started playing with her. It looked like they were biting and scratching each other, but I guess that's how bears play. We watched the pandas for almost an hour and they were very active and entertaining.

Next, we checked out the gorillas and orangutans. The gorillas are separated into four different habitats. One is a bachelor group of all male gorillas and another features a large silverback with his harem of females and four small, "toddler" gorillas. We stopped by for the afternoon feedings and saw one juvenile gorilla who was doing flips, sliding across the ground and slapping the others on the back.

The exhibits at Zoo Atlanta are very well designed and most of them offer close up views of the animals. Despite the fact that the temperature was about 100 degrees, the ample shade of the zoo kept us from being miserable.

After leaving the zoo, we headed out of Atlanta and toward Brasstown Bald, the highest point in Georgia. I didn't have very high expectations for this stop on the trip, but I was looking at it as an opportunity to bag a state high point and maybe some great mountain scenery. Well, it was a pleasant surprise. We arrived at the summit at about 7:30 p.m. after a short 0.6 mile walk to the top. With the sun descending, the Appalachian mountains were beautifully lit. On top of the mountain is a large visitors center and lookout tower. Normally, I find it annoying when summits are covered with a bunch of man-made junk; but, in this case, the tower was necessary to have any kind of view and the whole structure was so well designed it didn't seem too offensive.

After leaving the bald, we drove on to Dillard, GA to spend the night. Tomorrow, we'll be heading to Sassafras Mountain, the highest point in South Carolina.

Georgia Aquarium/World of Coca-Cola

Tuesday, August 7

This morning, we headed straight to the Georgia Aquarium, the only aquarium in America to house whale sharks. As you might guess, we headed straight for these giant fish, the biggest fish on Earth. The whale sharks are housed in a giant tank with wrasse, grouper, sting rays, a hammerhead shark, and a variety of other fish. The whale sharks on display were probably about twenty feet long, dwarfing the 800 lb. groupers swimming nearby. It's entertaining to watch any animal that big, but I wish we could've seen them feeding, or had a view of them from above, as they spent most of their time swimming near the surface. One day, I'd love to dive with these gentle animals. They are sometimes sighted off the Georgia coast.

The Georgia Aquarium is the best aquarium I've visited. The layout makes sense and is attractive and easy to navigate. All of the exhibits are interesting and many offer large viewing windows, allowing continuous perspectives on the animals as they swim about. Some other highlights were the Beluga whales and the otters.

After leaving the aquarium, we headed next door to the World of Coca-Cola. If you like Coke, this is a place with a lot of information about Coke. And a lot of Coke advertisements. And a lot of Coke products. It's extremely, extremely clean and gives the same sort of feeling as Disney World: "Today, you have no problems." Some of the stuff is interesting, but I thought it could've done a better job of showing how Coke is made. I guess the secret formula really is secret. The highlight of the experience was the tasting, where we were able to sample 72 different Coke products from all around the world. My sister and I sampled every one, and by the time I was finished, I felt like throwing a trash can through one of the plate glass windows, I was so jacked up. One thing I noticed, the rest of the world seems to prefer fruity-flavored soft drinks. Also, I noticed that the drink called "Beverly" is probably the worst drink I have ever had. Steer clear of that the next time you are in Italy.

Stone Mountain, Georgia

August 6, 2007

I haven't been on a family vacation since probably the summer of 2000, but now that I'm back in South Carolina with nothing to do for a few more weeks -- and with my sister in the same situation -- we decided it would be a good time to load up the Gylls family and head to Atlanta.

Today, we visited Stone Mountain, which is about 20 miles outside of Atlanta. It's a giant granite dome rising seemingly out of nowhere above the green Georgia landscape. It's somewhat reminiscent of some of the domes in Yosemite, though not as spectacular. What is does have, however, that nothing in Yosemite has is three Confederate heroes carved into it. From left to right there is Jefferson Davis, Robert E. Lee and Stonewall Jackson. The carving is, in fact, larger than Mount Rushmore (which my loyal readers will already know is not as big as is widely believed). The figures themselves, by my estimates, are roughly the same size as the Rushmore carvings. The carving, which is the largest high relief sculpture in the world, was begun by Gutzon Borglum who is better known for carving (you guessed it) Mt. Rushmore. Borglum's work, however, no longer exists on Stone Mountain, as it was detonated when a second sculpture, Augustus Lukeman, took over with a somewhat different vision.

We took a cable ride to the summit, where we milled around for a while and took in the views, which were largely obscured by the hazy sky. When it was time to head back down, my mom and sister headed back for the cable car, but Dad and I decided to walk down the 1.4 mile trail to Confederate Memorial Hall. Well, the heat was absolutely brutal and the walk was a lot tougher than I expected. Still, we made it without much problem.

We're staying in Atlanta tonight and over the next couple days will be checking out the zoo and aquarium.

The Epilogue

As I was driving alone over the last few days of the trip, I began listening to an audiobook by John Hodgman entitled The Areas of My Expertise. In it, he describes what it takes to become a professional writer, saying that one must first learn to believe that other people care about what you have to say. “This is very difficult for some people,” he explains. “But for some, it comes very easily… These people are assholes.” I’ll leave it to all of you to decide which part of that applies to me and you should feel free to keep all conclusions to yourself.

Moving across the country, leaving behind my friends and starting a new career, this trip largely was meant to serve as a way to close one chapter of my life and begin a new one. But, as many people have noted, the trip took on greater meaning as it evolved. Seeing the inspiration people seemed to draw from the very notion of such an adventure, it quickly became clear that this trip was less about the changes in my own life and more about finding Man’s place in the world and discovering the true meaning of America.

With that in mind, the first topic I shall discuss is what I have named “surprise places.” Obviously, when I planned the trip, I had some idea about what destinations interested me; but, in covering so much distance, there’s a lot of in-between space that couldn’t really be planned for. This, of course, is one of the great appeals of a road trip. I’ll give a couple examples:

1. Leaving Portland and driving along the Columbia River Gorge, where the wind blows off the river and bounces off the steep rock walls so that the river moves like an ocean and the car was at times nearly buffeted off the road.
2. If you’ve ever been to Seattle, you know that Northwestern Washington is full of giant, rocky mountains. Southern Washington, however, is full of rolling, treeless hills where you can see so far that it feels like you’re looking down from an airplane.

Also, we were surprised by a number of towns. We ended up staying in Jackson, WY just because it was too expensive to stay in Grand Teton National Park and Jackson was the closest thing. This turned out to be a happy accident as Jackson is a great little resort town that I hope I can visit again someday. In South Dakota, we spent some time in Rapid City, which is known as the City of Presidents. For one reason or another, they have a statue of a different U.S. president at nearly every street corner in their downtown. Sometimes I surprised myself at the places that made me say, “I could live here.” Rapid City, SD might sound like the kind of place you’d get sick of quickly; but I grew up in a small town, so it doesn’t seem that bad to me. In fact, this trip sort of re-framed the way I look at Santee, the town where I grew up. It’s the kind of place that, if you were on a road trip and you needed to stop somewhere for the night, it’d be perfect. It is a great 12-hour town.

Now, let me talk about some of the parks. I only hope that my experiences, dear readers, might serve you if you are fortunate enough to be in the position to visit any of these amazing places. So, let me share some of my vast expertise.

Sequoia/Kings Canyon National Park – Never heard of it, you say? Well, it’s an amazing park that you can see in a day and could easily spend a weekend in if you want to do some hiking. If you want to see big trees, this is the place to do it. The sequoias are so huge and, in these lush forests surrounded by mountain vistas, this first day excursion was one of the best spots of the entire trip.

Yosemite – This was my favorite park and it really has it all. If you want to see the park from the car, driving through Yosemite Valley and up to Glacier Point will be enough to make the trip absolutely worthwhile. I nearly skipped the drive up to Glacier Point, but I’m so glad I didn’t. The views from this spot are perhaps the most amazing I’ve seen, possibly second only to the Grand Canyon. Also, there are tons of great hikes here. If I ever get back, I’ve got a few ideas of other hikes I want to take. Again, I can’t overstate how great this place is. All of you in L.A. , it’s only six hours away. If you need an idea for a short vacation, seeing Yosemite and Sequoia would be a great trip and would only take you a few days. These are definitely two places you will always remember.

Redwoods – This is another great place to see big trees, but in a slightly different setting. Instead of the mountainous terrain of Sequoia N.P., Redwoods N.P. is situated on the coast. I found these trees to be slightly less striking than the Sequoias. This forest was once much larger and, in fact, is older than the Rocky Mountains. If that doesn’t amaze you, read it again.

A drawback of this park is that it is a mishmash of National Park land, State Park land, and privately owned land. Halfway through the park is a little town that is completely Disneyified. While it’s still fun there, I felt it kind of cheapened the experience in a way.

Crater Lake – As a single scenic moment, Crater Lake is one of the best you could hope for. The dark blue water surrounded by gray, snow-capped peaks and lush evergreen forests gives the sensation of an extra-terrestrial landscape. Unfortunately, I’m not sure when the park is totally open. We were there in mid-June and it was still 70% closed due to snow. I guess July is the right time to visit; but, really, any time you can see the lake is a good time.

Glacier – This is probably the most rugged park. First of all, it’s in Montana, which is pretty much the most rugged place in America. It’s so rugged, they don’t even pay sales tax. Going-to-the-Sun Road is definitely a great thing to see and lets you see much of what’s great about the park on a scenic drive. However, of all the parks we visited, I think this is the one that most appeals to the adventurous. There are tons of places to hike in a drastic setting, with jagged peaks rising above peaceful lakes or grass meadows. Plus, this is Grizzly country, so that kind of ups the excitement.

Yellowstone – With its volcanic legacy, the landscape of Yellowstone is certainly impressive: especially its vents and geysers. But, my favorite part of this park was the wildlife. If you bring binoculars or a camera with a powerful zoom, you are going to get to experience bears, bison and loads of other animals in a way you probably won’t anywhere else. And all you have to do is drive along a loop road. I’m sure there are plenty of opportunities for backpacking and other active pursuits here, but it seems to be less of the focus than in places like Yosemite and Glacier. This is a very accessible park, so if you’re getting up in years or have young children, this is the perfect spot for a vacation. I’ve heard that it’s also great in winter, but I’m not really a winter animal.

Grand Teton – If you’re going to Yellowstone, G.T. is so close that it would be a foolish, foolish mistake not to visit it. While it’s mostly a scenic drive looking out at a prominent mountain ridge, there are also plenty of spots to view wildlife and some interesting exhibits on early life on the frontier. In fact, some show I watched on the Travel Channel named it as the best park to watch wildlife. I’d have to disagree and say Yellowstone takes that prize; but I could be convinced that maybe we just caught Grand Teton on the wrong day. It’s in the National Elk Refuge, and in winter there are loads of elk roaming about. Also, it’s supposed to be a great place to spot a moose.

Mt. Rushmore – Finally see in person what you’ve seen so many times in pictures. I don’t know; I thought it’d be bigger.

Devils Tower – This is such a strange formation that seeing it in person gives the sense of stumbling onto some alien monolith. However, I wish that they had kept the original Native American name, “Bear Lodge.”

Badlands – A great park to drive through. Actually, I think this would also be a nice place to get into the backcountry because there are no bears, you can camp basically anywhere, and the scenery is great everywhere you look. Also, if you have a motorcycle, this is probably the park for you.

Mammoth Cave – If you’ve ever been to Carlsbad, you can skip this one. Also, Luray Caverns in Virginia is much more impressive. This was probably my least favorite stop on the trip. I’d love to try spelunking though, and this park offers at least two guided introductions to that practice.

Great Smoky Mountains –By the time I made it to this park, I just wasn’t quite in the mood to expend the energy to get out away from the crowds, and I really think that’s the only way to enjoy this park. Still, the Smoky Mountains are absolutely beautiful and it gives you the feel of almost being in a rain forest. I really hope I get to do a substantial hike up there in the near future.

The opportunity to see wildlife up close in their natural habitat is one of the big draws of these parks and it’s easy to understand why. Being close to another animal in the wild is one of those experiences that makes you feel truly alive. There’s a sense of shared space that makes you realize that we, as humans, don’t really own the world. I know that sounds over-the-top, but I really do believe that standing on face-to-face with a wild animal forces you, at least momentarily, to alter your perception of your place in the world.

On this trip, I didn’t have any encounters that were quite as intense as seeing a black bear while I was alone on San Gorgonio, but we did have an interesting encounter with a deer who was grazing along the trail in Glacier. He just stayed there eating and wouldn’t move despite the fact that we were probably only about 10 yards away. Eventually, we had to take a longer way around him, at which point he finally decided to walk away.

Obviously, seeing a bear and a deer are too very different experiences; but they both give you a feeling of being on a sort of equal footing with the animals. Most of the time, our encounters with animals are through a fence or across a crevasse at the zoo. Standing face to face with one in the wilderness is entirely different.

While I am on the subject of wildness, I should also talk about my beard. The last time I was clean-shaven was January 22. Since then, I have let my beard grow with very infrequent trimming. In fact, I had not groomed my facial hair in any sense for probably 8 full weeks before leaving for the trip. At this point, it is impossible to eat or drink without finding a thick deposit of whatever it is one is consuming lodged in one’s beard. Also, beards are magic. I’m convinced that when I got free passage into the historic entrance of Mammoth Cave it was entirely because the ranger was intimidated/seduced by the power of my beard. Also, at the blackjack tables in Deadwood, mere strokes of my beard often caused the dealer to bust. Recognizing that this magic is too dangerous to be used back in the domestic world, I have finally shaved my beard. Once again, like all of you, I will have to rely solely on my wits and charm, without further recourse to magical twirls of unkempt facial hair.

So, that just about does it for the Epilogue. I hope it was all you hoped it would be. I’m sure many of you are very disappointed, because you know I am capable of such great things. All I can say to you is that I offer my humblest apologies and my deepest thanks for reading what I have to say.

Day 25 - Great Smoky Mountains

Saturday, June 30, 2007

The word "verdant" is thrown around a lot these days, but it would be hard to imagine a setting where it is more justified than in the Great Smoky Mountains. Compared to the other mountains I've seen on this trip, these are certainly the greenest. The "Smoky" name comes from the natural mist -- a combination of organic compounds and water vapor -- that constantly drapes the mountains.

I started the day with a drive to Cades Cove loop, which was a slow-going "scenic" drive without much scenery. Honestly, it was like someone had taken the traffic from L.A. and dropped it in the Tennessee mountains. This took about 4 hours and, frankly, I could've done without it.

My next stop was Clingman's Dome, which is the highest point in the park. Unfortunately, with storm clouds swirling and the mist extra thick, it was hard to see anything.

I think I'll be coming back to this park. It's not that far from where I live now and I think that there is more to see than what I did today. With it being a weekend in the peak season, the crowds were out in force and, at the end of my trip, I just didn't quite have the motivation to pack it out away from them. I wandered on the Appalachian Trail for about a half hour and, even then, I could feel a marked difference in being away from the lazies. Maybe I'll go back one day and hike the leg of the AT that crosses through the park. I saw a woman at Clingman's Dome who was patching her feet with duct tape; she looked like she was on an AT thru-hike. I think it will be quite a while (read: infinite time) before I try that. But, you never know. It definitely sounds like a great experience and I could probably be talked into it pretty easily. So, I guess what I mean is I probably won't be doing it on my own.

Anyway, after leaving the Smokies, I drove straight to Santee, my hometown. The trip was absolutely amazing, but it feels good to be home.

Day 24 - Mammoth Cave

Friday, June 29, 2007

I suffered my worst injury of the trip this morning. No, I wasn't mauled by a bear and I didn't fall into a cave hole. I burned my bottom lip with hot coffee. I guess this goes to show you that you are probably more likely to get hurt doing everyday things than by a wild animal.

Today, I visited Mammoth Cave, one of the largest caves in the world. It has been formed by millions of years of erosion washing away the limestone beneath a hard sandstone layer. Unfortunately, it was not quite as exciting as some other caves I've visited in the past, such as Carlsbad and Luray. It was, however, an interesting tour and it did make me want to try spelunking someday. That will have to wait for another trip.


The tour ended near a formation called Frozen Niagara. It looks like what you are probably imagining: a stone waterfall. Like most cave formations, it has been slowly formed by water dissolving limestone and then re-depositing it. The time scale of these formations is perhaps the most impressive thing about them. When you're imagining something this size forming from slowly dripping water, it's difficult to wrap your mind around just how long it would take.

After leaving Mammoth, I started my journey to the final destination of my trip: The Great Smoky Mountains. After driving through the worst weather of my trip, I finally made it to Pigeon Forge and Gatlinburg, two towns on the outskirts of the park. Basically, imagine that Myrtle Beach has been transported to the mountains. These two towns are essentially sprawl, stretching out from the base of the mist-covered mountains. It's sad to think that one day the haze that gives the Smokies their name might no longer be natural mist, but smog instead.

Tomorrow, I'm planning on leaving early and heading into the park to see as much of it as I can in one day. I know I want to stop at Clingman's Dome, the highest point in the park; but, other than that, everything is up in the air. Once I'm done, I'll be driving the rest of the way to Santee, SC.

This trip has been wonderful and in many ways I'm sad to see it come to an end. On the other hand, the past three days of nearly non-stop driving have been exhausting and I'm looking forward to not being behind the wheel for a while.

I've seen so much on this trip that I may never see again and that I might never have seen otherwise. I would adivse anyone who ever has the chance to drive across this country to take it and make the most of it. Perhaps I'll be able to talk about the sum of my experiences on this trip in a more coherent way when I have had a few days to let everything settle. For now, I will put such musings aside in favor of flippant remarks and simple observations:

Caves are awesome. But they are not as good as mountains...

Or bears.

I'm not sure when I'll be posting the entry for tomorrow's adventures or the highly anticipated epilogue. But, dear readers, rest assured that you will not have to wait too long.

Day 23 - The Long Drive

Thursday, June 28, 2007

I spent all day today driving. I left Omaha around 9:30 and just got into Bowling Green, KY at about 10:30. It's been a long day and not too exciting. Unfortunately, most of the drive was through pretty boring grasslands. When it comes to driving, it's true what Jack London, The Doors and that kid from Into the Wild all said: The West is the best. The West is also behind me, as today I crossed the Mississippi River.

Anyway, I don't have too much to report from the day, so I'll just give a few random notes in lazy list format.

Agent Orange made it safely back to New Jersey.

Wilco's new album is not that great.

M.I.A.'s album drops Aug. 20 (can't remember if I already mentioned it; but it's worth noting twice).

I covered over 700 miles today, so I'm hitting the hay soon. Tomorrow, I'll be heading out to Mammoth Cave in the morning and then driving toward Great Smoky Mountains National Park (the final stop of the trip) in the afternoon, most likely. Since I don't have much to say about today, I thought I might reflect on the trip as a whole. But then I thought, "No, I won't." In fact, I'll save that for an epilogue I'll write when the trip is completely over. So, make sure you keep reading, even after the final day's entry is posted.

I've enjoyed my first blogging experience. It's definitely added something to the trip for me by forcing me to reflect everyday on what I've seen and done. Now, I'm sure many of you are thinking that these reflections are on about the level of a third grader describing his first viewing of Lord of the Rings: "Awesome!" "Spectacular!" Well, keep in mind I've been writing these things at the end of long days, in crappy hotel rooms, and without a professionally trained editor, secretary, or valet. Just wait until you read the Epilogue. Then you can judge me (but most likely you will be stunned into amazed and reverent silence).

Also, let me say thanks to everyone who has emailed me to tell me how much they're enjoying the blog. More people have faithfully followed my ramblings than I had anticipated and hearing from you has kept me writing instead of packing it in after the first weekend. In fact, I've even discovered that I have at least one reader who I have never met in person. So, I'm pretty proud of that.

Anyway, if you are enjoying the blog, it's always nice to see comments in the comments section. It helps me prove to other people that this isn't entirely an exercise in narcissism (although it mostly is) and that I actually do have readers.

Maybe I will keep writing about my adventures even after the trip is over. And if the day-to-day minutae of my life can't sustatin such an undertaking, I'll just start making things up.

Day 22 - Live Free or Die Hard

Wednesday, June 27, 2007

Agent Orange and I started the day with lunch at one of the crappiest Indian restaurants on record before heading over to the Rapid City Carmike to watch Live Free or Die Hard. Now that’s a movie. If you like watching one man kick ass while the bureaucrats fail over and over, then you’ll like this. It reminded me of old Westerns, with one man having to step up when the system fails.

After the movie, I drove to Rapid City Airport to drop Agent Orange off for his flight back to New Jersey. I was only about ten miles away when he called to tell me it was cancelled. So, he’s shacked up at the Rapid City Radisson tonight, waiting on a 6:30 am flight, while I’m down in Omaha, staying in a surprisingly nice-for-the-price motel. There’s one drawback, however: I’m in an adjoining room and I can hear almost everything the couple in the room next to me is saying. I can’t exactly make out words unless I press my ear to the door (as if I would do that). I wonder if things will get interesting later. From the sound of the cough that guy just let out, I’m guessing it’s not that kind of night. Regardless, I have ear plugs.

Tomorrow will be a full day of driving. I’m trying to get close enough to Mammoth Cave in Kentucky that I’ll be able to see it Friday morning. I covered approximately 571 miles today. Considering I didn’t leave Rapid City until about 3:30, I think that’s pretty good. I’ll be trying to cover around 693 miles tomorrow; but I do have all day to do it.

Day 21 - Badlands National Park

Tuesday, June 26, 2007

We left Wall early this morning and headed to Badlands. This park is situated in the midst of formations of rock layers formed by erosion. There are some nice views that are kind of reminiscent of The Painted Desert. It's a pretty harsh environment, without a whole lot of wildlife to view. The exception, however, is the prairie dogs. In one section of the park, they're everywhere. It's called Roberts Prairie Dog Village and the small animals and their burrows were everywhere you looked.













Also, there's a spot where they're doing an archaelogical dig called The Big Pig Dig where they're extracting fossils of an extinct, pig-like animal called Archaeotherium. Here, we talked to a ranger for a few minutes who explained some of the history of fossils in the park.

Afterwards, we drove back to Rapid City for dinner. I had read somewhere that M.I.A's new album was to come out today, so with our time to kill we drove around and looked for it. Unfortunately, I found out later that it doesn't come out until August 20. That was pretty disappointing. I thought it was going to give me something to look forward to over the 1200 mile drive I have coming up over the next two days.

I'm taking Agent Orange to the airport tomorrow here in Rapid City. We've had a really great time and I've still got more to come. Hopefully, I'll be at Mammoth Cave in Kentucky on Friday, but it's going to be two days of hard drivin'.

One other interesting note from today: as we were driving down an unpaved farm road leaving Badlands, a grasshopper landed on the windshield and crawled down onto the wiper blade. Even though we were driving 50-60 MPH, he managed to hang on. Even as we stopped to get gas, he didn't move. As we got onto the interstate, we figured 80+ MPH speeds would blow him off; but somehow he stayed on the windshield wiper. At one point, we slowed to about 45 for construction, and he crawled down under the hood from the top. We figured we would never see him again and he might be cooked by the heat of the engine. So, we forgot about him, drove for probably another half hour and had dinner. After dinner, we drove to the movie theater in Rapid City to see what time Live Free or Die Hard is playing tomorrow so we can catch it before we have to drive to the airport. When we started to drive away, the grasshopper was on the windshield. Keep in mind, nearly 4 hours had passed since this insect had jumped onto the car. As we pulled away, he hopped off. It was pretty incredible. If we see him on the car tomorrow when we're leaving the hotel, I'll be a little freaked out.

Day 20 - Mt. Rushmore & Crazy Horse Memorial

Monday, June 25, 2007

We started out this morning with a trip up to Mt. Moriah Cemetery in Deadwood, where Wild Bill Hickcok and Calamity Jane are buried next to each other. A lot of the "characters" from the HBO show are buried up there.




Next, we headed over to Mt. Rushmore. I had been looking forward to this stop on the trip and it was definitely a sight worth seeing. However, I think I thought it would be bigger or more impressive in some way. Maybe I'm just getting jaded by all the amazing things we've seen on this trip. It was interesting, though, to learn about how the statue was carved. Apparently, after years of working on the mountain, the explosives experts were able to blow the rock apart within inches of the actual finished surface. The pavilion leading up to the main viewing area is nicely set up, with the flags of all 50 states flying along a pathway that leads to an overlook with a view toward the mountain. We had to try over and over again to find someone who could take a decent picture of us. For some reason, everyone we asked took pictures either without the mountain in it at all, or with heavy focus on the ground.

Continuing on our tour of mountain monuments, we headed to the Crazy Horse Memorial. This is a giant statue of Crazy Horse that has been under construction for about 50 years and is being built entirely with private funds. It's much bigger than Mt. Rushmore; in fact, the entirety of the Mt. Rushmore monument would fit inside Crazy Horse's head. We also saw some Indian dancing, which was kind of entertaining. I wish we could've seen them dynamite part of the mountain, but it didn' happen while we were there.


We stopped in Rapid City, SD tonight and watched Evan Almighty. It was pretty disappointing. I guess it's a fun family movie; but it's really not very funny. There is a funny baboon who dances, though.

We're staying in a town called Wall tonight in South Dakota before we go to Badlands National Park tomorrow. This town is a real dump -- probably the worst town we've stayed in on the trip! This kind of got me thinking about what towns we've been in that were surprisingly good or bad. As I've said before, Fresno, CA; Medford, OR; and Wallace, ID are three of the squattieset places. But, we've also had some nice surprises. Eureka, CA was a great town with a quaint, relaxed feel. Jackson, WY was a nice litle resort town that seems like a fun place for a weekend vacation. Deadwood, SD was also a really fun place to spend a day. I think anyone could easily spend a weekend there and have a great time gambling and checking out the historical sites.

Unfortunately, Wall, SD is not one of the better places. But, tomorrow we should be seeing some great terrain. I think Badlands will be a little different from the parks we've been visiting recently, so hopefully it'll be a fun change.

Day 19 - Devils Tower & Deadwood

Sunday, June 24, 2007

We headed out this morning for a scenic drive through Wyoming's striking terrain, marked by the different layers of rock made visible over millions of years. I should also note that this is the first time on the trip I've been a little drunk as I write this.

After driving for a few hours, we reached Devils Tower. This was another "wow" moment as we drove over a ridge and suddenly the tower came into view. It's definitely a striking piece of terrain: a tower of igneous rock exposed by ages of erosion. It's easy to see why the local American Indians consider it to be a holy place. In fact, they have a legend about how it was created that involved a girl who knew bear medicine changing into a giant bear and chasing other members of the tribe until a rock and a tree grew to give them a safe haven.













We took a 1.3-mile hike around the tower, which affords some nice views of the six-sided columns that, depending on your perspective, were created either by crystallizing rock or a giant bear's claws. There are tons of bikers is these parts. Apparently the Black Hills of South Dakota are some kind of huge attraction to them and Devils Tower is another gathering point for their rallies.

After leaving the tower, we headed to Deadwood, South Dakota. It's another Palm Springsesque spot, although more rugge than either the Springs, Jackson, or Couer D'Alene. Despite having plenty of casinoes and cowboy re-enactments to rope in the tourists, some of its citizens still look like they could be heading out to work a claim in the morning.

After dinner at the Number 10 Social Club, we went to watch a "play" re-enacting the trial of Jack McCall, the man who killed Wild Bill Hickok. The play wasn't that great, but Agent Orange got cast as one of the witnesses. Seeing him attempt a Southern/Dakotan accent was definitely the highlight of the play.

Next, we headed to the Number 10 Casino/Saloon, which is the actual place where Wild Bill was shot and killed. We gambled for hours on $2 minimum tables and finished up about even. Unlike my last trip to Vegas, $2 hands are pretty chillaxed and I didn't have to deal with the constant pressure of feeling like I could be cleaned out at any moment. The pit boss also looked like he might've been around in 1876, when the town started up.

Day 18 - Grand Teton National Park

Saturday, June 23, 2007

We slept a little later than usual today and then wandered around Jackson for a little while, trying to find a spot for breakfast. I really think Jackson is a cool little place. It has a Western feel to it in the fake, tourist sense without seeming too fake or touristy. There is also a place called The Million Dollar Cowboy Bar, which basically lets you know the place rules.

We spent the rest of the day in Grand Teton Park. Our first stop was an old homestead where a guy name Meron had set up a Ferry back around the turn of the century. We ran into a ranger who spontaneously took us on a tour and told us all about the two Meron brothers. They basically lived in a one room shack and made a living by charging people to take them across the river. What I took from this is that in those days you really had to be self-sufficient. These guys came out here, built a house, and then set up a ferry. They weren't professional builders or anything; but in those days you had to know how to do everything. I have no idea how to build a house. Or a ferry.

Later, we took a hike to a place called Hidden Falls and another called Inspiration Point. Much of the day was spent searching out views of these spectacular mountains. We also drove to the top of Signal Mountain, which gave some great views of the surrounding valley. We were hoping to spot a moose, but we never found one.

Also, a couple days ago a jogger was mauled by a Grizzly Bear just outside the lodge in Grand Teton Park. Today, we saw the trail where it happened. Apparently the bear was protecting an elk carcass that she and her cubs were feeding on. They've said the bear won't be put down, as this is normal behavior, but the area has been closed off until Elk calving season is over.

We drove through Cody, Wyoming as we began our journey toward Devils Tower. Apparently, this town is all about Buffalo Bill Cody, as there are five museums and five dozen businesses named for him. There was also a rodeo going on.

Day 17 - Yellowstone and Grand Teton

Friday, June 22, 2007

After breaking camp, our day got started quickly when a black bear crossed in front of my car not more than 10 minutes after leaving camp. He walked right across the road in front of us, probably only about 25 yards ahead. We pulled up alongside him to snap some pictures as he headed into the meadow. We were probably within 10 yards of him. Trying to respect the rules of bear encounters, we didn’t stop for long.

Our big project today was a hike to the top of Mount Washburn, about a 6.5 mile hike that gains 1400’ on the way to the 10,000+’ peak. At the top there is a fire lookout station where some ranger apparently lives by himself for about five months out of the year. From here, you get a nice perspective of the variety of the park’s landscape. In fact, Yellowstone is the world’s biggest active volcano and its caldera surrounds much of the park. From the summit of Mount Washburn, you can see the canyon, the mountains, and even steam rising from some of the geysers.












On our way out of the park, we came across another bear jam. This was another Grizzly, foraging on a ridge next to a herd of bison who were keeping a watchful eye on her, forcing her further and further away. The whole scene was pretty distant, but we did get a good look at the bear through the viewing scope of a very friendly couple. The enthusiasm of these wildlife watchers really shows in how readily they offer up their equipment and insight to a couple of road-weary vagabonds.

Once we left Yellowstone, it was only a short drive to Grand Teton National Park, where we drove down the John D. Rockefeller Parkway, with great views of the mountains to the west. We didn’t do a whole lot of stopping today, because we’ll be going back through tomorrow. We did get some more great views of bison, however.














We’re staying in a hotel in Jackson, Wyoming, which is kind of like Palm Springs, but in Elk Country. There are lots of restaurants and cowboy bars, which is pretty cool. This would be a great spot for a group trip, with lots of opportunities to wander down streets that resemble Western movie sets and drunkenly say things like “pardner.”

Day 16 - Yellowstone National Park - Day 2

Thursday, June 21, 2007

We started today by catching another eruption of Old Faithful before heading up toward Canyon Village. We spent most of the day viewing wildlife and had some pretty great sightings.

Our first sighting was a smaller group of 3 bison hanging out in a forest clearing. We stopped the car and were able to get within about 30 yards of them before they sauntered off into the woods. It’s worth nothing that, in Yellowstone, the guidelines for wildlife viewing are 100 yards for bears and 25 yards for other animals. This was an exciting encounter, but it was just a taste of what we would see later.

As we continued on our journey to the northern part of the park, we passed great herds of bison, probably numbering between 30-75 head. It wasn’t long before we reached a long lineup of stopped cars, looking out into a broad valley. We stopped to see what was going on found out that a Grizzly was just down the ridge, probably about 100 yards away. We waited a short while, and sure enough, a 3 year-old female Grizz was foraging down in the meadow. We watched her for a while as she rooted around. From a distance, it was hard to tell how big she was, but I got the feeling she was relatively small, especially compared to the big males which can reach 10 feet in height. If I had to guess, I’d probably say she’s stand about five and a half feet.

Once we left the Grizzly behind, we came across two bison walking about 5 yards off the road. We slowed down to take pictures, matching their speed. Suddenly, the two of them locked horns and then bolted toward the road. They pounded across the pavement right in front of us, leaving us to wonder what they might have done to my car if they had decided to take a different course. As far as wildlife encounters go, this was pretty exciting.













Eventually, we reached Canyon Village and took short hikes on Uncle Tom’s Trail – a long staircase with a great view of Yellowstone Canyon and of the falls – and Artist Point, which is where one of the most famous renderings of Yellowstone was created. Yellowstone Canyon is somewhat striking. Most of the landscape in Yellowstone is broad, hilly meadows, surrounded by forest and bordered by mountains in the distance. So, it’s somewhat surprising to see such a large canyon right in the middle of the park. The colors of the walls are most likely what gives the park its name.













As we headed north, hoping to find a campsite, we came across another “bear jam.” This time, it was a black bear, about 25 yards off the road. We stopped the car and joined the crowd of onlookers. It wasn’t long before the bear decided to go on the move and actually started moving closer to the road. At one point, he was probably no more than 15 yards from us. Per the ranger’s instructions, we tried to keep our distance from him; but, as we headed back to our car, there wasn’t much we could do. The ranger stopped the two of us and a young family and gave us a little bit of a lecture about keeping our distance from bears. I think he should’ve given the lecture to the bear.









Next, we headed into the Lamar Valley, where we picked up a few more wildlife sightings. We were within 10 yards of a bighorn sheep, saw a group of goats grazing, and even got a distant view of a wolf through the binoculars of some friendly wildlife watchers.









After taking a sidetrip to Mammoth Springs, which was a little disappointing, we finally made it into the camp. With no threat of rain here, we were able to keep the rainfly off the tent and sleep with a view of the night sky.

Day 15 - Yellowstone National Park - Day 1

Wednesday, June 20, 2007

When we hit the road this morning, I was the most tired I’ve been on the whole trip. I think I coked it up (Coke Zero, that is) a little too much last night as we pushed to Helena, so I didn’t sleep very well. That combined with the canoeing and hiking yesterday must’ve taken a toll (not to mention my butt bones are really sore from sitting in an aluminum canoe). Either that, or two weeks on the road is starting to add up.

We made it into Yellowstone, the first National Park, around 16:00. After a quick stop at the visitor center, we started checking out some of the geothermal phenomena of the park. Our first stop was a spot called Fountain Paint Pot. This was a half-mile trail on raised wooden planks through an area of steaming hot springs and bubbling mud pits. The stench of sulfur is thick in the air around these openings, which reach deep into the earth.

The next area we checked out was Midway Geyser Basin and Prismatic Spring. The interplay of colors in the pools is pretty impressive. The water is especially blue because of microscopic particles suspended in it, and the underlying ground is colored green and orange by different species of thermophilic bacteria.

On the way to our next stop, we saw a couple of elk. We stopped for a few pictures and they actually started walking toward us, until they were within about 5 yards. We had seen elk before at Redwoods; but this was a much closer encounter and we could really get an appreciation for the size of these animals.

We also got a distant look at a bison. Hopefully, we’ll get some closer looks at these before we leave. Speaking of bison, Agent Orange had it for dinner. I don’t understand why anyone would want to eat these majestic creatures, especially in a sanctuary dedicated to preserving them. It’s the same complaint I have about zoos and aquariums serving meat. Why is it when people look at animals, the next thing they want to do is eat them?

Our final stop for the day was at Old Faithful. We sat and watched for about 30 minutes before the geyser slowly started bubbling and then erupted in a powerful gush reaching probably close to eighty feet. It’s almost unsettling to think about the activity under our feet that can produce something like this (and certainly much more).

We’re staying tonight in the Old Faithful Inn, which is a National Historic Landmark. It’s basically a giant log cabin (and smells just like The Cabin), one of the largest wooden structures in the world. The rooms are pretty rugged, in a sweet way. We had dinner in the downstairs dining room, which was also pretty nice.

Day 14 - Glacier National Park

Tuesday, June 19, 2007

Around 1:00, Agent Orange woke me up because he thought he heard some kind of breathing outside the tent. Turns out it was probably me breathing inside the tent. We both stepped outside about five minutes later and neither of us were eaten. About 4 hours later I decided to pee in nothing but boxers, which was probably more dangerous considering it was really cold. It's amazing just how quick you can start shivering. Getting back inside that sleeping bag really felt great.

We broke camp a little late -- around 9:30 -- and headed over to Eddie's for breakfast. Huckleberries are big here and we had some Huckleberry yogurt with our huge breakfast, which was quite good. Next, we rented a canoe and headed out onto Lake MacDonald. It took us a little while to get the steering figured out, but eventually we got the hang of it and had fun exploring the lake. I was a little annoyed that the rental company gave us boundaries on where we could take the boat and that there is a law about wearing life jackets (they don't even have sales tax here, what do they care about laws?); but it was a great way to spend the morning.

Next, we headed over to the other side of the park -- St. Mary -- which took about two hours. Here we took a hike up into the high country to get a view of a glacier. The ranger we spoke to beforehand warned us that we'd be in territory where Grizzlies are often sighted. So, we had to be sure to make plenty of noise as we hiked the trail. Luckily, we had recently memorized the lyrics to Hoo-Yip, the song from the closing credits of Grizzly Man.

The trail essentially follows a stream until it moves above the trees and into some steep meadows that look exactly what you would picture a Grizz rolling about in. All the way, there are giant mountains rising up out of the valley, with snow scattered all over them. At the end of the hike, we realized that it's not that easy to identify a glacier compared to other big deposits of snow. I'd say we most likely saw the glacier we set out to see, but it's hard to say for sure at this point.

After finishing the trail, we drove the leg of Going-to-the-Sun Road that is open on this side of the park. It was shorter and less scenic than yesterday's drive, but still had some great mountain views.

Finally, we exited Glacier and started the drive to Yellowstone along winding roads through farmland where horses and cows have gotten fed up with being fenced in and sometimes wander right out onto the road. After stopping for dinner at a Subway in Blackfeet Indian territory, we pushed on for Helena, the capital of Montana.

Day 13 - Glacier National Park

Tuesday, June 19, 2007

We drove through some light snowfall this morning as we left Idaho and entered Montana. Despite a full day of driving yesterday, we still had a lot of road ahead of us this morning. Finally, around 15:00, we rolled into Glacier.

Glacier is about as beautiful a landscape as one could imagine. The forests are deep green, the lakes perfectly teal and the grey mountains are covered in white snow. Unfortunately, as we pulled in, it started to rain heavily. Thankfully, it didn't last long and we were able to set up camp under fairly clear skies. With it being late in the day, we decided to start our time in Glaicer with a drive on the famous Going-to-the-Sun Road.

Going-to-the-Sun Road is an approximately 60-mile long path that winds around the lakes and through the mountains of the park. It's an engineering marvel with spectacular vistas around nearly every corner. The road is closed about 27 miles in, where it has yet to be plowed, but I think we probably got to see the best parts. The trip ended next to the Weeping Wall, which is a steep rock face where water seemingly flows out of nowhere, through cracks in the rock. Also, on the ridge far above were a couple of mountain goats; but, we could only get a glimpse of them through the binoculars some lady loaned to us.












After grabbing dinner in Jammer Joe's near the park entrance (they actually serve Fat Tire, prompting 3rd Stop nostalgia), we headed to our campsite at Fish Creek. It doesn't get dark this far north until about 21:30. Still, we were setting up camp in near total darkness. We stashed our food and other scented items in the bear locker and stuffed ourselves into my 2-man backpacking tent, which is significantly smaller than a double bed. After some initial discomfort, we actually got a decent night's sleep.

Day 12 - Mt. Hood, Lake Coeur D'Alene & The Long Drive

Sunday, June 17, 2007

We left Portland this morning and headed onto the Mt. Hood Scenic Byway. After driving through some thick fog, we finally got above it and rounded a corner onto a great view of the summit of Mt. Hood. It's over 11,000', but for some reason I thought it was bigger (over 14k'). From the ski lodge where we stopped, it didn't look that as intimidating as I'd pictured. It's a very prominent peak, however, with no other peaks nearly that high anywhere to be seen.

After leaving Mt. Hood, we headed out onto Columbia River Scenic Byway, which was a nice surprise. The river was really choppy, almost like a bay. Across the river, there were rolling, treeless hills stretching off to the distance, and walls of rock rising up on the side next to us.

We made into Washington, which was basically just miles and miles of hills as far as we could see. It was nice scenery and we made good time from there until we finally made it into Idaho.

We stopped for a few hours at Lake Coeur D'Alene to have dinner and check the place out. It's kind of like Palm Springs, except instead of being in a desert, it's near a lake. There were a lot of people hanging out at the resort that we stopped at, but it's hard to figure out what they were really doing there (chillaxing, probably).














After Coeur D'Alene, we planned to drive into Montana. But, seeing that the road was tough to drive at night, we decided to stop a little early in a town called Mullan. Unfortunately, the only hotel there was one that looked like it was straight out of Vacancy. So, we turned around and headed back to a town called Wallace. We filled up with gas at one of the three remaining stations in America that doesn't allow you to pay at the pump, and perhaps the only station in America with a camoflage-wearing family of wanderers hanging out in it.

The hotel we ended up in is actually pretty nice. Tomorrow, we'll be driving into Glacier and most likely camping there tomorrow night. Today marked the first day in the trip that I was actually getting closer to home; so, that's something.