After our stay in DVNP we journeyed northward on Route 395 in the shadow of the Sierra Nevada Mountain range. The SN is massive with a north-south length of over 400 miles and an east-west width of 70 miles. Mt. Whitney, the highest peak in the U.S. at 14,505 feet sits just west of the town of Lone Pine. Yosemite and several other national parks also sit within this range. The SN is very impressive physically and stunningly beautiful with an unending line of jagged, snow covered peaks.
We camped in the Alabama Hills, foothills to the Eastern Sierra Range, west of Lone Pine, CA. As camping locations go, this area is one of the most spectacular we have experienced and we have been fortunate to camp in some incredible locations.
The Alabama Hills are also know as Little Hollywood. Many films and television shows have been filmed in the hills which are blessed with incredible rock formations (great for scrambling) and the SN as background.
When you find yourself in this area definitely make a point of eating at the Alabama Hills Cafe & Bakery. If you are feeling adventurous try the Red Beer ( Bloody Mary with beer instead of vodka). All of the baked goods are baked on premises each morning and delicious!
Our next destination is Carson City where we will stay for several days before beginning the trek across Nevada to Salt Lake City.
We just completed several days of camping in the Los Padres NF. This forest encompasses 1.75 million acres and stretches 220 miles from Santa Barbara to Monterey, California. We camped in the Santa Barbara District along the Santa Ynez River which provides access to numerous canyons and ridgelines from which to take in the gorgeous scenery. This forest is a multi-use forest open to hiking, mountain biking, horseback riding, fishing, hunting and OHV riding (on designated trails and areas).
The weather in SoCal continues to be idyllic as you can see from the photos. We explored the Aliso Canyon area and were treated to the views you see below (inadequately represented by our photos).
After departing JTNP we spent a day in the town of Joshua Tree just north of the park. JT, like many other small and remote towns or name places we have visited, emanates a quirky, free thinking and independent vibe.
We have met a number of artists – painters and scupltors – who were originally passing through a town but ended up staying or coming back. Clearly, many artists find the setting in these towns or areas conducive to pursuing whatever form of art it is that they have a passion for without regard to commercial success – perhaps just the opposite.
An additional observation is that there also exists in JT and many of the other small towns we have visited a freely expressed deep and fundamental belief in God and Country. This is just a general observation based on what we have seen and the people we have met – we are not expressing an opinion or personal point of view in making this comment.
Changing gears: We left Joshua Tree and drove north through the Mojave Desert and then turned westward to climb up into the San Bernadino Mountains on the Rim of the World Highway (CA 18, 38, 138). The road gains almost 5000 feet in elevation in just a matter of several miles and then provides breathtaking views as you eventually cross the entire range before descending down into Cajon Junction and leaving the SBNF.
We will be moving north along the coast of California again over the next week and then tackling Death Valley NP. We included some photos below from the beach in Carpenteria where we are staying for a couple of days.
Thanks for continuing to follow along and allowing us to share our experiences, observations and opinions as we wander about our amazing country. 0152
Carpenteria, California
Santa Ynez Mountains – Los Padres NFCafe Luxxe – Malibu – Gratuitius Cappuccino Photo!Lake ArrowheadFawnskin, CA – San Bernardino NF
Giant Rock Coffee – Route 247 – Mojave Desert – In the middle of nowhere a great coffee joint!
JHOPJHOPWhat Constitutes a Town – Coffee + Yoga?Camping in the Mojave Desert – Joshua Tree City
The Southern Arizona landscape is dominated by cacti. However, we never realized until we began exploring in this area that there are more than two dozen species of cactus living here. The most well recognized is the Saguaro. This species can live to be 200 years old, grow to 50 feet in height and weigh six tons. We have identified six species during our hikes: saguaro, barrel, teddy bear, ocotillo, prickly pear and cane cholla.
Saguaro National Park + Tucson Mountains
We hiked Kings Canyon Trail to Wasson Peak loop trail. Wasson Peak is the highest peak in the Tucson Mountains and provided us with tremendous vistas. We were able to clearly see Mt Lemmon, Mt Wrightson, Kitt and Picacho Peaks as well as the city of Tucson. This hike is a bit on the strenous side at eight miles with an elevation gain of over 1600 feet but well worth the effort. In addition to the views the trail was awash with wild flowers.
Catalina Mountains
Looking to rest our legs between hikes we spent an afternoon making the drive from Tucson up to Mt Lemmon and the village of Summerhaven via the Sky Island Scenic Byway. The road winds up through the Catalina Mounatains with an elevation gain of more than 6000 feet. As you leave Tucson you are in the desert and by the time you reach Mt Lemmon we found ourselves driving through connifer forests. The temperature drop was more than 30 degrees. Picture below is a view of the San Pedro River Valley from an elevation of apx. 8000 feet above sea level. This byway is a beautifully engineered road with incredible views and scenery. The general store is Summerhaven can provide you with ice cream and fudge as an added incentive to go all the way to the end of the drive.
Picacho Peak
Picacho Peak State Park was our base of operation for six nights. This location provided easy access to Tucson proper (coffee and tea!) and plenty of hiking in Saguaro NP and the Coronado NF. The added bonus was that Picacho Peak presented us with several challenging hikes without needing to leave the park. We photos below are from our hike on the Sunset Vista Trail.
Pima Air + Space
As we are both aviation buffs we kicked off our stay in the Tucson area with a visit to the Pima Air & Space Museum. Pima has a large collection of primarily military aircraft. We were able to see two aircraft (pictured below) that we had never seen in person previously. The Convair B58 Husler (left below) was the first USAF bomber capable of Mach 2 flight and was operational with SAC during the 1960s. On the top right is the Boeing B36 Peacemaker. The B36 was used from 1949 until 1959. It was the largest piston engined plane ever built. It was powered by six pusher props and four jet engines and had a wingspan of 230 feet. It is ugly but could travel 10,000 miles without refueling and carry 87,000 pounds of nuclear bombs. Two rare aircraft that we were pleased to have the opportunity to see in person.
We also took a tour of the “boneyard” located within Davis Monthan Air Force Base. The boneyard is home to more than 3000 military aircraft not currently needed operationally. A portion of the aircraft staged to be ready to operate within 24 hours while others are being cannabilized for parts to keep active models of the same aircraft flying.
C5A Galaxy
Our next stop is Kartchner Caverns State Park located at the base of the Whetstone Mountains, located about 50 miles southeast of Tucson.
Lastly, please continue to follow the coffee and tea adventures of our good friends @fikawithfiona on Instagram.
We spent several days in Salt Lake City waiting out a snowstorm that made travel south impossible. Maria and I made the best of it by visiting some old coffee friends and trying out several recommended coffee shops for the first time. Traveling to Hurricane, Ut and then on to Valley of Fire in Nevada. (001,002,003)
The scenery in Sedona is just as breathtaking as we remembered from our last visit many years ago. The town itself has grown substantially and become a major tourist destination. None the less we had a great time here as we found solitude while we hiked in the Red Rocks and boondocked under the stars in the Coconino NF.
The coffee scene was limited so we are not posting any highlights in that regard.
Departing for the Valley of the Gods in the morning. 0081,0082,0083,0084
Boynton CanyonBoynton Vista
Munds Wilderness from Submarine RockWilson Mountain from Brins Mesa Trail
We spent a couple of nights in Flagstaff or “Flag” as the locals refer to the city. This city of approximately 70,000 sits at 7000 feet above sea level in the Coconino NF with the San Francisco Peaks as the backdrop. The town still boasts a lively and well preserved downtown with local merchants, restaurants and most importantly good coffee. Flag is home to Northern Arizona University (The Lumberjacks). We have found that many of the towns we have visited that have a nice vibe like Flag have a university or college located within the city or town.
We visited three coffee roasters while in Flag. All were legit but our favorite was Firecreek Coffee Company. We have included photos from all three below.
While traveling our focus is to see new places, meet new people, try new adventures, however, as we wander we do need to deal with the mundane. For one of us that means doing laundry, for the other it means getting a haircut. Pictured below is Hermanis Ulibarri. A haircut from Mr. Ulibarri turned out to be anything but mundane. Mr. Ulibarri is 77 years old and has been “barbering” since his return from serving in Vietnam over 50 years ago. He has given haircuts to tourists from all over the world and has quite a following of French clients that spend time in Flag on a regular basis. Lots of interesting stories. Oh, and cash only if you stop in for a haircut on your next visit to Flagstaff.
Just a few miles east of Flag is the Walnut Canyon NM. We spent an afternoon there viewing some of the extremely well preserved ancient cliff dwellings. These dwellings were constructed by the Sinagua People during the 12th to 13th centuries. The dwellings sit 300 feet above the canyon floor and provided protection from the weather, animals and rivals. The Island Trail has been constructed so that visitors can descend 200 feet down into the canyon and actually go inside a number of the dwellings. Amazing to think of an entire community raising families, growing crops, hunting, storing water and food while living 300 feet above the canyon floor.
We are off to Sedona for some hiking in the Red Rocks and perhaps to experience the energy of the purported vortices!
In order to watch game three of the World Series, we spent a night in a hotel in Page. Go Sox! Page was established in 1957 to support the thousands of workers and their families during the construction of the massive Glen Canyon Dam, which took over ten years. The dam is over 700 feet tall and 1000 feet wide. The construction of this dam created Lake Powell which provides water and electric power for western states. The lake and the surrounding area are now a significant tourist draw for boating and OHV riding.
Leaving Page for Flagstaff, we journeyed through the Navajo Nation Reservation which spans 27,000 square miles across Arizona, Utah and New Mexico. The population of the reservation is about 350,000. We have never been on a reservation without feeling a measure of sadness. The housing on reservations consists of trailers and ramshackle cabins. The poverty is obvious. What we saw within the Navajo Nation in Arizona was no different. The B+W photos in this post were taken on the reservation. I did not include any photos of tribal housing as it would be disrespectful. You will also see the issue of uranium mining being addressed in the art below. Navajo tribal members have significantly higher rates of cancer and other illnesses from exposure to uranium that was mined within the reservation; slag was left on the surface for years and mines were not sealed.
We have been taking full advantage of the great weather to boondock and hike in the Hurricane area and Zion NP. We also had an great afternoon on the dunes in Sand Hollow. We have arived in Kanab after about a four hour wait as a section of the Smithsonian Butte was impassable due to a strom that passed through early this morning. Fortunately the Sun appeared with a light breeze to help the road dry out enough for us to make it through the clay section. If the weather remains dry over the next several days we will be able to hike in several exciting slot canyons in the nearby Vermillion Cliffs area.
Pizza NightBoondocking on Grafton Mesa
Zion NP from Rockville Mesa Boondocking on Rockville Mesa
ON THE ROAD with Maria + Stephen 