Category: California

Salvation Mountain 0

Salvation Mountain

I arrived in the Slab City area just before noon, after jumping my van over some odd part of the road that acted as a launching pad. I figured, in that split second, that the van was a goner when it touched ground again. Though everything flew around the back...

Salton Sea 0

Salton Sea

Holy cow, this body of water is huge! I don’t know what I was expecting, but not a real sea in the middle of the desert… you could not see the other side unless it was the mountains to the north. To all other sides, it appeared as if it...

Manzanar, Chuck, Stop… burger-time! 0

Manzanar, Chuck, Stop… burger-time!

The days are getting more and more gratifying the longer I am out. This morning i woke from my hot-springs camping and got moving south soon after a eggs and toast breakfast. I figured that I could make it to my next scheduled stop (Manzanar War Relocation Center) and hang...

Panum Volcano Crater 0

Panum Volcano Crater

Since I am ahead of schedule, last night I decided to turn my alarm off and sleep in as I was not going to leave this spot on the side of the road until after my afternoon workload is complete. So I got going around 9am with coffee, breakfast, and...

Yosemite Ntnl Park, Wapama Falls 0

Yosemite Ntnl Park, Wapama Falls

Today I woke early to get into a hike to Wapama falls as early as possible. While I would have preferred to be hiking by 6am, the National Park does not open the gates until 8am. 7 miles past the gate is the dam which begins my 3-mile hike into...

Mono Lake 0

Mono Lake

Arrived in Lee Vining I hit up the Mono Lake visitors center for info on what to do and where to camp for the night. It was clear that I could pull over and camp just about anywhere unless specifically marked. It was all BLM land around Mono Lake, and...

Pipi Valley Campground, CA

Pipi Valley Campground, CA

Pipi Valley Campground is a campground I went to as a child of 8 or 9 years old with multiple other families close to ours. I have fond memories of this camping trip; swimming in the stream, catching snakes on the shore, and just having some of the best times...

Black Chasm National Landmark 0

Black Chasm National Landmark

Black Chasm is a natural underground cave located in Volcano California, only few minutes drive from where we are staying in California. Tim and I took a break from the afternoon heat (high 90’s today) to take the 45 minute guided tour in the 57 degree chasm. While Black Chasm...

Death Valley Ntnl Park 0

Death Valley Ntnl Park

Im not sure why it never hit me, but the ‘Valley’ that sits at -282 feet below sea level also sits thousands of feet below everything else surrounding it. Just 30 miles out of the valley floor and you are at 3000 ft above sea level, and that applies no...