Deep Blue Lake Tahoe

Day 27: Stops- Crater Lake National Park, OR; Lake Tahoe, CA.

Hike: Below Watchman Overook to Crater Lake Rim Village (2 miles)

Awakening a bit past sunrise from the cold night, we realized just how frigid it had been when we saw the frozen lake below. I had difficulty getting my hiking boots on because they were so stiff from the cold. The snow was iced over and difficult to walk on. We admired the view which was one of my favorites from our trip thus far, and headed back out for Rim Village. And it was off to Tahoe.

 

Notable passings on the way to Tahoe included Klamath Lake, Wong’s Potatoes, the World War II segregation camps, and the Area 51 Alien Travel Center!!

We arrived at Tahoe before sunset and headed down to Sand Harbor. Then we showered!! Our hotel is actually on the border dividing California and Nevada. We got some giganormous burgers at Burger Me  in Truckee, CA.

Tahoe

 

 

 

A volcanic lake and crazy tall trees

Day 26: Stops – Redwood National Park, CA; Crater Lake National Park, OR

Hike: Lady Bird Grove in Redwood National Park (1.5 miles); Crater Lake West Rim toward Watchman Overlook (2.5 miles).

This morning we awoke to a gorgeous fog covering the forest ground with towering Redwoods overhead.

 

We made our way to the Lady Bird Grove trail to get a close up look of some redwoods. You can stand inside many of the trees that have been hollowed out by forest fires.

 

We then drove to the town of Klamath where we found the Redwood that you can drive through for just $5. We thought it was totally worth it. Who hasn’t grown up wanting to do that?!

 

 

We continued our drive through many more of the forests that make up the national park. And finally arrived in Oregon, where gas is 40 cents cheaper than California! In southern Oregon we crossed the Rogue River, but unfortunately the brewery is located up in Portland so we were without Rogue beer. As we drove into Crater Lake National Park it was filled with snow. At the visitor’s center the snow was about 14 feet tall. There we obtained a back-country pass and decided to head out on the west rim of Crater Lake with our rented snow shoes.

We hiked on the road until Discovery point and then donned our snowshoes and hiked inward toward the lake. Our first views of the lake were spectacular.

Because Crater Lake was formed from a volcanic eruption it has no rivers flowing in or out and its only water source is precipitation. Crater Lake is one of the clearest and cleanest lakes in the world. As we continued our hike we fell several times in our snow shoes, at times choosing to slide down steep hills instead of walk.

Eventually we came upon a shoveled out space perfect for our tent, the snow and trees providing a barrier to the wind as we pitched our tent just inland from the cliff.

We dropped our packs here and continued the hike along the rim, turning back at sunset and collecting some dry wood for a fire.

 

It was a full moon, providing an incredible view of the lake at night and the surrounding mountains on the opposing side of the lake.  We melted some ice and after a long wait it came to a boil. Jeremy cooked us Velveeta as I took pictures of the lake.

 

 

 

And we grabbed our beers that we cooled in the snow near our tent. We headed in for the night and quickly the snow underneath our tent chilled our sleeping bags and us inside of them. Wearing snowpants, winter coats, and hats was still not adequate for the 19 degree farenheit weather on top of snow but we managed to get some sleep .

Must Do: Crater Lake West rim hike in the winter

Cloudy California

Day 25: Stops – Leo Carillo State Beach in Malibu, CA; Valera, CA; Big Sur, CA; Highway 1 and 101.

Run: Malibu Beach (2.5 miles)

After over 3 days without a shower, we decided to get dirtier before showering today with a quick 2.5 mile run on Leo Carillo State Beach in Malibu. The weather was overcast but the surfers were out early on this Tuesday morning. It’s great to finally be able to walk around in a t-shirt and shorts.

We quickly showered and got on the road to head up the Pacific Coast Highway (highway 1). But our car had been making strange sounds since Las Vegas so we stopped in Ventura, CA  for an oil and transmission fluid exchange and grabbed some breakfast at Pete’s Breakfast House. They served up the best strawberry jam I’ve ever consumed. We each smothered half a biscuit in jam and the other half in gravy. We still haven’t identified the source of the sound coming from our car.

Corned Beef Hash

 

 

Biscuit platter

We then hit the road again for the coast. And had some unfortunate weather for most of the trip. As seems to be the case whenever we visit the Pacific coast it was an overcast day with lots of fog. Still highway 1 was an impressive drive with gorgeous rolling hills and cliffs. The Big Sur area is definitely the best part of the highway. One man took an interesting mode of transportation along the highway, riding a unicycle with a backpacking bag and a cowboy hat. We accidentally took an extended detour at one point which resulted in an hour long spat in which I somehow ended up conceding to give Jeremy custody of our cat for a few weeks next year.

 

By the end of the drive Jeremy and I were glad to leave the two lane highway occupied by slow, bad drivers and get back on 101. We skipped Monterey and Pebble Beach because we had been there just two years ago, as well as San Francisco. We drove all day, 1.5 for Jeremy then 6.5 hours for me, and then another 5 for Jeremy. In the dark we got our first views of some redwoods and arrived at Redwood National Park in Northwestern California in a dense fog. We stayed at the very creepy Elk Prairie Campground which looked like a swamp covered in moss.

Must Eat: Strawberry Jam on a biscuit at Pete’s Breakfast House in Ventura, CA.

Must Do: Big Sur region of Highway 1

Zion and our drive to California

Day 24 Stops: Zion National Park, UT; Leo Carillo State Park, Malibu, CA

Hike: Zion National Park – The Narrows to Hanging Gardens (6.0 miles)

Third day in a row of waking up before 6am. This is rough. But fortunately Zion is about 30 degrees warmer than Bryce in the mornings. We cooked some more Bryce Breakfast Boners but modified the recipe, adding some onions and cheese to the eggs and bacon. I enjoyed both recipes. Although the simplicity of the original bacon, egg, hot dog and ketchup combination was hard to beat.  

We dressed for our hike through the Narrows (probably overly warm considering we had dry suits). Having researched this hike it became clear that we would need to protect our camera equipment so Vinay lent us his dry sack and with two other bags over it we packed the camera, some snacks, and quick dry towels. Vijay packed Sweet-tarts which initially seemed quite ridiculous, but I concede that I enjoyed eating them along the way. We took the shuttle to Temple Sinawava point. On the way we saw a few climbers scaling the side of the canyon. Zion is known for its incredible rock climbing for which we will definitely return one day.

We hit the first part of the trail and then upon arrival donned our rented dry suits and shoes. We looked like the cast of Star Trek. And then Kirk and his crew began the journey into the icy cold Virgin River that carves out Zion’s Canyon, walking sticks in hand and Jeremy carrying our precious camera.

 

 

The water was cold around our bodies even in the dry suits and while the hike lacks elevation change, it is still physically strenuous, the slippery rocks and fast current make it an incredibly time consuming hike through the river which is at times shoulder deep. With the rocks and current it is probably similar to hiking blind (with only your hiking pole to gauge depth and potential underwater hazards). Our pace dropped to only a mile an hour. I fell a couple of times but managed to keep my bag largely dry. When it was deep for Jeremy (at his chest) - I was nearly submerged.  We saw some hikers without dry suits, but as far as we could tell none of them had made it to Wall Street. I doubt that our pictures will do this hike justice. It is absolutely incredible and perhaps the best hike that I personally have ever completed. The scale of the rock faces in the Narrows is humbling.

 

After the Hanging Gardens we reached an opening at the Canyon and Jeremy and I said goodbye to our new friends and wished them good luck in their travels.

We hiked back down the river at a breakneck speed, finishing the 3.5 miles in a third of the time. The hike back was far easier without the camera in our hands, but the force and velocity of the current at times was overwhelming and Jeremy and I both were caught up in some fast current that nearly took us under as Jeremy grabbed me and a rock beneath him to stop us from flying down the river. I must mention that halfway to Wallstreet both Jeremy and Vijay simultaneously had a bout of GI distress aka diarrhea. We attributed this to both of them handling the raw beef. It was painful for them both at the time but it later made for a pretty hilarious story. Ask Jeremy about the details.

As we made our way back to the car we were stopped by several visitors to the park interested in our hike into the Narrows. They initially stared at us strangely but when they realized we had finished hiking the Narrows they were in awe of the feat. Many seemed regretful that they had not done something like this earlier in life when they still had the energy and strength, which really made us both grateful that we have time do this now.

We departed Zion for the California coast, driving right past Las Vegas, and picking up a delicious In-N- Out burger somewhere in California. As we drove we noticed a distinct smell of onions and hotdogs that came every 4- 6 minutes, and we’re still not sure where that smell came from. We finally reached Leo Carillo State Beach, pitched our tent and went straight to bed.

 

Must Do: The Narrows Hike in Zion National Park

 

Must Eat: In-N-Out  Burger