Postcards from Yosemite National Park

The smell of things on the verge of change hung in the air.  It is unmistakable.  The waterfalls that were supposedly down to a trickle a few weeks ago are now completely dry.  The river beds are practically empty.  And if they are not yet, they would be soon.  It is a time of bated breath, of silence, of anticipation of what is to come.  It is a moment of suspension in that sweet empty space of .. nothing.  Like the fading notes of music, you cling to its last reverberations before it is finally gone, as silence, slowly but surely, like the creeping darkness, descends.  

The camp closes today and one can sense the itch, the restlessness to get on, to move on to what's next.  There is a sadness in the transition too, I guess.  At least, that's how I feel.  The grass has faded, the trees are ablaze. The morning chill is rather brutal especially after days and days of what felt like a promising endless summer.  Some places have already shut down for the season - chairs turned upside down, windows boarded up, campgrounds eerily empty.  It feels somber, lonely and hollow.  Change is inevitable, palpable, but how or what is coming, no one knows for certain.

However grim you might feel about change, I hope you have tucked away enough of the warm, delicious stuff to tide you over.

From Yosemite Valley after two nights of sleeping in a bag and waking up to deer antler-fights...  Farewell, Summer. Welcome back, Autumn.

Postcards from Zion National Park: Hiking Angels Landing

Oh Las Vegas. It's good fun once, twice.. but to someone who's been there, done that, Zion National Park is a close enough drive to north to escape the Las Vegas scene.  While I love (and also hate) Vegas for its over-the-top vibe and for its repertoire of impressive restaurants, I truthfully would rather not go.  The diversions and stimulations of Sin City are decidedly endless, but somehow, there is just not enough of the right kind for me.

So we gunned for the national parks within driving distance of Las Vegas the minute we landed.  Our first stop was Bryce National Park, then we drove back to spend the night in Washington, UT.  Bright and early the next morning, we drove up to Zion National Park (a mere 20 minute drive) with the intent of going mountain biking.

The rental mountain bike selection at the adventure shop was mediocre so instead we opted to go for a hike.  We were not able to go hiking in Bryce Canyon the day prior, so I was thrilled to have the opportunity to get close and personal with these canyons. Without doing any research prior to the park visit, we heeded the recommendation of the shop guy to hike Angels Landing.  Zion has numerable religious references, it being once an early settlement of Mormons.  Angels Landing was named such in the belief that it is a place so beautiful, it is the place for angels to gather.  

It was a spontaneous decision to hike this trail.  2.5 miles shouldn't be that extreme.  I also always have it in my head that if I can mountain bike it up, I can certainly hike it up.

In this case, I am happy we were hiking (no mountain bikes on the trail).  It was definitely a challenging and steep hike up to the top of a cliff then the trail would level out, then resume climbing another cliff, and yet another.  If you look closely at the photo below, you would see tiny dots of people traversing up the switchbacks.  There are guardrails only in 5-10% of the trail so on one hand, it is amazing to be that unrestrained to wilderness, but on the other, it's daunting that you're also that close to falling to your death.

We are in fairly good shape and did not stop much.  With our relatively brisk pace, we made it up in about an hour.  (And we actually stopped at Scott's Landing, 500 feet away from the actual Angels Landing peak.  There was a throng of people all trying to get to the top, clinging to guard rails and it didn't seem like it was safe to be hiking behind someone clutching on to a guard rail).  The unobstructed views from where we were was already staggering.  What a sight to behold!  It was so wild!

I was berating myself for only taking a fixed point lens, but no matter.  I wouldn't have been able to capture the magnificence of the 360 views all around us anyway.  It would have been impossible.  It also astonished me that no matter how high we got (I believe it was 1,000 feet of ascent), the sky overhead still felt as infinite as the way it did when we started.  I was bewildered.

We snacked on raisins and split a banana and watched these cliffs, taking deep breaths of the pure oxygen.  Who knows when we will get this chance again?

It was told that the massive sandstone cliffs were formed by sand blown away by wind thousands and thousands of years ago.  These cliffs would have had the volume of sand of an entire desert.  The sand mixed with minerals that caused it to harden, and with iron, that caused it to turn red.  I'm not a geologist, though, and I could refer you to one if you need more explicit information. :)

Pretty soon, we were descending and we had the opportunity of seeing everything again, from a different vantage point this time.

The skinny switchbacks to get to the top of Angels Landing

Hikers cooling down in the Virgin River

I could remember a time when I could barely run half a mile without sending in the ambulance.  Its extraordinary moments like these that I am so grateful to be healthy and well.  I never really was fit or athletic growing up, and to hike such extents (this hike is called "extreme" by many, taking some five hours to complete) without batting an eyelash is really an accomplishment.

I advocate for living a healthy and active lifestyle and this is precisely why.  The photos speak for themselves.  I want to keep hiking to heights and exploring the world until I am very, very old.  Being a voracious traveler, it is imperative that I stay healthy, and more importantly, I am able to say yes to experiences, rather than confront them with an attitude of "Oh no.  I can't do that."  

If you go:

• If you have a car, you will need to pay the park entrance of $25 per vehicle.  If you are visiting Bryce in the same trip, it is almost worth it to get the National Parks annual pass for $80 which is valid for one year and will you give all access to all the national parks in America.  We haven't been to Yellowstone or Denali and with this pass, we just make a go for it in a year.
• If you are visiting for a day, you can save $25 per vehicle if you catch the free shuttle bus in Springdale, right outside the park.  More information can be found here. 
• If you are the less adventurous type, you can just ride the shuttle around the park.  It stops at the major sights and the entire tour would take you about 80 minutes.
• I love my Merrell Gore-tex hiking boots, but when we hiked Angels Landing, we actually did them in running shoes that had great grip.  I had on my all-around Asics Noosa Fast (which I also wear mountain biking and traveling - they are GREAT) and they did amazing.  If it was raining or muddy, then it would be the hiking shoes for sure, but with thinner sole shoes, I felt I could move my feet and toes around more to grip the trail and rocks.
• If you are prone to vertigo or have never hiked in your life, I would prepare a few weeks in advance of this hike.  I don't think the hike itself is very technical.  It does require a fair amount of stamina and endurance.  
• Be also prepared for the elevation where air is thinner.  Elevation is not to be scoffed at because it could really make your day miserable with headaches, vomiting, oxygen shortage, etc.  Our elevation at home is 4,500 feet, so for us to be high up at 9,000 feet is no trouble.  We are used to it.  I can imagine it is not the case for everyone. 
• Pack your wide angle lens if it is no trouble.  It could be a hassle lugging that thing around up the cliff, but it is worth it.

Postcards from Bryce National Park

Time and time again, travel for me remains to be a humbling experience.  It makes me realize and appreciate my own insignificance. Nowhere is my immateriality more palpable than when I am swallowed by wildness - so vast and fathomless - in national parks.  Yosemite, and now, Bryce and Zion, all have the same effect on me.  They all remind me that I am but a teeny cog in this universe.  A teeny cog!  My self importance and egoism are dwarfed by everything unknowable and undiscoverable so apparent in the wild places we see.  It bowled me over when I realized as we were engulfed by endless canyons everywhere that prior to that time, and even after that time, I completely had no notion of the extent of my ignorance.  It would have been unfathomable to my own imagination, creative as it may be, how astounding the world is.  And how there are innumerable places and experiences to left to see.  And yes, even the acceptance that I will never even get to seem them all in my lifetime.

I find it almost silly that some cities think they are the center of the universe (ehem, New York City?).  But stepping out into the wilderness, engulfed by cliffs, clean air you can actually breathe, pure, thin air up top, trees wildlife, gushing rivers - you become certain that nothing is absolute, nothing is nowhere nearly as powerful as nature is.  And really, that is the true center of the universe.

I have always held an immense admiration and envy towards the Europeans.  I love traveling to Europe.  Traveling to Rome, the seat of one of the world's greatest and far-reaching empires, I was fascinated by how advanced the Romans were not only gastronomically, but also historically, politically, and culturally.  I always find myself comparing Europe with America and how much more I am drawn to the history and culture of Europe, say, the Romans or Greeks, for example.  But seeing Bryce (and later Zion) National Park makes me realize that what this country lacks in history relative to Europe, it makes up for in wide, open national spaces.

We may not have architectural feats built yet in 1 AD, but these canyons formed by nature into structures that resemble temples and pyramids - thousands of them - have been around far longer.

The crowd of summer vacationers have left and it was a pleasant surprise to practically have the park to ourselves.  There would be times when we would have a view point to ourselves.  And there, in the wilderness, silence was so loud, it was deafening.  It was extraordinary.  And there, at the peak of Bryce National Park, I think I might have found the quietest place on earth.  

From afar, some of the spires resemble neat rows of unearthed terracotta warriors.

To give you a sense of scale, look over to the specks on the left of the photo below, at what looks like a viewing point on the edge of a cliff.  Those three dots you see are people.  Now tell me again if you think if we live in a small world.  Or if we are the center of the universe.

We lingered over sunset at Inspiration Point and there was no other place I would rather be at that moment.  We couldn't peel our gaze away from the mesmerizing beauty that is in front of us.  The saffron canyons glowed with subdued light, the warmth in the air quickly gone as quick as the sun.  A chill hovers, especially at the altitude (it's highest point is 9,000 feet, give or take). Silence, the deafening kind, again wraps around you, but utter a word, and it is shattered by the echo of your own voice.        

They are somewhat visible in the photo below, but there are many hiking trails around some of the canyons, especially those around Sunset Point.  I would love to one day return and do some hikes here myself.  It would be so rad to walk in such close range to these cinnamon rocks.  

I have said before in this blog that I don't adhere to bucketlists.  I don't trust myself enough to be able to contain the majesty and grandeur of the world, especially those that haven't been much written about, talked about (which for me, personally, are the most bucketlist-worthy ones).  I don't want to restrict myself to twenty or so things on a list.  I feel like I would constantly fall into the danger of passing up on spontaneous experiences not on the list in hot pursuit of what is on the list.  Or worse, that I would end up saving myself, my youth, my money for that list - and end up not doing anything at all.

I mean, there could be ten, thirty, fifty, a five thousand items on your list.  Yes, that's impressive - but how many experiences are you excluding? 

Instead, I have the antithesis to bucket lists - Reverse Bucket Lists. These are the things that make it to the list only after I have done it, seen it, explored it, experienced it.  And this majestic sunset in Bryce National Park is definitely going on my Reverse Bucket List.

If you go:

• Go later in the day to avoid the crowds.  Unlike Yosemite, the length of Bryce is actually navigable by car.  Drive south to the Rainbow and Yovimpa Points and work your way back.  No matter what you do, plan to watch the sunset at either Inspiration, Bryce, Sunset or Sunrise Point.  
• Take your wide angle lens!  I was too lazy to pack mine and I was stuck with the fixed-focus lens I had on. Fail.
• We had many animal sightings, including pronghorn antelopes, which I've never seen in my life before.  Take your zoom lens and a tripod while you're at it.  Heck, take all your camera equipment!  
• Plan to hike.  I certainly wished I did - but that just means I get to return very soon.  
• Don't drive very fast.  There are lots of wildlife about - the most I've seen (but I haven't been to Denali either).  If you do, you either miss them or worse, hit them.