Featured Touring In The Land Of Stars And Stripes

I hope the Federal shutdown doesn't affect your trip too much Marcus, great report so far

 

@Bikerman:
It may be that we start a long run to get there too.

 

@Helmut Visor:
Until now we had not problems. On the official homepage of the "National Parks" I read, that they will stay open with possible reductions like closing of facilities in the parks e.g. toilets, visitor centers, etc. We will see. Today we reached in the late afternoon Bryce Canyon without any remarkable changes.

 

Day 7/16:
After another typical "American breakfast" with nearly everything you can imagine, e.g. bagels, toast, crumbled eggs, pan cakes, fruits, yoghurt, ... we started our tour at 0700 in the direction of the Bryce Canyon National Park. Since we have an annual pass for all US National Parks we drove again through the Grand Canyon National Park. This time we stopped at the "Desert View Watchtower" in the southeast part of the Grand Canyon Park. In the early morning the view there was great!
Afterwards we left and crossed some more parts of Arizona until we reached the next US state, Utah.
One of the most interesting things was the complete change of the natur and it's looks. Marvelous! Wonderful countrysides changed with complete different many times on our 300 miles tour.
Our new accommodation is in a very small town called "Tropic". It is about 6 miles away from the entrance of the Bryce Canyon National Park. After some late lunch/early dinner we started a "sunset tour" with our car into the park. At the "Sunset view point" we met many other interested visitors to watch this event. It was great!
At 1930 we ended our long day in our accommodation and prepared our hiking equipment for tomorrow. We will start again with a hiking tour into the canyon and then exploring all other options with our car.

This little guy is a "Grand Canyon Tarantula" which I met in the evening yesterday on the way back to our car. Size about 10 centimetres.


The "Desert View Watchtower".


The great view next to the tower.


Our last view of the Grand Canyon and the Colorado River.


Next to the highway in Utah.


Useful information at the toilet!


Reaching the area of the Bryce Canyon National Park.


One of the tunnels there on the highway.


The sunset phase in the Bryce Canyon.


Another great view.

 

Brilliant. Can't say much more than that. Have a great hike

 

You are seeing some of the top tier sites in the western U.S.

 

Jewlery? Mmm

 

Day 8/16:
Today we.started at 0730 with our car to the Bryce Canyon. We drove to the "Sunset Point" were most of the trails into the canyon start.
First of all we enjoyed the great view in the morning sun. The colours were more intensive than at the sunset yesterday. Afterwards we "climbed" down the trail to the bottom of the canyon. Unbelievable sceneries followed after the others.
In sum we did a 10 kilometres hike down, in and up the canyon. This time the height difference was only about 400 height metres. The challenge was the height itself. The starting point was at 8.000 ft/2.439 meters. The hiking down was not so bad, but many people had some issues coming up again.
It took us about two hours. You may stay there for days due to the great views and sceneries.
After a short refreshment and changing our T-Shirts we took our car to drive 16 miles into the park to reach the highest view point called "Rainbow Point". It's height is at about 9.110 ft/2.778 metres. From there you can see most of the Bryce Canyon National Park.
After an extended photo session we drove all the way back and left the Bryce Canyon to explore another special point of the area. About 6 miles away from the entrance of the National Park you can stop at parking spot of the "Mossy Cave". At this point you find a trail into the "Water Canyon" which leds from the inner part of the Bryce Canyon over the borders of the National Park. This trail is just a short walk into a wonderful area and at the end you can find a waterfall and a few minutes away the so called *Mossy Cave". For me the little river and the waterfall was more interesting and special in comparison to the cave.
This concluded our today's great experiences and we drove back to our accommodation to get some nice food and a most needed shower for recreation.
Tomorrow we will do a long run to the "Death Valley" and our new accommodation.

A view into the Bryce Canyon in the morning.


Our descent into the canyon starts.


Sometimes there is only narrow space left.


One scenary at the bottom of the canyon.


A thick caterpillar was crossing our way.


At the end of our trail we had this view before we climbed up to the edge of the canyon again.


The "Natural Bridge".


One of our new friends. Today those little animals accompanied us nearly everywhere.


A view from the "Rainbow Point".


The waterfall in the "Water Canyon".

 

Spectacular. This is on my to do list, so this is so useful for a future trip I've in mind. Hope you have more fantastic days to come.

 

@Bikerman:
Some more highlights will follow soon.

 

Day 9/16:
Today we did a "long run" with 480 miles and uncountable height meters.
At 0700.we started in "Tropic" near the Bryce Canyon" and toured through 4 US states. Start in Utah, followed by Arizona, Nevada and California. In Nevada we passed Las Vegas again and entered the "Death Valley" National Park. The border to California we already crossed in the park. This time we did our sightseeing only by car, according to the dimensions and the temperatures there. After about 50 miles we reached the lowest point which you can reach by car at "Mesquite Flat And Dunes" and temperatures of 98 F/about 37 C. From there we did another 45 miles to the other end of the park and enjoyed many other great views. The area and nature of this park is unbelievable. I never saw comparable landscapes "live" before. It is really worth to visit, but you have to be aware of the extreme temperatures there!
In the late afternoon at 1700 we arrived in "Lone Pine" a small town 30 miles next to the park. The whole tour today was very exhausting. The permanent changes between high and low altitudes and the temperatures between 10 to 37 degrees celsius challenged our bodies.
Tomorrow we will go on to "Fresno".

The wonderful landscape of Utah.


Also in Utah but complete changed nature!


On our journey through the USA we saw many caravans towing an additional car in the back. I do not know how this works without damaging the technology of the car like the gearbox, etc.


In Nevada on a highway.


This was an amazing view at a fuel station in Nevada next to Las Vegas.


In Arizona we were stopped with some other cars by the police to let two of those transport systems with their huge load pass.


Another great view on the highway in Arizona.


The sand dunes at "Mesquite Flat Sand Dunes" on one of the lowest points in the Death Valley National Park.


Another direction of this view.


The impressive route through the park. In front of this decent and as you can see to the upcoming ascent we "climbed" the same from the former valley of the park. The height goes from about 300 ft to 5000 ft and back again and this not only once!

 

Great photos of the Arizona highway, love it. 4th picture above.

 

@Markus This is just fantastic reading. Loving it.

 

Das 10/16:
Our today's tour to Fresno led via the "Yosemite National Park". Again we did lots of height meters because the entrance to the park was at an altitude of more than 3.000 metres. In the park we had like at the end of the "Death Valley National Park" real mountain roads to pass. Some of them would have been interesting to ride with a bike too.
In the park one incomparable view followed the other. It was great. In some parts we were able to see how the nature "regrows" after the great fires in the last years.
In the area of the big waterfall we had our first traffic jam of our life in a wood. The available parking lots and the little roads there were overcrowded with cars. But we had luck again and found after the "queuing" a place for our car directly in the middle of this touristic area. From there we went with hundreds of other tourists to the main view point of the waterfall. I had the impression to be a member of a migration of peoples. - A tip for insiders: Directly from the parking lot in front of the lodges there, you have in my opinion the best view of the complete waterfall. -
Afterwards we "climbed" up and down to an other exit of the park and headed to Fresno.
At our hotel we met a big group of HD bikers. At the desk office of the hotel we were told that in Fresno a bike event with about 6.000 participants is ongoing this weekend. Tomorrow I will try do get some pictures of some bikes beside our other activities.

Some impressions of the scenary on the way to the "Yosemite National Park".


Wonderful scenary next to the highway.


One of the few new highway sections.


This country is really "big"!!!


Another great view next to the highway.


One of the lakes in the park.


The famous "El Capitan" - where sadly many climbers die every year.


One of my favourite pictures.


This little guy tried to steal some parts of our snack at a break.


The famous waterfall.

 

Day 11/16:
As I told you I wanted to start a photo session with all the HD bikes in front.of our hotel. I didn't expected that at 0715 nearly all.of them would be awakened and at their bikes at this time. So I showed up between them with my "Triumph T-Shirt" and asked them for the allowance to take photos of their bike. All of them agreed and so I took some pictures of their great HD's.
At 0730 we started a 1:30 journey to the "Sequoia National Park". Leaving Fresno and heading to the park we passed uncountable miles of almond tree plantations and orange tree plantations. I never saw such big plantations before. Between this huge plantations often were raisin areas. Next to the highway ran a railway and we saw a train with three locomotives in the front, two of them in the middle and a sixt one at the end with nearly hundred wagons. Unbelievable. But this gigantism continued throughout the day.
After reaching the entrance we saw the first big rocks. We stopped at the trail start of the "Hanging Rock Trail" and the "Moro Rock Trail" and hiked on both of them. Both are in an altitude above 2.000 metres but after our "high altitude training" of the last week it was easy for us to reach the top of the hills.
After a short break and some refreshments we drove further into the park and reached the "Giant Tree Area" with the huge sequoias. This was a real experience! I knew them from the TV and photos but live are they even more impressive. Through one of the overturned sequoias you are able to drive with a car, which we did surely! After this event we drove to the "General Sherman Tree", which is the real "giant" of trees in the world. He is not the tallest (height 274 ft), the oldest (2.200 years) and not the widest (circumference is 31 meters), but the overall volume of his trunk makes it to the biggest tree on Earth.
This was amazing! To reach the tree you have to walk down 700 ft in 0,4 miles and surely back again to your car.
Afterwards we started our way back to Fresno and began to pack our luggage again. After the visiting and hiking in 6 US National Parks we switch now to city tourism again.
Tomorrow we head to San Francisco.

Additional info: The roads in the vicinity of and in the park would be interesting to ride with a bike. Many curves and some hairpin bends too.

A small collage of my T-Shirt and the HDs.


A beautiful lake on our way out to the entrance of the park.


The "Tunnel Rock".


The "Hanging Rock".


The "Moro Rock".


View from the top of the "Moro Rock".


Our rental car passes the tunnel through the tree.


The roots of an overturned sequoia.


The "king", the "General Sherman Tree".


A hummingbird in a bush next to a fuel station on our way back to Fresno.

 

@Markus Fantastic great scenery and report.

 

@joe mc donald:
Many thanks to you, Joe!

 

Day 12/16:
Today we started at 0815 in Fresno and drove into the direction northwest. Just after the end of the city we passed again endless miles of almonds, oranges and for the first time cotton plantations.
Having now driven more than 2,300 miles through four US states, I am really surprised at the poor condition of California's roads and how much garbage is lying around almost everywhere. In my impression Utah was the "cleanest" US state on our tour.
After about 290 miles we reached the area of San Francisco and took the "long" way via the North to reach the city. Due to a tip of one of my colleagues we reached San Francisco by passing Sausalito and the nearby great view point of the "Golden Gate Bridge". It was fantastic there!
Afterwards we drove the famous "Lombard Street" which is known for it's impressive elevation structure. From one side you "climb" up an extreme incline and on the other side you have to wind down through narrow and extreme steeply sloping hairpinbends. This was like an roller coaster ride in slow motion. First pressed into the seats and then fixed by the seat belts on the seats.
Afterwards we stopped at the "Fisherman's Wharf" and.visited the famous "Pier 39". This is a well known "tourist trap", but we wanted to get the special impressions of this location. We ate a tuna and a crab sandwich and afterwards we had crepes filled with different fruits and chocolate. All of them were culinary highlights! The prices were as I had expected. Always a little too expensive. But it is a "check" on a virtual "bucket list" when you are visiting San Francisco to go there.
In the late afternoon we reached our today's accomodation in the area of San Jose.
Tomorrow we will do another long run back to Los Angeles.

My first "live" view of a cotton plantation.


The "lifeline" of Southern California, the "California Aqueduct" which runs more than 700 miles from the Sierra Nevada in North California down to the south.


This type of "mobile" tank we found several times on our. The only differences were the height of the "installation" and the filling.


Wuah!!! Suddenly we were driving in the middle of the sea. - No problem, we used one of the existing endless looking bridges.


The "perfect" view.


In the city we were several times confronted with this kind of science fiction cars. This are "Robotaxis" from the company "Waymo" which transport passengers without a human driver through San Francisco. They are actually also 24/7 available in Los Angeles, Atalanta, Austin, Phoenix and soon in Washington D.C. and Miami. I was standing next to such a taxi in the neighbouring lane when it suddenly changed lanes without warning, as if using the blinker, and took my right of way. I love the breaking system of the Audi! I think some more updates are needed!


Just for fun.


The way up the "Lombard Street".


A view into "Pier 39".


The famous prison "Alcatraz" in the Bay of San Francisco.

 

Absolutely fantastic photos, @Markus! I'm so glad you're having a great time! I love the American West and you're seeing some of the best of it

 

@Sandi T :
Many thanks to you! Sadly only a few days are left. We really enjoyed our time in your country the last week(s).