adventures in the u.s.a.!

i'm not going to lie, i'm not the most patriotic person. sure there are great advantages to living in a developed first-world country, but there are plenty of things that make me so frustrated, so baffled with my country and culture that it's hard to celebrate today.  however, i have had the joy of living and traveling all over this great big country and let me tell you, it's gorgeous! 

a couple years ago the mister and i took a big backpacking trip through as many southwest national parks as we could.  it was august of 2008, before i had this blog, so i don't think i ever shared our adventure.  it was one of the most fun experiences i've had, so i thought it was only fitting to reminisce this great adventure and give honor to the beautiful land i call home as my way of celebrating the u.s.a.

when we left san francisco it was a chilly 50 degrees {yes, san francisco in the summer is quite cold}, so we were excited to head out for warmer weather.  the first day we drove down into the sequoia national park, found a pretty looking spot, and backpacked up into the woods.  when we awoke the next morning we discovered several herds of cattle roaming freely through the woods.  they were so curious about us that they decided to hang out while we made breakfast.  i was already a vegetarian {mostly}, but after that morning i vowed never to eat beef again. it was very much a "bah-ram-mu" situation.  we spent the next day visiting the giant sequoia's, playing in waterfalls, and sleeping by the kern river. 

from there we made our way over to death valley.  now if you're thinking to yourself, "death valley in the middle of august? isn't it brain-boiling hot there?!" you would be correct. we spent most of our time in the car, only jumping out for 2 minutes at a time, and only after we had stuffed ice cubes in our clothes.  we were dry in under a minute.  death valley and the sahara desert go back and forth beating the record for the hottest place on earth.  we don't actually know how hot it was when we were there because the thermometers only went up to 125 degrees, but you better believe those thermometers filled all the way up to the top!  still, with all that heat, it was by far the most beautiful place i have ever been.  it's majestic and eery, surreal and magical.  we have plans to head back and go camping near the racetrack playa {where the rocks move} in the winter.

our next stop was at our friend's house in las vegas where we finally got a shower and some thai takeout. ah the comforts of home! the next day we were off again, this time to the grand canyon.  we hiked down a trail that was no longer maintained {meaning: dangerous trails and no rangers around} to a mesa in the middle of the canyon where we camped. in the middle of the night i felt a spider {eeek!!}, and woke up to discover a HUGE meteor shower above us {you get a free pass on this one spider}.  i've seen meteor showers before, but never with as much awe as from the middle of the grand canyon.

the next morning, we hiked even deeper into the canyon in pursuit of water.  i'm not going to get into it, but that day was a pretty significant day in my life.  we very nearly died that day and i have never felt more isolated, more in tune with my intuition, or more thankful for miracles as i did that day trying to
climb out of the grand canyon {don't worry mom, we made it!}.

after another stop in vegas for more showers and a tour of the strip, we grabbed our friend and headed back out, this time to explore zion national park and hike the narrows!  this was the most pure unadulterated fun we had on the whole trip.  yes it was beautiful in its own way like the other places we explored, but
this time we got to spend the entire trip hiking in the river that flows through the canyons.
sweet, refreshingly cold water!  we swam, we climbed, and we laughed a whole whole lot.

that trip was such a blast {albeit hot and sweaty - i've never been more grateful for 50 degree summers than i was heading back to san francisco after this hot adventure}. we got to see awe-inspiring parts of the country and spent time with various friends along the way.  i can't wait to go back to some of these places now that we live closer, and i'm even more excited to explore the parts of the country i haven't seen yet.  i think alaska and hawaii need to be next on the list.  maybe a tour of the non-contiguous states?  and let's go ahead and
throw in the pacific territories while we're at.  hip hip hooray!