Touring Some of the Best National Parks in the USA

The United States is an enormous country with so many amazing sights to see. As much a I'd like to take another 10 months off work to explore it all, we decided to just see a small part in a two week road trip. In reality, this trip has been a series of failed plans that turned into an epic exploration of National Parks.

Our original plan was to hike the Wonderland Trail around Mount Rainier. Too much snow caused us to brainstorm other good through-hikes we'd like to do. Plan B was to hike Enchanted Valley in the Olympic Peninsula for a second time and cross Anderson Pass. Again, too much snow. We asked around for some other ideas, and we decided to drive to Idaho to hike the Sawtooth Mountains. Neither of us had been there, and you can basically hike from lake to lake. So on the afternoon of June 30th, we packed up the car and headed east.

We made it to Ellensburg the first night without any issues and a brief stop in Leavenworth for beer and brats. The next day was a long one, driving through the desert of Eastern Washington and the flat lands of Idaho. Finally, gaining altitude and greener forests we arrived in the Sawtooth National Park to phenomenal views of grassy plains and jagged mountain peaks. The campground at Pettit Lake was full, but it didn't matter because there is dispersed camping available all around the park. We found a cozy spot a little off the beaten path that was a short distance from the trail head. Just behind our campsite was a little ridge with a lovely view of the mountains. We hiked up to the top at sunset and the next morning for sunrise. The colors were incredible.

Our goal was to hike to Redfish Lake from Pettit Lake. From Pettit lake there is a loop that passes Alice, Toxaway and a few other alpine lakes, and we could head over a pass to get deeper into the mountains. We ran into a few issues, and had to move on to plan C and D. The first was a very rough river crossing a few miles in toward Alice lake. The river was above the waist, very rapid, and became much worse about 100ft downriver. Crossing was frightening and not a risk we were willing to take. So, we turned around and decided to hit the loop from the other direction.

It was a beautiful trek through a sparse forest, over a far better river crossing, and across an alpine meadow with enormous boulders dispersed throughout. We encounter a few people on the trail who informed us that Toxaway Lake still had a lot of snow, and the pass was impassable due to high snow levels and avalanche danger. So, onto plan D. We decided to stay at the next closest lake to Toxaway and hike back into civilization the next day. We had a lovely night a Farley Lake. We were surrounded by high ridges dotted with trees and snow that steeply sloped into a dark lake. The lake was rimmed by cliffs, and an island or two could be seen poking out of its center. Up the trail a river noisily flowed into the lake, and down the trail you could see more mountain peaks and a valley in the distance. There were a lot of mosquitoes and it was awfully hot, but it was blissful and quiet.

Since snow was preventing us from backpacking multiple days into the mountains, we spent a few more days camped on the edge of Redfish Lake and exploring some of the day hiking trails nearby. There is a wonderful ridge trail that circles the whole lake, which we thoroughly enjoyed.

We had explored much of the accessible parts of the Sawtooth National Park, and we still had a lot of time left in our vacation, so we made the decision to travel a bit farther east to see Yellowstone. We drove east through wide open plains of Idaho, checking out the occasional sight along the way. This included stops at a few thermals spewing steam, a completely random ghost town, a raised fault line in the middle of nowhere, and a vast lava field called Craters of the Moon.

Finally, we made it to Yellowstone. It was a bit too late to find a campsite, so we found a hotel in West Yellowstone at an extraordinarily high price. Nonetheless, it was nice to have a burger for dinner instead of freeze dried food. In the morning we woke up bright and early to find the best campsite and ended up near the north end of the park at Indian Creek Campground. This was the best choice, we discovered, because it was shaded, close to Mammoth Hot Springs, and no generators allowed. From here we were able to see the highlights of the park and get in some good hiking to Fairy Falls and Bunsen Peak.

As lovely as Yellowstone is, it is also one of the most popular tourist destinations in the U.S. This on top of it being the weekend of the 4th of July made crowds and parking unbearable. While we had a great campsite, it became too much at times, so we made the decision to move on again. This time we headed south toward Bryce Canyon. It took us two days to drive through southern Idaho and Utah to the park with a great visit to Salt Lake City in between. When we arrived, we were greeted with cooler temperatures and much smaller, tolerable crowds. For the next few days, we spent our time exploring the rim of the canyon and a couple of trails under the rim. My favorite hike, by far, was the Fairyland Loop. It was gorgeous as it wound in and out of interestingly shaped rock formations. The colors transitioned from red to pink to white to yellow and back again. The views from the rim were also spectacular. Bryce was definitely the highlight of the trip.

After a few days in the park we decided to head home a little early. It took us two days to drive home from Utah. Our trip home had a bit of unplanned adventure and excitement as well. We originally planned to stay in Twin Falls, Idaho, but quickly discovered that all hotels and campgrounds were booked through to Boise. We found a last minute, over-priced hotel, which was unsavory at best. So, we had to call and search around for the last possible, decent hotel in the city. Thankfully, at 1am someone had a room with a clean bed and doors/windows that lock properly, unlike the previous place. A late night meal at Denny's and a comfortable, clean bed was all we needed to get back on the road and home.

We had some changed plans, but overall we made the best of it and had a wonderful time exploring some National Parks we have not seen yet. We still managed to get in 70 miles of hiking and a couple of days of back-country hiking. The risk of not making solid plans for a trip is that we may be turned around and end up in the not so great sleeping arrangements, but it allows for the flexibility to be whimsical and explore what we wouldn't have before. Until the next great adventure....

The Not So Disappointing Cape Disappointment

While we are not continuously traveling like we were throughout 2016, I still intend to blog our adventures. Now that we are home, we have been on the job hunt, which has been annoyingly tedious. It took some time, but we have both acquired work and are ready to get back to the grind. We thought that one last hurrah was in order. And so, we took a road trip to the southernmost part of our lovely Washington State for some stormy winter camping at Cape Disappointment State Park.

It was a drive that took all day, made even longer as we got a little lost along the way. We did, however, see many adorable seaside towns in our effort: Ocean Shores, Westport, Long Beach. We arrived late and set up camp in the rain, but the nice thing about car camping is the amount of blankets you can bring. We had our nest setup and a fire going in no time.

Camping in the winter is not for the faint of heart because it is cold and it is often raining. Although, if you have good gear and are prepared, it is some of the best camping. The main reason is this: you practically get the entire campground to yourself. No searching through overcrowded campsites, no obnoxious generators setup next to your tiny tent, and peacefully quiet. The other reason why we decided to camp in January is that winter storms generate awesome waves, and what better place to see them than crashing against Washington coast sea stacks. Cape Disappointment is perfect for this as high winds kick up massive waves that break magnificently against the headland. It is stunning and mesmerizing to watch.

We spent a day wandering the 8 miles of hiking trails around the bluffs exploring the remnants of an old military base, reading about the completion of Lewis and Clark's adventure across the U.S., and taking in the sights from a lighthouse lookout point. With hardly anyone around it was a lovely walk with occasional sun breaks and the sound of waves crashing.

After another night huddled around the fire and snuggled in my pile of blankets in the tent, we decided to travel a little further south to Cannon Beach, Oregon. In the summertime, this is a popular destination and is generally full of people browsing the many shops or crowded along the beach. Visiting this area in January is a lot different. The beach is deserted and most of the town is shut down. While it was a little more difficult to find a lunch spot, we were able to take a nice long walk along the beach. It was a sunny day, and our walk was stunning. The waves are not as aggressive here, but the beach is long with a few iconic sea stacks as a great backdrop.

A morning spent at Cannon Beach, and it was time to head back north. Another long drive, and we've made it home. We are already thinking about our next adventure and the multitude of places to go hiking and camping in our gorgeous home.

Round the World, A Review

Now that we have been home for a few weeks, we have had time to process and really absorb what this adventure really meant to us. Of course, me being me, also took this opportunity to fully analyze all of the information I tracked while traveling. Part of our effort to not spend too much money was a budget spreadsheet that tracked all of our spending in various categories: housing, food, activities, transportation, other. I meticulously wrote down everything we spent money on in my journal. I have also have updated all previous blog posts to include notable hotels and restaurants, our transportation into and around each location, and the activities we did in each. Here are the results of all of this information.

Most of our hotels were booked for 1-3 nights on either TripAdvisor or Booking.com. If we didn't like it, we'd walk around town looking for a better one. Conversely, if we did like it we'd extend our stay. Similarly, many restaurants were found on Tripadvisor. However, we often found it skewed toward American style food. Our other method was either asking other tourists and locals, or finding the restaurant with the most people. We found some amazing back alley street food and restaurants this way. We bought a sim card for my cell phone in Mexico and Peru, but discovered that it was fairly expensive. Instead I signed up for a Skype account and discovered that $10 lasts several months. I have now forgone a cell phone plan now that I have returned to the USA.

Our Equipment list from the beginning had a lot of stuff on it, which we expertly stuffed into each of our backpacks. Out of those items 26 were trashed at the end of our trip, 6 were lost, and 2 were broken. We found that 63% of the items were very useful and 15% of the items not useful at all. All of the clothes were well worn and thrown away before we got home. My cell phone and Ian's Kindle were the most useful giving us the ability to pre-book and decide where we wanted to go next. They also provided a source of entertainment on long bus rides or flights. The camera, of course, was also one of our most prized posessions. Otherwise, we would not have been able to document this epxerience for all of you. Even though we only used them on treks, the water purifer and camelbaks were also incredibly useful. The things we wish we hadn't taken with us include: hammock, sleeping pads, and cards against humanity. That being said, we found a use for most of stuff. When you live out of a backpack for as long as we did, it really puts things in perspective. How much stuff do I really need?

Here are some fun facts compiled about our trip:
-We visited 63 cities in 12 countries over a 10 month period
-We took 82 taxis, 28 buses, 21 airplanes, 12 boats, 7 trains, 5 tuk tuks, 2 colectivos, 2 water taxis, 2 scooters, 2 kayaks, 1 jeep, and 1 bicycle
-We have hiked over 250 miles: Annapurna 185, Corcovado 22, Cerro Chato 3, Colca Canyon 14, Rainbow Mountain 9, Thai Village 18

Below is a breakdown of all of our spending by category for the 10 months. Categories include: housing (hotels/hostels), food, flights, activities (all fun stuff with transportation to and from), and other (souvenirs, transportation, random purcases, etc). Total spent was $30,281 for two people or roughly $15k per person.

After seeing the big picture, it is interesting to break it down by month. Overall, April and May were the most expensive months for us spending the bulk of our budget on housing and food. October came in third mostly because of the set budget of $100 per day on the Annapurna Circuit. For most of April we were in Costa Rica. We found that hotels were a lot more expensive ranging from $45-$60 a night, whereas many locations have averaged about $20 per night. Food was also more expensive, commonly at or exceeding American prices. We were in Peru and Chile in May. Our housing was more expensive becuase we spent the bulk of it in a hotel that also taught Spanish. While we got a discount on our room rate, it was still higher than normal. Food in Peru was cheap, but it was far more expensive in Chile. We also had some activities that we paid for (Colca Canyon, Salar de Uyuni tour), which drove up how much we spent that month. July, August and September were our cheapest months as we spent most of that time moving through Southeast Asia.

We can break it down even further and average our daily spending in each country. Chile, Spain and Hong Kong were the most expensive places we went to. I separated Hong Kong from China to highlight the difference between there and Chengdu. Food in Hong Kong is crazy expensive, and while we managed to find the cheapest hotel (in a not so savory location) in the city, it was still more money than our average. We were in Barcelona and Hong Kong for the same amount of time, and the only reason why Barcelona was so high was that we splurged on a $100 per night hotel room. Looking at the opposite side of the spectrum, Southeast Asian countries fall into the cheapest countries to travel to with food and housing at incredible low prices. Some of the hotels we stayed at in Thailand were below $10/night, and food was a fraction of the price of other countries. Most expensive was Hong Kong, and the cheapest was Vietnam.

Conclusion? It really isn't that much money to travel the world. All you need is to set travel as your number one priority and save, save, save. According to 2015 US Census, the median annual income is $56k a year. We traveled for 2 people for much less than that for 10 months including housing, food, and paying bills at home like student loans and power for our house. We made our motivation for reducing our overhead. We don't live in a fancy house, we don't have nice cars, we don't buy awesome toys. After traveling in many developing countries, I realize that I still don't need those things enabling us to live for our experiences and our future. If we can do it, you can too.

The number one question I get asked is "Which country is your favorite?" This is a difficult question to answer because the world is a big, beautiful place and everyone experiences the world differently. I can tell you that I loved Vietnam, but Ian will tell you he loved Peru. I can't dictate what you will and will not like. I have by no means seen it all, and cannot tell you where is best for you. So, get out there and see it for yourself.

The Hullabaloo of Kathmandu

The best way to end a long trip is to spend time in the craziest, busiest place you can think of. That way when you get home, you can truly appreciate the peace and quiet. Kathmandu is perfect for this. We spent our last two weeks of our epic journey in the dusty, crowded city enjoying the few sights that Nepal's biggest city has to offer.

Temples are the most popular attractions to see in Kathmandu. A strange mix of Buddhist and Hindu religions, most make for a unique and interesting experience. The first one we visited is one of the oldest religious sites in Nepal called Swayambhunath aka the monkey temple. Not far from Thamel, this temple is appropriately named as hundreds of monkeys scamper across the grounds. They jump from trees, strut across stairs and sculptures, and lounge around picking fleas off each other. Hiking to the top of incredibly steep, slightly crumbling stairs you are greeted with an enormous pair of eyes looking out over the city. People meander clockwise around the enormous stupa occasionally spinning the numerous prayer wheels set about its base. Some are crowded around the walls soaking in the amazing view, some pray amidst gold and incense, and some browse the many booths with locals selling their handicrafts. There are still several piles of rubble blocking much of the walkways, as the temple is still being repaired after the 2015 earthquake. So, it doesn't take long to explore the whole area.

Probably the most popularly visited temple in Nepal is Boudhanath. A UNESCO world heritage site, this stupa is one of the largest in the world. Set in the center of a shopping neighborhood, it towers over the many visitors circling it's base. People of all sorts come to see this place: tourists, monks, and many people dressed in traditional fashion of from different regions in Nepal. Similar to Swayambhunath, prayer wheels are set along the entire base of the stupa. While it is not fully restored after the earthquake, it is impressive nonetheless.

Not far from our hotel in Thamel is a small escape from the craziness of the city. The Garden of Dreams lay abandoned for decades, Kathmandu's own secret garden, until it was renovated in recent years. Gorgeous pavilions and buildings surround a courtyard filled with flowers. A cafe is attached, serving Nepali coffee and snacks, and you can lay out on the grass of the amphitheater to soak up a bit of sunshine. It's hard to believe that outside of the walls lies dusty, crowded streets and the continuously honking horns of traffic.

Kathmandu, like most cities, is a conglomeration of several sprawling and connecting neighborhoods. One such neighborhood was actually a city of its own once, but now the line that separates Patan from Kathmandu is indistinguishable. We spent a day wandering around the area marveling at the ancient architecture and quirky streets. The Patan Durbar Square has several old buildings, each in its own state of repair from the earthquake. A museum housing Buddhist and Hindu sculptures occupies the center of the square and takes some time to explore. Locals hang around talking and lounging on the steps of many of the buildings. Walking the neighborhoods, you see vibrant colored flags hanging across the alleyways, and an occasional temple appears in the middle of nearly every block. Next time we visit Nepal, we decided to stay in Patan instead of Thamel.

While there are many things to do and see in Kathmandu, we didn't have time or energy to see them all. We did get to the most popular ones, and did a fair amount of shopping since we have not been able to get souvenirs until the end. Much of our time was spent recovering from our trek and preparing for our long flight home. After 24 full hours of travel time, we finally made it home, and just in time for Thanksgiving turkey. It feels good to be back, and to see our family and friends again.

Hotels:
Hotel Osho Home: $34/night
Hotel Mums Home: $27/night

Restaurants:
OR2k
Friends Restaurant
Rosemary Kitchen
Frens Kitchen
Places Restaurant
Western Tandoori
Utse Restaurant

Transportation:
Airplane to Kathmandu
Taxi to and from Boudhanath: 1,500 rupees
Taxi to and from Patan: $30
On foot

Activities:
Swayambhunath: 200 rupees ea
Boudhanath: 250 rupees ea
Patan: $10 ea
Kathmandu Durbar Square: 1,000 rupees ea
Garden of Dreams: 250 rupees ea