The United States of America. The country of freedom, space and the extremes. Deserts and green rolling hills, mega cities and abandoned areas, thunderstorms and sunny skies, rich and poor; everything is represented in this country. Our one-month trip showed us the beauty of the western part of the United States.
Starting from Estes Park (Colorado) we headed west towards Utah, the land of space and incredible rock formations. First stop: Arches National Park, after a cold camping night with a temperature around 0 degrees F. Amazing how the wind could shape such a landscape. You feel so small and vulnerable standing under those huge arches. Then, we headed south towards Blanding and westwards again on HWY 195, next civilization: 130 miles. This is definitely one of America’s most beautiful drives! Magnificent rock formations out of sandstones, crossed by the Green River and the Colorado River. This scenic road takes us to Hanksville, a service stop with several gas stations and motels but only 200 inhabitants, in the middle of nowhere. We continued our scenic drive to Capitol Reef National Park, a beautiful landscape existing of rock formations, washes and canyons, on the way to Bryce Canyon. Bryce Canyon is definitely one of the highlights in Utah. This amazing canyon exists of hundreds of sandstone towers and pillars, shaped by the working of water. Beautiful hikes in between those sandstone formations take you down into the Canyon. Finally after spending 5 days in Utah we reached the civilized world again: Cedar City, quite a big town, but only motels and boring. On the way to Las Vegas we stopped at Zion National Park, this is definitely one of the other highlights in Utah! This park offers splendid overviews and beautiful hikes between huge rock walls.
The landscape changed while driving to Las Vegas. We left the sandstones behind us and entered a plain, empty and dry landscape. At the border with Nevada some civilization and casinos, then 150 miles just desert. Driving at night you don’t believe your eyes, when you drive over a hill and see an oasis of light, coming out of nothing: This is Las Vegas: Casinos, neon signs and big TV screens everywhere. People walking around on the streets and spending their money. The Strip, the main street of Las Vegas, is fabulous: Volcanoes, pirate battles, even Venice and the Eiffel Tower. Beautiful for 2 days, but then we were happy to leave this noisy, crowded “fake” city behind us, up to California. The first area we explored in California was Death Valley, the lowest area in the U.S. with its deepest point at 282 ft below sea level. The climate was really hot and dry here, with almost nothing growing on the ground. Our car had a hard time getting out of this hole again (overheating!). By crossing the mountain range of the Sierra Nevada, the climate changed suddenly. On the east side still a desert area, 20 miles westwards you imagine yourself in Ireland: rolling hills, green grasses, everything just green! Next stop: Sequoia national park. Bears seem to be very active here. We even saw a bear and her cub right in front of our car! This park is famous because of its huge trees, the most famous one being the General Sherman tree, with its diameter of 11 m. Right next to Sequoia we passed Kings Canyon, the main part of the park was closed due to winter conditions, but still a nice forest. Via Fresno our trip brought us to Yosemite National Park, a park of alpine beauty and nice waterfalls, but also very commercial and touristy. However the hikes into the mountains give you a beautiful overview over the Yosemite Valley.
Starting from Estes Park (Colorado) we headed west towards Utah, the land of space and incredible rock formations. First stop: Arches National Park, after a cold camping night with a temperature around 0 degrees F. Amazing how the wind could shape such a landscape. You feel so small and vulnerable standing under those huge arches. Then, we headed south towards Blanding and westwards again on HWY 195, next civilization: 130 miles. This is definitely one of America’s most beautiful drives! Magnificent rock formations out of sandstones, crossed by the Green River and the Colorado River. This scenic road takes us to Hanksville, a service stop with several gas stations and motels but only 200 inhabitants, in the middle of nowhere. We continued our scenic drive to Capitol Reef National Park, a beautiful landscape existing of rock formations, washes and canyons, on the way to Bryce Canyon. Bryce Canyon is definitely one of the highlights in Utah. This amazing canyon exists of hundreds of sandstone towers and pillars, shaped by the working of water. Beautiful hikes in between those sandstone formations take you down into the Canyon. Finally after spending 5 days in Utah we reached the civilized world again: Cedar City, quite a big town, but only motels and boring. On the way to Las Vegas we stopped at Zion National Park, this is definitely one of the other highlights in Utah! This park offers splendid overviews and beautiful hikes between huge rock walls.
The landscape changed while driving to Las Vegas. We left the sandstones behind us and entered a plain, empty and dry landscape. At the border with Nevada some civilization and casinos, then 150 miles just desert. Driving at night you don’t believe your eyes, when you drive over a hill and see an oasis of light, coming out of nothing: This is Las Vegas: Casinos, neon signs and big TV screens everywhere. People walking around on the streets and spending their money. The Strip, the main street of Las Vegas, is fabulous: Volcanoes, pirate battles, even Venice and the Eiffel Tower. Beautiful for 2 days, but then we were happy to leave this noisy, crowded “fake” city behind us, up to California. The first area we explored in California was Death Valley, the lowest area in the U.S. with its deepest point at 282 ft below sea level. The climate was really hot and dry here, with almost nothing growing on the ground. Our car had a hard time getting out of this hole again (overheating!). By crossing the mountain range of the Sierra Nevada, the climate changed suddenly. On the east side still a desert area, 20 miles westwards you imagine yourself in Ireland: rolling hills, green grasses, everything just green! Next stop: Sequoia national park. Bears seem to be very active here. We even saw a bear and her cub right in front of our car! This park is famous because of its huge trees, the most famous one being the General Sherman tree, with its diameter of 11 m. Right next to Sequoia we passed Kings Canyon, the main part of the park was closed due to winter conditions, but still a nice forest. Via Fresno our trip brought us to Yosemite National Park, a park of alpine beauty and nice waterfalls, but also very commercial and touristy. However the hikes into the mountains give you a beautiful overview over the Yosemite Valley.
Next Issue: San Francisco, Los Angeles, Grand Canyon, Monument Valley
Dennis van der Avoort
