cb2md: return to sd

I started driving back to San Diego from Mount Rainier NP.  When i wake up, it was raining a lot in the morning, then i slept for few more hours. i woke up again at 8:30 still its raining but not heavy. i thought i need to pack and start return journey. So i packed everything. i packed wet tent separately, placed separately. 

My plan was to go for a hike till panaromic point at paradise before i leave Rainier NP, I drove to Paradise. i waited till visitor center opened(10AM). i waited for 30 mins. I saw the mount rainier, mountain is fully covered with thick clouds, and its raining all the time. i waited for some time to see if clouds can get clear. Waited till visitor center is opened, when i talked to park rangers about the weather, cloud and rain forecasts, i was told next whole week heavy cloud and rain is expected on mountains. As more than half of the trail is covered with either clouds or fog, Mount Rainier glaciers view cannot be visible even if i hiked. SO,i dropped hiking, left the national park.

While returning the park, i left from east entrance, steve canyon, drive really beautiful. it would have been even more beautiful if it was clean sky. When i am leaving the par, its raining little bit. I thought of going to SunRise point. its an hour and half drive from paradise. i drove more than an hour, by the time rain has picked its pouring heavily. all mountains are covered with thick clouds. then i dropped the idea of driving to Sunrise point.

One of my Ex company colleague is doing Pacific Crest Trail, 2015  thru-hike with family, their expected iternery showed they will be at whitecaps junction today, So I thought of meeting them if they are at whitepass.

I drove to Whitecaps, where their re-supply box is shipped. they had not come yet. then drove east on HWY 12 for an hour to see few scenic points. i spent couple of hours scenic drive. i did small hike at one of the falls. Then, i cam back to store, still they have not reached. then i gave up the idea of waiting for them. I decided they will not be coming today, there is no point waiting at Whitepass.

 I left a note and i started my return journey. I drove HWY 12 scenic byway all the way to Nachos.  Before Nachos, one of cop followed me for 20 mile behind me, after that i gave up and decided to take a break, give pass to cop, as it was single line. Cop passed.  I stopped there for late lunch after filling the tank. 

Then i drove towards oregon, i drove on roads from the middle of fruit groves. i fell in love with some places, fruit orchards. I did not stop to buy any fresh fruits as i am running out of day light. i want to drive till Bend at least when there is a light. I drove for 2 hours i guess then i crossed columbia river then entered Oregon. Oregon is welcomed with very clear skies. i drove till 20 miles before Bend by the time sun set happened, I decided which ever hotel i see first i will stop. I stopped at first hotel i see. i got a room there and i completing checkin process, i went near by chinese restaurant and bought togo.  I had dinner watching Mission Impossible series on HBO. After couple of hours i slept. I think it was past 1 AM i guess. 

Next morning i got by 7 AM, it took almost an hour by the time i am in car ready to start driving. When i started i don't have any plan other than drive  to San Diego.  i drove for 2 hours near to Crater lake junction. Then GPS timings if i go through crater lake, its not taking more than 45 mins extra, Then i decided to drive through from Crater Lake.

I entered Crater lake NP from north entrance. there is heavy fog at crater lake. i see nothing inside park. almost all visitors are hanging at visitor center, as they see nothing at lake rim view points.

 I also stopped at visitor center and had lunch at cafe. took nice break for almost an hour. then continued my drive. i drove rest of the why till CA border.  After driving few miles inside CA i saw a sort of  westerner festival is going on, i stopped there to enjoy their celebration games.

 They were playing a game. i watched for some time. Then i left the place. I drove rest of hwy seeing Mt Shasta for more than an hour. it was another beautiful drive. lot of time Mt Shasta  appeared straight ahead of the road. as it nears, Road passes from right then after merging to I5 it appeared left. I did not realized until i watched closely it has few small glaciers left still.  There is still at least 4 hours. I could not drive even to bay area before light goes,  So i changed the plan instead i took little detour, i drove to Lassen Volcanic NP. 

I visited Lassen almost 6-7 years back. i could not even remember much of the park landscape. i forgot except one or two moments in the park. I took subway at Shasta village, then drove to Lassen park within 2 hours. my plan was to dry out the tent too reasonably to pack properly while eating sandwich. 

I took a 45 mins break at devastated area within the park, i dried my tent on rocks.( i learnt this technic from my Pct thru-hike friends, if you dry out on rocks in day time, it dries out faster because of rock heat).  I packed and left the parking area to see lassen park mostly drive thru. I stopped at many view points But unfortunately i did not go any hike. I really liked some of the trails or hikes, especially lassen peak hike. When i drove to near south gate and when see sulphur works, i could re-collect the  my last visit. I did see sulphur works last time. seems i drove whole road. somehow i was under impression Lassen is total dead volcany But it is also has sort of active magma under national park lands. 

While driving in NP i saw a fox on in one of the meadows. its very rare to fox. it was playing on plain grassland. i spent quite a time and watched fox. Then, when i am driving from that place,

 i saw another small fox crossed the road just with 10 ft distance. it stopped for couple of mins on road then disappeared in downhill bushes. 

At the Lassen park highest point, i saw some deers, they are very comfortable eating just side to road. not bothered out vehicles on the road. And finally i spent some time at sulphur works before i leave the NP.  just before sunset i left the national park. i drove downhill and had very beautiful sunset, what a way to end the my adventurous road trip. 

I drove till Red bluff, decided to take night halt at Red Bluff.  

Next morning i woke up bit late than normal, as i have no any further plans. I wanted to just drive back to San Diego reach San Diego by evening. 

Mount Rushmore(Custer State Park)

Mount Rushmore
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I went to Mount Rushmore from Denver. it took 6 hour of driving. It showed north from Denver and then enter Nebraska south border and leave from north border to South Dakota through I80. I think within 2-3 hours from i left colorado state entered Wyoming,
There was big Road construction is going, so all I80 ramps are blocked at colorado north of Denver from I25. I travelled on I25 till 18 junction via Wyoming.  Road is straight for miles at times, then small turn, then again straight. i can see 10 miles straight some times. I drove on 80mph roads, I saw a internal road side to  HWY i was driving, its speed limit is 65mph most of CA HWYs speed.  I drove through many small villages downtowns, small crowds, they are really actively enjoying. I reached South Dakota border by around 12.
 Then set my GPS towards Wind Cave NP. As its name tells, it is cave and lot of wind will be blowing inside cave. Some times wind speed can touch 70mphs also. I thought there might be tour with specific timing. if i go early might not miss the day. I reached Wind cave by 1. there was 1:20 PM tour available. i took fairground tour. it is 1 1/2 hour tour with 450 steps inside. What i understand from park ranger description. it is the biggest cave in planet earth. still more than 3/4 part of the cave un explored fully. only  part of 1/4(explored) is open to public.  They are 6 or 7 floor inside the cave, the last two floors contains water it seems. Now few Bio Chemical engineers are doing lot of experiment with water content. After results , under water exploration might start. Still many Cave explorers are trying to find places described by the founder of Wind cave. Still many parts of description could not find. one such description, in one of the cave lot of crystal formations are made, they shines a lot it seems. still it is puzzling today cave explorer where it is in the cave.

I came out of form Wind cave Np by 3.
Then, instead of going to Badlands NP, straight. i checked in to custer state park, then i drove towards Badlands.  from Wind River NP i drove to Rapid City, then i joined i90. i drove 45 miles in i90. then i took right at wall-drug. I see lot of big poster holdings along the i90. after seeing so many posters, i got curisorty to know what is Wall-Drug? It seems #1 attraction in SD it seems. i reached Badlands Np by 5:45PM. at the gate i decided to spent only 1 hour inside the park. i stopped at almost all vista/viewpoints. keep on taking pictures mean while few pronghorns welcomed me. i stopped there for them to cross the roads. after spending more than 1:30 hours inside, i decided to drive to my campground(sylvan lake in Custer State park) it is almost more than 3 hours from middle of Badlands NP.

  while exited form south entrance instead of north entrance(in entered from north) then i drove toward west in middle of badlands.  it was my most beautiful sun set drive i ever drive. almost for more than 1 hour i enjoyed sunset. by the time it was sun is fully set, i reached Rapid City.  at the joining of the road, Cop welcomed me. followed for more than 10 mins behind me. then he left. I was lucky, until then i was driving way to fast(more than 15 miles than posted). when i entered i was behind one car, he was driving actual speed, i was forced to follow his speed. after sometime when i see behind one car is followiing, when i see carefully it was cop car. he might have followed becuause of my CA license plate.

From Rapid it took more than 45 mins to get to Custer State Park, from then it took more than 40 mins to reach Sylvan lake campground. i reached campground by 9:20. i pitched tent, prepared dinner and had dinner by 10:15 I was in my sleeping bag inside tent. i thought past about my camping experiences, my ammature activities.

Today it proved to me i am not a beginner any more. I really enjoyed myself camping in national parks. I think i am ready to explore backpacking. it is very big step, needs lot more preparation. i need to consider to do one 2-3 backpacking next year in some really nice places.  One thing i understand clearly,  to do backpacking 80% work and preparation is done even before we drive first mile. After first mile everything should be simple and easy, should not spend hours and hours for basic things like pitching tent, preparing dinners..etc. Then, it is not a back packing.

And, the camping gear also matter a lot, thats what i experienced this time, i ordered all the camping gear brand new they are very different from my old gear. these new gear are lot lighter, i got the list from one of my Cymer colleague Tim Umstead, he is doing Pacific Crust Trail with family of 4, including daughter and son, daugther is of 8 and son is of 13.  The gear they are using , the brands they are using i never heard of, they are ultra light. when i did my own R&D i understand i am doing camping wrong way.  I consider this trip as my first experimental trip to see how to it looks like and to learn some of basic bask packing skills.

Next Day, i got up very late, than my iusual timing 6Am. i brushed my teeth. had breakfast.. Started  my adventure driving towards to Mt Rishmore as my first spot. Mt Rushmore is built in Black Hills of South Dakota, one of the beautiful locations i have seen. when i see surronding hills, it seems like i am driving in th middle of golf course, it is like that the whole custer state park. i saw a mountain goat on hills near rushmore.. i watched for some time to see how it climbs vertical hills. I was puzlled when i see discovery videos. today is the first time i saw with my own naked eyes. Man, they are so good and expert at climbing. it looks so easy when goat climbs and just jumps top like monkey, 

I reached Mt Rushmore, spent more than an hour watching presidential faces on hills. went to museum to see how they are carved. and how big sculpture face is. i walked om presidential trail it for 1/2 mile i guess. i saw faces from many different angles. they are visible from surrounding hills too.  I enjoyed to talking to americans there. i helped many families to take their family pictures. when i offered help, not a single family rejected the offer. i think it is first place, everyone is so happy when i offered.

After that i decided to drive to all 3 scenic drives in Custer Satte park, i spent many hours driving scenic drives very slowly. at lunch time, i stopped at one restaurant inside park, where Wifi is available, i need to adjust and replan my next section of trip because of North Cascades wild fire, it seems most of the park is closed. it took me more than 3 hours to get a sort of plan for next 3-4 days of trip. after that 4days trip seems to continue as i planned.. once i have sorted out rest of trip, i drove rest of the scenic drives.

Custer state parks has many tunnels. it is worth mentioning when i watched tunnels crossing videos in youtube. i watched one video, one bus crossed the tunnel of size exact bus size with extra space of few inches thats it, bus driver drives so carefully and passes the tunnel. when i crossed one of the tunnel, i released indeed the same tunnel i crossed. I really recommends to all to visit custer state park. it is really beautiful. park is closed in winter. 

San Diego -> Rocky Mountains

San Diego to Rocky Mountains via Hanging lake

I started Colorado Rocky Mountains National Park trip at 2PM from San Diego after completing all lease terminations activities are taken care.  It was too hot in San Diego, when i started.


I drove on I8. whole I8 from california after Mt Laguna junction is pretty much dry. Before Arizona border I see sand dunes miles after miles. I have  not aware of this. Next, when i read solar city(where thousands of solar panels fixed and producing power). I new it is in CA But i actually saw on I8 in two places one in  CA and another one in Arizona State. Interestingly, they two panel types are not same. I think Arizona panels may produce more electricity because of more heat.

I stopped around 5:30 to fill gas and to take quick break. I stopped and opened the door. I felt San Diego is much more better in terms of heat. Those complains about San Diego temperatures need to visit Arizona at least once to experience the real heat.  In Arizona temperatures are hitting around 110. it was first time i experienced that much heat in US. When i tried to clear my car front glasses, Water was evaporating within  few seconds.  i need to clean immediately after applying soap water. Then, i drove to Saguarao National park. When i reached NP  there was little light left. i did drive through inside park and stopped one or two places to enjoy sunset. i was very beautiful.

My initial plan was to stay at Tucson, when i see the map and driving hours, i changed the plan wanted to stay within 3 hours distance range. I stopped at Globe. Driving HWY77, it is interesting HWY seems lot of hill side riding, Driving on HWY 77 in day light might even more fun.

After break fast started to petrified forest national park. Reached there by 10:40. Spent just more than an hour. Stopped at few view points. This is the first time I see petrified logs. First I confused with rock , I left there by noon. Then drove to Sand dunes np. 

Drove on hwy 40 till Albuquerque New Mexico. On the way I see lava cliffs on road side for couple of miles. I did not aware there was any old volcanic exists. I reached Albuquerque by 3, I took a short break. Had nice coffee then filled gas started towards Santa Fe then to almosa, co.  There was light rain with many thoundards with temperature more than 96 , it was strange for me. I never experienced any thing like that. When it rains temperatures used to be low, that's what I know.

Around 4 I passed sNta Fe almost till Alomsa there is light rains. By the time I reached San dunes no till one hour of day light left. So I went to Zapata falls on hills it is unsaved road. I did small hike to see falls. While coming from falls I see nice sun set.

 

I reached campground with very little light left. I pitched tent at piney campground. After I did not remember anything until next morning.

I wake up by 615, I packed everything, I am on my car by 6:30. 

 I went to dunes parking lot to catch sunrise. It spent an hour there, then started driving to black canyon np, drive is very beautiful, I drove elk scenic byway, I went to north rim of np, while coming I saw a fox crossing the road. 

First time seeing fox that close so I stopped captured few pictures. Then, I drove to glen wood springs to hike at hanging lake. It was very difficult. It is only 1.2 miles with elevation jumps to 1800 ft. It took me just less than 2 hours. Then, I drove to Rocky Mountains.

I drove on scenic byways all the way to rocky. By the time I reached gate. It was sunset. I entered np with west gate via grand lake. My campgrounds are on east side.
I drove to campground via misty clouds with 6-10ft visibility at alpine. I drove for more than 15 miles with this condition. I can clearly see a cloud comes touches my car front glass and passes,  it was like that cloud after cloud. When cloud touches for a second or two I see nothing more than 2 ft until my defroster clean little bit, so that I can at least 10ft road. It was awesome drive. I came to campground by 9:30. By 10 I am in my tent in sleeping bag.

Next day was my adventure started before sunrise. I was at alpine by sun rise to capture nice sunrise. I roamed at alpine vista points to capture nice pics, I spent till 8 on snowfields. Then, I decided to go for one nice hike. I choose granite falls it 5.2 miles one way. Initially I thought I can finish by 4 hours, but it took me just shy by 6 hours. Man, I was very out of fitness then itself I decided to drop at least 12 lbs after my trip. I enjoyed the hike. I met one though hiker doing AT. I talked to my mor than 30 mins. I asked him about thru hiker life style, he many intersteing stories. I showed me wild strawberries and heckle berries in the hike path. 

I think I was eating all the way till I reached falls and then till reaching trail head where my car parked. 

They tested really nice. At one place, I think I was more than 10mins picking huckleberries. And eating handful of berried at once. This is the first time I ate.  Near the trail head I saw moose and her cub. There park ranger was telling. about moose eating patterns, it seems moose eats 80% of one year food it eats in 180 days calendar. Rest 20 in rest of the year.  

 Then, I spent till sunset drive thru points. Before sun set , I was at my camping site. I prepared nice veg biryani. It is the first time in my camping experience I cooked Indian food while camping with very ease and in less than 10 mins. What ever I learnt about preparing camping food before I started the trip, paid off well.