29 Jun 2017

Coast to Coast

Howdy!

From Beijing we flew to Costa Rica for some relaxing days on the beach. Due to the rainy season there wasn’t much of hiking or general exploring possible and we got bored quite quickly. Moreover our camera got stolen while we were surfing at the beach. We immediately contacted a friend who works for our insurance company and within 48 hours we got our money back – Swiss efficiency at its best!

Although we had initially planned to travel through Central America, we changed our plans because of the rain season. We left Costa Rica and flew to Los Angeles. Upon arrival at the baggage claim, one of our backpacks arrived in a miserable condition. It looked like it had gone through a giant shredding machine! We’re still waiting for the refund that Delta Airlines promised us… We went to the car rental agency in order to pick up the car we had booked online. But due to a bomb threat close to the area several streets were blocked down by the LAPD, which caused a big chaos. They were running out of available cars while more and more customers were arriving and waiting for their rentals . We weren’t in a hurry, so we went to the next diner and ate some burgers with fries. The station manager was very grateful for our patience and gave us a free upgrade to a car of the premium section! Finally we got lucky!

When we got the car we replaced our stolen camera with the same model and bought a big tent, air mattress, sleeping bags, pillows, other basic camping equipment and a Road Atlas. Finally we were ready to hit the road and couldn’t wait to get out of the city. Because we already visited the States on our last journey around the world 5 years ago, we had already seen LA and its major sights anyway. As fans of the early days of Guns n’ Roses we just had to pay a quick visit to Canter’s Deli, which we hadn’t seen the last time. There we ate some delicious pastrami and homemade pickles.

From then on we basically always camped in nature, cooked food over a fireplace and washed ourselves in rivers and lakes. We tried to avoid the big interstate roads as much as possible and stayed on the small highways which led us through America’s beautiful countryside.

Our first major destination was Lake Tahoe. Because California had a record year of snowfall, there was still a lot of snow lying around. Therefore the nights in our tent got a bit chilly and most hiking trails were still closed. Nevertheless we had a lot of fun while exploring the area.

On the way to Tahoe:

Lake Tahoe:

Heading north our next stop was Butte Lake, where we took a quick dip in the water. Our campground neighbor Bill invited us for a beer and wanted to know more of our travels. When we told him about our adventures in China and that the Chinese were very friendly hosts, he immediately invited us for dinner. Later on, over BBQ chicken, he said that he couldn’t let us go home telling our friends that the Chinese took better care of us than the Americans did.

Butte Lake:

Through the scenic countryside we headed for the coast in order to visit the Redwoods National Park. Just before we got there, we camped at the Elkland campground. Obviously there were a lot of elks running around and the nearby coastline was wild, rough and beautiful.

The next morning we were woken up by midgets, nasty little mosquitoes, which were tiny enough to creep into our tent. It was time to wake up anyway, so we left the scene to see the big trees. In the park we did a short hike among these impressive wooden giants. After that we followed route 96 to Hamburg. We drove through a hilly countryside covered with purple flowers. There was hardly any traffic and driving through the little and almost empty farm towns felt like riding through no-man’s-land. When we started looking for a place to camp, we stopped at a sign which said “RV Park”, but the place rather looked like an abandoned farm. There we were greeted by Mary-Ann, a lovely lady in her early 70ies with hardly any teeth left, and here chubby little dog. She was pleased to meet us and said that there were not many visitors passing through anymore. She even offered us to stay for free. As she walked us through the property she told us about two big fires and the recent heavy snowfall that had hit the region in the past five years and which have scared her for life. We appreciated her offer, but decided to look a little further anyway, where we found a nice little spot next to the river. And the best part was that we had the place to ourselves! We took a refreshing dip in the river, made a fire and enjoyed the solitude.

Redwoods National Park:

On our way to Crater Lake National Park we camped at a secluded campground next to a small creek. A big tree that had fallen over the creek formed a natural bridge and with the sun reflecting itself in the stream, it made a peaceful and idyllic setting. The water was ice cold, but we still couldn’t resist taking a bath in it.

Crater Lake National Park proved once more that there had been a record year of snowfall. The park rangers still hadn’t finished clearing all the roads and the open ones had huge walls of snow along them. However the view of the deep blue Crater Lake surrounded by loads of snow left a great impression on us.

On our way to Oregon we camped at a very organized and tidy campground (the camphost checked the area every 15 minutes) and did a short hike to a nice waterfall. The next day we finally reached the beautifully wild and untamed Oregon coast which we followed up north for 356 miles. The coast’s beauty is protected by an old bill which limits further housing development. We took a first stop at Bandon, a cute little fishing town, where we stayed in a nice motel right at the edge of a cliff overlooking the rough coastline and offering great views of the sun setting in the Pacific Ocean. We took a long stroll along the beach and saw harbor seals relaxing on the nearby cliffs. Because Memorial Day Weekend was approaching, we tried to avoid the big crowds by camping at a State Park further up north for the two following nights. We visited the nearby sand dunes and hiked through them. We also paid a visit to Sea Lion Cave, the largest marine cave in the US, where we saw sea lions playing in the waves. Furthermore we visited an old lighthouse and arrived just in time to join a volunteer tour. At low tide we inspected the many tidepools along the coastline and took a look at the colorful sea stars, crabs and anemones.

Susan Creek Waterfall:

Bandon:

Oregon Sand Dunes:

Sea Lion Cave and Lighthouse:

Tidepools:

On Memorial Day we drove all the way to Portland. There were many Americans standing on the bridges which go over the highways, waiving their hands and American flags at the passing cars. In Portland or rather the outskirts of it, we stayed in a simple motel. We didn’t really feel like exploring the city and just drove through the center.

The next morning we reached Washington State and headed on to the Olympic Peninsula to see the Olympic National Park. Our first stop was at Quinault, where we occupied a campsite next to Quinault Lake, surrounded by tall trees. For about two to three hours we hiked through the magical rainforest around us and along the shore of the lake. The next day, early in the morning, we were woken up by thunder and lightning and for the first time it started raining while we were in our tent. Luckily it really turned out to be waterproof!

Our next stop was at Sol Duc Hot Springs. There we stayed in a little cabin next to the hot springs. Before soaking in the hot waters, we hiked through the incredibly lush and enchanting forest – a true natural beauty!

We drove to Bremerton and took a ferry to get to Seattle. Coming from the waterside, we had a nice view of the city’s skyline and arrived right in the center of the city. We got a room in a motel, from where we were able to take a public bus to get back to downtown. We really enjoyed Seattle’s Public Market, a building full with specialty shops selling mostly organic products coming from the areas surrounding the city. We also took the monorail to get a close up of the famous Space Needle.

Further north in Anacortes we had booked a boat trip through the San Juan Islands in order to see whales. The night before we camped in a State Park close by, in a small forest full of deer and squirrels. We got on the boat early in the next morning and we were very lucky! Just within minutes after leaving the port we met a group of orca whales which had just killed some kind of marine mammal and were feeding on the remains of it. We followed them for about two hours. Only a short boat ride away we then encountered a humpback whale, showing off his huge tail fin. On top of this we also saw Stellar sea lions, California sea lions, harbor seals and a couple of bald eagles in their nest. Full with happy memories we drove on towards North Cascades National Park and spent the night on a nice RV Park, whose campground host appeared to be an old and heavily smoking hippie.

Whale Watching:

RV Park:

North Cascades National Park offered great mountain views, but yet again there was still a lot of snow and not all the roads were open. We stayed overnight in Pateros where we got a campsite with a beautiful view. As the sun was setting, the sky literally started burning and turned into all sorts of colors ranging from orange to deep purple.

North Cascades National Park:

Pateros:

The next day we wanted to cover some ground and drove all the way through Idaho to Montana. We immediately noticed that this state is less densely populated than other states and fell in love with its gorgeous landscapes right away. Our campsite for the night in Big Arm was situated right at the shores of Flathead Lake. There was just enough time to take a quick dip in the water and eat dinner before we had to take shelter in our tent as a big thunderstorm passed by on the other side of the lake and brought heavy rainfall.

Our next destination was Glacier National Park. The park offered stunning views of high mountain chains alongside glacial lakes. While exploring the area we sighted a coyote which had just caught a ground squirrel and was feeding on it. We also spotted a moose mother nursing her calve right on the shore of a lake. Before heading on, we had a hearty breakfast in a locally famous restaurant, a traditional family business, which had apparently belonged to two real “Montana originals”. The staff was very nice and they were happy to give us tips for our travels to the east coast. Following a scenic stretch of the Lewis and Clarke Trail we then drove on through several nice little towns. We ended up on a simple campground not far from the road and close to Neilhart. We washed ourselves in the nearby river as there were no showers.

The following day we reached the famous Yellowstone National Park. Although we had already visited the park five years ago, we decided that we just had to see it again. As summer holidays had already started in some parts of the US it was much busier than the last time, but fortunately the weather conditions were much better so that the many hot springs and geysers looked even more magical. We saw a grizzly mother looking for food with her cub and on one morning, a group of huge bison buffalos was causing a traffic jam.

We continued on to the Grand Teton National Park with its impressive mountain views. We stayed on a campground close to the lake and rented a kayak the next morning. It was fun to explore the area from the water for a change and the views were simply stunning. While driving through the park with our car we again saw two grizzly mothers with cubs, bison buffalos and an elk.

We left Wyoming via the Flaming Gorge National Recreation Area and found a secluded campground with a small creek close to the Red Cliffs, where we saw bighorn sheep grazing in the evening sun. We had now reached the state of Utah.

Since we were already passing by, we decided to pay a quick visit to the Dinosaur National Monument the next morning, where we could look at and even touch dinosaur bones that are hundreds of millions of years old. In the afternoon we reached the colorful state of Colorado. In the evening we arrived at Willow Creek campground next to a small lake, where we spent the night.

The next morning we drove along the highest paved road in the US through the Rocky Mountains National Park. We realized that we hadn’t been this high in a relatively long time. We walked to some lookouts and saw yellow bellied marmots running around and hiding between the rocks. The weather looked like rainfall and due to the elevation the temperature had dropped, so we didn’t feel like camping. By early afternoon we stopped at Meeker Lodge to ask about their cabin rates, which turned out to be very reasonable. And the cabin was just what we were looking for! It had a kitchen and a living room with an open fireplace. Its rustic wooden design made us feel right at home. That’s why we decided to stay for three nights. We would start our days with a long hike, one time to the summit of Twin Sister Peaks (3458masl) and the other time to the Ouzel Falls. We also couldn’t resist climbing around the rocks above Lily Lake. In the afternoon we would buy groceries for dinner and marvel at the humming birds at Meeker Lodge, that were attracted by a sugar water dispenser. Our evenings, we would spend cooking and relaxing in front of a big cozy fire. It was total relaxation!

We decided to spend our last two weeks in the New England area. That meant that we had two full days of just driving ahead of us. We stayed on the interstate 70 to pass through Kansas. Around Hays we go into a huge storm. Bolts of lightning struck down to our right and left, we could even feel the shockwaves from the thunder. Just minutes later hail was coming down from all sides, it felt like the apocalypse! Our car got some obvious bumps from the incident. When we had started our journey in the morning in Colorado the windows of our car had been a little frozen. Now it was incredibly hot outside, the thermometer reached 101°F (approximately 42°C). Right before entering the city of Topeka, we got pulled over by a police officer. Probably because we stopped at a pretty inconvenient spot (we got a bit nervous) and as there was heavy traffic, he said: “Ok, I’m gonna let you run off this time, but keep it down a little, it’s 65 mph through the city!”. In the evening we reached the state of Missouri and stayed on a campground at Arrow Rock State Park after 10 hours of driving. It was a really lovely spot. As the sun was setting down, hundreds of fireflies started blinking in the twilight. And the sky started blinking too, when another thunderstorm passed by in a safe distance. Altogether it looked like Christmas lights gone crazy 😉

The next day we rushed through Illinois, Indiana and reached Ohio in the late afternoon. There we camped at the Salt Fork State Park close to Cambridge. Although it was Friday, there weren’t many other campers around. It was a nice summer evening and next to our campsite we saw two turtles enjoying the last sun beams of the day. When we had just finished eating our dinner and sat beside the fire a raccoon was sneaking around. We tried not to move and keep silent. It didn’t seem to notice us and came really close, starting to sniff around in our plastic bags. Eventually it ran off, as there was no food lying around.

We drove through Pennsylvania and reached upstate New York in the early afternoon. We found a campground right next to the Genesee River and set up our tent directly on the shores of it. After a quick swim in the refreshing water, we explored the surrounding town and came across a little shop selling handmade gifts from the Amish community. That’s when we realized that we were in Amish territory. The shopkeeper Sandy was a very nice lady, who isn’t Amish herself but knows some of them very well and does business with them. She offered us to introduce us to some of her Amish friends. We gladly accepted this opportunity and made a date with her for Monday morning, since the Amish don’t accept visitors on Sundays. The next day we drove to Bradford in Pennsylvania, home to the Zippo lighter factory and museum. There we also saw the famous repair clinic, where they fulfill their lifetime guarantee and fix every broken lighter for free. They get packages from all over the world…After that we drove all the way to the Canadian border to take a look at the impressive Niagara Falls. On the way back to Wellsville we got into a severe thunderstorm, which caused flash flooding in several streets.

The following morning we met up with Sandy and her husband Larry who drove us to several Amish families. First we visited an Amish sawmill and met a father working there with his three sons. They were surprisingly open towards us and we really enjoyed having a little chat with them. When we were about to leave, the father said:” It was nice to meet you. Next time you’re in the area, come to visit us again.” Just before we left, the oldest son proudly showed us his horse buggy as if it were a fancy new car and allowed us to take a picture in it. We weren’t allowed to take any pictures of the Amish tough as it’s against their belief. They don’t paint pictures of themselves either and don’t decorate their houses. All of them wear the same clothes and have the same haircut. Men only have beards once they get married. They are devoted Christians and their faith commands them to live without electricity or any other modern technology, although they are allowed to use phones and smartphones for doing business. They educate their children themselves, in their own schools and reach a level of education that is equivalent to our 6^th grade. Our biggest surprise was, that until the age of five, they don’t teach their children English but a mix of Dutch German and even Swiss-German. In fact we were able to talk with them in their mother tongue. From an early age they start working on the farms and learn manual work like fencing and how to build houses. On another property we saw three young brothers from the age of eight to sixteen working unattended in a saw mill. All in all we were very thankful for this experience and got the impression that the Amish are very happy and friendly people living a simple, isolated but self-sufficient life right within one of the most developed and globalized countries in the world.

On our way further east we spent one night at Verona Beach State Park right on the shores of Oneida Lake. When we were putting up our tent, the camp host warned us that a storm was coming and to better make sure our tent was properly fixed to the ground. Just when we crawled into our tent, the wind got stronger and stronger and heavy downpour came sideways. Luckily our tent was strong enough to withstand the severe weather conditions. Unfortunately our neighbors weren’t as lucky as their tent got blown away.

We spent the following three days in the Adirondack Mountains, where we camped in the middle of the nature, right next to rivers and lakes. We hiked up a small mountain offering a panoramic view of the region and rented a canoe to explore Lake George.

Lake Durant:

Lake George:

We left upstate New York and took a little ferry to cross Lake Champlain into Vermont. We instantly liked this state as there were no more huge billboard signs along the road (those are banned within the state of Vermont), the scenery consists of green hills and little villages with rural charm and the people seem to focus on organic and regional products. Our first night we camped at Townshend State Park and had a nice swim in the nearby river. We treated ourselves to a delicious dinner at the Williamsville Eatery. The next morning we drove further north to Vermont’s capitol Montpelier, a charming small town with authentic and creative shops. A guy working in a record shop recomended us to stay at the Onion Creek campground and to taste a maple creemee (maple flavoured soft ice) at a nearby hardware store as it supposedly is “a very Vermont thing to do”. We followed both his recommendations and regreted neither one. On Sunday we drove to Burlington, Vermont’s biggest city. It sits directly next to Lake Champlain, has a cozy waterfront and a very charming shopping district mostly consisting of small locally owned businesses that focus on selling good quality products.

Finally we got to Stowe, a well known region for skiing, where we met up with R.J. and Olivia. We got to know them last summer when we were on a four days hiking trip in the Swiss alps. They had just got married and were on their honeymoon in Switzerland (how cool is that?!). We got along very well right from the start and had a great time together. Now we finally made it to their home in Vermont, where we could stay for four days.
We did a great hike to Mount Mainsfield, the highest point in Vermont, which offered stunning views of the White Mountains to the east and the Adirondacks to the west. In the evening we had a lovely dinner when with Olivia’s parents who came to their house. We made a big buffet of food consisting of salades, corn, roasted and grilled chicken aswell as grilled vegetables. For dessert Olivia’s parents brought shortbread which we ate with strawberries, mangos and whipped cream. It was a delicious feast.
On the following day R.J. showed us a nice little hike to the Taylor lodge where visited a nearby cave. We had some great views and were surprised by a short downpour which matched the atmosphere of the lush forest. On the last day in Vermont we went to visit the Cold Hollow Cider Mill and spent a last cozy evening togheter with R.J. and Olivia. It was the perfect way to end our roadtrip form coast to coast.

Stowe: