Day 16 - Superstition Mountains

Day 16 - Superstition Mountains - Siphon Draw

The majestic, prehistoric peaks of the Superstition Mountains, 60 miles east of Phoenix Arizona, welcomed me to this new state on Easter Sunday. After driving five hours from Joshua Tree through a scenic area of JT and then east through a valley surrounded by Smoky Mountains-Esque vistas, I arrived to my next campground at Lost Dutchman State Park. Still early afternoon and restless from the car ride, I decided to hike up the 3000 foot ascent Siphon Draw trail, to the Flatiron mountain seen in the middle of this photo.

The last mile of the hike turned from hiking into rock climbing, scurrying over boulders, making sure of your footing and looking closely for faded blue dots of rocks that marked the trail. And I mean faded like they were painted thirty years ago. At one point I lost the trail and found myself below a vertical cliff, with handholds making it possible to ascend, but clearly too difficult. I retreated left across the mountain and soon found an easier path that looked well travelled-- the trail. I made it up to the top and had this picture taken by another peak hiker.

A very fit and good looking couple came up ten minutes after me and laid out a blanket and had an Easter picnic on the flatiron top. Very adorable, I took their picture for them. I continued across another mountain down another path for a half mile and came to an incredible view of the Superstitions. This is truly an exceptionally beautiful mountain range. You expect dinosaurs to be flying over head.

With Sunset two hours away and not wanting to descend in dark, I went down. I passed several groups-- all college aged, coming up the mountain trying to make it by sunset. Adventurous but stupid if you ask me, but they continued up as I went down. I passed one more view before arriing back down, showering, watching a glorious sunset and retiring to my luxury van-bed accommodations.

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Days 89 and 90 - Waterton

I started my journey north to Canada today. My plan was to head to Waterton Lakes, just north of Glacier, then to Calgary, then the Canadian Rockies parks of Banff, Jasper, Yoho, Glacier and a few others, then to Vancouver and finally to Seattle, all over the next several weeks. But first I needed the Internet! I drove south out of Many Glacier to a place I remembered having cell reception. I did some emailing and calling back home, did some research for my Canada trip and watched the final three episodes of Game of Thrones--wow, the final two episodes were sensational. This rainy, dreary day was perfect for such activities. I then drove into Canada late in the evening and to a campground set in the cloudy mountains at Waterton. The weather cleared a bit the next day and I was able to do some hiking around this scenic alpine lakes district. Waterton Lakes district from a high hill called Bear's Hump: The chipmunks at Bear's Bump were very interested in the conten...

Day 106 - Seattle

My July 4th started with a drive from Vancover to Seattle, arriving at the Museum of Flight by 11. The museum tour began with a display of the 27 U.S. Flags, made interesting by announcing the history of the states entry into the union. This B-17 is similar to the bomber my grandfather flew in WW2. A former Air Force One plane that Kennedy road on was another highlight. I stayed all day at the museum enjoying the history of aviation exhibits and finally space! I drove into downtown Seattle to checkout the city parks reserved for fireworks watching. These neighborhoods were crawling with people and would make horrible stealth street camping sites. I called several hostels and all were full... but then I found one with one bed left. I reserved the spot and drove to the hostel to find it in walking distance to the fireworks. I joined a group waking down to see the fireworks. We were joined by a few others. Two skydivers with fire flaming behind their path were followed by...

Day 93 - Calgary to Banff

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