Days 153 to 156 - The Finale Begins in LA

Los Angeles was on fire. I drove into LA three weeks ago-- the city where Adam Watson, close friend from high school and Hollywood videographer lived, and the city of a guy's weekend before hiking "the finale", the 200-mile, world-famous John Muir Trail through the high Sierra Nevada mountains, the beautiful range of light.

A stop at Adam's house for pre-hike laundry, camper conversion and bro catch-up was preceded by a trip to The Getty. Museums make cities pretty again.

Zoli Brown, high school bud and big-tobacco-turned-public-safety law defender, arrived the next morning and Bob Massengale, high school bud and landscape-designer/artist/social-activist arrived that night. We reminisced over drinks and great food all night.

Then we went for an LA adventure best described as strangely beautiful. We hit up an LA swap meet in search a wide-brim hat for Bob for the hike. Bob found his hat while I landed some elderly-ific sunglasses and a Mexican guitarist CD for mood music.

Then on route to our next destination, the birthplace of Mr. Ed, we saw a palm tree burst into flames on the 101 highway. What?! Drought. Foreshadowing?

Then we saw this...

Mesmerized by randomness, we continued on to a giant orange grove inside the city, where we encountered a hundred frogs in a small lake and a duck under a bench. Adam took a Facebook cover-worthy selfie with the animal.

Not satisfied with such hilarious moments, the four of us continued on to the Shrine of Yogahanda, a famous guru of the self-realization institute- the guru to Steve Jobs and many others. We visited In-n-Out, the delicious west coast burger joint, and Santa Monica, the packed beachside haven of roller skaters everywhere. Blade Runner was watched and a dive bar visited. A jam-packed LA day.

We visited Venice Beach the next day and were amazed by the warm water. We rode the waves for a half hour. People buzzed around.

Then Bob and I had to leave. We did a gear check that morning- we had most everything-- but Bob's pack would be heavy. Then Bob and I drove three hours northeast to Lone Pine, California. We checked into our hotel, did a final backpack packing, and went to bed. We had to catch a 6:15am bus the next morning north to Yosemite and our 200-mile adventure. Excited but nervous, we fell asleep.

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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

After a very pleasant morning at Dave's house spent photocopying trail and scramble guide routes, enjoying a great breakfast and coffee, meeting some of Dave's extremely kind family members and chatting more about adventures, I set out for downtown Calgary. I thought a walk around a museum would be a nice change of pace, so I toured the Glenbow Museum. Two highlights were a Blackfoot Indian describing the meaning of their Tipi decorations and the Gun Scupture. The history of Alberta section was also quite interesting: fur trappers then cowboys then railroad builders then oil drillers. I then walked down to a nearby waterfront park, along a pedestrian only shopping street where a Christian pride rally was taking place, and then down quiet side streets to the park. Seeing people out jogging and playing on this Sunday afternoon reminded me of the real life I must one day return to. But not yet! Hungry and ready for mountains, I walked back to my van and left Calgary heading wes...

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