Las Vegas to Sequioa National Park

From Sedona it was a big one-day drive to Boulder City, just east of Las Vegas. It was HOT with a max of 40C and a predicted minimum of 29C. As there was a casino offering rooms for $40 and a full buffet for $3.50 we wimped it and got a room for the first time. The room was average, the roast turkey excellent and the smoke-as-much-as-you-can (well, at least it seemed like that) casino section, smelly and depressing. The craziest thing was horizontal slot machines set into the bar thereby allowing smoking, drinking and gambling at the same time – the next step in convenience just has to be catheters. And you think I’m joking.

We paid a quick visit to the Hoover Dam – an engineering marvel but one that managed to stuff up a great river and a great canyon at the same time. On the freeway out, we got within about 5 km of the famous Vegas Strip, which was plenty close enough.

Death Valley was also hot (45C surprise, surprise) so we stopped for a couple of photo opportunities including the lowest point in the US (-282 ft) and watched the temp gauge very carefully on the 10 km/5000 ft climb out of the valley. On the drive out the are 5 roadside stops with water for overheated cars…

The Mitsubishi kept going so so did we, to Lone Pine near Mt Whitney in the Sierra Nevada’s, which is the highest point in the lower 48 states (14494 ft). The hike to the top is 36 km, either a very long daywalk(!!!) or an overnighter. We were lucky enough to get an overnight pass (someone cancelled as the hike is booked out a year in advance!!) and headed off for a very scenic 10 km hike with a climb from 8500 ft to 12000 ft to camp at Consultation Lake. This was our highest camp ever, but despite being halfways acclimatized, we spent a cold (-3C), windy and seriously sleepless night. The next morning our resting heartrate was +90 bpm instead of the usual 60-ish. In conjunction with Jen having a bad headache and predicted max temps on the summit of 2C and 60 kmh winds, we decided discretion was the better part of valour and retreated. We were back in the caravan park by lunch feeling fine and healthy due to thick air and temps of 25C. We are still constantly amazed at what a bit of altitude does to both the weather and the body.

It was then a 600 km journey south, east and north to Sequoia National Park, to end up only about 75 km the other side of Mt Whitney. During the drive we passed through (one of) the fruit bowls of California and what a dirty and depressing place that was – hundreds of square miles of orchards tended by seemingly-poor Mexicans with the desolation broken only by the occasional, contrastingly-palatial farm mansion. Just another form of slavery!
Winter arrived on September 19 at Sequoia NP at least, with a cold front coming down from the north. Rain, fog and 2C. The trees are the biggest volume-wise in the world, although not the tallest. We had a bonus when able to watch mum with 3 black bear cubs for about 15 minutes. Next, Yosemite.