Part 1 of West USA

So we have already arrived at the final stage of our journey. The camper life awaited us again. Compared to New Zealand, our camper here in the USA is much smaller. But it offers everything you need for camping or living. We even have our own bathroom. Although "room" is actually the wrong word. It's more like a small closet. So anyone who claims that airplane toilets are tight has never been to our camper toilet!

But now to the actual point. Our journey started in a suburb of San Francisco. In just a few hours by car, we reached Yosemite National Park from there. In this most popular national park in the West, we enjoyed the unique landscape together with thousands of other tourists. Steep rock walls rose on both sides of the green valley. And a huge waterfall flowed down the cliff again and again. And since California has experienced unusually heavy rainfall (or snow) in recent months, the waterfalls had a lot of water. So we once again had perfect timing.

A little further south, we then visited Kings Canyon and Sequoia National Park. These two parks feature various giant trees (sequoias) as the main attraction. Compared to the huge tree trunks, humans looked like ants. Simply gigantic!

Since the national parks we have visited so far were located at elevations of over 4,000 meters above sea level, the temperatures were always pleasantly cool. But this changed abruptly when we then drove to Death Valley. The valley is below sea level and accordingly hot. The thermometer showed nearly unbearable 43 degrees. But that didn't stop us from exploring the amazingly beautiful landscapes here as well. The color diversity of the canyons was very nice... although the air conditioning in the car was admittedly even nicer!

Not quite as hot anymore, but still around 37 degrees, we then arrived in Las Vegas. After the past few days in the wilderness, we had to get used to the city that never sleeps again. Lights and sounds were everywhere. Our luxurious and huge hotel room (thanks to the free upgrade) was a real oasis for us. But we didn't go to Las Vegas just to stay in the hotel room. The Las Vegas Strip was waiting for us with its hotels, shows, and casinos. We wouldn't want to miss the two days in Las Vegas, but we were also happy to be back in nature afterwards.

For example, Zion Canyon National Park was waiting for us shortly afterwards. Here we hiked or climbed up to Angels Landing via a very adventurous trail. The path was sometimes less than 50 cm wide and on both sides, there were several hundred meters of vertical drop. Our hearts were pounding heavily, but the view at the end of the trail definitely made up for the excitement. The view of the valley and the cliffs was beautiful. Unfortunately, we were not the only ones who wanted to admire this natural wonder. Because this weekend was Memorial Day, over 28,000 visitors flocked to the park on this day! However, since we started early in the morning (the alarm clock rang at 05:00), and the park handled the crowds really well (thanks to the shuttle bus system), we hardly noticed it.

In the subsequent Bryce Canyon National Park, there was definitely less going on. The landscapes there were exceptionally beautiful. From various viewpoints, we had a fantastic view of the red, orange, pink, and white sandstone pillars. And as always, we had bright sunshine, which made everything even more beautiful.

In addition to the aforementioned national parks, we also visited various small state parks. Since we don't want to distract you from work, we will refrain from explaining them as well. You can find the self-explanatory photos in the gallery.

Our first conclusion of West USA is very positive. What is offered here is extremely diverse and different from what we have seen so far. We are curious to see what the last part of our road trip still has to offer. In any case, we are looking forward to it.