Sightseeing in California

After endless days in the sagebrush desert of Nevada I was culturally deprived and really looking forward to do some serious sightseeing now. And there was a lot to see in California.

Sacramento is the capitol of California and therefore I took a nice free tour of the capitol building and visited the California Museum including the California Hall of Fame. This hall of fame really surprised me: Many countries have halls of fame (comparable to Germany's rather old-fashioned Walhalla), but whereas in Germany we would honor writers like Goethe and Schiller the California Hall of Fame only honored Danielle Steele! No other writers or philosophers, but loads of actors like Jane Fonda and Clint Eastwood and a whole bunch of athletes nobody has ever heard of outside the US. At least they honored Harvey Milk.... Poor California!

Message board in Berkeley

When I did my first trip into downtown San Francisco I was pleasantly surprised to stumble across the annual San Francisco Gay Pride! After several years of Christopher Street Day in Berlin it was nice to compare. To my even bigger surprise I saw quite a few totally naked men at the parade (generally on roller blades) and the police did not try to arrest them for public indecency! Try that in Nevada.... Lots of colorful costumes, but much more commercialised than its Berlin counter part. Every California business seemed to participate in the parade from BMW San Francisco to Google! I spent a whole afternoon people watching and I guess lots of the participants ended up with a horrible sun burn the other day due to exposing white flesh to the sun....

Staying with a couchsurfing host in Berkeley made me tour the college there. There is not really that much to see, but the tour guide's explanations where quite enlightening. I learnt that it costs 30,000 $ per year to study at Berkeley, plus 19,000 $ on top of that if you are a foreigner. And Berkeley is even considered a cheap college! Who can afford that? No wonder that American educational level is so bad.

I also saw a whole bunch of art museums. And I thoroughly hated the hills - some of them are so steep that I hardly dared to ride my bike downhill...

LACMA museum in LA

In LA I did not have much nerve left for sightseeing. I was getting antsy to leave the US. Nevertheless I saw 2 art museums again and was shocked to realise that it took me longer to get to these places than to actually see them. LA is so huge that even with taking public transport and living relatively central it took me up to 2 hours to get anywhere. Not much fun! Interestingly, LA was in some sort of Richard Wagner fever. The LA Opera had just staged the whole "Ring der Nibelungen" and therefore there were Wagner exhibitions all over the place.

I have to admit that I was sort of happy to leave the US. My cycling experience in the US has not been the greatest and the news of Dave's death really shook me. I have spent 24 months in the US in the last 6 years and I have probably had an American overdose. The decline of the EUR/$ exchange rate did the rest. So now: Australia, here I come!

Couchsurfing in California

Warmshowers hosts in Nevada

One of the biggest positive surprises of the trip are my experiences with couchsurfing (www.couchsurfing.com) and warmshowers (www.warmshowers.org) which is sort of couchsurfing for cyclists only. When I had first heard about couchsurfing I had been very skeptical - I did not want to stay with some random 20 somethings in a shared flat having parties all night long. John had done a lot of couchsurfing and was really enthusiastic about it, so once I arrived in California I started to couchsurf in earnest.

white rabbit doggie doo doo can

My first host in California was Monte in Sacramento. On his profile he called himself "a bureaucrat - but a good one". I just loved that description. (I learned later that he is actually more of a social worker, but anyway...)  I became a bit worried when he sent me directions talking about a "white rabbit doggie doo doo can" in front of his house... What the heck is that? Turned out to be totally innocent, but all you Germans can take a guess now what that could be. Monte mentioned that there is a very convenient train from Sacramento to San Francisco and it did not take him much convincing to stay another day with him to attend a friend's party and take the train instead of cycling there.

Next was a professor for English Literature and Women's Studies in Berkeley. Hey, as an old feminist I just had to see her. She had warned me on the phone that there are some steep hills to manage, but I did not take that very seriously. Big mistake! I had to do an elevation gain of about 1,000 feet in 2 miles to get to her house and arrived totally soaked in sweat. I looked so miserable that a woman in the neighbourhood even offered me a ride up that hill... I ended up in long conversations about the most famous American writer and 5 paperbacks to read on my upcoming flights.

Mountain-wise I had better luck with my next host in Oakland - almost flat riding there. He had done extensive couchsurfing himself on a trip to Europe and knew exactly what couchsurfers need. He even offered my his own bed room and slept on the couch himself. And he took me to a vegetarian Mexican restaurant and a great cake place for the desert where my piece of chocolate cake was so big that even I could not finish it.

From his place it was only a 5 minute bike ride to my next host in Oakland - there were so many interesting hosts in the San Francisco area that I ended up staying with 3 different hosts. Kevin is working as an organiser for the American labour movement. I openly admitted what I had worked as before in my request and he still took me in! I learnt a lot about working conditions and the legal situation in the US there. I had a very interesting, but not the quietest stay there: Kevin is living with his 3 year old very lively daughter and his wife right next to a bus route and freeway and on top of that his mother was visiting as well. We all got along well and even the little daughter talked to me after I had bribed her with some Ben&Jerry's ice cream.

I finished my stay in the US with Dale in Los Angeles. He has retired from Hollywood film industry and is a photographer now. But best of all he is a wonderful cook. He made me barbecued chicken in an original Japanese grill and treated me with the best ice cream I had ever had: Thai ice cream made with basil and lemon grass. Sounds weird, but tastes incredibly good. If I could only make that on a camping stove.... His brother helped me fix my bike and on July 5th Dale drove a very nervous Christine to LAX airport for her flight out of the US.

By the way: I am in Sydney now staying again with a couchsurfing host....

Cycling in the US - my personal conclusion

I made it safely to California and after having climbed three vaults every day in Nevada the 4,000 ft elevation gain to get over the Sierra at Carson Pass was almost a piece of cake. And then in California there were trees! Real big trees! With shade! And they were everywhere! No more sagebrush, hurray!!!! And I had a nice cycling finale on the American River Bike trail getting into Sacramento with great river views and a fantastic car-free bike path. But now I will stop cycling in the US and take the train to San Francisco.

On a long trip like this not every leg can be fantastic and so it will not come as a total surprise that these last 5 weeks of cycling have not exactly been the highlight of my trip. My personal conclusion is that the US is not the greatest country for cycling. I have cycled several months each over Europe, Australia, NZ, Japan and Korea and each country has been better for cycling than the US. Why? Let me explain my evaluation:

On this bike trip in the US I faced two situations:

Sign on Hwy 50

1. You are on a lonely road through a lonely area (like Highway 50). The good thing is that there is hardly any traffic and lots of public land for free camping. The bad news is that services (and especially water!) are very few and far between. So every day you have to cycle 70 - 80 miles to get to water. That is very doable, but the big problem is that you cannot plan your distances due to weather, especially the wind. I admit that I had very bad luck with the wind and all the locals told me that this is a very unusual year. Still that did not help me with the head wind.... So generally the problem is that you are very often totally exposed to the elements and have to deal with whatever they throw at you: heat waves, snow storms or head winds. I no other country I have felt so helplessly exposed than here.

2. You are in a more populated area with busier roads (like California): The traffic is really bad here, basically because the average American driver is not used to cyclists and has no clue what they are doing. Nobody looks over their shoulder when doing a turn to look out for cyclists. People do not know the dimensions of their vehicles when they pass you on a narrow road. Especially dangerous are seniors in their oversized American RV's pulling their car behind them and double-trailer mining truck who pass you at 70 mile per hour. Most young drivers think it is fun to honk or yell obscenities at you while they pass you. Also the camping situation gets really bad once you are out of public land. Everything is fenced in with hundreds of "No trespassing" signs making camping a real problem.

I have experienced bad traffic in other countries as well but I have always felt that it is "worth" it - like in Japan where I cycled from temple to castle and even the little villages where fascinating. Here there was not really much to "see" en route. The scenery in the Great Basin was fascinating, but did not change for days... and the towns were pretty desolate. In Europe or Japan there were all these nice little stops to check out a church or interesting building - but here there was only sagebrush and fast food restaurants....(Ok, I might be exaggerating a bit here....Salt Lake City has definitely been a highlight.) Also, as I have written in an earlier post the combination between cycling and hiking did not work out very well either.

Bottom line for me: The cycling here has not been a total desaster, but it has not been a highlight either. My original plan was to come back to the US after half a year of Australia and cycle across the country on the ACA Southern tier. I don't think I will pursue that plan any more now. First of all the Euro has weakened so much that the US are not a cheap country for me any more and second I think that I am better off cycling in other countries. At some point in a sand storm in Nevada I was about to send my bike home and give up cycling altogether but I will give it another try in Australia - but this time I have checked the prevailing wind direction before hand. So cross your fingers for me....

But before I start my next outdoor adventure in Australia I hope to spend some leisurely days in San Francisco, Los Angeles and Sydney.

Highway 50 and the wind

After leaving Salt Lake City I was working my way down to Highway 50 and the Adventure Cycling Western Express Route. Highway 50 has been called the loneliest Highway in the US and is a major bike route in the US. I was really looking forward to it and meeting other cyclists.

Alas, the weather was not my friend again! I had been warned about this stretch a lot. You cross whole Nevada and the Great Basin on it with no water except in towns and towns being more than 80 miles apart. Temperatures can rise up to 100 degrees Fahrenheit in summer and there is no shade whatsoever.

But the weather decided to be unusual - El Nino style. It rained for the first few days!!!! And that meant it was cold. And it also meant that I had to do 1,000 meter elevation gains every day in my rain gear. All the cyclists will know what that means: You are sweating inside your raingear and eventually you are soaking wet from inside. So when you sit down and have a rest you start freezing.... It was miserable! The ascents took forever and I was wet and cold. I had to take breaks inside the drainage tubes under the highway to stay out of the wind and rain.

The rain stopped eventually, but then the wind came up. My maps had warned me that the prevailing winds are from the west (and I was going west), but they would be very light only. Not this year, though!!! Almost every day I had a head wind with gusts up to 50 miles per hour. That means that you are faster walking than cycling.... During these gusts I had to get off my bike to avoid being blown away! I had to stop cycling at 3 pm because the wind got so strong then. It was frustrating....

And because I was cycling in the desert, there was no shelter from the wind for camping. One particularly bad day I had to set up camp at 3 pm behind some lonely juniper trees. At 6 pm the wind got so bad that my tent collapsed (the tent stakes had come out) and I was in the middle of a sand storm covering everything with fine dust. That night I was in tears for the first time on this trip.... I had to cylce more than 60 miles the next day to get to the next town and water, but could I make that in that wind? I got up at 3.30 am in the morning and started cycling before sun rise to beat the wind. When I was approaching the next town around noon it started snowing on the last pass.... I am not kidding you: snowing and howling winds. I nearly had to push my bike downhill... but I made it!!!!

Same thing happened two days after that: Headwinds with 50 miles per hour and a collapsed tent. I am fed up with it now!!!!! I am at the point where I am thinking of giving up on cycling for the rest of this trip. This wind is draining so much energy from me and is no fun at all. Also the geography has not been very helpful either: The Great Basin consists of an endless succession of basins (flat and wind from the front) and vaults (300 to 1,000 meter elevation gain about 2 times a day) - and I had to day about 80 miles in that every day!

Luckily I am almost out of the Great Basin and Nevada: I still have to go over the High Sierra (I am not looking forward to that elevation gain!), but then I am in California and hopefully then the wind patterns will change. Maybe there is such a thing as a tail wind?

The Mormon experience

After having met 2 really nice and helpful Mormons (John, my fellow AZT hiker and the ladies who rescued me after my bike break-down) I was now really curious to learn everything about the Mormons.
I moved to my next couchsurfing host Sue (who has been a Mormon decades ago) and spent the next whole 3 days on Temple Square (which is the Mormon equivalent to Vatican City in Salt Lake City). There was a lot to do! But for all of you who are afraid (or might hope for): I did not convert to Mormonism!

Attractions and tours: There really is a lot to see. First of all there is the Tabernacle (the old Mormon meeting hall) where you can hear an organ concert. Then there is the new conference center that can host 21,000 people and offers a free organ recital as well. (It was kind of weird to hear the organ concert with just 5 other people in such a huge auditorium - and probably frustrating for the organist.) There is the Mormon Museum and the Beehive House (where the Mormon leader Brigham Young lived with several of his wives). I visited the Geneology Research Center (with free internet, hurray!) and took a tour of the gardens. But most impressive was my tour to the Humanitarian Society and the Welfare Square - both Mormon relief organizations. And as a former efficiency expert I was really impressed to see how well organized all these organizations were and how smoothly the tours were run. I did not know that the Mormons have special farms that only grow food for these humanitarian organizations. And what a coincidence: Back when I was hiking the Florida Trail, there was a huge road walk around Deseret Ranch - which is one of these Mormon farms! By the way: The Temple is like all Mormon Temples only open to Mormons with recommendation from their bishop.

Movies: I was surprised about the amount of movies you could see - for free of course (all attractions, tours and movies are free at Temple Square). And no expense was saved making those movies. I saw one about the life of Joseph Smith and one about the Mormons exodus to Utah (called "Legacy"). And there were documentary movies at the humanitarian center. It surprised me to see that there were boxes with tissues on every row - I mean, this is not a porn theatre! But after the movies almost everybody is sobbing with tears (including me!) and then it dawned on me what the tissues are for! The movies are made very touching and emotional, although a bit tacky...

Missionaries: I guess we have all seen them before: Well-dressed, polite Mormon missionaries, always in pairs. Usually it is two young men, but on Temple Square there are only young women wearing ballerina shoes, skirts way below the knees and blouses with sleeves. They all carry the Book of Mormon with them - always. And they tried to answer all my questions - and I had a lot from birth control (yes, allowed) over divorce (difficult, but possibly) to homosexuality (not allowed to practice). They come from all over the world (I had tour guides from Switzerland, Scotland, Tonga and Paraguay), are incredibly friendly (my guidebooks says they can "nice you out") and to my big surprise they have to pay to become a missionary: 400 US$ per month for everyone, no matter what country they are working in - the Church levels it out among all missionaries. They cannot chose which country they are sent to - the Church assigns that and prepares them with intensive language courses. The Mormon religion is the fastest growing religion in the World: Right now the Church has more than 11 million members - no wonder with all that missionaries.

It was a fantastic coincidence that only a couple of days later I found Jon Krakauer's book about Mormons and their fundamentalist split-off sects ("Under the banner of heaven") in the used book section of a library. It was so interesting to compare what I had seen and heard on Temple Square with the historic background in the book. Polygamy is not mentioned with a single word in the monuments and museums on Temple Square, although is was practised by Mormons until 1890 and was the major reason for their prosecution. I had asked a missionary about polygamy and he explained to me that back then all the widows had to be looked after economically..... Krakauer states that most of the multiple wives were teenagers when married - go figure yourself.

Another interesting fact is that Joseph Smith, the Churches founder, had been running for the American presidency and that the Mormons had quite a strong militia - after being prosecuted and forced into exodus various times. That explains why Mormons are allowed to serve military service.

Bottom line for me: I found the Mormon religion extremely fascinating and colorful and the Mormons I have met were all incredibly friendly and helpful! And I learnt a lot - about the good AND the bad....and the discrepancies in the self-presentation of the Mormons and the historical background.

Salt Lake City

Mormon dug out

After all those National Parks I was really looking forward to some city experience again - and SLC did not dissappoint me. It had been a good idea to cycle on Hwy 89, the Mormon Pioneer Highway. First of all it was pretty flat and second there were a lot of nice little museums and historical markers on the way.
I was deliberating whether to cycle into SLC or take public transport from Provo, but after a horrifying road experience (due to construction work the road had been narrowed down to just 2 small lanes with no shoulder but lots of truck traffic) short of Provo I decided to take a bus.
Good decision! The bus driver turned out to be a cyclist as well (he had 4 bicycles) and talked to me the whole way (one hour). I learnt everything about healthy nutrition (the guy seemed to live on amaranth and cous-cous only) and open cell foam (new light weight fabric). I still wonder how he would survive on a 5 months long hike without eating any sugar (bad for you) and only amaranth or other grains, but he was a very dedicated health nut. On top of all that a passenger took pity on me and give me a free can opener! (My little pocket knife does not have one and due to weight reasons I had left my big army knife at home). Seems that I always make friends on American public transportation.
My bike survived the transport on the front bike rack of the bus although I could hardly watch it swaying back and forth there. The bus driver assured me that no bike has ever fallen off though!

Mormon church

I finally made it into SLC to meet my first warmshowers hosts! Unfortunately, they lived 3 miles uphill. Fortunately, they lived only 1 km away from REI and this is were I spent my first day in SLC, replacing all the old hiking stuff ripped and torn on the AZT. Well, and I made a long stop at a book store to look at travel guides and make plans for the next months. I stayed with them for 2 nights and thoroughly enjoyed it. They were cyclists as well and one of their sons was even a bike mechanic (but luckily I did not have to resort to his help....)
But I still had not seen anything of downtown SLC! But then I moved to a couchsufing host and started my Mormon experience!

I will be a TV star..... in Canada!

I in cyling outfit in Zion

It all started in Torrey, UT at the Chuckwaggon General Store. I was sitting on the front porch, happily eating banana cream pie and having my about 500th discussion about socialized health care. (Once people find out that I am from Germany, a country with socialized health care, this is their favorite topic. In this case, the couple I was talking to was against it: "We do not want socialism.....", but most Americans I have talked to were in favor of it. But anyways.....)
Suddenly two cyclists in a colorful racing outfit showed up. They looked way too clean and smelled far too nice to be REAL cyclists, but cyclist is cyclist and so we started a conversation. Turned out they were from Montreal and touring with a film team! Later they confided in me that most of the time they were not cycling at all, but filming... They admired my bike (but called it a "tank") and came up with the great idea to incorporate me into their show. They were filming for a TV cycling and traveling series called "L'Amerique a velo" and showed landscape and tourist attraction en route of their presumed "cycling trip". (Most of the time they were riding in their camera team's truck. They were only cycling when they were filmed...) All this sounds pretty bad, but the two cyclists, the main stars so to speak, were really nice guys. One even owns a bike shop in Montreal and sponsors the show.
So eventually I was given ice cream to look realistic (hey, that means I got paid for the shooting) and was filmed meeting the two guys, talking to them and actually cycling with them. Cycling around small town Torrey with a film crew in a truck ahead of you filming out of their truck generated a lot of attention and eventually even the sheriff showed up!
Despite the fact that the "2 Canadian racing cyclists meet a German woman on a tank" scene had to be shot at least 5 times (and my ice cream was melting) the whole thing was great fun and I did not fall off my bike cycling between two racing bikes behind a truck.
So now you can admire me on Canadian TV!!!!!

My National Park Top Ten

My plan had been to cycle around the Southwest USA doing the "Grand Circle" through the National Parks there and do some hiking in them. This plan has only partially been successful. Why?

First of all, there is not really that much hiking to do in these parks. Most of the hikes are day hikes and if there are longer hikes, they require expensive shuttle services to or from the trail head. I do not mind paying for shuttles, but after hiking for so long it does not make sense to me to pay between 50$ and 100$ for a shuttle for a 2 day hike.

My bike in Capitol Reef NP

Second, there is the problem with what to do with the bike and the panniers while I am hiking. I have written about my experiences in my last post and bottomline is: The US NPS does not cater or care much for cyclists. You are pretty much on you own. Although it would probably be ok to leave the locked bike with the panniers on at the trail head, I personally did not feel very comfortable with it. These are my only worldly belongings right now and if something gets stolen it would be a desaster.

Cycling the Grand Circle has been quite nice, though. There was not much traffic on the roads, the route between the parks is very scenic and camping was very easy due to lots of public land. But the cycling has also been very demanding. 1,000 meter elevation gain every day and strong head winds let my daily mileage go down to 50 - 60 km only...

But here are my favourites (and non-favourites):

Grand Canyon was definitely the highlight of my Arizona Trail experience. You really have to hike down into the canyon and up again to get the real experience. There are a lot of other hikers and the whole permit procedure is a pain in the butt, but it is all worth it. In all the hiking I have done this was one of the most spectacular experiences. And because I was on the AZT, I did not have to pay for a shuttle - I just hiked on...

Capitol Reef NP

Number two is shared between Bryce Canyon and Capitol Reef. Both are extremely unique and you do not find something like it anywhere else. Bryce wins the prize for the friendliest rangers and actually had one overnight hike (Under-the-rim-Trail) that is accessible via free shuttle service. And it is very beautiful as well. You can even connect it with some other hikes and make it a 2-3 day experience. But that is it then - not much long-distance hiking in Bryce. There is even less hiking in Capitol Reef, but the park itself is incredible impressive. Just like you have seen in all these Western movies on TV. Cycling back and forth on the Scenic Drive was nice and gave me a great overview. Don't miss Capitol Reef, despite what your guide book might say elsewise.

Less recommended is Zion. This is not only due to my bad experiences with the rangers there (that is just personal bad luck), but mostly because it is most similar to what I know from  Europe. It is very beautiful, but not as unique as the above mentioned parks. Also it is almost as overrun as Grand Canyon, the permit situation is horrible and everything is outrageously expensive.

Kodachrome

You can absolutely forget about Petrified Forest and Anasazi State Park - not worth even only 3$ entrance fee. Nothing to see at Petriefieed Forest and the exhibition at Anasazi is just boring. But there is one more hidden gem: Kodachrome State Park (which is actually really named after a Kodak camera film...). It is not as spectacular as the other parks, but very nice and pleasant - and so relaxing after being overrun by thousands of fellow tourists. Even cycling it was worth the 20 mile detour!!!!

I am now canyoned out and on the Mormon Trail. I have one month left on my visa and will cycle towards the West Coast with my next stop in Salt Lake City. Let the wind be in my back!!!!

Zion vs. Bryce

I ended up staying 3 nights in the fabulous Sun 'n Sands Motel in Kanab. I tried to leave every morning, but there was another hazardous wind warning. I could see the trees whipping around from my window and was not happy. But having 2 rest days was so nice!!!!
On day 1 I got my bike repaired and saw whatever is to see in Kanab. On day 2 I did nothing, absolutely nothing except eating and reading. Wonderful!!!!

Zion NP

Well rested I started out to got to Zion NP. I had already seen both NP, Zion and Bryce in 2007 with my friend Maik. But then we were in a car and just got an overview - now I wanted to see the parks in depth and do some hiking as well.
My adventure in Zion did not start well. You have to go through a narrow tunnel to get to the park and bicycles are not allowed in it. I asked the rangers at the entrance station about it and got more or less the following answer: "We can't help you there. Try to get a lift with a pick-up truck, but don't ask us for help. This is all your responsibility. We are just here to take your money...." Well, the hitch turned out to be very easy. When RV's go through the tunnel oncoming traffic has to wait till they are through and in that time you can easily ask for a ride. It took me 2 minutes and just one person to get my lift in (and later out of) the park.

Zion NP

Down in the park things did not get better. All backcountry camping permits were gone and would have cost 10$ each - which is a lot considering that I have camped free for the last 4 months. The rangers were also extremely unhelpful when it came another problem: Where do I store my panniers and my bike while hiking? The answer was similar to the earlier one: "We can't help you there. It is all your responsibility. We are just here to take your money...."

I did not feel very encouraged and gave up on the idea of hiking overnight in Zion NP. But I did find a nice free camp site just out of the NP. Next day I did some shorter hikes like the famous Angel's Landing where people were stepping onto each other's toes. After one day I was fed up with Zion. The rangers were very unhelpful, the park was crowded and everything was expensive. And so I left after another night at my free stealth camp site and cycled to Bryce Canyon.
It was just my luck that the wind came up and there were gusts with more than 40 mph again. I seem to attract horrible weather...

Bryce Canyon NP

But what a different experience at Bryce. The rangers were really friendly and suggested overnight hikes for the next 2 windy days. The backcountry camping permit for 2 nights was just 5$ (as opposed to 20$ in Zion) and best of all: The rangers even offered to store my stuff for me!!!! I had been so discouraged after my Zion experience that I hardly dared to ask. But the young ranger I was talking to was very understanding and disappeared to find out what to do with her superiors. I was asked to step into a side room and was given the following speech: "There are 2 answers to your question: Theoretically, we cannot store your stuff because it might contain a bomb or something could get stolen and then the NPS would be liable. So the official answer to your request is no. But on the other side we sometimes have to be flexible and bend the rules a bit... So, just leave your stuff here and I will store it in my own office." This ranger restored my faith in the NPS! I left my stuff and locked my bike in the employees parking area and went for a hike!!!

Bryce Canyon NP

And I had a great hike! There were thousands of people in the park, but out in the backcountry there was hardly anyone. I had great views and a fantastic hike! And I was so happy not to have to cycle in that wind! I retrieved my stuff after 2 nights (without any problem) and cycled on to Kodachrome State Park. Again the rangers were super friendly. The camp ground was full, but I was directed to BLM land where I was allowed to camp. Next on the list was Capitol Reef NP. I had not seen that before and was really impressed with it. Backcountry camping permits were even free here!

But now I have to say that I am sort of canyoned out! I need some civilisation again. So now I am cycling the Mormon Heritage Trail up to Salt Lake City. Life is good again, but it would be even better if I had no wind (or have it in the back....)

Cycling day 1 or my good samaritian

Page turned out to be a very expensive place. The cheapest hotel was Motel 6 with 70$ per night - no hostel or couchsurfing hosts. I had wanted to have a thorough rest there, but it was just too expensive. And I did not want to start cycling either....The weather forecast did not really help either: Hazardous wind warning for the next 2 days and of, course it would be a head wing for me. Not a good start for a cycling trip. John, my former cycling partner called me and eventually managed to cheer me up a bit. Hey, I had been cycling for 7 months with him and really enjoyed it, so why wouldn't I like it now? So eventually I repacked my gear from hiking mode into cycling mode and left Page yesterday noon.

Zion NP

The wind was bad, really bad. I was cycling at 7 km/h (normal is something around 15 km/h) and the wind was scary. There was no shelter whatsoever on the mesa and the wind gusts nearly blew me off my bike, especially when big semi-trucks were passing. I was getting worried about camping, too. With 2 hours of daylight left I became worried with another problem: There was a discomforting sound coming from my bike! First I thought it is the bottom bracket again, but when I stopped to check it out I had to realize that one of the pedals had come off! The metal cone was still standing out, but I could pull off the pedal. All the bearings had gone, too. I had no clue how to fix that and wondered whether I could risk cycling on with it. It would probably work for some more miles, but the wind AND a broken pedal was a bit much.

At this moment of distress a pick-up truck stopped beside me. A very nice lady, Cyndie asked whether I needed help. First I thought I could cycle on and told her I am ok, but she came out nevertheless. "I am here with my mother and my daughter, so don't worry, I am not a dangerous person.", she said. They were going to Kanab where I was going, too and considering the wind and the bike problem I thought it might be a good idea to accept their offer. We loaded my bike onto their pick-up truck and off we went to Kanab. The 1 hour drive was extremely interesting. I learned a lot about the Mormon religion and life. Interestingly, one of my fellow hikers on the AZT (John, the Gentleman hiker) is Mormon as well and had given me the Book of Mormon as reading material. I must say that from my personal experience Mormons are extremely friendly and helpful people.

Ancient rock art

Cyndie not only drove me and my bike to Kanab, she also spotted a bike shop in town and would not leave me before I had found a hotel. And the latter task turned out to be very difficult on a Friday night: We stopped at about 7 place and they were all full. Eventually I found a room at a very funky and cheap motel with a Sikh owner who could double as a TV entertainer if he had his teeth done first. I was very sad to see my good samaritians leave. I felt like I had made some good friends in just one hour and wish them all the best. When Cyndie left, she said: "I will see you in heaven.." I don't know whether I will go there, but I am pretty sure she will go.

Next morning my good luck continued: After a hearty breakfast in the totally messy motel office including a free nose harmonium concert by one of the other guests (as I have mentioned before: The motel and its guests are sort of colorful) I went to the bike shop and even found it open.  They had new pedals for me and within  10 minutes my bike problem was completely solved! I was very relieved.

Still I decided to stay another day in Kanab. It is going to be even windier today than yesterday and I need some rest after all this hiking. Also my funky motel is only 40$ - so if you are looking for a cheap and colorful place in Kanab: Sun 'n Sand Motel!

AZT gear recommendations

I was very much surprised how could the AZT was: So bring warm clothes!!!! Bring a balaclava, warm long underwear and even gloves. Do not bring new clothes as the AZT will "kill" them. You will need a sleeping bag with a rating of at least 20F. I had at least 10 nights below freezing.

I used my Tarptent Contrail and like on the FT, this was not the ideal tent. In the desert it was so difficult to get the tent stakes in. Very often you have to camp in exposed areas with a lot of wind. Ideally, I would have had a freestanding tent.

You will need a lot of water capacity. I carried up to 7 liters!!!! Bring enough containers and lots of purifier, as some water can be pretty nasty.

And again: Bring a GPS! It is great for your peace of mind....Use the water report, data book, town guide and the GPS waypoints provided on the ATA website. If you know Li, contact him to get his maps as they are 10 times better than the ATA maps or the guidebook.

I bought a National Park pass for Saguaro and Grand Canyon NP, but nobody checked it...

But most importantly: Bring a lot of physical and mental endurance for all this overgrown stuff...

AZT conclusion

So what is my verdict now on the AZT?

First of all, I really enjoyed the hike. And these are the pros for the AZT:

It is very pretty and often even spectacular. There was no roadwalks (except on detours because of too much snow), most of it is on single trail and you can camp almost anywhere without having to worry about traffic and its noises. This is a real wilderness hike! If you love arid country and can deal with its problems, this is your hike. The hike through Grand Canyon is gorgeous!!!

Resupply options are very good. Most places with shops and/or post offices are on trail or only a short ways away; there is even a special resupply route to Flagstaff. And all these resupply towns are nice or even great. I loved Flagstaff, for example.

There is also a fair amount of people hiking the AZT and so I even had some company. There is no hiker family around like on the AT or PCT, but you are not as lonely as on the FT.

For me the pros were definitely outweighing the cons. Still, I cannot unconditionally recommend that trail. Li coined a great expression for trails like the AZT: It is an abusive trail! What does that mean? To put it bluntly:  There are long sections of trail that have not received any maintenance for more than 7 years - and as a hiker you suffer through that. The whole Mazatzal section was so badly overgrown that I was averaging 1 mph - not much fun for almost a week. The last stretch after the North Rim suffered from a forest fire in 2006 - and again: No maintenance has been done ever since. But the biggest outrage is Saguaro NP: There is no official trail and therefore you have to trespass on X9 Ranch Road (where I was denied access and other hikers have been even physically threatened by outraged land owners) or bushwhack through 6 miles of cactus land. Supposedly there is some trail, but the ATA is "hiding" it because of God knows what problems with the NPS. Bottom line: Do not bring new gear to this trail! The AZT destroys everything!

Next problem is navigation: The ATA produced maps are pretty useless. Don't bother getting them. The official guidebook is hopelessly outdated and therefore only of use for about 50% of the trail. The only useful thing ATA has produced is the GPS waypoints you can download from their website. And of course there is the water report, the data book and the new townguide. All the later documents are prepared by a single volunteer and I was really grateful for them, but they could use some improvements. Definitely bring a GPS when hiking the trail as the waymarking is anything from sort of ok to non-existent. If you are not a navigational wizzard you will be grateful for a GPS.

Water is also a big issue: This year was very good because of all the snow, but water is definitely an issue on the AZT. Now when I compare two "dry" trails like the AZT and the Australian Bibbulmun Track.... On the Bibb Track there are water tanks for the hikers, but on the AZT you are on your own with really nasty dirt tanks - or you have to cache water.

Unfortunately there are also no official trail angels. So nobody maintains water caches or shuttles hikers. Like on the FT it is a big problem getting to the trail head. You can easily hitch to and from the Northern Terminus, but getting to the Mexican border is a problem. Luckily there are official shuttle services (albeit expensive) and trail volunteers, so the situation is not as bad as on the FT.

Bottomline: The AZT is definitely not a trail for beginners. You must know how to deal with the water situation, have good navigational skills (or a GPS) and have a high tolerance for overgrown trails. Then you will love the AZT. Other than that: Try another trail.... For me personally: Yes, I would rehike this trail (if they clear the Mazatzals....)

The last days on the AZT

After my rest day at the Grand Canyon where I basically did nothing else but get a permit and sit and read I eventually started the last leg of the AZT: The hike through the Grand Canyon and up to the Utah border. Luckily I got a permit for me and 2 hiking buddies which is not all that easy on a weekend. We all had a great breakfast (I actually felt sick afterwards from all the food and was not able to finish my portion....) and around lunch time started hiking. Just an easy 14 mile day and all downhill. But this turned out to be one of the most spectacular hikes I have done in all my life.

I had seen a lot of pictures of the Grand Canyon but I was still overwhelmed. The views, the temperature and the climate changed continously. The elevation difference between the rims and the canyon bottom is almost 2,000 meters... And it was also one of the most crowded trails I have ever seen in the US. Hundreds of hikers where out there and I could see loads of "casualties" limping along. The hike is really easy with lots of switchbacks and tap water everywhere but I spent a lot of time taking in the view.

Luckily I had a permit and could camp at Cottonwood campground at the valley bottom to enjoy the day. The next day it was an easy 2,000 meters up - right into the snow. I know you must be all tired of all that talk about snow, but there it was again. Snow, snow and more snow. The first 6 miles of trail where still sort of ok, but then I had to give in. I camped right in the middle of it and spent one of the coldest nights on the trail at 3,000 meters. The next day I could not find the trail in all that snow and had to roadwalk around it for 5 miles. I then tried again and was lucky - still snow, but manageable. The last days were pretty easy: All downhill to Utah and John, the Gentleman hiker had even cached water for me.

I got a bit sad on my last day - I did not want to stop hiking and start cycling. Also my hiking buddies Kimberlie and Colin who wanted to give me a ride to Page from the terminus had disappeared behind me. Sort of sad I hiked into the Stateline campground which is the Northern Terminus of the AZT at 7 pm on May 18th. And whom did I meet there? A mountain biker who had cycled the AZT! And guess where he was from? Germany! Like me he is more or less travelling constantly and his trail name is rather fittingly "Alpenzorro". He is blogging live from his trips and carries an impressive lightweight equipment for that. We chatted away half of the night and after all his stories I eventually came to the conclusion that cycling might not be that bad after all.

Buckskin gulch

Not knowing what had happened to Kimberlie and Colin I left early next morning to visit Buckskin Gulch, a Slot canyon on the way out. Very spectacular indeed. But then it was a 10 mile walk out to the highway. There were about 50 cars coming in, but none out. Half of the cars stopped for me, but they were all going the wrong way... Bad luck - but eventually the first car going out stopped: It was Kimberlie and Colin! So all went right in the end: I got a ride into Page, found a hotel, got my bicycle and received all my packages from the post office. Now I am off to cycling tomorrow....

Why did I not bring gloves?

I had a wonderful time in Flagstaff - after getting my tooth fixed! I stayed at the DuBeau hostel, a very nicely renovated 50's hotel. Free local calls, nice library, free breakfast and a very nice atmosphere. And a big coincidence happened there. I was sitting in the internet and coincidently started talking to another guest - and it turned out the he is a triple crowner as well! I am on the AZT, whereas he (Pinball Wizzard) is hiking the Hayduke trail. I could hardly believe this coincidence and after this meeting all my sightseeing plans went overboard. We spent the rest of the day eating and chatting.

But alas, next day I had to leave and go hiking again. Although I had become extremely paranoid about my teeth and all my electronic equipment now on this stretch nothing broke. Well, almost nothing, as my pants ripped and I had to do an emergency surgery on this dying patient.

I realise that you will find this hard to believe but it snowed on me again in mid-May! First I had to hike through tons of snow through the San Francisco peaks. Snow, snow, snow everywhere and people where even still skiing. Very slow going and to be honest - by now I am fed up with all that snow! Once out of the snow (and the trees) there was no more water and a horrible wind. Every day - wind in the morning, wind at noon, wind in the evening and wind at night. Plus on top it dumped snow on me at night. I am so happy I brought my 20 F bag! Still it is a pain in the butt to wake up every morning with frost on the tent and pack up at freezing temperatures. I am usually dragging my trekking poles along for 2 hours in the morning because it is so cold and I did not bring gloves. Hey, did you expect snow in Arizona in May? It was so windy and cold that I even cooked lunch once in a USFS restroom....

But I made it to Grand Canyon and what an overwhelming view! I am staying with Li here in Grand Canyon and have a rest day today. Just not doing anything but read and eat (and maybe repair some stuff...) And then I will hike through the Canyon and finish my thruhike in 5 days. Of course there will be more snow....

How to get your ass kicked on the AZT - Pine to Flagstaff

After a day in Phoenix with resupply and exchanging broken Platypus bottles and abused shoes Li brought me back to the trail. The next stretch would be easy, said Li. Just a short climb up the Mogollon Rim and then flat hiking for 5 days. Piece of cake really....

But again: What could go wrong did go wrong. It started on day 1. I was happily hiking up the Mogollon Rim looking at my GPS every once in a while. It worked fine one moment - but when I tried to switch it on 5 minutes later, nothing happened. Absolutely nothing! It was dead. Surely that would be the batteries.... Still I was not happy: 4 more days of hiking with no GPS on the AZT is not an ideal situation. Doable, but not ideal.

I hiked on less happily, but still in relatively good spirits. This is when it started snowing - on MAY 2nd in Arizona. Not just snowing, it was rather dumping. I could hardly see a thing. And it was damned cold on MAY 2nd.... I pitched my tent and hoped for the best. Well, it stopped snowing, but it froze. I was bitterly cold at 22 degrees Fahrenheit and started to really get pissed with the trail, the weather and everything.

I woke up at 5 am and had breakfast. It surely could not get worse now - but it did. I bit on my granola - and something did not feel like granola. It was a gold inlay that had come off my tooth that very moment...I was about to cry. Here I was with no GPS, freezing my ass off and on top of that having a dental problem. Great! Did I mention that the batteries on my watch were dying as well? (I have to mention for the non-hikers that you need a watch for navigation - you time your progress to find out how far you hike.) The only thing that still worked was my cell phone.

I met some Forest Service employees later that day who gave me extra batteries for my GPS! I was very happy - but just for a moment, because even with new batteries the GPS would not work. It was dead.... Later that day Colin, a British AZT hiker and aerospace engineer showed up. He disassembled the whole thing, but it still would not work. His verdict: Ditch it!!!! Hey, just ditch a 300 EUR GPS! But he was right. Warranty period was over and it would be more expensive to repair it than to buy a new one.

Colin and Kimberlie

I  hiked on getting lost only once without my GPS, chewing only on the left side of my mouth and with no sense of time due to lack of watch, but somehow I made it into Flagstaff. I got an appointment at a dentist immediately, paid 250 $ and got my tooth fixed. Then I bought a new battery for my watch. Half of my problems where solved now, but what about the GPS? Flagstaff outdoor shops did not really have a great selection of GPS and especially not the ones I wanted. But I did not want to hike on without one either, because of - (hey, you might have guessed it), the next stretch was still snow covered. In fact people are still skiing now here!

Then another miracle happened. I met Colin and his hiking partner Kimberlie in an outdoor shop. Kimberley was getting off trail for the next stretch and I just asked her about her GPS - and she lent it to me! So I will leave tomorrow with a working watch, good teeth and a GPS, hurray! Life is good!

How to get your ass kicked on the AZT - Superior to Pine

Li and I

I left Superior with very good news: Li, a CDT hiking friend had sent me an email wanting to join me for a couple of days on the AZT. Li is known to hike 30 mile days and he hiked the entire AT and CDT in ONE season - I definitely cannot keep up with that pace. But we talked on the phone and he promised to "regulate" himself. I had been doing 20 - 22 mile days recently and that was ok with him. We agreed to meet in Roosevelt. What he had not mentioned is that the stretch between Roosevelt and Pine is the hardest on the whole AZT. What we both did not know is that there would be some aggravating factors.... So we met with 6 days worth of food and good spirits.

Li had even brought me a breakfast burrito from civilization and showed me new highlights of outdoor cuisine: He made "grasshopper pie" for us for dessert three times. That recipe includes lots of mint oreos, jello and even more alcohol which he carried in a mini platypus. That is culinary dedication! This dessert looks kind of disgusting, but tastes wonderful. The more alcohol, the better. And we needed a lot of that...

It all started already on day 1 of hiking together. After a 3,000 ft elevation gain (which was not too bad) we came across new trail. The trail had been built in 2004 - and NEVER ever been maintained after that. To say that it was overgrown is an understatement. We were crawling through catclaws and manzanita at a pace of less than 1 mile per hour. It soon became apparent that we would never make it to our planned camp spot.

Unfortunately, we did not have enough water to dry camp - not to mention that there just was no place whatsoever where to camp. We were traversing a steep slope. When it got dark we came to a saddle with some pitiful campsites, but no water. We decided to hike on in the dark to the next creek. The trail got a bit better and we made it to water when it had just gotten pitch dark. But where to camp? There was a fire ring, but no flat spots. And therefore for the first time in my entire life and after even completing the whole triple crown I had to do something I had never done before: I slept right on the trail!!!!
The wind was blowing so hard that we could hardly cook our late dinner. Li made his famous grasshopper pie for the first time and we really needed it! I fell asleep amid manzanita and tremendous gusts of wind.

Li

Surely this bad trail would not continue - but we were wrong. Because the next day we entered the area of the huge 2004 wildfire. And apparently there had been no trail maintenance after that. And that meant we were climbing over blow down trees for the next 4 days. To make it more interesting the whole trail was also overgrown with raspberry bushes on steroids. No raspberries though, just the thorns. We were both in long-sleeved shirts and pants. You can stand this situation for 1 day and think of the great achievement afterwards. You might even be able to stand it for 2 days and still be proud of it. But after 3 days you just hate it!!! We ended up camping right on trail for a second time, because we were never able to hike 20 miles in that crap! Li learnt a lot of German swear words as I was trying to limbo under blow downs. By the way: I learnt some new English expressions from Li as well! For example: ""It is time for a morning constitutional when the turtle is poking its head out.."". Now you Germans: What could that mean?....

Snow in AZ in May!

On day 5 we realised that we would never make it in our planned 6 days. Well, Li would have made it - but not me. Luckily I had an extra day's worth of food  I could share with him. On our last day we were eventually out of the forest fire area and the only problem was a very rocky road. I felt like being drunk balancing on football sized rocks for a whole day - but hey, that was nothing compared to the days before. But then it got colder and colder. I was teasing Li when he put on all his warm clothes and mentioned something about snowing. Surely it would not snow in Arizona end of April. But it did!!! We ended up in a snow storm -  no kidding. In Germany it hardly ever snows that hard. We sought shelter among pine trees and I expected to wake up in a foot of snow... but luckily it stopped snowing overnight, but it got bitter cold. Our water bottles froze - but hey, I am used to that from Southern Florida. I love hiking in an El Nino year... So eventually on day 7 we made it back into civilization - frozen and completely out of food, but alive and healthy.

Desert hiking - advanced level

I have hiked in the desert before on the PCT and CDT, but Arizona is special....

First of all the water situation is pretty demanding, despite the fact that due to all the snow there is more water than usual. I had to carry up to 7 liters of waters (read: 7 kg weight!!!) for some stretches. And of course, just before the longest waterless stretch my Platypus bottle broke reducing my water capacity from 7 to 4,5 liters. I hate Platypus bottles - I have already changed about 10 of them because they broke in similarly crucial situations. Luckily The on-trail water can be pretty nasty as well. I had to drink out of cattle troughs before, but these ones here are especially nasty. Not only are there floaties in the water but thousands of dead bees! I don't know why, but there are bees everywhere and apparently they are attracted to water - where they drown!


Second, beside the bees the rattle snakes are a real nuisance here. I have seen more rattle snakes here on the AZT in 2 days than I have seen on the whole PCT! And they really do spook me out. I nearly stepped on a couple of them and one was even nesting right on the trail. I have given up listening to my MP3 player while hiking - too dangerous! I want to hear their rattle so I am warned of their presence. Today one rattle snake startled me so badly that I lost my balance while trying to sidestep it and fell down! I did not feel very comfortable lying on the ground with my backpack on like a turtle on its back within striking distance of a rattle snake...

I have also been attacked by a calf! I was just turning around a switchback when I little calf ran INTO me! It scared the shit out of me and for a second I thought it is a bear. The calf panicked and did not seem to know what to do. It wanted to run away and stay with me.... We were both on a very narrow trail and instead of staying behind me it ran after me passing me on the trail trying to get away from me. It was heart breaking to see its efforts when it fell into the the thorn bushes, but I really did not know what to do.... I quickly hiked on to get away from it and nearly stepped onto another rattle snake... Life is dangerous here.

With all the snow here the desert is still in full bloom. There are flowers everywhere - a truly amazing sight. Everything is green and looks like a English country lawn - but only from a distance. As soon as you try to pitch your tent you realise that the ground is rock hard. I am having a hard time getting any tent stakes in. And this ground is not very comfortable to sleep on - hard, lots of little pebbles and prickly things everywhere. I check the ground very carefully every evening before I lie down on my therm-a-rest and so far  - knock on wood - no hole in my sleeping pad.