The Beginning of an Adventure

And so begins the adventure of a lifetime... When a last minute invitation from the Peace Corps to do Sanitary Engineering in Mali (location shown below) arrived in my email inbox, I made an abrupt, life changing decision to accept the invitation.

After loading up with camping gear at REI, a headset for my phone and a shiny new road atlas, I was off to Michigan to spend some time with my family before I leave for the 27 month stint. I began my road trip on Tuesday evening, a little later than expected, but on the road nonetheless. I hopped on the Bay Bridge, onto 580 east and then to 120 which brought me into Yosemite. I arrived after dark, and all campgrounds were full. However, I had heard of Camp 4, a popular climbing spot that was first come first serve camping.

Since it was close to 11 pm, I was sure it would be full, and it was. With a sign on the post that said no more camping, and a ranger at my car telling me my only option was ~30 miles back the way I'd came, OUT of the park, I decided to stay. I found an empty flat spot and asked the climber whos site it was if I could pitch my tent. Of course he said yes and I fell asleep immediately, exhausted. Day two, I woke up and took a hike to Lower Yosemite Falls

Where upper Yosemite Falls could also be viewed:

I hiked a little further to get a view of Half Dome:

And then I was on my way. I hopped on 120 all the way through the park where I was literally driving on the ridgeline. There were some breathtaking views along the way including these

When I hit 395 the going got easier, but little did I know I couldn't get into King's Canyon or Sequoia National Park this way. Right, I should have looked closer on my map, but who cares, I was flexible. I decided to haul it to Death Valley.

Upon arrival at the park, it became obvious why it was named Death Valley.


There was hardly anything living except for the 5 brave souls at the one open campground.

I decided to save myself from camping in the 100 + degree ghost town campground and keep on trekking. By the time I made it out of the park to Pahrump, Nevada, it was getting dark and all 3 of their hotels/casinos were sold out for the night, so after another cup of coffee I was on my way to Vegas. When I came over the desolate mountains, it was clear I was in Vegas land. Going from "save the earth" National Parks to consumerism Vegas was not quite what I was in the mood for so I decided to stay the night at a hotel about 10 miles away from the strip where I write this now. Today I head to Vegas.

To view more pics click here:

Road Trip 2007 - 1