Me in all my ice climbing gear. It's a pity there wasn't better ice this weekend though. oh well.
After Zion we headed to Moab. Home of Arches and Canyonlands National Parks. After hiking the very well known and recognised Delicate Arch, we continued on to the Double O and Landscape Arch area. Along this mostly flat, slightly undulating, six foot wide, well marked and maintained trail that you could definately drive a golf buggy up, Dad came across a sign he was particularly fond of. I like to refer to these trails as National Park Super Highways! There are many of then throughout the USA National Parks. In the middle of summer some parks get so crowded that you actually have to stand in line for some time behind several fat people huffing and puffing their way along the before you finally reach the desired destination. Fortunately we were just behind the school holidays so we missed most of the crowd. 
Delicate Arch.
I've decided this story will be too long if I write it all out - so here is the rest of the intinerary and a some photos with comments of places we visited.
After Arches we headed to Steamboat Springs to spend a couple of days relaxing with some friends.
From here we went to:
Jackson Hole, Yellowstone National Park, Glacier National Park, Banff - Canada, Jasper - Canada, Whistler - Canada, Vancouver - Canada, Seattle, Mt St. Helens, Northern California, Yosemite National Park, Las Vegas, Grand Canyon, Monument Valley, Mesa Verde National Park, Crested Butte, and finally finished the trip in Denver with a slight detour to Vail on the way.
The geysers in Yellowstone are fun to watch explode up out of the ground.
If you want to see a Bison this is the place to come. There are Bison herds everywhere wandering thorugh the fields and munching on grass. 
From Jackson Hole and Yellowstone area you get a great view of the Grand Teton Range towering above the valley.
We headed north from Yellowstone to Glacier National Park. We had planned on spending a couple of days here, but when we arrived we found that there had been a huge rock slide due to incliment weather and the road through the park was closed just a short way in. We were able to drive about 14 miles and see some beautiful water falls and lakes, so all was not lost here.
We arrived in Banff, Canada after a long drive from the Candian border and
were greeted with nice weather and stunning views. We enjoyed our time here wandering around town and then on the second day we took a ride up the gondola to the view point on top of a nearby mountain.
We left Banff early in the morning and drove along the Icefields Parkway to get to Jasper. The parkway is a must see if you ever go to Canada. Peyto Lake is one of many spectacular sights along the way!
In Jasper we rode another godola to get views of the area from up high. We also hiked out to a glacier at the base of Mt. Edith Cavell where there we several ice bergs floating in a pond at the bottom. Here we found great pleasure in picking up huge peices of thick ice and examining them closely.
Town of Jasper from the gondola.
Next we headed southwest to Whistler, via Kamloops. It was a holiday weekend so town was crowded and we found some great entertainment at this mountain bike park at the base of the ski area. As we watched mountain bikers throw themsleves off huge jumps and over technical objects, we noticed a black bear just wandering around through the middle of all the action. It didn't seem to give two hoots that all these crazy people were around, and the bikers didn't seem to nitice it either!
It started to rain in teh afternoon and we had no accommodation yet due to the busy weekend so we headed onto Vancouver where we met up with up with Eliot, and his friends (Heather and Morgan) were nice enough to let us all stay there for a night. They even cooked us dinner - what hospitality! - Thanks heaps guys. The following morning we moved into a hotel in the city for a couple of nights. We enjoyed some city style entertainment (a play and some good ethnic food), and Eliot and I rented a tandem bike and rode all over the city on the second day.
After three days in Vancouver we set off for a quick look at Seattle before moving onto Mt. St. Helens. This is the volcano that errupted in 1980 (?or early 80's). It has a visitor center that explains all about it and has some good displays, but it also has a greatly over dramatized big screen production on the erruption and it's affects on the area. It's a great laugh if you ever get to go there. I definitely recommend it!
We were planning on stopping along the Oregon Coast after this, but as we drove further south the wether turned bad and it was pouring rain by the time we arrived in Portland, so we decided to just continue on and head for Yosemite. As soon as we crossed the California border the weather cleared up and the sun shone bright. We found a nice camp ground for the night. In the morning we continued on a finally reached Yosemite National Park in the late afternoon.
The classic view of Yosemite Valley. We hiked to Nevada Falls on our day in the park. The weather was fairly warm for october and the sun was out all day long making for perfect hiking weather.
New York, New York on the Strip in Las Vegas!
After leaving Yosemtie Valley we spend a quick night in Las Vegas again. We wandered the strip a little, and then went to see Mamma Mia at the Excalibur theatre. It was a great performance and if you get a chance you definitely go see it. Really entertaining and funny.
The Grand Canyon of course is a must see for anyone visiting National Parks in the USA.
Off into the desert again now and onto Monument Valley and Mesa Verde. If you've ever seen a cowboy movie, chances are you've glimpsed Monument Valley. Mesa Verde National Park is a green area between the mountains of Colorado and the desert of Utah and Arizona. There was an ancient tribe that built all kind of elaborate cliff dwellings in the stone there.
We spent a day in Mesa Verdae National Park looking at these structures then we headed to Denver. We made two more stops. One in Crested Butte and one in Vail in order to break up the drive. From Denver Mum and Dad headed off to Spain, via Washington DC, and Eliot and I headed off to Charlotte for three days, but that's another story.
It is a well known fact that the sun doesn't set in Alaska in the summer time. This took alot of getting used to at first. Waking up at 3am with the sun shining bright and you're feeling ready to jump out of bed an get the day started - until you look at your watch. You try to go back to sleep but it's useless. The sun has supercharged you and there's nothing you can do about it! However, there are some beautiful sunsets early and late in the season. Here is one of them.
At the beginning of the season there are lots and lots of mozzies at Denali. They get in your tent, your housing, your hair, your food. They even fly in you mouth and try to choke you while you're talking! Although, they are disease free due to the fact that there's no real livestock up there, so it doesn't really itch when they bite you, which is a nice concellation prize. Jessica and I did this hike very early on in the season and woke up with this beautiful view outside our tent door in the morning.
At the beginning of the season there were alot of afternoon rain showers that brought the most incredible rainbows with them. Some days while hiking with guests we could see three or four rainbows all at once. And lots of double rainbows with one on top of the other!
It was such a beautiful summer and we are currently getting prepared to head up to DBL again for a second amazing season of hard work, 24hr daylight and incredible backpacking! We both got promotions this summer, so that's exciting too. If anyone wants to visit us up there we'd love to share this amazing place with you. Just give us a call or shoot us an email.
