Nate Stephens

4/10/15
A couple months ago I may have excitedly bombarded you with information about this crazy trip I was going to do to Alaska.  And then 3 days later I changed it to an adventure in Big Bend National Park and Mexico.  Or maybe a trip to the East Coast to visit my sister and check out New York, Maine, and Canada?  Time is running out, and I have officially changed the entire plan to include 3 big stops, Big Bend National Park, Death Valley, and Yosemite National Park. 

Along the way I’ll be stopping in St. Louis MO, Oklahoma City OK, Dallas TX, Boquillas Mexico, Tuscan and Phoenix in AZ, Las Vegas NV, San Francisco and Sacramento CA, Salt Lake City UT, Rock Springs WY, The Black Hills and Badlands of SD, Madison WI, and finally back in Chicago.  The trip will total  ~5,000 miles driving through 13 states, 5 of which I have never been to!  Technically I'll even be in two countries (briefly)!

I’ll be posting hopefully every day from April 19th to May 4th with updates on travel info, things I’ve learned, experienced, and taken away from the trip.  I’ll be doing this venture solo, so please feel free to comment and let me know what you think!

Day 1!  Chicago - Oklahoma City - 800 miles

4.20.15
The first day was a long one.  It took about 14 hours to drive the ~800 miles from Chicago to OK City.  I didn’t get to stop and explore as many places as I’d like, but I did stop and walk around downtown St. Louis, which I absolutely loved.   There were a ton of interesting shops and restaurants.  I stopped at a coffee shop called The Mud House, which was without a doubt the most busy and generally inspiring coffee shops I’ve been to. Overall Missouri was beautiful, with rolling hills and tons of spring flowers. 
 
I took a single photo with my DLSR, and a couple with the GoPro.  Once I get some actual time I'll start posting more photos!


I pulled into my campsite around 8:00 and pitched the tent.  Temperatures dropped to 40 degrees and windy with rain.  It was a very cold night!  Tomorrow I’ll drive the 600 miles to Big Bend NP and hopefully find a campsite.  And take a nap.

Day 2 - 600 Miles from OK City to Big Bend NP

4.21.15
I'm writing this while parked outside of a close coffee shop in no where Texas.

Day two was pretty all right for a day of travel!  I think the days I spend driving are fairly unexciting, typically.  Kind of hard to write about… Lots of audio book, podcast, and music listening… The weather is usually great to drive through.  300 miles of clear skys and then 100 miles of intense rain and then back in the clear.   I was surprised by the number of armadillos in northern Texas…I literally had to shoo one away from my car while fueling up.  Also stopped at 8th St. Coffee somewhere…had an espresso and chilled out.   

Texas is absolutely huge, and absolutely southern. Until I got to Big Bend!  This place is surreal, it’s  breathtaking.  I pulled into my campground and couldn’t believe the view just from my tent.  I managed to snag one of the last sites in Chisos Basin and got set up. Then end of the day is always the weirdest while solo traveling.  Cooking and eating dinner alone is kind of a weird experience.

Day 3- Big Bend National Park

4.21.15
This park is ridiculous.  It really is beautiful.  Today I chose to do the Window Trail, which is conveniently located within walking distance of my campsite.  It's a 4.5 mile round trip, with an elevation change of around 1,200 feet. It took me about 3 hours to do.  The view was crazy at the end, and all along it I kept seeing the most bizarre wildlife and plants. Tons of cacti, beetles, ants, lizards, and...snakes.  I got a couple good pictures!

After the hike I drove around and stumbled upon a couple dirt roads which lead to various places. (I NEED A JEEP! My car is going to shake itself to pieces...)  At the end of one of these roads I found a small hiking trail.  About half a mile into the trail I hear the Rio, and stumble upon a natural hot spring.  Right next to/in the Rio... There's a random guy sitting in it, I took a seat and talked with him for about an hour about the most random things.   Our history, goals, why we're here, etc. He's doing it back country, and has been hanging in the hot spring talking to whoever comes in.  It was so surreal, to be sitting at the border to Mexico with a random dude, sitting in a natural hot spring... totally crazy.  Going to make some well deserved dinner and call it day!

Day 4- Big Bend NP

4.22.15
Today I did the Lost Mine Trail, which is about 6 miles round trip, with an elevation change of 1,300 feet.  It was definitely a more challenging hike than yesterdays at the Window trail.  My FitBit says it took about 13,000 steps, and 130 flights of stairs.  The end of the trail was stunning, being on top of a mountain and being able to see what seems like hundreds of miles away.  There is no way I could ever take a photograph that would do the view justice, but I did try… Saw a few snakes, but luckily no mountain lions.

After the Lost Mine I regrouped and recharged on the drive over to the Rio Grande.  The Boquillas border crossing is that direction, so I figured I would check it out.  WHAT!?  I say bye to the US border patrol and walk down a small “path” to the Rio, and a guy in a row boat says $5, so I hop in and give him his $5… I’ll be honest, this is definitely the most uncomfortable I’ve been the whole trip.  Language barrier, I’m alone, no one else is around… it was scary?

 Once I’m at the other side, I pay ‘The Singing Man’ $5 to get me a burro and a tour guide.  After riding the burro into town I spoke with the Mexican border guy, who checked my passport, etc.  I got there around 4:00, and the border crossing closes at 6:00, so unfortunately I didn’t have much time to check out the various shops and restaurants in the area.  But I can say I rode a burro, drank a coke, and ate some tacos in Mexico.  YEAH!

PS: More photos to come, it just takes FOREVER to upload them over the WiFi that I pick up in the most random of gas stations.

Day 5- Last Day in Big Bend National Park

4.23.15
Day 5 was started with the best 3-minute shower I have ever bought.  I also drove 50 miles to get to it, and then 50 miles back.  Kind of drastic, but after 5 days it was time. Believe it or not, that was the closest shower available.  Once that was taken care of, I drove out to the Santa Elena Canyon, a trail that other hikers have been telling me is worth doing on my last day (In Big Bend).  I seriously underestimated how big the park is as well, I drive ~150 miles a day just going to and from trails...

Speaking of people, I haven’t really talked much about the people I’ve met so far!  There’s Steve, the random very soul searching hot spring/Rio Grande swim guy.  Doc, the older man with a bad leg at the end of the Santa Elena Canyon (As seen in Picture 4), who has taken his wife to almost all 50 states, but is missing Maine and Oregon… two very far apart states. Cho, a chiropractor from Taiwan that moved to Austin.  Somehow I have run into Cho 4 different, unplanned, times.  In a park that is bigger than Road Island… Cho and I are getting dinner at the Chisos Lodge, it will be nice to have company and a real meal.   There's also the tons of people I've spoken with in the campground, hiking, etc..

Anyway, Santa Elena Canyon.  Fantastic 1.5 mile hike into the canyon, with the river flowing in between vertical walls that are ~150’ tall?  I am realizing how challenging it must be for a real photographer to convey the awesomeness of a scene like these.  It’s really difficult!  Santa Elena was the best 'Sight to Hike' ratio hike so far.  But also the most "busy."  I say "busy" because I've scheduled the trip so that I'm in parks on the week days.  The campground is at 20% capacity, and it feels like I have the park to myself some times.

In terms of equipment! I am INCREDIBLY under prepared for food.  I somehow managed to bring along a counter top stove, and a couple small propane tanks, but forgot the little connector bit that allows you to use it.  >.<    Other than food (who needs hot meals when you can eat cold cans of ravioli and sandwhiches), I've had everything I need.  Although, I must say, it is possible to have a flashlight that is too bright.  And I have one. Oops.  The tent has held up well in the storms at night, the sleeping PAD is the best thing ever. I refuse to ever camp without it now.  Having used it some nights and not others, I give this thing sole credit for my sanity.

Also, Gone Girl, the audiobook I'm rapidly consuming, is AWESOME.  I'm almost done, after 15 hours of listening...it's great.

Day 6:  Big Bend NP to Phoenix AZ

4.26.15
I’ve gotten a bit behind on the blog posts, mostly do to the fact that I can’t stand to stop on my travel days and spend an hour writing and editing photos.   But today I left Big Bend around 6:00am to head out to Phoenix, where I’ll be spending the night.   I chose to go the route of sleeping my car last night, so that I wouldn’t have to put my tent and sleeping equipment away at 5:00am.  It was… okay?  My car is definitely too small to stretch out in and have some room, but if you move the seats up, and kind of go diagonal, it works?  The sleeping pad saved the night yet again.

I like to use these travel days as huge “luxury” days.  I’ll get coffee, restock on food and water, stop at a KOA or a nicer campground to shower, etc.  On the way to Phoenix I got to drive through El Paso and Tucson.  It's always fun to find a "Driving Buddy" as I call them.  Myself and another car drove together for 200+ miles, trading off places and waving to each other every now and then.  I really didn’t care for El Paso, but Tucson was awesome!  I haven’t spent really any time in the south west desert area, or really any deserts, so everything is new.  The cactus, always light brown houses, and landscapes.  I got to grab lunch with my Aunt Steve-Anna, who I haven’t seen in 15(ish) years! There were even tumbleweeds and dust storms.

I didn’t really expect to see a lot on my travel days, but to be honest, today has been one of the most beautiful days of the trip so far.  The landscape is gorgeous, and driving 600+ miles I never once was not thrilled by the mountains ahead.

Day 7: Phoenix - Vegas - Death Valley

4.26.15
I woke up this morning to a man walking his two goats by my campsite.  That’s a great representation of what northern Phoenix is like, I think.  I left today from Phoenix to head to Vegas, and then grab a campsite in Death Valley.  I decided to sleep in my car again, the effort of putting up my tent in the rain for a single night and then tearing it down early in the morning didn’t appeal to me.   

On the way to Vegas I crossed the Hoover Dam, and decided I should stop and do a little tour around it.  It ended up being about an hour long stop, walking across the dam, and the Mike O'Callaghan–Pat Tillman Memorial Bridge.  It was pretty incredible, to stop and admire a ‘Man Made’ stop, instead of natural parks.

After leaving the dam, I stopped in Vegas and walked around the downtown Strip for about an hour.  Checking out a few of the casinos, the tiny Disney Castle, Pyramids, and Statue of Liberty. Even stuck my head in the MGM. I have to say, this stop put me in such a good mood.  There were tons of people having a great time, and tons of energy. It was very rejuvenating!  It was nice to be in a bigger city (with electricity and coffee) after a week of isolation.

The last hour of driving took me to Death Valley, and DAMN! It’s awesome.  On the way in I saw deserts, huge rock mountains, auto trails, salt flats, and tons more.  The sunset was a welcoming sight.  I decided to stay in the Furnace Creek campground, which is about in the center of the park. That way I can drive from one side to the other and stop at the points that interest me.  There’s also almost no bugs in this park, which is FANTASTIC after swatting huge beetles, horseflies, mosquitoes, and other insects in Big Bend.

Day 8:  Death Valley

4.27.15
Death Valley is an unreal place.  Every 35 miles or so, it is almost a completely new park.  I didn’t do anywhere near as much research as I should have on this park, so I had absolutely no idea what I was going to do with my one day here.  Naturally, I just drove west until I hit something that grabbed my interest.  The first of which was an auto trail called The 20 Mule Team Trail.  Once again, I ached for a Jeep, but my car has been impressive throughout the trip, so I decided to ignore the “recommended 4 wheel drive” sign.  The 20 Mule Team Trail was by far the most “exciting” thing I’ve done so far! I say “exciting” because everything is thrilling, but not always an ear to ear grin.  I couldn’t help but laugh while winding through the tight twists, blind turns, up insanely steep hills, and through slaloms marked by 20’ cavern walls.  I slapped the GoPro on the hood of my car and did the whole thing again just for fun.  It was right up my alley with a mixture of adventure and speed.  My car is sufficiently covered in mud now, and I love it.

After running the auto trail a few times, I continued my random cruise west.  Death Valley has very few marked trails, and they actually encourage hiking free of the trails.  I managed to find myself deep in the desert and parked to do a little desert exploring.  I have never been to any sort of sand dunes, or sand only desert before.  I couldn’t help but feel like I was in The Mummy or Indiana Jones.  Or maybe Tatooine?  Loved walking on top of 35’ sand dunes only to find a 50’ dune ahead.  It was incredibly windy, which helped with the heat of 90F and no shade.  It was also a photographers dream…

I also found a Jeep rental place…$280 for a day.  A bit steep for me. 

Dante’s View was a quick drive up to 5,500’ above sea level, a huge change from the -200’ below sea level where I had slept.  The view from the top of the mountain was absurd, seeing the salt flats, deserts, craters, and all of the different characteristics of Death Valley at once.  I wish I could have stayed in Death Valley for a couple more days, but onward north to Yosemite! 

Day 9:  Death Valley - Yosemite NP

4.28.15
So today was supposed to be the most relaxed driving day of the entire trip. Only 250 miles the entire day, 4 hours of driving.  How horribly wrong that was!  It had recently snowed in Yosemite, dusting the tops of the mountains in white.  Unfortunately, that meant they had closed down 120, and the east entrance… I had to take 108 an extra 4 hours around the park, through Stanislaus National Forest.  Stanislaus should have been a destination in itself.  Gorgeous driving, up to 11,000’ above sea level, in the snow, through forests, across massive bridges, and between rocky caverns.  Beautiful.

Before I knew the road was closed, I decided to stop at Mammoth Lakes Ski Resort and hang out for a bit.  Hopefully catch my breath in a Starbucks and enjoy the resort life without having to pay.  I stayed at the Starbucks editing photos and video, updating the blog, and generally catching up on civilized life.  Popping in and out of the various stores. It was glorious. Then disaster struck.

It started with realizing the road was closed, and I couldn’t get into Yosemite until 7:30 or 8:00 at night. This was pushing it, considering I didn’t have any campsite reservations.  But it was a Monday night, and a couple entrances were closed, how busy could it be?!  Then my check engine light came on and I had to handle that, which ended up not being a big issue, but I didn’t really want to deal with it on a rushed schedule.  The drive through the mountains on 108 was incredible, full of life and blues and greens. HUGELY contrasting to Death Valley’s yellows and browns. 

Once I reached the West Yosemite entrance, I paid my fee and they pointed me towards a campground.  I didn’t want to camp on the western edge, I wanted to be in the middle of the park, so I passed it by. There wasn’t any cell signal, which meant I was on a “sign information only” trip.  I drove for 2 hours before I found a sign indicating that the south campground was in 15 miles. 15 miles in the most curvy, steep climbs I’ve ever driven takes a long time.  By now it is completely black outside and I’m freaking out at myself for not taking the other campground for the night.  I REALLY didn’t want this to happen on this trip, where I’m stuck without a place to stay for the night.  There is an understandable amount of anxiety when it comes to not having a place to sleep.

SO! I get to the campground.  These two French guys tell me it’s full.  Merde.  I head out of the park and drive to the nearest town to find a place to stay. Or maybe just a hidden back road to sleep in my car…anything.  Nothing “safe” comes up, and I’ve seen too many horror movies to sleep in the black forest slightly off of the road.  Eventually around 11:00 I find this “campground” which is SO far in the forest, no lights, horrible one lane dirt road, no host, nothing.  I drive around it, thinking this is the best I can do, at least it’s remote.  I find a 'site' and sit there… not feeling it.  Way too creepy.  I head out back to the “road."

Who do I see at the end of the road?!  The French! There are 4 of them, parked, trying to figure out if they want to brave the creepiness or not. I park next to them and ask if they want to team up and set up camp in this forest.  They speak very, very little English, and I speak very, very little French, but we agree to team up.  The site is really just a “cleared” spot in the forest.  Past a ‘Road Closed’ sign, it’s eerie.  We’re all freaked out.  Eventually we get our tents set up, start talking and drinking beer.  I make a fire and they turn it into a giant bonfire, and I spend the night laughing and drinking with my 4 new French friends! It was awesome!! 

Yosemite is stunning, it's Glacier meets Yellowstone-ish?  More photos to come, on a more relaxed day!

Day 10- Yosemite

4.30.15
I managed to find a campsite at Camp 4, which is right in the heart of Yosemite. Which is kind of a miracle, considering it is one of the most popular campgrounds, and very small.  There is usually a long line every morning before they open.  Camp 4 is a ‘Walk in Campsite’ where you have to walk in all of your equipment, no cars allowed.  All food, drinks, toiletries, etc. cannot be in your car or site, but stored in the bear boxes.  Which meant hauling my huge cooler, bags of food, stove, clothes, and almost all of my equipment down the trail and into the campsite! 

After finishing up with that, I headed out to spend the day exploring the park.  Yosemite is… awe inspiring to say the least. It is a stunning array of mountains, trees, HUGE rocks, and rivers.  However, it is much more.. populated?  There are crazy amounts of people, designated parking zones, off limits roads, lodges everywhere.  A huge contrast to the other parks, which felt completely open and free. 

I spent most of the day driving and parking at pull offs to get pictures and hike the smaller trails throughout the valley.   It’s weird to feel more isolated when in a park full of people… I felt less alone on my trip when the campgrounds were mostly empty and it was rare to pass someone on a trail or road.  I'm trying to take this park slowly, sitting by the waterfalls and just hanging out. Not rushing through it.  

Anyway! I got some good shots, I’ve kind of began to focus a lot more on my photography.  Tomorrow I’m going to head into San Francisco!  I am so excited for that.

Day 11- San Francisco

4.30.15
I woke up this morning around 7:00 and decided to go into San Francisco, which is about 4 hours away from Yosemite.  4 hours is an awkward amount of time, it’s just far enough where the destination better be worth the 8 hour total drive.  San Francisco is worth it, no doubt about that.

I managed to find a parking lot that charged $15 for the day, about 3 miles from Fisherman’s Wharf.  I love the hills, houses, shops, and pretty much everything about San Francisco.  The walk was great, and Fisherman’s Wharf was fun.  I got a crab sandwich, checked out all of the various shops around the area.   Went to a couple of coffee shops, one of which was Saint Frank Coffee, and the other Philtz.  Got a Gibraltar at St. Frank and an Iced Mojito Coffee at Philtz.  Just walking around the city was great, I loved every second of it.  

After I got back to Yosemite around 10:00, I took some photos at night, which turned out pretty well!  

Day 12- Yosemite

4.30.15
This park is wearing me out… But! My last day in Yosemite.  How to spend it…

I decided to do a hike that is close to Camp 4, the Yosemite Falls Trail. Which is supposed to be 3.5 miles each way.  Turns out to be the hardest hike I have ever done… Insane amount of elevation change, my FitBit says I did 250 flights of stairs in 2 hours, just over 8 miles.  But oh my god, the sights were insane.  Easily one of the best views I have ever seen.  I ended up running short on water and food, not expecting it to be so strenuous.  I’ll carry a hiking water filter next time.  People were filtering water from the streams! 

I mean, I’ll let the photos do the talking for this one.  I’m tired.