More National Parks. Because Utah.

A bit of a delayed update, but here it goes. What is a good thing to do for Thanksgiving? Well, go to National Parks of course! That's what everyone's first instinct is, right? So that's what I did. Since I did have to work the first half of the week, the plan was to fly into Salt Lake City, work remotely for a couple days, and then go roam the canyons that the state is known for.

Salt Lake City is, well, odd. I only really got to explore it that Sunday, which is not the best option for exploring a city so devoutly Christian. A lot of things are closed. Most, actually. But I still explored the city. As much as I disagree with Mormons (really, why do they walk everywhere in pairs? That would seriously get on my nerves), they do know how to choose a great place for their shiny city on a hill.

Now, for the true purpose of the trip: national parks. Now, we had a well planned trip, starting in Bryce Canyon, passing through Capitol Reef to Moab, then a day each in Arches and Canyonlands. But then, while in SLC, we gambled on trying to win the lottery for Angels Landing in Zion. You have to enter the lottery to win a timed entry permit to hike it. So as we were driving south from Salt Lake, we anxiously waited on the email from the parks department which would determine where we’d be heading the following morning. And Fortuna was on our side - we had a pre 9AM Angels Landing pass. The timing did complicate things a bit. After all, since we’d planned Bryce Canyon, we were staying there. An hour and a half from Zion National Park, where our hike was. And in the morning, the car looked like this:

But you know, things worked out, and we got to the trail head with a few minutes to spare. And it was one of the best hikes I’ve ever done. Awesome combination of scrambling, cliff-side walks, and great views. We did a bit of other hiking in Zion, but really, Angels Landing was by far the highlight. Although the permits are a bit of an inconvenience potentially, it’s probably for the best. Even though it wasn’t peak season, and with permit entry requirements, we had to stop and maneuver around people going in the other direction. If anyone who wanted to could go, it would surely be a madhouse. It’s a valid safety precaution. And contributes to the enjoyment of the trail. Double benefit.

We did stop by Bryce on the way home to look at the stars. It was a bit cold though. And the darkness wasn’t conducive to taking photos. But the next morning, as we set off to Moab, we did stop by for a quick look at first light. I’ll need to come back for a proper visit though.

Then, Capitol Reef National Park was along the way from Bryce to Moab. We stopped there for some hiking. It’s always fun when you gain 500 m of elevation, and suddenly you have enough reception for a phone call for the first time since you left the hotel that morning. Since it was Thanksgiving day, I used the chance to call. There were also some nice canyons. And pictographs, which might be a bit hard to see in these photos (note: image was post processed for better clarity).

 

 

 

 

Up next: Arches. Now this is where I ran into another fun trail. Apparently, when the NPS calls a trail primitive, they mean that the trail is more wild. And may involve walking on rather steep rocks. I like that. A lot. But not everyone does. It was a bit of an adventure which I, for some foolish reason, did not properly document with pictures. A shame really. Now I need to go back and do it again. I also need to go back for the trail that needs special permits. Arches was a really cool park though.

 

 

 

Last, but not least, for the national parks: Canyonlands. This one definitely needs way more than one day. It’s a sprawling park with 4 main areas, and you can’t even get from one part to the other within the park, you need to leave and go around. But it is absolutely amazing.

 

After getting back from Canyonlands, we actually drove into Arches for some quick stargazing. I didn’t have a tripod then, but still managed a couple of cool photos. Next time though these should be better.

We drove up to SLC the day we were leaving. But since we had a bit of time before leaving, we also stopped by Antelope State Park. Which is theoretically an island. But it was a peninsula because it was the dry season. They also don't have antelope. They have buffalo though. So why is it called Antelope State Park?

Mackinac Island

    Mackinac Island (pronounced like Mackinaw City is spelt) has long been a vacation center for Americans. Home to the Michigan governor's summer vacation home and not one, but two old forts (on a <5 sq. mile island!), Mackinac is a car-free bicycle paradise. It is only accessible by ferries, but those are frequent, easy to book, and have departures both from the Upper and Lower Peninsulas. Some of the ferries even include a detour for a better view of the bridge connecting the two parts of Michigan - the Mighty Mac. I only had a day trip to the island, but there are hotels and BnBs for those who want a longer stay. 

     It's a quint little place with its lack of motorized transport. Instead, bikes and horse-drawn carriages abound. Actually, I'd say that there was an excess of horses, but that's largely because I would rather be breathing the fresh air from Lake Huron than smell horse manure.

As for what to see and do? The nature is really beautiful on the island including some special rock formations that are easy to find because of the thorough signage. Just wandering around, or lapping the 12.9 km circumference of the island is very enjoyable. Secondly, there are two forts - one that British built and the Americans took over after the Revolutionary War, and a second, a reconstruction of the one the British built after retaking the island during the War of 1812, and which the Americans subsequently took over after the cessation of hostilities.  

Oh, and there's an absolute obsession with Mackinac fudge. I'd heard of it, but I didn't expect it to be that big of a deal. According to the tourism board this stems from the Victorian Era's tourism, however, the thirteen fudge shops import 20,000 lbs of sugar a week to maintain production. 

If you spend the whole day on the island, and travel back as the sun sets, you are treated to a great view:

Would I travel from out of state just for it? Probably not. But if you're passing nearby it's worth spending a day on it. It's a enjoyable little island. But, as a tourist destination and an island, yes, everything on it is up-charged.

Racing through the Rockies

The US is home to the world's first national park - Yellowstone. So, it was time to go check it out. Since Grand Teton was along the way, it made it into the itinerary as well. Unfortunately, time constraints rather limited my ability to spend as much time there as I would have liked and the 4th of July weekend probably was at least partially contributing to the number of people, but this was an amazing trip. 

 Three quick notes before I go on: as the sun sets, the temperature drops quite a bit. During the day it was ~20°C, but at night that would drop to about 5-6°C. So if you're camping with someone who is more sensitive to cold, as I was, keep that in mind. Secondly, at 2000+ meters above sea level, the sun has a bit more bite to it. A fair bit more than I expected. And last but not least: Lake Yellowstone is a lot colder than I expected. My swim was rather short.

Grand Teton:

 14k foot mountains, snowy peaks in July, glacial lakes, etc. Must I say more?

Ribbon Lake Loop:

Jenny Lake Loop:

Yellowstone - Thermal Pools:

During my undergrad, I had the chance to take a course on geosciences. It was a really fun course and taught by a fun and informative professor. Among other things, he mentioned that the Yellowstone caldera is the result of an eruption hundreds of thousands of years ago, evidence of which is found as far as California, Texas, and Saskatchewan. The current magma chamber, if it erupts, will cause incredible devastation in the surrounding area, likely raining ash as far as the east coast. However, this provides an energy source to feed an intricate system of hot springs and geysers.

Old Faithful:

 

Prismatic Pool:

  

Mammoth Hot Springs:

 

The colors in the pool are indicative of the temperatures, with the hottest being blue/clear, while the coolest is brown. As the water temperature drops, more organisms can survive there, from thermophilic bacteria in some of the hottest sections to algae in the brown.

Yellowstone - Canyon:

Yellowstone River has carved a deep gash in the volcanic rock through the northwest section of the park. There are also two waterfalls in it – aptly named the Upper and Lower Falls because one is a bit upriver of the other. Not particularly creative, but very to the point. These aren’t the only waterfalls we saw, but were the most magnificent. In fact, the Lower Falls are about twice as high as Niagara. And it's possible to get right above the falls, looking down into the roaring water.

View from Inspiration Point:

  

Oh, and it inspired this haiku:

Icy snake flowing
Emerald water below
Eating at the rocks

Lower Falls from Red Rock Point:

 

Views from North Rim Trail:

 

Yellowstone - Animals:

The aforementioned hot springs are also important for the well-being of the park's animals. They provide warmth in the winter and apparently, some hungry bears tend to visit the springs when waking up from hibernation to scavenge for carcasses. I wasn’t able to get a good picture of the bear that we passed, but other animals, like bison and elk, proved quite photogenic. The squirrel, however, was actually from Teton, but here it symbolically takes the place of the countless chipmunks that I saw in Yellowstone and couldn't get a good photo of. The chipmunks are actually a bit odd there - very dull colors, almost grey, and smaller than the east coast ones.

 

 

Oh Canada, The Ski and Riding Land

Closing out my travels for 2022 was a trip to Mount Tremblant in Canada, to spend five days skiing and snowboarding. Well, it was supposed to be five days, but the weather had other plans. It's a bit of a drive to get there, but a totally worth it. Pretty standard first two days, but the giant cyclone hitting most of the continental US on 12/26 hit us pretty hard as well. As in, the mountain closed for the first time since 1998. It kept snowing the next two days as well, creating amazing deep powder. Ultimately, what was supposed to be riding Wednesday - Sunday got switched around a bit. We rode Wednesday and Thursday, rested on Friday, rode with a bit of a caveat on Saturday, and had amazing riding on Sunday.

By Sunday, we'd seen about 70 cm of fresh snowfall in a bit over two days. We were ready when the mountain opened and hit the deep, loose powder even on the trails. So much so, that at one point the front of my board dipped a bit and went under. I came to a stop buried up to mid-thigh in snow and had to dig to try to find my bindings and extricate both myself and the board. 

Saturday had a bit of a caveat due to the lingering aftershocks of Friday's storm. There were still high winds and power issues, so only one lift was running. The line was awful. So, my father and I took matters into our own hands and hiked up the slopes several times instead of spending the time waiting. Funny enough, the time walked vs the time we would have stood was almost the same. Tiring fun, but totally worth the effort, since I got some awesome photos. 

At Tremblant's base, there is a pedestrian village with shops, food, etc. There is a little cafe which I scouted out during a previous visit with a friend. I'm happy to say that it is still serving up great coffee, pastries, and lunches. 

Now for some photos:

And Burton, if you need photos of your boards, I'm happy to sell :)

A Quick University Jaunt

Introduction

During spring break in March 2022, I participated in a study abroad called Culture and Commerce in Central Europe, traveling to Germany and Holland. As part of the course, we needed to publish daily posts on the professor's blog. In fact, it was this trip that inspired me to start the Bear Den. Unfortunately, my writing was significantly worse then, so the quality will be much lower. I thought about rewriting the posts, but decided to preserve them, as is.

3-13 Munich Day 1

Beginning the trip with a visit to Dachau is a rather sobering experience. Whilst surrounded by the gray concentration camp buildings, one can’t help but feel the chill of the past, a sort of spiritual unease that comes with a place that is haunted by so many dark memories. Although not ‘enjoyable’ in the conventional sense of the word, there is definitely something special about the opportunity to visit such memorials to the tragedies that mankind can inflict on itself. In a more positive cultural memory, dinner at the Hofbrauhaus heavily played into the stereotypical German image both in terms of the cuisine and music. I never thought about it before, but the merry and laid-back attitude that comes with this atmosphere is in stark contrast to the rational, humorless attitude represented by the low indulgence score on the Hofstede rankings. It’ll be interesting to continue to observe how this contradiction plays out.

 

3/14/2022- Munich Day 2

One of the traits that the Hofstede rankings emphasized for Germany was practicality. This plays well with (a rather interesting) law in Munich- that 1% of construction costs need to be earmarked for art. Thus, to dedicate money to heritage preservation while still fulfilling this requirement, TUM (one of Munich’s technical universities) used the art fund to save old stained-glass windows during their remodels. I just found that to be a creative way to complete both tasks, while saving some beautiful windows.

This morning, I got up a little earlier to be able to wander around the city center for a while before joining the group for a walking tour. The weather was incredible and the tour guide was very knowledgeable, describing Munich’s history in substantial detail. Next, we visited BMW Welt and the Olympic Park. Unfortunately, Corona restrictions canceled the tour of the BMW factory which I had been really looking forward to. At least we were still able to explore BMW’s largest showroom.

 

Innsbruck – Day 3

Innsbruck – the bridge over the river Inn. Today’s day trip into the crossroads city located about 30 minutes from Germany and Italy was a brief, but incredible look into the city nestled in the Alps. The capital of the Tirol region is both beautiful and full of history and the walking tour and free time were enough to provide a taste of the atmosphere and culture of the city, but hopefully I’ll get another chance to spend some more time here in the future. 

 

Day 4 – Rotterdam                   

Prior to leaving Munich this morning, I took one last stroll through the quiet morning streets. It really is a pleasant city. Train travel is a greatly underappreciated form of travel in the United States. The ICE system provides an efficient, smooth, and quiet way to move between cities and countries. Using a series of these trains, we shifted our base of operations from Munich to Rotterdam. After checking into the hotel, we went out for a walking food tour to try traditional Dutch foods and learn about the history of Rotterdam. Apparently the Dutch are very into fried foods, because it seemed like everything we were eating was fried- Poffertjes, Krokketen, etc. At least the cheese wasn’t fried?

Day 5- Rotterdam    

After an early start and a bus ride to Delft, a walking tour through the slowly waking city unveiled the historic city. Severe damage during the second world war led to a very modernized Rotterdam, so Delft’s antiquity made it an interesting contrast. The windmills we visited next were also rather scenic.

The collaboration with Erasmus was quite interesting. It was my first time taking part in a case competition and it was a great experience. It was also followed up with what was probably the fanciest restaurant meal that I’ve ever had.

 

Day 6 – Hague, Amsterdam

Another early start to an exciting adventure-filled day. The morning commenced with a trip to the Hague. Apparently, some sort of government meeting was bound to go on because while we were there, we saw the minister of the environment and the minister of health. The openness with which we could stand a few dozen feet from government officials giving interviews with minimal police presence is really astounding, especially when compared to the security preserves at the White House or the Capitol. Then, during a visit to an art museum, we were able to see original Rembrandts and Vermeers.

After taking the train to Amsterdam, the walking tour continued. Of the cities in the Netherlands that we’ve visited, Amsterdam is, without a doubt, the most chaotic and bustling. I do mean it in a positive way, as it felt very much alive. Once again, I must complement the local public transportation- every city to city transit was smooth and convenient.

Day 7- Rotterdam                                      

Today was one of the latest start times of this trip. To take advantage of this, I still woke up extra early to wander through the morning city. I hadn’t accounted for it to be sleeping though (early Saturday morning). On the bright side, empty streets let me enjoy the quiet time.

The group bike tour was informative and brought me closer to their harbor than I had ever been before. No matter how many times one hears about the size of these ships, it doesn’t do much to prepare you for getting up close to them. An incredible sight to behold.

After being set loose on the city again I got to do one of my favorite things- just wander and look around. In my experience, this is one of the best ways to see a city- not too informative in terms of history, but gives an honest look at the everyday lives of the local citizens.