The Day of Grand Sceneries

14.08.2017
Jānis writing:

On the 14th of August we woke up at the very reasonable hour of 6 o’clock. However, this time we were pleasantly surprised by being offered breakfast. In all honesty we knew that breakfast was hoped for, but it being edible was still a pleasant surprise. After eating, packing and washing we were ready to get going by 7:20.
This day we had a single stop planed – the Grand Canyon. I must say that the Grand Canyon is not a case of marketing or sarcasm. I can truly say that it is one of the most impressive, beautiful and unique natural objects that I have ever seen and the 6 hours that we spent there where nowhere near enough.

It is quite indescribable. Now, one can overhear a lot of interesting things if one keeps his or her ears open. Two quotes by a ranger comes to mind, as I am writing this. Number one: “a picture will never do it.” No matter where or how you may have seen replicas, pictures or movies containing the Great Canyon I can guarantee that they did not do it justice. Number two: “I came here when I was eight or nine and just never got over it.” The quote makes perfect sense after visiting the canyon.

It is exceptionally hard to put in words the steep, broken cliffs promising a slow and painless death to anyone who ventures to close to their edges. The shear history contained in its slopes, uncovered by millions of years of erosion, wherein a billion years of Earth’s history are laid bare. The rare views of a muddy river hiding in the depths of the canyon slowly, gradually continuing its age old duty.

Anyway, we did not have the time explore the whole canyon and had to satisfy ourselves with only a couple of viewing platforms and a, comparably, short walk to the shuttle bus by the edge of the canyon. Still, the walk offered several opportunities and angles from which to view the canyon, as well as several exhibits, for example several rocks where placed along the path displayed with their names and information about how long ago they were formed.

After exiting the canyon we visited two more points. The first was Grand view vista that provided an impressive view of the Grand Canyon, but nothing truly unique after the day we have just had.
The second was a place called “Desert view” which had a tower that, while not the tallest building, provided an excellent view of the canyon. Although, the experience was slightly ruined by the mass of people trying to get into, as well as take pictures from the same small room.

After visiting these viewing platforms it was time to head to our campsite in the stunning Monument valley. Before I finish, I feel it appropriate to mention that August 14th is the birthday of Inese, so we had ourselves a little celebration.

Our campsite had two major advantages. Number one – it was located on a slight slope facing the Monument valley with its rustic beauty and awe inspiring peaks. Number two – it is located ever so slightly in the middle of nowhere giving us a very clear sky. Despite the biting wind and the ever-present red sand we left the top of our tent off and slept under the clear sky.

The Second Day in Yosemite Valley

04.08.2017
Kristīne writing:

We wake up in 6 a.m., because we plan to leave at 7 a.m. We have to start early, because we don’t have reservation for next night. Most of the camping places need reservation, but there are some available upon arrival. So the earlier you get there, the bigger chance to get camping place. 5 minutes long team meeting and discussing of plans, and we are on our way.

At 7:50 a.m. we arrive in Bridalveil Creek campground. It occurs there are no instantly available camping places. All the campground is full. We are suggested by volunteer ranger to walk around and ask to people whether they leave today. It works and we find two camp places that will come available during this day. Ilgonis and his companions succeed to arrange co-camping with some German campers. They are only two persons, but the limit is six persons per camp place (and 2 cars). At about 9 o’clock we have camp places for all. As we are suggested to place some of our belongings there, we build up our tents before leaving. Cost for one camp place for six people is 18 dollars. I must say we cheated a little bit and lived more than 6 people in every place. As one of reserved camp places is set free quickly we all gather there for breakfast.

At about 11 a.m. we are ready to leave for hiking. There are thirteen of us who are going to do the hardest route to Glacier Point and back to valley. Other five are going to take the easiest route – Mist trail.

Route to the Glacier Point is 7.5 km long with elevation of 900 meters. It’s pretty steep and all the way is going up. Most of us move quite quickly and are up in some two hours or little more. It’s not so easy for me, Māris, Ausma and Inese, and we reach the end of the route in 3 hours and 20 minutes.

Finally we all are on the top of this mountain and can enjoy the view, the fact that we did it, cold drink and ice cream. It was worth to hike up, the view from the Glacier Point is beautiful. And I think this is one of the better reasons to climb mountains – to enjoy the view. We can see the valley down and higher mountains beyond it, including the Half Dome.
And yes, there is a shop up there, and pretty much of civilization, because most of people don’t hike up there, but arrive with cars and have to walk just some five hundred meters to the Glacier Point reaching of what was quite hard hiking for us (at least for some of us).

After some thirty minutes we are ready for the next 13.5 km route to get back to the Yosemite Valley. It is called Panorama trail and it takes the hikers along Vernal Falls and Nevada falls. Almost all the way it goes down except part of the route in the other side of the valley which goes up again.

We hike without rush enjoying the view and taking a lot of photos. Thirteen kilometers seem nothing to us. Somewhere at the Nevada falls we realize that it’s still some 5 km to walk down and it’s already pretty late. Twilight sets at about 8 p.m. and it gets dark at about 8:30pm there. It means we really have to fasten our pace to get down, because it’s pretty dangerous to hike in the darkness on the wet stones (it’s also raining from time to time).

So three of us decide to hurry down – me, Ausma and Inese. Others still decide to go till Nevada Falls and then down taking the longer route. We are down from the mountain little before 8 o’clock making it in the twilight still. The last 750 meters along the valley we walk in the darkness, but we have one flash light, so there is no problem with walking. Soon we are at the road where shuttle bus goes. It goes along the valley and is free of charge. We are happy to be down from the mountain, but are little worried about our group mates, who are still somewhere in their way to the valley. While we are waiting for bus, we succeed to contact them on radio (walkie-talkies). They are fine and will be on the shuttle road in a while.

Bus arrives in ten minutes, and after some round along the valley we finally are at the parking place where we left our cars. We get a text message from others that they succeed to catch next shuttle bus.

At about half past nine we arrive in campground. Our tent is wet and not only from outside – in the morning rush we did not fix the outer layer well. We dry it as we can, then some late supper and sleep. It was long day and everyone is quite tired.
Officially both routes together should be 21 km long, but our GPS navigation says we made 26 km.

The Long Day

31.07.2017
Imants writing:

Second morning of our journey begins with decent breakfast offered by the Mercure hotel we stay in. Part of the Eclipse Tour team who took a rest last evening before going back to the airport take opportunity to explore hotel neighbourhood. Our shuttle bus arrives with 20 minutes delay but this is not an issue because we have plenty of time before upcoming flight.

After mandatory security checks and passport control procedure we are ready to fly to our point of destination. It is about 45 minutes left till boarding and some of it goes to do routine airport window-shopping. Most of the team lead to a remote gate where additional security checks are expected for people travelling to United States. And there is unpleasant surprise for us – security officer after checking Loreta’s documents announce that previously acquired ESTA is not valid because of passport number mismatch in both documents and she is not allowed to board. An hour remained until the end of the boarding is dedicated to resolve this issue. Unfortunately due to technical reasons Loreta is unable to acquire new ESTA and therefore she and Austris are forced to stay in Istanbul. It is severe loss for our team.

As we are heading to West the Sun is shining in the sky during all the twelve hours long flight. One can say that we have returned to past or had a special long last day of July as when we landed in San Francisco there is still 31 July. After the Customs and border control we meet Agnese who arrived just two hours later from L.A. Afterwards we take a public transport and go by groups to our accommodation sites. Could be that everyone is tired after such a long flight and needs to gain energy for next day when we are going to explore the city of San Francisco.

Agnese comments:
Later it was found out from the US embassy that Turkish Airlines had no right to deny the boarding because of missing ESTA. There always is a chance to acquire ESTA after landing in the US as it’s a very quick process (of course ESTA can be denied and then it’s not a quick process at all)

Hello crazy eclipse chasers!

This will be the nr 7 trip, and while I thought it will be easier, feels like it will be not, because of so many people to manage and so long time to spend on the road. Again I wish there was another week between now and the first flight – there’s so much to do still! But then again – if everything will be planned, there will be less surprises, and I think that surprises are those that make memories and adventures the best.
Even though the trip will be long – 4 weeks – some of the travelers think that we should spend more time in some of the places – hence I offered to leave them there and arrange to meet up in the flight home. It looked like there will be at least a handful of places where to leave somebody for longer. Let’s see how it goes in reality. So far they were not too enthusiastic to cross Nevada in the middle of summer on foot :)