For the past 2 1/2 années, I’ve been focusing on seeing the world through international travel. I’ve been quick to spend my money on flights to other countries and eager to experience the new cultures, people, & places found there.

But a few months ago, Je rêvais occupée de plus exotique, far far away locales when I suddenly realized I was so determined to see the rest world that I had forgotten about many of the treasures found right here in the my own country. Je décidé que je devais mieux explorer les États-Unis de manière plus approfondie avant d'aller nulle part ailleurs, et nous savons tous qu'il n'y a qu'une seule façon de s'y prendre…

 

ROADTRIP!!!

 

Hitting the open road with the pedal to the metal & the windows down is in every American’s DNA. Si vous ne l'avez pas été sur un voyage sur la route épique à travers les Etats-Unis vous, you probably know someone who has. USA viennent de voyage de route dans toutes les formes & tailles, and we road trip for all sorts of reasons.

Gotta make it to a wedding in Chicago for the weekend? ROADTRIP!

Prise 3 semaines de congé pour se rendre à la côte californienne et à l'arrière? ROADTRIP!

Never seen the Grand Canyon & want to go just because? ROADTRIP!

Notre voyage sur la route la plupart du temps ressemblait à celui-ci. Nous avons décidé de profiter des prix du gaz à bas prix, temps hors du travail, et exquis de États-Unis National Park system. Mon frère & I sont les amateurs de plein air presque tout-connexes, and we stocked our summer plans full of hiking, camping, mountaineering, climbing, & swimming. This was not a road trip to experience the greatest cities, beaches, eateries or parties around the USA, but a journey to totally submerse ourselves in the unparalleled ecological & geographic diversity that this country has to offer.

Les Statistiques

Trip length: 65 days

Miles driven: 9,454 (15,215 km)

States visited: 17 (Georgia, Tennessee, Kentucky, Illinois, Missouri, Iowa, South Dakota, Montana, Wyoming, Colorado, Utah, Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama)

Total I spent on trip: $2,152.63

TOTAL je passais sur le gaz: $432.79 (my brother & I split everything 50/50, & put $865.58 in the gas tank total)

Oil changes: 3

# of times we got the truck stuck: Only 1 (my fault hehe)

National Parks visited: 11

Longest day of driving: 20 hours – from Toccoa, GA to some state park in northwest Iowa (where we slept for 4 hours before driving 8 more to the Badlands in South Dakota).

Nights slept under a roof: 17

Waterfall/river/lake hobo showers (with biodegradable soap of course): too many to count

# of fois, nous avons utilisé les lentilles, rice, beans, pasta, and/or quinoa as our base ingredient for meals: every time we cooked

Bottles of hot sauce used: 9

 

Highlights/Superlatives

Most boring state driven: Iowa

Unless you like, vraiment love corn or something…

Le plus beau état entraîné: Montana

Everything seems to be bigger & wilder in Montana. Plus il ya comme 3,000 lakes or something.

The state most likely to be from a different planet: Utah

I’ve never been to Mars, nor do I particularly know much about Mars, but I imagine that it might look something like Utah.

Prix ​​pour l'Etat qui est vraiment génial, mais tout le monde sait déjà, so I’m focusing on writing about other places: Colorado

Meilleurs parcs nationaux pour paysages alpins: Glacier National Park, MT & Grand Teton National Park, WY

Glacier National Park wasn’t called the “Crown of the Continent” for nothing!

Best National Parks for seeing wildlife: Yellowstone National Park, WY & Glacier National Park, MT

Herds of buffalo, bearded mountain goats, soaring eagles, majestic elk, scurrying marmot, & of course the grizzly bears. Just another day in these national parks.

Most Unique National Park: Zion National Park, UT

Think Yosemite meets the Grand Canyon, then paint everything red & jeter dans certains des plus rocher baddest-assness & canyon formations known to man.

Most unique National Park feature: The geyser basins & zones géothermiques de Yellowstone. There are over 10,000 of them, making it one of the world’s great geological wonders.

Most surprising that it’s not a national park: Wind River Range, WY

Plus susceptibles d'être une ville que je vis en un jour: Bozeman, Montana or Moab, Utah.

 

 

Top 3 randonnées d'une journée

 

• Highline Trail (Logan Pass to “the Loop”), Glacier National Park, Montana

The Highline trail actually stretches on throughout the entire park, mais ça 12 section de mile fourni spectaculaire & une vue imprenable cohérente pendant des heures. Il est effectivement difficile de terminer la randonnée, not because of how strenuous it is (it’s not), mais parce qu'il est difficile de garder de l'arrêt de tous les 100 feet & snapping more pictures.

• The Narrows, Zion National Park, Utah

Probably the most famous slot canyon in the world. Esquiver 100 de personnes & slipping on river rocks doesn’t sound like the most appealing hike, but trust me, it’s totally worth it.

• The Subway, Zion National Park, Utah

Another famous slot canyon in Zion, the Subway is much more remote & virgin-feeling, principalement parce que le nombre de randonneurs sont limitées par jour avec des permis. Peu de choses dans la vie sont de plus gratifiant que d'atteindre enfin le “Subway” tunnel formation & plunging into a refreshing, aquamarine pool.

Top 3 voyages d'une nuit

(for those with a tent & camping gear):

• Cirque of the Towers loop (Fremont to Big Sandy trails via Texas Pass), Wind River Range, Wyoming

Le Cirque des Tours est la section la plus tristement célèbre de la chaîne de Wind River, et pour une bonne raison. Je ne l'ai pas vu un tel affichage monstrueuse de la magnificence de granit pur partout, mais la vallée de Yosemite. Outre les grimpeurs avancés qui font le pèlerinage, there are hardly any people out there, which adds to the aura.

• Summiting Middle Teton via the Southwest Couloir

We actually did this in one day, but most opt for camping in the upper meadows & making a 2-day excursion out of Middle Teton, which I would recommend. Bien que de nombreuses montagnes dans le bas 48 are taller than the Tetons, the intense elevation gain & près exposition constante que les randonneurs doivent faire face au cours d'une tentative de sommet est quelque chose que vous vous souviendrez pour toujours.

• Buckskin Gulch, Vermillion Cliffs Wilderness Area, Utah/Arizona

A permit-only slot canyon that stretches on for 20 miles along the Utah/Arizona border that’s as photogenic as Antelope Canyon, but much more remote & extreme.

Best campsite: So many good ones, but if I had to pick one it would be our Shadow Lake campsite, on the first night of our Wind River Range backpacking trip. Étourdissant.

Most likely to be the coldest water we swam in: Ce prix est décerné à Lonesome lac, also in the Wind River Range. La fonte des glaciers droite.

Best meal: The best bison burger I’ve ever eaten – Montana Ale Works, Bozeman, Montana.

Best beer: Mountain Livin’ Pale Ale, Crazy Mountain Brewery, Vail, CO

Most beautiful drive: Going-to-the-Sun Road in Glacier National Park. Bonne chance en essayant de garder vos yeux sur la route!

Plus exaltante / expérience éprouvante: Seeing a mama grizzly bear with her 2 cubs in the wild. Nous avons gardé une distance saine, but that didn’t mean we weren’t mildly terrified.

Best investment: Bear spray

Think Off! Skintastic, but for bears. Cette concoction étonnante est la seule véritable défense pour les ours en plus de jouer morts, AFTER they charge & tackle you to the ground. Je ne sais pas pour vous, but that doesn’t strike me as much of a defense….plus comme un “okay, I give up – go ahead and eat me!” surrender. Bear spray is an absolute must for hiking in grizzly bear country.

Most underutilized investment: Bear spray

But I’ve never been more happy to spend money on something I didn’t use.

Still a necessary investment in 2015: A solid Rand McNally road atlas. Surtout dans l'Ouest, cell phone service & thus GPS capabilities come and go.

Plus susceptibles d'être la plus grande déception du voyage: Texas BBQ. Nous avons une meilleure trucs à la maison. Nous avons mangé dans un endroit appelé Stubb à Austin, and besides it being meh, mon frère est tombé malade & was bed-ridden the entire next day. Juste peut-être nous avons pris un mauvais endroit où aller, but still – disappointing.

Biggest revelation: Je l'aime réellement la pêche! Well, let me clarify: Je aime pêche à la mouche pour les espèces indigènes truite sur la rivière Yellowstone. I was always too impatient to get into flat water fishing back home with the bobber & lombrics, mais pêche à la mouche dans l'Ouest est un entier different ballgame. Criez à Evan & Eliza pour nous montrant the tug is the drug.

Wasn’t worth the hype: Wall Drug, South Dakota

After 400 miles (no joke) de Wall Drug annonces le chemin entier à travers le Dakota du Sud, Wall Drug turned out to be nothing more than a washed up 1880 western town-style tourist trap for people leaving the Badlands.

Was worth the hype: Mont Rushmore

Mount Rushmore became a lot cooler when we snuck away from all the tourists on the nature trail & hiked up a side mountain for a private, VIP-feeling view. Avantage, Rushmore is in the middle of the Black Hills National Forest – une zone magnifiquement unique avec dense, forest-covered mountains, & massive exposed boulders. Voir mon South Dakota post for more detailed info.

Montagne plus susceptibles de ressembler à la montagne où le Grinch a vécu: Grand Teton

The “I can’t believe that’s actually a real place!” award: The Wave, Arizona

Near the Utah/Arizona border, une piste largement banalisée à travers le désert ouverte vous emmène à une formation de grès appelé The Wave. It’s uber-trippy bro, and even crazier to think that it was all formed by wind erosion!

Funniest cross-cultural experience: AAA jeu de baseball du Chihuahua à El Paso, TX. Mariachi dance cams, margarita & Mexican beer vendors everywhere, & delicious tacos instead of hot dogs at the ballpark? ¡VAMOS CHIHUAHUAS CABRONES!

Biggest #squadgoals moment: *TIE * Fumer des cigares cubains au Glacier Grinnell négliger ET summiting Mt. Elbert, the highest mountain in the Rockies.

 

How we kept it cheap

Car camping

My brother put a camper top on his 2005 Toyota Tacoma, and measuring 6′ from cab to tailgate, the bed of the truck was the perfect, bien, bed. Nous avions juste assez d'espace pour transférer toutes nos affaires à la cabine du camion, blow up the sleep pads & stretch out for a night of Zzz’s.

 

National Forests/BLM land

National parks usually have multiple campgrounds that accommodate both tent & RV campers for cheap prices, but also, more often than not, national parks are surrounded by national forest or BLM (Bureau of Land Management) land. Pourquoi est-ce important que vous demandez? Parce que libre est importante. Il est gratuit et légal pour mettre en place le camp & sleep anywhere on these lands, because just like the parks, cette terre a été désigné pour “the benefit & enjoyment of the people.” (thanks, Teddy)

Cooking our own food

With a camp stove, a pot set, a spice kit, & a little patience, road trippers can drastically lower their costs by buying & cooking their own food. Ce fut aussi mon voyage inaugural pour mon nouveau Yeti cooler, and I have to say that it is worth the cost if you’re road tripping. It’s hard to put a price on fresh veggies to liven up that pot of lentils, or a cold beer after an exhausting 12 mile hike.

GasBuddy

This app let’s you find the cheapest gas stations on the road, ensuring that you never pay too much to fill up your tank.

Refilling water bottles

Stop filling up the landfills and buy yourself a Nalgene already! Profitez de voyager dans un pays où l'eau du robinet pratiquement tous où est potable, and stop spending money on plastic bottle waters – that can add up. Je vous recommande aussi fortement une CamelBak 3L resevoir, especially for the hotter, dryer states out west like Utah & Arizona.

Staying with friends

Don’t be too proud to ask your friends to crash. Les hôtels sont pour les personnes âgées, and let’s be honest, you don’t have that much money anyways.

Annual National Park Pass

Un $80 America the Beautiful de parc passe annuelle gets you access to ALL 58 national parks for a year, and given that national park entrance fees range anywhere between $20-30 per vehicle, that’s a great deal.

In Summary: Appréciation

Notre roadtrip à travers le Far West des Etats-Unis a été un énorme succès. Nous avons grimpé des montagnes difficiles, got up close & personnel avec la faune, met up with great friends & made some new ones, obtenu plus en contact avec la nature, stayed healthy (for the most part), went just about everywhere we wanted to go, and didn’t spend a fortune doing it!

But most importantly, we gained a better appreciation for our own country.

But not just a better appreciation for the eclectic geographic landscapes & biodiversity of the United States, but for the system of laws put into place that facilitate the preservation of these natural treasures that God has given us.

An appreciation pour le leadership de gens comme le président Teddy Roosevelt qui a créé le réseau des parcs nationaux & inspired the designation of government-protected lands.

An appreciation pour la prévoyance illustrés lorsque ces terres ont été déclarées être administré par le gouvernement fédéral pour “the benefit and enjoyment of the people.”

An appreciation for the infrastructure of the park & ranger services, who do everything from providing maps & trip-planning assistance to wilderness rescue & stewarding endangered species revitalization.

An appreciation that the United States of America has set an example, and not some bullshit political or military “victory”, mais un real soucieux de l'environnement par exemple pour le reste du monde à suivre: l'assurance que les générations futures aient les mêmes droits & opportunities to enjoy this beautiful planet that we do today.

This is something that we can be proud of as Americans. Ceci est quelque chose que nous pouvons être heureux de payer des impôts pour.

The clearest way into the Universe is through a forest wilderness. – John Muir

So that was the roadtrip USA overview. Les messages spécifiques à l'état à venir!

Have you ever been on a roadtrip around the USA? Où êtes-vous allé? Avez-vous acquis une appréciation pour ce pays? Commenter ci-dessous et dites-moi où vous êtes allé & what you learned on your roadtrip USA, because I’m already planning the next one!