Wednesday 25 September 2013

Saying goodbye to the USA to enter a new country...Mexico!

Hi van baelen guillot followers (or for some van waffle guillot followers,

You must all be very happy, we just posted something two days ago and here you have another post!

With this post we want to advise you on our last days in the USA, the next post will be all about Mexico - although we currently are in Mexico already! For all of you information, we are still alive and we have not been robbed yet.

So what have we done since San Francisco? From there we went to Yosemite National Park, a collection of granite mountains and hills which recently has been in the news due to the large fires. Fortunately the fire was mostly controlled once we arrived there and non of the visitor facilities had been damaged. We spend three days here to enjoy the spectacular scenery. Our first hike took us 1.000 meters higher than the valley, up to Glacier Point, from where you can see the park's main attractions: El Capitan (a steep and brutal climb taking climbers up to 4 days) and the Half Dome ( half a mountain peak). Our second climb brought us to Clouds Rest, a hike we take as we were not able to climb the Half Dome - for which permits are required during the high season, you can get it via a lottery!!. This second hike was very tough for us as it was 35 km with an elevation of 1.700 meters. After hiking 11 hours we were dead and happy to have our bed!

From Yosemite we went direction the Grand Canyon passing Sequoia National Park. This park is home to the worlds largest trees (in volume - not altitude). Walking around there was completely surreal as the trees are gigantic - we have tried to include some picture which truly show there size, but it was not easy to capture.

From the big trees we went to the big canyon, a trip of 1.000 km. On arrival we had the pleasure to meet our first travel colleague. Guillaume from Lille was travelling for a year as well and was currently 6 months into his trip. It was great to talk to a fellow traveler and to share experiences and ideas. On top, we had a hiking companion for the Grand Canyon, which thanks to him we stayed two days instead of only one! So what about this famous canyon? We had heard so may good things about this place - some even say it is would be the only place they would visit in the USA - so we had high expectations. In total we spend two days here and we must say that it took us some time to fully see the beauty and scale of this natural wonder. After a hike into the Canyon the second day we were able to have an inverted view, which was actually even moire spectacular than seeing the canyon from above.

And after the Grand Canyon our time in the USA was almost finished. Heading direction Mexico we pass by Phoenix where JC (Joan Carles)  - a family Guillot 'brother' - and Felicia welcomed us in his house. They showed us the the city and invited us for some drinks. In addition they took us to a gorgeous lake, where we enjoyed a nice swim, but where Alex unfortunately lost his phone. We really thank JC for the time we spend there!

From Phoenix we go to Nogales, nearby the Mexican border where we prepare for our crossing and the next part of our adventure!

We will write you soon with more adventures from the Mexican country!!

The views to Yosemite's valley from Glaciers Point

El Capitan is a notorious climb of 1 km, taking most climbers 4 days and nights -we needed binoculars in order to see the people climbing!!

Yosemite's second famous spot is the Half Dome which is a real challenge to climb

Vernon Falls by night

Climbing to Clouds Rest we pass the Nevada falls - in spring the falls are much impressive

After increasing 1.000 m a quick nap is required - note Half Dome in the back -

The valley of Yosemite connects most of the facilities and tracks and is very practical to be biked

Sequoia park has a beautiful meadow from where you can actually see how big the trees are as they are less surrounded by other trees

Sequoia meadow -enormous tree on the left


General Sherman - By volume, it is the largest known living tree on earth - not the highest, not the tallest, nor the oldest! 

Now you see how big the trees are?

The Grand Canyon from above - it requires some time to see it's magnitude

The Californian Condor passing by
With our new friend and fellow traveler Guillaume

Hiking down the canyon direction the river provides even more scenic views

Luckily Alex was there to save Mireia!

Taking a dip together with JC and Felicia!


5 comments:

  1. Mireia! Que te perdemos!!! No nos dejes tan pronto! Queremos seguir siguiendo vuestras aventuras!
    Mireia seems a ant compared to the big tree!

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    1. Esperem que no ens pasires! De moment tot genial!

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  2. Chicos que bien lo estáis pasando! Ya os acercais poquito a poco al sur! Que tal en México? se comportan? Os adelantamos que los peruanos son encantadore, y el paisaje una pasada...os va a flipar! Seguid informando y cuidaos mucho!

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    1. Sara, ya voy viendo vuestras fotos, que pasada vuestro viaje, apuntar todo ;)! Kisses for both of you!

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  3. Great to see always these fantastic pictures and great stories. With the blog, we can travel with you (at least in our mind).
    Being already a large distance in Mexico, in Creel, you must have beautiful sceneries! It seems that the area has the most impressing canyons of the world.
    Looking forward to the next info.

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