Journey Across America

Off the coast of California, the isolated Channel Islands have a unique set of flora and fauna because there has never been a land bridge connecting them to the mainland and because they lie at the confluence of two ocean… Continue reading

Death Valley is the eastern-most of several graben (or rift) valleys that run north-south in this part of southern California, between the Pacific Ocean in the west and the Rocky Mountains in the east. Each valley is separated from the… Continue reading

Kings Canyon and Sequoia National Parks are operated as a single unit and about half of the world’s remaining giant sequoia trees (Sequoiadendron giganteum) are contained in these parks. They are distinguished from the Coastal Redwoods (Sequoia sempervirens) by being… Continue reading

Yosemite is made of volcanic rock, primarily granite, uplifted, scoured by massive glaciers, forming Yosemite valley and further shaped by water from snowfall in the mountains. Sunrise at Glacier Point I met the sunrise at Glacier Point, which overlooks Yosemite… Continue reading

The Pinnacles are volcanic rock formations protruding through the rolling hills of California, formed some 23 million years ago, which have travelled 195 miles north along the San Andreas Fault since that time. Old Pinnacles Trail I camped at the… Continue reading

I arrived at Lassen Volcanic National Park on a cold, blustery, rainy afternoon. The Visitor Center, usually a warm and welcoming place was closed. Clouds and fog obscured any long-range views. I stopped at the “Sulphur Factory,” a place stinking… Continue reading

Morning in the Woods I awoke in the Redwood Park’s Elk Prairie Campground; stepping out of the Revel van, I was immediately entranced by this scene: What a great way to wake up! There was a good deal of moisture… Continue reading

Crater Lake is actually a caldera lake. Crater lakes are formed when the top of a volcano is blown off in an eruption and the resulting space is filled with water from precipitation. In the case of a caldera lake,… Continue reading

I’ve spent a very pleasant couple of months in Washington, but now it is time to resume my Journey Across America. My vehicle is a slightly upgraded version of the Winnebago Revel in which I started this journey, now equipped… Continue reading

On June 3, 2024, I set out on a journey aimed at visiting all the national parks in the lower 48 in my Revel Sprinter Van. While I have been a member of the Mountaineers (www.mountaineers.org) and have done my… Continue reading

Unfortunately, while traveling to Great Basin National Park, my Revel Van was involved in an accident that caused it to leave the road and suffer some damage. Nobody was hurt. It will be a while before the disposition of the… Continue reading

Arrival I arrived at the Bryce Canyon Visitor Center in the middle of the afternoon; while there were quite a few people there, it was nowhere near as crowded as Zion. I learned that, in the busiest season, there had… Continue reading

Crowds at the Visitor Center I entered Zion National Park from the east and took Route 9 through the park toward Hurricane, with the intention of stopping at the Zion Canyon Visitor Center en route. There was bumper-to bumper traffic… Continue reading

I arrived at the Northern Rim of the Grand Canyon in the late afternoon. In spite of the use of this sight in so many icon images, the first view was truly jaw dropping; all I could say was “Wow!”… Continue reading

I dropped by the Petrified Forest National Center on the way to my campground on Saturday; as usual, this was very informative and a ranger told me that a great way to introduce myself to the Park was to take… Continue reading