Jim Travels The World

Sept 15th Drive on to Mt. Rainier, and the mountain is shrouded in clouds. You're supposed to be able to see the peak from 100 miles away, but we can't see shit.  pictured: shit We drive up to the first visitor center to get some trail recommendations but they tell us we won't be able to see anything today. There's a fog all around, and a rainy mist that lasts all day. We drive up to the next visitor center and walk around a bit.  at least it's a nice drive We're bored by now, but on our way back down we stop at a 4 mile hike to a beautiful waterfall that makes us feel much better.  wha-bam! big ass waterfall Then I made the executive decision to stay at the lodge instead of camp because I don't want to sleep in a wet cold tent. hopefully tomorrow there'll be some sun so we can see the peak.  Sept 16th  Awoke and opened the window, and could see the peak of my rainier for the first time it's a huge, imposing thing, towering over everything around.  ...

Sept 13th  Some day I'll write a book about the best and worst of this country. I'll title it "fat Americans eating ice cream at the national park gift shop".  Drove into Olympic national park and got instructions from park ranger on what to do. I used to plan out hikes before going National Parking, but now i like to ask the local experts. Drove up to hurricane ridge, while it was cloudy. We drove above the fog and did a hike along the ridge, looking down on the fog filling the valleys between snowy peaks. I think there's ocean in there somewhere, too Then to the Sol Duc falls, a rainforest hike to a large waterfall. After that, on to Forks, the town that was the setting for the twilight novels. Everything in town had something to do with the books. That must be so awesome for locals (/sarcasm). Not that we were there for that reason, we were just passing through. I haven't read Twilight, but I read this article on cracked.com so I don't have to. This ar...

Sunday 11th 2011 After a roadside breakfast at some rabbit-themed restaurant (I had the "eggs bunnydict" omg rofl) we entered north cascades national park.  tree big Got our campsite,  full disclosure: i edited this photo. the real-life scene was in color. then to the vis center for trail recommendations.  We go to hike Sourdough mountain. The trail guide lists it as "very strenuous". This was the toughest dayhike I've ever done. 10 miles roundtrip, and 4,000 feet of elevation gained in the first 3.5 miles.  And add to that the fact that we cant really rest, because there are so many biting flies and mosquitos that during any pause they would swarm like crazy. But the views at the top were spectacular. A panorama of snowy peaks, huge waterfalls and eerily-green lakes. I thought the hike would kill me but it was worth it.  take that, sourdough. Monday 12th Today we did the "tourist" version of the park. We drove to a lookout, got out of the car, snapped...

Saturday Sept 10th Flew into Seattle in the morning. Picked up the rental car and made our way to the nearest REI to get some supplies. not pictured: REI After that we head to the Pike Place market, which kinda reminds us of queen Vic market in Melbourne. Seattle is full of alternative people. Lots of tats, piercings and dreads. And a Huckleberry milkshake, which was fucking awesome. Huckleberries are my favorite NW vacation thing. Then, long drive north to the totem motel outside north cascades. Beautiful drive (once we were out of Seattle, which had the most horrendous traffic ever) through huge trees and increasingly-large mountains.

For the last 3 or 4 years, I've been on a quest to hike every trail in Rocky Mountain National Park. While I've conquered quite a bit in that short time, until just recently, much of the park's harder-to-access west side had eluded me. I'd had one long hike to Lake Verna from the East Inlet trail, and that is a spectacular hike, but otherwise, most of my hiking experience has been on the more-crowded east side. Then Lisa and I decided to tackle the Tonahutu Loop Trail , beginning near the park's west entrance. It was 3 days/2 nights, and almost ten miles each day. First day, we began in grassy meadows and then slowly ascended to the base of Flattop Mountain. i love the gradual ascent into alpine country On the second day, we huffed and puffed all the way up and then back down the summit of Flattop Mountain at 12,500'. The view from the top was awesome, but we were rushed trying to make sure we were back down to tree line before any storms might hit. We had side ...

chasing bears. we saw some from distance, but we were on a hunt to find one up close unfortunately, this was as close as we got. elusive fuckers. the second and third days in Yellowstone were spent doing some hiking, wildlife spotting, and driving, because the damn place is huge . trail closed frownie face. Unfortunately we saw this a lot because of so much snow. But also, we got to see stuff like this which makes it hard to complain and more like this, the awesome thermal stuff you get when you're inside an active volcano. you'd see steam clouds everywhere in the park. Must make it hard to tell when there's a fire. the one long hike we got to do in the park yielded this sweet beaver pond. The park has so many trails they're not listed on the main park map. But that also may be because your average fat American who visits the park isn't going to hike. He just wants to see old faithful and drink some moose-themed microbrew at the lodge bar. USA!

I had unfortunately left our snowshoes in Colorado before leaving on this trip, and after first seeing the snowy Tetons, it was pretty clear we were going to need them. Stopped in Jackson WY to rent some, and the guy was giving me a lecture about how i needed to stay out of the canyons and not go into any elevation at all because I'd die in an avalanche. I nodded politely the whole time. The when I put down my deposit, I showed him my driver's license and when he saw I was from Colorado, he said "Oh, never mind about all that. I guess you probably know what you're doing". That's right, buddy. After two days in snowy Grand Teton, we head for Yellowstone. First stop, Ye Olde Faithful. The park gets 3 million visitors per year, and this is supposedly the slow time, but the visitor centers were very crowded. I don't like sharing nature. bubbling mud pots. stanky but look cool. mud caught in mid-splooge pretty you could say it's a bunch of holes in the grou...

Grand Teton National Park sits just south of Yellowstone, its more famous, but also ridiculously more crowded neighbor. i see mountains every day in colorado, but it's nice to see different mountains from time to time. The Tetons are interesting because there's no foothills, they spring out of the valley like spikes.  there was a good bit of snow in the park, you could say. snow + cold weather = uncrowded trails, which is a fair price to pay, in my opinion.  i don't think these are bodysnatcher spore pods. but then again, maybe that's just what i want you to think. The moose was out of the office when we stopped by.

Sunday 27th Off to tour London a bit more with my host and coworker Nicholas. We catch a train to a market downtown, then a bus to Trafalgar square. There is a bit of evidence of the protests from yesterday, broken beer bottles, protest signs, new graffiti. We walk to the London bridge, Big Ben, and many other buildings that I didn't even know what they were but were damn impressive. not pictured: falling down Walk on more to the imperial war museum. This kind of thing is more my dad's forte, but I hear it's interesting. We spend two hours there and see only about a quarter of it. We're tired and decide to head back home. Riding the train makes me miss Australia. I wasn't too keen on London when I got here, but this place is starting to grow on me. Monday 28th Last day of work in the office, and a busy one. Bus to work is interesting, I see many bikes lane-splitting, dodging in between moving cars. It's crazy Tuesday 29th I'm outta ...

Saturday 26th The big day. Taxi to my bus pickup at 7:30. Bus to Windsor Castle. Grey and a bit rainy out. The tour bus, mostly American and Japanese tourists, filter out to the entrance. The flag is flying which means the queen is at the castle today.  flak vests and automatic weapons. these guys aren't fucking around We stroll through the state apartments, which are a bunch or ornate rooms with paintings, suits of armor, swords, other relics.  adds a bit of regal to the Brown Drab See the changing of the guard. Katy Pery's 'Firework' sounds so beautiful coming from these olde english musicians Bus then on the Stonehenge. The English countryside is pretty, green, hilly. Reminds me of Tasmania; like everything here reminds me of something in Australia. My heart skips a beat when I actually see the rock formations; I can't believe I'm here. Walk around with the audio guide and listen to the theories about why they think it's here. ...

Wednesday 23rd Make it to London via Heathrow. Bags not in London. I am not at all surprised. they will be here tomorrow, apparently. Taxi to my hotel. The city is all brown and red brick, very dark and old. Taxi driver gets address wrong, but I know I'm close by so I get out to walk.  Immediately discover a Brit language quirk: guy giving directions tells me it's 'two streets over' but he means one street over because he's counting the street we're on right now as one of those two streets.  whatevs. Like when an Australian says 'next thursday' and it's Tuesday, he actually means two days from now. Hyde park hotel. Smallest hotel room I've ever seen. The entire bathroom is literally as small as my bathtub at home. Wander around the shopping area nearby and buy some clothes so I can have freshies tomorrow. video chat with the wife then off to bed. Thursday 24th Short walk to the office. More brown drab old buildings. It...