The trip USA 2011

The trip

Long Beach, California

Long Beach Aquarium of the Pacific (Black-tipped reefsharks)

Here I post some pictures from the 8 states I was driving through during my 14 day long roadtrip. From chilly Long Beach and Los Angeles (yes, it was pretty cold in California!), through Mojave desert, Death Valley National Park, via Nevada and Las Vegas and into southern parts of Utah. The beehive or mormon state has all kinds of nature, from the deserts in the southern range, the prairie-like panhandle in the central parts, to the rugged high snow-covered mountain areas all over the state, in addition to the colorful canyons and cliffs of the numerous national parks in the southern region.

Since I only had a limited time to spend in the national parks, the stopovers in Zion National Park, Bryce Canyon National Park, Capitol Reef National Park and Arches National Park became brief. Zion NP was very crowded when I visited, so to get away from the masses, it would have been necessary to hike. But the colored cliffs and the rest of the nature in the park was very nice. Bryce Canyon NP was less crowded and quite chilly, and dominated by the impresssive amphitheather with hundreds of hoodoos. Bryce Canyon NP also had a richer wildlife, with mule deers, pronghorns and many different bird species. Capitol Reef NP is named for a particularly colorful section of the Waterpocket fold, creating a slickrock wilderness of domes, cliffs, and a maze of twisting canyons. In Arches NP I only spent half a day. Since it turned out to be impossible to find an available motel or hotel room in the city of Moab, I had to drive north to Green River for acommodation after spending the sunset hours in the colorful park.

Instead of driving to Salt Lake City, I choosed a more easternly route, mainly to visit one of the best birding spots in Utah according to many web sites, namely the Ouray National Wildlife Refuge in the north-eastern region. Unfortunately, most of the roads in the refuge were temporarily closed due to flooding. Still, this region close to the Green river was obvious a good birding spot. From there I drove north to the desolate Wyoming, with sparsely populated endless open plains before entering the impressive Shoshone National Forest, the first national forest established in the USA, and then into the Grand Teton and Yellowstone National Parks area.

For me, the highlight of the trip was of course Yellowstone, with its rich wildlife (see comments there). After three amazing and freezingly cold days in Yellowstone, I continued north to Montana and Interstate 90. The last days saw a lot of driving, with only brief stops in Montana, Idaho and Washington states before delivering the car in Seattle.

Some pictures from the Sonoran desert (2001 trip)