Counting it Down – 50 Travel Memories (Part 4)

This post is in continuation with the previous “Counting it Down” posts. Check out Part 1, Part 2 and Part 3 for a list of my top 31-50 memories! I am more thrilled as we get closer to the top 10 🙂 But for now, let’s count down travel memories 20-11!

20. Rafting at American River, Lake Tahoe – Summer 2007
I mentioned in one of my previous posts that I am not too fond of water. I say that today, but a few years back, I was petrified of most water activities. So, when a bunch of friends signed me up for a rafting adventure, I was skeptical. While we got our paddling instructions, I prayed not to fall in the river. But half a day of instructions + class 3-4 rafting + not falling in the water = a super happy me and a long lasting memory.

Rafting at American River, Tahoe

19. Crater Lake, Oregon: Bluest of blues – Summer 2009
I had read a lot about Crater Lake being the bluest of all lakes, but my definition of a blue lake changed after our Crater Lake visit in Summer of 2009. As blue as it can get :). What made the trip more memorable was reading up stories of Llao and Skell at each vista to discover how the crater and the lake within were formed along with great hikes, camping and picturesque views.

Wizard island – Crater Lake National Park

18. Seattle, Washington : The emerald city – Spring 2011
We only spent 3 days in Seattle and absolutely loved every bit of our stay. I wish we could have stayed longer. I did not know whether to pick Pike Place Market or engineering marvel at Ballard Locks or views of Seattle downtown from Kerry Park or the underground tour of Seattle’s historic district or colorfully yukky Gum Wall. It was definitely a great vacation!

View of Seattle Downtown from Kerry Park in Queen Anne

17. New York Downtown – Summer 2006
The first time I went to New York was for a 2 day job interview for one of the Big 4’s. 2 days in Times Square and I knew what all the hype about it was. I visited New York again with my family after my graduation and fell in love with the place all over again! Though I do want to visit New York during winter when it is snowing!

Rockefeller Center, New York

Outside UN Building, New York

16. Camping at Lake Huntington, California – Summer 2011
Although I have written this earlier, I have to repeat it. Repetitive reading is good sometimes!

Pitching tents, sleeping in cozy sleeping bags, waking up to birds chirping, experiencing living in the woods surrounded by trees, moonlight strolls, star-gazing under open skies and finding the time to admire the beauty of nature from our busy and technology dominating lives: That’s what is CAMPING FOR ME in a nutshell!

Out of the numerous camping trips I have taken I pick Lake Huntington Camping. Why? A last minute reservation, amazing star gazing, late night hike to a freaky lake and spotting shooting stars (No, I did not have time to make any wishes). I was just in awe that I got to see them!

The joy after building the tent 🙂

Those campfire stories 🙂

15. Off-road Adventure at Canyonlands National Park, Utah – Spring 2008
M likes to off-road and so do a few of my friends! But little did I know that a person like me who absolutely was against the idea of off-roading would end up putting this so high up in the list of travel memories. This makes me believe that the more you explore, the more you discover – Things that you did not know about yourself 🙂

Off-roading at Canyonlands NP, Utah

Poison Spider Trail, Canyonlands NP, Utah

14. San Francisco Walking Tour, California – Sometime in 2010
I have been in the bay area for over 5 years. And every time we have a visitor, we take them to ~~cliched~~ (not for the visitor I assume) touristy places. For once, we signed up for a full day guided San Francisco tour. And that has been one of the best days I have had in the city in all these years :). From Pier 1 Farmer’s Market to Grace Cathedral to Victorian Houses to Sausalito to Muir Woods – trip had it all. I highly recommend this for all bay area locals!

Grace Cathedral, San Francisco

Victorian Houses – San Francisco

13. Zip Lining at base of Haleakala, Maui, Hawaii – Thanksgiving 2010
This was my first zip-line adventure. Five courses with each course gradually increasing in length and depth! Whoa what fun 🙂

Zipline adventure tour, Base of Haleakala, Hawaii

12. ATV Adventure (a.k.a Accident) at Pismo Beach, California – Spring 2009
I have visited Pismo Beach multiple times and unfortunately none of those trips have been accident free 😦 Our Spring 2009 trip was memorable because since this was my third time on an ATV, I was more confident (or rather over-confident!!). I tried a jump on one of the sand dunes and had a bad fall with the ATV on my leg! A permanent muscle scar is bound to make such trips memorable! What say?

ATV at Pismo Beach – One of them is probably me 🙂

11. Snorkeling, Multiple places (can’t pick one particular place)
The first time I snorkeled it wasn’t fun. It takes time to get used to the gear and learn the tricks, but once you get the hang of it, it is a lot of fun. We snorkeled in lagoon waters of Tahiti and Moorea almost every day we were there and for a couple of days in ocean waters of Maui, Hawaii. Snorkeling in lagoon waters is quite different from snorkeling in the ocean, but nevertheless, I can’t pick since each trip was memorable for different reasons! I enjoyed all my snorkeling excursions except for the first couple of times!

Snorkeling @ Black Rock – Maui, Hawaii

More Snorkeling

I hope you enjoyed travel memories 20-11 and are looking forward to the top 10. I am surely looking forward 🙂 My half century in the blogging world is coming up soon. Stay tuned!!!

Canyonlands National Park: Ultimate Off-roading!

If you read my recent blog post on Arches National Park, I had mentioned about our visit to Canyonlands National Park in Utah on that trip and a blog entry, so here it is 🙂 We had decided to spend an entire day at Canyonlands. Though initially, I was not sure if it was going to be worth spending the whole day, since I was more interested in Arches rather than viewing canyons and sitting  in a car driving over unpaved path full of rocks, sand and gravel in to the valley. In case you are wondering what am I blabbering about, the plan for the day was to drive (read OFF-ROAD) our rented All-Wheel-Drive Hummer on the famous White Rim trail and stop by at different vistas.

If you are into off-roading this is THE place to visit. I did not have a clue as to what the term “off-roading” meant a few years back until a few of my friends introduced me to its concept. I am still not a fan, and might just chicken out if I were told to sit in an off-road vehicle again and drive on unpaved roads, but my first “actual” off-road experience at Canyonlands National Park was pretty amazing.

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We started the day with a visit to the visitor center. I believe there was a ranger talk about wild life found in the park, and I vaguely remember the ranger showing jaw bones of coyotes and mountain cats. But, we left the talk half way, since it was going to be a long day ahead of us. Our first stop was at a grand vista of Merrimac and Monitor Rocks. These rocks are named after ships that were involved in a war, each attacked the other and both sank! Fun fact hnnn!!! Anyways, our next stop was the Shafer trail overlook. The trails do look intimidating and if its your first time in a 4X4 driving on these kind of roads, it can be nerve-racking. The White Rim trail is over 100 miles, so it would take over 2 days if you plan to off-road the entire loop. Of course, you would have to camp in between and get a permit beforehand.

So, we start off-roading down the white rim trail and here is a brief account of that “rocky” journey. Our first stop was at the Colorado River overlook. The Colorado River overlook on the White Rim trail provides a nice view of the river that carves the canyons of the park along with the Green river. Our next stop was at the Musselman Arch which is more of a bridge than an arch. It was scary walking on this arch since it appears as a narrow bridge suspended in the valley. Next we headed to view the Mesa Arch. You can view the canyons through this arch. We had numerous other stops along our off-road trail including the Grand-View point which provides breathtaking views of the La Sal Mountains, the white rim trail itself, the Needles district and the confluence of Green and Colorado rivers, but the star attraction was the drive. I don’t quite remember how many miles we drove to cover these vistas, but I am assuming about 10 miles or may be even less. It was almost evening, so we decided to drive back up. It took us less time to drive back to the start of the trail.

After returning from the White rim trail, we headed to view petroglyphs of Indian writings. And just when I thought that I was done off-roading for the day, we heard about the “Poison Spider” trail which is the ultimate off-road for bikes and jeeps. Yess..we put on our seat belts and were off of the spidy trail. We only drove half the trail, but this one was far more adventurous than the white rim. At one point I thought we might get a flat tire since the trail had more rocks and less sand unlike the white rim trail. The off-road on the spider trail brought a perfect end to our day. I am glad we gave Canyonlands one whole day!

I highly recommend all adventure freaks to visit this place. A 4 wheel drive and a little bit of courage is all you need for an ultimate off-road adventure @ Canyonlands.