Back in the U.S.A. !!! That means I have a cellphone!


Seattle bound in just a day or two, outside of Olympic National Park in Port Angeles, WA at a Jack in the Box for dinner after getting off the ferry from Victoria :-)

Pictures!

Rain Forest at Pacific Rim National Park Reserve


Victoria HDR


Hard to top those past 2... but here are the rest :-p Here is my campsite at Green Point


Some moss in the rain forest...


Ahh, rain forest in CANADA???


There is a big tree I was promising you


Elevated trail


Love the rocky outcrops and islands


Crazy FRENCH PEOPLE!!! I didn't go to the right because I thought I might get the PLAGUE


Trail down to the beach...


Looking up at it


One view of the big building...


A "figurehead"


The Empress


Its top lights change colors a bunch


Perspective


More Perspective


Late night fountains and Victoria


Victoria at Night


Have to get my license so I can fly a float plane


Cool Parking lot


Totem Pole!

I like it. Once the sun came out, I feel like i'm the northeast coast, except not as busy, mountains, and just plain cooler. I took a nap during the rain early yesterday and enjoyed playing around on the beach and walking around Tofino last night around late sunset. Just FYI, Tofino is like Marijuana city. I saw probably 10 people in dreads in the hour I was there, and this morning at 1030am while packing up the campsite, could smell a little wafting through the air. British Columbia, aka joint country :-p

Random note:
Tim Hortons -> Everywhere (almost as bad as Starbucks and McDonalds)

Here are some of my pics from the beach as I enjoyed it yesterday

Pacific Rim National Park Reserve


Jump for Joy


Go Crazy!


"ahhh!!!!"


What the hell is that?


Ahhhh... Pacific Rim National Park Reserve for the next few pics...










I got a Karma Special for Dinner, Yum!

HDRs are kinda like cheating... cause they look SOO cool, but I hope you enjoy!

Pyramid Mountain (Jasper) with a cloud blocking the peak


The wonderful town of Kamloops (meaning the meeting of waters, a native word, I learned that on CBC radio)


Just to the west of Kamloops


Along Highway 99


Turn around from past pic... along highway 99


Horseshoe Bay Park, West Vancouver


Horseshoe Bay Park's little island


Horseshoe Bay Park


Looking back towards the mainland from the island


The belly of Lion's Gate bridge


The lion himself


HDR Handstand at Green Point in Pacific Rim National Park


Green Point


Green Point (a little lighter) Photomatrix lets you play with settings, so I tried two different ways.


Green Point (a little darker)


Wow, i see GREEN at green point!


Tofino, Vancouver Island, B.C. Need to get my SES rating (Single Engine Sea)


Tofino, Vancouver Island, B.C.


Tofino, Vancouver Island, B.C. Absolutely LOVE the blue in this

In case you haven't checked it out lately, or didn't know about it... There is a map of the Handstands I have done.

Click on the map here to check them out!

Maybe tonight? I'll do some HDRs, I have the pics now, just need to merge them at somepoint. For now, here are my new pics!

Go support your local Staples store, they have provided me with internet today unknowingly!

Route 99 in British Columbia is truly scenic. Here is a roadside view


When I attempted to locate the ferry docks, I stumbled upon Horseshoe Bay Provincial Park which I loved. Definitely will go back some day.


I love how the hills just come out of the water.


And the island was super cool, of course I went over :-)


Just really loved the landscape. I think I drove by some millionaires houses because they had these outstanding views and were just decadent places.


On my way out to the island...


Just really liked this place. One of my favorite "stumble upons" during the trip.


On the "island"


Handstanded! This is after I got adventurous and went for a dip in the chilly water. It was my "shower", gross, eh?


A random note... has anyone ever told you about Mount Ranier? I crapped my pants when I saw it from highway 99. In the car I actually said "holy shit!" out loud. hehe.
I didn't get a pic, but here is someone elses...


So you've heard of "Lions Gate Films"? Well, here is the bridge! "Lions Gate Bridge"


And the view next to the bridge


Stanley Park, which is where I took the bridge pictures from is LITERALLY crawling with racoons...


More Bridge


and more...


Random Vancouver City


Go Vancouver Team! I think the canucks play next door to this place?


Coming back across Lions Gate at night, trippy effect


Trippier


Vancouver Skyline at 450am from Cypress Park


These were 20 second exposures :-)


Correctly aligned. This is my favorite :-)


A view from my dash of the Ferry Lineup at 530am


A view of the mainland from the ferry


More mainland...


Looking off the back of the ferry...


And the "Sun Deck"


Looking off the deck


off the back


Namaimo on Vancouver Island


So I'm driving, and didn't know there were "big" mountains on the island. I looked up and saw this and about crapped my pants. Those clouds can be tricky!


Roadside park...


Cool trees, will have to get some wide angle shots...


Sweetness..


Pacific Rim National Park and Tofino, here I come, it is 1123am here and I'm off!

I made it, after sleeping in my car on the street, and hearing people talk about girls, and some guy at 4am taking a piss and then driving off... O well, it's done and I am here in dreary vancouver island.

Off to Pacific Rim National Park and Tofino! I have a campsite the next 2 days, woo hoo! One in Pacific Rim, the other near Victoria.

USA bound on Tuesday at 3pm to Port Angeles.

Pictures will come as soon as internet with speed comes.

Cheers!

Loved the park at Horseshoe Bay.

City is HUGE, Chicago like cause it's on the water, but man, it's cool. I said WOW out loud when I saw mount ranier for the first time. Love the mountains, love the shore. Just gotta make it to my 620 am ferry to Vancouver Island.

Cheers!

Pacific Standard Time! Woo Hoo!

Last night I slept about 30k in on 99 heading south towards Whistler, at a Provincial Park Campground. I started reading through my books on Olympic National Park and some others, and just got excited. I love this. This trip was a great idea, and totally cool. So glad I get to keep exploring!

I'm in the library in Whistler right now. The sunrise drive down from the campground was quite pretty. I've got reservations to get over to Vancouver Island, head over to Pacific Rim National Park, and then down to Victoria, so 2 full days over there :-)

Then it's off to Olympic National Park on Tuesday, and then Seattle for Labor Day weekend!

Hope you enjoy the pics, I've driven approximately 500 miles on smaller roads in the past day, phew! Only a little over 100km to Vancouver!

P.S.- Stick to snowboarding in Whistler. The mountain biking was a letdown, almost killed myself on the rocks, and then gave up because it wasn't worth it.

Do you know this creature?


Pyramid Mountain... Glorious


Kamloops, British Columbia


Just outside of Kamloops heading west






Cache Creek, British Columbia


Along the roadside of 99 in B.C.


What about this guy, he your friend?


Ahhh...


Oooo...


Pretty flowers with a mountain Bokeh


Handstanded!




Most AWESOME jump EVER, it goes OVER the mountain!


2010 Olympic Bobsled and Luge Track!

Don't have a plan, we'll see how it goes! Later!

Woke up at the Columbia Icefield campground, and headed up through Jasper to town. Set up camp at Whistlers Campground, and then jumped on the bike... and rode for 5? hours. Then showered, woo hoo! Headed into town, called Kristen and Home with Skype (it's awesome!), went into a pub, got 1.5 beers, a chicken Caesar salad, and talked to some guys from Edmonton. All in all, a long, good day.

Columbia Icefield


Close up of the Icefield


Wow


Athabasca Falls, Are you "Fall"-ing for someone?


wow again


Looking downstream


Winding River in Jasper


Ahh, nice view on the bikeride


Goose, Goose, Goose, Goose, Duck?


One word... "blue"


Me like this one. Shot from the makeshift biking bridge on "overland" trail.


I was there... at least my (John's old) bike was there.


As far as I went, before I decided I should turn back...


Wind up... (the music box) (from below) (stream)


Sun breaks through...


Green, blue, white


I like this one too...


After I was "lost", hiked up what seemed like millions of steps with my bike, and trudging back towards the campground, I found the bridge I wanted to take a picture of originally. I was soaked, and it was still lightly raining, but this made it all worthwhile!


What's at the END of the rainbow? A POT OF GOLD... and it's UNDERWATER!


Have you seen something more vivid? Awesome.






Handstanded the Rainbow, for the 2nd time! (see first one in Cozumel, Mexico)


So I biked a long ways, for about 5 hours or so. The red is where I THINK I went :-P

I haven't written any words except captions lately, so I figured this might be a good time. I rolled into Canada through the port of Roosville this past Friday, and made it up to Invermere, British Columbia to spend the weekend with friends. It was a fantastic weekend because it was so relaxing, and just nice to feel "at home". They took me up to the peak of Swansea Mountain on their 4Wheel Drive Truck, out on the lake for swimming, for a boatride, barbecue, golf (thanks Reid for treating!). And on monday I did laundry, went gliding, and hung out for the day.

Thanks soooo much to Cassy and Forrest for giving me the opportunity to "recharge". I really needed it and had a lovely time :-) Hopefully will see you again soon!

After I left, I headed up 93 through Kootenay National Park, over to Banff. Banff was quite touristy. More like new york city. There were people from ALL over Asia and Europe, it was kinda ridiculous.

After touring around some, I got some pizza from Aardvarks pizza and Subs just off Banff Ave. Then camped out at The "Two Jack Main" campground for the night.

Last night I slept in the "columbia icefields" campground and camped next to a group of people from switzerland. I introduced myself when I came out of my warm car, and they were sawing off a tree limb in my site. A guy climbed a tree with a saw, and got a limb. "need wood, fire". Thought that was pretty cool. Last night I heard stuff around the car, but eventually just put earplugs in and got some good sleep.

Well, in Jasper now, don't know if I'll stay here tonight or not... Then will be making my way down through Kamloops to Whistler, then West Vancover where I'm taking a Ferry to Vancover Island, then Ferry from Victoria to Port Angeles, then Olympic National Park, then Seattle! As you can see, lots of places, so keeping the timeline pretty open, just wanna make it to seattle by next friday!

Enjoy the pics from Banff!

Peyto Lake


Hairy Man at Peyto Lake


Moraine Lake


More...


I don't think you can take a bad picture of Moraine Lake...


I'm not kidding...


Yeah, awesome lake...


Clear water


Mountains


Rainbows


Rolls Royce at Lake Louise Fairmont Hotel


Lake Louise


Fairmont Hotel at Lake Louise


Wow, this almost looks black and white, and it is a straight picture.


Glacier anyone?


Proof I was there...


Now that is what I call a skyscraper


Oh, and i'll leave you with a "hi" from my begging friend. This was taken with a wide angle lens, so he was about 6in from the lens.

Another point of the Continental Divide, soo cool.


I poured Water on both sides... Atlantic and Pacific!


Entering Alberta...


View from the roadside in Kootenay National


Another View from that Roadside... See the smoke?


Awesome


Hilly?


Paint Pots are pretty neat I'd say. Orange...


Orange Stream... They're located in Kootenay National Park, right near the border of B.C. and Alberta


More Orange...


A little green and orange.


Orange River for the win


Awesome


The Kootenay River, right by the road


Looking upstream towards the footbridge


Marble Canyon, Kootenay National Park


More Marble Canyon


Video of the "Marble Canyon"


Awesome roadside view


Canada, eh?


View down the main street into banff, headed right at the mountain!


The infamous Banff hotel... Mortgage, or one night here?


Lake Minnewanka, Banff National Park, Alberta, Canada


More Lake (Thanks Cecil for telling me to stop by!)


Minnewanka has been handstanded!


Dreary Afternoon, today is supposed to be worse


Ahhh, animals!


Mountains!


Cloud? or Mountain?


One of my favorites of Lake Minnewanka. The boatride (not on that boat) is 40 dollars, and too much for me this time... maybe i'll catch one at Lake Louise?


Looking down the Pier

I'm in Banff and it's mighty pretty here. Stealing internet, and will try to organize pictures tonight!

Cheers!

The US... Glacier National Park

Lake McDonald


Doesn't it look like a face of someone lying on their back?


Great colors!


Lake McDonald, so pretty, got handstanded!


View from the Glacier Park Boat on Lake McDonald


The boat when on the dock.


My "artsy" shot


Morning light coming through the trees in Glacier National Park, on my way up to Avalanche Lake


Avalanche Lake, check out those falls!


Trail up the mountain...


Close up of the waterfalls at Avalanche Lake


And a cool reflecting of the mountains/sky shot at avalanche lake


A different perspective from the shores of lake McDonald


A view from the "Going-to-the-sun-road"


And another view... what a beautiful place.


Bald Eagle


About to leave the U.S.

---

Made it to Canada!

Welcome to B.C.

They are a little full of themselves though?


Handstanding in the backyard with Cass and Logan the Dog in the picture


View from Swansea Mountain this past friday night. Had to take a forestry road up there and we sure needed Forrest's 4-wheel drive


Invermere, B.C., Canada and that "ramp" is for hang gliders. Pretty cool, eh?


Cropped night shot of Invermere


From the back of the boat! It's the same lake as in the picture above on the left


I went for a quick glider ride. Wish it was longer, but too much money in the first place... Definitely worth it though! That's my pilot Brian, who had us do a "wingover", basically a flip which was outta this world.


The lake from the Glider


The towplane


A different view of Swansea Mountain... See the glider ramp from the shot above?


This club sounded great, would totally do it if i lived here!


UPDATE:
Captions added and... I will report more on Canada as I see it. Off to Banff today! Cheers.

---

I'm heading from Whitefish, MT into Invermere, British Columbia today and will be checking out Banff, Lake Louise, Jasper, Whistler, Vancouver and Vancouver Island.

I'll be back in the U.S. to hang out with Dan and Martha in Seattle before Labor Day, and then on to Mike in Portland.

Looking forward to people, and to the BEAUTIFUL Canadian Rockies I have heard so much about.

---

Recapping the last 2? days

Yesterday (Thursday)

I hiked up to Avalanche Lake in Glacier National Park, and then hung out by lake McDonald during the day before heading over to Whitefish, MT where I stayed in the Whitefish KOA. I hung out with a family from Saskatchewan, Canada who had a cabin nextdoor. They were pretty great people, fun to talk to, and I got a free 2 hot dog dinner! Baboom!

The night before I slept in my car :-p, so it was an upgrade. Looking forward to seeing Forrest, Cassy and more Canadians!

Some Pics from the last 2 days...

coming soon...

I got played around with HDRs last night and made 3 of them... (High Dynamic Range images which are created by combining 3 pictures with different exposure levels)

Ptarmigan Tunnel (Say that 5 times real fast :-P)


The other side of the Ptarmigan Tunnel, WOW.


The Badlands make you feel good inside.


P.S. - If anyone hasn't noticed... I had coffee this morning :-)

Why Hello!

I'm lazy, I know. I've been sitting around doing laundry and checking for cheap flights so Kristen can make it out to San Francisco to meet me (and not finding much cheaper than 500 bucks, yikes!)

Anyways, My first day in Glacier (Monday), I headed up to the "Many Glacier" entrance of the National Park and hiked the Iceberg Lake and then the Ptarmigan Tunnel Trail. That was a 15 miles day, and didn't really wear me out until the next day. I did enjoy the Pancake, Sausage and Coffee breakfast. Warm food does hit the spot!

Yesterday I went drove up the "Going-to-the-sun-road" and headed up to logans pass. I did a portion of the "Garden Wall" and then hiked up Logan's pass to hidden lake. It wasn't much of a hiking day, maybe 6 miles, but good enough! I came back to my site (already set up because I actually stayed in the same place for 2 nights!) and enjoyed a smoked sausage on my manly fire I made.

Today I'm going to head over to the western side of the park and am going to check it out!

Pics... In absolutely no order, but with captions!

"Hidden" lake... I SEE IT!


On the way to Iceberg Lake


Logan's Pass


Your friend?


Iceberg Lake


On the Iceberg Lake Trail


Divide THIS!


Something is Wrong? with this picture.


Goat goat!


Lions and Tigers and Grizzly ____'s O-MY!

Was fun! I went this past thursday/friday and there wasn't as much whitewater as I expected, but was nice.

There were two guides, one a sophomore in college and one a first year medical student. Then two families, one from Connecticut and the other from Catalonia in Spain.

Sunset at camp...

I took this morning to try and catch up with the handstand map.

Check it out!

Here is the one I was missing at Osprey Falls in Yellowstone...

First I was at Mount Rushmore...


Then somewhere on my way to beartooth pass....


And Beartooth Pass (AMAZING)...


Then I was in Yellowstone National Park where there were tons of Bison...


More yellowstone...


and more...


Now I am in Glacier National Park:


I was in...

KOA in Livingston, MT


Neihart, MT


Choteau, MT

I made it to Glacier National Park, but really just spent the afternoon laying around... Need to rest up every once in a while. The mountains really are HUGE, the wind is STRONG and it's quite chilly. I'll be up here til Friday when I go meet up with my Canadian friends! Picked up the park map and hiking info so I can get to it starting tomorrow.

Well, I didn't end up hiking in the backcountry tonight. I was heistant about hiking 20 miles alone in grizzly bear country, the weather is completely dreary, and mom asked I didn't. She didn't cause dad got into a biking accident, along with just caring for my safety. He flipped the bike and messed up his right elbow, broke some ribs? and fractured a vertebrae or two? Not exactly sure on the exact details, but I got to talk to him tonight, which was great. We were worried he broke his femur (thigh bone) but luckily that is just heavily bruised. Lesson goes... WEAR YOUR HELMET... He did too, and that's probably why he will heal. Heard that his helmet was broken all to pieces, so thankfully that took most of the impact. Crazy time. I'm hoping he will do a full recovery but it sounds like it'll be painful here for a while.

I'm in Livingston Montana after checking out Yellowstone for my last day today. Heading up to Glacier National Park tomorrow :-)

Got to see old faithful, do white water rafting on the yellowstone river, hike to Osprey Falls, and hang out.

Love you Dad!

Top of Beartooth Pass... Quite possibly my favorite road...


Old Faithful Strikes again!

So, I made it to Yellowstone last night after a FULL day of driving. Beartooth pass on the northeast exit of yellowstone is AMAZING. 11000 feet in elevation. I put on a jacket up there and was standing next to some snow. Soo amazing. All the campsites in yellowstone were full... so I went through and popped out in Gardier, MT and found a national forest service campsite about 15 miles outside the town. Woke up this morning and headed into the park. Got in about 8am and hit up the visitor center and backcountry office. I talked to the ranger/watched a video/got a backcountry permit for a site on Shostone lake for saturday night. This will mean a big hike for saturday, and a decent one for sunday as well... I might actually just do the shorter hike both days, but that'll still be 8 miles... depends on how i feel. I'll be singing to myself as I am told to do, this avoids suprise encounters with wildlife, and I'm going to get some bear spray as well, just in case.

I'm slightly terrified, but at the same time, it'll be memorable and people do it all the time. Not a huge deal.

Went over to the Mammoth Hot springs this morning, and they were neat, minus the whole sulphur smell.

Anyways, here is rushmore from 2? days ago


I have tons of pictures but nothing to charge my laptop with except my car, and spotty internet. So... I'll upload them when I can :-)

Sunday night I"ll head off to the KOA above Yellowstone, do laundry, shower and stuff and then off to Glacier on Monday.

Totally signed up for both trips. Killer! Leaving Badlands KOA towards Rushmore... no real plan, Yellowstone probably by tomorrow?

Weee

Yosemite:

Yosemite High Country Backpacking Trip


Grand Canyon:
http://www.rei.com/adventures/trips/weekend/gcb.html

Going to book them the next time I have internet unless anyone says not to!

Overnight Rafting trip booked for this Thursday. They had 1 spot open!

Awesome.

Hi!

I camped in the backcountry last night. Didn't sleep much... honestly was more scared then I can remember... haha. I kept hearing things and shined my flashlight around and spoke to no one. Yeah... so I think I'll do day hikes, stay in campgrounds, or go with a group, unless i'm in a tame place. I mean, the biggest things in the Badlands to worry about are rattlesnakes, bison and deer/gazelle things.

I'm in Wall, SD and am about to check out "Wall Drug". I slept in my car for about an hour, then found this nice little cafe with wifi. At this point the plan is to hang out in the Badlands for the day, hike around some and stay at a campground. Then to mount rushmore in the morning, and then off to yellowstone and get there by nightfall... Sleeping arrangments TBD.

I got here today about midday and checked it out a little.

I'm going to be backpacking out the next two nights, but coming back in between for a water fillup.

Here is a picture from the Missouri River and then from Badlands.

Wisconsin River




Holla at your girl


Badlands Handstanded


Next stop will be Yellowstone. Will be driving there on Tuesday (I think) haha. Seems like cellphone works here for the most part.... Cheers!

Slow internet at the KOA in Sioux Falls, SD.

You can check out new pictures at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/ssaammee

New Handstands at: http://www.handstandsacrossamerica.com/map.php
NOTE: Some aren't titled and guessed on locations because slow internet is frustrating.

500,000 Motor Cyclers stand in my path the next few days... http://www.sturgismotorcyclerally.com/welcome.php

Off to the badlands tomorrow :-)

Woken up bright and early by some blistering hot sunlight. This was at 730 after getting to sleep at 1230? the night before. I really took my time getting ready in the morning and used my time to get the car organized in a manner where I could find things and have some space. After a shower, I got to the air show at almost noon. Today I didn't check out too much... only the indoor booths and the airshow really. I didn't want to get sunburn, and I HAD to see the airshow.

It's now 830pm as I am writing this, and I just took the past hour or so using up by battery life to write this post. I scrambled over and started the car when the battery was about to die so that I could finish going through the photos and write blog posts.

If you think THESE few out of 60 some pictures are cool... The rest are cooler. Check them out and let me know what you think!

"Proud to be an American"...


Cutting the ribbon...


Only helicopter certified by the FAA to perform acrobatics. The Red Bull helicopter.










P.S. - EAA Campground Wifi isn't that great... I'm having to steal some from the Hawthorne Suites a few miles away. I wrote this last night before my laptop battery died :-). Here is the error they gave me, jerks!

Sorry, but we're currently experiencing technical difficulties. The present error condition is:

Timed out waiting for captive portal reply.

For assistance, please contact:

unknown

Additional information:

SSID:
AP MAC Address: (I'm not putting that online! Ha!)

Well, today was just a darn good tootin' day, eh? I betcha folks think I'm up from Wis-con-sin. Oh wait, no, but I'm here now at Oshkosh in the CHEESY state of Wisconsin! I got into the EAA campground here in Oshkosh at around 8pm after getting my oil changed and alignment tuned at NTB near Chicago. If anyone doesn't know what "Oshkosh" (Officially called Airventure) is... it's the largest general aviation event in the world. I quickly set up my tent and then headed over to see the comedy show I had rushed here to see! This wasn't just ANY comedy show... It was "Guitar Guy", and then Jeff Dunham. Hilarious! One of the best comedy skits I have seen, AND it was free, kinda :-) If anyone has not seen anything from Jeff Dunham, I HIGHLY recommend it.

Jeff Dunham and Achmed the Dead Terroist on YouTube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1uwOL4rB-go

Jeff Dunham and Peanut on YouTube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f9KK3FlVC2w

Oh wait, I never really described what this whole Oshkosh thing is like. Man, well, granted I didn't have much daylight, but so far it seems like it is a family camping trip on crack. 35,000 campers here? RIDICULOUS. Everyone was riding a bike, or a motorcycle or walking and this "Theatre in the Woods" was completely jammed pack. Luckily, because I am 6' 3" I didn't have too much trouble seeing the stage. Everyone seems to be friendly and this seems like it is a good place to be :-)

Anyways, I got back to the site after the Jeff Dunham show and was still amazed that I was still somehow awake after such an early start to the day. I stumbled over to the neighbor campers and introduced myself. They were awfully friendly, Mike and Kevin who live about 30 minutes west of Chicago. We talked a bunch and talked about road trips. Good times.