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Day 7:    [ White Water Rafting, Yosemite NP ]

In the early morning we left San Francisco behind us and continued our journey in the direction of Yosemite National Park. Along the way we stopped to go for a White Water Rafting trip on the Stanislau river. From the meeting place we were taken to the starting point of the Rafting trip in yellow schoolbusses. This bus trip through the narrow mountain roads was already a thrill ride. In rubber boats with six persons we started the rafting trip. It was low water which means a lot of white water and a rough river. Because this river comes from the mountains and contains meltwater it is very cold. We experienced this when we tipped over in one of the rapids. The last part of the rafting trip was very relaxing. All the boats were tight together and, while sunbathing,  slowly with the flow of the river we reached the end of the trip. From this ending point we drove with our own minibus to our camp site in Yosemite National Park. After three evenings in San Francisco we had to cook for ourselves now.

Day 8:    [ Yosemite NP ]

We started this morning early to hike to the top of a mountain in Yosemite, 'Glassier Point'.  After 2.5 hours we reached the top and had a wonderful panorama view of the surroundings. It was very nice whether so we relaxed in the sun. After the climb up we had to go down again. It took us two hours to get down and to go back to our camp site. Because of the possible presence of bears in the park everybody had to put all food and things like after shave and tooth paste into big metal boxes. If you left some food in your tent there was a chance that got an unexpected visit of a bear.

Day 9:    [ Yosemite, Lake Tahoe ]

Because of the high position of the camp site, about 3000 meters high, it was uncomfortable cold in the night and early morning. Fortunately I had a good sleeping bag but others did not. We were leaving Yosemite today via the east. Along the way we stopped for lunch at a camp site with a volleyball play field, where we played some games. After leaving Yosemite we drove to the north towards Lake Tahoe. At the left you could see the mountains and to the right the Nevada desert. After arrival at the camp site we went for a boat cruise on the Lake Tahoe. The boat was a catamaran sailing boat. The cruise was called the champagne cruise, where you could drink as much as champagne if you like. After the cruise we were all drunk but we managed to reach the camp site without falling into the water. The evening we spent together with other groups around a campfire which was very pleasant.

Day 10:    [ Nevada desert, Bishop ]

Again a cold night and morning. It was hard to get up because of the hangover and especially leaving the warm sleeping bag into the cold. We went from the cold into the heat of the Nevada desert going south/southwest in the direction of Bryce Canyon National Park.

Along the way we stopped at Hot Creek, a warm water source in the middle of the desert. You could swim in the water but you had to be careful because a number of people have died there because of the unstable bottom and the possible toxic water. After lunch we went on to our next camp site just outside the town Bishop. Not a very 'Wild West' town so we joined another Trek America group around a camp fire.

Day 11:    [ Nevada desert, Cathedral George ]

Today the trip through the desert was not very exiting. In the middle of nowhere we stumbled upon a sign of civilization, a McDonalds fast food restaurant. You can find them really everywhere. At the end of this day long drive we arrived at the camp site in Cathedral George, not very far away from Bryce Canyon NP. From the camp site we had a very nice view on the pink/red rocks. We climbed the sharp brittle rocks to have a nice view of the surroundings. The problem was going down again, so we had to find another way back.

Day 12:   [ Bryce Canyon NP, Zion NP ]

The next day after a short drive we arrived in Bryce Canyon National Park. We went for a walk down into a canyon of very red rocks with a very blue sky as background. After the walk, which ended into a climb out of the canyon, we had lunch together with a few drinks. When we finished the lunch we left to our next camp site which was located in the valley of Zion National Park.  There we climbed ( we climbed everything we could ) a hill to witness a beautiful sunset.

Day 13:    [ Zion NP, Lake Powell ]

This morning we started early to start the hike to 'Angels Landing', the top of a small mountain in Zion NP. It was a so called strenuous hike with a nasty end to reach the top. The last part was a real climb up the mountain with no room for mistakes. For that reason there were chains attached to the rocks where you could hold on to prevent you from falling down. I was not very relaxed but I managed to reach the top. At the top we had a very nice view of the valley in Zion NP. The sun was shining and the top was perfectly made for lying down and to relax. We had some distance to cover this day so after an hour or so we went down again without any accidents. In the afternoon we traveled to Lake Powell where we arrived just before sunset.

Week 3