Sorry I haven't posted much in a while!

Sooo... when I was in Utah I went to Bryce Canyon and Zion N.P.'s.. both quite cool with a lot of interesting rock formations and whatnot. Then I went through Nevada and to Death Valley N.P. in California. While there I went to the lowest natural outside point in the Western hemisphere.. it was only around 100 degrees F when I was there though... so didn't experience the real hot stuff... that's pretty hot I'd say for October though.
Next I went back to Nevada for a cheaper hotel rate in Las Vegas. Stayed at Circus Circus.. gambled a little bit but not a whole lot 'cause I kinda sucked and didn't feel like throwing away too much money. Also saw the Lion King play while I was there. Pretty cool stuffs.
Neeext I went to back into California for reals this time. Went to Joshua Tree N.P. and camped there. It's a pretty cool place.. a lot of big rock areas that are really good for rock scrambling.. did a fair share of that.. quite awesomely fun really.
From there I continued closer to the close. Along the way slept in my car in a turnout off of the road going through the Santa Rosa and San Jacinto Mountains National Monument. Oddly two people stopped that night to see if I was alright.. I guess it looked like I was having car problems or something.. though I'm not sure how they even knew I was in the car since I was laying in the back seat mostly covered up.. anyways.. kinda disturbing but fine (the second person to stop I think was either a cop or park ranger.. but after they checked that I was alright (seemingly seeing if I was drunk or something too) they seemed fine that I was sleeping there.
Next I drove through Los Angeles. For some reason I wasn't that interested in sightseeing there.. I think I was in Hollywood for a little bit.. drove through some area with some Warner Bros. studios. Then I continued on to Ventura and the coast! That night I slept in my car in some neighborhood there.
Next day I went to the beach and went swimming and body-surfing for about 2.5 hours. Pretty fun stuffs.. cool waves and nice beaches. The water was pretty cold but I didn't think that cold.. I'd say Barton Springs in Austin is colder.. however.. everyone else in the ocean were wearing wetsuits (and real surfing).. I'm pretty sure they were all just a buncha babies.
Next I started driving North again. Didn't go that far though when I got into this town called Ojai.. and they were having a little town festival of sorts. So I stayed there for a few hours just 'cause and had a couple beers and whatnot. Then I went a bit further into the National Forest in the area and slept in my car at a camping area there.
The following day I went a bit further North and into the Carrizo Plain National Monument. It's basically a plain between two small mountain ranges that has the San Andreas fault running down the middle of it. There's also no drainage for the plain so there's a large salt flat in the middle of it. I drove around in it for a while and up into the mountains at its edge to get some good view of it. Was thinking of staying there the night.. then decided to continue on because I didn't really see the trails that were supposed to be there and just felt like continuing on anyways. So, I drove all on up to Big Sur and slept in my car at the Southern part of Big Sur at an parking area for trails going into the Los Padres N.F. there.
The next day I did some nice sightseeing and a couple hikes at Big Sur. Big Sur, by the way, is a stretch of coastline that rises up abruptly from the ocean to mountains. Pretty awesome cliff vistas and such. Also redwoods grow in the area and got to see some of those (some pretty big ones.. but I think the biggest ones are further North). But yeah.. just the drive along Highway 1 through Big Sur is pretty awesome... really very nice. Then I continued on up the coast and slept in my car in a neighborhood around San Jose.
Fiiinally (today) I continued on up to San Francisco and got a room at the Green Tortoise Hostel here... and that's where I am now! I'll be here at least the next 3 days and hanging around the city and whatnot. Catch you guys laters! I'll try to upload some photos soon on here and significantly more on facebook.. There are free computers here but uploading photos takes a while.. so we shall see how many I get up!

Utah

Hey guys. I was in Utah for the last few days. The first couple of days I didn't do much because it was raining so much.. Then I went to Bryce Canyon National Park for a night and Zion National Park for a night. Both pretty awesome rock formations and cliffs and such. I'll try to post some pics to facebook later.. I was going to but I'm in St. George, Utah right now and apparently the computers at the library here block social networking sites like facebook because they're the devil! Pretty scary stuffs...
Anyways.. tonight I'm gonna find some place to sleep in my car and then tomorrow I'm going to go on through Nevada and to Death Valley in California. I'll stay there a night and then I'm gonna come back to Nevada and go to Las Vegas for 2 nights! (not going to Vegas first because it's crazy cheaper to stay Monday and Tuesday nights compared to the weekend)
Anyways.. I'll update y'all again later at some point in the future.
Buh bye.

Arizona

I did a buncha stuff in Arizona! I'm in Utah now.. I'll write a better post later hopefully but I'm in a hurry....

Gila National Forest (& Gila Cliff Dwellings)

Hiya guys! So.. I just got out of the Gila National Forest. The first night I slept in my car at a developed campground along the way because there were a lot of winding roads to get there.
Next I headed on into the forest from Silver City. Didn't leave until a bit before 1600 so I only got about 3 hours of hiking in the first day. For most of my trip I took a trail heading West along the West Fork of the Gila River.. starting near the Gila Clif Dwellings National Monument (I didn't see these until after my backpacking trip). The landscapes starts with somewhat smaller canyons but soons changes.

For most of the trip (I did a total of about 16 miles each way), the trail crosses back and forth across the Gila River and you are walking in between two very steep canyon walls.

The multiple crosses are necessary when the river turns and the bank that you are hiking on disappears and goes into the cliff wall. Pretty cool hiking in general. I camped about 5 or 6 miles in the first night.
The next day I continued along the river and for about 10 miles. Along the way I passed this couple that I had passed the day before as well (they apparently left earlier than me but were slower). I quickly got away from them after some casual conversation.. 'cause for some reason I found it weird to be that close to them.
Then I was on off and away.. got near the White River crossing or something.. then went on this trail to the South that was a bit dubious. It was difficult in places and in disrepair.. but I really wanted to take it so I could make a loop make instead of just retracing my steps.. but I had to because the trail totally dropped away.
So, I retraced my steps and camped along that side trail. The side trail was definitely worth it though 'cause there was a really neat stream along it cutting into the rock all nifty and such.

Next day I hiked aaall the way back to my car in on day (about 16 miles). Along the way I saw some guy who had been throwing up for 2 days.. he thought he could make it but had me report him to the ranger's office in case he didn't make it back by some time the next day. Before I went to sleep in my car.. I took a short, 1/2 mile, hike to another area that had hot springs! Shallows pools held the water.. but it was verrry nice after a long hike.. awesome! That night I slept in my car and the next day saw the Gila Cliff Dwellings! Pretty cools stuffs...

Blog pictures!

I added some pictures to my old posts to make it somewhat more interesting to read/more interactive or whatever. Most of these pics and more are already on facebook though.. but maybe not some of them (I have a lot more pics in general that haven't been uploaded anywhere so not sure which ones were already uploaded wherever.. or whatever.. make sense?.. maybe).