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I have definitely been busy since I last updated this, and I either didn't have enough time to update or didn't have internet access. I'm actually writing part of this while in Joshua Tree National Park before I pass out for the night, and will just load it when I get internet next!
So, Saturday I got up early and hit the road again, but this time with some destinations on the agenda for the day. I made it up to the 4 corners, only place in the US where 4 states meet at once point. It was kind of cool, but unless it's on your way to somewhere or convenient I would say it's not worth the trip. But hey, I can say I laid down in 4 states at the same time, sure.
Then I headed down to the Petrified Forest. This park is not very big, but very interesting, and there are essentially 2 sections to it. The painted desert part of the park was beautiful, but it is very similar to The Badlands and not as amazing or as big. Definitely a great sight, but I love The Badlands and this just seemed like Badlands Jr, haha. The Petrified Forest is pretty crazy though. The history is that this area was an actual forest WAY back, when dinosaurs roamed the planet. And the wood that made up this forest was covered in sediment and transformed into petrified wood, which is rock. It's amazing because it looks like wood, but when you look at it closely, it literally is rock. The definition is insane though, you can actually see the rings of what used to be the tree! As I saw more of the park I was amazed that this stuff is everywhere! It's as if someone logged the area, but forgot to pick up the wood. This park was pretty small though and I was able to hike every trail in only a few hours. My only real complaint here was that pretty much all of the hiking trails were paved. To me this took away from the park being a natural place. Usually the focus is to preserve these areas as they exist, so feeling like I was walking down a sidewalk didn't feel right... Finishing it earlier than expected I decided to head to Flagstaff. My cousin Spencer lives there, so it made obvious sense.
While Spencer was not physically in Flagstaff, his roommates and friends were, and they were cool enough to let me join them for a night of college style partying, hahaha. These guys were a riot and we had a blast. Consequently, we had so much fun that I killed yet another cell phone. Verizon - 4, Andrew - 0. So, if you are reading this and have not contacted me with your number, well, I don't have it. But I got a new phone the following morning and then headed south. Flagstaff is a great town and I definitely recommend checking it out if you ever get the chance.
Since I was ahead of schedule I decided to stop in Sedona and do a day hike. Everyone was telling me that it was a gorgeous area and that I should go check it out. They were right, Sedona is amazing. The drive down and the short hike I did were easily the best sights I had seen to this point on this trip. The town is small, but cool to walk around and get lunch. Pairing this with the proximity to Flagstaff, and how fun both towns were, makes this area of Arizona really appealing. I was glad I had the extra time to see both and hope to go back to explore them more in the future.
After Sedona I drove south to meet up with Spencer at his parents house in Phoenix. It was really great to see them, and even better to take a hot shower! We went out for dinner and then Spencer and I went to hang out with some of his friends and Sean Morgan. Sean is from my hometown in Hamburg, NY and I hadn't seen him in a while, so this was great as well. Western New York took over the night and the beer pong table, sorry local AZ pongers, better luck never. My cell phone survived the night, also a plus.
Sunday was also a great day, I went to check out Skydive Arizona in Eloy, AZ. There I met up with Chris Anderson and Lonne Osborne to jump for the day. It was nice to meet Chris and see Lonne (former Ranch jumper). Jeffro was also there and it's always good to see him at a DZ, great jumper, cool guy. I made 3 jumps with the first two guys and then got to join some of the locals on a sunset track dive. All the jumps were fun, but the last one was awesome. Some of the people from Arizona Arsenal were on it, and getting to jump with that kind of talent is something to write about. This DZ is one I've always heard about and I'm glad I got to check it out. It would be a dangerous place to have close though as they even have wind tunnel ON THE DZ... To add to that, they have a nice bar/restaurant that a lot of people were hanging out at and that was a nice way to end the day. Good times with the Eloy people, definitely a place to come back to!
After camping at SDAZ for the night I woke up and gave Chris a lift home just outside of Phoenix. Then it was off to Joshua Tree National Park. This park doesn't seem like much of a forest, it's more of a desert if you ask me! What's more, the landscape makes me feel like I'm either on another planet or in a sequel to The Hills Have Eyes... Somewhat creepy, but beautiful all the same. I hit up a decent sized hike (~7 miles) that had the largest group of California fan leaf palm trees in the park. It was an interesting hike, and there are little lizards all over the place! Seemed like every time I looked at the ground one was running for cover. After finishing that hike I set up my tent for the evening and discovered that I have misplaced the connector for my gas grill... Score one more for Echeverria. However, this worked out for the best, I wandered the campground in hope of other campers willing to help me out in the cooking department and met a really nice couple from.... Manhattan. Jeff and Michele were nice enough to let me cook on their grill and we ended up hanging out for a few hours and talking. But before we had dinner I ended up doing a small free climb to the top of one of the rock formations to watch the sunset, amazing. All that climbing with the Ranch hands in Valhalla was definitely helpful! Joshua Tree definitely has some nice spots to boulder/climb.
So Jeff and Michele were really awesome people and oddly enough quit their jobs in April and have been traveling around the US and part of Canada for about 3 months now. What's more, once they quit they moved up to New Paltz, NY and had been enjoying that area for part of the summer. So, we had some things in common, hahaha. They plan to keep traveling and are currently trying to plan a trip to Southeast Asia. Enter Nick Sprague. Nick, I took their contact information and will be passing it on to you. They are looking to travel to most of the places you just did and I told them you could probably help them get an idea of what to plan for, where to go, etc. It was great to meet these two, we might do 1 or 2 hikes together tomorrow morning, who knows. I'll definitely be keeping in touch with them either way! It's amazing the people you meet along the way on an adventure, I've met a lot of good people on this short trip and from last year's trip as well.
The following morning I woke up really early without an alarm (5am). Combination of crossing over into the Pacific Time Zone and going to bed around 9pm. Plus, I feel like my body is still on Eastern Standard Time still... But the sun was coming up, so I figured I would break down, pack up, and hit the trail. Jeff and Michele weren't up, so I'll just have to catch up with them later. I hit 2 trails relatively quickly and got some really great views of the park. Ryan Mountain was a tough hike of ~1500 ft of gain over 1.5 miles. So that was a good workout to start the day. Amazing view from the top though. Then I hit the Lost Horse Mine trail to view an old gold mine that is still standing today, very cool. This trail was interesting because part of the landscape surrounding it is part of what was a serious burn area and further made me feel like I was on some other planet. Seriously, some of the trees in this place look like something out of a Dr. Seuss book. However, I met no Lorax...
After finishing up this hike, the last on my list for this park, I was either going to head to LA or just kick it up to Mammoth. Unfortunately my friend Stephanie had a crisis at work and we wouldn't be able to get together. So that made the decision easy and I drove up to Mammoth. She'll just have to come visit me here!
The drive was not bad at all, and Mammoth is definitely a cool town. I only saw a little of it after getting in and unpacking, but I am pretty sure I'm gonna love it here... One of my roommates, Dave, is here as well and we hung out, then went out for the evening to meet up with some people. Nothing crazy, but met 2 of our neighbors and some other people that I've already forgotten their names, haha.
Now I just am looking to get my pass, get on the mountain, and enjoy the winter. Thanks for following along, I might try and keep this rolling a few times this winter. Otherwise, please keep in touch!
Lastly, for this entry, I'd like to thank Pauly Shore. Sir, if it weren't for your role in Encino Man as Stoney I may never have discovered Corn Nuts. I've eaten two bags this week while hiking, thank you.
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