Author: Matthew

Jason and I are still in Custer, SD.  Yesterday we explored the Black Elk Wilderness summitting the Black Elk Peak (The tallest peak in the USA East of the Rockies).  Then we found the “Hippie Hole”, a sweet watering hole with a 20′ foot jump off into the pool.  We felt like we had to exit when the highschool kids showed up but it was an exhilarating experience sprinting off the ledge and plunging into the water.  Today we will be caving through Jewel Cave National Monument and Wind Cave National Park before we head to the Badlands.

Matthew

[Show slideshow]

Unbelievable to think but Jason and I have made the turn East through Yellowstone and are on the home stretch, heading (pretty much) East back to the Mid-Atlantic.  Last night we camped out in Spirit Mountain outside Cody, Wy where I could see “city” lights for the first time in a while.  Then we drove all day today to Custer, SD and squatted in the Bugulin’ Bull Restaurant and Sports Bar stealing their internet and electricity so we could both take part in our Fantasy Football drafts and watch some college football.  A taste of normalcy.

The pictures from Broventure 2017 and the eclipse are here…  Enjoy!

Matthew

Idaho and Eclipse

22 Photos

The last few weeks have been a whirlwind.  From exploring Oregon and Northern California with my brother to spending a week in Utah hiking with a fellow nomad, then meeting up with old friends to witness the totality of the solar eclipse in Idaho and finally spending the last five days in the Grand Tetons with a new travel partner.  I will come back and detail out these travels later.

One of my oldest friends from when I moved to the Gulf after college has decided to join me for the next few weeks of my trip.  It will be a nice change to solo traveling.  Our current plan is to head to Yellowstone today, spend a few days there then start heading East through South Dakota, to Chicago, onto Toronto then to the East Coast. 

My heart goes out to all my friends I have left behind in Houston currently struggling through Hurricane Harvey.  Please reach out to me if there is anything I can do for you.

Check out my photos from traveling through Utah (for the second time this trip) and the Grand Canyon.

Utah + GC

25 Photos

Matthew

I arrived at Daniel’s apt around 8ish in the evening on July 20th. (Again, I know I’m behind). After 3+ weeks of living strictly out of my car without seeing a friendly face, getting to Daniel’s was like finding an oasis in the desert. A much needed retreat from the stink and sweat I had been living in. I’m not sure if I was happier to see Daniel or his shower. He was quick to remark on my beard, weather worn face and aroma of sweat and sunscreen. This made me recognize how not having a bathroom mirror really reduces your ability to look at yourself. 

The next day, while Daniel was at work, I was lazy for most of the morning enjoying a couch and television then headed out to walk around Seattle. I took Daniel’s suggestion to try some dim sum for the first time at the Harbor Restaurant in Chinatown. Highly recommended. 

I then walked through Sodo (near the stadiums), pioneer square, then up to Pikes Place to meet Daniel and one of his college buddies for happy hour. 

Unforntanely, I forgot to put my SD card back in my camera after transferring my photos to my computer that morning so I have no photos of Seattle. Dohhhh!

That weekend Daniel, two of his college buddies, two of his work buddies and I drove to the North Cascades National Park to hike the Sahale Arm. It was an amazingly beautiful hike looking over the mountains and valleys of the Cascade Mountains. The wild flowers were unbelievable. Backpacking with people is infinitely better than solo. The camaraderie during the hike and the group effort of making dinner and setting up camp makes the struggle way more pleasurable. Thank you, Daniel, for a great weekend!

After leaving Seattle I travelled to The Olympic National park in Western Washington. I completed about a 40 mile hike in three days through the Hoh rainforest to view the Blue Glacier and Mount Olympus. Hiking through the rainforest was a change as it is one of a few, if not the only temperate rainforest in the lower 48. Hiking to view mount Olympus was about a twenty mile out and back day hike that took me about ten hours. You can’t see the mountain until the last mile when you come out of the rainforest. I’m not sure if it was worth the twenty miles but it was still a pretty amazing site. 

The day after the twenty mile hike, I hiked back out of the rainforest ten miles and drove to South Beach in Southern Washington. The campground was full but I found an empty space next to an RV to park for the night. The RV owner was nice enough to let me park in his space. I chilled out on the beach listened to music and watched an amazing Washington sunset over the Pacific. The ocean, clouds and haze/fog coming off the water lit up the sky in bright oranges, reds and purples. Washington wins for best sunsets. 

I was able to lay in my car that night with the windows open, looking out my side window at the crescent moon over the ocean. A necessary peaceful evening after several long days of hiking. The following day I would make the trip over the state border to Oregon where I would meet up with my brother in Portland for the next part of my adventure. 

Matthew 



Fans of the animated comedy “Archer” should be familiar with word, syllepsis. It is when a single word, usually a verb, is used in a literal and figurative sense.  As in, “I caught the train and a bad cold” or the title of this post.  

That was a paragraph about the word, syllepsis. To show you I know what it means and maybe teach some of you. “The more you know (NBC Jingle).” Now…

On the ferry ride back from Vancouver Island I lost my keys and mind. It was super early in the morning and I had a long couple days so when I parked the car on the ferry I shimmied my way to the back of my Forester to take about an hour nap before I tackled Vancouver. 

Now when I go to sleep normally in my car every night I have a ritual of putting my wallet, phone and keys in a little baggie that I keep in a compartment next to where I sleep. I forgot/chose not to do this on that day. 

At 7:50AM the captain comes over the PA system telling everyone we will be docking in 10 mins and everyone needs to start heading to their cars. I slowly get out of bed grab my wallet and phone but my keys are not on my bed. I look on the front seat. Not there. I quickly look through the passenger seat. Not there. The compartment I would normally put them at night. Not there. 

Ok, now I start getting nervous. The keys are here somewhere. I got the car on the ferry, didn’t I. But then a sinking feeling comes over me. Maybe when I was crawling into the back seat or rolled over while napping they could have fallen somewhere.  Strike that, ANYWHERE. I have so much shit in my car and my bed has created so many nooks and crannies it could take a long time to search everywhere and some places you can’t even get your hand in. 

Now I start thinking about what will happen if this ferry docks and cars start rolling off. I’m in the middle of one of three single file lines. I can already hear the horns blaring as this middle lane is held up by some jackass while the other two lanes have already emptied. 

The ferry crew would come to me and I would have to explain that I lost my keys in the 90 mins we were on the boat. AHHHH!!! 

Causing a scene may be one of my worst fears. This is from the kid who was scared to call the pizza guy as a kid from the land line. (Remember land lines?)  Who shrinks in large meetings at work. Who can’t stand brunches with more than 4 people.  Has trouble making conversations at parties unless it’s about sports or in the middle of a game of Cards Against Humanity. So, social anxiety is definitely a part of my life and “causing a scene”, please God, NOOOOOO!!! 

Now I am losing my mind and my anxiety is literally (wait, literally? YES, literally) making me shake. I start ripping my car apart. Everything on my front seat comes out of my car; my day bag, my maps of all the parks I’ve been to recently, my rain coat, on the ground. Nothing. Behind the passenger seat; my sleeping bag, sleeping bag sack, clothes, sandals, toiletry kit. Nothing. 

I look through the center console and glove compartment for my spare. Nothing. 

One person passes me as I curse obscenities on the way to their car and remarks, “You look like you have had a rough morning”. I do not respond to this person. 

The person sitting in the passenger seat in the car behind mine is patiently watching this madman frantically remove everything from their car. 

I move to my trunk and open it up. There is a tiny rectangular box created by the wheel well and my bed. I remove my shampoo, body wash, baby wipes, head lamp and then… I see my keys towards the back of this area near the wheel well. They must have fallen off my bed while I was napping and slid down the wheel well. 

With about 2 mins left to spare, I jump and pump my fist in relief and joy and look back in embarrassment to see if the same person is still watching me now celebrate. 

They are, and I get a big thumbs up.  I smile back, then throw everything back in my car jump in the front seat and turn on the ignition just as it was time to start moving. 

That was a long ten minutes. 

Matthew

It has been a great week and a half traveling from Portland to Vegas with my brother.  I am currently in a Starbucks in Henderson, NV waiting for my tires to be changed.  As a mechanical engineer by schooling and working in the maintenance department of a chemical plant for the last 5 years, preventative and routine maintenance is kind of a big deal to me.  Big expense just hit the books but you got to stay on top of your car maintenance schedule on a cross country road trip.  Rather  pay for tires now than risk what could happen later.

Took advantage of the downtime to review my photos.  Enjoy the photos from the last 10 days in the Oregon and California albums.

Oregon

18 Photos

California

22 Photos

Matthew

After watching the wind surfers I drove down to Vancouver. This was on July 18th, so yes, I know I’m really behind at this point. Vancouver was the first major city I had planned to spend any time in on my trip. I had previously either bypassed or driven through OKC, SLC, and Calgary and as I drove into Vancouver, I quickly realized why. Spending time in cities does not mesh well with my MO. There was no where for me to park my car and I had no idea where I was going to find a place to sleep that wasn’t crowded with people. 

I drove around a little bit near Stanley Park then drove back out of the downtown to West Vancouver where I was lucky enough to find a small park to sleep in for the night. There was a beach and I was able to enjoy the sunset looking across the Burrard Inlet onto Vancouver. 

The next morning my alarm went off at 4:50am to catch the 6:20AM ferry across to Vancouver Island. (If you take the first ferry of the day it is half price). My goal was to get to Ucluelet on the western shores of the island. One of the most written about activities in British Columbia is the Wild Pacific Trail which is a relatively short hike along the rocky ridge shoreline in Ucluelet.  

The ferry landed in Nanaimo at 8AM. I ate breakfast there then started the 2.5 hour drive across the island. I stopped at Cathedral Grove, an ancient Douglas Fir and Cedar sanctuary, on my drive. I “jogged” through the sanctuary and pushed on to Ucluelet. 

I got to Ucluelet, quickly walked through the trail, grabbed dinner and started driving back across the island. I wanted to stop by Tolfino but that would have been at least another 90mins and by the time I started driving back it was already pushing 7pm. 

The trail was very picturesque looking out over rocky bluffs and shore cliffs onto the Pacific Ocean. I didn’t get to see any ocean life that day but “they” say you can see whales if you are lucky. I would recommend this hike to anyone spending a few days on Vancouver Island. This was too much for a day trip. At least it was for me as I usually have to cut most of my days short because I have to find a place to sleep and I generally like to do that before the sun goes down.

The next morning I got the first ferry out. Charged full price this time because apperently having a roof cargo rack prevents you from the discounted rate.  I obviously was not charged this on the first leg and was pissed about it not only because I had to pay full price but there was no reason to be up at 5am. I could have got on any ferry. O well. This ferry ride was an experience that I will go into in other post. 

This day was too packed. I was rushing myself the whole time because I knew I had another 2.5 hour drive back across the island and had to be up to get the first ferry again the next day.  Now, some of you might be saying to yourselves, “If there is anything you have on your side it is, time.  No commitments, no plane to catch, nowhere to be at any time. There should be no rushing ever.”  While you are correct for the most part and I try not to tightly schedule myself in order to be flexible, I do have a broad plan with a few hard locations and dates that shape my schedule. One of those was Seattle on July 27th to be able to spend the weekend with my Houston friend Daniel who had recently relocated to Seattle. This along with the false idea that getting on the earliest ferry would be half price led to me blitzing through Vancouver Island. 

I landed in West Vancouver and drove downtown. This time I knew I would be spending most of the day here so I found a good parking spot in Stanley Park, paid $13 for all day parking, ARGHHHH, rented a bicycle and toured the city on two wheels.

I started by riding around Stanley Park on the coast of the Vancouver Harbor and English Bay which surround the city turning South to cross the Granville Bridge to walk around the Granville Island Public Market. Granville Market is a fun place to enjoy local food vendor, artisan, and artist stands.  I contributed to the market by purchasing an almond vanilla ice cream cone from Rogers Chocolates as I walked around the market. 

I crossed the Burrard Street bridge on my way back to Stanley Park but before ending my bike tour, I stopped at the Yaletown Brewing Company for a pint. There are a ton of breweries in Vancouver and Yaletown was the least out of my way but you could spend all day walking or biking from brewery to brewery. 

I returned my bike, got back to my car around 4pm and started driving South. I crossed the border back into the United States on my way to Seattle. After 16 great days in the country to the North it was good to be home. 

Matthew 

My first stop in British Columbia was Field.  This is tiny town that sits inside Yoho National Park.  Field had none of the feel of Banff or Jasper in terms of being a tourist destination.  This is another historic railroad town where the water and electricity was paid and supplied by the railroad until the 1950s.  I hiked the Iceline Trail the day after I arrived which is a 20km loop and named for the several glaciers you hike below as you make your way along the edges of the Waputik Mountain Range.  The hike starts you off near Takakkaw Falls which is an incredibly powerful waterfall (check out the photos) near the trailhead then steeply climbs you above the treeline as you walk along the range.  The fast receding glaciers were pretty small (Thanks, Obama) but the miniaturization of Takakkaw Falls as you walked further and further away  was a cool sight.

For what ever reason I really struggled through this hike.  Whether it was the long hikes in Lake Louise and Jasper the previous few days or I was low on calories I don’t know but my hips were bothering me and I felt lethargic through most of this hike.  This can really lower the enjoyment level of a hike so while I don’t have fond memories of this hike, it could have been just my state of mind and body at the time.

When I got off the Iceline Trail, all I could think about was getting to a restaurant for a nice juicy burger and my plan was to drive to Glacier National Park which was about 90 minutes away  and find a restaurant.  Little did I know, unlike all the other parks I had been to so far in Canada there were no towns in Glacier National Park along the Trans Canada Highway.  While I could have stopped at any turnout or trailhead and cooked myself some soup or rice and beans, the need for a greasy cheeseburger was too great to settle for my own cooking so I pressed on another 90mins until I hit the town of Revelstoke.  (Note:  I heard the hiking in Glacier National Park is pretty great because it is pretty remote and very few people take the time to drive there)

This turned out to be a great change of plans as Revelstoke was by far my favorite town in all of Canada.  It is directly outside Mt. Revelstoke National Park and I’m sure they get there fair share of tourism (especially during the winter from its ski resort nearby) but the town felt down to Earth and “homey”.  The main street felt natural and unpretentious unlike the feelings I got in Banff and Jasper.  It wasn’t crowded and the people who gathered around for the Revelstoke Street Fest the night I arrived seemed to be locals.  I got my burger that night at Chubby Funsters across from the street fest stage and it was totally worth the extra time in the car.

The next day, I hiked to Eva Lake and Miller Lake inside Mt. Revelstoke National Park.  It was a short hike to two more glacier fed lakes.  I needed the short hike because of the hike the day before and also because I needed watch the Game of Thrones season premiere at 6PM PDT that evening.  I found a Starbucks in town, got my Wifi working and watched “television” for the first time in a long time.  I have missed World Cup Qualifying matches, all of the Gold Cup so far because of travelling but I was not missing the GoT season premiere.  What is wrong with me!? 

After the show, I found the Craft Bierhaus in town and enjoyed some local beer and their specialty mac and cheese.  I got the South Bowl Mac and Cheese and it was amazing.  Imagine beef nachos on top of a plate of macaroni.  Definitely check this place out if you are ever in Revelstoke.  Thanks, JP, for the suggestion.

The following day was a long day of driving to Squamish, an hour North of Vancouver.  I had intended to drive through the town of Whistler on my way which was supposed to be a very scenic drive but due to wildfires I was rerouted along the US/Canada border and came up around the southwest side of Vancouver up to Squamish. 

Squamish is in an outdoor destination for Vancouver where people are big into mountain biking, climbing, hiking and windsurfing.  I don’t think I was there more than 24 hours so can’t really talk about the town very much.  I completed the Chief hike in Squamish.  This is a short hike but you gain about 2000ft of elevation over a short distance  so it was pretty strenuous.  I bagged all three peaks of the Chief and got back to my car in about 5 hours.  The views at the top of the mountain were great looking down on the town of Squamish, its neighboring towns and the Howe Sound.

After the hike I drove out on the Squamish Spit to watch people windsurfing for a while before I drove South to Vancouver.

Matthew.

I know I am behind on my posting but here are my photos from my travels through Washington.

 – Enjoy

Olympic National park

30 Photos

North Cascades National Park

16 Photos

Through the first half of my trip through Canada I spent the whole time in Alberta traveling through and around Canmore, Banff and Jasper.  I won’t go into incredible detail but I just wanted to hit the highlights.

Banff/Canmore:  I spent the most time in Banff National Park.  Mostly because it was the first place I stopped and wanted to try to hit everything but also because the parking lot I was staying (actually in Canmore) had potable water, Wifi, and indoor plumbing which was hard to leave.  While in Banff I hiked, Tunnel and Sulphur Mountains in the heart of downtown then hiked Bourgieu Lake to Harvey Pass a few days later.  On my way out of town I stopped at The Cave and Basin National Historic Site, Vermilion Lakes and Johnston Canyon. 

The Cave and Basin National Historic Site is the hot spring that was discovered by explorers while they were building the Canadian railroad to the pacific ocean.  Once the hot spring was discovered the powers that be decided to turn Banff into a what it is today and entice tourists to travel West.  The slogan all over Banff is “If we can’t export the scenery we will import the tourists”.  While amazingly beautiful surrounded by mountains in the Bow Valley, Banff was teaming with people and honestly after several days I was happy to get away from there. 

In the middle of my stay in the Banff area I took two trips south to Mt. Yamnuska Provincial park to try to boulder.  One day was a failure which I already wrote about but I followed it up the following day and was able to boulder for about 90 mins which was pretty cool and good change for a day over hiking. 

Canmore is home to the Grizzly Paw Brewing Company and the best meal I have had so far on this trip, Ross’ Brisket Sandwich.  As the menu describes it, “Slow Roasted Brisket, Walnut Mustard, Fresh Jalapeno, Dill Pickled Slaw”.  It was amazing.

Lake Louise:  Lake Louise (still inside Banff National Park) is not much of a town at all.  It is an intersection with two restaurants, two cafes, a tiny grocery store, a liquor store, a book store and an outdoor outfitters.  The lake is very beautiful and I completed about a 23km hike around the lake area to the Plain of Six Glaciers which was a great day but for most travelers I would recommend a drive-by of the lake on your way to Jasper or Banff. 

Jasper:  From Lake Louise I moved North up through the Icefields Parkway to Jasper.  The Icefields Parkway is a two lane road closed in the winter through a valley of the Canadian Rockies.  The views were amazing as mountains towered you on either side.  I stopped to hike to Bow Glacier Falls which is the highest point along the road to Jasper.  The Bow Glacier feeds the Bow Lake which in turn flows into the Bow River Valley which is what the cities of Lake Louise, Banff and Canmore all rest in.

Jasper is another small village located in Jasper national park about 2-3 hours West of Edmonton.  It had a lively main street and definitely had more going on than Lake Louise but didn’t seem as touristy or crowded as Banff.  Although, it seemed to definitely rely on tourism there was definitely a local base that made it seem less manufactured and less “Disneylandy” than Banff. 

My first night in Jasper, while trying to find a place to sleep near Maligne Lake, I saw a black bear about 20 feet off the road and a moose walked almost right up to my car.  People always say bears and moose are more afraid of you than the other way around, but these particular animals couldn’t give a shit about me.  They just went about their business without any regard to me sitting watching them.

I completed the Bald Hills hike near Lake Maligne which is my favorite hike so far on the trip.  It was a 20km hike that brought you over the tree line to the top of three different peaks that gave you 360 degree views of all the surrounding mountains and an aerial view of Lake Maligne.  It was a tough hike with a lot of elevation gained a lost through the three peaks but it was well worth it.

I really enjoyed the city of Jasper and the hiking in the park.  The park also provided a lot of backpacking routes which I did not take advantage of and I will definitely make my way back here to spend more time in the city and either backpacking the Skyline Trail or Tonquin Valley.  In hindsight, I would have reversed the amount of time I spent in Banff/Canmore and Jasper but I will know for next time.

After Jasper I traveled back South on the same road I came in on and completed the Wilcox Pass hike.  This was a relatively short hike that put you on an overlook to the Athabasca Glacier which is this sprawling Glacier down the side of a mountain on the west side of the road.  At the top of the pass, I walked upon a herd of big horned sheep.  I got a few good pictures of them that you can see in my “Jasper Photos” page.

After Wilcox Pass, I continued South until I hit Lake Louise then headed West over the mountain range and into British Columbia.  My next stop was Yoho National Park.

Matthew