South America - Stories to Inspire Your International Travel Packing List

Cumbayá, Not Just Part of a Song: An Ecuadorian Paradise

In 2010, I became the first student from my University to travel to Ecuador to study at the University of San Francisco de Quito. This little town known as Cumbayá will always have a special place in my heart. I originally went to Ecuador to study Anthropology and International Studies, but when I got there, I realized Ecuador had a lot more to offer, biologically speaking. Instead, I studied medicinal plants, Amazonian ecology, and volcanic soil chemistry. It was a big step for me to move to Ecuador for a year because I had never taken any classes in Spanish, and at USFQ, ALL my classes were in Spanish. This is a picture of me at school. Isn't it pretty?

I Needed a Camping Store, Instead I Found This

I found the availability of rare classes to be a joy there! They offered a wide range of art, music, and martial arts. I decided to take Taekwondo, Capoeira, and a wood-working class. They were all awesome, especially the Capoeira! My stay at USFQ was nice, but I didn't spend that much time there. I spent a lot of my time exploring Ecuador on my own and with friends. One day I was riding the bus to go shopping and I met a very nice young man named Sebastián. We hit it off really well at first. He told me I needed to go to a place called Montañita. I told him I didn't have much money. He said, amigo, don't worry about that. You can live like a king with almost no money there. It sounded too good to be true. I decided to spend my last $8 on a bus ticket down to the coast. I brought all my camping gear, my drum, a eucalyptus didgeridoo, a wind gong, and three singing bowls. When I got there, I set up my tent on the beach, and made myself comfortable. I couldn't believe how relaxed Ecuadorian laws were. You can camp on any beach, and nobody seems to even notice. 

 

Anyone Camping on the Beach?

I started to feel right at home with my tent near the water. For the first few days, I didn't leave the sound of the waves. Eventually, I got hungry and went into the town looking for work. It turned out that the only "work" there was to do was actually play! I met some fire-spinners and they saw that I had a drum! We played shows in the street and in bars. I made a decent living doing that and it was so much fun! I didn't have any expenses really, besides food. It was the simplest living I've ever known. One day, I decided to start broadening my economic horizon by playing singing bowls and gong on the beach. This is a picture of me doing what I love, creating the space for people to relax and enjoy:

I stayed on this beach for three weeks, meeting lots of interesting travelers, and the locals were all pretty cool too! After that, I had to go back to the sierra to start classes. On the weekends between classes, I would travel around the country visiting the various beaches and mountain towns. Ecuador is a very special place because it is home to the tallest mountains on any part of the equator. This creates a wide range of ecosystems and biodiversity. It is literally full of micro-climates; it is known as one of the mega-biodiverse regions of the world. That is in part, what attracted me to it in the first place. Little did I know, the people are very festive and lively! Ecuadorians love to dance and party like no other! I have never seen more drums in my life than in Ecuador.

 

Touring the Waterfalls of Baños, Ecuador

After some time, I was advised to go to a place called Baños. It is a small town on the eastern side of the Ecuadorian Andes. It is known for its enchanting waterfalls. When I got there, I was very happy to see that the nearest volcano, Tungurahua, was erupting in full force. I had never seen an active volcano erupt. It was powerful! I could feel the seismic waves underneath me, and I could see the crater blowing out tons of smoke and ash! I saw the windows bowing, and I heard the blasts all throughout the night. On this particular trip. I had plenty of money, but decided to camp for free anyway. I hiked down to the river, and set up camp. This is what I saw when I woke up:


I found a bicycle rental shop and decided to do the waterfall route. It was a long route filled with many waterfalls, dropping down into the Amazon jungle. It was precious to say the least! I highly recommend it if you are ever in Ecuador. 

 

“Puenting” AKA Jumping Off a Bridge

My stay in Ecuador was a bit out of the ordinary. The University thought I should get a "host-family" to stay with, but I decided to get my own apartment. My neighbors were very interesting. Some of them were Taoists, and some of them were extreme sportsmen. My one neighbor, Dokni, invited me to do something called, "Puenting," or in English "bridging". Basically, you jump off a bridge and swing down underneath it, and ooh what a rush! I brought my drum and played it for some added excitement! When it was finally my turn, I could barely look down. It was so terrifying that when they counted to 3 the first time, I couldn't force myself to jump! They counted to 3 again, and off I went! Letting go of my fear was very uplifting! It felt great to conquer the bridge. It's funny because we don't do this kind of thing where I am from in Cincinnati, but we have an expression that deals with this. If someone asks you, "would you jump off a bridge just because someone else did?" it means to say, are you a follower? Well I guess I am in this case! It was loads of fun! This is me jumping off the bridge, which happens to be about a 300 foot drop!

Becoming a Drum Maker

Somewhere along the way I met a kid who inspired me to start crafting my own line of drums. I started making them out of a sort of agave plant. It was easy to use this wood because it's very soft. I found out that it is too soft in some cases, so soft that it would cave in on itself. Making the drums was a very meditative practice for me. Carving for hours and hours, I would chip away the wood in a sort of double-spiral form. It was very peaceful. I found out that tightening the animal skin over the wood is quite an art in itself as well! I probably messed up about 10 drums before I got it right. I met a juggler named Fabio in the street and we became instant friends! Something interesting about him is that he happened to have the same birthday as my best friend in high school, June 25. This is a picture of us making drums together:

Fabio and I probably made about 20 drums together. We had a lot of fun. He has a little daughter, and I made a tiny drum for her. She was so cute playing it! Many a time, we would go into the street and play drums and juggle and make money together. One time we even went down to the coast and I brought a bunch of drums to sell. We sold drums and played music together, paying the bills by doing what we loved! This guy knew how to have a good time! And he was a hell of a cook! Argentine people seem to have a knack for cooking and indulging! Fabio and I ended up living together for a while. We had so much fun!

 

Atacama, Chile, South America

A Tale to Guide Your International Trip Packing List

I Needed an Outdoor Store, But There Were None to Be Found

As part of my extracurricular activities, I decided to treat myself to seeing the driest desert on the planet, and the 2nd most active volcanic region in the world: the Atacama desert in northern Chile, South America. It took me nearly 80 hours by bus to get there from Ecuador, through coastal Perú, passing through Lima, Nazca, Tacna, and Arica. I would have benefited from an outdoor supply shop that sells products similar to our “On the Road” collection.

 

South America’s Gems & Backpackers Packing List

One notable characteristic of the South American Pacific coast is that if you are in Ecuador, and you travel south, the coast goes from being very green in Ecuador, to desert-like beaches once you pass into Perú and especially, Chile. It is a result of the Humboldt water current that causes the Chilean and Peruvian coastal region to be so dry. Perú is full of scenic deserts, but I only passed through them quickly. My main points of interest on this particular trip were the Nazca lines, and of course the Atacama desert near San Pedro, Chile. San Pedro sits almost right on the tropic of Capricorn; it's a tropical desert plateau, surrounded by two very tall, long, thin mountain chains.

 

As the bus neared San Pedro, this is what I saw, an oasis in the middle of nothingness: I made my way through the city, as touristy as it is, not really sure exactly what I wanted to do. After looking around for a while, I decided to take a stroll into the desert, and set up camp. I bought the biggest jug of water I could find, and all the necessary vegetables and herbs to cook a delicious meal in the desert. I started walking early in the day; I followed the roads for a while, and then I just started walking up a large plateau. It was sandy, but also very rocky. It was hard to walk up because the sand was very deep. I walked until I couldn't get any higher. I found myself overlooking a giant valley surrounded by strange looking rock formations. I'm certain that I have never been able to see so far in my entire life. This is due to the extremely low relative humidity. It is basically 0% rH. Since the air is so dry, one can also see the stars to a dazzling degree. That is part of why I went there. I planned the trip around the Quadrantids meteor shower. 

 

Hiking Packs: The Right Pack Will Make or Break Your Journey

So there I was all alone, in the middle of a devastatingly arid region, setting up camp. Luckily, I had a backpack that could hold all the necessary gear to be comfortable even in the middle of nowhere. Good packs are only the beginning- you need the right electronics and solar charging to make sure your gadgets are running smoothly. Our Hiking Collection would have made my life a whole lot easier. 

On the contrary, my trip was arduous- the wind was strong enough to blow my tent away! I had to put rocks as big as my head over top of the tent stakes just to keep it down. I sat down and meditated, watching the shadows change shape. I watched the only cloud in the entire sky, which was only a small speck, float across the deep blue bowl, eventually smacking into the tallest mountain. Way off in the distance, I could see a swirling twister picking up dust and sand. It was pretty entertaining. I cooked my meals inside the tent. I stayed up late into the darkest hours of the night, and watched the shooting stars burn the night away.

A Chilean Excursion Across the Altiplano

I woke up the next day, and went back to San Pedro. I made friends with another backpacker, and we decided to go on some excursions. It was not my original intention, but it sounded like a great idea to see the geysers. We woke up at 4am because the geysers are most enjoyable as the sun rises. It was the craziest, bumpiest two hour long ride of my life into the Chilean altiplano (Spanish for high-plain). We arrived at the geysers and it was a spectacular site. 
We rode past lagoons filled with pink flamingos and quite a few other types of birds. It is a very interesting area because in Chile alone, there are over 150 active volcanoes. We passed several along the way back. This is one of the lagoons we stopped at on our trek back to San Pedro:

Volcanoes & Vicuña

I was very impressed with the altiplano. Once we got back to the city, my friend and I decided to climb an active volcano. We walked into the desert again to catch one more glimpse of the meteor shower and go camping. It was incredibly dark because it was a new moon that night. We waited for our driver and volcano guide to pick us up in the middle of nowhere. We drove and drove across more high plains. We passed an amazing lake way up in the mountains. One thing that caught my attention was these little critters, called vicuña. They are an extremely swift camelid that lives in Perú, Chile, and Bolivia. Here they are running up the mountain:

As we got closer to the volcano, I could smell the sulfur. It was harsh to the nose. We drove up the volcano until we reached about 5000m above sea level. The air was so thin that we had to take some coca leaf to stimulate our circulatory system. I was so excited that I practically ran up the volcano. We went up and up until we saw the crater. It was closed off, but smoking quite a bit! The sulfuric gas was so strong that we couldn't stay at the top very long. It was the most excellent view of the mountainous desert I have ever seen! As we came back down, we shot this photo of the high plain:

When we got back to the city this time, we went to our guide's house. He cooked us the most amazing meal. It was only meat, cooked in wine, in a giant wok looking thing. Chile was great! It was expensive, but fun. I hope someday I make it back there.

North America: Mayan Ruins, Tetons, Yellowstone, Badlands, & The Grand Staircase

México - Not An Outdoor Goods Store To Be Found

The Mayan culture has fascinated me for years. I am attracted to it because of its ancient wisdom rooted in its connection to nature. Stunningly beautiful megalithic structures laid out in cosmographic geometry can be found littered all over the Mayan orbit of southeast México, Guatemala, and Honduras. Many people seem to think that the Mayans died out as a culture some 500 years ago with the arrival of Cortéz and the Spanish conquistadores, but the Mayan people are alive and well. They are dwindling in numbers quite quickly, but their customs live on through the modern day. 

Yucatán, México, Ruins, & Mayan Shamans

My journey began in December, 2008, when I found a cheap flight to Yucatán, México. It was my second time in a Spanish speaking country, and my Spanish wasn't the best, but I made it work. When I landed, I walked out of the airport doors, and it felt like a fiesta already. They were selling margaritas, and cerveza, not that I bought any, but it had a certain tropical feel to it that I really enjoyed. I made my way to a hostel, and started getting the low down on the hot spots to see from the other backpackers. I quickly made my way toward Tulum, where I was greeted by the Caribbean Sea: I was in paradise! I camped on this beach and played didgeridoo in the sand. Gazing into the obsidian sky, I felt quite peaceful in the ambiguity of what was ahead of me. I watched shooting stars race through the darkness, and I knew I was where I needed to be as part of my spiritual journey. 

Tulum & The Pyramid of Cobá

The next day I went to the ruins at Tulum, and was blown away by such amazing craftsmanship. It was hard to see them, and then have to leave quickly to see other ruins. I caught a tramvia toward a place called Cobá. It is home to the tallest pyramid in the Yucatán. I climbed it of course. It was bizarre to see the front half of the pyramid totally bare, and the back was covered in vegetation, some of the plants were somewhat large trees! I could see for what seemed like an incredible distance. 

 

The next stop was an underground cavern known in Spanish as a cenote. It is where the Mayans got their water, since rivers were scarce. I played my didgeridoo down in the cenotes; the acoustics were to die for! I couldn't help but skinny-dip in such beautiful water.

 

Chichén Itzá: A World Wonder

Next, I made my way to Chichén Itzá, home of El Castillo, which is a giant stepping pyramid surrounded by a large ball field, and many other beautiful structures that were part of the city center.

 

 

If you clap near this structure, it creates a very strange acoustic effect. The ball court was also demonstrating the Mayans mastery of acoustics; it is designed in a way that one can hear everyone on the field, even if they are far away, as if they are close by. I moved on to Uxmal, and then headed south into Chiapas toward Palenque. 

Palenque, Chiapas, México

Palenque's lush mountainous jungle is covered in fruit trees, palms, mushrooms, and bamboo. I went to the ruins at Palenque where I met two Mayan shamans. They took me around the ruins, and explained to me the geometric relationships between everything.

 

I was inspired to ask the shaman if they would take me to their village far away from the hustle and bustle of the city. They agreed. I waited patiently in a little cabaña called Mono Blanco, where I met a bunch of really awesome backpackers. Many of them were traveling musicians, dancers, artisans, and fire-spinner juggler types. I felt so at home in the jungle; I slept in a hammock, as did everyone else. 

I spent New Year's Eve 2009 in this community as I prepared for my journey to the Mayan village of Nahá. Strangely enough, when I arrived at the ruins again to meet the shaman, they were late, and since it was New Year's day, nobody could drive because everyone was hung-over. A little bit disappointed, I decided to return the next day. Finally, after several days hanging out in a Mexican hippie paradise, we were on our way into the real outback of Chiapas.

The shaman picked me up in a busted up car, where we then drove to a bus-stop and loaded up a van. We spent nearly 6 hours driving to Nahá because the road was not so well paved. We hit pothole after pothole, creeping up and down the mountain roads. It was majestic. 

 

We arrived in Nahá, and they introduced me to everyone. The villagers were all wearing white tunics from neck to shin. They took me to Shankin viejo viejo, which means old, old Shankin. Little did I know, he was the elder shaman of the village. It was amazing to see a very old man with a thick curly mane and pearly white teeth that shined! The older Mayans didn't keep track of their exact age, but they estimated Shankin viejo viejo was in his mid-80s. I talked to him for the afternoon, and we went on a walk to the temple that he built. We jammed out, playing didgeridoo, maraca, and a conch shell! It was magical! 

 

I walked around the village for a while taking a peak at their organic vegetable gardens. I met some children that were very friendly. We played volleyball. I was so much taller than they were and their net was very low, so I probably felt how an Olympic volleyball player must feel! It was great! Those little guys could dig! I showed them my didgeridoo, and they loved it! Unfortunately, I couldn't stay in Nahá long; I had to make my way to Mexico City to see the National Anthropology Museum and the colossal pyramids at Teotihuacán. Mexican people were so warm and friendly. They treated me well wherever I went. I squeezed the majority of the main Mayan ruins into just three weeks, and it was the time of my life! 

 

 

Cross-Country Cycling: A Checklist For Travel

For many years cars used to be my life. I drove everywhere; I worked on cars and I built them. I delivered pizza in them. Then my values changed, and the day came that I decided to give all the auto-mechanics stuff up, and ride a bicycle. I wanted to simplify my life so I could save more money, and travel. 

Over the spring of 2008, I started asking my friends if anyone wanted to see the country by bicycle. My brother Bryan and my friend Frances decided to tag along! We did a little research about bicycle repair, and the various climates we thought about riding through. We were mostly unprepared, but we didn't care. We loaded up our bikes with camping gear, and we hit the road west-bound on July 5. We didn't have a map and we didn't know how we would get to the wild west. We only knew to follow our hearts, and the sunset of course.

 

I didn't know what to expect. Everyone told me I was crazy for going on this trip. Many of my friends couldn't believe I was going without a fire-arm. It is not my style. I was the leader, but I brought up the caboose, carrying all the tools in case anyone broke down. I'll never forget the feeling of starting out down the hill; I was beyond excited. I was anxious, but not too worried. I knew everything would be ok. I didn't know where I would sleep each night, but I knew it would be ok. 

Early on, we realized we packed too much weight, because our knees were killing us! We rode about 70 miles the first day, leaving Cincinnati, OH, and crossing the border into Indiana; we eventually landed in a little town called Rushville, where we camped under a bridge near a little creek. I cooked us beans and rice over a camp-stove, and went to sleep in a hammock.

 

We continued on through Indiana toward Indianapolis. As we neared my friend's house, I began to feel the tension building in my knees. Not long after, the first spoke broke. I had to take my wheel apart to fix it. It wasn't a big deal; we stood together patiently as repairs are a necessary part of any long-distance trip. When we arrived in Indianapolis, we were warmly greeted by my friend, and we stayed the night there. The next day we left, but much better equipped. Day 3 was pretty rainy.

We brought rain gear, so it didn't slow us down much. We passed through so many little towns; every time we stopped at a gas station or anywhere to load up on water or buy food we would attract a lot of attention. That was not my intention, but we got in the habit of having to explain what the hell we were doing. People basically thought we were insane. They would ask, "Where are you going? What are you doing? Why are you doing this?" And we would say, "We came from Cincinnati; we're traveling because we wanted to say hello to you beautiful people, and spread the love. We're doing this because we always wanted to see the great American wilderness." And many times they would say, "Cincinnati? Where is that?! Where do you sleep? How far do you ride in a day?" And we would tell them! 
Over the first week, I realized that I had overestimated how strong my rear wheel was. I started to break more and more spokes, and it became increasingly more annoying having to stop and take apart my bike every so many hundred miles. We spent the first 1000 miles riding through the corn belt of the Great Plains. Most of the time we were riding into a strong head-wind. It was very difficult to move sometimes, with so much weight attached to my bicycle. Sometimes it was quite frustrating. Sometimes I just wanted to quit and turn around and go back home. I learned to need less and less in order to become lighter. We learned that people were generally very friendly and would help us out with anything we needed. Oftentimes we would knock on a random stranger's door and ask them if we could pitch our tents and hammock in the backyard. EVERY SINGLE PERSON WE ASKED SAID YES!

At one point, as we were riding through Illinois, Bryan got two flat tires, and I broke a bunch of spokes at the same time. We were so far from a bike-shop and just when it seemed hopeless, a man named Mike approached us, and asked us if we needed anything. And you wouldn't believe it, but I asked him if he had a truck to load all three of our bikes and all the gear and drive us to a bike-shop. He told us to wait 10 minutes, and he came back with a huge truck! We were saved! We made it to a bike-shop and I bought a new wheel and front panniers to balance the weight between my front and back wheels more evenly.

 

  

Feeling a bit more prepared we left Illinois bound to cross the Mississippi river. Some of our friends doubted we would even make it that far! It was a great feeling to cross the country's largest river for the first time. We camped in a school yard later that night. We continued into Iowa, which we found out wasn't more than a lot of factory farms, hills, and wind! Well, not to deceive you, we did meet a whole bunch of friendly people that welcomed us into their homes and cooked us dinner. Unfortunately, we lost Frances in Iowa due to cycling pains.

 

As Bryan and I neared the border of South Dakota, we were getting a bit more excited as the elevation shot us upward bit by bit. The terrain was slowly getting more interesting, and we knew we were getting close to the mountains. Along our way we would stop at public libraries in order to communicate with friends and family via Facebook, and to have an idea where the bike shops would be ahead of us. Upon arriving in South Dakota, we realized that there weren't any bike-shops for over 300 miles. We loaded up extra heavy on our food and water, just in case, because when we looked at the map of South Dakota, there weren't that many cities. 

We traveled through more wind, and slowly started to see more wild game. The pronghorn antelope wandered the plains along with prairie dogs, and others. I'll never forget the feeling I got when we stopped at a restaurant to get a milk-shake, and I saw the storm-chaser vehicle. Apparently, a major tornado had just missed us! 

As we neared the end of South Dakota, which is a very long state in case you were wondering, we were looking for a place called "The Badlands." 

It is a place known to be completely uninhabitable. The only things that can live there are basically some grass, giant spiders, rattlesnakes, antelope and fierce predatory cats. We had to camp there! So on our way we stopped at a little grocery store to stock up on supplies again before our first major camping of this trip! We were just about ready to go out into the wild, when we were approached by a native American named Curtis Quiver. He started asking us all the usual questions. Then he asked us if we wanted to go to a pow-wow. It had just so happened that we landed in Wanblee (the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation) the night of the ONLY pow-wow of the year! How could we say no? Many of the native Americans dressed like rap-stars and gangsters. They drove low-rider trucks all decked out with fancy neon lights, decals, and chrome. It was quite a surprise to us! The whole scene was unreal. 

We decided to go with Curtis, and explore the village. He asked us what kind of survival skills we had. We told him that we knew how to fish a little, hunt, and trap. He asked us what we would do if a mountain lion approached us. We had no idea. He told us that you cannot run from the lion; you must face it because that is its style. He said, "You must wait for the lion to attack first with its claws; using one arm you block the lion's blow and with the other, you slit its throat from ear to ear. Don't worry about the scratching. You may lose some blood, but you will be ok," he explained. Then he told us that it's possible to put your fingernails in water, using them to attract fish, and when the fish nears you throw it out of the water, like a bear. He told us how to kill a bear too, just in case. I asked Curtis about extraterrestrials, and he didn't want to talk about it, but he did mention a "tall man" character, and that he had seen some crazy shit out in the desert.

 

 

Curtis introduced us to his family, and they were all drunk! It was quite the stereotypical drunken Indian scene depicted in some of America's popular culture. It was a little sad to see a people so beat down, so hopeless, that all they cared about was getting drunk, and feeling sorry for themselves. At least that was the impression I got. It was sad, but real. Apparently, an event called "Wounded Knee" happened in this same place, and a bunch of natives were slaughtered there innocently.
 
I'll never forget Curtis wanted to scalp one of my dreadlocks for his collection. In some native American cultures, it was believed that there is great power in the hair, and to steal another man's hair, is to steal his life-force energy. Bryan, Curtis, and I hung out with the family for a while, and met Curtis' cousin. As we prepared ourselves for the pow-wow, Curtis suggested we put all our belongings in a trailer. "Does it lock?" I asked. 
"No, but don't worry," he replied. 
I looked at Bryan and he seemed ok with that. I knew that upon trusting that things would be ok, they would be. We walked through the village with Curtis and we met his whole family and all the neighbors! Being a white boy in a native American reservation felt pretty crazy! People treated us like celebrities. I played my didgeridoo and flute for them, and they loved it! We smoked the peace pipe with them, and we danced! We partied the night away, and we sang! It was very interesting to see how they celebrated life. Strangely enough, there was no fire in the middle as I imagined there would be. 

The next day we woke up from the Sioux pow-wow, and continued on to the Badlands. One night in the Badlands was enough! It took me hours to round up even enough wood to make a small fire, and once I had it all ready to go, a swift wind ripped through the desert, blowing almost all my wood away! We got the fire going anyway, and it was enough to keep the wildcats away. 
As we got closer to Wyoming, we started seeing tons and tons of bikers, and when I say bikers, I mean motorcyclists. Little did we know that we were right near the largest motorcycle rally on the planet at Sturgis, SD. Bikers seemed to come from every direction! We would be pedaling along all quiet and peaceful, and then all the sudden - WA WA WA BA BA WA WA WA BA BA! Bikers! They were everywhere! We didn't really like them, but they seemed to be impressed by us. We talked to a few of them and they said they had traveled from all corners of the globe to come act a fool in the middle of nowhere. They told us, "We thought we were badasses for driving all the way out here, but you guys are really pedaling it all the way out west!" 

Next we rode into the Black Hills mountains nearing the border of Wyoming. We knew we were getting close to bear country. One night we stopped in the mountains to camp, and we heard some strange animal calls. We thought we were either being hunted by a cat, or that we heard bears. We made spears just in case. Fortunately, we didn't have to use them. We rode on for quite a while, watching the cities get further and further apart. 

One time we stopped at a little town in Wyoming called Spotted Horse; it's population: 2. We hit some furious wind in Wyoming when coupled with the steep mountain roads, made it seem impossible to traverse. I kept telling myself to move on, and not give up no matter what! It was hard sometimes. I questioned why I was even doing this. I questioned the meaning of life. I remembered all the people along the way that asked me what I was doing. I wondered to myself, "What is this all about?" Well I found out pretty soon after that.

 

  

As we made our way across Wyoming we came to a small mountain town near the border of Montana, called Sheridan. We met two hitch-hikers named Bojangles and Boston, who taught us the art of flying signs. They told us that you have to be very careful what you write on your sign. If it comes off as too aggressive, it may be illegal. It is about being to the point, and making a sign that is legible. We continued into the Bighorn Mountains reaching almost 9,000 ft. above sea level. We camped in the mountains one night, and zipped down almost 20 miles of switchbacks in a matter of minutes. Bryan got an impressive double tire blow-out on the way into Shell Canyon. It didn't slow us down much because we were usually carrying two spare inner-tubes each. 

After a long month of hard riding, we finally arrived at the foothills of the Absaroka Mountains. We were very broke due to the fact that we left with only about $400 between Bryan and I. We had to remember what Bojangles said, and fly a sign. We posted up at the Cody Wal-mart exit and made almost $200 in a few hours of panhandling. Now that we were ready for the bears, with our bear spray, and fully loaded with food and drinks, we began our way up the mountains into Yellowstone National Park. Up until this point we hadn't seen any other cyclists traveling west. 

 

Finally, we saw two women pedaling up the mountain. It was really cool to see anyone at this elevation on a bicycle! We rode into Yellowstone as the sun set. It wasn't the wisest idea we had due to the fact that bears are nocturnal. We gritted our teeth and found somewhere safe to camp. Yellowstone was everything I dreamed it would be. We saw bears, buffalo, elk, and many other mega-fauna. I'll never forget the smell of sulfur that loomed through the air. It had a very strong, intense odor. 

 

We rode through Yellowstone, not realizing how cold and rainy it could get. It was almost miserable, but we trudged on into the Yellowstone outback. It was our dream to camp far out there in the caldera! We eventually made our way into the lower geyser basin where we saw a bunch of hot springs empty into a hot river, and a whole lot of dangerous terrain that we had to pass through. After we finally reached our campsite, we found ourselves surrounded by some elk, a bison, and the sound of an enchanting waterfall in the distance. It was paradise!

 

As fun as Yellowstone was, it got really unbearable. At times, all I could do to stay warm was stop near a geyser or a hot-spring. I found myself wanting to dry out in the desert. Bryan and I had a great time together, but it was time for me to finish my journey to Utah alone. I kept going south until I found myself surrounded by the most beautiful red canyons, the Flaming Gorge, the Painted Desert. I camped alone for the next 10 days watching the most dazzling meteor shower of my life! Riding across the desert plateau was so peaceful! I met a very nice couple on my way to Bryce Canyon that took me in for the night and fed me a delicious dinner. I had a record of about one shower per state, but people still treated me like a King, and I was very humble for that. 

When I finally reached the Grand Staircase, I was greeted by this:

 

I camped here during sunrise as I cooked my oatmeal, watching the magic unfold. After Bryce Canyon, I coasted down the hill to Zion National Park. I really didn't know anything about Zion, but someone told me I had to go to Angel's Landing! This is what I saw at the apex of my trip: