17 to 29 August 2015

Quick itinerary overview:

San Francisco: Monday to Thursday (17 Aug to 20 Aug)
Yosemite National Park: Thursday to Sunday (20 Aug to 23 Aug)
Salt Lake City: Monday to Friday (24 Aug to 28 Aug)
Zion National Park: Friday and Saturday (28/29 Aug)

Did I like San Francisco? I feel like I ought to. Everyone loves and praises it. But I am just not sure. Maybe it is exactly that expectation management.

My friend Jen and her friend Erik took me to all the important sites: Golden Gate Park, Embarcadero, Coil Tower, Twin Peaks, Presidio, Palace of Fine Arts, etc. I know Jen from my last job and we share a passion for running and cycling.

San Francisco is a very pretty city. I love that there are so many hills with cute houses, which all have an amazing view. I also liked the Hayes Valley neighbourhood, where Jen lives in a new build apartment house, which even features in a TV series. Around the corner from her there is a liquid nitrogen ice cream shop and a beer garden that sells Schneider Weisse. Perfect.

What really got to me in San Francisco where the masses of homeless people. Not only are there so many, but so many of them are completely gone (can’t find the right translation for “total fertig”). I saw a nearly naked man squatting down doing a number two in the middle of the day on the side of the road in busy downtown in front of everyone, cars and trams going by, luxury stores in the background. Maybe it was a statement. I was shocked.

I had two very nice lunches in San Francisco: on Tuesday, Jen took me to her Rotary lunch meeting at the Sir Francis Darke Hotel. On Wednesday, I met with my colleague Gabbie, who I had spoken to so many times in my last job, but had never actually met. She looked even younger than in the Firm’s directory photo which is apparently 20 years old! We went for Dim Sum in China Town, which was special. Not least because with my London team we also usually go for Dim Sum in China Town London. Gabbie gave me a baseball cap of her team, the San Francisco Giants. This came in handy straight away over the weekend, when I used it to cover up my three day unwashed hair in Yosemite.

Did I like Yosemite? Yes, you have to like it and I did. The sheer drop granite mountains all around you, the green valley and forests, the waterfalls and rivers… And I finally saw a bear! I went to Alaska, British Columbia, Washington, Oregon and finally in California I am lucky. Well, it is in their state flag after all.

The story is that the black bear runs up to us, ready to attack Candice and me. Paul, however, jumps between the bear and the girls, lets out a warrior cry and wrestles the bear down. No photo evidence unfortunately, but you can picture Paul with one foot on the defeated beat and his hands up in victory.

The true story is that the bear crossed the street running just behind us and was in the thick bush before we could grasp what had happened.

Not only did we survive the bear attack, we also escaped the plague (Pest) of which there was a case recorded in a Yosemite campground earlier this year.

Re-wind: I picked up Candice and Paul at Oakland airport and we drove to Yosemite together. They had organised everything, the campsites, the tents, the hikes. Candice and I had worked together in my previous job in London and she has since returned to Salt Lake City in Utah.

We stayed two nights at the upper pine campground in the main part of the national park and did the Pohono Trail and the Nevada Falls trail from there. Epic views in both, but I particularly liked the bath in the little pool above the Nevada Falls (in lieu of a shower).

On Sunday, I swam across the Tenaya lake and we hiked to a former silver mine passing Glen Lake at 10,000ft altitude. That night, we drove across the Nevada desert to Salt Lake City. I learned that Nevada is special for having thousands of rabbits, less one, which crossed the road on a red light (Sorry, Victor!).

Did I like Salt Lake City? Yes. Maybe expectation was low. Very low: my mum had a traumatic experience, when she was there on her 30th birthday with no sparkling to celebrate! Things have changed since and I enjoyed a Fröhlich Pils from a local micro brewery. I stole the Bierdeckel and was promptly detected. Oops.

Salt Lake City is nicely situated at the foot of mountains and I had two good cycle workouts up and down the canyons. I also saw them from the excellent 50m outside pool from the public sports complex.

I did the whole Mormon experience, had a guided tour through the conference centre and Temple Square. Only mature Mormons in good standing can enter the temple itself. It is for higher learning (this is what the two young missionaries told me), baptisms, weddings, etc. The weekly Sunday service takes place in “normal” churches that can be visited by anyone.

What the Rotary International Club and the Mormon church have in common is that their strong community that binds its members by giving them an appealing purpose (provide humanitarian services and advance goodwill and peace around the world; knowing the true nature of God and being together with your family forever (well…)). And that network is global, so wherever you go, you automatically have people to connect with. I was quite fascinated by the opportunities that both offer for international experience. The Rotary Club for example has a subgroup, Rotaplast, which sends teams to developing countries to perform surgeries to correct cleft lips and other deformities. The Mormons usually do a 18 months to two year mission at age 18/19 to a foreign country coupled with an extensive language course. Although, having to get up at 6am to do three hours scripture study, knocking on people’s door to preach the good news, curfew at 9pm – I would have found it tough.

Did I like Zion National Park? Very much. I loved the different shades of the red stone against the green of everywhere near water. When I got there on Friday afternoon, I was lucky to find a campground spot just outside the park with shower and Internet. The shuttle took me to the Angel Landing Trailhead. It’s a steep climb and then a scary sheer drop ridge to the actual Angel Landing. Luckily, there are chains to hold on to. The view is worth it!

Yesterday morning, I got up early and was rewarded with an almost empty Emerald Trail. The pools at this time of the year, however, are quite empty and therefore are not as impressive as in the pictures I saw beforehand. Incentive to come back and also do the narrows trail.

Jen, Candice and Paul: thanks so much for showing me your places and a good time, hosting me, looking after me. It was wonderful seeing you again and I value our conversations. I shall see you again very shortly!