Mojave Trip

· Las Vegas · Death Valley ·
· Sequoia · Grand Canyon ·

May 2013


My trip began with a five-hour layover in Newark, during which I took a train to Central Park and discovered an incredible gathering of migrating warblers... the "Central Park Effect" is real indeed, so much so that my delayed return to Newark caused me to miss my flight!

Thankfully I caught a stand-by direct flight that got me to Vegas three minutes before my original, cutting out a Denver layover. For the next five days I traversed Death Valley and ascended the sheer face of the Sierra Nevada to the Giant Sequoia groves before circling back to Vegas.

There I joined my South African friends Eben and Jacques -- on their own month-long road trip around the American Southwest -- for a three day Grand Canyon rafting trip. With a pit stop at the Bar Ten Ranch in the remote Arizona Strip, a helicopter ride down to the Colorado River, drifting through calm waters and rapids, exploring petroglyphs and waterfalls, sleeping under the stars, and a high-speed jet-boat ride along the meandering tail of Lake Mead back to civilization... a most memorable trip of a lifetime.


Highlights
Mojave/Sierra Highlights (26 pix)
Grand Canyon Highlights (21 pix)
Video: Helicopter Approaching the River
Suan on the road (20 pix)
Rafting with Eben and Jacques (27 pix)
The Central Park Effect (7 pix)
Wildlife
"Big" Birds (Non-Passerines) (19 pix)
Flycatchers (11 pix)
Songbirds (Oscines/Passeri) (53 pix)
Butterflies (7 pix)
Mammals (5 pix)
Reptiles (7 pix)
Other Wildlife (5 pix)
Full Chronology
May 18: Central Park (11 pix)
May 19: Spring Mountains (34 pix)
May 20: Death Valley (43 pix)
May 21: Kern Plateau (24 pix)
May 22: Sequoia (24 pix)
May 23: Red Rock Canyon (14 pix)
May 24: Bar Ten Ranch (32 pix)
May 25: River Day I (37 pix)
May 26: River Day II (30 pix)
May 27: Jetboat (28 pix)
May 28: Departure (3 pix)