Wolfsboro, NH and Portland, MN

Nothing makes a romantic trip to see the New England Fall colors better than inviting eight friends to join us :p The drive from Philly to Wolfsboro, NH is ~8 hours with limited traffic. While I'd like to say its so beautiful after you cross NYC that it doesn't matter, I can't. It's a long drive to complete in a day. Once you're there though, it's totally worth it!

Here's a quick summary of what we did, followed by some advice if you visit, fun facts, and summary of our favorite pictures.
Day 1 - Thursday 10/6

• Pick up rental cars and drive
• Check into cabin in Wolfsboro, NH
• Check out the lake on kayaks and have some dinner

Day 2 - Friday 10/7

• Drive to Portland (~2 hours)
• Have lobster rolls lunch
• Checkout a lighthouse
• Continue pigging out in Portland on seafood
• Campfire at the cabin!

Day 3 - Saturday 10/8

• Scenic drive into White Mountain National Forest (Conway to Lincoln)
• Day hike to see the fall colors (Mt. Hedgehog)
• Cook a feast, chill by the fire, then continue drinking inside while playing charades

Day 4 - Sunday 10/9

• Drive back to Philly with a pit stop in New Jersey for some Indian food

Things to know if you visit

• Avoid the hotels and get a cabin; it makes the experience so much better, especially if you're in a group. We made campfires in the evenings, cooked giant feasts (thanks Fate, Issa, and everyone who helped!), and kayaked into the lake right from our backyard.
• Try to get the cabin on either Lake Winnipesaukee and Lake Wentworth. We ended staying here and definitely recommend it: Airbnb
• The drive from Conway to Lincoln in beautiful and a must do if you're here to see the leaves changing
• There's several short day hikes along Highway 112 from Conway to Lincoln. Mt. Hedgehog, Mt. Potwash, and Boulder Loop Trail were just a few that we came across in our research.

Fun facts

• You can totally live in a 3 bedroom 1 bath place with 10 people if you all follow a strict bathroom schedule: people have assigned 15 minutes shower slots that are non-refundable and non-transferable.
• The Lake Wentworth NH area is Trump Country and we went pre-election... so yeah... go in a group if you look foreign like us :)
• The game Contact! is great for car rides; pro-tip: make sure you know the meaning of the word you pick. For example, photosynthesis is NOT when a caterpillar becomes a butterfly, Steph.

Summary of pictures

Look at that posture

Costco + Fate save the day

How can you say no this face?

Jonathan needs more fiber

Fall foliage

Middle California and drive back to Atlanta

In addition to Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks, we did a little travelling around middle California as well. You might be thinking "what the #@$ is worth visiting in middle California?" Well, you'd be mostly correct :) But, we took the opportunity to visit Moro Bay and San Luis Obispo.

This post will also cover Mohit's drive back from Sequoia NP to Atlanta. Over the course of seven nights, Mohit worked his way east, stopping in Las Vegas, Canyonlands, Denver, Kansas City, and Nashville.

Things to know if you visit

• Canyonlands National Park is divided into two section, The Needles and Island in the Sky. Make sure you know where you're camping and hiking before driving over because these two areas are not connected within the park. They are divided by a canyon (go figure). 
• Campgrounds in Canyonlands and the other four Utah national parks fill up quickly in the peak seasons. So make sure to get there early (well before noon) to get a spot. But don't worry if you are arriving late. Island in the Sky has a BLM campsite (Horsethief) right next to the entrance which offers really nice campsites for the same price as Canyonlands and usually has availability. There's also a state park nearby but that requires you to pay another fee to enter, so try the national forest campsite first. 
• Camping is really fun in Canyonlands because it allows you to get to the sunrise spots before the whole world shows up (Delicate Arch). Just remember that dessert storms occur frequently causing high winds and lots of rain. So make sure your tent has a rain guard :)
• If you are driving to Canyonlands, try getting a 4x4 Jeep type vehicle. There's an amazing loop dirt road that goes through the canyon that's made for driving on. Its pretty rugged though, so the rental company might not be happy with you taking their car on it, but it looked really fun. Bucket list item for sure.
• Death Valley is hot in the summer, so camping is not recommended. While they keep one campsite open always, its quite empty in the summer. It was very difficult to sleep at night in the tent because the lowest the temperature dropped to was around 95 F.

Fun facts

• Moro Bay California was featured in Finding Dori!
• Tennessee bbq is definitely a thing. Worth driving to Nashville for.
• Still nothing of interestt in the drive from Denver to Kansas City.
• Denver is becoming too hipster for me. I never want to pay $6 for a small tea, no matter how loose the leafs are.

Summary of pictures

Trying to learn night photography

Death Valley

Lowest point in US, in the summer. Oh yeah, I was the only one there.

Rain did not penetrate this wonderful $30 walmart tent #Colemanforlive

Canyonlands

Yes, you can hike into it. And its awesome. Probably shouldn't have done it alone though...

You can also drive down it, if you're a maniac

Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks, California

We’ve been thinking of how to categorize this summer’s travels and the best way we think to break it up is: Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks (SEKI), and everything else. 

SEKI is big. Really big. You just won't believe how vastly, hugely, mind-bogglingly big it is. Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy fan anyone? But really, SEKI is 1,300 sq miles and most of that is backcountry, meaning you can’t just drive up to it, take a picture, and keep driving. Suck it Yosemite. SEKI can be divided into a few major parts: Giant Forest, Grant Grove, Cedar Grove, Mineral King, and Sierra Crest. 

Giant Forest is filled with sequoia trees and has the world’s largest tree by volume, General Sherman. Grant Grove also has a bunch of sequoias and some camping sites. Cedar Grove is basically as east as you can get while driving in Kings Canyon and has some beautiful meadows, waterfalls, and less intense hikes. Mineral King is hard to get to but filled with intense and rewarding hikes, and marmots. Sierra Crest, the only part we did not see, if on the East side of the Sierra Nevada mountain range. This means you have to drive 6 hours around the mountains to get to it, but it does have Mt. Whitney, the highest peak in the 48 contiguous states. 

Things to know if you visit

• Here are some hikes/walks/drives we recommend:
• Big Trees Walk - ~1 mile, paved, 0 elevation gain walk with beautiful views of sequoias
• Moro Rock – Less than a mile round trip but mainly stairs; ends at a panoramic view of the granite mountains, and river below
• Drive from Grant Grove to Cedar Grove – ~2 hours, beautiful canyons, waterfalls, and the river
• Lakes Trail (up to Heather Lake) - ~8.5 miles roundtrip, ~2000 ft. elevation gain, and a couple of beautiful lakes along way; be sure to take the Watchtower path (not Hump), to get awesome granite mountain views
• Monarch Lakes - ~9 miles roundtrip, ~2500 ft. elevation gain, and several stream crossings ending at a 10,500 feet above sea-level
• Franklin Lakes - ~12 miles roundtrip, ~2,300 ft. elevation gain, and beautiful views throughout the hike ending at a large man-made lake at 10,000 feet above sea-level; our favorite lake of the trip!
• If you go to Mineral King, which we definitely recommend, be sure to buy a tarp and rope to cover your car. Marmots love to get into your engine and tear it apart: https://www.nps.gov/seki/planyourvisit/marmots.htm
• Don’t camp at in the foothills (Potwisha + Buckeye Flat), it’s just annoyingly hot in the summer. Don’t camp at Lodgepole and Dorst either, so many noise complaints over the weekends... Either get out to Mineral King or Cedar Grove. The type of crowd that goes here is much less rowdy and wants to enjoy nature, as opposed to getting drunk at a campsite. Either way, bring lots of bug spray :)
• Suggested itinerary for a three day weekend here:
• Fly into Fresno Thursday night and sleep in Fresno
• Drive to Cedar Grove early Friday morning, checkout Roaring River Falls, Zumwalt Meadow, and a hike at Roads End; camp at Cedar Grove or get a cabin at Wuksachi Lodge ($$$)
• Saturday, do the Lakes Trail starting early, around 8am; See the General Sherman Tree in the afternoon (yes, it will be insanely crowed on a Saturday but try not to hit anyone), and do the Big Trees Trail; Spend the night at a lodge in Three Rivers
• Sunday morning, drive up to Mineral King and do either Monarch or Franklin Lakes hike; Fly out of Fresno late Sunday night

Fun facts

• If you find a bunch of piping and gardening equipment during a hike or drive through the park, report it to Dispatch. It’s probably the drug cartels growing marijuana in the park. Not kidding…
• All of Little Mexico parties at Lake Kaweah. This lake is near Three Rivers and is on the way to Sequoia from Visalia.
• If you’re ever unfortunate enough to be in Visalia for an extended amount time, be sure to check out Sabor A Tocumbo for a Mangonada, Grocery Outlet for some bargain groceries, and Winco for bulk trail mix and granola. Also, driving here is great. You get street side parking, bike lane, driving lane, and a turning lane.
• Silver City is on the way to Mineral King (there’s only one road) and has some delicious pie with ice cream for $7. But don’t let the name fool you… its not a city. It’s a restaurant and some cabins. Keep a look out on the left (when driving to MK) for a store with an American flag out front. 
• Verizon works in parts of Grant Grove with AT&T works in parts of the Foothills (up till Potwisha)… So don’t break a leg on a hike :)
• In the first five weeks, we only saw one bear crossing the road but saw several deer. Don’t try to pet either of them, they will kick your butt.

Summary of pictures

First of weekly after work drives!

On this drive up you'll be freaked out by at least two deer around a blind curve 

Cohort H! (And the view)

Filipino family to show you scale of trees 

More after work walks, marmots are here too!

The only way to get a picture with that sign is to come at Tuesday 4 pm. 

The trees feel really crunchy 

Guardians 

Don't go to Yosemite

First hike up to Heather Lake

We were influenced by someone in the group to do this...

Rewards if you do Kings Canyon drive

We went to the studio for this backdrop 

Marmots will eat you alive...I mean the radiator fluid if you don't do this

One wrong step X_X

These mountains in the back are in the official park map!

Had the best PB&J sandwiches up here

Mohit make fireee

Conquering mountains 

A great use of the 5th weekend

Mohit stayed in that park ski hut

Summer 2016

U.S. - Olympic National Park, Washington (plus drive to it from Atlanta)

Mohit’s summer internship is an 11 week consulting project with the National Park Service (NPS). Since he’ll be spending 10 weeks in Sequoia National Park, where Fate will be joining him for 5 weeks, we wanted our car with us. So… Mohit drove the trusty little Kia Forte from Atlanta to Olympic National Park (2 hours west of Seattle) where he spent five days in training.

Before the jokes about ranger training begin, let us stress again that this is a professional internship. As much as Mohit would like to go hiking every day, people unfortunately don’t want to pay him for that. They do want to pay him for building excel models though…

Things to know if you visit

• 2016 is the Centennial Anniversary of the founding of NPS. We’ve got a big marketing campaign and people are hitting the parks hard this summer. Prepare for a crowd in these famous parks and hikes.
• The Storm King hike is really worthwhile. It’s about 4 miles out and back (round-trip), but with an elevation gain of ~2,000 ft. So it’s tough and involves getting past two rope climbs. But at the top, you get a beautiful view of the lakes and can even see Canada on a clear day!
• The Hurricane Ridge viewpoint is definitely worth a visit. If you have time, go past the visitor center as far as the road will go. There will be a small parking lot there that leads to a ~3mile trail to the top of the mountain. Fantastic morning hike with views of lakes, mountains, and wildlife.
• Don’t eat at the Crescent Lodge restaurant. It’s like $$$$ and the food is meh (except pork shank, which is good.)
• Crescent Lake is beautiful. Definitely try to kayak/canoe there for half a day, or at-least jump into the lake in the early afternoon. Warning, the water is around 55F in the summer.

Fun facts

• There is nothing of even remote interest between Kansas City and Denver.
• The dam removal project in Olympic NP was the most expensive project in NPS history ~$325M. But you can’t go see the site of one of the old dams because the road flooded… We saw this coming but meh.
• The state of Washington IDs everyone who enters a liquor store with you. Literally everyone, even when the group is 10+ people, all well over 21.
• Many national forests, including the one near Olympic, allow hunting with a license… So don’t wear camo when you’re hiking around near the border of a national forest and a national park.
• Twilight was shot here at Olympic. That's the only fun fact I can come up with about this situtaion...

Summary of pictures

Somewhere in Mid America... who cares exactly where

Somewhere between Colorado and Idaho

Crescent Lake at Olympic National Park!

Look a temperate rainforest. I think that means a rainforest that's not hot as ef?

Deer Crossing

Canoe trip at 7am before training. Best internship ever.

The interns pondering how this training could get any better. Probably some vampires from Twilight.

The rewarding view atop the Storm King hike.

Soooo, remember that time you in PE class you climbed ropes?

Memo doesn't take 6am walks often, but when he does, he prefers to jogs them

Canadia!

We found Bambi

Saving grace of Oregon is its coast line. Not sure why people were so interested in completing the Oregon Trail back in the day...

Believe it or not, this mountain is in California.