From Anchorage to Ushuaia by Bike

When you think of the big American national parks, the first ones that come to mind are Yellowstone National Park and the Grand Canyon Park, but actually there are lots of parks in the States, and they each have something special to offer. Each one is criss-crossed by trails allowing even the uninitiated to discover their secrets.

Along with Yellowstone and Grand Teton, we also got to visit four other parks: Capitol Reef, Bryce Canyon, Zion, and Grand Canyon. And in each park the fault lines, plateaus and valleys were a wonderful demonstration of the seismic shifts going on under the ground. Certainly enough to make one feel very small in comparison to the massive power of the earth.

Unfortunately we didn’t get spend as much time as we would have liked in each of the parks: we had some car trouble. The breaks had been whistling for a couple of days, and then the car started to make some really strange noises. So in Loa, Utah, right in the middle of nowhere, we decided we should stop and take a look at the wheel and found that the brake pads were totally shot! It was a small town, but fortunately they had a garage. The mechanic only confirmed what we thought: the brake pads were entirely worn through – it was metal against metal and we were stuck there. We called the car rental agency, and only 6 hours later (and 1½ spent on the phone!) they sent us a new car... a little (or a lot!) more cramped and with well worn tires.

Even though we’ve parked the bikes for a couple of weeks, we’re keeping in shape by going on hikes through the parks and by doing a little attitude acclimatization. Since we left Lake Tahoe two weeks ago, we haven’t gone below 1500 meters above sea level and we’ve actually climbed up to almost 3000 meters. It’s practice for when we get to the Andes!

Sara

Our road trip is separate from the Association Planète Durable et Solidaire, but don’t worry, we are still going to post our adventures on the website to keep you all updated.