The End

 I spend the next few days getting my stuff in order, and waiting for some of my online purchases to arrive. I met with my friend William Patrick again, im really happy i got to know him over my stay.

 That 1 month was long, and full with interesting and memmorable experiences, at the time everything happend all of a sudden and i didn't get to appreciate what happened to me. Now 8 months later i am remembering and thinking about them with a big smile on my face, it was a great time.

I want to thank my friend Kiril for opening his home for me and spending the little time that he had free to go with me on our adventures! I will always remember that.

I also want to thank my friend Teddy for his generosity, for his time and for showing me the best of NY in the little time i had!

The Flagstaff Amtrak Station- the hub to my many travels


And for everybody that has been reading my blog i hope you enjoyed it!

Homesick

Two weeks left before the end of my trip, and i didn't want to stay a day longer, my homesickness was further enhanced by me not being able to walk outside because of my ankle. After reading a book on my kindle i became incredibly lazy and bored, which is not a good combination...
     In my desire to shorten my stay i have crossed  a few days ahead on my calendar so i can think that i have less time left until my journey home.

         I thought that the only thing that will cheer me up is another hike. My ankle was starting to feel better, so i decided to go for it. On the 19th at around 4am, me and Kiril packed the bags, lenses and cameras ready, a gallon of water each and a few snacks. Today's hike was going to be on "Hermit's Trail", we caught the bus at 5:00am sharp, no wonder we were the only ones on it. After 30 minutes or so we were at the last stop of the bus- the hermit trail head. We turned our flashlights on and started to look for the beginning of the trail in the hammering wind.

         The trail itself was very narrow and it was just rocks 90% of the time, and it was vertical at places with some loose rocks to spice things up. At some point we began to see parts of the trail build by the Anasazi, or that's what the locals say, not much is known about them.

We got to our destination just before sunrise and we split up in search of interesting points of view.
It took us more than 3 hours to say that we took a picture of everything that we wanted and we headed back up, that's when we first saw any sign of life- 2 hikers going the other way ^^.

Compared to the hike on the "Bright Angel Trail" this one was relatively easy, but way more remote, if you get into trouble you are so toast...

Plateu Point

The 11th of November was a day for rest, and getting the gear in order for the upcoming hike that me and my friend Kiril had planned. It was around 20km in total through rough terrain with constantly changing elevation. Usually the trip to "Plateu Point" and back in a single day is not recommended, actually the rangers advise against it. People go down, and sleep in their tents, and then climb back the next day with their strength restored. Since we didn't have any tents or sleeping bags, we were doing the whole thing, but in order to get back before it became dark we had to start in the dark. And around 2am the next morning we were off. We had prepared a few sandwiches and i was bringing 2litres of water ( there is only one place to fill water and its 10km away). I had two layers of clothing and around 15kg of gear on my back, which included my backpack with all the lenses and my camera and a tripod.
         Flashlights on we walked to the head of the trail. It was pitch black and after a few meters we discovered that the trail was frozen solid with glossy ice! Knowing that i feel that i have to let you know that that trail is about 1.5m in width and has no guard railings, so if u slip and fall off, you will be falling for a very long time (700m in some parts, in others more..). Balancing the huge backpack and the tripod dangling behind me, while holding a flashlight is quite difficult believe me! We had to hold on to rocks and walk on the fringes of the trail in search of more snow and rocks and not so much ice. I don't remember ever being scared for my life, but that was the moment for sure. The ice was there for around 2-3 km of the trail, after that we picked up the pace, after all we had a goal at hand, we had to be at "Plateu Point" before 6am to catch the sunrise. We kept on gathering speed, and we were running before we knew it. The terrain was getting more leveled and i decided to close my tripod bag, because i saw that it was open, and without thinking i turned my head around and kept on walking...big mistake, the moment i took my guard off i got punished for it, i didn't see a step in front of me and sprained my ankle. Good thing i was wearing my "Bestard" mountain boots, i can easily say that they saved my ankle from snapping that day, and maybe more than that since the nearest hospital is a 3h drive away, and getting out of the bottom of the Canyon with a broken ankle wouldn't be easy.
     My ankle was hurting but the adrenaline was keeping me going, and after another 3km we were there. It was just breathtaking, you can hear the Colorado river which was around 600 meters under the cliff on which we were sitting. The moon was so bright it was casting incredible shadows through the clouds onto the face of the Canyon. At first the sky was purple, then pink and finally the sun crept up from the horizon and everything was bathed in golden light enhanced even further by the colors of the rocks.

On the way back the pain in my ankle was getting more severe, but the only way was forward and up, so i just gritted my teeth and kept on pushing. Because we came down in the darkness i wasn't able to appreciate the scale of things around me, and how much terrain we covered. When we started the ascend towards the Village we were able to see the radical change in height after every 500m.

The last 1.5km were the hardest, i was very tired, my ankle was in a bad way, and on top of that..the ice was back, step by step i got there, it was hard but it was so worth it!

"The heroes are tired" -  picture by my friend  Kiril

Tom and the Mountain Lion

On the shuttle from Flagstaff to The Grand Canyon i met with a guy from England who was making a huge trip on his bike- from NY to LA. His name was Tom, he had decided to sleep in his tent this night, quite brave of him, considering there was a lot of snow still left and the temperature was below zero during the night. We arranged to meet the following day, so i can show him around.
        The next day we went to the supermarket in order for him to get some food, and  we caught the bus towards "Yaki Point". We took lots of pictures, and had long stroll, during that time i found puma tracks, which i found very amusing, but was not to Tom's liking :) Well if you think about it, a huge mountain lion (almost as big as a tiger) walking around, is quite scary!

After that we parted ways, i wished him luck for the rest of his trip. He is in Africa now btw.
Tom i hope you are having a great time!

After a nap and a jacuzzi i felt energized and went up the tower to watch the sunset. Next on the list was seeing the singing fountains of the Bellagio, and more night pictures.

 A scary and stressful first day was followed by a great second, and my final impressions of Vegas where more than positive, staying in a hotel in Vegas is definitely a great experience, not to mention the great opportunities for some great pictures!

The next morning i woke up to a beautiful and sunny day, the streets where full with people, it was a total contrast to what i saw the previous night. As it turns out Monday's in Las Vegas are usually like that, people go there towards the end of the week since most of the shows are during the weekend. That of course reflects on the prices of the hotels. They are cheaper in the beginning of the week and very expensive at the end.

  I liked that new face of Vegas, it felt welcoming and relaxing. My plan for the day was to get to the end of the "Strip", since i wasn't able to figure out the public transport system i had to walk the entire strip. My saving grace was that an officer showed me how to buy a card, and i took the bus on the way back to the "Stratosphere"

I arrived at the hotel an hour early for the check-in, and i asked the guy at the reception if he can arrange for me to check-in before that since i was very tired from the long walk. He offered me an upgrade for my 40$ reservation of 20$ and a total of 60$ for a brand new room on the last floor of the hotel with a king size bed, big screen tv, great view and wait for it...a jacuzzi. So i gladly accepted. Later i found out that my room card- gave me free access to the tower(the tallest building in Vegas), free pool and fitness entrance, fancy that!

Las Vegas

On the day i had to begin my journey to Las Vegas, winter was still at large at "The Grand Canyon". I made my way through the forest and took the shuttle to Flagstaff. By the time i got off at the Amtrak station the snow fall had evolved into a full blown blizzard, which didn't help me a lot since i had to walk all the way to the Grey Hound station. After i got there i had to wait at least 5 minutes until the lady at the desk decided to pay any attention to me.
   The small waiting room was full of all kinds of people. I heard from one of the bus drivers that the highway was closed yesterday due to the snow storm, and a few buses got turned back, so it turned out that the people in the waiting room have been there since 11pm last night...The good news where that the other highway leading to Vegas was open.
   After a few hours of waiting i finally boarded the bus, and let me tell you...it was a MESS! Grease stains and chewing gum everywhere, and i thought that some of the old buses in Bulgaria where bad. At least there was nobody in the seat next to me so it turned out a little better than expected.
The whole trip took a little more than 5 hours, and i was in Vegas at around 8-30pm. At that point and time a voice in my head said: "You don't need a taxi! You should walk! It's Vegas, at night it should be full of people!" So i said to myself why not?! And took off towards the "Strip" carrying my backpack full of equipment worth around 6500$...
   Immediately i regretted my decision, as the more i walked i saw more closed and bankrupted businesses, dark alleys and not a living soul for miles. I sped up and after around 45minutes of walking(running) i was at the "Stratosphere Hotel & Casino" where i had a room reservation, but for the next night. The view didn't change much on the "Strip", closed casino's and empty building lots, so i decided to catch my breath and warm up in the McDonalds nearby. The boy at the counter was looking at me with his eyes wide open, because i was wearing gloves and a winter hat, then he said to me: " Man you look like you've been through a blizzard!" and i responded: " You are pretty close, i walked all the way form the Grey Hound station", at which he replied that i was completely mental to do that.
  My goal for the night was getting to the Bellagio Casino, and playing some Texas Hold'em Poker, which i did after another 5km walk. I didn't win any money but the experience was well worth it. Tired and cold i checked in a "Travel Lodge" and went to bed.