It's hard to stay environmentally conscious while on a road trip. After all, driving is one of the least sustainable means of travel there is. Nevertheless, my closest girlfriends and I had an itch to scratch. We needed to get out and travel together. It was time to see some of the world and make new memories together! So, over the span of 15 mid-May days, all five of us crammed into one minivan to travel a total of approximately 5300 miles, including visits to nine national parks, eight states, and two countries! Camping each and every night, even though some of these ladies had never been camping before in their lives, and lasting the whole 15 days without a single shower, we managed to successfully travel all over the western United States and parts of southwest Canada while keeping our impacts on the planet in mind. After several months of planning and collaborating on Google docs and Facebook Messenger, settling which destinations to incorporate, making reservations, calculating costs, and developing an ideal driving route, the time to travel quickly approached and we had settled on a starting point: Salt Lake City, Utah. Two of us, including myself, live locally and were able to drive to the Salt Lake City International Airport to meet up with the other two girls flying in from elsewhere (the fifth was scheduled to meet up with us halfway through the trip). Once everyone was done off-boarding, we picked up our rental van, loaded up all our gear and set off for the adventure of a lifetime! FIRST STOP: THE CANADIAN ROCKIESWith 13 and a half hours of driving, and camping in middle-of-nowhere Idaho behind us, we had finally made it to our first destination: Glacier National Park! As an avid outdoors-woman, this park had been near the top of my wish list of places to visit for quite some time and I was ecstatic to finally have the chance to see all it had to offer with my own two eyes. As I'm sure you can surmise from my pictures, it was absolutely breathtaking. What's more is that since our visit fell within what's called the "curb season" (spring), we practically had the whole place to ourselves! Even though the park's main road (Going-to-the-Sun Road) was still closed for the winter season, we just took the longer, roundabout route around the southern edge of the park boundary instead. We made stops at Lake McDonald, Two Medicine Lake, St. Mary Lake, and Many Glacier. Wildlife was abundant in Glacier and the mountains were stunning. We spotted red fox, coyote, moose, elk, big horn sheep, and black bears all from the road as we were driving! I myself am obviously a huge wildlife nerd seeing that I'm only one semester away from earning my bachelor's degree in wildlife ecology and management, but I think it's safe to say that my childlike wonderment rubbed off on the whole group. Just five hours of driving north from our last stop in Glacier National Park, Many Glacier, we had crossed the border into Canada and were rolling in to Banff National Park. This was actually my second time to Banff, but seeing it again and in the spring (rather than late summer when I had visited previously) with everything still encased in a thick blanket of snow and ice was truly magical! The Canadian Rockies are some of the most majestic mountains I've ever witnessed, hands down. Not only do they span miles and miles of the North America continent, but they are MASSIVE. Sitting inside the rental van, craning my neck, I literally still could not see some of the summits without actually exiting the vehicle; that's how big! If you haven't ever been to Banff, you NEED to go, simple as that. After a chilly night camping in Banff, we set out northbound along the Icefields Parkway to both Yoho National Park and Jasper National Park. Along the way, we stopped at all the major scenic areas including giant glaciers, frozen glacial-melt lakes, ice fields, and waterfalls. As a cherry on top, we even got to see three foraging black bears along the way! UP NEXT: THE PACIFIC NORTHWESTNext came my favorite stretch of the drive. From Jasper National Park, we were off to Whistler and ultimately Vancouver, Canada. The scenery during these nine hours of driving was incredible. Starting off just outside of Jasper, we were surrounded by towering icy mountains and misty morning fog lingering above lakes and wetlands, through adorable rural farm land and small country towns, ending with views of rolling hills and sharp cliffy rocks poking up out of the Pacific in Vancouver. It was a treat for the eyes to say the least. Along the way we stopped to pitch our tents just outside of Whistler, a gorgeous little mountain ski town filled with cute boutiques, great breweries, and dense boreal forest and breathtaking waterfalls. The following day, we arrived in Vancouver and walked the city's streets stopping to try out a local organic juice shop and admire the artful community garden. Once we had crossed the border back into the United States, we promptly headed for Olympic National Park, a lush temperate rainforest, often clouded by dense low-lying fog, full of thick vegetation and covered in lime-green lichens. However, we made a stop in Seattle to tour a popular section of the city, affectionately referred to as the "gayborhood". We popped into the Unicorn Bar for a rainbow-themed cocktail and a round of ornate jello shots, walked rainbow crosswalks, admired equality-promoting art, and grabbed a few slices of vegan pizza before hitting the road again. Sure enough, all the girls had a blast in Olympic National Park! We went for a long day hike several miles into the rainforest and visited one of the many beach access areas where cliffy, forested spires stand several stories high above the breaking waves, and tidepools reveal deep maroon and coral colored starfish as well as an array of florescent green and pink anemones. After a day and a half exploring the Olympic peninsula, we were off to Portland to pick up our fifth lady friend from the airport. Once we were five strong, we walked around the city and visited Powell's bookstore before continuing on to the Columbia River Gorge. I'd been to that area once before and was stoked to show my girlfriends some of the unforgettable waterfalls and lush green flora there. We pulled off at several of the major waterfalls to stretch our legs and take pictures. After driving the entirety of the gorge, we decided to wind down at a local vineyard with a little wine tasting and eventually set up camp nearby with snowy Mt. Hood standing off in the distance. Next we headed to the Redwoods, another one of my top favorite places! After stopping in Bend, Oregon for free beer tasting, and staying the night near a quaint little hot spring I'm familiar with from my previous summer studying woodpeckers in southern Oregon, we continued on for four more hours until we finally rolled in to Jedediah Smith Redwoods State Park. We spent a night in Jedediah Smith after a late afternoon hike through a grove of towering coast redwoods. As the sun set, the fog caught in the tree tops turned a lovely peach color and the glistening ferns soaked up the last of the day's sunlight. Walking amongst these giants is such a spiritual experience, better than any religious service or church I've been to. You can't help but to worship these coniferous gods. They demand reverence. The next day we arrived in Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park where we got to watch Roosevelt elk grazing in open grassy fields, see gray whales nursing in calm waters close to the shore, and walk along a beach as the tall, dense forest lingered just behind us. As we were continuing southward, we made sure to take a scenic detour through Redwood National Park stopping at a couple of the awe-inspiring overlooks to soak it all up while we could. After another six hours driving along one of the sketchiest highways any of us had ever driven, winding up and down steep mountains and narrowly following the cliff edge's of California's coast, we had made it to San Francisco, finally! I'd been waiting so long to see that lively, colorful city. LAST BUT NOT LEAST: THE DESERTOnce we'd had our fill of city life, off we went to the desert...admittedly another of my favorites (you can never have too many favorite places, right?). After miles and miles of driving in what seemed to be the middle of absolutely nowhere, with nothing but sand, sage grass, and rolling mountains as far as the eye could see, we arrived at Death Valley National Park. With temperatures surpassing 100 degrees even in mid-May, we peeled off our cool- and wet-weather gear and let our skin soak up some much-needed sun! As we were pitching our tents, we spotted a mountain peak beckoning us just outside the campground and knew we had to go for it. There was no looking back! We bushwhacked our way to the top just in time to witness one of the most magical sunsets I've even experienced. I'll never forget that sunset. That night, after we made it back down from our freshly-bagged peak, we got a fire rollin' and slept out in the open all piled up on a tarp we'd laid out, with nothing but our sleeping bags and the mass expanse of stars blanketing us. We stayed up late pointing out shooting stars and satellites occasionally hearing hunting foxes yipping from the other side of the valley until slowly, one by one, we drifted off. Last but not least, another four and a half hours and we were back in Utah for a stop at Zion National Park and Bryce Canyon National Park. Winding through red rock spotted with juniper trees and a big horn sheep every now and then, southern Utah is undoubtedly gorgeous country to drive through. Although the crowd's were too insane in Zion (yes, even during the curb season) to really even go on a hike without jeopardizing making it back to the Salt Lake airport in time for the girl's departing flights, we still got to drive through the park and pop into the visitor center. As a matter of fact, the huge crowds are what allowed us the time to get in a scenic drive through Bryce Canyon. We had a night camping in red rock country and stuck with our newfound desert camping strategy: one giant cuddle puddle on the tarp. It was our last night together on the trip before heading off to the airport the next day to say goodbye for who knows how long. We swooned over all the memories we had made, our favorite parts, the parts that surprised us the most, what we'd learned, and obviously, where we wanted to plan a trip to next! It's "Never Stop Exploring" for us girls! THAT'S A WRAP!As our trip was coming to an end, one thing we had all agreed on, driving all over such magnificent country had really inspired us, filled our souls to the brim with happy feels. We'd been reminded what our passions in life are and what it is that we live for everyday. For me, I know that seeing endless views of such pristine wilderness only reaffirmed why I wake up everyday striving to live naturally, spontaneously, and most importantly, eco-consciously. Without a sustainable living practices, how can we expect to maintain such beautifully wild places? I thank each and everyone of you for what you do to contribute to the protection and maintenance of these remaining wild places and hope that you inspire others to live similarly either through travel or whatever means you find successful! What inspires you? What do you live for? How do you live sustainably? In what ways do you mitigate your environmental impacts while traveling? How can you do better? Where are your favorite place? Never stop exploring! And feel free to share your thoughts/questions/concerns in the comments below! tread lightly. life fully.
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AuthorHi there, my name's Jennifer! I'm a tree-hugging, adventure-seeking, mid-twenties-something and I'm here to share my story with you! Follow me as I try my best to lead a natural and sustainable both everyday and while trying my best to see the world. Follow me on insta! @treadlightlylivefully
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