Lights on, or lights off?

Okay, so before we go any further, this is not an R-rated episode! As you spend more and more time surrounded by nature, you start to notice more keenly how un-natural cities really are. The contrasts can be sudden, stark and glaring. No more so for us, than the almost brutal swing from the silence of the Sequoias to the lights of Las Vegas.

Sequoias

Winding roads weave tightly up from the valley floor, whose low foliage and scrublands briefly leave you wondering what the guidebooks were talking about. Where are those towering gods of bark and leaf that we have been anticipating? Suddenly, you enter the climatic sweet spot that has spawned these gargantuan beings. Rising impossibly from the forest floor are the massive pillars of trunks that defy belief to keep their breadth all the way to the vaulted cathedral canopies soaring hundreds of feet above. Whilst not the tallest trees, nor the widest, the Sequoias still are the undisputed heavyweight champions of the world when it comes to mass.

As old as time, these skyscraping structures show enormous resilience to survive millenia of attack from insects, animals and the elements. Their volatile relationship with fire is a constant dance with danger and reward; the hot flames devouring competition and opening the small cones that they drop to the floor. Sequoias show an ability to heal over scars, in time completely re-cladding their exteriors where the flames have burned too deep. Some still live with enormous caverns burned out, their branches and leaves waving defiantly above.

Time melts quickly away as you walk amongst these beautiful behemoths, feeling small and insignificant in their speckled shadows. The crowds are notably absent, and an abundance of tracks, trails and meadows to explore means there is plenty of time to relax, unwind and recharge,

That’s fortuitous, as after a swift scene change, like a set change on a Broadway show, we are suddenly in the complete antithesis of the Sequoias…

VEGAS!!

After driving through the alien blast furnace that is Death Valley, utterly devoid of foliage but still bursting with life and other-worldly views, Las Vegas hits you full in the face like a cream pie thrown from a very large and demented clown.

Although this is the complete inverse of life in the wilderness, it has a weird beauty and mesmerising attraction of its own. Like moths to flame, we join the throngs to see the crazy human circus that is Vegas. Everything you have seen, heard or thought about sin city is true, and then some. A seething mass of partying people fill every nook and cranny, wrestling with luck and fate to see if the endless pokie machines will lend their divine benevolence their way.

The boys eyes are wide as they take in the risqué street performers, each trying to best their rivals and ride to the very edge of creatively crass. Half naked Gene Simmons doppelgängers, laughing “cops” with whips, and other weirdly wonderful characters jostle with the Vegas angels to compete for a quick buck (or ten) for a photo op with gullible bachelors, bachelorettes, newlyweds and tourists alike.

Indoors or out, the lights blinks and blaze in a constant whirl of movement and colour. Lamborghini’s and Ferrari’s battle it out for the best of Italian prestige on the wide boulevards; a scene to be seen in. Waterfalls and volcanoes dance to choreographed scores. This is where old rockers never die – they just semi-retire to Vegas to see out their days playing their best glory days tunes to the ready-made party thronging the streets.

Fremont Street bustles and gyrates under the largest screen on the planet. The beer is cheap and plentiful, with dozens of Uber’s or Lyft’s ready to whisk you away when the night, or the contents of your wallet, are done.

Although a fun and highly entertaining diversion from weeks of quiet in the mountains and forests, there’s no getting away from the fact that the cities like Vegas take your energy (and cash), and the great outdoors gives you energy, and a free 24/7 show of its own.

We cast our minds back to the nights spent lying under the pitch black night skies of the Sequoias; watching the universe whirl above, with the Milky Way as bright as any Vegas light, and shooting stars providing more reward than any casino can provide.

Thanks Vegas, it’s been fun, but it’s time for us to head to hills again.