Highway 1 may be a clichéd American road trip but it's the best way to see the west coast

Careening down Highway 1 with the sun on your face and the wind in your hair may be every bit the clichéd American road trip, but it’s one hell of a way to see the west coast, writes Kevin O’Neill.

IT’S 4am and we stumble on just one other traveller on our trip into the heart of Yosemite — a brown bear, crossing the road in the midst of its early morning routine.

We stop dead in our tracks as the bear simply shrugs and shuffles off back into the trees nonchalantly. Apparently it left a far greater impression on me than I did on it.