Anne's Travels

Flat Tops

don’t think I’ve ever seen anything quite like the Flattops Wilderness in northern Colorado.  Ever.  This pristine wilderness has some of the most grand views I’ve seen, and the top-of-the-world feeling is simply out of this world.  I can try to compare it to “Christina’s World” (the painting by Andrew Wyeth), but that’s only part of the story.  Here is also amazing cliffs, lakes, and alpine scenery, and, best of all, “The Causeway”, a rock bridge that for a few hundred feet is only 4 feet wide with 500 ft. drops on either side…very exciting!  The views from here are also awesome, and it’s one of those hikes that I’d recommend to anyone I thought was up to the 6-10 miles RT treck!  However, if you’re afraid of heights, this trail is still for you: there are ways of getting the awesome, Christina’s World-type views without having to cross the Causeway.

The parking area is at the end of a dirt road …Read More

Tags: Campgrounds, Dirt Roads, Lake, Mountains, Rock Formations, Views, Wilderness

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Walter takes another trip

Wow!  This will be post #100!  I can hardly believe that I have been adding posts for almost two years now.  Many thanks to all of you who have followed the blog and helped to make it a success by your interest and support.

For this special post, I decided to let Walter Thelizard, the mascot for my travel blog, take you on another trip across the country, this time to the American Northwest.  You can view his take on the trip at http://www.flickr.com/photos/65713167@N07/sets/72157629145952643/.  Click on the first picture, and then navigate through the set using the photos under the map on the right side of the screen.  Enjoy!

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Mt. Stewart from off the trail at Ingalls Pass

The Teanaway region of Washington is beautiful (I think I said that in another post, but I’ll say it again here because it’s true…it’s lovely!).  However, almost any region has its trails that are really hyped up, but actually don’t give you what you were expecting.  Ingalls Pass fits this description nicely.  There are views from the pass, but they’re not the incredible scenery you can get elsewhere.  It is actually just a point where those continuing on to Ingalls Lake can cheer, “Hurray!  It’s all downhill from here to the lake” or on the way back, “Yippee!  It’s all downhill from here to the parking lot!”  Still, you can get some pretty good views of Mt. Ingalls, so if you’re looking for a day hike and have done everything else in the area, read on.  The trail to the pass and back down is about 6 miles round trip.

The parking area for this hike is the same as for Longs Pass …Read More

Tags: Dirt Roads, Mountains, Valley, Views, Wilderness

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A rainbow on Bridal Veil Falls

This week, I’d like to touch on a hike that isn’t very long.  In fact, it’s only half a mile round trip!  And, the trail is paved!  Still, even though it’s a short walk, it is well worth it to see the falls—only a misty veil in the fall, but a ragging torrent during the spring runoff.  The falls are pretty any time of year, and spectacular in the spring.  Be sure to go on a sunny day—the water creates some really beautiful rainbows as it falls down a 617 ft. (188 meter) drop onto a pile of rocks below the falls.

The parking area for Bridal Veil Falls is located …Read More

Tags: Waterfalls

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Hidden Lake from the Reynolds Mountain Trail

One of the things I’ve realized about Glacier National Park is that they don’t tell you about all of the trails that are out there.  You look at the literature they give you, and there’s a lot of hiking, mostly to lakes.  However, the scope of hiking in the park goes far beyond what’s in the literature.  It seemed like everywhere I went, I found trails that existed, and that the park people knew about, but that wasn’t included in the park literature.  The best of these that I experienced was definitely Reynolds Mountain, near Logan Pass.  The views while climbing up are exquisite: much nicer than I could ever describe.  Hidden Lake is right below you, studded with lovely cascades trickling down into the lake (at least early on in the season!).  Combine this with wall-like mountains that remind me of the Andes, Himalayas, Rocky Mountains, Teton Range, and Cascade Range all in one, and you have a hike that you won’t likely forget quickly.  And it’s only about 7 miles RT!

The trail for Reynolds Mountain begins …Read More

Tags: Lake, Mountains, Valley, Views

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A campsite at the Sage Creek Campground

If you’ve ever read the Ideas on Free Camping page of my website, you know that I much prefer free campgrounds to campgrounds that charge a fee.  Part of this is due to the size of my group (many campgrounds have limits as to how many people can camp in a certain campsite), and part is due to the “campground culture” that exists in most paid campgrounds and that we simply aren’t a part of.  While most campers are partying all night and then sleeping in the next morning, we’re trying to hit the sack early and then get an early start on the trail.  So suffice to say that paid campgrounds don’t fit our camping style very well.  However, at some parks there are free campgrounds; these tend to draw campers who are less likely to be making noise at night and then trying to sleep the next morning.  This isn’t to say these types of people never go to free campgrounds (believe me, I’ve seen them), but I’ve run into fewer of those types of campers at free campgrounds than those that charge a fee.  One of these free campgrounds is in Badlands National Park, but is accessible to low-clearance as well as high-clearance vehicles.  In this post I’d like to elaborate on the different campgrounds in Badlands National Park, focusing on the free Sage Creek Campground in the western part of the park.

There are two campgrounds recommended by …Read More

Tags: Campgrounds, Dirt Roads

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Craters along the Big Crater Trail

I’ve been to Craters of the Moon National Monument several times, and it’s got to be one of the best volcanic areas in the US.  For miles, it seems, there is nothing but cinder cones and lava fields.  And the park even lets you experience these volcanic remains along several trails and walking through lava tubes.  However, one thing that struck me about the park is that it didn’t seem to have any craters.  How can you have a park named Craters of the Moon that doesn’t have any craters?  At last, on my most recent visit to the monument, I found that the park actually does have craters: many of them!  You just have to get off of the scenic drive, and out onto the trails of the park.  The craters I found that give the park its name are along the North Crater Trail in the main section of the park.

There are actually two different places …Read More

Tags: scenic drives, Views, Volcanic, Volcano

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The view from Deadmans Pass

Ok, so we finally did find the Summer Blossom Trail…it took us a while, but we finally did find it!  After finishing up the Summit Trail hike the day before, we continued down the road for another two miles and came upon a sign on the left side of the road: “Summer Blossom Trail: Maintained for Hikers Only”.  Ok…so we should have kept going a little further!  The trail itself is beautiful, with incredible views over the nearer mountains into the Cascade Range.  There are also wildflowers, although I found fewer along the Summer Blossom Trail than along the Summit Trail, which connects to the Summer Blossom Trail at Deadmans Pass.  In fact, the Summit Trail had so many lovely flowers that it almost took my breath away!  Deadmans Pass is also lovely, with gorgeous views over towards the snowy Cascades and across the surrounding valleys.  It’s also a bit shorter than what we’d done the day before: to get up to Deadmans Pass is only about 3 miles.  However, because there are no signs, we missed the trail switch, and ended up hiking many more miles on the Summit Trail before deciding to turn around.  Oh, well: the views from this part of the Summit Trail are stunning!

To get to the Summer Blossom Trailhead, from the town of Chelan …Read More

Tags: Dirt Roads, Mountains, Valley, Views, Wilderness

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Shooting Star along the Summit Trail

Driven away from the Mount Baker/North Cascades area due to too much snow, and unable to visit other places on our Washington itinerary due to unfavorable weather reports, I needed to find someplace nice to spend a day.  I’d read about a trail in central Washington (which was supposed to have good weather) called “Summer Blossom” and decided to give it a try.  After all, such a trail would have awesome wildflowers, right?  Well, these thoughts led us on an escapade we never planned on, although it was beautiful, and I’d highly recommend it to others who were in the area.  We did see some gorgeous wildflowers and outstanding views, even though it took us much longer than expected to find the trail, and once we found it, we missed the end and hiked another 3-4 miles before we realized it.  In fact, the first day we missed the trail altogether, and ended up hiking around 7 miles before we realized our mistake.  So, that’s what this and next week’s posts are supposed to do: keep you from making the same mistakes I did.  I’ll cover the first day’s escapade in this post, and then actually talk about the Summer Blossom Trail in the next post.

Before I tell you how to get there, I should probably explain …Read More

Tags: Campgrounds, Dirt Roads, Valley, Views, Wilderness

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The watchtower at Itasca State Park

While visiting the Headwaters of the Mississippi River, a park ranger told us about another of the park’s features: a 100-foot observation tower, located in the middle of Itasca State Park.  Having an hour or two to spare, we decided to check it out.  I’m so glad we did.  The view from the top was beautiful in the early evening light, and the “hike” up to the tower wasn’t too hard.  Just the climb to the top of the tower was enough to give the faint-of-heart the shakes, but I loved it, and every member of my group made it to the top, even those who don’t particularly care for heights.  The tower is so tall, though, that the people left at the bottom look like little ants.  (OK, not that small, but it really gives some perspective!)  You can even see the Headwaters of the Mississippi River from up there, although not as well as I’d hoped.

A first view of the watchtower

To get to the Observation Tower, from the town of St. Cloud …Read More

Tags: Fire Tower, Historic, History, Lake, scenic drives, Views

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