Olympic National Park is definitely unique – sea stacks and tide pools give way to temperate rain forests, which melt into alpine valleys and steep-sided mountains. This is perfect environment for seaside strolls, forest hikes, waterfalls, and high-alpine hiking in…
If there is a more beautiful place on the California coast than Point Arena-Stornetta National Monument, I can’t imagine what it would look like. The trail through Point Arena-Stornetta takes day hikers through clifftop meadows of waving grasses and wildflowers…
The weather really can make or break a trip or a hike. Last year, visiting Mt. Hood, the weather went from socked in to quite cloudy, to totally cloudy and misty and rainy. The last day we decided to do…
The Virginia Lakes! They are beautiful, especially early in the season when they are surrounded by snow. But at any time of the summer or fall they are a destination well worth visiting – near enough to Yosemite National Park…
Well, I just got back from a fantastic trip to California! We saw the desert, and we saw snow (lots of snow!), not to mention some truly fabulous views of mountains, cliffs, slot canyons, salt flats, and the beautiful NorCal…
The Clatsop Loop Trail in Ecola State Park, Oregon, is certainly a trail of diversity. Starting out are views of surfers on the nearby beach, with sea stacks a short distance away. Then the hike winds upward through a true…
Oregon has its fair share of lovely beachy stuff – cliffs, sand, rock formations, tide pools, impressive tides, sea stacks, and so much more. It even has lighthouses. One that caught our attention – mostly because we took a hike…
Rocky Mountain is one of those parks famous for its peaks. Now, I think there are better mountain views in Colorado, but for a classic experience, Rocky Mountain is certainly a good one (especially considering how convenient it is to…
Back in 1999, on my first visit to the Pacific Northwest, we stopped in Redwood National Park. In general, I was a bit disappointed with the park overall, but one part of the park left a lasting impression on me. …
Probably one of the more well-known icons of the northern Oregon Coast is Haystack Rock, located near the town of Cannon Beach. I’d read about a nice little beach stroll from the town to the rock, so I thought I’d…