In a previous post, I talked about Bisti National Wilderness, where you can wander for miles without any trails to keep you from experiencing the formations. However, after my most recent jaunt across the Wilderness, I realized that there is…
Mariscal Mine: Big Bend’s Mercury Mine
In an out-of-the-way corner of Big Bend National Park, there is an attraction that, although visited, would probably be a huge attraction if it was along a main road and in a heavily-visited national park. However, because it’s along a…
Grand View in Grand Teton
Grand Teton is a beautiful park. The mountains are some of the prettiest in the state (maybe the country), and lovely lakes reflect the peaks in their quiet waters. However, it’s not much of a day-hiker’s paradise—in fact, there are…
Crazy Moqui Marbles!
Have you ever seen a moqui marble? Most people have never even heard of these phenomena, let alone seen them. Yet they are a fascinating piece of geology, and they are just cool to look at. Even if you’re not…
Backcountry Car Camping in Big Bend pt 3
In my last two posts (Part 1 and Part 2), I talked about the “primitive roadside campsites” in Big Bend National Park that are (mostly) along the paved park roads and that are along dirt roads in the southern section…
Backcountry Car Camping in Big Bend pt 2
In my last post (Part 1), I talked about the “primitive roadside campsites” in Big Bend National Park that are (mostly) along the paved park roads. Today, I’d like to continue this discussion of “primitive roadside campsites” by talking about…
Backcountry Car Camping in Big Bend pt 1
Several times during the last several weeks I’ve posted information about trails in Big Bend National Park (Emory Peak, Big Balancing Rock, The Den, and the Oak Springs Trail). Today, I’d like to tell you about one of the great…
Big Bend Balancing Rock Arch: Grapevine Hills Trail
In Big Bend National Park is a valley that seems full of rocks. Unlike the Chisos Basin, this part of the park is defiantly desert, but with rocks and boulders strewn everywhere, up the hillsides, in the valley, and my…
The Serengeti in the US: Saratoga Springs
In the far south-east part of Death Valley National Park is a dirt road. That’s no big surprise, as there are lots of dirt roads in this section of the park, but on this particular dirt road is another dirt…
Nicest Trail to the Window: Oak Springs Trail
“The Window” in Big Bend is a very popular destination. Every year thousands of people climb down the steep trail from the Chisos Basin Visitor Center to the small V opening in the wall of a cliff, where all of…