Sometimes trips don’t go as planned. Sometimes even the best plans don’t work out. That’s what happened on a recent trip to the Northwest US. After a week of beautiful weather, it was raining – and the forecast said it…
Fun on The Chimneys Trail, Big Bend
The Chimneys. They’re just rocks sticking out of the ground – nothing grand in the southern area of Big Bend National Park. Yet it’s quite an interesting destination. For one thing, there are petroglyphs on one of the Chimneys. I’m…
Whale Rock: What a View!
Whale Rock isn’t a long hike. Whale Rock isn’t a hard hike. Whale Rock isn’t even difficult to drive to. So why I haven’t heard more about it from day-hikers is beyond me. The trail is fun (you get to…
Deserted View of the Tetons on Mount Leidy
Last summer, while hiking in the Tetons, I needed a short hike with a nice view. Deciding that the description of Mount Leidy fit nicely, we set out on an adventure. The road was both worse and better than expected,…
Beautiful, Beautiful Bonneville Pass
How could I ever have missed a hike as pretty as Bonneville Pass? All I can say is that Wyoming must have been holding out on us—I had no idea the state had views like this, let alone so close…
Truckhaven Rocks: Views, Scrambles, and Geology!
Anza-Borrego Desert State Park has many things that most places don’t, but Truckhaven Rocks sticks out in my mind. Why? Maybe it’s the desolate scenery. Or the eerie silence. Or the fact that it’s usually deserted. Or the lack of…
Mississippi Watchtower
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…
Neon Canyon: The Beeline Route
In a previous post, I talked about the Golden Cathedral in Neon Canyon in Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument. This canyon and the Cathedral are awe-inspiring examples of the beauty of the monument, with pretty desert varnish staining the walls of…
Graveyard of Fallen Arches
In Southern Utah there is a fin—or a butte—or a mesa—whatever you want to call it—that sticks up almost out of nowhere just north of the Lake Powell Dam. We visited the fin while searching for Skylight Arch, which I…
Rustic Hoodoos Like No Others in Bisti Wilderness
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…