Letchworth State Park is, to me, one of the best attractions in Western New York (excluding Niagara Falls of course!) Not only do you get views of three impressive waterfalls, but there are also numerous options for hiking, scenic drives,…
The Beautiful Water & Wildflowers of Cracker Lake
I almost didn’t hike to Cracker Lake high in a mountain canyon above Many Glacier in Glacier National Park, Montana. It seemed like such a long hike. Friends told me there was a long section of forest. And at the…
Rest or… “Rest”?
A few weeks ago, I got back from a cross-country adventure. I felt so happy, and I felt pretty much rested (minus a few hours’ sleep). In some ways, the trip was so very relaxing – but we really didn’t…
The Lava Falls Trail has Changed in 13 Years!
It’s long been one of my group member’s dreams to go to the bottom of the Grand Canyon. Even in the days when we were young and couldn’t hike very far, we trekked down as far as we could go…
Hiking the Cabinets’ Leigh Lake and Leigh Lake Falls
Leigh Lake is known as one of the premier hikes of the Cabinet Mountains Wilderness in far western Montana. That’s likely due to the fact that 1) you can get to the trailhead without 4×4, 2) the trail is only…
The Best Day Hikes in Chiricahua National Monument
The first time we visited Chiricahua National Monument, we thought we must have entered a rock-formation-wonderland. We were used to the red rocks of Utah (Bryce and Arches have long been favorite national parks), but this was a totally different…
A Fun Hike at Kasha-Katuwe Tent Rocks!
I think one of my favorite trails in northern New Mexico is at Kasha-Katuwe Tent Rocks National Monument. The rocks are really neat, and the trail is definitely not your average path through a national park. It can get crowded…
Reynolds Mountain Trail & The Dragontail
For sheer beauty, it’s hard to beat the Reynolds Mountain Trail in Glacier National Park. The trail is virtually unknown – the signs that do exist don’t help its popularity. But since you get to hike the Hidden Lake Trail,…
Sneak Peak: The Beauty of Western Montana!
Every time (but one) that we’ve visited Glacier National Park, we’ve been rained out. It’s almost a joke how many times we’ve visited or tried to visit Glacier, only for the weather report to be dismal. But the good news…
Picking Apricots at Capitol Reef National Park
I had always heard of the orchards at Fruita in Capitol Reef National Park. Established by the Mormon pioneers in the 1880s, the settlers created a network of irrigation channels to allow not only crops to grow, but also orchards…