Olympic National Park really is a study in contrasts: from snowcapped mountains to rain forests to ocean beaches. This makes it a really fun place to visit because there are so many varied activities in the park. My personal favorite…
Independence Pass in Colorado is a beautiful area. Many 13ers and 14ers stand straight and massive around it, and alpine meadows and lakes set off the mountains’ craggy slopes. So, when we had a few hours to kill while traveling…
Is your sleeping bag still in great shape, but the zipper’s shot? I can’t even tell you how many times that has happened to members of our group. Since I’m the official seamstress for them, they usually ask me to…
An accessible, deserted viewpoint at the South Rim of the Grand Canyon with fabulous views? Yeah, right, I thought when I first heard about Shoshone Point. However, I found out that the Point is deserted compared with other viewpoints on…
After ascending Amphitheatre Peak, we decided we didn’t really want to descend the way we’d come along the Wall Lake Trail (#1818). I’m sure some of our group would have been just as happy to do this, but others of…
Beauty may be in the eye of the beholder, but to me, Trappers Lake in the Flat Tops Wilderness Area is stunning. In fact, hiking on the Flat Tops around the lake is beautiful, as we found when we hiked…
Racking your brain to figure out what to give a hiking buddy for Christmas? About five years ago I hit on a useful, yet inexpensive, solution: hand-painted, hand-personalized t-shirts (I usually spend about $25 to make 10 shirts). Not only…
If you don’t have much time in Badlands National Park, but you want to experience the Badlands proper, the Door and Notch Trails are for you. These trails are extremely short (together, they’re 1 mile (1.6 km) RT), and they…
In August, we “just happened” to be driving through Colorado on Colorado Day, when the state parks in the state offer free admission. I’d always wanted to check out State Forest State Park (who wouldn’t, with a memorable name like…
I got my first camera within the first year of my life – seriously. A large local company had been caught doing something illegal, so as a PR stunt, every child born in the same month as myself received a…