I finally found my favorite hike in Capitol Reef National Park, but it has a ridiculous name: Fern’s Nipple. So the story goes, Butch Cassidy named it after one of his girlfriends. I prefer the story of an early settler…
Sneak Peak: The Rest of the Trip! (SLC, Sawtooths, Utah, Loveland Pass)
A couple of weeks ago, I wrote about my trip to Yellowstone National Park. While I was out there, I decided to tack on a couple of extra weeks to explore new places. In this post, I’ll tell you what…
The National Parks Ranked by Scenery!
There are currently 63 national parks in the United States. They cover scenery and natural features as diverse as deserts, rain forests, salt basins, tide pools, waterfalls, volcanoes, coral reefs, mountains, canyons, lakes, wildlife, and so much more. I’ve visited…
Best Hikes for Kids in Utah’s Big 5 National Parks + Grand Staircase-Escalante
Southern Utah is a favorite destination for tourists and locals alike. Who can resist giant arches, towering hoodoos, sculpted slot canyons, and rock formations galore? The good news is that the national parks in southern Utah (namely, Zion National Park,…
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…
Pressing On When Failure Looms
One day many, many years ago, we were fleeing wildfires in the west and the smoke that blew in to obscure the view, wrinkle the sinuses, and create some of the most glorious sunsets I’ve ever seen. Sunsets aside, views…
Sneak Peak: A California Trip through Desert and Snow
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…