One evening in May, we decided to drive to the end of Rt 270 from Moab, Utah, to find a place to camp. After the Potash plant, the road becomes dirt, but it’s a fairly good road as dirt roads…
Cooper Spur: Highest Trail on Mt. Hood
Have you ever seen Mt. Hood? It is a well-known landmark, especially in its home state of Oregon. Many people come every year to climb it, and thousands of others to admire its shapely appearance. One of the best ways…
Experience Volcanic Remains Up Close at Newberry
There is one terrific thing about Newberry National Volcanic Monument: the volcanic features here are really cool, and you can actually experience them without signs saying, “Say out! Stay off! Unsafe! Fragile!” Some of the areas are like experiencing another…
A “Hidden” Desert Meadow: Hidden Valley, Moab
Located just outside of Moab, Utah, it’s surprising that more people don’t know about Hidden Valley. If this scenic desert meadow was inside of one of the national parks in that area—Arches National Park, Canyonlands National Park, or even Canyon…
An Awesome 13er: Fitzpatrick Peak
At the end of a recent trip to Colorado, we suddenly realized that we’d climbed mountains that were 10,000, 11,000, 12,000, and 14,000 ft high. We decided that we definitely needed to climb a 13er just to complete our record. …
See Amazing Mining History First-Hand in Creede
Most people have probably never heard of Creede, Colorado, unless they are theatre buffs or mining fanatics. In other words, most people who’ve heard of the little town of Creede in western Colorado know about it because of the Creede…
My First 14er – Grays Peak
In late June, I visited Colorado and decided that we had to do a 14er. I realized only later that we’d never been above 13,000 before in our lives (except in airplanes, and that doesn’t count), and if I’d known,…
I think I saw this view in a movie…! – Wind Caves
Recently, a friend saw a picture of an awesomely desolate (and pretty) desert up on my computer screen. She was wondering where it was taken, and we told her that it was a Anza-Borrego Desert State Park in California. Her…
Unknown, and Rusticly Beautiful: That’s Bisti
Bisti National Wilderness is exactly what the name implies: wilderness. That means that this area doesn’t have the services offered at other parks. In fact, I think that the only service offered is a parking area at the trailhead. There…
Broken Bow Arch Hidden Deep in an Escalante Canyon
In a former post, I mentioned that Corona Arch was a cross between Delicate Arch in Arches National Park and Broken Bow Arch in Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument. Well, here I’ll tell you how to see Broken Bow Arch for…