I first did the Zion Narrows in 1997. Or, should I say, I first set foot in the Virgin River in 1997, and we went around the first bend and turned around. The kids were too young; one of the…
The Top 15 Pages on Anne’s Travels in 2017
It’s that time of year again, when we get to look at the most popular pages on Anne’s Travels in the past year! The top performing pages are pretty consistent every year, though there are a few new favorites –…
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…
9 Best Day Hikes in Olympic National Park
Olympic National Park is definitely unique – sea stacks and tide pools give way to temperate rain forests, which melt into alpine valleys and steep-sided mountains. This is perfect environment for seaside strolls, forest hikes, waterfalls, and high-alpine hiking in…
Hiking the Clatsop Loop in Ecola State Park
The Clatsop Loop Trail in Ecola State Park, Oregon, is certainly a trail of diversity. Starting out are views of surfers on the nearby beach, with sea stacks a short distance away. Then the hike winds upward through a true…
Lock 60 Historic Site: Walk through an Erie Canal Lock Chamber
Through the little town of Macedon, NY runs the reconstructed Erie Canal. The canal is mostly for pleasure crafts these days, paid for by your New York Thruway (I-90) tolls. The canal path is also well-used by cyclists (that would…
Cape Kiwanda: Sand Dunes & Rock Formations
It’s crowded, it’s dangerous, it was cloudy, and it’s about as touristy as the Oregon Coast gets. But somehow I totally enjoyed visiting Cape Kiwanda along the Tree Capes Scenic Loop off of US-101 south of Tillamook, OR. Maybe it’s…
Lava Beds Cave Loop – Explore!
Who would be crazy enough to visit the lowlands of Northern California in the middle of July? Someone who really wanted to visit NorCal, I guess! Last summer we took a little detour through California on our way to the…
Epic Day Hiking Road Trip to Southern Utah
Southern Utah packs so much beauty into a small area. Arches, rock formations, turrets, towers, spires, mountains, canyons, cliffs, meadows – there’s so much to see, and often so little time to do it. So here are some of the…
Exploring the Punchbowl: Above and Within
A highlight along the Oregon coast last summer would be exploring the area around Devil’s Punchbowl State Natural Area north of Newport. The area isn’t really that big, but low tide explorations are exciting (especially with the tide coming back…