Have you ever seen a moqui marble? Most people have never even heard of these phenomena, let alone seen them. Yet they are a fascinating piece of geology, and they are just cool to look at. Even if you’re not…
Best View in Yosemite: Artist Point
I’ve always though of two things when I hear the word “Yosemite”: lots of crowds, and waterfalls. However, in my two former trips to Yosemite Valley, I’d never gotten it through my head that it’s also very pretty. There are…
Big Bend Slot Canyon: The Den
The Den trail is an adventure without being impossible for the average hiker. It is also a way to experience the Chihuahuan Desert, and to get an idea of the real personality of the desert part of Big Bend National…
Big Bend Balancing Rock Arch: Grapevine Hills Trail
In Big Bend National Park is a valley that seems full of rocks. Unlike the Chisos Basin, this part of the park is defiantly desert, but with rocks and boulders strewn everywhere, up the hillsides, in the valley, and my…
The Serengeti in the US: Saratoga Springs
In the far south-east part of Death Valley National Park is a dirt road. That’s no big surprise, as there are lots of dirt roads in this section of the park, but on this particular dirt road is another dirt…
Prettiest Hike in Organ Pipe: Bull Pasture
Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument may be known as much for being directly on the Mexican boarder as for the cactus that gives it its name. From almost anywhere in the park, you can look south and see into a…
100-Palm Tree Oasis – The Palm Bowl
In a previous post, I told about the Borrego Palm Canyon Nature Trail in Anza Borrego Desert State Park. However, you really haven’t seen a large oasis in the middle of the desert in this park unless you’ve climbed above…
Hoodoos in a Desert Meadow: Chesler Park
Chesler Park is one of my favorite places in Canyonlands National Park. It’s so pretty and awe-inspiring with red and white sandstone towers and hoodoos rimming a desert meadow filled with desert grass and low scrub. Chesler Park is the…
Other Earthly “Caves” in Cathedral Gorge
Imagine a vista that looks like a cross between Bryce Canyon, The Slots (Anza-Borrego Desert State Park), drip-castles we made out of watery sand at the beach, and something totally other-earthly. Something you’ve seen in a movie about another planet. …
Awesome Views in Rocky Mountain from Flattop Mountain and Hallett Peak
On a trip to Rocky Mountain National Park last summer, we decided to hike up Flattop Mountain on our last day in the park. We’d already hiked Lily Mountain and the Ute Trail, but hoped to see some more stunning…