In my ramblings around the internet looking for cool hikes to add to my ever-growing site about Death Valley National Park, I ran across the fact that I could hike to the top of an unnamed mountain called Daylight Peak…
The Hike to Hanging Rock
One of the delights of visiting my cousin and cousin-in-law over Labor Day was when they took us up to Hanging Rock State Park in western North Carolina. We climbed to the official Hanging Rock, descended to the Upper Cascades…
Stormy Views from Storm Point
Of all the trails and viewpoints I saw (and hiked!) along the shore of Yellowstone Lake, Storm Point was my favorite. It offers sweeping views, a pleasant forest walk, a meadow or two, and even a chance to see wildlife…
Big Ridge Road to The Neck
The Flint Trail is famous, but as a spur just before descending, the Big Ridge Road takes 4x4ers out to some of the most beautiful almost-road-accessible scenery atop the Orange Cliffs in the Maze District of Canyonlands. (At least in…
Wheelchair Accessible Trails and Views in Grand Canyon
Grand Canyon is my most-visited National Park – with good reason! The views are spectacular and generally easy to access. The good news is that most of these views are also wheelchair accessible or accessible to the mobility impaired. In…
Pinto Arch near Moab, Utah
I’ve hiked to Corona Arch twice. But I’d never even heard of Pinto Arch until I was researching hikes in the Moab Area a couple of years ago. It was marketed as an off-trail trek diverging from the Corona Arch…
20 Lakes Basin Loop from Saddlebag Lake
The 20 Lakes Basin Loop above Saddlebag Lake just outside of Yosemite National Park along the Tioga Road is a stunner at its minimum. The alpine scenery is jaw-dropping from the moment you set foot on the trail and never…
The Route to Billings Gap Overlook
After our success on the Wilderness Loop in Petrified Forest National Park, it made sense to try out one or two of the other “official routes” in the park (they’re not really trails, but they’re also usually pretty easy to…
Climbing Fern’s Nipple
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…
Northern Lights over Webster, New York
Last night was a night to remember! I went out to a field in the Whiting Road Nature Preserve, but nothing was particularly exciting. (It was wet, though.) I could tell that something was happening in the sky (it’s not…