Great Sand Dunes! Ever since he first saw the dunes in a book when he was five or six, one of my group members wanted to visit. Unfortunately, that first visit didn’t turn out so well due to a sandstorm,…
Irondequoit Lakeside Multi-Use Trail
The Irondequoit Lakeside Multi-use Trail stretches from the mouth of Irondequoit Bay nearly all the way to the Genesee River. It’s paved the whole way, and parts actually offer views of the lake (other parts are residential sidewalks). There are…
Climbing Goat Peak near Wanless Lake
While researching trails to hike in the Cabinet Mountains Wilderness in western Montana last spring, I discovered a couple of things: 1) While there are many trails in the Cabinets, you can’t find good information about most of them, and…
Grand Canyon Viewpoints: Point Imperial & Cape Royal
It’s hard for me to unreservedly recommend the North Rim of the Grand Canyon. I know people who love it, and I know others who appreciate the older-national-park experience (like all the parks used to be when I started traveling…
The Best Day Hikes in Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park
When I first visited Black Canyon of the Gunnison in 2005, it had only been a national park for a few years. In fact, it was so new that some of the rangers still called it a national monument. I’ve…
Icebergs & Views at Iceberg Lake
As many of you know, I’m not huge into alpine lakes. They’re nice enough if they have a good view around them, but a lake for a lake’s sake is not my idea of fun. (But maybe that’s because I…
Exploring to Gavilan Falls
Last summer, after we climbed Wheeler Peak (the highest point in New Mexico), we also wanted to climb Gold Hill. However, everyone was pretty worn out after hiking above 13,000ft., so we decided to take a rest day in between. …
Cliff Lake and Climbing St. Paul Peak
The Cabinet Mountains Wilderness is considered one of the most remote areas to hike in the lower 48 states. It’s true that it’s pretty remote – at least in terms of the full spectrum of wild animals that call the…
Copper Lake and Chicago Peak – Remote Cabinet Mountain Views
One of the more view-saturated hikes we took in the Cabinet Mountain Wilderness actually has almost no trail. There is a trail – at least as far as Cliff Lake – but if you want to see everything in the…
Atoko Point – Bushwack Grand Canyon Viewpoint
After our great success at Honan Point, a trailless trek through the forest of the North Rim of the Grand Canyon to fantastic views, we decided to try out another trailless trek on the North Rim, this one ending us…