#hiking

Desert Adventures for Thanksgiving

Julie and I spent about a week away from Napa for Thanksgiving, with our destination Las Vegas and family time. We did things a bit differently this time aro...

Glacier National Park

We left Keuka early largely to allow a visit to Glacier before the weather turns wintery. Still, we underestimated how crowded the park would be.

Golf at Balcomie Links, Hiking Maspie Den

Thursday was another big walking day, with 18 holes at Crail Golfing Society’s Balcomie Links followed by a 2 mile hike here in Falkland Village to the Maspi...

Travel Day: Oban to Isle of Skye

The early part of our trip has shorter stays - two nights in Oban then two nights in Skye. And sadly for our delayed cohort that meant less then 24 ours in t...

First Day in Scotland

It was a great day for us. Sadly 5 of our travel companions haven’t made it yet because of the terrible storms in the SE USA. They will arrive a day late to...

Training Hikes

I head to Chile next week for a bit of tourism in Santiago and then a week of backpacking in Patagonia: the O circuit in Torres del Paine. Julie and I have b...

Capitol Reef

We last made a real visit to Capitol Reef National Park in 2018. I say “real” because it is easy to drive through on highway 24 and claim you went there, but...

Return to Goblin Valley

We returned to Goblin Valley State Park for more adventures, our last visit being in 2021.

Arches National Park - Devils Garden

About six months ago we booked the only night we could find in Arches National Park. The campground is in the Devils Garden area, deep into the park (about 1...

Desert Camping and Hiking

We are loving being back in our van, finding remote dispersed camping spots and hiking new trails.

Morocco Atlas Mountains Adventure

Our second excursion took us to the Atlas mountains south of Morocco. We joined our guide Ismail and five other guests for some hiking and exploration of fiv...

El Torcal and Antequera

On our last day in Málaga we rented a car and explored the hills north of town.

Hiking the Caminito del Rey

Before we left for Spain I put together a loose framework for our transitions as we roamed Andalucía. Knowing that we’d get plenty of old Europe culture in t...

Soak Hill

I didn’t come up with that euphemism, but it is certainly apropos for Saturday’s conditions at the PGA Championship.

Cinque Terre - Monterosso to Corniglia

Julie and I intend to hike all the inter-town segments of the Cinque Terre trail system, and day one was the Monterosso to Vernazza to Corniglia portions.

My Five Favorite State Parks

Julie and I were recently camping at Sebastian Inlet State Park in Florida, our second time in less than a month, when I remarked that this might be one of m...

Great Basin National Park

About a month ago Julie and I visited Great Basin National Park, a remote park in eastern Nevada that had been on our must-see list for a while.

Hiking to Fern Lake in Mono County

Before the cold, snow, and high winds set in we trekked up to Fern Lake, a short but strenuous trail on the June Lake Loop. We avoided 2 of the 3 weather con...

Hiking Red Rocks with Jacob

Julie and I were recently in Las Vegas for a long weekend for a family wedding. Jacob and I dashed out to Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area for a de...

Cuyahoga Valley National Park

On our way from Miamisburg OH to NE OH we stopped for a first ever visit to Cuyahoga Valley National Park. Park visitor center You can’t fairly compare th...

Spring Valley Hiking is Amazing

Our van parked at Ranch campground Yesterday we visited two more Nevada state parks: Spring Valley and Echo Canyon.

Cathedral Gorge - Juniper Draw Trail

Julie hikes into Juniper Draw We took it easy yesterday (at least I did – Julie worked most of the day) and hiked the Juniper Draw trail which meanders nor...

Cathedral Gorge NV - slots and vistas

Cathedral Gorge from vista We drove from Tonapah to the eastern edge of Nevada today to reach Cathedral Gorge state park. So far this is one of the best w...

Death Valley Lows

Salt polygons at Bad Water Today we ventured into the depths of Death Valley.

Death Valley Highs

Moonrise from Dantes View Our first day in Death Valley was focused primarily on high points: Rainbow Canyon, Zabriskie Point, and Dante’s View.

Pushawalla Palms Hike

Julie hiking in the wind We did a late afternoon hike near Palm Desert. It was windy! The Pushawalla Palms hike is deceptive. The hills and terrain are mo...

Signal Peak at Kofa NWR

Chollas at sunset Today we trekked about 13 miles and climbed 3000 feet to the top of Signal Peak in the Kofa NWR. It was hard but amazing.

Victoria Mine Trail at Organ Pipe Cactus NM

Shaft at Victoria Mine We started our final day at OPCNM with a fun morning hike to Victoria Mine, getting a surprise look at a certain wall we’ve all hear...

Hiking and Kayaking Around Isla Danzante

An easy final full day on our tour, we did a slow paddle south to the tip of the island. It was almost like snorkeling with such flat water and high visibi...

Exploring Madera Canyon

We took a few hours today with uncle John and aunt Ann today to explore nearby Madera Canyon.

Hiking Boulder Canyon Trail

Today we enjoyed the short Boulder Canyon Trail, a fairly easy but rewarding hike in the Superstition Wilderness.

Hiking Siphon Draw

Quick post tonight – wanted to share a hike we started but couldn’t quite finish.

Hieroglyphic Trail in Gold Canyon

Julie and got an early start and drove back into the neighborhood of Gold Canyon for the trailhead to the Hieroglyphic Trail. Parking lot was about half fu...

Hiking Old Rag in Shenandoah National Park

Julie and I started our winding drive from Keuka Lake, NY to Melbourne, FL with a long hike in the Blue Ridge Mountains to the top of Old Rag. This was a c...

Bryce: Fairyland Trail to Tower Bridge

My one demand as we concluded our trip with the drive from Escalante to Las Vegas was a brief stop at Bryce Canyon National Park. Julie’s was a Diet Dr. Pe...

Escalante: Zebra and Tunnel Slot Canyons

Today was an easier but no less magical day in Escalante canyon country. We camped overnight out on Hole-in-the-Rock road not far from the Zebra slot canyo...

Escalante: Bighorn Canyon Adventures

We had a plan: pick up a slot canyon or two near Escalante off Hole-in-the-Rock Road as we would be spending Sunday through Wednesday venturing deeper on t...

Goblin Valley Adventures

Three years ago we landed on Goblin Valley State Park when it was very busy, and when a rainstorm hit that was going to last a while. Ever since we’ve regr...

Canyonlands: Hiking the Murphy Trail

We loved hiking the Syncline trail in the Canyonlands and thought it would rise to level of favorite hike in the park, but after hiking the Murphy Trail we...

Canyonlands: Hiking the Syncline Loop

We’ve explored quite a bit of the Canyonlands National Park over the past four years but there were still some longer trails to check off our list. Plus we...

Zion: Hiking the Virgin River Narrows

Our last day near Zion had us checking off our final want-to-do item: hiking the Virgin River narrows. For context, Zion Canyon is sort-of the opposite of ...

Zion: Angels Landing and West Rim

We got an early start into Zion this morning and were thankful for it. My fears about a busy Easter Sunday proved true, and I feel so sorry for the folks t...

Lake O’Hara and the Canadian Rockies

Julie and I took a small detour on our way back to Oregon from Keuka Lake. An old friend from high school invited us to join him at a very special place:...

Grand Canyon Rim Trail and Grandview Trail

We made it to our final hiking and camping destination - Grand Canyon. We spent day one setting up camp and being tourists around the south rim trail. I've...

Sand Canyon Hiking (near Cortez CO)

Day two in the Cortez CO area took us to Sand Canyon southwest of town, a beautiful hike that also contains a large amount of Puebloan ruins. We improvise...

Arches National Park

I've been remote for the past 5-6 days without signal. Time for more updates. I've got about five more to go. Our focus this trip isn't the big national par...

Grandstaff Trail, Moab

Good warmup hike today near Moab on the Grandstaff Canyon trail. Back to camp for a nap then late day hike planned for Arches or Dead Horse State Park.

Hiking Palo Duro Canyon Lighthouse Trail

We did a 6 mile roundtrip hike in Palo Duro canyon, about 20 miles southeast of Amarillo. I first (and last) visited this canyon when I was in college, abou...

Hike at Packwood Lake

We took advantage of a warm Saturday during our brief stay back in the northwest to meet halfway and do a hike with Jacob and Kaitlin to Packwood Lake near ...

Zion: East Rim to Observation Point

We covered about 15 miles early yesterday morning, starting with a private shuttle drop at the East entrance and finishing at Observation Point. It took us...

Backpacking the Eagle Creek - Benson Loop

Last weekend about 19 of us from from Troop 224 in Sherwood, OR ventured to the Columbia Gorge for an overnight backpacking trip on the Eagle Creek / Benson ...

Orienteering at Mt Tabor

I love maps and navigation and have enjoyed teaching orienteering to Boy Scouts in the past. A few summers ago I even took over an orienteering merit badge ...

Hiking: Harts Cove

Last week before Christmas a group of us drove up 101 past Cascade Head (we hiked there earlier this year) to try out the Harts Cove Trail. Karen woke up wa...

Hiking Cascade Head

I’m a bit late in reporting this, but oh well.  It was a cool hike with some cool photos so better late than never.  We spent Labor Day weekend out at Salish...