This extremely thorough website and project is clearly a labor of love. If you camp, backpack, hike, or just plain old visit the incredible National Park system we as citizens of the United States so far been blessed to have in the first place. (Thank you, Teddy Roosevelt! Thank you, every environmentalist! Thank you every selfless, kind-hearted politician that protects our parks–ok, I know you are few, but thanks to those of you who do! Thank you every activist who fights the good fight to keep these amazing National Parks clean, secure and abundant in healthy flora and fauna!)
I don’t know about you folks who read my blog, but I view the National Parks as an emblem of what is meant by “America, the beautiful.” Without them, American wouldn’t be so beautiful. So, please do what you can to preserve what we have right now, to keep anyone from destroying it, degrading it, AND ESPECIALLY FROM CAPITALIZING on it for monetary gain.
I love you guys and gals who respect our parks enough to always leave ’em looking better than they did when you first got there. So many folks continue polluting and defacing our National Parks. Common sense and respect are fading fast in our society. It’s hard to keep up with it’s negative impact. So, everything you do to mitigate that reality, to balance out the bozo heads around you, really makes a tremendous difference. Never forget that!
Valentine’s Day 2016. Desert cactus. Snow skiing. Stunning sunset after hiking. Prepare yourself for eye candy a.k.a. a photo gallery of our day trip to Mt. Lemmon in Tucson, AZ.
We started with desert cactus at the base . . .
Cactus at base of Lemmon Mtn
and wound up in snow at the peak . . .
Skiing and snowboarding at Lemmon Mtn
followed by hiking and spectacular Lemmoncandy at sunset . . .
and perhaps my favorite photo of the day . . .
‘Nuf said!
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The National Park Service has rolled out the list of fee-free dates for 2016:
January 18: Martin Luther King Jr. Day
April 16 through 24: National Park Week
August 25 through 28: National Park Service Birthday
September 24: National Public Lands Day
November 11: Veterans Day
With 409 National parks to choose from, 127 of them normally charging an entrance fee, this is a great opportunity to cure yourself of the winter blues and simultaneously show all the folks who help preserve these incredible national treasures that you really do care about their efforts. What better way to prove it than to show up on one of the fee-free days and enjoy our National Parks! You’ll be so glad you did!
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This is the view from inside my teardrop trailer. How am I supposed to get any work done with a view like this enticing me to daydream instead of write?
I should’ve known the moment we stopped at the entrance gate to the Lost Dutchman State Park campground in Apache Junction, Arizona, that nature would be ready to play hard ball to win my full attention for the next two days . . .
We chose a spectacular campsite that typically is claimed by the camp host but was available during this trip. This week’s camp host was instead set up next door to the one we were interested in. Good thing, ’cause we fell in love with ours right away . . .
Cactus plants all around. Some very much alive . . .
others providing valuable service as they delicately decayed . . .
I enjoyed the outdoor space, while Mark took his time with setting up the trailer . . .
and a few “features”–like the outdoor shower . . .
and the chili-pepper lights and hummingbird feeder . . .
There’s a hummingbird, now, just to the left of the chili peppers! 🙂
We have new additions to our teardrop trailer this time around; did you notice? . . .
I tried to settle in and stay focused on my writing for the day, but how could I? With Gambel’s quails strutting about the perimeter . . .
Follow the grill’s shadow out into the dirt; it points directly toward two Gambel’s quails–one male, one female.
Male Gambel’s quail, strutting his interesting forward-hanging plumage.
and cottontail rabbits bouncing about, too, it was all I could do to keep my head down and follow my own words. When I wasn’t distracted by the wildlife, I had this view to contend with . . .
The second day, we headed out for an early morning hike. There are many possible trails at Lost Dutchman, from easy to difficult. We chose a moderate one which afforded views like this . . .
after which we gladly ended the day like this . . .
Sadly, on day three, we had to leave. While packing up, we chatted it up with a man walking the road past our campsite. He was telling us about the campground’s wildlife, things to look for and look out for when, mid-sentence, a sizable bristle-haired javelina (a medium-sized, wild boar-like mammal) charged out of the brush and across the road behind us. Our dog barked her objection at the intrusion, inspiring the javelina to race by in a flash. I had no time to take a picture, but here is what one looks like . . .
Anyway, turns out the man we were speaking with was our camp host, and the camp host is a writer, and the writer had written a book.
“Fabulous,” I said. “What about?”
“It has to do with 9/11 and a cross-country bicycle trip I took. It’s about having hope.”
“Funny,” I said. “I’m writing a book right now that relates in part to 9/11. I used to live in New York.”
“So did I,” he said. Conversation followed of towns we both knew and a dozen other things we seemed to have in common, including something to say about 9/11 and the power to heal.
“I’d love to read your book,” I said. “And, hey, maybe some day when I’m done writing it, you could read mine.” We shared that excitement and encouragement commonly found among fellow writers and agreed to exchange business cards before Mark and I headed home.
Within minutes, Ray came back with a copy of his book as a present to us. I was blown away by his generosity.
Inside the front cover read the words, “Mark & Susan, Thank you for your adventuresome spirits & for being rays of hope in this world. Many Blessings”
I can’t wait to read Ray’s book, “Ray of Hope: Inspiring Peace”; something tells me I’m gonna feel good after reading it. As for you, Ray, if you’re reading this blog page, thanks for the thoughtful gift. I plan to pay it forward some day soon.
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When I saw before me an endless valley blanketed in vast colonies of fantastical HooDoos, I knew I would not rest until I ventured deep into that valley for what would surely be a mind-blowing hike.
Ever since I made its acquaintance in early 2014, Bryce Canyon National Park is THE national park I wanted to revisit. When first there, we’d only seen the HooDoos from high places like this, which was STILL pretty spectacular! (See full details of the 2014 trip here: 3 Days, 2 Nat’l Parks, 1 Bum Foot: Miracles and Inspiration) . . .
Bryce Canyon National Park: Farview Point. An excellent “bang for the buck” hiking trail. Take it as far as you have time for, turn around and head back. You’re immediately submerged in hoodoo heaven!
Four months after the initial visit, I did venture down into that HooDoo valley. It was the second to last day of our three-week-long teardrop trailer trip and my mind was, as expected, officially blown.
One of the toughest tasks I’ve ever undertaken was to whittle down two hundred twenty-five Bryce Canyon photos into a subset to share with you, my readers. The best I could do is trim my full set of photos down to one hundred twenty. Since I don’t want you to be as saturated with Bryce as I was, without the benefit of actually being there, I’m splitting the photos between two different posts-half here, half on the next. You’ll think it impossible for a place to sustain its beauty and your attention for so long, but, believe me, it does and it will should you go yourself some day.
A narrow walkway leads to this distant spire . . .
a spire which begs for a photo shoot.
Who are we to decline the offer?
But make no mistake . . . it’s a long way down should we slip and fall.
Those specks below on the trail are people! . . .
The trails are completely intriguing. Curved stone doorways beckon you to enter.
Bryce Canyon National Park is one of Utah’s “Mighty Five” national parks. It is, in my opinion, the BEST OF THE BEST in Utah, and that’s saying a lot. Utah is a MUST GO destination for mind-altering, highly accessible, unique scenery.
I did most of my hiking in Utah last year on a bum foot, courtesy of plantar fasciitis. I thought the three-week national park trip would be a bust because of it, but there were enough options (especially in Utah) to enjoy the parks to their fullest.
This particular hike was a huge commitment for me, more than I suspected I could handle with a recently injured foot, but I deeply wanted this HooDoo experience.
We headed out on the Queens Garden Trail with the intention to “see how it goes” and either double back after visiting “the garden” (almost a mile down into the valley) or continue on. The nice thing about Queens Garden is you get a real bang for your buck. With just a two-mile commitment, you’ll be “in the HooDoos” and will feel momentarily satisfied.
You’ll find shady places to hide from the sun and benches spread out along the trail that will be much appreciated on the walk back up to the top.
And, of course, you’ll see the Queen looking out over her garden!
Vistas and passageways abound, calling upon you to stay and explore . . .
and you’ll have to decide, once out of the Queens Garden, whether to backtrack from whence you came or continue on other trails. I felt good at the time and chose to continue on. Should you ever do the same, realize that you are pretty much on the hook for the full round trip. At some point, it seems plain ridiculous to head back.
If you believe in mystical energy, you’ll find fallen tree branches drenched in powerful energy. If you don’t believe, you’ll find instead really cool-looking fallen tree branches . . .
Here are some other sights along the way . . .
All in all, we completed an eight-mile-long round trip, which took a solid four-and-a-half hours to complete. My foot stopped cooperating in the last two miles. Be forewarned that you have to drop down into that valley and, of course, come back up, but you also have to rise and fall many times throughout the hike to navigate the irregular landscape, up and over hills and often through them. Initially, I had this thought that I’d hike down into the valley, hike some more on mostly level ground, and then hike up out–not true.
I had a hiking stick with me, which I strongly suggest you have as well (it gets steep in parts), and PLENTY OF WATER, even just for the Queens Garden trail. If you misjudged and didn’t equip yourself with these necessities, you’ll be happy to see this when you finish your hike.
As for us, it would be five more miles beyond the Queens Garden trail before we would rest our eyes on this happy sight. Instead, we continued on the Peek-a-Boo trail and finished out on the Navajo Trail.
On my next post, I’ll share the rest of our hike. ‘Til then . . . Adios! Au revoir! And Happy Trails!
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With barely three days left on our three-week-long teardrop trailer trip, we set our GPS for Capitol Reef National Park–one of Utah’s “Mighty Five” national parks. Utah is simply mind-blowing when it comes to national parks. After traveling from Southern California up through Oregon, further still to Washington, and across to Wyoming, we’d visited quite a few national parks, but were ready for more.
We were ready for our third Utah-based national park. Arches was epic. Canyonlands was vast and memorable. And Capitol Reef? Well, Capitol Reef is a secret treasure.
We hadn’t even gotten there yet, but already the terrain changed. I assumed the position: hanging half out the passenger car window, snapping photos as we drove . . .
Wicked cool.
And then we arrived . . .
CAPITOL REEF NATIONAL PARK
These posts are such a challenge to complete because the views at our country’s national parks are simply spectacular, especially in Utah. It’s a challenge to snap less than a hundred shots a day. At Capitol Reef, I failed again, miserably.
I mean, seriously . . . isn’t this insanely beautiful?
I’m not a photographer–just a gal with a camera–but Utah’s national parks make me wish I knew more than I do about working a camera. During the course of this trip, I at least migrated from my crappy, old point-and-shoot 35mm camera to my partner’s intimidating, feature-rich Canon camera. Still, besides attempting to zoom in and out, all I did was pretty much point and shoot.
(ASIDE: Does anyone besides me remember the thrill of owning their first point-and-shoot? Prior to that, all we had were disposable Instamatic cameras and, once upon a time, Polaroid cameras. I’m talking ancient here!)
At the risk of boring you all, here is a comprehensive view of my favorite photos from Capitol Reef. Feel free to click on any one of them for a close-up view. I think all the shots are fascinating. I couldn’t get enough of the interesting rock and sediment layers. I zoomed in on several to capture some of the detail, but honestly, this terrain was created for discovery via hand and foot, not just with a camera lens.
All those photos were taken within a two-hour window. That’s how much you can see in a short drive through Capitol Reef. Cool, huh?
We took a break around noon and had lunch at this grassy retreat at the edge of the park . . .
and then headed back to our campground. On our way, we came across more cows (or rather, they came across us!) . . .
and views . . .
over-sized sand art . . .
unnerving, narrow roads that crept high with no shoulders on the side . . .
and offered the prospect of driving off the road into this . . .
and even saw a forest fire:
By late afternoon, we were well on our way out of the area and almost decided to change plans and camp over nite at a gem of a campground where a cold, mountain stream wiggled its way around private campsites. We had to drive over the stream . . .
Driving over the stream.
We stopped, and I put my bare foot out of the car door and into about 4 inches of water!
to see all the sties. We wanted to stay but stuck with our original plans and headed back to our campsite. It had been an amazing day at Capitol Reef, but it was time to call it a day.
My absolute favorite national park was on the agenda for the next day–Bryce Canyon–and I knew I wanted to tackle a significant hike deep in the Hoodoos. More on that soon.
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Utah has named them “The Mighty Five.” Admittedly, I’d only recognized a couple of names on The Mighty Five list when we mapped out the final days of our three-week-long teardrop trailer trip — a trip meant to include visits to as many national parks in the western U.S. as we could manage.
We charted a route from Southern California up through the state of Washington, across to Wyoming, down through Utah and back across to our home base in Cali. Utah was to be the grand finale, a chance to revisit and further explore Zion and Bryce Canyon National Parks, which we’d briefly done in Spring 2014, and take in three others that complete what Utah has designated their top five national parks: Zion, Bryce Canyon, Canyonlands, Capitol Reef, and Arches.
Lots of folks have some idea of the existence of Arches National Park, especially due to one particular arch which shows up often in TV commercials and tourism promotions . . .
Zion and Bryce Canyon get a lot of attention as well because they each feature stellar scenery and unique hiking and/or rock climbing experiences.
Canyonlands and Capitol Reef, however, are lesser known, which is a bit of shame. As you’ll see in this and my next post, they’re both worth the visit.
CANYONLANDS NATIONAL PARK
Funny enough, after an entire day at Arches National Park the day before, one of our first hikes in Canyonlands led us to . . . an arch. 🙂
But there was so much more to Canyonlands–so much that stood apart from Arches. I struggled with the camera to squeeze vast ragged canyons, towering monoliths, and endless sky into tiny frames, one after the other.
I marveled at Canyonlands’ multiple personalities as we drove from one stop to the next–from dark and gritty . . .
to light and breezy . . .
from bold and vivacious . . .
to subdued and timeless . . .
As has been the case all along on this three-week trip, I continue to be amazed by the diversity of our national parks. And though some of my pictures may seem aesthetically pleasing, nothing compares to being at each of these locales in person. The experience is often breathtaking.
Whatever plans you make from this point forward in your life, please, by whatever means possible, include in them a visit to some of this nation’s awe-inspiring parks and monuments. Find a way to arrange it. Find a way to afford it. Whether you have to haul your children on your back . . .
or sell your favorite sneakers and make the trek barefoot . . .
I promise it’ll be worth your while!
As for us, we look forward to another visit to Canyonlands some day. At day’s end, though, we were happy to settle in at our campsite, reuniting with our teardrop trailer and with our dog. As you can see, we didn’t suffer. 🙂
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If you have any questions about where we’ve been, any aspects of the experience we didn’t share here, please use our ‘Contact’ page to send us an email with your question(s). We’ll do our best to provide you the answer if we know it or will at least fabricate something entirely convincing.
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