We don’t usually make reservations in advance, but after stopping on a whim at Goblin Valley State Park on Halloween a year ago, we suspected that if we ever wanted to stay at this small and quirky campground, we’d better plan ahead and book some dates (October 25 – 27, 2016). A year ago, there […]
The 5.5 mile (one way) hike up to Grinnell Glacier is one of the most popular in the Glacier National Park. Indeed, the parking lot at the Swiftcurrent trailhead was just about full when we arrived at 10:30 am. Just cars though, no humans. Earlier that morning, I’d been reading online reports about grizzly bear […]
We camped for a few days at Oliver Lee Memorial State Park near Alamogordo, NM. It’s a beautiful campground at the base of Dog Canyon in the Lincoln National Forest. The trail head departs directly behind the Visitor’s Center and climbs steeply to a series of plateaus, one of which grew a happy grove of […]
We spent an expeditious Tuesday night at a very generic RV park in Page, Arizona. Our primary mission was a hot shower, and after five days there was no putting it off any longer. Trust me. Having accomplished that, we ate a decent pizza and salad at the Canyon King Pizzeria. The next morning we […]
We arrived at Natural Bridges National Monument by mid-afternoon on Sunday and checked in at the Visitor’s Center to flash our colorful America The Beautiful Pass at the peculiar rangers on duty. (We’ve noticed that each set of rangers is unique to each national park, and Natural Bridges did not disappoint). We were interested in […]
We signed up for the last ranger-led hike of the season in Fiery Furnace, one of the permit-only areas inside Arches National Park. This complex sandstone labyrinth is unmarked and can be difficult to navigate both logistically (GPS signals do not work in there) and physically. Many National Park rangers are furloughed for the winter […]
Devil’s Garden Trail is the longest of the maintained trails in the Arches National Park. It leads to seven impressive arches, with several more visible from the trail. We chose a day with perfect hiking weather— 55 degrees at the start, warming up to 65 by the time we were finished. The initial mile to […]
We packed up early Sunday morning intending to check out some other potential camping and hiking destinations on the west and southeast sides of Moab. But first, we stopped for another cuppa Joe and a pastry at the Eclectic Cafe. Sufficiently fueled for the morning, we drove up Sand Flats Road which switchbacked up to […]
We spent a second night at Granstaff Campground, only three miles from Moab along Utah 128. In the morning we were delayed a bit while we watched fellow campers take off, fly around, and land their powered parachutes from the parking lot a few hundred feet away. They swirled and curled high above the Colorado […]
After an all-to-brief exploration of Arches National Park on Thursday (see previous post), we spent our third and likely final night up at Fisher Towers Campground, savoring our amazing spot. A deluge had just come through the canyon prior to our 7:30 pm arrival in the pitch dark. David drove gingerly through the water and […]
Monday was spent as a “going to town day”. We took $4 showers at the beautiful new Moab Aquatic & Recreation Center, then spent a few hours at one of the nicest libraries we’ve ever been in. It was also new and very much set up for out of town visitors who may be in […]
When our Tucson friends Lisa and Dan said they were planning a camping trip to Bryce Canyon in October, we invited ourselves along. I’d been to Bryce for two brief hours exactly 14 years ago when my siblings took our dad to Zion National Park to commemorate his seventieth birthday. This time, we had six […]