Photo Blog with Waterfalls, Hiking, Outdoors, and other Adventures
Against my best efforts today was a bit of a bust. Yesterday I got caught in a speed trap in Carlsbad which requires a mandatory court appearance (seriously?!). Delayed my morning and ruined any chance of a decent hike. I’m not a fan of this town and don’t plan to return. Back on the road … Read more
Climbed out from Carlsbad Caverns with enough daylight left for long-shot destinations. Where am I headed next? Upwards into the mountains a bit in search of places less traveled. Clouds were getting moody and threatening rain – not much fell, but the backdrop they provided was fantastic. Sitting Bull Falls If you follow this blog, … Read more
I’m posting out of order today in honor of the #optoutside movement started by REI to encourage people to skip the evil that is Black Friday shopping and instead get outdoors. Luckily today in Wisconsin we had a mini heat wave and tied record highs around 65 degrees which made it an easy choice! Before … Read more
Woke up and left Gatlinburg with some time for day hiking before the next destination. Cold and wet weather killed most of our planned hikes, but we decided to try our luck on Max Patch, one of the most popular viewpoints along the Appalachian Trail. Remember that smoky fog from yesterday? Well that doesn’t look too … Read more
Several days into the trip and we finally made it to the Great Smoky Mountain National Park. First stop was Clingmans Dome, the highest point in Tennessee and the infamous Appalachian Trail. Views here looking over the mountain range are normally quite amazing, however today Mother Nature had other plans. Driving up the 7 mile … Read more
Last winter I started dreaming up “side quests” for future journeys – mostly to help discover new places to visit, but also as a pseudo bucket-list to keep me moving. One dark and cold night, I was using my Google-fu and came across the concept of highpointing which is to visit all the highest points … Read more
After several weeks of travel and about 5,000 miles driven, I arrived in Las Cruces, NM and reunited with my family. Took one day off to rest and prepare for the elk hunt season. My Dad drew a bull tag for NM unit 34 which is located in the Lincoln National Forest. Based on intel … Read more
After Capitol Reef I had a decision to make – skip some parks and start driving south, or press my luck and go for more. Made some distance calculations with my road atlas (no cell service out here anywhere) and made the call to push onward in my adventures. Only about 100 miles or so … Read more
Cold, windy night in the tent again but wore my snowboarding gear and stayed toasty warm. First day in a while with 8 hours of sleep! Broke down camp and was in the park before 8am but found this wasn’t ideal to photograph the rock formations. Had to wait 30-45 minutes for more light to … Read more
Ended up back in my favorite wilderness shack again last night. Cheap rates, bed, heat, and showers make a very happy and rested camper! Also very happy to be out of Nevada – not my favorite state, but some excellent geological features I wish I could have seen. Maybe some other trip. Woke up early … Read more