Photo Blog with Waterfalls, Hiking, Outdoors, and other Adventures
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
After leaving Waterloo Falls, I was itching to do some actual hiking. Next stop was Cummins Falls State Park which was only 15 minutes away by car. Weather today was nearly perfect – sunny and about 60 degrees, which felt like summer compared to what I left in Wisconsin. I started by hiking the Upstream … 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
Pulled off for my last stop before home near Walcott, Iowa. Lots of corn here. LOTS. Apparently I found myself at Iowa 80 Truckstop (the world’s largest truck stop) so there’s that. My life accomplishments may have just peaked… Author’s note: I am revisiting old posts from my 2016 road trip because I posted all … Read more
Adventure comes in all forms, and today it took the shape of a gastronomical trek. The giant Waffle House sign called my name like a beacon of gluttony. We don’t have these in Wisconsin and probably for good reason. $11 dollars worth of shame and sadness was the outcome. Pecan waffle almost saved the day … Read more
Quick overnight stop at the Fifth Season Inn in Amarillo, Texas. Booked last minute while on the road for $40, not bad. Only downside is this clown in the white truck parking super close to my car then sitting there with his door open basically touching the bump strips. Entire rest of the parking lot … Read more
The start of my return journey home begins with a short cruise east from Las Cruces on US-70 to White Sands National Monument. Known for its very rare almost pure white sand dunes, it seems almost out of place compared to the other local landscape. Interesting fact: at 275 square miles, it is the largest … Read more