Photo Blog with Waterfalls, Hiking, Outdoors, and other Adventures
There are no shortages of hikes or waterfalls in Great Smoky Mountains National Park, and luckily my next stop wasn’t far after leaving Cataract Falls. Only several miles up the road, Laurel Falls is another popular short day hike. Parking at the trail head was a battle – likely due to the Thanksgiving holiday and kids … Read more
Left Newport this morning and bid Kelly farewell; she was heading east for work and I had to go west for tomorrow’s outbound flight. Sunshine and 40 degree temps made for excellent hiking weather (something we could have used the last few days). Oh well, onward to make the most of my limited time here! … 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 making a mistake with campsite reservations at Wyalusing (and a less than restful stay at the last motel available), I woke early and headed to the Effigy Mounds National Monument in Harpers Ferry, Iowa. I didn’t know much about this park, but it was on my list simply to check off another nationally-managed area. … 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
Today I tried to be pro-active and book lodging before actually arriving to my destination (what a crazy idea, right?). Well, in this case it worked against me. Booked a hotel in Santa Fe, NM thinking I would have time then ended up at Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park about an hour from … 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
After finding that a) temps get really cold in GCNP during fall, and b) campsites are reserved over a year in advance regardless of what the interwebs say, I had to cave in and stay at a hotel. Upside is I slept like a baby for the first time this trip. Howard Johnson’s beds are … Read more
Started the day by heading to the Kanab BLM center to get info on the Escalante National Monument and found the drive was more than expected. Also I am to the point I actually need to pay attention to the date – time is going by too fast! Alas, no Escalante on this trip. Also … Read more