Chilling on the California Coast
Considered one of the best hikes at Arches National Park, the Devil’s Garden trail draws a crowd. Be patient. The pack will thin when the scramble begins.
Continue reading “Scrambling Beyond the Bus Tours in the Devil’s Garden at Arches National Park”
Trek in. Walk out. Drive by. We found no shortage of opportunities to enjoy magnificent vistas at Canyonlands National Park. So, we mixed in a scramble to the park’s only meteor crater.
Continue reading “Weary of Iconic Vistas at Canyonlands National Park? Hike to Upheaval Dome”
Capitol Reef isn’t very big, as national parks go. But you can view magnificent desert vistas and ancient petroglyphs. You can hike up a narrow wash or beneath a stunning stone arch. You can lose the trail on a ledge 300 feet above a canyon floor. Yikes!
Continue reading “That Time We Lost the Trail High on a Ledge at Capitol Reef National Park”
No billboards. No brochure. No web site or Twitter feed. We had to do some sleuthing to track down Pando, the 106-acre aspen grove that ranks among the oldest and biggest living things on Earth.
Continue reading “Finding Pando: Utah’s 80,000-year-old Aspen Grove Hides in Plain Sight”
How far would you travel to commune with some of the oldest trees on Earth? We traveled via “the loneliest road in America” from The Coastside on the San Francisco Peninsula to Nevada’s highest peak to have a look. Continue reading “Strolling among Nevada’s Bristlecone Ancients at Great Basin National Park”
Sometimes less is more. Consider the drive through Nevada on US Route 50, a stretch of highway Life magazine once dubbed “The Loneliest Road in America.”
Continue reading “Getting our Kicks on Route 50 in Nevada – ‘The Loneliest Road in America’”
Part 3 and last in a series: No one visits North Carolina’s Outer Banks to go hiking. The narrow string of sandy barrier islands runs for 200 miles but never measures more than 3 miles between sound and sea. At 91 feet, Kill Devil Hill is the highest peak. Most nature trails stretch for less than a mile. We gave hiking a shot anyway. Continue reading “Meandering the Outer Banks with Ghost Crabs, Forest Spiders and Dread Pirate Diane”
Part 2 in a series: The iconic lighthouses standing watch along North Carolina’s Outer Banks protect a coastline known grimly as The Graveyard of the Atlantic. They are as beautiful as the coastal waters are deadly. We climbed three!
Part 1 in a series: How would you picture roving harems of wild mustangs on the beach at North Carolina’s Outer Banks? We visualized equine muscle and sinew stampeding across sun-drenched sand, hooves flashing to fend off predators and rivals, fiery eyes, flaring nostrils. We were wrong!
Continue reading “Horsing Around with Feral Mustangs at North Carolina’s Outer Banks”
Every mighty river has a humble beginning. The Mississippi runs wide, deep and muddy for most of its 2,300 miles, draining 31 U.S. states and two Canadian provinces. Yet it begins as a babbling pour-off suitable for wading at Minnesota’s Lake Itasca. Who knew? Continue reading “Bond of Brothers at the Headwaters of the Mississippi; Mom would be Pleased”
Alcatraz Federal Penitentiary was escape-proof back in the day. Now ceded to tourists, it’s impossible to get into the maximum security relic without a reservation. May we recommend nearby Angel Island instead? Continue reading “Alcatraz booked? Try San Francisco Bay’s Angel Island Alternative”
Yosemite National Park shows best in the spring. Winter storms yield to warm sunshine. Streams and waterfalls run full. Flowers begin to bloom. Pterodactyls prowl the trails and overlooks. Continue reading “The Pterodactyl that Ate Yosemite: A Preschool Pterosaur Adventure”
After a dry and sunny winter, the irrigated orchards of the Central Valley may boast California’s only “super bloom” this spring. And it’s show time on Fresno County’s Blossom Trail. Continue reading “Catch Spring Fever on Fresno’s Blossom Trail, the ‘Super Bloom’ Less Traveled”
NOTE: We’re sorry to report that shortly after posting this story we discovered that Z Pie had closed several weeks earlier. But there are still plenty of fruit pie options on the road to Tahoe. Enjoy!
Lots of travelers enjoy stopping for a sweet slice of fruit pie at an Apple Hill orchard on the road to Lake Tahoe. But the most unique pies in the region just may be the savory variety available at a tiny pot pie restaurant not far away in Placerville.
Who knew? Continue reading “Pie Shopping on the Road to Tahoe; Don’t You Love New Traditions?”
A hillside of shiny obsidian born of liquid rock and thrown by Mother Nature herself atop a fiery geologic potter’s wheel rises from the Newberry Volcano just south of Bend, Oregon. It’s so cool they named a beer after it!
It smells bad. It tastes bad. A sign cautions moderation. Yet the lithia mineral water streaming from eight cheery bubblers in the town square of Ashland, Oregon, has attracted health naïfs and the merely curious for more than 100 years.
Who knew? Continue reading “Public Fountain Bubbles Up Foul-Tasting Mineral Brew; Go ahead, Have a Sip”
Grumpa would have had a big time today. He and Mom-Lady could not have planned our Eclipse Day any better when they purchased a hillside home among Douglas firs in Oregon’s totality zone back in 2001. We’re certain they had Aug. 21, 2017 in mind. Continue reading “Shadow Slacking in Oregon’s Totality Zone; We Wish Grumpa Were Here”
We typically avoid whitewater adventure. Danger, deprivation and discomfort are not on our bucket list. A rollicking 174-mile jet boat ride through Hells Canyon on the Snake River seemed like a good compromise. Continue reading “Speed Thrills Aboard Hells Canyon Jet Boats; Our Fitness Apps Can’t Keep Up”
A coast redwood grown from seeds that orbited the moon grows in Monterey, California.
Who knew?
Continue reading “Monterey Harbors a Tree from Outer Space; Find One at a City Near You”
Marine mammals stir the hearts of even the most jaded Coastsiders. Slackers, too. We’ve seen dolphins cruising, whales spouting, harbor seals lolling, and elephant seals … well, um… it was mating season. But sadly, not a single sea otter. Where the heck are the sea otters? Continue reading “Quest for California Sea Otters Ends with Shenanigans and Groupies Downstream from the Power Plant”