The Guadalupe Mountains is actually part of an ancient under-sea reef which just happened to be in the way as the mountains were being formed millions of year ago. As the mountains pushed up parts of this reef was exposed and is now the Guadalupe Mountains National Park. One sense...
Finally, I can check the box that I visited Carlsbad Caverns. This trip was planned two years ago but I did not make it, then again last year but a vehicle breakdown prevented me from making it. This year I only just made it and with only hours to spare....
Not long after entering New Mexico this morning I spotted the brown sign which lead me 30 miles off the Interstate to Capulin Volcano. Normally this would not have slowed me much, but after getting the chance to climb a volcano near Mono Lake, CA a few months earlier, I...
Prior to our 4th-thursday-of-November meal, Conor and I headed out for an early hike. This time we stayed local, going only to Heil Valley Ranch Open Space; a favorite destination for local mountain bikers. Heil Valley Ranch is a foothills forest area with two main trails (Picture Rock and Wapiti...
Last week I stumbled across a few great deals in the local flea-market store. First was a pair of snow shoes for a mere $10. They were worn and beaten, but snow shoes have been on my ‘list’ since Conor and I did our last snow hike and came out...
Ugh! Im tired… after another 5 miles of great trail today I am beyond beat. The Northern part of Zion is much quieter with only about 10% of the traffic of the main canyon down south. Even with less traffic, it was rare that I had the trail to myself....
I drove into Zion Ntnl park and fixed me up some coffee and breakfast-burritos while watching the sunrise against the mountain side. Planning to hike the Angel’s Landing trail in a few hours; 5 miles of hard trail with the top of it being a cliff’s-edge scurry to the payoff...
The days are getting more and more gratifying the longer I am out. This morning i woke from my hot-springs camping and got moving south soon after a eggs and toast breakfast. I figured that I could make it to my next scheduled stop (Manzanar War Relocation Center) and hang...
Since I am ahead of schedule, last night I decided to turn my alarm off and sleep in as I was not going to leave this spot on the side of the road until after my afternoon workload is complete. So I got going around 9am with coffee, breakfast, and...
Today I woke early to get into a hike to Wapama falls as early as possible. While I would have preferred to be hiking by 6am, the National Park does not open the gates until 8am. 7 miles past the gate is the dam which begins my 3-mile hike into...
