-
June 24, 2013 by Deborah W. Trotter
It’s almost as if the National Park Service is in on it. As if they know I’m turning 60 this …
Continue reading
Category: National Parks
| Tags: back country, boots, challenging wilderness trail, closely packed rocks, Columbia Rock, destination, Glacier Point, handrail, hiker, hiking, juicy apple, light spray, manzanita scrub, Merced River, National Park trail, overlook, physically demanding hike, prudence, rainbow, relentlessly, rock stair steps, rock staircase, shadows, slippery, snowmelt, steep, strenuous, switchbacks, trail, treacherous, unforeseen benefit, Upper Yosemite Fall, Valley, Yosemite National Park, zigzags
-
June 18, 2013 by Deborah W. Trotter
As neighborhoods go, Mesa Verde is unique. Rising up from the surrounding plateau to elevations of 6,000 to 8,000 feet, …
Continue reading
Category: National Parks
| Tags: 32-foot ladder, ancestors, ancient culture, ancient ones, archaeologists, Balcony House, cliff dwellings, Cliff Palace, climb, cowboys, crawl, green table, hiking, Long House, Mesa Verde, Mesa Verde National Park, narrow tunnel, neighborhood, old neighborhood, open year round, Park Ranger, Pueblo Indians, rich history, ruins, Spruce Tree House, Square Tower House, stair steps, stone dwellings, strenuous, summer, tickets, tours
-
June 10, 2013 by Deborah W. Trotter
My car was one of the first to go into Lassen Park at the Sulphur Works on Highway 89, just …
Continue reading
Category: National Parks
| Tags: emerald lake, familiar landmark, forest, Hat Creek, heart and soul, higher elevations, highway's summit, hiking, hydrothermal activity, Kings Creek Meadow, Kohm Yah-mah-nee, Lassen Park, Lassen Peak, Lassen Volcanic National Park, Memorial Day weekend, muscle memory, nature, old friend, outdoors, Paradise Meadow, photos, pine needles, plowed drifts, snow, sounds of mountain water, Sulphur Works, summit lake, trail, trailheads, unseasonably warm, Visitor Center
-
June 3, 2013 by Deborah W. Trotter
We have all heard it said that you never get a second chance to make a first impression. But does …
Continue reading
Category: National Parks
| Tags: alpine Paradise, bug repellent, bugs, dams, Diablo Lake, disappointed, first impressions, forest, fresh meat, glacial blue, hiking, motor court, National Park, nature, Newhalem, North Cascades National Park, outdoors, power poles, Pyramid Lake, Pyramid Peak, Rainy Lake, resident felines, Ross Lake National Recreation Area, second chance to make a first impression, Skagit River, thick evergreens, trail, Visitor Center
-
April 29, 2013 by Deborah W. Trotter
As a kid in 1968, again with our own kids in 2000, and again with just my husband last fall, …
Continue reading
Category: National Monuments
| Tags: Alcove House, ancestors, ancestral homelands, Ancestral Pueblo people, archaeological sites, Bandelier, Bandelier National Monument, caves, Ceremonial Cave, ceremonial Kiva, children, cliff dwellings, Cochiti, ecosystems, fear of heights, flash flooding, Frijoles Canyon, Frijoles Creek, hiking, ladders, Long House, loop trail, mid-1200's, mid-1500's, Nature Trail, New Mexico, outdoors, Pueblos, roof beams, San Felipe, San Ildefonso, Santa Clara, Santa Domingo, shuttles, spirits, talus cliffs, trail, trailside information displays, Tyuonyi, viga holes, Visitor Center, White Rock, wildfires, Zuni
-
April 1, 2013 by Deborah W. Trotter
We were there. We were fit. We were eager. And we did it! End of story? Well. Not exactly. It …
Continue reading
Category: National Parks
| Tags: after sundown, bears, blackened stumps, blistering pace, box lunches, breathtaking scenery, Cascade Canyon, children, climb, deepening shadows, deer and elk, energized and inspired, family, foot bridge, go the distance, Grand Teton, Grand Teton National Park, grandeur, hanging valley, high altitude, hiking, hindsight, Idaho, Indian Paintbrush, Inspiration Point, Jackson Lake Lodge, Jenny Lake, Lake Solitude, Leigh Lake, lessons learned, massive mountains, monkey flower, most memorable hiking experience, nature, nocturnal birds, outdoors, Paintbrush Canyon, Paintbrush Divide, spectacular views, String Lake, Teton Range, tinkling streams, trail, twelve hour day, wildflowers, Wyoming
-
February 18, 2013 by Deborah W. Trotter
What do you think of first when you think of Yosemite Valley in the springtime? Half Dome? El Capitan? The …
Continue reading
Category: National Parks
| Tags: "nature's firefall", Ahwahnee Hotel, audible gusto, beauteous, bounteous, Bridalveil Fall, car, Curry Village, El Capitan, ephemerals, Glacier Point, granite, granite sentries, Half Dome, Happy Isles, hiking, Horsetail Fall, iconic landmarks, Illilouette Fall, Merced River, Mist Trail, nature's artistry, Nevada Fall, outdoors, Panorama Trail, roars over the brink, Royal Arch Cascade, Staircase Falls, thunderous, trail, trail conditions, trek, Upper and lower falls, Vernal Fall, waterfalls, Yosemite, Yosemite Falls, Yosemite National Park, Yosemite Valley
-
February 11, 2013 by Deborah W. Trotter
It was sometime in the 1960’s, early morning of a spring day in Arizona. Really cold outside, gray, threatening sky. …
Continue reading
Category: National Monuments
| Tags: 1960's, 1995, A SUMMER'S TRADE, anazasi, Antelope House ruins, Arizona, barefoot ford, Canyon de Chelly, Canyon del Muerto, Chinle wash, cliff dwelling, family, farming, four young children, handmade jewelry, hiking, icy, Irving Toddy, July, livestock, Lodge House ruins, National Park memories, National Park Service, native art, Navajo Nation, Navajos, open-air buses, outdoors, overlooks, permit and guide, photos, priceless experiences, public trail, radiated heat, redrock canyon walls, ruins, Salina Bookshelf, seared southwestern blue, shade, spring morning, switchbacks, threatening sky, three-year-old, trail, trailhead, tunnel, vacation, White House ruin
-
January 28, 2013 by Deborah W. Trotter
If you’re seeking variety in your hiking experience, you will find it in abundance on the Coast Trail that runs …
Continue reading
Category: National Seashores
| Tags: "unmaintained trail", Alamere Falls, Bass Lake, beach, breakers, California, California poppy, cliffs, Coast Trail, coastal, coastal soil, creeks, downhill, Drakes Bay, ducks, eroding fissures, eucalyptus, evergreens, Farallon Islands, ferns, fog, Golden Gate, H20, hairy scramble, highlands, hiking, impassable, iris, lighthouse, lily pads, muddy, nature, outdoors, Pacific Ocean, Palomarin, Pelican Lake, pine needles, Point Reyes, Point Reyes National Seashore, ponds, rock-strewn ruts, San Francisco Bay Area, Sixty in 2013, steep and rutted, sun-dappled, surf, trail, water cycle, waterfall, whitewater cascades, wildflowers, wooden bridges
-
December 31, 2012 by Deborah W. Trotter
While I am not a triskaidekaphobe, I confess I do not love the number 13. So the prospect of that …
Continue reading
Category: National Parks
| Tags: ascent, challenge, Death Valley National Park, Grand Canyon, hiking, National Parks System, nature, north rim of the grand canyon, Olympic National Park, outdoors, Pinnacles National Park, Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks, Sixty in 2013, trails, triskaidekaphobe, Yosemite Falls, Zion Canyon, Zion National Park
Going out is really going in. 