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March 25, 2013 by Deborah W. Trotter
According to the calendar, spring arrives in California in March. But what that means in the real world depends on …
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Category: National Parks
| Tags: 1998, Brokeoff Mountain, Bumpass Hell, California, closed to traffic, entrance station, foot traffic, frozen, higher elevations, Highway 89, hike, July, Lake Helen, Lassen Park, Lassen Peak, Lassen Volcanic National Park, light snow year, Manzanita Lake, March, May, mischief, mountains, nature, northwest entrance, opportunities, outdoors, Park Service, photographs, real world, Reflection Lake, road closed, road cut, road opening, snow, snowballs, snowplows, southwest entrance, spring snow storms, springtime, storms, summer, through Lassen Park, trailhead, unexpected treat, unpredictable, updates, vehicles, video, winter
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March 18, 2013 by Deborah W. Trotter
You probably don’t think of solid rock when you hear the word “delicate.” Neither do I. But when you see …
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Category: National Parks
| Tags: Arches National Park, auto license plates, cairns, climbing, cloudless sky, crowded, delicate, Delicate Arch, family photos, four teenagers, free standing, full moon, hike, natural arch, nature, open year round, outdoors, photograph, precarious, slickrock, trail, Utah, Zion National Park
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March 11, 2013 by Deborah W. Trotter
What’s in a name? Pinnacles National Monument or Pinnacles National Park? Although it became a National Park in 2013, California’s …
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Category: National Parks
| Tags: "Condor Crew", a rose by any other name, abnormally low rainfall, ancient volcano, audacious rock formations, Bear Gulch Day Use Area, bee hive, bees, buck brush, Bush poppy, California, California condors, California poppy, caves, Condor Gulch Trail, craggy outcroppings, diverse habitat, earthquake fault, footholds, geologic wonderland, gulches, handholds, High Peaks, HIgh Peaks Loop, hike, hundreds of species, Indian Paintbrush, Indian warrior, lupine, milk maids, nature, Neenach Formation, outdoors, peaks, Pinnacles, Pinnacles National Monument, Pinnacles National Park, quirky rock sculptures, radio antenna, raptors, rock formations, San Andreas fault, Shakespeare, Sixty in 2013, spring, steep and narrow, strenuous, swarming, switchbacks, tectonic plate, trail, transmitter, turkey vultures, well-maintained trail, wildflowers
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February 25, 2013 by Deborah W. Trotter
Where I live in California, springtime is on approach. Many trees are no longer bare, sprouting pink or white blossoms …
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Category: National Parks
| Tags: blooms, blossoms, Brown-eyed Susan, California, Englemann aster, Fireweed, Garden Wall, Glacier National Park, Going-to-the-Sun Road, Highline Trail, hike, Indian Paintbrush, Logan Pass, Montana, nature, outdoors, Rocky Mountains, Rosy spirea, trailhead, Visitor Center, wildflowers
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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 …
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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
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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. …
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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
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February 4, 2013 by Deborah W. Trotter
On the day we hiked the Coast Trail to Alamere Falls (see last week’s post), we ended our outing in …
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Category: National Seashores
| Tags: Alamere Falls, Coast Trail, late afternoon, nature, outdoors, outing, Pacific Ocean, Point Reyes Lighthouse, shores, South Beach, surf
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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 …
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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
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January 21, 2013 by Deborah W. Trotter
The older I get, the more I realize that there aren’t very many things in life you can count on …
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Category: National Parks
| Tags: clockwork, duration, eruptions, famous attraction, geyser, intervals, nature, Old Faithful, old faithful geyser, outdoors, spouted at regular intervals, sputter or fizzle, white explorers, Wyoming, Yellowstone National Park, yellowstone park
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January 14, 2013 by Deborah W. Trotter
Bryce Canyon is really a place that has to be seen to be believed. It is a fantastical sculpture garden, …
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Category: National Parks
| Tags: air quality, Bryce, Bryce Canyon, Bryce Canyon Lodge, Bryce Canyon National Park, children, colors, delicate and impermanent, eroded rock formations, fantastical sculpture garden, geologic time, hike, hoodoos, kids, natural rock bridges, nature, Navajo Loop Trail, other-worldly, outdoors, overlooks, photograph, Queen Victoria, Queen's Garden Trail, Rainbow Point, rim road, rock formations, rocky fantasyland, sculpture garden, stroller-friendly, Sunrise Point, Sunset Point, teenagers, The Poodle, Thor's Hammer, trails, unique beauty, Visitor Center, Wall Street, Yovimpa Point