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October 7, 2013 by Deborah W. Trotter
Back in August before our own government shut down our National Parks, we were lucky to spend three nights and …
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Category: National Parks
| Tags: "invisibility cloak, 320 feet high, chill drizzle, Christine Falls, Comet Falls, good workout, hike, impenetrable fog, Mount Rainier, Mount Rainier National Park, nature, outdoors, Paradise, Park Rangers, popular trailhead, shutdown, side canyon, single log bridge, tall blue bonnet, thunderous flows, trail, Van Trump Creek, Visitor Center, waterfalls, white roiling water, whitewater, Wiggins lily, wildflowers, wooden bridge
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September 30, 2013 by Deborah W. Trotter
Two weekends ago, we in the San Francisco Bay Area were shocked by the unseasonable deluge that poured down from …
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Category: National Parks
| Tags: early snowfall, first day of autumn, glorious afternoon, gorgeous views, high country, higher elevations, Highway 120, hike, human footprints, National Park experience, once-in-a-lifetime, photographs, snow, snow and icy conditions, spectacular scene, Tenaya Lake, Tioga Road, trail, unseasonable deluge, Yosemite, Yosemite National Park
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September 16, 2013 by Deborah W. Trotter
If you’re a regular reader here, you’ll remember that several weeks ago, I posted a photograph of a fire lookout …
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Category: National Parks
| Tags: 360 degree view, blazes, Brokeoff, butterflies, Chester, clear day, Coast Range, fire lookout, fire season, forest, hike, Juniper Lake, Juniper Lake campground, Juniper Lake Loop, Lassen National Park, Lassen Park, Lassen Volcanic National Park, lupine, manzanita, meadows, mid-July, mountain, Mt. Ashland, Mt. Diablo, Mt. Harkness, Mt. Shasta, nature, Oregon, outdoors, Sierras, smoky skies, swimming, switchbacks, timber line, trail, trail junction
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September 2, 2013 by Deborah W. Trotter
Tucked into the southwest corner of the state of Oregon, not on the way to or from anywhere, at the …
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Category: National Monuments
| Tags: 23 guest rooms, 90 minutes, ascent, bending and twisting, brook babbling, cave, cave entrance, Cave Junction, descent, double-sided fireplace, elevation, Elijah Davidson, engaged and entertained, expansive lobby, features, frigid body parts, geology, hike, history, inhabitants, living and fossilized, low ceilings, main exit, metal ladders, moderately strenuous, narrow paths, National Historic Landmark, Oregon, Oregon Caves Chateau, Oregon Caves National Monument, ponderosa pine pillars, Ranger Cedar, refrigerator, spelunkers, spelunking, stories, temperature, three quarters of a mile, tour, trail, Visitor Center, wet stone steps
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August 26, 2013 by Deborah W. Trotter
When we visited Olympic National Park a few weeks ago, our home base for the three days was the lovely, …
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Category: National Parks
| Tags: 90-foot cascade, active community, alder, ancient forest, barbed spines, Barnes Creek, cottonwood, deep forest, Devils Club, evergreen canopy, evergreens, fallen trees, Falls Creek, ferns, fir, forest floor, gorgeous natural lake, gurgling, hemlock, hidden attractions, Highway 101, hike, Lake Crescent, Lake Crescent Lodge, madrone, maples, Marymere Falls, mostly shaded, nature, Olympic National Park, outdoors, overlook, red cedar, refreshing dip, shrubs, spruce, trail, trailhead, waterfall, wildflowers, willow, wooden bridge, wooden steps, yew
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July 1, 2013 by Deborah W. Trotter
The first fork in the road through Arches from the Visitor Center, just beyond Balanced Rock, takes you to the …
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Category: National Parks
| Tags: "Primitive Trail", Arches National Park, Balanced Rock, climbers, colors, cooler, Double Arch, drink plenty of water, evening, family, hike, kids, less crowded, morning, North and South Windows, parking loop, photography, scramble, short and easy, summer, sun, the eyes of Arches, trail, trails, Turret Arch, Visitor Center, Windows Section
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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 …
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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
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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 …
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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
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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 …
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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
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May 13, 2013 by Deborah W. Trotter
Lassen Peak still dozes under its winter white sheet, but springtime is waking up the rest of the Park. There …
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Category: National Parks
| Tags: California, hike, Lassen Peak, Lassen Volcanic National Park, Manzanita Lake, Memorial Day weekend, National Parks, nature, open for the season, outdoors, Park, snow, spring, trail, winter
Going out is really going in. 