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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, …
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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
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April 15, 2013 by Deborah W. Trotter
St. Mary Lake (home of tiny Wild Goose Island) stretches for miles along Going-to-the-Sun Road from the east entrance to …
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Category: National Parks
| Tags: easy, footbridge, Glacier National Park, Going-to-the-Sun Road, hike, inhaling, kid-friendly, Montana, mountain air, mountain water, nature, outdoors, St. Mary Falls, St. Mary Lake, St. Mary River, trail, Virginia Falls, Wild Goose Island
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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 …
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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
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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 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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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 7, 2013 by Deborah W. Trotter
The word lagoon invites the imagination to conjure visions of clear blue water, abundant wildlife, gentle lapping waves, sandy beaches, …
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Category: National Seashores
| Tags: Abbotts Lagoon, birding sites, California, California quail, cattle, freeze tag, golden ealgle, hawks, hike, lagoon, Mother's Day, nature, onshore breeze, osprey, outdoors, Pacific Ocean, peacefulness, peregrine falcon, pirate ships, Point Reyes, Point Reyes National Seashore, salty curiosities, sandy beaches, seashore, shorebirds, springtime, surf, tide, trail, waterfowl, wildflowers, wildlife, winter, wise advice, yellow lupine
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December 13, 2012 by Deborah W. Trotter
I realize that as wild weather, the short, dark days of December and winter chill surround us, it can be …
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Category: National Parks
| Tags: afternoons, Angels Landing, apples, colors and strata, domes, east rim, Echo Canyon, Hidden Canyon, hiking, Indian Paintbrush, June, monolithic walls, mornings, nature, nature-sculpted rock formations, Observation Point, outdoors, prickly pear cactus, red rock, rich hues, shade, shuttle, slippery scramble, Springdale, sun, sweating, switchbacks, teenagers, Temple of Sinawava, tortoises and hares, trail, Utah, views from the top, Virgin River, west rim, wildflowers, yucca, Zion Canyon, Zion National Park
Going out is really going in. 