In Travels With Charley, John Steinbeck wrote of the Redwoods, “No one has ever successfully painted or photographed a redwood tree. The feeling they produce is not transferable. From them comes silence and awe.” It’s impossible to fully appreciate how accurate Steinbeck’s words are until you walk in the Tall Trees and Ladybird Johnson groves…
Tag: hiking
One week, three deserts – White Sands to Joshua Tree
The Southwestern United States comprises multiple deserts, each with distinct plant life and geology. Between Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, and California we spent time in the Chihuahuan, Sonoran, and Mojave Deserts. We visited White Sands National Monument early in the morning after Carlsbad. The sand is gypsum blown off the surrounding mountains, and it is blindingly…
Guadalupe Mountains and Carlsbad Caverns
After another overnight stop in Alpine where we indulged in good Mexican food, showers, and Finding Dory, we headed north to Guadalupe National Park, home of the highest point in Texas, Guadalupe Peak. The geologic history of the area is fascinating. The Guadalupes were thrust upward from the floor of what is now the Chihuahuan…
Big Bend National Park
Our stay in Big Bend National Park had some high highs and some pretty low lows. We arrived fairly early our first day and got a campsite at the Chisos Basin campground, the coolest place Fahrenheit to stay in the park, according to both the ranger at Panther Junction and our Couchsurfing hosts in Alpine,…
Great Smoky Mountains National Park
Our journey has finally begun! We rolled out of the driveway around 7 on Tuesday morning and made camp in Great Smoky Mountains National Park about twelve hours later. The weather was pretty terrible until we came into Pigeon Forge. We picked up Skyline Drive in the middle, near its highest point, where the clouds…
White Oak Canyon/Cedar Run
“We’re almost there, you’ll make it!” Victor kept promising, but it seemed the trail would never end. My legs weren’t limbs so much as lead weights suspended from my pelvis. Finally, I slumped against a tree and determined that it was there I would die.
The Indigents Abroad 