Horseshoe Canyon is a unit of Canyonlands National Park, situated in a remote part of the high desert in Utah. We came into the site from Moab, a 2.5 hours drive each way, the last part on a backroad. We drove on one 47 mile backroad from the town of Green River (we saw no one the entire distance), then … Continue reading…
Moab, Utah lies at the bottom of a fault in the Colorado Plateau. Red cliffs, buttes, and hills rise up on every side. On the west side are cliffs that stand 1500 to 1800 feet above the town. This is the Behind the Rocks Wilderness Area. There are no trails or tracks that go over these cliffs from … Continue reading…
We drove to the entrance to Castle Valley on the Colorado River northwest of Moab and enjoyed the views. The next week we drove up above Moab through Sand Hills Recreation Area (link) to hike the Porcupine Rim Trail. The area is designed for shared use – jeep tracks, mountain bike tracks, and “hiking” routes. We chose one … Continue reading…
The area around Moab, Utah is surrounded by hiking trails and one of the most satisfying is the corona Arch Trail. To get to the trailhead, go north across the Colorado River and turn left onto Highway 279 (the Potash Road). Ten miles along this road is the trailhead parking area across from the Gold Bar Campground. The trail crosses … Continue reading…
Kauai has good hiking routes all over the island. When we venture from Wailua-Kapa’a up into the highlands, we approach the Wai’aleale Crater, under the wettest spot on the planet. After a rainfall, numerous waterfalls run down the crater to the Blue Hole area and all the water collects into several rivers that flow out to the ocean, only 8km … Continue reading…
Secret Beach on Kauai is only a secret to visitors. Locals know this wonderful beach (also called Kauapea Beach) on the northeast corner of the island. We like this beach for a number of reasons: we have to hike down to the beach the waves crash onto the beach for the entire length this is a wild spot on a … Continue reading…
Kauai has many trails to hike, but it also has many fine beaches to hike/walk. Lumahai Beach is not a safe swimming beach with no protecting reef, but it is a scenic and interesting beach. To find Lumahai Beach continue along the north shore past Hanalei. After completing the big loop around Hanalei Bay, the narrow, winding road climbs over … Continue reading…
We usually stay in Popiu on Kauai and this is the hike we do most often. We enjoy walking paths around Keoniloa Bay to Shipwreck Beach, then we climb up to the top of the Makawehi Bluffs and follow the headlands along the shore. “The lithified sand dunes that form Makawehi (also known as the Paa Ridge) accumulated as sand … Continue reading…
We returned to the Alakai’i Swamp Trail one year after our previous hike (link to the previous story). The winter of 2013-2014 was a wet one so all of Koke’e State Park up on the edge of the caldera was wet, muddy, and slippery. We drive to the end of the road on top of the mountain knowing full well … Continue reading…
On Kauai, we can hike all the way from Po’ipu to the last shoreline area before the Hoary Head Range at Ha’ula Bay. The whole distance is a long and rugged route so we often hike sections with some beach time at Maha’ulepu (our favorite) Beach. If we take the rough road in to Maha’ulepu, we park at Kawailoa Bay … Continue reading…
Each year we return to Kauai and we hike the Maha’ulepu Trail from Popiu to the cave and back. (Link to a previous article) On this last trip, we were able to go deeper into the caves and enjoy a guided tour of the darker corners, learning some of the secrets of the cavern. We were pleased to hear about … Continue reading…
There are many hiking trails on Kauai, but there are also superb beach walks too – Polihale, Lumahai’i, Koloa Bay, Maha’ulepu and many more. One of our favorites is the beach walk from Lydgate State Park down the beach to Nukoli’i Beach Park. Follow the Island Highway north of Lihue and just after the golf course, turn makai (seaward) into … Continue reading…
The area in the hills to the north of Chase is generally referred to as Neskonlith Meadows. Much of the area is part of the Adams Lake Band Sahhaltkum Indian Reserve so permission to park and hike on the trails is required. Permits and parking passes can be obatined from the Band Office during business hours. There is a small … Continue reading…
Waimea Canyon has been nicknamed “the Grand Canyon of the Pacific” and though it is definitely on a smaller scale, it is still an impressive sight. The sheer ruggedness is complemented by bright colors, tropical vegetation, waterfalls tumbling down from the caldera above, and long views to the top of Mt. Wai’aleale above and the Pacific Ocean to the west. … Continue reading…
The area above the south shore of Kamloops Lake has grassland-covered slopes, rounded hills, bluffs, alakali lakes, and few tracks for exploration. We come into the area from either the end of Abbey Road or off Deer Road in Cherry Bluffs. These larger ponds are fringed by alkali salts and diminish over the summer months. Pickleweed grows along … Continue reading…
Snow Dome Mountain is the snow-capped massif standing on the Continental Divide in the Columbia Icefield. It stands 11 400 feet and is considered the hydrographic apex of North America with meltwaters flowing to three oceans (the Arctic via Hudson Bay). Ice climbers and mountaineers climb the east face above Dome Glacier, but it can also be skied in a … Continue reading…
