We toured New Zealand and hiked as many trails as we could. Along the way, we visited some gardens (including Queenstown Gardens) and we spotted wildflowers during our hikes. We left at the start of winter and arrived in late spring in the Southern Hemisphere right in time for the start of the blooming season. Some of the protected coastal … Continue reading…
Every winter we snowshoe over to Clay Lake, then work our way through the forest to the open grasslands, passing Stony Lake on our way back. This journey on the snow is about 8 km, but our actual route varies each time. The whole route is outside of the McQueen Lake Environmental Center which meant that we had to cross … Continue reading…
Isthmus Peak stands between Lake Wanaka and Lake Hawea in the Otago Region of the South Island of New Zealand. When we drove past this area from Haast Pass on our way to Wanaka, we saw the trailhead sign by the highway and stopped to look up at the barren, open mountain above. We returned the next day to hike … Continue reading…
The Embleton Mountain trails provide good hiking in all 4 seasons, but in mid-winter we need snowshoes to get to the top of the hill. Usually we can hike on the lower trails in winter boots, but about halfway up, the snow gets deeper and the trail gets steeper. It takes about 2 hours to work our way up on … Continue reading…
Paparoa National Park is located on the northern part of the west coast of the South Island of New Zealand, about halfway between the towns of Westport and Greymouth. The small community of Punakaiki has a few services for visitors, but the whole area is very rugged and scenic. The prevailing winds come from the Tasman Sea to the west … Continue reading…
Murtle Lake sits in a basin deep within Wells Gray Park. It is North American’s largest non-motorized lake and a destination for many paddlers. We launch out of the lagoon and spend a few days of paddling, camping, and enjoying the remote rugged scenery. The lake was created when a lava flow from the northwest dammed the Murtle River and … Continue reading…
Punakaiki lies on the rugged (and somewhat remote) west coast of the South Island of New Zealand. The beach and small community are surrounded by Paparoa National Park. We spent a couple of days in good weather at the beach, but also explored the trails, headlands, hills, and beaches of the area. We also hiked the trails of Paparoa … Continue reading…
When the winter snows start to melt, ice follows, then mud, but we can choose to find some winter beach walks while conditions continue to change. The open beaches facing south clear off first and the porous sand takes away the melting water leaving us with a sandy surface to hike and walk on. There are a number of beach … Continue reading…
We were in Utah hiking in April for the last 3 years and enjoyed the wildflower bloom each time. Some of the favorite photos were combined into a KamloopsTrails YouTube video:
Continue reading...Wheeler Mountain is a nice summer hike, following old double tracks to the top of the mountain, but in winter those same tracks are hard work. We broke trail from Wheeler Pond to the top, taking turns on our snowshoes on the 11km return route. We were pleased to have a sunny day in the upper grasslands on our way … Continue reading…
The Cedar Mesa area in southeastern Utah is a remote area that has lots of good hiking/scrambling trails, canyons, and Ancestral Puebloan ruins to explore. Moonhouse Ruins is located on Bureau of Land Management (BLM) land, requiring a permit from the Kane Gulch Ranger Station (4 miles south of the junction of Highways 95 and 261). Bureau of Land Management … Continue reading…
We snowshoe at Lodgepole Lake because it is high enough (4655 feet) for the snow to be reliable and at the same time, the Chuwhels Mountain Road is kept plowed, including a good parking area at the end of the lake. Most of the people who snowshoe there head downslope to a series of ponds and creeks that head southwest … Continue reading…
The Banks Peninsula’s distinctive shape is the result of two extinct shield volcanoes with one of the walls collapsed to create a long bay (Akaroa Harbour) into the interior of the crater. The town of Akaroa lies on the shoreline deep in the middle of the crater. The rim of the volcano stands above the town in a high, rugged … Continue reading…
The Ridge Lakes are found on a plateau above Lac le Jeune. We have been hiking, snowshoeing, cross-country skiing, and mountain biking to the area for decades. We used to either climb up past the Lac le Jeune ski hills or up the Ridge Lakes FSR, but a single track trail from the end of Lac le Jeune Drive is … Continue reading…
While on the South Island of New Zealand. we had hoped to take on a good hike in the Mt. Cook National Park area, but we had only a short time in our itinerary and the forecast was not promising, but we kept to our schedule and headed over the pass from Queenstown to Aoraki – Mt. Cook passing through … Continue reading…
The Murtle River Trail follows the south bank of the Murtle River upstream to the Majerus Farm and beyond to Pyramid Bay. It is also part of a bigger loop that includes the cross-country ski loppet trail from Helmcken Falls Lodge, over McLeod Hill, down to the river, past Majerus Farm and then south to Blackwater Creek. For winter visitors, … Continue reading…
