I’m glad my phone remembered the long weekend I appended to a business trip to make the most of the brief but spectacular summer in the Pacific Northwest, because it feels like forever ago, and I’d almost forgotten.
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Grand Canyon Part 3: Plateau Point
It’s day two of my backpacking trip in the Grand Canyon. I’ve set up camp at Havasupai Garden, and the rain, hail, and wind that drove me into my tent for an early afternoon nap has passed overhead. I’m heading out for a hike along the Tonto Platform to overlook the inner canyon from Plateau Point, 1.5 miles from the campground.
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Grand Canyon Part 2: Up is Harder
Picking up my backpacking trip to the Grand Canyon: I hiked down the South Kaibab trail in one day and camped by the river at Bright Angel Campground. Now I have to hike back up the 4340 feet and 9.5 miles to the rim on Bright Angel trail.
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Grand Canyon Part 1: down is (relatively) easy
This was my third attempt to see the Grand Canyon, and I’m delighted to report that I was successful, and it absolutely lived up to its name!
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A short visit to Bryce Canyon National Park (2022)
It wasn’t far out of the way, so we took a short trip to admire the effect of high elevation spring snow on the fantastically eroded red spires of Bryce National Park.
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Southern Utah side quests (March 2022)
Hypothetically, what if your plans for an epic adventure into a side canyon off Lake Powell to see a geological wonder recently re-exposed after decades underwater were derailed by uncooperative weather? Fortunately, there are a few other geological, historical, and archaeological wonders in the neighborhood!
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Lost Palms Oasis
My favorite hike in Joshua Tree this trip was to Lost Palms Oasis which heads 3.6 miles out across the desert to reach a permanent spring that nourishes a thriving colony of fan palms.
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Designed by Dr. Seuss
I think that I shall never see a more improbable charismatic megaflora than Yucca breviflora, affectionately known as the Joshua Tree.
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