I woke up at 5AM to start my next 200-mile drive to Great Basin NP. It was an easy drive and around 10am I arrived at the visitor center. I took a tour of Lehman Caves. This place, while not as grand as Mammoth Cave Kentucky, has a really cool geology and some really impressive stalactite and stalagmite growths. Next, I took a drive up Mt Wheeler’s scenic road. This...
I’ve lived in Californa for almost 3 years and have wanted to visit Joshua Tree National Park ever since I got here. I finally found some time over the weekend to take a fun road trip with the girlfriend. It is about an hour and a half drive from Irvine. The national park pass I purchased last year at the Grand Canyon got us into the park for free. This place...
Imagine the length of a football field. Next, image a tree as long as that field. Stand the tree upright and you’ve got the monster redwood trees of Northern California. I’d been arguing with myself for a few weeks about driving further north from San Francisco. It’s once thing to do a 7 hour drive there and another thing to do 4 more hours north of...
One of my favorite hiking areas is located is south east Ohio, about 3 hours drive from Cleveland. I was first introduced to Hocking Hills about 23 years ago on a camping trip. I’ve gone back on my one half a dozen times. In my opinion, the best time to see it is if you can catch the fall season where the leaves are changing color and the temperatures are in a...
Arriving back at the visitor center, I returned to my Car. I needed to start heading towards Glendale, AZ. Luckily, that same route would let me see a few more canyon spots including Navajo Point and Desert View Tower. Leaving the park I drove into the Navajo reservation. I didn’t plan it, but ended up on the same roads I had driven 2 years ago. A new lesson I...
Continuing on my exploration of Grand Canyon National Park. Because the sun was going to be particularly vicious today, I opted to wear my beach hat. Surfer Selfie time: I came across some amazing views from the Powell Monument and Mojave point. The Greenway trail is near the end of the Hermit’s road so I decided to hike the 2.2 mile section instead of continue...
As the roosters started crowing, I packed up my campsite at 6 AM (an old throwback to my boy scout days). I was determined to maximize my time today at the Grand Canyon. I wanted to make it to one of the ends of the south rim trail. I was also going to figure out the bus system. Each stop of the shuttle bus yielded a new amazing view. Sometimes I would hike to the...
My work week ended on Tuesday. As expected the conference really burned me out emotionally and mentally. Thanks to lingering pain from my bicycle wreak I was also physically shot too. When I moved to California in 2015 I had intended to visit Grand Canyon National Park, however due to a last minute emergency at work, I skipped it, rushed to Irvine, then flew to...
There is a mountain in the distance…I see it every day. For over half a decade I have had a desire to climb to the top. Santiago Peak, sometimes called Saddleback Mountain, has haunted me few a few years. It has a tough trailhead (have to drive on gravel roads for about 4 miles; sometimes the creek washes out these roads). The official trail is about 16 Miles...
I’ve been to the Jameson Distillery in Dublin, Ireland. There have been multiple tours (including Famous Grouse and the Scotch Whisky Experience) in and around Edinburgh, Scotland. I am pretty sure I have found my favorite in Scotland in the form of Glenfarclas 21 Year. I am not much of a drinker(a bottle of whiskey or rum lasts me about 6-8 months) because I...