It’s been said Yosemite National Park is the crown jewel of America’s national parks. I haven’t been to every national park yet, but I believe it. Although my time in Yosemite was marked by disappointment, I still consider the three days I spent backpacking in the park among the most special memories of my life. Gaining Perspective It’s too easy to focus on failure, so when I … [Read more...] about Celebrating Small Successes in Yosemite National Park
5 Favorite Memories of Yellowstone National Park
I can't even begin to accurately describe the experience of visiting Yellowstone National Park for the first time. It was years ago, and I was a green solo traveler from the East Coast who was inexperienced with nature on such a grand scale. The sensations you experience in Yellowstone tend to extremes: Excitement. Fear. Awe. Wonder. The landscape is just so big and beautiful … [Read more...] about 5 Favorite Memories of Yellowstone National Park
Discovering Devils Tower National Monument, Wyoming
It's a loose analogy but I think it works: if northeastern Wyoming is like a set of washboard abs, then Devils Tower National Monument is like an outie bellybutton. There. I've said it. Analogies are useful when trying to describe something that defies description, and Devils Tower is certainly that. I could, perhaps, call it a lot of other things, too--an otherworldly … [Read more...] about Discovering Devils Tower National Monument, Wyoming
In and Around Manchester, Vermont: 4 (More) Things to Love
One of the things I miss most about living on the East Coast is escaping to Vermont for a long holiday weekend. I always felt a bit like a rebel: while I watched the traffic pile up heading south toward the Jersey Shore, I’d cruise all the way up the Garden State Parkway to the New York State Thruway unhindered. Entering Vermont was always a bit of culture shock: roadside … [Read more...] about In and Around Manchester, Vermont: 4 (More) Things to Love
The Best of Bremerton, Washington
When I’d just moved to the Seattle area, I lived like an itinerant preacher--welp, minus the preachin’. I spent six weeks just north of the city in Edmonds and another week south of the city in the Georgetown neighborhood but I have to say my favorite stint was the five days I spent in Bremerton, west of Seattle and accessible by a 55-minute ferry. After five days walking and … [Read more...] about The Best of Bremerton, Washington