Iceberg Lake, Chain Lakes Loop, Mount Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest, September 2025 Traversing the highlands between two volcanic behemoths—Mount Baker (10,781’) and Mount Shuksan (9,131’)—the Chain Lakes Loop is a premier day hike in the northern Cascades of Washington’s Mount Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest. There are few dull moments, with open views of the two peaks and …
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Pemberton Creek Falls, Pemberton, British Coumbia, September 2025 Imagine living in a quiet neighborhood, set in picturesque mountains, with what one visitor described as “the waterfall no one knows about” in one’s backyard. The town is Pemberton, British Columbia—a much more modest alternative to bustling Whistler—and the waterfall is Pemberton Creek Falls, a 200-foot double-shot …
Grinnell Glacier, Glacier National Park, August 2024 Well, better late than never? We are now halfway into 2025, but, alas, work and other priorities produced a heavy backlog of blog posts from hikes in 2024 that I was only able to complete in the past few months. Yet the tradition of looking back on the …
Natural Bridge, Maquoketa Caves State Park, August 2024 After nearly spending nearly three weeks out West, it was, alas, time to get on my way across the country to complete my move from the San Francisco area to Washington, DC. From South Dakota, I drove down to stay with a friend in Iowa City, Iowa …
Continue reading Maquoketa Caves Loop (Maquoketa Caves State Park, IA)
Notch Trail, Badlands National Park, August 2024 A more challenging alternative to the adjacent Door and Window Trails, the Notch Trail in eastern Badlands National Park features a fun slot and ladder section and a sweeping southward view across the White River Valley to Interior, South Dakota. The ladder is sturdy but not for the …
Saddle Pass Trail, Badlands National Park, August 2024 By now I was nearly three weeks into my cross-country trip, but I was savoring my last couple days out West before the relatively lackluster drive across the Great Plains to the East Coast. After making my way east from the Black Hills to Badlands National Park …
Continue reading Saddle Pass Trail to Castle – Medicine Root Trail Loop (Badlands National Park, SD)
Centennial Trail, Lookout Point Loop, Wind Cave National Park, August 2024 The main draw of Wind Cave National Park in western South Dakota, of course, lies underground. But when the caverns are closed (as they were in summer 2024), the primary attraction becomes the twisting canyons and vast prairies on the surface. This is not …
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Black Elk Peak, Black Elk Wilderness, Black Hills National Forest, August 2024 At 7,241 feet, Black Elk Peak is South Dakota’s highest point and the tallest peak in the United States east of the Rocky Mountains. The mountain (formerly known as Harney Peak) was a sacred place for the native Lakota and tops a band …
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Cottonwood Creek Trail, BLM Lands (Wyoming), August 2024 After my afternoon in Bighorn Canyon National Recreation Area, I went in search of a camping spot and settled on the modest (but free!) BLM campground at Cottonwood Creek, on the east side of Bighorn Lake. After sleeping amid the sagebrush, I ventured out in the morning …
Continue reading Cottonwood Creek Trail to Melody Falls (Bureau of Land Management, WY)
Bunsen Peak Trail, Yellowstone National Park, August 2024 Heading south and east from the Bitterroot Range, I spent the night at Lewis and Clark Caverns State Park and then--in a rather spontaneous move--set out for a day in Yellowstone, America’s first national park. The park, of course, is massive, so I bit off only a …
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Live and Let Hike 