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 …
Continue reading Lookout Point Loop (Wind Cave National Park, SD)
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 …
Continue reading Black Elk Peak Loop (Black Elk Wilderness, SD)
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 …
Continue reading Bunsen Peak Loop (Yellowstone National Park, WY)
Hidden Lake Overlook, Glacier National Park, August 2025 Fast-forwarding a couple of days in early August, we zipped across southeast Washington and northern Idaho to reach Montana’s Glacier National Park. For such a hard-to-reach destination, this place is teeming with visitors in summer, with trail crowds the likes of which I had never seen. Good …
Continue reading Hidden Lake Overlook (Glacier National Park, MT)
Wiesendanger Falls, Wahkeena - Multnomah Falls Loop, Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area, July 2024 After three days on the Oregon coast, day five of the cross-country adventure brought us to Portland, Oregon—where we happened upon the annual convention of the National Parks Travelers Club—and ventured out on some hikes in the nearby Columbia River …
Continue reading Wahkeena – Multnomah Falls Loop (Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area, OR)
Live and Let Hike 