Little Missouri

Little Missouri

The Little Missouri River is the thread that stitches together the three separate units of Theodore Roosevelt National Park. The river rises in northeastern Wyoming near the Devil’s Tower and from there snakes generally northward into the Dakotas, passing through Medora into the South Unit of Theodore Roosevelt NP. It continues north from there another … Continue reading

Last Man Standing

Last Man Standing

The Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument is located inside the Crow Indian Reservation in southeastern Montana. You probably know the Little Bighorn as the site of “Custer’s Last Stand,” referring to Lt. Col. George Armstrong Custer (1839-1876) and his final battle against the Plains Indians. We visited the Monument Monday afternoon after my trip to … Continue reading

So, Sioux Me

So, Sioux Me

Leaving Yellowstone NP, our goal for the day was to drive to Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument in Montana. But, having all day to travel the 250 miles, we stopped for a couple hours in Cody, Wyoming, to visit the Buffalo Bill Center of the West. One of the statutes in front of the Center, … Continue reading

Old Faithful

Old Faithful

On the drive from West Thumb to Old Faithful, the road crosses the Continental Divide twice, the second crossing being Craig Pass at elevation 8,262 feet. Straddling Craig Pass is Isa Lake (more like a large pond in my opinion), one of the only natural water bodies in the world that drains into two oceans; … Continue reading

Yellowstone

Yellowstone

Yellowstone National Park was established on March 1, 1872, as the world’s first national park. For over 100 years it was the largest national park in the United States, being surpassed in 1980 by several created that year in Alaska. A rectangle carved out of the state of Wyoming, measuring 54 miles east-west and 63 … Continue reading

… Must Come Down

… Must Come Down

Canyoniers use a rating system to describe the difficulty, nature and duration of their routes. Our route has been variously rated 3B, 3BII 3BIII and 3AIII, all reviewers agreeing that the general difficulty merits a Class 3 designation: Class 3 – Intermediate Canyoneering – Rappels or technical climbing and/or downclimbing. A rope is required for … Continue reading

What Goes Up …

What Goes Up …

We realize now that our hikes in Arches NP and Canyonlands NP were consecutively more challenging: slick-rock and cliff edges on our way to Delicate Arch; scampering across fins at Upheaval Dome; climbing and stemming in narrow slot openings in Fiery Furnace; and, ascending and descending high-elevation fins in Devil’s Garden. Now, time to put … Continue reading

Devil’s Garden

Devil’s Garden

Keeping with our Old Testament theme, we next hiked the Devil’s Garden, its trailhead being at the end of the Arches NP scenic Park Road, 18 miles from the Park entrance. When Arches was designated as a National Monument in 1929 by Executive Order of President Herbert Hoover, only Devil’s Garden and The Windows were … Continue reading

Feeling Finnish

Feeling Finnish

Unlike the descriptive names of the various hikes and features in Canyonlands NP, the location of our hike today in Arches NP bears the mysterious title: “Fiery Furnace.” What few references I have been able to locate claim that This surreal geologic labyrinth earns its name from the deep red and orange glow of the … Continue reading

Arches

It’s a little over 150 miles to Moab from Torrey where we had camped while exploring Capitol Reef NP and environs: east on UT-24 to Hanksville; continue on UT-24 northeast to I-70; east on I-70 to US-191; then south on US-191 to Moab. With the exception of I-70, the entire drive is 2-lane roads, many … Continue reading

Rocky Road

Rocky Road

Even after being reduced in size by President Trump from 1.7 to 1.0 million acres, Grand Staircase-Escalante NM is still, by far, the largest of all the National Monuments and National Parks in Utah. Consequently, in order to really appreciate it, you need to drive it. We have already driven into the Monument from the … Continue reading

Jurassic National Park

Jurassic National Park

After Zion, we spent several days in Escalante, Utah, exploring the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument. The Monument was established by President Bill Clinton in 1996 pursuant to the Antiquities Act of 1906, by which Congress granted the president the power, in his discretion, to declare by public proclamation historic landmarks, historic and prehistoric structures, and … Continue reading

Narrow Escape

Narrow Escape

The two most popular hikes in Zion for the adventurous are Angels Landing and The Narrows. The former, Angels Landing, is a 5-mile roundtrip up a 1,500 foot tower via two sets of switchbacks, followed by a 0.4 mile finish across the “Spine,” a narrow sandstone ridgeline with 1,000 foot drop-offs on both sides. This … Continue reading