Southwestern US
Colorado, Utah, Arizona, New Mexico
-
Hiking in Arizona’s Superstition Mountains – Siphon Draw Trail to the Flatiron
Although ‘volcano’ and ‘Arizona’ are two words that seem like they shouldn’t go in the same sentence, in fact it’s a very appropriate combination. Most of central Arizona is volcanic in origin, including the Superstition Mountains, which formed about 20 million years ago when three supervolcanoes deposited a 1000 foot (305 m) thick layer of… Continue reading
-
A day in Arizona’s Tonto National Forest
I first heard about the Superstition Mountains years ago. I don’t even remember exactly when or where, but the photos I saw were imprinted in my mind from that moment on. So when we planned our trip to Phoenix, this was a non-negotiable addition to the agenda. The Superstition Mountains lie within the Tonto National… Continue reading
-
Four Days in Phoenix, Arizona
I kind of dropped the ball last year on planning our Thanksgiving trip. Actually, that’s not entirely true. I had an entire itinerary put together months ago, but by that point we knew my husband would be starting a new job and we didn’t know what his vacation schedule would be, so I didn’t actually… Continue reading
-
Nuclear science & history at Manhattan Project National Historical Park – Los Alamos, New Mexico
Well, we’ve finally reached the end of Thanksgiving in New Mexico. After four nights in Albuquerque and one night in Santa Fe, we headed north to Los Alamos for the final three days of our trip. The first two were spent visiting Bandelier and Valles Caldera, leaving the final day to hang around town. Like… Continue reading
-
Life inside a volcano – Valles Caldera National Preserve, New Mexico
Last week, I wrote all about Bandelier National Monument, which protects the cliffs, canyons, and Ancestral Puebloan ruins south of Los Alamos, New Mexico. This landscape was created by the two massive eruptions of a nearby volcano more than 1 million years ago. After the final eruption the volcano collapsed, leaving behind a caldera 14… Continue reading
-
Pueblos and petroglyphs – Bandelier National Monument, New Mexico
“The grandest thing I ever saw” – Adolph Bandelier, archaeologist Nestled in Frijoles Canyon, which has been carved into the Pajarito Plateau, is an 800-year-old pueblo called Tyuonyi. Tyuonyi (pronounced KYU-weh-nee, and no, that’s not a typo; it’s been three months, and my brain still struggles with seeing a T and having to make a… Continue reading
-
24 hours in Santa Fe, New Mexico
Pretty much everyone we talked to prior to our New Mexico road trip assured us we would really enjoy Santa Fe. It’s such a cool place, they said. Quirky and artsy and historic. And it definitely is all of those things. But honestly, I didn’t love it as much as I felt like I should… Continue reading
-
Indigenous inscriptions – Petroglyph National Monument, New Mexico
Located on the western edge of Albuquerque, New Mexico, hidden amongst the jumbled landscape, are more than 20,000 (not a typo!) historic rock carvings called petroglyphs. This area is part of the Rio Grande rift, formed over millions of years by the movement of tectonic plates. This rift stretches from central Colorado to central New… Continue reading
-
48 hours in Albuquerque, New Mexico
When we told people we were headed to New Mexico for Thanksgiving, they all assured us we would really enjoy our time in Santa Fe and Los Alamos. And we did. But when we mentioned we were also spending time in Albuquerque, the universal response was: why? Well, I’ll tell you why… because there’s quite… Continue reading
-
Bad country – El Malpais National Monument, New Mexico
Day 2 of our New Mexico road trip was somewhat of a failure in planning. I did plan. I planned a lot. Too much, in fact. And had it been July, with 14 hours of daylight and the endless motivation that can only be found during summer, we might have pulled it off. But in… Continue reading
-
A smattering of New Mexico history
Thanksgiving road trip has become somewhat of a tradition for us. We can both usually get some time off work, and it turns out November is a pretty good time of year to travel around the southwestern US. After spending the previous two Thanksgivings in Utah, we decided to mix things up a little this… Continue reading
-
Colorado 14ers #6 and #7: Mount Eolus and North Eolus
It was 4:15pm when my friend K and I trudged back into our campsite after summiting Sunlight and Windom Peaks. We’d been gone for 10 hours, during which time we’d hiked just 6.6 miles (10.6 km) but gained – and then lost – 3750 feet (1145 m) of elevation. To say we were exhausted was… Continue reading
-
Colorado 14ers #4 and #5: Sunlight Peak and Windom Peak
I’ll begin by saying this: there are roughly fifty 14ers in Colorado that are easier to summit than Sunlight Peak. Choosing it as my fourth 14er was maybe a little ambitious. I did it. But it was substantially harder than anything I’ve hiked or summited before. I definitely don’t recommend these peaks for anyone who… Continue reading
-
Colorado Bucket List: Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Scenic Railroad and Chicago Basin
There are 58 officially named peaks in Colorado with summit elevations over 14,000 feet (4267 m). We call them 14ers, and summiting all of them is something many people aspire to. It took me a few years to decide, but it’s a goal I’ve finally committed to. It’s a long-term goal, obviously. There are so… Continue reading
-
Rafting the Arkansas River through Browns Canyon National Monument
The final day of our Memorial weekend trip was upon us, which meant one thing: whitewater rafting time! We were signed up for a full-day trip on the Arkansas River with Noah’s Ark Rafting. I booked this trip back in January, at which time I debated between Saturday or Sunday and joked that, no matter… Continue reading
-
Colorado National Monument
I was sorting through some old posts on here recently and stumbled across this one from a few years ago about my previous trip to Colorado National Monument. I imagine many of you can relate to the cringey feeling you get when you read something you wrote so many years ago. And, of course, the… Continue reading
-
Squeezing our way through Little Wild Horse Canyon
After seven wonderful days exploring the red rock desert of Utah, our trip was coming to an end. We would be spending the night at a hotel in Green River, setting us up for an early morning start for our drive back home. But before checking in for our final night away from home, we… Continue reading
-
Goblins and goblettes – Goblin Valley State Park, Utah
We pulled into the mostly empty parking lot around 8:30am and stepped out into the chilly November air to take in the view. On the way to the overlook, we stopped to read a sign. “Like nowhere else,” it read. I looked up at the bizarre landscape in front of me. Back down at the… Continue reading
-
The Waterpocket Fold – Capitol Reef National Park, Utah (part II)
As I mentioned briefly last week, Capitol Reef gets the ‘reef’ part of its name from the fact that, from a distance, the towering line of colorful cliffs appears to be an impenetrable barrier. This 100-mile (160 km) long wrinkle in the Earth’s crust is called the Waterpocket Fold. Sometime between 50-70 million years ago,… Continue reading
-
Orchards, cliffs, and petroglyphs – Capitol Reef National Park, Utah (part I)
Capitol Reef National Park is the least visited and most underrated of Utah’s “mighty five.” And I sort of understand why. It’s not as archey as Arches or as canyoney as Canyonlands. It doesn’t have Bryce’s hoodoos or Zion’s Angel’s Landing. But you know what? Capitol Reef is a really cool place that is absolutely… Continue reading