a former gymnast with a neverending case of wanderlust
My explorations in all the national parks, monuments, rec areas, historic sites, etc. across the US.
Pat and I haven’t had a lot of luck with this hike. The first time, in August 2018, we began our hike under blue skies, but as soon as we sat down at Lake Helene to eat a snack it began to rain. Between the precipitation and the low-hanging clouds obscuring the mountains, it wasn’t… Continue reading Rocky Mountain National Park Hikes: Two Rivers Lake & Lake Helene
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 Nuclear science & history at Manhattan Project National Historical Park – Los Alamos, 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 Life inside a volcano – Valles Caldera National Preserve, 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 Pueblos and petroglyphs – Bandelier 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 Indigenous inscriptions – Petroglyph 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 break, we might have pulled it off. But… Continue reading Bad country – El Malpais National Monument, New Mexico
Thanksgiving road trip has become a tradition for us. I always have the entire week off from work (well, sort of… I have the week off from classes but not from grading, so my work laptop definitely came with us), and it turns out that November is a pretty good time of year to travel… Continue reading A smattering of New Mexico history
Up until June 2022, Lake Haiyaha looked like this. Image source On June 28, 2022, there was a rockslide on the mountainside above Lake Haiyaha. On this peaceful, sunny morning, a large section of the landscape broke free and began to tumble down Chaos Canyon. Rocks ranging in size from small pebbles to apartment-sized boulders… Continue reading Rocky Mountain National Park Hikes: Lake Haiyaha
You know how sometimes you’ve been wanting to do something for so long and you’ve built it up in your head, and then you finally get to do it and it’s not as amazing as you were hoping, and you end up being really disappointed? This was not that. It was, however, something I’d been… Continue reading Rocky Mountain National Park Hikes: Upper Glacier Gorge Lakes
The CCY Route – named for the three sequential summits of Mount Chapin, Mount Chiquita, and Ypsilon Mountain – is a pretty but challenging hike in the lesser-traveled Mummy Range of Rocky. Completing this hike means that you’ll bag three summits in one day. However, to do so you have to climb up and over… Continue reading Rocky Mountain National Park Hikes: CCY Route
Handstands Around the World 