Joshua Tree National Park: Hidden Valley Hikes

After spending our initial day in Joshua Tree National Park exploring the easternmost side of the park -- primarily by car -- we were ready to enjoy the sunshine and stretch our legs on a series of hikes throughout the central areas of the park on our second day. Day 2 Itinerary: Ryan and Hidden …

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Joshin’ Around in Joshua Tree

While we continue to mask, socially distance from others, wash our hands, work from home, and go months on end without gathering with friends or family, I cannot entirely live in a sterile hole. Working for a health care organization and helping to communicate all things COVID-19 to our doctors, nursing staff, pharmacists, admin teams, …

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Doin’ Some Shoein’: Comet Falls

We started 2020 snowshoeing outside Vancouver, B.C., and are bringing it to a close with snowshoeing in Mt. Rainier National Park! We arrived at Longmire around 10 a.m. to snow, clouds, and relatively few people. We tend to start our hikes much earlier in the morning, but we were at the mercy of the Longmire …

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Washington Hikes: Mildred Point

Last weekend we decided to check out a longer hike in Mt. Rainier National Park. Now that we live in the South Sound, the west entrance is less than an hour from our house so we're looking forward to spending more time in the park. We arrived around 7 a.m., breezed through the gate thanks …

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Rocky Mountain National Park: Summiting Deer Mountain

Our final morning in Rocky Mountain National Park we got an early start for the trailhead to Deer Mountain - the most accessible summit in the park. While the park is known for all of its 14ers, Deer Mountain's summit is at an easy, breezy 10,040 feet. To cut to the chase, our hike was …

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Rocky Mountain National Park: Trail Ridge Road

These crazy times of COVID-19 have inspired us (and many other people) to prioritize visiting the National Parks and enjoying the great outdoors. One of my favorite Christmas gifts - my annual America the Beautiful National Parks Pass - has come in especially useful this year. As planned, we kicked off the year visiting new …

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Exploring Craters of the Moon National Monument

When we planned our road trip to Yellowstone National Park and Grand Teton National Park, I spent time looking up other places to hike and explore the outdoors along the way. I was surprised to find a national monument in southern Idaho that had never crossed my researching radar before - Craters of the Moon. …

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