We spent Labor Day weekend driving from Fairbanks to Denali National Park and then onto Anchorage before flying back to Seattle. Although this added some expense - one-way rental cars are not cheap! - I'm glad we did it this way so we had the opportunity to experience both cities and the very different experiences …
Continue reading Things to Do In and Around Denali National Park
Our final morning in Denali National Park we decided to hike the Mt. Healy Overlook trail, a 5-mile, 1,700 feet of gain hike to a viewpoint at 3,500 feet. We added some mileage to our hike by starting the the Denali Visitor Center campus parking area and catching the Taiga Trail over to the Mt. …
Continue reading Hiking the Mt. Healy Overlook Trail in Denali National Park
When we booked our trip to Alaska to explore Denali National Park, we really wanted to go as far into the park as we could. We were visiting too early in September for the road lottery, where you can try to get permission to drive your personal vehicle beyond Savage River, so our only option …
After we spent the morning exploring Fairbanks, we headed south for Denali National Park. By late afternoon, we were checking into the Denali Park Hotel, which is about 15 minutes north of the park entrance, just as a thundercrack split the sky. Storm clouds were gathering in the east but to the west, the sky …
Continue reading Hiking the Savage River Trail in Denali National Park
We ended the month of July by completing our first (and likely last) summer season hike at Paradise in Mt. Rainier National Park. I've been so spoiled with the less traversed trails we've been tackling and forgot how distressing it is hiking around people who pay no attention to what they are doing, where they …
A couple weekend's ago, Brian found us another amazing Mt. Rainier National Park hike - Eagle Peak Saddle. We arrived at Longmire around 8 a.m. to find the parking lot already quite full. The WTA instructions for this hike recommended parking near the lodge, walking through the employee cabin area, and crossing the bridge to …
I was thrilled the weather cooperated for our day re-discovering Redwood National and State Parks during my birthday motorcycle trip through Oregon and California. While we had driven through the park about 10 years ago on our road trip from San Francisco to Seattle, it was a completely new experience being on the motorcycles and …
Finding direction and purpose on the road, in the outdoors, and on the page
Finding direction and purpose on the road, in the outdoors, and on the page
Finding direction and purpose on the road, in the outdoors, and on the page
Heather's Compass 