I feel incredibly lucky to live an hour from Badlands National Park, which gives us the opportunity to quickly take advantage of breaks in the weather to explore this beautiful area. Such was the case last week when our January temperatures rose into the upper 50 F / 10 C for a few days. Although …
Continue reading South Dakota Hikes: Badlands Saddle Pass Loop
Our 2025 was filled with new adventures and lots of travel to spend time with loved ones, both domestic and abroad. We started the year with road trips around the Mountain West to visit friends and family in Colorado and Utah and hike in new-to-us national parks in Utah and Nevada, including Capitol Reef, Bryce …
Despite a late start on what ended up being a rainy morning, we managed to get out of the house and over to the Black Hills to check out a hiking area we've been eyeing since we moved to the area called Buzzard's Roost. The multiple trails in this area can be connected into various …
The temperature finally dipped below 85 degrees for a day so we headed for the (Black) hills to do some hiking on the Silver Creek Trail and part of the Flume Trail. It was an interesting stretch of relatively flat trail with some creek crossings and lovely wildflowers in bloom. There were lots of people …
Continue reading South Dakota Hikes: Silver Creek-Flume Loop
We decided to take a short road trip to southern Manitoba - our first time in this Canadian province! - for my birthday this year. While our move to South Dakota a couple weeks prior didn't leave me with tons of planning time, I did map out a four-day itinerary that included spending a couple …
On our way from Baker to Elko, Nevada, we planned to take the scenic route around the Ruby Mountains and check out the Lamoille Canyon drive. Mother nature had other plans, and the low visibility due to the ongoing snow storm sent us directly to Elko, saving Lamoille Canyon for a day with better weather. Elko, …
Continue reading Road Trip Wrap-up: Nevada to Utah on Route 80
We concluded the national park portion of our recent road trip through Utah and Nevada by visiting Great Basin National Park. I wasn't familiar with Nevada's Great Basin, which is an area that stretches from California's Sierra Nevada to Utah's Wasatch Mountains. This expansive landscape has very few trees or rivers, lots of wide open …
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 