Notes on trips to, or that include, one or more US National Parks.
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Death Valley has a reputation as the hottest place on Earth, which makes a January visit delightful. For those of us coming from the Pacific Northwest, it’s also a welcome excuse to chase some sun in the depths of winter. With mild temperatures, long golden hours, and a fraction of the spring crowds, a winter visit lets you actually hike the place. We easily filled three days from sunrise through sunset, with hikes and views.
The centerpiece of our summer 2021 Wyoming trip was five days backpacking the Teton Crest Trail. We started at Granite Canyon and camped at Marion Lake, Death Canyon Shelf, South Fork of Cascade Canyon, and Holly Lake.
As with many summer backpacking trips in the west, storms shaped our experience on the Teton Crest Trail. We were glad to be prepared and fortunate to mostly be in camp when they hit, but the weather also curtailed some of our explorations.
Kyle and I had each visited Yellowstone National Park on our own. I had spent about a week there when I was a kid and passed through several times on cross-country drives. Kyle had visited only briefly on his move to Seattle, and was unable to stray far from parking lots because he was traveling with a dog. We decided to take advantage of our summer 2021 Wyoming trip to spend a couple of days in Yellowstone together, before heading to the Tetons.
We backpacked the Teton Crest Trail in August 2021, adding on a stop in Yellowstone National Park before and backpacking in the Wind River Range after. Our two-week Wyoming trip included two days of walks and day hikes in Yellowstone, five days on the Teton Crest Trail, and four days in the Winds.
On our way home from backpacking Ediza and Thousand Island Lakes in the Ansel Adams Wilderness, we added a day for Lassen Volcanic National Park. Because of smoke from wildfires, we decided on a day of short walks and hikes combined with stops at various viewpoints, rather than climbing Lassen Peak.
For the first part of our July 2021 Cascades and Sierra Nevada road trip, we visited central Oregon, stopping in Bend, Newberry National Volcanic Monument, and Crater Lake National Park. Each of these destinations merited more time than we had, but we still enjoyed the three days we had to explore.
One summer at Cold River Camp, another guest presented on backpacking the Muir Trail and through the Ansel Adams Wilderness. This presentation inspired our summer 2016 backpacking trip from Tuolumne Meadows to Yosemite Valley. The image that most stayed in my mind, though, was a sunset photo at Thousand Island Lake.
Kyle & I finally visited in July 2021, stopping at Newberry National Volcanic Monument and Crater Lake National Park on the way there, and Lassen Volcanic National Park on the way back. This made for a one-week road trip with three days of backpacking in the middle.
Compared to the photo that inspired our trip, the sunset over Thousand Island Lake sunset was muted, but it was still excellent.
While a graduate student, I was fortunate to tack a couple of days in Yosemite National Park onto the end of a conference. That was enough time to hike up Half Dome (this was in the days before permits) and to explore Yosemite Valley. While stunning, I knew I had just scratched the surface of the Yosemite’s wonders.
I later saw a slide show of a hike along the John Muir Trail, which further motivated me to return. Kyle and I talked with friends–Joe and Jeremy–about a proposed trip. We decided to focus on the section from Tuolumne Meadows to Yosemite Valley. This would take us to Cathedral Lakes, Sunrise Lakes, Clouds Rest, and Half Dome.
We set about applying to permits by fax. On our third try, we secured permits for our desired route for 21-24 July 2016.
In January 2016, we again sought a long weekend’s respite from the gray and gloom of Seattle winter–this time on the Big Island of Hawaii. This was my second visit to Hawaii and I was excited to return after our delightful visit to Maui the previous March. We divided our time between the Kona, Volcano, and Pahoa areas. Activities included visits to a coffee plantation, several beaches and state parks, and hikes at the beautiful Hawai’i Volcanoes National Park.
Like our other Hawaii trips to Kauai and Maui, we packed a lot into our long weekend. For a more relaxed approach, check out our trip to Oahu.
After visiting Zion, Arches, and Canyonlands on previous long fall weekends, Bryce Canyon called to us as the next destination. I had fond memories of visiting Bryce as a child, and Kyle had never been. Despite both of us having colds, we enjoyed three days of hiking in Bryce and a stop at Cedar Breaks National Monument on the way back to the airport.