Choice is a good thing. But with so many trails to choose from, researching ahead of time doesn’t always paint a clear picture of which trails are worth our time. On our last day in the Tucson Mountain (west) district, we only had a half-day, since we planned to drive to Benson, AZ to begin a backpacking trip the following day. With a limited amount of time, and only an inkling of which trail we wanted to do, we went…
On our first full day in the Tuscon Mountain (west) District of Saguaro National Park, we decided to do a day hike to Wasson Peak, the highest point in that district, at 4,687 feet. When we left for the hike at 8:30 a.m., it was already HOT. We wished we had left earlier. But there was no turning back, since we were only there for a week. Multiple trails go to Wasson Peak, but we chose to go via King Canyon…
There are no car campgrounds in Saguaro National Park. It’s unfortunate, but thankfully there is one close by. Gilbert Ray Campground is inside Tucson Mountain Park, which is run by Pima County. It’s adjacent to the southern border of the similarly named Tucson Mountain District (that’s the west district) of Saguaro National Park. The campground is only 3 miles away from Saguaro NP, so it’s practically part of the park. We used it as our basecamp for the time we…
As a teacher, I’m always ready for a vacation by the time spring break rolls around. Since it’s only a week, we usually plan on a park that we can really explore in that time frame. In 2017, we ditched a chilly, windy April in DC for a week in Tucson. It felt pretty good as we left the airport and felt the arid climate for the first time. We headed to Gilbert Ray Campground to check in for our…
When you think about our national parks, Saguaro probably isn’t the first thing that comes to mind. Unless you live in Tucson, Arizona, since the park straddles the city. Established in 1933 as a National Monument, and upgraded in 1994 to a National Park, Saguaro was formed to protect its namesake – the Saguaro Cactus (Carnegiea gigantea). Pronounced Sa-WAH-ro, the cacti grow very slowly, but can get as tall as 40 feet and live for more than 150 years…
We’ve explored Shenandoah quite a bit, but there are many hikes we haven’t made it to. The southern district springs to mind, as we usually frequent the closer north and central districts. There are hikes that we haven’t done that are (according to popular opinion) some of the best the park has to offer. If you search for best hikes in Shenandoah, Hawksbill is usually on the list. So, we traded in a humid summer day in DC for cooler…
Our trip to Acadia was wonderful, and we wished we had more time there. This post serves as our reflections looking back on Acadia – our favorite spots, things that we wished we did, tips for traveling to the park, or things we didn’t like. It can also be used as a guide to the park, with links to more detailed posts if you want to dive in. We’ll definitely revisit Acadia someday. But there are a lot of other…
It was our last day in Maine, and we had gone to Schoodic Peninsula to check out the newest addition to Acadia NP. We had already explored the Schoodic Institute and Sundew Trail. Before our trip, we had seen photos of waves crashing onto rocks at Schoodic Point. And a ranger at Schoodic Information Center had recommended hiking up to Schoodic Head, which would be the last hike of our trip. Schoodic Point The drive to Schoodic Point from the…
Sadly, our time on Mt. Desert Island had come to an end. We’d explored, hiked, eaten, and enjoyed ourselves immensely on the island. But we weren’t finished with Acadia yet. There are three districts in the park, and we had visited two of them. The last one, Schoodic Peninsula, awaited us. Schoodic is the only part of Acadia located on the US mainland. From the eastern coast of Mt. Desert Island, you can actually see Schoodic. One way to get…
Southwest Harbor is small town on the southern end of MDI’s west side. Our first taste of it was seeing the harbor itself on the drive in. There are several piers, and one had a small pulloff. It looked so picturesque with boats scattered around, and we just had to stop and take some photos. The harbor is small, so we definitely recommend stopping to take in the views. To us, this was quintessential Maine. Southwest Harbor is also the…