Between September 8 and September 17, I set out on a road trip from Las Vegas to Kentucky for my sister’s wedding. This report is really about the travels and thoughts and experiences I had along the way. It was a beautiful trip that had me reflecting on the history of the US in some particular ways. I look forward to doing more of such trips in the future again.
4,365 words, 23 minute read time.
Category: Stays
Visiting Ward Mountain Recreation Area and Lunar Crater
After spending Memorial Day around the North Rim of the Grand Canyon, I made my way further northward in Nevada, to Ward Mountain Recreation Area, just outside of Ely. After a few nights there, I continued on to San Diego for some maintenance concerns, passing through Southern Nevada’s amazing lava fields. I stopped at the Lunar Crater that was quite interesting along the way.
That first half of 2018
I obviously haven’t been keeping my blog up to date since some time in early February. Those who follow me on Facebook and Instagram are aware that this lack of blogging hasn’t been for lack of travels. Over the course of these last few months, I visited a few new sights in California and have made my way up to Oregon! Time to catch up!
Cactus to Clouds Hike (Attempt)
This last weekend, I headed down to Palm Springs and made an attempt at hiking the Cactus to Clouds route. Starting in Palm Springs and climbing all of the way to the summit of San Jacinto peak, it is often cited as one of the most difficult day hikes in the country. It made for a blast of a day!
Ancient Bristlecone Pine Forest and Hot Creek
This weekend, I decided to play it somewhat easy and head up into the White Mountains to visit the Ancient Bristlecone Pine Forest. I ended up doing about 5 and a half miles of hiking, checking out these amazing trees, some over 4000 years old, along with a good amount of fun driving. The following day, I decided to also go and visit Hot Creek up in the Long Valley Caldera.
Yosemite NP : Vogelsang Pass
On Friday evening, I packed up and headed down to Mono Lake. Saturday morning, I woke up early and drove into Yosemite National Park, where I ended up hiking up to Vogelsang Pass and back in a day. It was a wonderful although difficult hike to cap off the summer.
Lassen Volcanic NP : Lassen Peak, Cinder Cone
With several weeks of hiking and backpacking over, I headed into Bend, OR to rest for a couple of weeks. But I couldn’t stay resting for too long, so I headed down to Northern California, and ended up at Lassen Volcanic National Park this weekend. I ended up hiking up Lassen Peak on Saturday and Cinder Cone on Sunday before finding camp nearby for the week.
Hells Canyon : Backpacking The Seven Devils Loop
For Labor Day Weekend, I decided to head over to Hells Canyon National Recreation Area. Since visiting the area last year, doing a large hike has been on my list of things I’ve been wanting to do. With some research, I decided to do the Seven Devils Loop, looping around the Seven Devils Mountains on the Idaho side of the canyon. Along with taking several side trips along the way, I had a difficult but amazing weekend of backpacking.
Sawtooth Wilderness : Eclipse Backpacking Sawtooth Lake, Baron Lakes, Cramer Lakes
For “Eclipse Weekend”, I decided to spend 3 nights and 4 days out backpacking in the Sawtooth Wilderness. I planned out a large loop route that would give me a wonderful view of several sites throughout the wilderness, including a great view for the eclipse itself.
Hyndman Saddle Hike
On Saturday, I woke up early and headed to the trailhead, intending to hike up to Hyndman Peak, the high point of Central Idaho’s Pioneer Mountains. The overall hike ended up being a difficult one, with more constant beauty than I had expected. It has easily become one of my favorite hikes of the year so far!