Wednesday afternoon, I decided to try out taking a hike down Willow Springs Road, into Arches National Park. I ended up hiking a total of 14 miles, making it to the Balanced Rock Viewpoint. I saw a few arches from a distance while I was out as well, and generally enjoyed the scenic hike. Continue on for the pictures I snapped.
Category: Nomad Traveling
Unplanned Beauty and Return to the Beast
As my allowed time at Rocky Lake came to an end uneventfully, I set off with plans to make it into Idaho for the next week. As the weekend unfolded, plans got changed quite drastically, and I found myself returning to Willow Springs, where I had quite the adventure back in June. However, it would take me getting through some of the most beautiful scenery I have seen to date before arriving at that final destination!
Ending a Chapter and a Terrifying Start to a New Chapter
The time finally came to finish with the Cascades, and I planned a nice finish. I visited Mt Baker and then headed through North Cascades on my way east, out of the Cascades. A couple of last nights with those wonderful mountains, and I was off to new adventures. And sure enough, adventure would certainly be one way to describe how I kicked off these new adventures!
Surprise from Olympic Peninsula
Yesterday, I took the day to travel through the Olympic Peninsula. It was a long drive, but I really fell in love when I got to Hurricane Ridge in Olympic National Park. I actually did a big loop, starting on the East side and driving all the way to the West side of the peninsula, even making a stop to look at the Pacific Ocean in one segment of the park. It was a long but wonderful day, with a great deal of beauty all over the peninsula. I was really surprised by all of the beauty that I saw, as I hadn’t really heard quite what was actually around the peninsula, but it was truly wonderful.
A Shy New Friend Found: Mt Rainier
Today, I headed out to visit Mt Rainier National Park. I didn’t really know what to expect, but the park definitely exceeded any concepts of an expectation I had. I arrived initially at the Southwest side of the park, driving across the Southern side. Mt Rainier itself was hiding in the clouds throughout that drive, only teasing a few glances on occasion. However, I enjoyed the scenery that was around, and found myself really loving the park. As I made my way to the Eastern side, to the Sunrise Visitor Center, I entered the snow upon the ground at the higher elevation, and Mt Rainier decided to come out. It was a wonderful day. I will let the pictures speak for themselves!
A Magical Day at Mt St Helens
After some debating with myself yesterday morning, I decided to spend my day at Mt St Helens National Volcanic Monument. Had I known that I would fall so in love with the place, I would have planned multiple days, but instead, I spent more time in a single day than I have anywhere since starting this living out of my car thing.
To Washington! Mima Falls
I had enough of Oregon’s antics! Maybe I’ve only seen Oregon’s bad side or something, but it did not win me over. Newberry National Volcanic Monument was great, but didn’t really offset everything that I grew to dislike about Oregon. Maybe at some later date, I’ll give it another chance to win me over, but for now, I scoped out a wonderful spot in Washington’s Capital State Forest.
The Lava’s Ass
I have this terrible thing where I play with words, and the word “Butte” is one of the most fun–I love saying “Butt” instead! Thus, I visited Lava Ass today! In seriousness, I went to the Lava Land and Lava Butte area of Newberry National Volcanic Monument this afternoon. I went for a short walk around the lava flow in the area, and took the shuttle to the top of Lava Butte, where I took a short hike around the crater. It is wonderful, and my joking does not do it justice. Check the pictures!
And the Lava Flows
After my small adventure at Newberry National Volcanic Monument yesterday, I was ready for more in the beautiful area. This time, I went over to the Lava Cast Forest area of the monument.
Seas of Glass and A Large Caldera
I can’t always wait for the weekends to go visit places that look amazing. Sometimes, the anticipation just gets to me. Coupled with the fact that I have been kind of underwhelmed and bored by Oregon so far, honestly, I decided to go ahead and treat myself to Newberry National Volcanic Monument a bit earlier than I usually treat myself to such things. Once I was finished with work today, I headed off to visit the Newberry Caldera area of the monument.