For a transcription of these photographed journal pages, please scroll down! A fancier blog post with loads of pictures will hopefully get posted someday. Transcription of photographed journal pages: Tuesday, May 3, 2022GREAT BASIN NATIONAL PARK Who knew Nevada was so high?? In my defense, apparently I’ve spent my whole life under the impression that … More Laura’s Journal: Great Basin National Park
Transcription of images can be found at the bottom of the page. For a blog post based on these journal entries with a bit more thought put into phrasing and coherency, also lots of photos, please click here (er… don’t click there yet. There’s nothing to see there. I have good intentions, but I’m going … More Laura’s Journal: Dinosaur National Monument
Days on the road: 40 States properly visited: 7 (Nebraska, Wyoming, Idaho, California, Oregon, Washington, Montana) Miles driven: 5,997 National Parks visited: 8 (Grand Teton, Lassen, Redwood, Crater Lake, Olympic, Mount Rainier, North Cascades, Glacier) Other National Park sites visited: 7 (Agate Fossil Beds NM, Scott’s Bluff NM, Oregon Trail NHT, Fossil Buttes NM, Craters of the Moon NM, … More The Great Northwestern Road Trip: Stats
“If you don’t stop picking huckleberries, we’ll be late for dinner!”
“So we’ll have huckleberries for dinner!”
“You burned, like, 6,000 calories today. If you eat huckleberries for dinner tonight, I’m going to have to carry you down tomorrow, and I don’t want to.”
Before we talk about our epic hike to Sperry Glacier, can we talk about how we fueled it with a quart of huckleberry ice cream topped with fresh huckleberries we picked ourselves? ‘Cuz I really wanna talk about that. … More The Glacier Day Between
Grinnell Glacier is one of the most popular hikes in Glacier National Park, and it was so worth the trek. And not just because of the huckleberries. … More Hiking to Grinnell Glacier
Back in the car we ate sad peanut butter sandwiches and stared glumly at the list of hikes we wanted to do.
“It’s going to be tough to hike ten miles to Grinnell Glacier here, drive thirty miles, then do another three-mile hike to sleep,” I said, resenting the seven miles I’d already hiked today.
We considered other hikes nearer the campsite. We considered other campsites nearer the hike. No combination worked in a satisfying way.
“This is really stupid,” I concluded. “I want to go home.”
We sat in the car, staring at our tent in bemusement for a few silent moments.
“Huh,” one of us finally said.
Our tent sat in the middle of a perfect circle of standing water, as if it had decided to grow its own moat. It was perfectly centered. I judged the moat’s depth at about two inches.
… More North Cascades National Park, where contradictory things went awry
My efforts to plan a great four-day trip to Olympic National Park left a little to be desired. In hindsight, I totally give myself a pass because this park is complicated, and without ever having visited before, it’s hard not to be overwhelmed by the huge number of places to visit, trails to hike, and completely different experiences to try out. You can be in a rainforest one morning, on a glacier the next afternoon, and wading through tidepools the next day. Ridiculous! Awesome, but ridiculous. … More Olympic National Park: Camping on Third Beach
“I hear you have nice mountains out here. When’s the last time you saw them?” I asked. Yes, I’m that tourist. I’m sorry, I can’t help myself. I even know I’m not very funny, but I still always seem to think it’s a good idea at the time. … More Olympic National Park: Smoke Jokes & Banana Slugs
Thither & Yon 