american west, california, Camping, Deserts, national parks, outdoors, Style, Travel, Uncategorized, Vacation, writing

Death Valley: Hitting New Lows

As mentioned in the Death Valley introductory post, Death Valley is a land of superlatives. The temperatures can be extreme, the dryness is extreme, and the difference between the highest point in the park and the lowest point is over 11300 feet. Badwater Basin, at 282 feet below sea level, is the lowest point in… Continue reading Death Valley: Hitting New Lows

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Stanislaus National Forest

The tall trees in the Stanislaus National Forest After three restful days at Angels Camp, our adventure continued into the Stanislaus National Forest. We had driven through the eastern portion of the national forest on the Sunday prior on our drive from Bridgeport to Sonora, passing through the Summit and MiWok Ranger districts along the… Continue reading Stanislaus National Forest

american west, Camping, Family, Hiking, national parks, outdoors, Style, Travel, Uncategorized, Vacation, writing

Arches National Park

The Windows Arches National Park is an Utah icon, to the point where the Delicate Arch situated within the park is the inspiration for the artwork on the over 2 million license plates issued in the state. While Arches is the third most visited park among southern Utah's big five and ranks 17th in annual… Continue reading Arches National Park

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Canyonlands National Park

Canyonlands, as its name suggests, is a literal land of canyons- carved out of sandstone and other rocks formed from eons of sedimentary deposition and geologic uplift that happened millions of years ago. The Colorado and Green Rivers meet here in a confluence on the Colorado Plateau, and those rivers have, over time created the… Continue reading Canyonlands National Park

american west, california, Camping, Hiking, national parks, outdoors, Travel, Uncategorized, Vacation, writing

Pinnacles National Park

Sami enjoys the views from the Bear Gulch Trail. California once was- and still is in some parts- a hotbed of volcanic activity. Combine that with faulting and years of weathering and erosion, and you get the amazing Pinnacles National Park. Pinnacles is relatively new to the national park family. It was designated America's 59th… Continue reading Pinnacles National Park