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"A growing warmth suffused the horizon, and soon the sun emerged and looked out over the cloud-waste, flinging bars of ruddy light across it, staining its folds and billow-caps with blushes, purpling the shaded troughs between, and glorifying the massy vapor- palaces and cathedrals with a wasteful splendor of all blendings and combinations of rich coloring. It was the sublimest spectacle I ever witnessed, and I think the memory of it will remain with me always.” - Mark Twain

Zion National Park We’re back! After an extended period without a backpacking trip (work, wedding), we finally made it out to the trail. And our 5-day, 50-mile trek through Zion NP in southwestern Utah is sure to be one of our favorite backpacking trips of all time. This park is exceptional in so many ways. The vast wilderness areas and towering rock formations radiate a powerful energy that leaves you feeling both infinitesimally small and incredibly honored at the same time

About Shenandoah Shenandoah National Park is located just a short drive west from Washington, DC, making it a popular destination for people living near our nation’s capital. The park includes 200,000 acres of protected hills, hollows, woods, and waters in the Blue Ridge Mountains (the same mountain range as the Smoky Mountains). Shenandoah was established as a National Park in 1935 but the creation of the natural features of this area began long before that. The massive rock

We just couldn’t stay away from the Smokies for long. As we were planning a trip with two of our good friends, Jenny and Jake for October 2015, we decided to return to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. After our amazing trip last year from Alum Cave to Greenbrier Cove (check out the Trip Recap here) by way of the famous Appalachian Trail (or AT as it’s called up there), we knew it would be a great experience, and it was. One of the best parts of this trip was the fact

Isle Royale National Park is located in northwest Lake Superior. It is a remote island, which preserves over 132,000 acres of land. The park itself is made up of one large central island surrounded by over 450 smaller islands. Isle Royale is so unique that is has been designated an International Biosphere Reserve. One of the most unique qualities of Isle Royale is its biodiversity; there are only 19 mammal species on the island. Gulls, ravens, and an occasional eagle or ospre

“To the outer ear these trees are now silent, their songs never cease. Every hidden cell is throbbing with music and life, every fiber thrilling like harp strings, while incense is ever flowing from balsam bells and leaves. No wonder the hills and groves were God’s first temples, and the more they are cut down and hewn into cathedrals and churches, the farther off and dimmer seems the Lord himself.” –John Muir About the Great Smoky Mountains National Park This is the most vis

Wind Cave National Park is one of the most underrated parks in the US. The opportunity to see wildlife here, even from the comfort (and safety) of your vehicle, is virtually unparalleled. We enjoyed a cave tour and did a short 2-day trek through the northwest area of this park. About Wind Cave National Park The best-known feature of Wind Cave National Park is, well, Wind Cave. It is one of the world’s largest and most complex cave systems. The great things about this park are

Few places seem as desolate and bare, but are actually full of life, as the Badlands of South Dakota. Katie and I did a 25-mile trek through Badlands National Park in March of 2015, and it quickly became one of our favorite trips. About the Badlands The Badlands Wilderness Area is actually the largest prairie wilderness in the United States. There are no established trails here, except those made by Bison. The Badlands are known worldwide for the distinct wind-eroded rock for

"One learns that the world, though made, is yet being made, that this is still the morning of creation, that mountains long conceived are now being born, brought to light by the glaciers, channels traced for rivers, basins hollowed for lakes. When we try to pick out anything by itself, we find it hitched to everything else in the Universe. The whole wilderness, in unity and interrelation, is alive and familiar. The very stones seem talkative, sympathetic, brotherly. Everybody