We were supposed to be taking it easy. After five days on horseback in the Teton Wilderness and hiking Darby Canyon Wind Cave the day before, our legs were ready for something a little less ambitious. We still wanted to explore the west side of the Tetons, though, and another hiker had recommended the trail…
We don’t normally hike the same trail twice. There are simply too many new places we want to explore. But Darby Canyon Wind Cave was different. We first hiked the trail in the spring of 2019. We made it all the way to Wind Cave, but the amount of water flowing from the cave made…
We started this hike with a mission. Somewhere in the mountains outside Dubois, Wyoming, were the remains of a World War II-era bomber, and we wanted to find them. The problem was, we really didn’t know where the wreckage was. Unlike most of our hikes, there wasn’t an AllTrails route for us to follow into…
When we started looking for hikes near Dubois, Wyoming, Lake Louise quickly caught our attention. At just under five miles round trip with about 1,000 feet of elevation gain, it looked like a good moderate hike and a perfect introduction to the mountains around Whiskey Basin. What we didn’t expect was how much variety could…
Protecting our RV’s electrical system wasn’t something I thought much about when we first started traveling. Like many RV owners, I simply plugged into the campground pedestal, turned on the power, and assumed everything was fine. Fortunately, we never had a problem. Over the years, though, I began hearing more stories about damaged air conditioners,…
We almost drove right past Newspaper Rock on our way to Canyonlands National Park. Fortunately, we stopped, and it turned out to be one of the easiest and most fascinating roadside attractions of the trip. While it won’t take long to explore, seeing thousands of years of human history carved into one rock face makes…
When we arrived at the Canyonlands National Park Visitor Center that November morning, we weren’t sure which hike we’d tackle. Rather than relying solely on guidebooks or AllTrails, we asked one of the park rangers for his recommendation. Without hesitation, he suggested the Syncline Loop Trail. He described it as one of the best hikes…
After leaving Flaming Gorge, we weren’t quite ready to point Alice toward home. Since Dinosaur National Monument was along our route, we decided to make one last stop before ending our northern Utah road trip. Unlike some of our destinations where we spend several days hiking and exploring, this visit was much shorter. We rode…
Flaming Gorge wasn’t part of our original travel plans. Then again, by this point in our trip, very little was. After abandoning our three-week Idaho road trip because of snow and cold weather, Gail and I had adopted a new travel strategy: go wherever the snow isn’t. That strategy had already taken us through Wyoming…
When we pulled into the Kyhv Peak Trailhead just before 8:00 on a cool May morning, we weren’t sure what kind of day we were going to get. The temperature hovered in the low 40s, and a blanket of gray clouds covered the sky. Looking up toward the summit, I wondered if we’d spend the…
We don’t normally begin a hike at four o’clock in the afternoon. But this wasn’t a normal day. Just twelve hours earlier, we had pulled into Big Cottonwood Canyon around 3:00 a.m. and waited for Spruces Campground to open. By seven o’clock, we were choosing a campsite, setting up Alice, and settling into what would…
Quick Answer Desolation Lake is an 8.3-mile round-trip hike in Big Cottonwood Canyon that climbs nearly 2,000 feet to a scenic alpine lake sitting just below 9,500 feet. The trail is mostly forested with occasional mountain views along the way. In late spring, hikers may still find snow around the shoreline. Although the hike is…
Our 3 A.M. Freeze Scare at Spruces Campground The question came up for us at 3:00 a.m. We had driven through temperatures in the low 50s earlier that afternoon, but as we climbed Big Cottonwood Canyon toward Spruces Campground, the outside temperature began to fall quickly. By the time we reached the campground entrance, the…
