Mt. Rainier National Park and Seattle

Mt. Rainier National Park

For my birthday (in the fall), I wanted to visit a national park. I figured one of the ones near Seattle (Mt. Rainier, Cascades, or Olympic) would be good for a weekend due to the ease of direct flights to and from Seattle. Originally, I was leaning toward Cascades National Park, but then realized that Cascades National Park is gigantic and would require a long weekend to see in its entirety. Thus, we landed on Mt. Rainier National Park, an easy hour and 45 minute drive from Seattle.

We landed in Seattle late Friday night and checked into the Hotel Monaco, one of my fave hotels (and not only because it's dog friendly).

The gold fish in our room at Hotel Monaco

Saturday morning (my birthday) began with us renting a car and driving to Cascades National Park. We started off at the Longmire Visitor's Center where we did two short hikes - Trail of the Shadows and Twin Firs Loop Trail. (Neither were "must sees.") We did not anticipate how much colder and foggier the park would be than Seattle so we ended up having to buy sweatshirts at the visitor's center - dress in layers if you go to the park!



After lunch at the Paradise visitor's center. (Tourist tip - the food at the visitor's center was not very good; we should have eaten outside of the park.) We spent the afternoon hiking the Nisqually Vista Trail and Morraine Trail to see the glacier. Although we only spent the afternoon in the park, we felt as though we got to see what we wanted in the park and did not feel rushed.

We returned to Seattle that evening, enjoyed dinner, and spent the next day exploring Pike's Place market, the glass blowing museum, the first Starbucks, and the city in general. (Note - one of the best tourist sites in Seattle is the underground tour, something I did on a prior trip. Another good thing to do is the gold rush national park site.)

Space Needle Reflecting In A Glass Museum Sculpture 

Glass Museum

Glass Museum

Glass Museum

Glass Museum

Deja at the first Starbucks

All in all a great trip - easy to do on a weekend. Perhaps I'll spend my birthday this year at Cascades or Olympic national parks.

Utah: Capitol Reef National Park

I spent Memorial Day 2016 in Capitol Reef National Park, in Torrey, Utah (listed by The Weather Channel as Utah's best kept secret). The best way to get there is to fly to Salt Lake City and then drive the approximate three hours south to Capitol Reef National Park. (Check out my prior post for touring ideas in Salt Lake City, but with two added recommendations - Mexican food dinner at Red Iguana and staying at Little America or Grand America - don't get a garden room at Little America though - be sure to get a tower room.)

We grabbed lunch on the way to Capitol Reef National Park (note that after you hit the Flying J rest stop, there aren't many dining options) and checked into our hotel, the Capitol Reef Resort, upon arrival. The hotel doesn't look like much from the outside, but it was a great place to stay. It's the closest hotel to the park (well, tied with the hotel across the street from it), with nicely appointed rooms with wonderful views, a pool, a hot tub - and fun teepees and covered wagons in which you can stay if you don't like the regular room option. The hotel also has fire pits and horseback riding on premises. The only thing that wasn't great about the hotel was the restaurant (mediocre at best).

Horseback Riding at Capitol Reef Resort

Covered Wagons at Capitol Reef Resort

Following our arrival, we headed to the ranger station to get a recommendation as to what to do. We settled on hiking the Chimney Rock Trail after checking out Petroglyphs Point (not to be missed). It was a gorgeous hike - it took about two hours and was moderately strenuous. Be sure to bring plenty of water. We followed that hike with three short hikes - Panorama Point, the Sunset Point Trail, and Goosenecks Overlook. Goosenecks Overlook is well worth the hike. Following our afternoon of hiking, we enjoyed dinner at The Broken Spur. (One of my travel companions is trying to taste wine in all 50 states - she enjoyed a made in Utah wine at the restaurant. Surprisingly, there are a number of made in Utah wine options.)

Capitol Reef National Park

Petroglyphys at Petroglyphs Point

Capitol Reef National Park

Utah wine tasting

Our second day started out with a four hour horseback ride with Outlaw Trails Guide. The trail ride was gorgeous - and the guides were amazing. This is a "must do" in Capitol Reef National Park. After enjoying some delicious Bison Burgers at Red Cliffs Restaurant (recommended by one of our trail guides), we headed back into the park to hike the Golden Throne trail. This hike takes about three hours and is strenuous - but well worth it for the gorgeous views (including the views on the scenic drive on the way to the hike).

Horseback Riding in Utah

Great trail ride with Outlaws

Following our wonderful trip, we headed back to Salt Lake City for the night, stopping at Country Cafe in Loa, Utah for dinner. (The food at Country Cafe was great, and the owner was really friendly; well worth the stop.)

Our trip could not have been better except that it was too short. If I were doing it again, I'd plan to stay an extra day and do some fly fishing. (Also, if I had a week, I'd plan to do all the Utah Parks in one trip - Capitol Reef, Bryce, Zion, Arches, and Canyonlands.)

Virgin Islands National Park

VIRGIN ISLANDS NATIONAL PARK

Unlike my other national park trips, a trip to the Virgin Islands National Park doesn't require a detailed itinerary. It basically just requires a bathing suit and some flip flops - maybe some sneakers and shorts if you want to do a hike. Virgin Islands National Park is located on St. John in the U.S. Virgin Islands. To get there, fly to St. Thomas International Airport and then take a boat to St. John - most of the hotels on St. John have their own boat, and there are public ferries you can take, as well as water taxis. To get to one of the public ferries, you have to take a taxi from the airport. Be sure to take a shared taxi if you don't want to spend $90 getting to the ferry.

I've been to St. John and Virgin Islands National Park twice. Both times I stayed at the Westin, which is wonderful. Caneel Bay Resort is another lodging option. It looks amazing, and it is located within the national park. (I highly recommend getting dinner at Zozo's at the Sugar Mill at Caneel Bay Resort; be sure to make a reservation well in advance.) There are only two other resorts on St. John - Gallow's Point Resort and Concordia Eco-Resort. I'm not familiar with them so I cannot recommend (or not recommend) them. There are a number of bed and breakfasts, house rentals, and campgrounds as well. One of the campgrounds - Cinnamon Bay Campground - is located within the national park. The island of St. John is small - roughly the size of Manhattan - so if you do not stay within the park, you won't be far from it.

The best way to explore the park is to spend a different day at each beach. The various beaches all have gorgeous views. Some have snorkeling - and Trunk Bay even has an underwater snorkeling trail. (You can rent snorkel gear at the beach itself.) Cinnamon Bay has good snorkeling as well. Other beaches, like in Haulover Bay, require you to hike to them for access. The National Park Service is now offering yoga on Saloman Beach (which requires a hike to get to). I missed out on that this year, but hope to do it next year. 

If hiking is more your thing, be sure to check out the Reef Bay Trail. I have hiked it on my own, but hope to do the ranger-led hike next year. I also hope to enjoy kayaking and horseback riding on St. John. I hope to check out the British Virgin Islands next year as well - and possibly even do a long weekend in Puerto Rico on my way home. (El Yunque National Forest looks amazing!)

If you want a relaxing national park trip, Virgin Islands National Park is the right choice for you. 

Trunk Bay

Trunk Bay

Swimming at Haulover Bay

Hiking

National Park Ranger

Donkeys all over the island

Wildlife

The Westin St. John

The Westin St. John

The Westin St. John

Ready for the national park tour

Cinnamon Bay

Hawk's Nest Bay

The beach at the Westin

Pinnacles National Park and Big Sur, California

Breakfast in Hollister

Hollister Hog Rally

During the fourth of July of 2014, I flew from JFK to San Francisco International Airport direct via Jet Blue to spend the weekend in Pinnacles National Park and Big Sur. I arrived in San Francisco late Friday night and spent the night at my friend's apartment in the Dogpatch neighborhood in the city. On Saturday morning, we woke up early and drove approximately two hours to Pinnacles National Park, currently our nation's newest national parks. The drive to Pinnacles is nothing special. The most exciting part was stoping at a diner in Hollister for lunch. Interestingly there are two Hollisters in California, and the one we stopped at is not the one known for surfing. It is known, however, for a Fourth of July hog rally (which we did not participate in). 

Heat warning in Pinnacles

After stopping for lunch, we arrived in Pinnacles and were greeted by a number of signs warning us of the dangers of heat stroke. Undeterred, we asked the ranger for a hiking recommendation and hiked to Balconies Cave. Pinnacles is known for its rock spires and caves, though its caves are not as impressive as the caves I visited in Mammoth Cave National Park or Carlsbad Caverns National Park. Despite the heat, the hike was a pleasant way to spend the day (and it was quite cool in the caves; bring flashlights). After hiking all day, we drove about an hour and 45 minutes to the Big Sur Lodge in Pfeiffer State Park, stopping at a biker bar for dinner along the way.

In the cave at Pinnacles National Park

Big Sur Lodge was great - our cabin was a two bedroom cabin that comfortably slept four and could have slept even more. (It had a king size bed, a queen bed, and two single beds.) The cabin overlooked the pool and had a nice deck. The restaurant at the lodge was wonderful - for both breakfast and dinner. 

Enjoying our cabin at Big Sur Lodge

Our cabin at Big Sur Lodge

We spent our second day exploring Big Sur. We spent the day hiking near the hotel via the trail to Pfeiffer Falls. After this hike, we had lunch at Nepenthe Restaurant, where the views were amazing. After lunch, we enjoyed tanning and relaxing at Pfeiffer Beach. When we had enough of the beach, we traded the beach for the river, where we had some delicious Northern California wine while sitting in lawn chairs in the river at Big Sur River Inn. We enjoyed dinner at our hotel - and some late night swimming before retiring for the night.

Enjoying the river

Hiking to Pfeiffer Falls

Enjoying dinner at the Big Sur Lodge

We spent the last day of the holiday weekend in Santa Cruz trying out stand-up paddle boarding. The paddle boarding was a great way to explore the water. We saw a lot of seals while paddle boarding. The stand up paddle boarding was a lot harder than I thought it would be though. After paddle boarding, we drove back to the city (after stopping at Dairy Queen), where I took a red-eye back to New York. (I need to make it back to Santa Cruz to explore the boardwalk, beaches and UC Santa Cruz.)

All in all, a great trip, though Big Sur eclipsed Pinnacles National Park in terms of impressiveness. Big Sur should be on everyone's must-do travel list!

Pfeiffer Beach

More Adventures In Utah: Zion National Park

ZION NATIONAL PARK: PLANNED ITINERARY

DAY ONE

  

Fly to Las Vegas and then drive to Springdale, Utah (approximately three hours). Spend the afternoon hiking in Zion National Park.  (Fun fact - Utah has five national parks, but Zion was its first.) Spend the night at the La Quinta Inn in Springdale.

DAY TWO

Drive two hours to Bryce Canyon National Park. Do a half day horseback riding tour of Bryce Canyon. Have dinner at the Bryce Canyon National Park Lodge.

DAY THREE

Go on an ATV tour near Zion National Park.

ZION NATIONAL PARK: ACTUAL ITINERARY

 DAY ONE

Fly to Las Vegas and drive to Springdale, Utah. Arrive in the late afternoon, check into the La Quinta, and spend the evening relaxing.  Springdale is a great town. It is very small, but very cute with a number of restaurants and art galleries. So far, on this adventure to see all of the national parks, Moab and Springdale are my favorite national park towns. Interestingly, St. George, Utah, the major town en route between Las Vegas and Springdale is one of the fastest growing cities in the U.S. (We didn't get a chance to explore it though, unfortunately.)

The La Quinta Inn in Springdale was a great hotel option. We chose it because it allows dogs, but it is close to the park, new, clean, and it has a great pool and hot tub. We also received cookies upon check in (major bonus!). In retrospect, the Cable Mountain Lodge also would have been a great choice because it is closer to Zion National Park and therefore you only have to take one bus to see the attractions instead of two, but overall, I have no complaints about the hotel and would stay there again.

DAY TWO

Sleep in, have breakfast at the hotel, and then swing by the Zion Guru to talk about gear needed to hike the Narrows in Zion National Park. Stopping at the Zion Guru  (conveniently located right next to our hotel) was great; the man running the store was incredibly helpful, friendly, and funny (and a Michigan grad much to Ryan's liking). He convinced us to rent boots and walking sticks to use in our hike on the Narrows. Renting these was a great move as it made the hike through the river much easier and much more enjoyable. Hiking the Narrows is a must do in Zion. The hike takes you through a river, and the trail is actually the river itself. We probably hiked about three or four miles, so we didn't hike all of the Narrows, but we definitely enjoyed it. To get to the Narrows, we took the Springdale town bus to the entrance station at Zion National Park where we switched to the national park bus which we took to the Narrows (and then around the park later that day). 

Hiking the Narrows

After hiking the Narrows, we had lunch at the Red Rock Grill at the Zion Lodge (where it would have been great to stay had we been able to get a reservation). We then set out to hike Angel's Landing. (Angel's Landing and the Narrows are Zion National Park's most famous hikes.) Angel's Landing is a difficult hike, but well worth it for the view.

Angel's Landing

Climbing Angel's Landing

After leaving the park, we grabbed a quick dinner at Amigo's and then went to bed - exhausted after a busy day of touring. We were on the second to last bus out of the park after a long day of hiking; luckily the Springdale town bus sent a special bus to pick us up. (Springdale should consider having the town buses run for a certain amount of time after the park buses end.)

Because we were so tired on Friday, we ended up skipping the drive to Bryce Canyon on Saturday and just exploring Zion. Trying to do both parks in only a three day weekend was probably a bit too ambitious. It would have been totally do-able in a four day weekend though.

DAY THREE

We woke up early and drove about 45 minutes to Hurricane, Utah to do a four hour ATV tour in Sand Hollow State Park. I was reluctant to do the ATV tour, as I had no real interest in ATV'ing and had some qualms about the environmental impact about ATV'ing in general. After getting over my initial fear of ATV'ing, I loved it. We saw some amazing sites, such as Jurassic Park, that we wouldn't have been able to see any other way. Our guide was great too, and taught us a lot about the local flora, fauna, and geology. I would definitely do another ATV tour. After ATVing, we had lunch at Wildcat Willies (recommended by our jeep guide). The lunch was great (order the turkey sandwich). We then spent the afternoon lounging by the pool before driving back to Vegas to catch flights home.

All in all, Zion ranks at the top of my national park trips. (Top parks so far include Zion, Arches, Yellowstone, Sequoia, Saguaro, and Carlsbad Cavern.)

Utah Adventures: Arches and Canyonlands National Parks with some Salt Lake City and Park City thrown in

Labor Day of 2014 took me to Arches and Canyonlands National Parks. Getting to Arches and Canyonlands is easy from New York; we hopped a direct flight from JFK to Salt Lake City on Jet Blue. (Salt Lake City is about a 3.5 hour drive from Arches National Park.) We arrived in Salt Lake City close to midnight and drove about a half hour to Park City where we spent the night at the Hyatt Escala Lodge. We got a great deal with Priceline Name Your Own Price; the resort did not disappoint. Our room was huge and gorgeous with multiple fireplaces. We easily could have fit more than just the two of us in there. (The only downside to staying at the Hyatt Escala Lodge in the off season is that there is no room service. I also regret not bringing my dog; the Hyatt Escala Lodge is dog-friendly.)

Park City, Utah

We spent the first morning of our trip enjoying our luxurious room at the Hyatt Escala Lodge and seeing the beauty that is Park City. The real highlight of the day was visiting Temple Square in Salt Lake City. Temple Square is the seat of the Mormon Church (like visiting the Vatican for Catholics). Non-Mormons (like us) aren't allowed in the temple so we couldn't visit the temple, but we enjoyed taking a tour of Temple Square and learning about the Mormon religion. The tours are given by Mormon teenagers on their missions. Our tour guide, Natalie, was great. She and the other tour guide (whose name I don't remember) answered all of our questions. Their enthusiasm was contagious, and we could not have enjoyed the tour more. (The tour gives some background of the Mormon religion, and takes one into the visitor's center which contains Mormon art and an 11 foot statue of the Thorvaldsen's Christus (the savior).) A highlight of our visit included talking to a Mormon family whose daughter was celebrating her 12th birthday and therefore able to enter the temple for the first time. (Women are not allowed in all parts of the temple though.)

Thorvaldsen's Christus

Mormon Temple

After visiting Temple Square (and buying some souvenirs at the gift shop and mall across the street), we drove three and a half hours to Moab, Utah. The drive, in the dark, was long and boring - if you go, I suggest doing the drive during the day. We checked into the Holiday Inn Express in Moab. The hotel was great - amazing views of the red rocks in the distance and a fun swimming pool and hot tub (which was amazing after hiking)!!

Swimming at the Holiday Inn in Moab

Our first day in Moab (which is a cool town) took us to Canyonlands National Park. We signed up for a guided tour of Horseshoe Canyon with Navtec Expeditions. Our guide was great, and the hike was fantastic (though long). We hiked down the canyon where we traversed the floor until we found rock art dating from 2000 BC to AD 500. Our tour guide was great, and the tour was well-organized. That said, we probably could have done the hike on our own. A couple of us hikers made the mistake of not bringing enough water; luckily our guide helped us out, but we should have brought more ourselves. Also, if you do this hike, note that it is a long, all-day hike. (Swimming afterward and sitting in the hot tub felt great!)

Horseshoe Canyon

Horseshoe Canyon

The next day took us to the Moab Music Festival; a great music festival that we read about in a magazine in our hotel room in Park City. We did a hike with the music festival where we hiked with musicians to a nice red rock overlook where we enjoyed a classical music concert. Many of the hikers were elderly people who were slow hikers so we spent a while hanging out on the rocks waiting for the concert to start. The weather was gorgeous though so it was enjoyable. We were also some of the first from the group to return to Moab afterward.

Musicians coming out on the red rocks

Hike to concert

We spent the afternoon touring some of the arches in Arches National Park, and we spent the evening enjoying horseback riding at the Sorrel River Ranch. After horseback riding, we enjoyed more music at the Moab Music Festival at the Sorrel River Ranch. (The Sorrel River Ranch looked great; next time I travel to Moab, I hope to stay there!)

Delicate Arch

Our last morning in Moab was spent hiking in the Fiery Furnace. One has to hike Fiery Furnace with the guide unless one has hiked it before. None of us had hiked it before so we had to go this route. The rangers lead free tours of the Fiery Furnace, but unfortunately we did not sign up in time for one of the free tours. Luckily, we were able to sign up for a last minute Fiery Furnace guided hike with the Moab Adventure Center. This hike was great and a must do for anyone who goes to Moab.

Fiery Furnace

Arches in Fiery Furnace

Fiery Furnace

After hiking the Fiery Furnace, we drove the 3.5 hours back to Salt Lake City. En route we stopped in Provo, where we toured Brigham Young University and bought some candy and ice cream at Pop'n'Sweets Candy and Ice Cream Parlor. The ice cream parlor carries candy from around the world and makes great ice cream floats. Brigham Young University has a gorgeous campus. We read a number of articles about women at the university, all of which were quite interesting.

All in all, the national parks and learning about the Mormon religion, made for a great trip. I highly recommend the trip and it can be easily done in a long weekend!