A thousand years ago, the Four Corners region of the United States was the epicenter of a complex and incredible civilization that flourished for centuries. The Ancestoral Puebloans built complex and elaborate dwellings into the cliffs at places such as Mesa Verde, Chaco Canyon, and Canyon de Chelly. In this Mesa Verde National Park guide, I am going to provide you with a blueprint of how to explore this incredible park.
There are a lot of incredible and challenging hikes in North America, but few compare to the exhilarating experience of climbing to the top of one of the tallest mountains in the United States. In American mountaineering circles, the name for mountain peaks with an elevation of over 14,000 feet (or 4,267 meters) is a “fourteener”. For many hiking and climbing enthusiasts, getting to the top of these incredible peaks has a magnetic-like allure. Not only is it a personal challenge to conquer these difficult alpine trails, but the views and the experiences along the way are things you will never forget. However, as beautiful and amazing as it is to tackle a fourteener, these trails are not for the faint of heart. Each year, hikers pay the ultimate price in their conquest to tackle one of these mountains. Many times, it is because they were unprepared for the challenges they would face on the trail. To put you in the best possible position to succeed in your quest to conquer one of America’s 96 fourteeners, I have created this fourteener hiking gear list to help you make sure you are prepared.
Planning a road trip across the United States to visit some of the country’s beautiful national parks is a time honored tradition for many Americans, and something that draws visitors from around the world to the country each year to enjoy. The United States is filled with many beautiful park lands that showcase all different types of incredible landscapes. In my opinion, one of the most underrated national park lands in the United States is the breathtaking Great Sand Dunes National Park in Colorado. In putting together this Great Sand Dunes Guide, I had little trouble thinking of amazing things for visitors to see and do within this unique and beautiful park.
There are a number of absolutely breathtaking mountain ranges in the United States and the Rocky Mountains in the Western part of the country are some of America’s most beautiful. Perhaps nowhere else in the country is this beautiful mountain range better showcased than in Rocky Mountain National Park in the state of Colorado. That is why I was beyond excited to create my Rocky Mountain Park Guide to share this beautiful park with you. Though with so many wonderful things to say about the park, it was hard to know where to being. With a range of elevation between 7,600-feet ( 2,316 meters) and 14,259-feet ( 4,346 meters) inside the park, the diversity of landscapes and wildlife that you will see while visiting Rocky Mountain National Park is truly awe-inspiring. In addition to a myriad of other wildlife, the park is home to over 280 different bird species, an abundance of elk, and the bighorn sheep that have become a symbol of this alpine park.
My trip to the American West and Southwest is fast approaching and I have been very busy putting together a detailed itinerary for our trip. There are no flights or hotels involved in this trip, so you would think the planning process would be easier. On the contrary, I have found that the logistics of planning a cross-country camping road trip are even more complex than planning your typical fly-and-stay vacation. Add to that the complexities of the COVID-19 situation and it has been a very interesting travel planning exercise.
An overview of my itinerary planning for Day 5 of my 2020 US National Parks Road Trip
An overview of my itinerary planning for Day 4 of my 2020 US National Parks Road Trip
An overview of my itinerary planning for Day 3 of my 2020 US National Parks Road Trip
An overview of my itinerary planning for Day 2 of my 2020 US National Parks Road Trip
As far as this summer goes, I have been itching to take another road trip thru the American Rockies and American Southwest, and I think the current situation makes this year the ideal time to make that trip happen. I feel much more comfortable driving than flying and it is easy to distance yourself from others when you are out hiking and camping. When things start to open up in the United States this summer, taking a road trip and knocking off some of the US National Parks that I have yet to see sounds like a great alternative to the plans I had to cancel.
You must be logged in to post a comment.