National Parks

It was about a one hour drive from Williams, Arizona to the Grand Canyon. It was a very flat drive with only a few hills. The mountain in the first picture was quite a surprise. On our way into Grand Canyon National Park, we caught a glimpse of a very large hole in the ground. […]

We woke up before dawn because we have even more driving today, and a repeat of the construction zone delays. One benefit of the early hour was the chance to see so many stars in the sky. Our camera could not capture all of them, but you can see a faint white light from the

Today we went to Death Valley National Park. The park reopened yesterday after serious damage from Tropical Storm Hillary. Since it had only been about eight weeks since the storm, we had limited access to the park because repairs and restoration are still underway for a large portion of the park. It was an interesting

Our visit to the Channel Islands was primarily a boat ride. On the way out of the harbor, we saw seals and numerous birds. We were suddenly out in the ocean with the mainland disappearing on the horizon. Once we were out of the harbor, we saw some dolphins following the boat. They like to

We saw Joshua Trees on our way to Hidden Valley. Hidden Valley is a small area that is surrounded naturally by rocky ridges. Most of the ways into the valley are up and over steep ridges. The entrance we used is a narrow path through some boulders. Inside Hidden Valley, we saw lots of Joshua

It was about a 25 minute drive from the hotel to the entrance to the park. Inside the park, we headed to the Mastodon Peak Loop Trail. It begins at an oasis. The trail was well marked, steep, and rocky at times. When we reached Mastodon Peak, we had an amazing view of the area.

Today is the first of two days at Saguaro National Park. Saguaro National Park has two sections. One is on the east side of Tucson, Arizona. The other is about 25 miles away on the west side of Tucson. We began on the east side at the Mica View Cactus Forest Trail. The trail is

We began our day at White Sands National Park. White Sands became a national park after we began our travels. Driving in the park changed quickly from a paved road to a sand road. The first hike of the day was the White Sands Backcountry Trail. Technically, it is not a trail. There are numerous

We spent the day at Carlsbad Caverns. We got a chance to do a self guided tour of the caverns. It was fun to go at our own pace and choose the places of interest to us. We entered the cavern at the main entrance. It is a huge opening with a very steep down