Tag: waterfall

trip report: John Muir Trail, July 2018 – part 2, getting in & Yosemite National Park warmup

.Reading time 51 minutes.

Do you remember your first backpacking trip? For me, it was with Jared, Matt, Will, and Arnold in Yosemite National Park during my last Memorial Day weekend in California before graduate school. Of course, we didn’t have permits beforehand or even thought of how busy it would be that weekend nor really knew much about what was really necessary for backpacking. Through that weekend of floods, rain, infinite hot dogs, and plenty of Gentleman Jack, we emerged as Poopanauts, which is a story that will have to wait for another time. The main point is that it is hard to recall the feeling and mindset of getting into the wilderness for the first time. It was something I had to try my best to relate to as I lead my California friends Arnold, Joey, and Miguel and new friends Becky and Doris back to Yosemite National Park. For Becky and Doris, it was their first time into the backcountry. Since these guys were willing to take the time off work to drive me up to Yosemite – where I would start my John Muir Trail (JMT) hike – and spend several days in the backcountry with me, I hoped that I was able to share my enthusiasm of the outdoors with my friends again and for the first time.

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This is part 2 of my John Muir Trail (JMT) trip report series. You can navigate to the other parts in the index below as they are posted. Read More

trip report: Costa Rica, December 2017

.Reading time 98 minutes.

For the last 3 years, we’ve enjoyed the southwest companion pass. On multiple occasions on this blog, I’ve mentioned that it is currently the best travel hack. The companion pass has provided us the means for direct trips to fly out to Colorado for our road trip, visiting Arcadia National Park for July 4th, visiting family for the holidays, attend the many weddings, and helping us reposition for our international trips. Recently Southwest has also announced that they will be flying to Hawaii as well. One destination I’ve had my eye on when I went for it initially 3 years ago was Southwest’s international destination of Costa Rica.

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trip report: Norway – Bødo & Lofoten Islands, August 2017

.Reading time 56 minutes.

Over the past few year, we’ve had our delays and plans go awry. But it always seemed we were able to figure out new plans and were able to achieve what we wanted to do. So we were due to run out of luck at some point and the norse gods were happy to be the ones to bring all my plans crashing down and then some.

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sw virginia hikes: Dismal Creek and Sugar Mountain Loop, June 25 2017

.Reading time 8 minutes.

Recently, the focus of my effort on travel2walk have been on getting the many backlogged large trip reports out. I still have the two trips from this year that I’m working on. A side effect of my focus on trip reports is that other sections of my page has been neglected, such as my local Virginia hike reports. A poor fall 2016 foliage season due to the warm weather wasn’t very motivating for me to work on the section either. A second side effect of the long trip reports is that I don’t get as much content out as quickly.

With that in mind, I’ve revamped the sw virginia hiking page and you’ll see more quick hiking reports like this. The thesis length trip reports will still come, but at a slower rate. I’m hoping I can get those out in time for you to reference while planning for the following season.

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trip report: Maui, January 2017

.Reading time 41 minutes.

This is part 5 of our holiday break trip around the Pacific from December 2016 to January 2017 where we traveled to New Zealand and Maui. You can also to other parts below in the index.

I’ve personally been on Maui on three different trips. Obviously, it is a place I enjoy. This part of the trip report will be based on experiences from my parents and myself on this current trip, but will also feature information from my previous visits and other research I’ve done about Maui over the years. As such, the flow will be a little bit different.

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sw virginia hikes: Apple Orchard Falls and Cornelius Creek Loop, July 10 2016

.Reading time 8 minutes.

information

  • Apple Orchard Falls and Cornelius Creek Loop
  • type: loop
  • distance: 6.1 mi (listed at 5.6 mi)
  • elevation change: 1578 ft (listed at 1680 ft)
  • time: 3 hours with stops along the way
  • location: Jefferson National Forrest near Arcadia, VA
  • There are multiple ways you can do this loop including getting all the way up to the AT rather than taking the fire road connector and multiple trailheads to start at. My preferred trailhead is the trailhead at FS59 as described by hiking upwards in the link above. That way you do the climbing first before the downhills.
  • On the loop, there are many stinging nettles, especially on the Cornelius Creek Trail and the fire road. So it is recommend to cover your legs in the summer.

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