I have hiked Zion National Park since teen years in Las Vegas, Nevada. We rarely saw anyone on most of our 1970s-80s trips to West Rim from Lava Point, Kolob Canyons, and—in December—a snowy slog up from Zion Canyon. The … Read More
Three days after Labor Day weekend and the campgrounds and trailheads at Redfish Lake were still packed with people. But we had a plan to elude crowds in overused Sawtooth Wilderness in Central Idaho. We’d take shuttle boat across Redfish … Read More
It seemed like an obscure trailhead, many miles of driving along forest roads. But we saw half a dozen parked vehicles at Moss Creek Trailhead and a couple of horse trailers. After we loaded up our packs and headed down … Read More
The first time we visited Strawberry Wilderness, we were turned back by deep snow drifts—late May was too early to visit this alpine wilderness with elevations up to 8000 feet. The next time we came—40 years later—was the right time … Read More
A dry spring sojourn in 2018 in the West did not prepare us for soggy May hiking in the East. In Arizona, we had planned trips around water; in West Virginia, we kept changing our route to avoid it! We … Read More
Hiking the Crest Trail in Chiricahua Wilderness, we once traversed halls of a great cathedral: shuffling on needle-carpet among towering forest giants: old-growth Douglas fir, white fir, ponderosa pine and even a few Engelman spruce (southern-most extension for this species). … Read More
In January 2018, we visited Mount Wrightson Wilderness—designated in 1985 with 25,260-acres of soaring peaks, deep canyons, grasslands, and dozens of trails. From Cave Creek we took the Arizona Trail (AZT) south, swung up Temporal Gulch to a saddle west … Read More
The casual visitor to Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument would never know 94% is wilderness. Visitors find the usual National Park Service (NPS) facilities: visitor center, campground, a few hiking trails (old mining roads near the campground) and two scenic … Read More
I first saw the Minarets from a high pass in California’s Sierra Nevada (“snowy range”) as a college student, helping with a church youth group backpack trip. The jagged peaks in the Ritter Range northwest of Mammoth stuck in my … Read More
I once hiked nearly half of Bryce Canyon’s Under-the-Rim Trail in a morning. Forty-two years later, my husband and I spent most of a day hiking this distance (along with a loop from Rainbow Point). We found this lightly used … Read More
We used to admire the Blue Range—a sprawling hunk of high-elevation wild country on the Arizona-New Mexico border—during our student days in Tucson. We often hiked the nearby and better known Gila Wilderness, and could see the “Blue” ridge upon … Read More
We used to admire the Blue Range—a sprawling hunk of high-elevation wild country on the Arizona-New Mexico border—during our student days in Tucson. We often hiked the nearby and better known Gila Wilderness, and could see the “Blue” ridge upon … Read More
We first inadvertently visited the only wilderness in New Jersey in August 2000. Our teenage daughter had insisted on a “real” beach vacation with no camping or backpacking, so we took the Lewes Ferry from Maryland to New Jersey and … Read More
“Going to the beach” is an iconic ritual for many Eastern U.S. residents. Thousands make the spring or summer pilgrimage east seeking undulating coastal expanse, shorebirds, shells, salt air, and wild skies along humanity’s favorite wilderness: the ever-restless, ever-changing ocean. … Read More
I finished the last long switchback to crest of Sleeping Deer Mountain. For past two days I had trudged up hot side slopes, clambered over logs, and fought chest-high brush in wet bogs, the 9,881-foot white granite peak in my … Read More
During our student years at the University of Arizona, five from our hiking club attempted to trek across the Santa Catalina (Catalinas) and Rincon Mountains (Rincons) that frame the northeast corner of Tucson, Arizona. We started in pre-dawn dark aiming … Read More
The Galiuro Wilderness in southern Arizona once boasted 100 miles of legacy trails—still touted in recent articles and shown on a map posted at some trailheads and online trail descriptions (click outside map to close it). But two recent efforts … Read More
It took two trips to Cumberland Island Wilderness to figure out how to visit it. Although the nation’s only barrier island wilderness available for backpacking offers miles of roads and trails, dikes for marsh access, sand dunes, and lonely beaches—you … Read More
It was the first time we had hiking guests, and we wanted it to be perfect. My younger sister, Chris, and brother-in-law, David R, were active hikers and cyclists but this was their first backpack trip. Cousin Mike was an … Read More
We were about three miles from the trailhead and about 2000 feet straight up, breaking camp on Olinger Peak in the Stone Mountain Wilderness, when we heard a mechanized hum in the distance. An ATV (All-Terrain Vehicle) rolled into camp, … Read More
A mile into Little Wilson Wilderness, we were deep in wet leaves on an eroded trail. Jackie Street Trailhead was well marked from the road and a nice walk through a gate and past cattle in a green pasture. When … Read More
Our Virginia Wilderness Project was going well. Between 2012 and mid-summer 2014, we had visited 16 of 24 wilderness areas. But other work and life caught up, and we didn’t hike for two months. In September 2014 we squeezed in … Read More
The long ridge of Potts Mountain runs for miles along or near the Virginia-West Virginia border north of Interstate-84 between Pulaski and Roanoke. Six wilderness areas on or close to Potts could offer interesting backpacking opportunity in remote country—with a … Read More
It seemed like an easy start. To launch our project to visit all Virginia wilderness, we chose a loop through the Priest and Three Ridges, mostly on the Appalachian Trail (AT) and not too far from home in Falls Church. … Read More
It was getting dark and David had lagged behind. But I was determined to find the lovely green flat and chimney remnant from Sexton cabin on Jerry’s Run Creek. Years ago my preteen daughter and I lolled on the greens … Read More