Adventures in Utah: Bryce Canyon National Park

We were lucky enough to check 3 National Parks off of our list this year! We took a trip to the Everglades in February, and then took a trip to Utah at the end of June! Our Utah trip started with a long drive, taking us to Bryce Canyon National Park!

Bryce Canyon is a beautiful park! It is a desert, but also has forest. It is at a high elevation, but doesn't feel that way. The rock formations are simply otherworldly. Pictures and descriptions cannot do them justice! If you have a short time at Bryce, here are some must-dos:

• Watch the sun rise over the canyon
• Take a trail down into the amphitheater to explore
• Hike down to/through Wall Street
• Take in a couple look-out views
• Consider checking out a ranger program 

It is a park that can be seen in 2-3 days if you're doing it in combination with other parks, but if we had gone into the backcountry, we also could have easily spent a week. It is a smaller park, nothing like Glacier or the Smokies, but there is still a lot to see, and it is definitely worth the trip!

We chose Bryce Canyon due to its weather, which is generally milder than most of the other Utah parks, staying mostly in the high 70s and low 80s, because of the higher elevation. Other Utah desert parks (Arches, Zion, etc) can be in the 100s this time of year! Unfortunately, we happened to catch this park at a very hot time. We were dealing with temperatures in the 90s every day, which changed some of our plans a bit! We took day hikes, aiming to be done hiking by lunch-time, and decided to scratch our backcountry plans. Our afternoons were spent relaxing, playing games, and trying to stay cool back at the campsite. We really enjoyed being at the North Campground, as it allowed us to hike straight from our campsite to our trail for the day, the general store, or the visitor's center. Here are the hikes we took:

Figure-8 Loop (Queens Garden Trail, Peek-a-Boo Loop, and Navajo Loop through Wall Street)

Let me just start by saying that this is a tough trail, especially in the heat we were dealing with. I think I underestimated it because of its shorter mileage. While backpacking, Brian and I have hiked 10-12 miles in one day, up and down mountains, but this 5-6 miler wore me down! The last path out of Wall Street was a rough way to end things, too! We'll just say we were ready for some ice cream when we were done! If you can only do one thing in the park, this would give you a great overview of the best of the formations! You could also do any part of this figure-8 alone rather than doing it all!

Fairyland Loop Trail

Two of us just took this trail to Tower Bridge and back. Two of us went the whole way around. I am not ashamed to admit I turned around at Tower Bridge. This was another great hike, into a different area of the park. There is a nice area at Tower Bridge for taking a load off and enjoying the shade of some trees. It would be a great lunch hike with a picnic at the bottom!

Mossy Cave Trail

This is a very short trail that is actually right outside of the regular park area. We ended with this hike before leaving the park. There is a waterfall here, as well as a large cave opening. The trail itself is not shaded, but there is a creek running beside the trail, so it would be a great place to allow children (or yourself!) to cool off on a hot day!

Lookouts/Rim Trail

Whether driving or hiking a section of the rim trail, there is a lot to see without ever setting foot down into the amphitheaters. We hiked parts of the rim trail multiple times on our way to other trails, and also drove to each lookout along the road on one day. Here are some of the amazing views you'll see from the rim!

Don't forget that there are some awesome backcountry experiences to be had in Bryce Canyon, as well! While we opted out this time, I have a feeling we might be back to check out this part of the park! Stay tuned for the rest of our Utah trip!

Everglades National Park: Backcountry Canoeing

Let me start with this: I am experienced in the backcountry, but in backpacking. I am experienced in canoeing, but on rivers. I am NOT experienced in backcountry canoeing on the ocean! I was a little terrified for this trip, as no matter how much reading and research I tried to do, I just couldn't quite wrap my head around what this trip would be like. Well, we survived! In fact, it turned out to be pretty amazing, and I would definitely do it again!

Some of the basics of preparation:

• You cannot reserve sites in advance like you can at some other parks. You reserve your site when you get there, no more than 24 hours in advance. This drove me crazy as a planner, but turned out to be a blessing, as we really ended up changing our plans.
• You can pack much heavier in a canoe than you can in a backpack! In fact, we couldn't find the right fuel for our little backpacking stove because people use larger camping stoves! So if you're heading to the Everglades, do some detailed research on where to buy your fuel outside the park.
• You can buy nautical charts at the park, but if you know what area you are going to be in, just get it in advance. One less thing to do, and they were almost out of the chart we needed (we bought the display copy)!
• Always talk to the park rangers about your trip and anything you need to know (you will be making your reservations with them anyway). For a beach site, we needed a hard-sided container for food. Since we didn't have anything, they were able to provide us with a bucket and lid to borrow for free! Nice people, those rangers!
• While we didn't NEED to do any complex navigation for our route, we did some figuring a couple of times, and it really came in handy. Know how to use a map and compass before you head out into open water. Just do.
• A canoe ended up being the best option for us, as they have more space for gear. If you rent from a retailer outside the park, you might be able to find a kayak with dry hatch storage, but the ones you can rent in the park don't have much storage space.
• You have to carry all of your water with you in the Everglades. A gallon per person, per day! So plan ahead for that! We bought "floppy" water jugs, but the soft sides can be an issue if you're beach camping.

So we got our boat, packed up our drybags, and headed out into open water! Talk about feeling small!

On day 1, we paddled from the Flamingo Marina to Johnson Key Chickee, a total of just under 10 miles. The views were gorgeous, and we didn't see a single other paddler. Other than the occasional motor boat, you felt completely alone. The sun was shining all day, and our paddling time flew by! Navigation was easy with all of the keys around, but we did hit bottom for awhile when we were just starting. Our entire Everglades trip was sans-watches, but we're estimating we got to the chickee by mid-afternoon. We saw a sting-ray and lots of large snails (the kind that live is sea shells).

Now, what is a chickee, you ask? It's a platform built up out of the water. It isn't attached to any land, so you are camping in the middle of the ocean! There is a roof over the parts for camping, a lower area for unloading your boat, and even a porta-potty. Here's our 360 degree tour of our chickee:

There was another group on the other side of the chickee from us. This opened my eyes to a huge difference between boating backcountry and hiking backcountry: we worked hard to get to our chickee! The guys camping on the other side were on a fishing trip with motor boats. In a backcountry site in other parks, everyone is in the same "boat"(ha!). We all hiked to get there. While not unpleasant, it was a very different experience to stay backcountry with someone who essentially drove there. Here are some more pictures from our day/evening on the chickee:

Day 2 backcountry was SUPPOSED to be from Johnson Key Chickee to East Clubhouse Beach. However, we got to the "site" very early, and there wasn't a site. There is no sign, and the beach didn't look real great for camping, so after paddling up and down the shore a bit, we just decided to paddle back to Flamingo and not stay the second night. We ended up paddling about 16 miles. The ocean was so calm when we started paddling that it was like glass. We saw dolphins AND manatees on this day and even got back to Flamingo in time to enjoy dinner near the visitor's center. Note: While I enjoyed not having a watch, it was hard! We totally thought it was 5 or 6 by the time we got back. It was 3:30. Ha!

It's hard to beat a morning like this! If you ever head to the Everglades, it is totally worth the work to experience this feeling being in a tiny boat in the middle of the ocean. It was a backcountry experience unlike any other!

Adventures in the Everglades

Well, we have officially checked National Park #6 off our list with our visit to Everglades National Park!

It was a great time of year for a trip to warm-weather Florida, and we enjoyed every bit of it! The start of March is the end of the dry season in the Everglades. The weather was perfect, and the bugs were minimal. Here is an overview of what we did at the park. Check out my other post for our experiences back country.

Shark Valley

Put this area on your must-do list for when you go to the Everglades! Shark Valley is a 15-mile loop of paved road that you can experience in two different ways: a guided tram tour, or by bike. Rentals are available at the visitor's center at Shark Valley. We were planning to take the tram tour, but the next available tram wasn't for a few hours, so we decided to go ahead and bike. Despite the strong wind that seemed to move us backward the first half of the loop, I'm very glad we biked. I was able to stop and take pictures as I wanted, and we could set our own pace. We saw dozens of alligators along the trail (there is literally one every 20-30 feet as you start), as well as lots of unique birds. I kept saying that everyone can be a wildlife photographer in the Everglades, and my photos are proof!

Anhinga Trail

This trail is short, and not far from the main visitor's center. In fact, this trail and the Ernest Coe Visitor's Center should be the first two things you do when you get to the park! It's a great introduction to the Everglades, and a great place to see alligators, as well as some crazy birds like Anhingas and Cormorants. Plan to spend an hour or so on this trail despite its short length - there is a lot to see, and you'll want to enjoy it! The Gumbo Limbo trail nearby was a much faster walk, but we had fun looking for lizards! We also came back to the Anhinga trail at night! There is a specific ranger-guided tour at night, or just walk it on your own! Watch for gator eyes, which reflect like a cat's.

 How man gators will you see? Here's just a sampling!

Mahogany Hammock and Pa-Hay-Okee Overlook

Both of these short trails are between the visitor center area and the Flamingo area, and both are worth a look, though they won't take you much time.

Off-Trail Exploring

At the Everglades, you can hike just about anywhere, as long as you're willing to get a little wet! Hiking off-trail is allowed everywhere except areas protected for nesting, etc. We explored off-trail in two ways. First, we explored a Cypress Dome on our own. This was an area recommended in one of our books about the Everglades, and we really enjoyed it. It was muddy and messy, but we had so much fun finding our way across the soft ground without sinking in, and discovering the alligator hole in the middle of the dome! The Cypress Dome we explored was 1 mile past the Pa-Hay-Okee sign. We just parked on the side of the road and walked on in. It was amazing how far you feel from the world despite being so close to the road.

In the middle of the cypress dome is a gator hole. It's different to find alligators off trail than in the main areas - a little scary! But this was such an amazing experience as we just walked silently through the trees finding all sorts of things.

The other way we experienced off-trail hiking was on a ranger-guided hike that is either called:
       1) a slog slough
       2) a wet walk
       3) an adventure walk
       4) gator feeding
This was awesome, and is highly recommended! Depending on the conditions, etc, the rangers basically just choose the best place they can think of to take you! Our walk was truly an adventure, as our ranger, Kirk, was trying out a new area he had never explored. It was fun to meet other adventure-y folks, and to learn about the park from Kirk. Partway through our walk, we found an alligator foot, followed by a few other bones, and then the rest of him! Only .2% of people who visit the park take this guided off-trail hike. Choose to be one of them!

Long Pine Key Campground

We spent all of our front-country camping time in Long Pine Key campground. We really enjoyed this area, close to the main entrance. There is a whole network of nature trails near the campground, and an amphitheater with ranger programs on M, W, and F evenings. There are no showers at this campground, but the bathrooms are nice and the campsites are great! There are more trees and less bugs at Long Pine Key. Flamingo is a nice campground as well, and we went there to take showers once, but it is very open.

We loved our trip to the Everglades - Definitely a great winter trip! Watch for another post coming soon about our backcountry canoeing experience!

Mammoth Cave National Park

And now on to our final stop! Mammoth Cave was the last stop on our National Parks trip this May! After spending about a week at Great Smoky Mountains, and a couple days at Congaree, we were on to Mammoth Cave in Kentucky. Here's what we did, and our tips for a successful trip!

1) We stayed at the Mammoth Cave Campground, and because we reserved a spot, we practically had an entire loop to ourselves the first night! The campground and bathrooms are very nice, but do note that they do not include showers! You can buy shower tokens at the general store or at the hotel. The showers are not the nicest, but they sure felt good as only the second shower of our trip. Another note was that we found our site to be very hard for staking down our tent - you may find a site with grass space for a tent easier if you plan on tent camping. There are also cottages available for lodging, which we didn't realize! Might be a fun way to experience this park!

2) If you have the time, don't skimp on the above-ground features of this park! We didn't have a lot of time, as we only spent one full day at the park, but I was amazed at the amount of trails, picnic areas, and lookouts there were available at this cave-based park.

3) You can always email a park ranger before your trip for tips. This is how we decided which tours to do. I wanted to be sure our tours didn't overlap areas of the cave, and we wanted the most "adventure-y" tour possible, since the "Wild Cave Tour" wasn't available when we were going to be there. I have also emailed other parks with questions, and they have always been super helpful!

4) The visitors center is something I often overlook at parks, but this one is not to be missed. Maybe it was just the A/C, but we spent a lot of time at this particular visitor center. I loved the interactive exhibits, maps of the cave, and videos about continued exploration. 

5) The Domes and Dripstones Tour is your basic cave tour. It takes place on established paths, staircases, etc, all with electric lighting along the way. It was a great overview of the history of the cave, and features some of the best cave formations in this mostly dry cave. If you only have time to do one tour, this is probably your best bet! We were with a group of kids on a field trip (the tour size for this one is huge!), which was a little crazy, but it was really fun to hear their questions and see them take it all in!

6) The more adventure-y pick for our second tour was the Violet City Lantern Tour. This tour takes place completely by lantern-light. The tour guides each had a flashlight for pointing out specific things we may have missed otherwise, but the majority of our time was spent seeing the cave by the light of about 10 lanterns (it was a group of 30 or so). The majority of this tour focused on the history of the cave, from Native Americans thousands of years ago, to the first explorers of the cave in the 1800s. Our tour guides were great, and the tour was a really unique experience!

Mammoth Cave, and our trip as a whole, was an adventure we won't soon forget! We checked off national parks 3--5 on this trip, and can't wait to start planning what's next! If you have experiences to share or recommended parks, please let us know! We would love to hear your experiences!

Congaree National Park

The second stop on our  awesome national parks road trip this May was Congaree National Park in South Carolina. It is one of the newest national parks, having formerly been named a "National Swamp" despite the fact that it's not a swamp, but a floodplain forest. This little-known park was a great stop, but definitely a park for a shorter trip. We spent 1 and a half days there, and while you could certainly spend more time, we felt we got a pretty good feel for the park in that amount of time. Here's what we did, and what we learned about this park!

1) One of the first things we saw upon arriving: 

We apparently picked a pretty good time to come, as the skeeter meter was only at "mild." Note: "mild" is all relative. It was still pretty buggy!

2) The most popular part of the park is the elevated boardwalk trail, and it's definitely a must-do. It gives you a great tour of what the park is all about, and the brochure (with numbered stops) can teach you all about cypress knees and the ecosystem of a floodplain - if you're as wonderfully curious as I am! Part of the boardwalk was closed, but that just meant you couldn't walk it as a loop. Here are some of the views from the boardwalk:

3) Camping at Congaree was actually very nice, once we figured out what we were doing! I felt the information available didn't explain the system real well, but we were smart enough to figure things out. :-) When you pull into the camping area, there is a large sign with information and campsite registration forms, as well as a small outhouse building. These are the only bathrooms for the camping area, and there is no water in this area. We went to the visitor center to fill up water jugs - we never found anything that mentioned where to get water. The campsites are walk-in only, but aren't far from the parking lot (We carried our large tent and plenty of gear.) There is no wood for sale at the park, but you can find plenty on the ground for a good fire, and all sites have a fire ring and picnic table. In the busiest of times, I imagine you might feel a little close to your neighbor at some sites, but we had a large area to ourselves this time of year. If you have any questions about camping at Congaree, please leave them in the comments and we will do our best to answer - there isn't a lot of information out there!

4) On day two at Congaree, we went canoeing! This is a great way to see the park from another perspective, and it was a neat experience! We rented our canoe from Adventure Carolina, and checked water level, etc, at the visitor center before heading out. We decided to canoe Cedar Creek, where the water has almost no current. We could canoe upstream and back down and didn't have to worry about shuttles, etc. Adventure Carolina also does tours with their guides, so if you're not an experienced canoer, that would be another great option! Despite water levels being okay, we were told this area had a lot of downed trees, etc. They weren't kidding! Half our time was spent doing this:

And every time we went near a tree, there was at least one more spider in our canoe. It became a game of what we could get through without portaging (getting out of our canoe and carrying it), and avoiding spiders at all costs! Right when we decided to turn around, we saw a tree branch absolutely COVERED in spiders! The trip back was a little less fun after that, but we still enjoyed our day. 

5) We did hike some short trails off of the boardwalk, including the Weston Lake Loop. We saw a lot of wildlife, especially near the lake, and these other trails do not seem to be heavily traveled. Take advantage of these awesome trails! 

6) If you go into town (Columbia, SC), be sure to check out Maurice's BBQ. You can't miss it! This was recommended by a local, and was definitely worth writing home about!

All in all, we really enjoyed our trip to Congaree! It can definitely be a shorter stop, but it is not to be overlooked! We saw so much wildlife here, and enjoyed the unique features of the floodplain forest. There's not a lot of info out there about Congaree, so let us know if we can help in your trip planning in any way! Off to the next park!

Great Smoky Mountains: Cosby/Big Creek Areas

After a great few days backcountry, we headed east within Great Smoky Mountains National Park, and Cosby Campground became our home base for the remainder of our stay. It was a great campground, as were all of the campgrounds within the park. Bathrooms are clean, there are dishwashing stations outside each bathroom building, and water spigots throughout. Each site has a picnic table and fire ring, as well. I will recommend not reserving a site at this particular campground, however, as the sites for reservation are right next to the entrance road. It worked fine, but it wouldn't have been our preference. Here are some of the things we did in this area:

1) Hike at Big Creek

Big Creek is down a VERY narrow and VERY windy (like wine-dy not win-dy) road from Cosby. It was a beautiful area, though! We hiked (more like walked, really, as it's quite flat), a little more than 2 miles before turning around. We ate lunch on the trail and enjoyed the views of Big Creek. This would be a great place to bring kids, or for people who may not want a more difficult hike. We were hiking right alongside a group of about 4 or 5 young families for awhile, and it was wonderful to see the kids out enjoying the park!

2) Cosby in the Park

Take a look at the NPS website for events that may be going on during your visit to the parks, or ask at the Visitor Center once you're there. Cosby in the Park happened to be during our stay, and right in our campground! There was live music, as well as different booths to check out. One of the stations was old-time toys and games, where we tried out a pair of stilts and learned to make a whistle out of a maple twig. They had crafts for kids, and food, and while we certainly didn't need to spend the whole day there, it was a great way to spend a couple hours!

3) Gabes Mountain Trail to Hen Wallow Falls

This is another easier day hike, and was a popular trail (we saw quite a few people while we were out). It leaves straight from the Cosby Campground, and is about 2.2 miles to the falls. We were taking easier trails due to my knees being a tad angry from our backcountry adventure, but even these shorter, easier trails took us to some amazing sights. Hen Wallow Falls was beautiful - definitely worthy of a stop and plenty of pictures. We ate lunch on a big rock below the falls before heading back to the campground.

4) Cosby Knob Shelter (Low Gap Trail and Appalachian Trail)

Brian hiked this route in the afternoon one day, while I sat and read in the sunshine! It's 7.4 miles round-trip, leaving from the campground, and it's not an easy walking path. He said it was a great hike, and would be recommended for a more difficult hike from the campground! It was kind of neat to be able to say he hiked all the way back up to the Appalachian Trail in a different area of the park.

5) Showers

Okay, showering is not typically a notable experience, but given the fact that there are no showers in the park, and this was our first real shower of the trip, it is worth mentioning! Online, I had read that most of the towns surrounding the park have showers available, and that if you asked a ranger, they would be able to tell you what might be available. When I asked a ranger, however, he basically said he didn't have a clue. SO, if you're staying in the Cosby area, we showered at Cosby Ranch, a campground right outside the park. Showers were $5, and while the bathrooms weren't those of a 5-star hotel (or even a 5-star campground), they were hot, and clean enough. Plus I had the whole bathroom to myself, which was kinda nice! My main recommendation is that campgrounds are a good bet for showers, but you will have to pay!

6) Gatlinburg

We did spend one evening in Gatlinburg. It was a lot of fun, but one evening was enough for us, as we would rather be in the park than in the touristy city. You can wander the main street and just walk in and out of shops, as well as trying Moonshine (a must-do, really), and lots of restaurant choices! I've heard great things about the aquarium, if you are spending a full day. Overall, it was a little strange to me that this touristy place was right outside a national park. I just hope that people are truly enjoying the park when they come to visit the area, and not just spending their time in Gatlinburg!

7) Cosby Nature Trail

This was our last stop before leaving the park. We tried to do a short walk on driving days, either before leaving or once we arrived. It helped a lot, and is definitely recommended! This short hike from the campground was a really neat trail, with information about the area and some historical features as well.

We didn't even get to the Western or Southern parts of the park in the time we had! We will definitely be back another time to enjoy other areas! What are your favorite hikes in the Smokies? Favorite campgrounds? Let me know in the comments!

Great Smoky Mountains National Park: Backcountry

After two days of driving, the first major adventure of our trip was two nights in the backcountry at Great Smoky Mountains National Park! We decided on a loop trip (technically a lollipop with a short stick) that was recommended on Backpacker.com, as well as in our "Best Hikes" series trail guide.

Here is the overview of our backcountry route:
Start from Newfound Gap
First night at Peck's Corner Shelter (about 10.6 mi)
Second night at Kephart Shelter (about 11 mi)
End back at Newfound Gap (about 5.5 mi)
Total = About 27 miles

We arrived at Great Smoky Mountains on Tuesday, May 13 and stayed the night at Elkmont campground. This way we could swing by the ranger's station at Sugarlands the next morning before heading out for the backcountry. We got our first taste of the Smokies right away, when it started raining as we tried to start a fire for dinner. We ended up eating dinner here, with the help of our stove:

It rains a lot in the Smokies, that's for sure, but it was over within an hour and we went on the Elkmont Nature Trail that evening to stretch our car-cramped legs. Many of the short nature trails were very nice, with self-guided brochures to tell about the area.

On Wednesday, we put on our packs and started heading north from Newfound Gap on the Appalacian Trail. In typical Great Smokies fashion, we started our trip in dense fog.

The trail was very rocky at the start, with a good number of day hikers up until Chalie's Bunion, which is just over 4 miles along the trail. Chalies Bunion is a highly recommended hike, whether a day hike or part of a backcountry trip. These were the most amazing views we had the whole trip! Pictures never do it justice, but here is the view from Charlie's Bunion:

One thing unique about the backcountry at Great Smoky Mountains is the fact that many sites have shelters. We weren't sure what to expect, but after discussing with the backcountry ranger at Sugarlands, we didn't even bring a tent! We brought a rain fly in case of emergency, but decided it was a lot of weight to bring "just in case." The shelters are like a giant bunk bed, with two platforms stacked on top of one another. Each platform is supposed to hold 5-6 people, but in reality could probably hold 8-10 if needed. The shelters also have a table and benches, and hooks for your backpacks! The cable system for hanging bear bags is nearby (you didn't even need a rope at these sites), and some shelters also have a fireplace and/or an outdoor fire pit. Peck's Corner had a Privy nearby, but Kephart's did not.

Our first night, at Peck's corner, we met 3 thru-hikers on the Appalachian Trail - Sunshine, Pockets, and Dragon (thru-hikers give each other nicknames). It was so much fun to hear their stories, learn from one another, and imagine what it would be like to spend months on the trail. Everyone please send them good thoughts as they continue on their journey through the summer and into fall! They said they would send an email when they completed their hike, and I truly hope they do!

After a rainy night (we would have been very wet in a tent!), day two was a wet one. Some of our trails had literally turned into flowing streams (top right of photos below). The elevation change on this day was huge, heading down, up, and back down again. I learned an important lesson: eat a snack before you are hungry! It takes a lot of energy to hike 3+ miles straight up! A must-have list for backcountry in the Smokies:

• Raincover for your pack
• Waterproof boots (or ones that will dry somewhat quickly)
• Quick-dry everything - When you only have 2 shirts, it's nice to know the other will be dry the next day
• Layers - We started each morning very cool, but quickly warmed up as we got moving. The sun was constantly in and out of the clouds, and the weather changed often. (It actually sleeted on our way back to the pass on day 3!)
• Ladies, if your hair is anything like mine -  A bandana to tame your hair in the humidity! :-)

Day 3 was a short but steep hike all the way back up to the pass. Overall, this trip is not for the beginner hiker (and probably shouldn't have been for me with my knees), but it was a great loop and comes highly recommended by us! We saw such a variety - it was a great way to get a good feel for what the Great Smoky Mountains have to offer. This is just a snippet of the awesomeness we saw these 3 days!

As always, if you want to see more pictures (or just bigger pictures) you can check out my Flickr!

Planning Our National Parks Trip

When we have time for a vacation, our first thought is always "What parks can we go to?" This May, after Brian graduated, we had 2 weeks to spend on vacation. So how did we decide where to go?

1) Amount of Time - What can we see in 2 weeks? You could spend the whole 2 weeks at some parks and still wish you had more time. Other parks you only need a couple days. Two weeks seems like a lot, but you have to figure travel time, too! How much time are you willing to spend in the car?

2) Amount to Spend - Sure, 2 weeks is probably enough time to go to Alaska and see a park or 2, but that requires an expensive plane ticket. At this point, we were looking for an affordable trip.

3) Location of the Parks - First, what parks are near each other? I grouped parks together and looked at what the routes would look like if we visited that group. How much time would we spend driving? Does the route make sense? Is there anything else we might want to see along the way? This breakdown gave us 3 options: Yellowstone area parks, SW parks (Big Bend, Saguaro, etc), or SE parks.

4) Time of Year - This is probably the most important deciding factor on all of our trips. Where can you go this time of year? When you're going to be outside literally ALL of the time, you need to know what the weather is going to be like. Half of Yellowstone wouldn't even be open in mid May, so we decided to go farther south. It turns out that May is the off-season for the SW parks because it is SO hot and dry! So that brought us to the SE.

Based on all of these factors, we decided on a trip to Mammoth Cave, Great Smokey Mountains, and Congaree National Parks. This gave us about a week at the Smokies, a day and a half at Congaree, and one full day at Mammoth Cave. We were originally going to try and squeeze in a trip to the ocean, but decided against it. This trip was affordable, and the weather was great! And while I'm sure we could have spent more time at the Smokies, the timing was about right overall.

So, are you ready to plan your next trip to some National Parks?

**Update: Here are links to each section of our trip
Great Smoky Mountains - Backcountry
Great Smoky Mountains - Cosby/Big Creek
Congaree National Park
Mammoth Cave National Park

Glacier National Park: Backcountry

...and here we are at the most exciting part of our trip! We spent only 2 nights backcountry, but you could easily spend a month and still have so much more to see. My overall thoughts and experiences: the trails are very well-kept, and very well marked. You know where you are at every intersection, there is a map of each campsite, and always somewhere to hang or store your food (you do still need your own rope!). There were little log bridges over every creek (if the creek was too big to jump over), and while we didn't see a bear, we saw a moose, lots of marmots, jackrabbits, and more! The campsites were all full, which made for a unique backcountry experience: one where you share conversation around the "dinner table" and share your experiences with other campers. I very highly recommend a backcountry experience in Glacier National Park, and I especially recommend the route we took. We were told time and time again that we got the best 2-day trip possible in the park!

This was our basic itinerary:
Day 1: Many Glacier to Poia Lake
Day 2: Poia Lake to Elizabeth Lake Foot (via Red Gap Pass)
Day 3: Elizabeth Lake to Many Glacier (via the Ptarmigan Tunnel)

Day 1: Many Glacier to Poia Lake

Brian and I were all packed up and ready to go after lunch. We left from the Poia Lake trailhead, near the trail to Apikuni Falls.

Day one was a full half-day, 6.4 miles from the trailhead to Poia Lake. The trail is beautiful, but unlike I expected. Lots of flowers and mountain meadows, as well as wooded areas.

Here is an example of what you see when you get to a backcountry campsite:

Clockwise from top left: Actual campsite (there are multiple of these at each larger campsite), the map that shows you where everything is, campers' food hanging on the pre-strung line, the food prep/eating area.

Poia Lake was beautiful, though it was a windy day! We spent the evening enjoying the view before having dinner. While eating, we met some other campers who were headed the same direction we were. We decided to travel the next day as a group.

Day 2: Poia Lake to Elizabeth Lake (Foot) via Red Gap Pass

Luckily for us, the wind had died down some for day 2. It was a beautiful day, and our new friends set quite the pace! This day was a total of 10.2 miles with a GREAT elevation change - up and down! I was completely worn out, but boy was this worth it. A few tips for this stretch of trail:

• There is no water in the middle of this day, so make sure you have enough for the day before you leave, or fill up before you get too close to the top of the pass.
• The top of the pass is very windy and quite chilly! Make sure you have enough warm layers, and a wind-blocking layer.
• There is a peak off to the side of the pass if you want to take a side-trip in the middle of this long day, but it is farther up than it looks! There are multiple false-peaks before you reach the real one.

And the view from the top of the pass? SPECTACULAR! Worth every step!

There is seriously no beating this view! After all the hard work to get there, your jaw just drops at the beauty and vastness of it! We had the perfect day with the high puffy clouds and sun shining!

We finished our day around 1pm, thanks to our friends' crazy pace, had a late lunch, and lounged around the rest of the day at Elizabeth Lake. We played cards (I always bring a deck backcountry), enjoyed the rocks on the beach, and Brian even tried making a fishing pole. One of my favorite parts of being able to eat with other campers was hearing their recommendations for other places to camp (both at Glacier and other parks), and their tips on gear, food, etc. We stayed up past dark (which really isn't that late) playing cards, which we scored with rocks.

Day 3: Elizabeth Lake Foot to Many Glacier via the Ptarmigan Tunnel

Day 3 was another doozy! 10.1 miles with similar elevation change as the day before. I wasn't sure I was going to make it another day, but the trails are so well-graded, and the views amazing as always! The Ptarmigan tunnel is a tunnel through the mountain that is about 250 ft. long. It had just been opened the day before we left on our trip, so we were some of the first visitors of the season! Here is the tunnel, and the view from either side:

The foot of the lake on the left is where we camped the night before.

The way down from the tunnel to Many Glacier gets busier and busier the closer you get. There are many other things to see along this trail, so it is a popular one for day hikes! The trail is a piece of cake the rest of the day, but started to feel long once I knew how close we were! Arriving at Many Glacier, we celebrated with some beer (for Brian) and huckleberry ice cream (for me)! If you need a place to hang out at Many Glacier while waiting for a shuttle or ride, the picnic area is a great place. We set up our tent to air out, washed up a little in the bathrooms, and even took a nap!

Cheers to another great adventure!

Glacier National Park: Day 3

Day 3 will be a short post! While we spent our morning day-hiking, we left for our backcountry adventure right after lunch. Since our backcountry trek will be covered in another post, there's not a lot to write about day 3! We headed up to the Many Glacier area today. There are beautiful lodges, some great campgrounds, and lots to explore in this area.

Swiftcurrent Nature Trail

Swiftcurrent Lake is a beautiful sight! One of the lodges is right on the lake, and there is also a trail that goes around the edge of the lake. This is the 2.5-mile Swiftcurrent Nature Trail. It is basically flat, and it's short, but it was a beautiful walk! If you're looking for something easy to take a load off for part of a day, it's a good choice. Here are some of the sights:

There is also a picnic area just off of the Swiftcurrent Nature Trail, which is a great place to stop for lunch. This is where we stopped to eat before heading off on our amazing backcountry experience!

Glacier National Park: Day 2

We started day 2 much more rested than the day before, having actually slept in beds! For this day, we drove up to the East end of Going to the Sun Road and drove from there. Our adventures started with a beautiful rainbow over the mountains before we even reached Going to the Sun Road! We had another full day with lots of great stops, and plenty of photo ops! In addition to the trails listed below, we stopped at many other places along the road to take pictures and enjoy the view. From waterfalls to lookouts, and wildlife sitings, every single stop is worth it - take your time and enjoy the drive!

Hidden Lake Overlook

Our first stop of the day was the Logan Pass visitor's center. From here we hiked up to the Hidden Lake Overlook. Even in July, with the warm temperatures we were experiencing, this trail was covered in snow! I was amazed how many people were hiking it despite this fact - it was VERY busy!

This picture really doesn't capture the vast number of people who were on this trail, but it sure shows the snow!

These were some park workers who were digging out the real trail from under the snow.

Despite the snow and the people, this trail was well worth it! We saw lots of wildlife:

And not only was the view of the lake spectacular, but there were amazing views all along the way, as well.

One of the mountains we hiked around on the way there

The view from the hidden lake overlook

St. Mary Falls

This wasn't in our original plan, but we heard someone talking about it (actually, they were saying there had been bears sighted there in the morning), and we decided to give it a shot! It's an easy hike (1.6 mi round trip), and the falls are beautiful. Definitely a good trail for just about everyone!

Sunrift Gorge

This gorge is right off the road, but completely worth the stop. The photos are some of my favorite from the trip. There is a trail headed up from the gorge that is supposed to be great for wildlife and wildflowers, but it is pretty much straight up.  It is not an easy hike. We went up the first quarter to half mile and saw some great views from there, but after a full day, we weren't willing to go any farther.