Tag: Day Hike

Virgin Islands National Park: Lameshur Bay Trail

For the first time, we turned the Jeep left out of Concordia’s driveway, continuing down the hill and past the parking area for Salt Pond Bay. We continued west along the southern shore of St. John as the road turned from pavement to dirt and back again several times. After one of the steepest hills we’d encountered on the island, we passed the beach at Little Lameshur Bay, which appeared to be quite popular even on the remote side of the island. We continued a little further on and parked near the big National Park Service sign marking the Lameshur Bay Trailhead (see map).

Just south of the parking area were the ruins of a bay rum still and lime still that were still working in 1915. Sean, Adam, and I explored the ruins before setting off on the trail.

(more…)
Virgin Islands National Park: Ram Head

Friday, March 8 was overcast. It was the only morning of the trip I slept late, and I woke to find Adam making pancakes for breakfast. We discussed which adventures to have today and ultimately decided it was a great day for a hike because the sun wouldn’t be beating down on us. Bethany declined to join us both because she had sprained her ankle in January and it was acting up and also because she had some work to do on writing a grant. So she set herself up at a table by Concordia’s pool where there was access to wifi, and the rest of us assembled our gear.

Ram Head trail is one mile long. It begins at the far end of Salt Pond Bay beach and ends at the top of Ram Head point, 200 feet above the sea (see map). The first part of the trail skirts the rocky shore of the small peninsula immediately south of Salt Pond Bay.

(more…)
Virgin Islands National Park: Cinnamon Bay Loop Trail

After breakfast, we decided the best thing to do on our first day was to orient ourselves a bit more to the island and the park by driving back to Cruz Bay along North Shore Road, this time able to see all the vistas that had been hidden by darkness. In Cruz Bay, we could stop in at the visitor center and learn about any activities happening in the park during our time on the island.

We climbed into the Jeep and headed out. Although it was easier to navigate the steep twists and turns by day, without headlights there was less warning about approaching cars around the blind curves.

When we reached Cinnamon Bay (see map), we decided to stop and explore the ruins of the estate’s sugar and bay rum factory, which was visible from the road. It was about 10:30 am, and the parking lot was bustling with families and couples headed to the beach. (Cinnamon Bay is also the location of the park’s only campground for tents, and we were very glad we’d opted for the seclusion of Concordia.)

Instead of heading to the water, we crossed the road to the ruins, where a wheelchair accessible boardwalk winds through a stand of bay rum trees. In 1903, the factory began processing the essential oil of the leaves into St. John Bay Rum cologne and lotion.
(more…)
Olympic National Park: Hoh Rain Forest

After Ruby Beach, we continued northeast on 101 out of the park’s coastal section and up the Hoh River Valley, which has been heavily logged. We turned east on Upper Hoh Road, and the walls of the Hoh Valley grew steeper around us. Shortly after reentering the park’s main section, the forest got denser and more otherworldly. The road twisted and turned along the river to our right.

We stopped to have a look at one of the largest Sitka spruces in the United States: over 270 feet tall and over 500 years old.

Image: Kathrin Russette
(more…)
Olympic National Park: Quinault Rain Forest

The three of us spent two fun days exploring Portland from Powell’s Books to the Hawthorne District to food cart pods. Saturday morning, April 28, we returned to Seattle via the Olympic Peninsula. We rose early to get a head start on the three hour drive to the first, and southernmost, section of the park areas we wanted to see: Lake Quinault and the Quinault Rain Forest.
(more…)
Joshua Tree National Park: Hiking to 49 Palms Oasis

The access road to the 49 Palms Canyon Trail is directly off of the Twentynine Palms Highway. It is one of a cluster of park features that are accessed from the north via special roads and entrance stations.

The trail leads into a steep canyon to the 49 Palms Oasis, a natural oasis caused by water seeping up through the earth creating habitat for native California fan palms and other plant life. The hike is a three-mile roundtrip with a vertical change of about 350 feet.
(more…)
Joshua Tree National Park: Arch Rock and After

After our sunrise visit to Cholla Garden and Ocotillo Patch, we headed back up Pinto Basin Road through Wilson Canyon, leaving the Sonoran behind and climbing into the Mohave.

We pulled into White Tank Campground, trying to make our way slowly and quietly so as not to disturb the car campers. We parked at the trailhead for Arch Rock Nature Trail, a short, .3-mile trail through a spectacular jumble of formations.
(more…)
Joshua Tree National Park: In Hidden Valley

Hidden valley lies near the heart of the Mohave Desert section of Joshua Tree National Park. If a visitor had only a couple hours to spend in the park, the mile-long nature trail here would be a great choice.

The small “valley” is actually an area virtually surrounded by the park’s famous granite formations. It had been used in the previous century as a natural holding pen for rustled cattle, but in the months before Joshua Tree National Monument was established in 1936, longtime area resident, Bill Keys, dynamited an access path into the valley.

(more…)
Isle Royale National Park: To Scoville Point

Scoville Point is the northeast tip of the peninsula ridge that houses Rock Harbor Lodge and visitor center. It is at the end of the 4.2-mile loop of Stoll Trail. We set out with little more than water for an afternoon hike there and back.

(more…)
Isle Royale National Park: Climbing Mount Ojibway

There was only a sprinkle of rain overnight, enough to make the rain cover useful, but by morning the sky was clear.

We breakfasted on strong coffee and dehydrated eggs, which were not my particular favorite. Phil was still feeling poorly, so he decided that he wouldn’t be joining us on our day hike up Mount Ojibway, at 1,133 feet, the highest point on the northeast side of the island.

(more…)