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.All Trips / Argentina / South America
Nowhere is a Place. Visiting Patgonia, 4) El Chalten, Argentina
Our next stop in Patagonia is the small town of El Chaltén in Argentina. This town rests in the rain shadow of the massive spires of the Patagonian Andes and is a dry, windy and cool place.
The region around El Chaltén is part of Los Glaciares National Park, a UNESCO World Heritage site, and is very remote. It is usually reached by taking the bus or driving from El Calafate some 220 km to the south, El Calafate itself a remote town which we’ve previously discussed here.
The town resides in a glaciated valley adjoining the Rio de las Vueltas. The most dramatic aspect of El Chaltén is the beautiful mountains that frame it to the west, including the amazingly steep and narrow spire …
Tagged adventure travel, Andes, El Chalten, Fitz Roy Massive, glacier, hiking, mountains, Patagonia, trekking
.All Trips / North America / Oregon / Pacific Northwest / Washington
The Amazing Columbia River Gorge!
One of the most scenic road trips anywhere in the world is on the Oregon side of the Gorge, on the Columbia River Highway (I-84), between Portland and the Dalles. Besides a smooth drive on the freeway, an excellent diversion here is to head up the old Historic Columbia River Highway, a narrow road that twists its way through the mountains and cliffs, past dozens of waterfalls, including the beautiful 620-foot (190 m) Multnomah Falls.
The Columbia River is one of North America’s longest, at 1200 miles (1930 km) long, starting in southeastern British Columbia, Canada. The Columbia River Gorge was carved by glacial floods (especially the Missoula Flood) thousands of years ago and is the only sea-level passage through the Cascade Mountain range. …
Tagged Cliffs, Columbia River, Columbia River Gorge, hiking, mountains, nature, waterfalls
.All Trips / Argentina / South America
Nowhere is a Place: Visiting Patagonia, 2) Laguna Nimez Nature Reserve, El Calafate, Argentina
My first Patagonian post was an introduction to the travel hub of El Calafate. Today’s post focuses on the town’s best attraction. Situated about a mile from downtown El Calafate, very close to the hotel we were staying at, Laguna Nimez Nature Reserve is a beautiful place worth exploring. It’s especially a prime stop for bird-lovers, but also offers a nice easy hike in a natural setting. The Reserve is situated at the edge of a great glacial lake, Lago Argentino, and adjoins a suburban neighborhood. It contains two lagoons, Laguna Nimez and Laguna Secundaria.
The Reserve is fenced off and you enter through a small visitor center where a modest admission fee is charged. Signage …
Tagged Andes, bird-watching, birds, El Calafate, flamingos, hiking, Laguna Nimez Nature Reserve
.All Trips / Central USA / Colorado / North America
Flatirons Vista Loop Hike, Boulder, Colorado
One of my favorite regions to hike is anywhere near the transition between the great Central Plains and the Rocky Mountains. The region offers opportunity to explore several ecosystems and to enjoy grand panoramic views of the mountains and a seemingly endless prairie, with relatively little effort due to the flatness of the plains.
Flatirons Vista Trail offers a hike that’s custom-tailored to the above description. It’s just south of the college city of Boulder, Colorado (where my youngest son is currently a postgrad in physics), immediately off Highway 93, and is a loop trail that offers great views of Boulder’s famous Flatirons. There’s lots of parking (for a fee for non-residents, so bring small bills with you). The trail is quite …
.All Trips / Alberta / Central Canada / North America
Hiking in Horseshoe Canyon; an introduction to Alberta’s Badlands
Most of the hikes I’ve featured on this blog are in Alberta’s Rocky Mountains, with good reason. The scenery in these mountains is truly spectacular, the altitude not overly taxing, and the long summer days are usually dry and sunny. But there’s a lot more to Alberta than its Rocky Mountains. Most of the province is actually composed of vast rolling prairies within which you’ll find limited regions known as “the Badlands”. The Badlands are one of the most unique ecosystems in Alberta, a mostly treeless environment that offers expansive and colorful vistas of eroded, banded mesas, buttes, and coulees.
The easiest place to explore the Badlands is at Horseshoe Canyon, just over an hour’s drive north of Calgary, near Drumheller, …
Tagged Alberta, badlands, fossils, hiking, Horseshoe Canyon
.All Trips / California / North America / Southwestern USA
Yosemite National Park: Hiking in the Mariposa Grove of Giant Sequoias
The state of California has some pretty remarkable scenery. Where else can you find the world’s …
Oldest trees (bristle-cone pines)
Tallest trees (redwoods)
Largest/most massive trees (sequoias)…
…but in California? I know it’s a rhetorical question, but there’s no area I know of that offers such variety.
As one might imagine, to walk in a grove of giant sequoias is a most memorable experience. If you’ve never felt small and insignificant in life, you likely will when you stand beside an ancient sequoia tree. The largest density of sequoia trees is in California’s Sequoia National Park, south of Yosemite, including the tree known as “General Sherman”, the world’s largest living thing. Yosemite National Park has two groves of …
.All Trips / Alberta / Central Canada / North America
Banff National Park: Hiking Tunnel Mountain
As summer is upon us, I thought I’d feature another walk from the Canadian Rockies, this one directly accessible from downtown Banff on a trail that’s been around almost as long as Banff itself has. The hike is up Tunnel Mountain, a misnamed place in that there is no tunnel and this “mountain” is really just a large hill when compared to the size and grandeur of the other Rocky Mountains peaks around it (it’s the smallest mountain by Banff, but definitely still a memorable peak). There are wonderful views to be enjoyed from much of the trail, reason enough to make this a worthwhile hike.
The original name given to this peak by the natives was “Sleeping Buffalo Mountain” (because the …
.All Trips / California / Southwestern USA
Crystal Cove State Park, Newport Beach, California
“They call it paradise, I don’t know why.
You call some place paradise, kiss it goodbye. ”
The Eagles
There’s a lot of great reasons to visit sunny Southern California. It has a near perfect Mediterranean climate with months of sunny dry days. There’s lots of fascinating sights to see, like those centered around the movie industry and the many family theme parks (Disneyland, Knott’s Berry Farm, Legoland). But you’ll certainly not find solitude here and there are very few “wide open spaces” left in the …
Tagged beach, California, Crystal Cove, hiking, Newport Beach, tidepools
