One Word Describes Yosemite

(2025 Wild West Wander Ep 9)

Yosemite’s natural beauty can be found in things big and small, from towering granite cliffs and giant sequoias to diminutive wildflowers.

The words above are from the National Park Service visitor handout. They capture the essence of Yosemite, a special place like none other. Multiple WOW moments left us with an appreciation of God’s magnificent creation, of the natural forces that shape the landscape and of the foresight of those who preserved Yosemite for us and future generations.

The WOW Moments Took Some Getting There

Our son, Phil, joined us for a couple days.

We drove a half hour from where we were staying in nearby Groveland to the park entrance and another 20 minutes or so to the Yosemite Valley. The valley is seven miles long and a mile wide, surrounded by 3000-foot walls and high granite summits such as Half Dome and El Capitan.

We hiked to see a nice reflection of Mt Watkins on Mirror Lake

Tall Falls

Our son, Phil, poses with us near the base of Yosemite Falls

Our first WOW moment came as we approached Yosemite Falls. The falls three-tiered plunge of 2425 feet are the tallest waterfall in North America. As we posed for a photo in front of the lower falls, I recollected our 2001 family visit to Yosemite and Phil’s scramble up the rocks at the base of the falls for a memorable photo. Times change and you can’t scramble up the rocks anymore, but the falls are still breathtaking.

Phil at the base of Yosemite Falls in 2001

Brave Climbers on El Capitan

Further along, we stood near the base of El Capitan and watched climbers ascend the 3000-foot-high granite monolith. The world-famous location is frequented by big wall climbers who choose from dozens of routes up the rock face. Although most climbers use aids like steel anchors and ropes for their ascent, a few have free climbed El Capitan, an amazing feat of skill, endurance and bravery.

Climbers on El Capitan could hardly be seen

Pat zoomed on these brave climbers making their way up the rock face

A Safer Climb to Vernal Falls

The Mist Trail leads to Vernal and Nevada Falls

That afternoon we hiked a steep trail to the Vernal Falls Footbridge. Phil and I continued up the Mist Trail and after climbing hundreds of steep granite steps we came to a vantage point near the base of 317-foot Vernal Falls. The view was amazing – a great payoff on the trail that we would rate five-out-of-five boots.

Phil and I stopped for a photo in front of Vernal Falls

The trail continued to Nevada Falls, nearly twice as high as Vernal Falls. Phil and I had already ascended more than 700 feet and the trail ahead was wet and slippery, so we decided to carefully make our way back down the wet granite steps and steep trail back to the parking lot.

Family portrait with Yosemite Falls in the background

A View Like None Other

The next morning, we skipped the valley and instead drove the steep, winding road to Glacier Point. We had another WOW moment as we viewed the broad landscape of snow-covered Sierra Nevada Mountains, several waterfalls including Vernal and Nevada falls, and Yosemite Valley 3000 feet below. We could also see ant-sized climbers on Half Dome, another well-known granite monolith across the valley.

Spectacular view from Glacier Point: Half Dome, the Sierras, and Vernal/Nevada Falls

The line of ***ants*** above are climbers ascending Half Dome!

Phil, Liz and I viewed Half Dome at sunset from Glacier Point in 2001

Near Glacier Point red ***snow plants*** sprouted in the shaded areas – these unusual wildflowers lack chlorophyll and feed on underground fungi instead

More Big Trees

From Glacier Point, we continued to Mariposa Sequoia Grove where we hiked a short trail to see the Grizzly Giant and California Tunnel Tree, two of Yosemite’s famed sequoias. The Grizzly Giant is 210-feet tall with a circumference of 92 feet. It’s the 25^th largest tree in the world. The massive tree is between 1900-2400 years old – the oldest tree in the grove.

Grizzly Giant, a sequoia in Yosemite’s Mariposa Grove

A short distance away, we walked through the Tunnel Tree. An auto-sized hole was carved at the base of the tree in 1895 and it functioned as a drive-thru attraction until 1932. The hole is definitely too narrow for our truck!

Percy wouldn’t fit through Yosemite’s Tunnel Tree

We also visited Hetch Hetchy Valley, a remote area in Yosemite where a reservoir stores San Francisco’s drinking water; there is a waterfall at the far side of the lake

A Final WOW Moment

As we returned to Groveland, we had our final WOW moment when we emerged from the nearly mile-long Wawona Tunnel. We stopped to experience one of the most famous views of Yosemite Valley that showcases El Capitan, Half Dome, Sentinel Rock and Bridalveil Fall.

Yosemite Valley from Tunnel View Overlook

Our visit to Yosemite came to a close as we passed through the high country of Yosemite. We stopped at Olmstead Point to get another view of Half Dome and then crossed the eastern Sierras via Tioga Pass. At 9945 feet, Tioga is the highest mountain pass in California. Although some years the road doesn’t open until June due to deep snow, we were glad it opened earlier in May and that most of the snow was gone.

The backside of Half Dome from Olmstead Point

Planning to Visit Yosemite?

Yosemite’s amazing splendor makes it a VERY popular destination.

No campsites were available in the park when we tried to reserve in March and the park was somewhat crowded during our visit in mid-May. Summer crowds often result in long waits to enter the park and to visit the various places mentioned in this episode.

We recommend parking as quickly as possible after entering the valley and using free bus transportation provided by the park service to get to the various valley destinations.

Better yet, visiting earlier in the spring or later in the fall may also help, although some services may be closed for the season.

Next Two Weeks

Cold weather catches up with us in northern California as we follow several interesting RabbiTRAILS on the way to the Sawtooth Mountains in Idaho. It will take two episodes to share our wanderings.

Amazing Trees and Views that Please

Featured

(2025 Wild West Wander Ep 8)

Smiles as we enter Sequoia National Park

As the California Condor flies, it is about 30 miles from Alabama Hills to Sequoia National Park. Percy and Pap (and other land vehicles) can’t fly unfortunately and must detour nearly 275 miles around the Sierra Nevada Mountains.

Thus began our five-day visit to Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks.

Limited Choices and Hot Camping

When making our camping reservations back in January, we learned all but two of the campgrounds in the parks are closed until late May or later in the summer. Sierra Nevada winters are long and the campgrounds are snowed in until late spring some years.

At Potwisha Campground near Sequoia, summer had already arrived. It was 90+ degrees on our first two days so we ate dinner outside. Fortunately, it cooled once the sun set and sleeping was comfortable. Temps moderated on our third day and remained pleasant for the reminder of our visit.

Getting There Was NOT Half of the Fun

Sequoia is known, of course, for its groves of magnificent sequoia trees. Potwisha has an elevation of 2100 feet and the sequoia groves are at about 6000 feet. Connecting the two is a tortuous 16-mile road that is very steep with dozens of very sharp turns and numerous switchbacks. The drive takes nearly an hour.

We left Pap at the campground for our first two days. When we left for Kings Canyon on the third day via the same route, we had to stop midway to let our truck’s transmission cool.

Enough of driving challenges – on to the BIG trees!

Biggest of the Big

Our first hike in Sequoia NP was a half mile downhill walk to the General Sherman Tree.

A few other Sequoias are bigger around. Some are taller. Others are older. But no other tree in the world has more wood in its trunk than the General Sherman Tree. The tree is estimated to have a volume of 52,500 cubic feet – enough wood to build 200 medium-sized homes!

Our children, Liz and Phil, at the base of the General Sherman Tree in 2001

We stood back to take in the whole tree and admired the nearly football field height (275 feet) of the tree.

The tree is estimated to be 2200 years old. Like other mature Sequoias, the top is dead and the tree doesn’t get taller. Instead, each year the trunk grows wider. The girth of this massive tree at ground level is 103 feet!

We waited in line closer to the tree for a photo. A six-foot-tall human looking up at the General Sherman tree is like a mouse looking up at a six-foot human – an interesting perspective indeed.

Perspective of 5-foot, 4-inch Pat beneath a tall sequoia tree

Like photos of redwoods or skyscrapers, those of General Sherman and other sequoias don’t give a good sense of the size of the trees.

More Big Trees

The Congress Trail continues more than a mile beyond the Sherman Tree as it passes by dozens of sequoias. We ate lunch while viewing two groups of the trees, labeled appropriately as the House and the Senate. This is a must-do five-out-of-five boot hike.

An immense sequoia cross section at the end of the trail tells a story: the tree was about 2210 years old and experienced at least 80 different fires hot enough to leave a scar. Mature sequoias live quite well despite large fire scars. Thick, fibrous bark on the trees provides insulation and holds little sap or pitch that is flammable.

Sequoia tree bark is several inches thick and protects the tree from fire

Saving the Sequoias

Sequoia NP was formed in 1890 to protect Sequoia Trees from the imminent threat of logging. In more recent years, development in the groves was also deemed to be a threat. At the grove near Round Meadow, a restaurant, campground, dozens of cabins, utilities, roads crowded the sequoias. The park service began removing these in the 1990s and the last building was removed in 1999. Today there is no sign of the past development in the grove.

No signs of development in the Round Meadow grove

We’re standing in the footprint of **Ed by Ne**d, two intertwined sequoias whose combined base was 34 feet long and 25 feet wide, big enough for a swimming pool

Moro Rock – Above It All

On our second day we climbed 350 steps to the top of Moro Rock. Handrails and resting places made the climb easier and the view from the top of the 6725-foot granite dome was amazing. To the east were the snow-covered peaks of the Sierra Nevada Mountains. To the west, the California coastal range seen on clear days was not visible due to haze.

This is another must-do five-out-of-five boot trail at Sequoia NP.

View of the Sierra Nevada Mountains from the top of Moro Rock

It was very windy at the top of Moro Rock – I held onto my hat!

Nada Means NADA!

Leaving Moro Rock, we passed by Tunnel Log.

When a sequoia fell across the road in 1937, a CCC worker suggested cutting a tunnel through the 275-foot long, 21-foot-high tree. The result was a cutout 17 feet wide and 8 feet tall, big enough to drive a car through.

Percy perhaps?

Recalling our experience driving through a rail tunnel in Kentucky during our travels in 2025, I listened to Pat’s NADA this time and took the bypass around the tunnel instead.

You can’t drive on the Auto Log unless you use CHATGPT

We also passed by the Auto Log tree. Many vehicles have been photographed on the unusual and unique driveway on the top of a sequoia that fell in 1917.

Kings Canyon

Kings Canyon NP adjoins Sequoia NP and we drove 30 miles west where we camped near the Grant Grove.

The General Grant Tree is the star of the grove. Second largest in the world by volume, the 268-foot-tall tree is the widest known sequoia with a diameter of 40 feet and circumference of 107 feet, more than General Sherman Tree.

Deep Canyon Drive to Road’s End

We drove the 29-mile road through King’s Canyon to Road’s End, the starting point of numerous wilderness hiking trails into the Sierra Nevada Mountains. We had spectacular views of the glacier-carved canyon that is over a mile deep, rivaling the Grand Canyon in depth.

Next Week

Our son, Phil, joins us for a visit to Yosemite National Park.

Hottest, Driest, Lowest

Featured

(2026 Wild West Wander Ep 6)

At more than 3.3 million acres, Death Valley is the largest national park in the contiguous US, larger than Yellowstone, Big Bend and Everglades national parks. Our three-day visit to the park gave us ample time to see various historic and geologic exhibits, visit better known areas like Furnace Creek and Stovepipe Wells, and hike several trails.

How Death Valley Got Its Name

In 1849-1850, a group bound for the California gold fields became lost as they crossed the valley. They feared they would perish in the harsh, unforgiving environment When they finally left the valley crossing mountains to the west, one of the pioneers said ‘goodbye, Death Valley.’ The name stuck!

Death Valley is an area of remarkable extremes.

Lowest

At 282 feet BELOW sea level, Death Valley’s Badwater Basin is North America’s lowest point.

Salt flat panorama taken at Badwater Basin

Zoom in on the red circle above – the SEA LEVEL sign is a long way up the mountain

We walked on the eye-numbing white salt flat that extends several miles to the Panamint Mountains to the west. Death Valley salt flats cover nearly 200 square miles.

Hottest

Death Valley is known for its extreme temperatures.

In 1913, temperatures reached a staggering 134°F – the hottest on earth and still the record.

In 2024, temperatures were over 120°F on 37 days and there were nine consecutive days where they did not get below 100°F.

Hot temps were forecast from May 8-12, the week after our visit

We were fortunate – the highs approached 100°F on two days of our visit and 85°F during our last day. Highs for the week after our visit were forecast to be between 106°F and 114°F!

Driest

Death Valley is also very dry, with an annual average rainfall of 2.15 inches.

When it does rain, the results can be devastating. In 2023, parts of the valley had 2.2 inches of rain IN ONE DAY causing flooding and road damage throughout the park.

The effects of water were very evident during a couple of our early morning hikes.

Mosaic Canyon

Elsewhere on the trail one can see and touch the colorful rock mosaic

We hiked two miles up Mosaic Canyon passing through eroded canyon narrows with polished marble walls and colorful mosaics of conglomerated rocks,

We met three women from California and when we told them about our travels and RabbiTRAILS blog, they asked to take a photo with us. We felt like celebrities.

Posing with friends met on the Mosaic Trail – we were RabbiTRAILS celebrities

We left the ladies as they discussed whether they would scramble up a 15-foot rockfall to continue the trail, and began our return to the start of the trail.

Mosaic Canyon is a mostly easy four-out-of-five boot trail. Start early in the day and bring lots of water.

Dante’s View

As the day got hotter, we drove to Dante’s View, where Badwater Basin was visible 5700 feet below. The view was amazing and it was nearly 20 degrees cooler!

Death Valley salt flats cover more than 200 square miles

Red Cathedral Scramble

We scrambled through narrow passages to get to the Red Cathedral

We started early the next morning to hike up Golden Canyon to the Red Cathedral. To reach the base of famous red colored amphitheater, we had to squeeze between, crawl over and duck under a number of large boulders.

The 3.3-mile trail was beautiful, challenging and fun – a Death Valley must-do hike that we would rate five-out-of-five boots!

Harmony Borax Works

Death Valley is associated with images of 20-mule-teams transporting massive wagons of borax across the valley, primarily due to long running radio and television series that featured true stories of the American old west.

At the historic site of Harmony Borax Works, processing equipment and a double borax wagon are displayed. When in full operation, 40 men produced three tons of borax daily. More than 20 million pounds of ore were transported 165 miles to a railhead in Mojave, CA, a ten-day trip across the barren and hostile wilderness. Processing at the location ended in 1888, after only five years.

Borax is a multi-purpose cleaner used in laundry detergent and a number of industrial processes.

Salt Creek

Salt Creek bubbles up and flows across the valley floor not far from the Harmony location. A half mile boardwalk follows the stream where the saline water starts its flow and eventually disappears as it soaks into the desert floor.

Pupfish like this one only live in Salt Creek. To survive, they must stay close to the creek’s source because the creek shrinks during the hot summer

The stars of the walk are pupfish. Thousands of the one-to-two-inch-long fish dart in and out of underwater vegetation. The endangered fish have adapted to live in the creek, which has a salt concentration several times that of sea water.

Other Death Valley Views

At Devils Golf Course, crystallized salts cover chunks of the valley floor

Colorful rock layers can be seen along the 9-mile-long Artists Drive

The Ubehebe Crater at the northern part of the park was formed about 2000 years ago when rising magma came into contact with groundwater, resulting in a steam and gas explosion that left a half-mile wide and 770 feet deep crater

Next Week

We boondock in a rugged location where more than 400 movies have been made.

Happy Cows and Race Boats

Featured

(2026 Wild West Wander Ep 5)

(This week I behaved myself: no border crossing dramas and my hat has stayed on my head. Who knows what future RabbiTRAILS will bring! Ed)

Sky Islands

There’s a term we learned as we journeyed across New Mexico and Arizona – sky islands. Sky Islands are isolated mountain ranges that rise up from the surrounding desert landscape. Because of their isolation, sky islands can have unique plants and animals.

Chiricahua (pronounced cheery-cow-a) is one such sky island in southern Arizona, close to the New Mexico border.

Our travels took us to both sides of the happy cow mountain range.

We stopped at the ranger station surrounded by the scenic mountains of Cave Creek Canyon

The Elusive Trogons of Cave Creek Canyon

On the east side of the range campsites weren’t available. We boondocked nearby on the side of a small creek near Cave Creek Canyon. We were totally off-grid where it was peaceful and quiet, except for the occasional vehicle passing by on the bumpy and very dusty dirt road.

The area is popular with birders – this is why the campground was full. Birders are persons who enjoy seeing, hearing and identifying their feathered friends.

An older bearded gentleman told us birders were at the canyon to spot elegant trogons, 12-inch-long birds that migrate from Central America and Mexico. They have a red-orange chest and deep green back, and a very distinctive call – like the bark of a dog!

The elegant trogon is beautiful (Wikipedia)

As Pat and I hiked along mostly dry Cave Creek, we stopped and listened. Bark, bark, bark. We wondered if it was a trogon.

Two younger birders hiking by confirmed the call was indeed from a trogon. The four of us scoured the nearby trees and brush for several minutes with no success. Later, they told us they sighted both male and female trogons.

We extended our Cave Creek Canyon hike up the Burro Trail to a volcanic formation of red rocks – we’d give the seven-mile hike four out of five boots

BTW, if you have aspirations to become a birder or are just someone who enjoys birds in your back yard, Merlin is a phone app that can be used to identify birds not only by their appearance but also by their call.

Chiricahua National Monument

We circled the range and approached the Chiricahua Mountains from the west.

I was ahead on the winding trail, and Pat took this photo of me below

My photo of Pat looking upward at the same formation

The trail wound through the layered Echo Park pinnacles

We camped in Chiricahua National Monument and drove the seven-mile Bonita Canyon Scenic Drive to hike to amazing rock pinnacles. We descended nearly three miles on the Echo Canyon trail, where the formations have names like Echo Park and the Grottoes. We came up with our own names for some of the unnamed formations – Homer Simpson, the potato and the skull.

The Echo Canyon Trail is 3.5 miles long with a 550-foot elevation change and lots of great scenery. We rate it five out of five boots!

Chiricahua became a national monument in 1924 after being donated by a family whose parents from Sweden settled in the area in 1888. Their homestead, Faraway Ranch, is part of the monument.

There’s some talk about Chiricahua becoming a national park in the future – perhaps it will be #64.

We bought lunch from a food truck in Willcox, AZ, a town between the east and west sides of the Chiricahua Mountains. We were in search of a Sonora dog.

A Sonora dog is a grilled hot dog wrapped in bacon, topped with pinto beans, onions, tomatoes and mayonnaise, with a jalapeño on the side; it originated in Sonora, Mexico. The verdict? Delicious but the pepper was insanely HOT!

The next big rock in our itinerary is Death Valley National Park (next week’s episode). Enroute, we decided to explore the lower Colorado River.

Three Dams

There are three dams along the lower Colorado River.

The massive Hoover Dam between Arizona and Nevada (Wikipedia)

The 726-foot-tall Hoover Dam was completed in 1935. The well-known concrete arch-gravity dam generates electricity for millions of homes. Behind the dam is Lake Mead, the largest US reservoir. The lake is popular for recreation and provides water for 16 million people across the southwest. We toured the dam in 2001 with Liz and Phil, our children.

We visited the two other dams on the Colorado River as it flows between rugged mountain ranges.

Davis Dam is an embankment dam 70 miles downstream from the Hoover Dam. The dam is a huge pile of rocks and landfill more than a quarter mile wide and 200 feet tall. Lake Mohave backs up from the dam. The dam includes a large spillway where water is directed into hydroelectric generators.

Compared to the massive Hoover Dam, the Davis Dam was called “a dwarf – an ugly duckling of the dam family” when it was completed in 1951.

Parker Dam is between Arizona and Colorado

Parker Dam is 88 miles further down the Colorado River. Completed in 1938, the 320-foot-high concrete arch-gravity dam has the distinction of being the deepest dam in the world, with 235 feet of the dam built below the riverbed. 45-mile-long Lake Havasu backs up from the dam.

We visited Oatman, AZ as we traveled between the Parker and Davis dams; Oatman is an old mining town on Route 66 where burros roam freely

This burro found lunch in front of a store along a narrow street that runs through town

London Bridge in Arizona?

We camped several nights near Lake Havasu. The lake and town by the same name are popular recreation destinations.

The town has an interesting distinction – the London Bridge!

The REAL London Bridge in Lake Havasu, AZ complete with a British phone booth

The London Bridge was moved in pieces from England and reconstructed on Lake Havasu in 1971.

Crowds and Fast Boats

The waterways were crowded near the London Bridge during the Desert Storm boat parade

Boats in the boat parade included a number of powerful ‘cigarette’ boats

Traffic and crowds were very heavy as we drove into the town.

After parking near the London Bridge, we asked a bystander why so many people were at the waterfront. They said a boat parade was about to begin.

Dozens of large, high-powered boats rumbled under the London Bridge. Smaller boats paraded by as well. From time-to-time prop planes trailing smoke and helicopters flew overhead.

The parade was part of Desert Storm, one of the largest performance boating events in the western US.

We camped in Kershaw-Ryan State Park for several nights before continuing to Death Valley and hiked to the top of a canyon; the view from the four-out-of-five boot trail was beautiful

This gnarly horned toad crossed our path

Next Week

Death Valley Days

Crazy Things Ed Does While Pat Watches!

Featured

(2026 Wild West Wander Ep 4)

Our Wild West Wandering continued early on a Sunday morning as we began the long drive to Guadalupe Mountains National Park in far west Texas. We were thankful for Ed’s successful return from Mexico and for the pleasant temperatures while we were dry camping in Big Bend. We even had a couple heavy rain showers the evening before we left.

Marfa, Home of Mystery Lights and More

Our route took us past Marfa, TX, a remote and rather interesting west Texas town.

A few miles outside of town there is a rest stop and viewing area for the Marfa lights. The lights, visible on many clear nights across the Chihuahuan Desert near Marfa, appear in various colors as they move about, split apart, melt together, disappear and reappear.

^{Photos of Marfa lights (Google)}

The Apache believed the lights were stars dropping to the earth. In 1883, a young cowboy reported seeing them, thinking they might be campfires. Since then, there have been many speculations – UFOs, ranch house lights, vehicle headlights, St Elmo’s fire, and so on. The lights mystery remains unsolved.

Our arrival was in the morning, so the only light we saw was from the sun. Perhaps we’ll do a nighttime visit on a future trip.

Marfa, although a very small town, is known for its arts community and several renowned restaurants. There are galleries, murals and artwork throughout the town and on highways approaching the town.

Standup murals on the edge of town depict several famous western movies

Another Marfa art creation is made from shipping containers…helped by a tornado, perhaps?

About 40 miles west of Marfa (we thought it was in town) there is a Prada store. Similar to world’s smallest Buc-ees we came across east of Marfa (No Gas Pumps. No Brisket. Buc-ees?), the small building, containing shoes, handbags and other items, is an art project modeled after a Prada boutique. It doesn’t function as a place of commerce – the front door can’t be opened.

Reflections in the Prada Store window west of Marfa

Space, The Final Frontier

That afternoon we spotted a cluster of buildings several miles to the east. A highway sign indicated it was the Blue Origin launch facility, where Amazon’s New Shepard rockets are launched to the edge of space. From this location, William Shatner, Jeff Bezos, Katy Perry and others have been launched for a 66-mile-high view of earth.

Blue Origin’s remote launch facilities near Van Horn, Texas

Guadalupe Mountains National Park

Looming ahead was Guadalupe Mountain, an 8751-foot-high peak that is part of a mountain range that juts up from the west Texas flatlands.

Approaching Guadalupe Mountain NP from the south

From the national park campground, hikers are challenged with a strenuous nine-mile, 3000-foot elevation gain trail to the top of the peak. A neighbor of ours encouraged us to give the hike a try, but this trail was a bit much for us.

Instead, we chose to hike the McKittrick Canyon Trail (shorter and much less elevation change) to Pratt Cabin. The stone cabin, built in the early 1930s by Wallace Pratt, and surrounding land, were donated in 1961. We were intrigued by the roof of the building – flat pieces of stone grouted together – and were appreciative of rocking chairs on the front porch, where we ate our lunch.

Hiking the McKittrick Canyon Trail in Guadalupe Mountains NP

Relaxing on the porch of Pratt Cabin before our return hike to the parking lot

Lots to See In Las Cruces, NM

In west Texas and near Las Cruces, NM there are huge groves of pecan trees. The trees are flooded so they flourish in the desert

A large roadrunner statue in an eastbound I-10 rest area near Las Cruces is made from recycled items

World’s largest Chile pepper (Ed added for scale). The 47-foot pepper is next to a Las Cruces hotel – the Big Chile Inn of course!

Evening view in the Rockhound State Park

New Mexico Rockhounds

Continuing west, we camped at Rockhound State Park, located on the rugged slopes of New Mexico’s Florida Mountains. Park visitors are encouraged to take home samples of rocks and minerals.

Pat transformed into a ‘rockhound’, complete with hand shovel, gloves, arm protectors and collection bag. We searched for agates, geodes, opals, jasper and other rocks amidst prickly pear clumps and desert bushes along the two trails in the park.

Pat had a great time searching for rocks

There is a variety of cacti throughout the park, many with colorful blooms

Gila Cliff Dwellings

The next day we drove north to Gila Cliff Dwellings National Monument. We followed a 25-mile winding road with views of the remote Gila Wilderness area to reach the park. It was established in 1907 by Theodore Roosevelt to protect prehistoric materials and culture of Mogollon people and others who inhabited the area.

A half mile trail leads to the dwellings that are tucked in caves in the sides of a cliff. Similar to cliff dwellings in Mesa Verde NP, one can walk along stone walls into various rooms and peer into other rooms via strategically placed ladders. There is even a storage area containing corn cobs more than 800 years old!

A view across the largest of the cliff dwellings

Pat descends a ladder from the largest of the dwellings

The dwellings, lived in by around 40 persons, are in excellent condition, with more than 80% of the original structures still intact. The Mogollon people moved from the dwellings around 1300 AD, possibly due to changes in the climate.

Hat Rescue

We descended a 20-foot ladder to the trail that would take us back to the parking lot. A sudden gust of wind blew off my hat and we watched it roll down the canyon side. It’s gone for good, we decided.

The arrow shows where my hat landed after being blown from my head

Fortunately, the hat landed on a ledge about 50 yards below us, not far from a steep dropoff to the canyon floor.

I resolved to rescue the hat. With nothing to reach or snag it, Pat anxiously watched as I passed by an area with loose stones and made my way down a gentle rockface just above the hat. I laid down on my back and after several minutes of scooting past cacti and large rocks, I finally reached the hat and safely tucked it into my shirt. Pat guided me as I scooted back up the rockface and finally stood on solid ground.

I carefully scooted back up the slope after rescuing my hat

Hat retrieved, I make my way back to safety

My hat (and I) live for another day!

Next Week

Happy cows and race boats.

Stranded in Mexico?

(2026 Wild West Wander Ep 3)

Our 2026 Wild West Wander continues with a three-day visit to Big Bend National Park.

Big Bend is remote, rugged and beautiful

There’s a border crossing to Mexico in the park. After eating lunch in Boquillas, a small Mexican town across the Rio Grande River, we returned to the US. At the US border control building, I handed the border agent our passports. He checked a computer screen and handed my passport back to me.

“Mr. Thompson, I am sorry you don’t have a valid US passport.”

Mild panic started to set in as I sat there. Would I be stranded in Mexico?

Find out below!

Big Bend Geography

Take a look at a Texas map. Big Bend National Park is located where the Rio Grande River makes a big U-turn through southwest Texas. On one side is the United States, on the other, Mexico. The headwaters of the Rio Grande are in Colorado, far from the river’s passage through Big Bend. We were surprised that not much of the river is from US sources because of irrigation, dams, agriculture, manufacturing and evaporation. The water in the river that one sees in the park is primarily from Mexico’s Rio Conchos.

Big Bend is remote, rugged and beautiful. The park is more than 80 miles south of Marathon, a small town that is remote itself. The highway takes you past Chihuahuan desert scrubs, prickly pear cactus clumps, and gangly ocotillo stands, with rugged mountains in the distance.

Windshield view of mountains on the way to Chisos Mountain Basin

We visited Big Bend in 1986 in a converted Chevrolet van, our first RV. Notice the mountains above are similar to those in the prior photo

After nearly two hours of driving, we continued up a winding, steep road to reach an area in the midst of the mountains, the Chisos Mountains Basin.

Pat and our daughter Liz eat dinner during our first visit to Big Bend in July 1986

The basin is a popular destination during the late spring and summer because the temps are noticeably cooler than those in the desert below. A lodge, restaurant, campground and great hiking trails are welcome amenities.

Before sunrise the next morning we arose to hike a challenging trail to the Window, a narrow, V-shaped area between the mountains that has a view of the desert below. Sunlight touched the tops of the mountains as we ate breakfast sandwiches prepared the night before. After admiring the view for a few minutes, we began the steep hike back to the campground.

The sun touched the mountain tops as we descended to the Window

Posing at the Window, with the desert far below us

We took a short side trail to get a broader view of the desert and saw four Aoudads (Barbary sheep) across the canyon. Later that day, a ranger told us that Aoudads were introduced to area game ranches in recent years and are now being removed because they are considered to be an invasive species.

Two Canyons

On the western side of the park the Rio Grande flows through Santa Elena Canyon, an impressive limestone gorge with 1500-foot walls. We hiked into the gorge where it is was shaded and cool. People were wading across the river and touching the walls on the other side, thus becoming impromptu visitors to Mexico.

Further into the Santa Elena Canyon hikers waded across the Rio Grande

At the opposite side of Big Bend, the river exits through another limestone chasm, Boquillas Canyon.

Souvenirs from Mexico along the trail to Boquillas Canyon

Along the trail to the canyon there were assortments of Mexican souvenirs, each with locked cashboxes for payment. Nearby Park Service signs warn that visitors could be fined if they purchase the illegal trailside items!

Wild horses cross the Rio Grande to Mexico

Nearing the gorge, we watched a chestnut mare and her white colt graze on underwater grasses. They waded across the river to a beach on the Mexican side and we wondered about their country of citizenship.

Javelina in the Rio Grande Village campground

That evening we camped near Boquillas Canyon in the Rio Grande Village. As we ate dinner (inside Pap), nearly a dozen javelina wandered about nearby. We read they can be ferocious, but these wild pigs seemed at ease among the tents and RVs.

A large number of dinosaur bones have been found in Big Bend and are on display

Cast of Alamosaurus femur found in Big Bend – the long-necked, plant-eating dinosaur was up to 80 feet long and weighed up to 65,000 pounds!

Lunch in Mexico

Like dozens of Big Bend visitors each day, we walked from the US border control building to the Rio Grande. A young Mexican man walked us across the river in less than five minutes.

We were in Mexico!

Boquillas, our lunch destination, is a small town about a half mile up a dusty dirt road from the river. While others ride burros or horses into town, we chose to walk.

Some visitors ride burros into Boquillas – we walked

Christian, a Mexican boy in fifth grade, was our guide to Boquillas. He spoke no English and we only knew a few Spanish words

At Boquillas Restaurant, one of two restaurants in the small town, we sat with a couple from Arkansas where we shared our mutual travel experiences. Lunch was tortilla chips, salsa and amazing guacamole, and a combo plate that included carnitas tacos.

Carnitas? Goat, of course.

We ate lunch on the front porch of Boquillas Restaurant

Marvelous chips, salsa and fresh guacamole (with jalapenos on the side)

After lunch we browsed several souvenir stands along the dusty street and made our way back to the river crossing.

Stranded in Mexico?

Back at the US border control building, we learned my passport had expired. We wondered and prayed about the outcome.

Would I have to return to Mexico? Send Pat home to get my valid passport? Pay a big fine? Something else?

After the border agent helped several others reenter the US, he made a call and then had me enter information about myself on his computer. He submitted the information and we waited several tense minutes for an outcome.

My US return was approved! We breathed huge sighs of relief and praised God as we were welcomed back to the US.

(Before leaving on our Wild West Wander, I retrieved the two passports on top of the other items in our safe deposit box. Somewhere further down is my valid passport. We resolved to VERY carefully check passports and other documentation before future trips)

Next Week

We continue west to New Mexico. Pat searches for rocks and I retrieve a wayward hat in the shadows of an ancient cliff dwelling.

Mesa Nada

Featured

(2025 Balloons and Beyond Ep 12)

We left Black Canyon of the Gunnison bound for Mesa Verde, several hours away in southwest Colorado. Our route took us near Telluride, a former mining town that is now a popular tourist destination and ski resort, and across several mountain passes, where the Rocky Mountain fall colors were on full display.

Brief Reunion

Pat’s brother, James, met us for the night near Cortez, CO. We enjoyed dinner outdoors and compared our travel experiences since parting ways in Wyoming several weeks prior. He was returning to Florida after traveling further west in Wyoming and Idaho.

The day ended with a beautiful fiery sunset over the San Juan Mountains.

Pat’s brother, James, met us as he returned to Florida

Green Table

At Mesa Verde National Park the next morning, we stopped at the visitor center to check on tours of the park’s ancient cliff dwellings. The park rangers were unsure how the US government shutdown would affect the three tours we booked during our stay. They said it was even possible we might have to leave the park.

The Mesa Verde entrance road zigzags up iconic Point Lookout on the way to the pueblos and cliff dwellings

While setting up at the national park campground, we took Pap off Percy. We often do this when staying two or more nights as it is easier to maneuver and park the truck without its piggyback friend. The gas mileage also is much better.

It takes fewer than 15 minutes to lower Pap’s four side legs so the camper is above the truck bed, drive the truck from beneath the camper and then lower it about halfway to the ground onto four screw jacks. In case you were wondering, putting Pap back onto Percy takes about 30 minutes.

That evening we drove the 15-mile narrow and winding road to the mesa top and cliff dwelling areas. From the park’s highest point, we could see how Mesa Verde got its name. Ahead of us was a relatively flat expanse covered with green pinyon pines and junipers. It looked like a green table – translated to Mesa Verde in Spanish.

Square Tower House, is a four story, 27-foot-tall structure surrounded by 24 rooms

We viewed the Spruce Tree House and Square Tower House cliff dwellings from the mesa top and wondered, like many visitors, about the ancient Puebloans that built and lived in the structures. How did they get from the mesa tops and canyon valleys to the dwellings? Where did they get water and food? Why was the area abandoned around 700 years ago?

We hoped to learn answers to these and other questions during the tours.

Mesa Nada

Unfortunately, the tours were not to be.

We rose the next morning before sunrise and drove to the meeting location of the Square Tower House tour. Almost there, we were stopped by a gate with road closed signs. We learned the US government had indeed shut down. All of the Mesa Verde’s historic sites were closed and our tours were cancelled.

From past travels we’ve learned that changed plans often yield unexpected surprises and blessings.

We were thrilled to see lots of mule deer and four black bears in the campground area.

A couple of the many mule deer near the campground

A mama black bear and her two cubs seen on an early morning drive

Later, we hiked to the top of Point Lookout, the iconic geological formation that towers above the park entrance. From the point, we were rewarded with views of the distant San Juan Mountains and valleys below.

Climbing the steep and rocky trail to Point Lookout

View of valley and distant mountains from Point Lookout – we were right on the edge!

Answers to the questions above?

Most of the pueblos and cliff dwellings started around 600 AD were abandoned by 1300 AD following prolonged drought and social upheavals. The residents subsisted by growing maize on the mesa tops and by hunting. Narrow, steep trails connected the pueblos and cliff dwellings to the mesa top and sources of water.

Perhaps we’ll learn more complete details during a future visit to Mesa Verde. That is, of course, if the US government isn’t shut down!

The original auto route to Mesa Verde’s mesa and cliff dwellings was described as a knife edge

Onward to the Balloon Fiesta

We left Mesa Verde a week before the Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta. We ate lunch in Farmington, a sizeable town in northern New Mexico with a HUGE Walmart, and continued southwest to a remote Harvest Host location.

Navajo Mission

The Navajo Brethren in Christ Mission ministers to Navajo communities

Numerous buildings and a small church are part of the Mission

Our stay at the Navajo Brethren in Christ Mission revealed various ways the mission reaches out to Navajo residents in the area. The mission offers food, clothing, education assistance and the hope of Christ through their church ministry and fellowship programs. We camped a quarter mile from the Mission where the quiet sagebrush and cactus covered camping area was interrupted by passing water trucks, squeaking oil well grasshoppers and mooing cows.

Cows and oil wells from our remote campsite

Abiquiu and the Georgia O’Keefe Connection

Our travels continued.

We camped several nights at a Corps of Engineers dam near Abiquiu, NM. Our campsite had a great view of the Abiquiu Reservoir and the red rock canyons and mountains in the distance.

Abiquiu Reservoir and distant red rock canyons and mountains

Abiquiu is best known for its connection with artist Georgia O’Keefe, where she had a home and studio. Her work was inspired by colorful and dramatic landscapes in the area that include the Abiquiu Reservoir and Ghost Ranch, a nearby education and retreat center.

My Front Yard Summer by Georgia O’Keefe (1941) captures the beautiful landscapes near Abiquiu

We hiked to a beautiful lookout overlooking Ghost Ranch. The flat top mountain in the background is in the painting above

A daunting reminder of the wilderness around Ghost Ranch

Ghost Ranch locations have been used in many movies including City Slickers (1991), Cowboys vs Aliens (2011) and Oppenheimer (2024). This cabin was used in City Slickers.

Santa Fe and Meow Wolf

Our final night before the Balloon Fiesta was in Santa Fe (click to see RabbiTRAILS Ep 6 / Ep 7 / Ep 8). During prior visits we walked around the historic downtown square and toured nearby Los Alamos and Bandolier National Monument. We’ll save those for future RabbiTRAILS blogs should we visit again.

Meow Wolf is an unusual attraction in Santa Fe

This time, however, we wanted to visit Meow Wolf, an unusual attraction formed in 2008 as part of an art collective of more than 135 local artists. The venue is a 20,000 square foot immersive art experience, where visitors wander through dozens of rooms and secret passages, attempting to unravel the mysterious disappearance of a family that experimented with interdimensional travel to bring back a deceased family member. (crazy, huh!)

Meow Wolf can be described as a combination of huge escape room and Disney Imagineering. It has been replicated in Las Vegas, Dallas, Houston and Denver. Each location has a distinct theme and narrative.

We weren’t quite sure about the meaning of this and several other rooms

Pat prepares to go through the refrigerator portal to another room. There were also fireplace and dryer portals.

An interesting robot in the Meow Wolf parking lot

Next Week

From Santa Fe’s immersive Meow Wolf experience and Albuquerque’s colorful Balloon Fiesta, our route turns eastward to six state parks in Texas. As we cross the Lone Star State, the RabbiTRAILS vary from deep canyons to mountaintop telescopes to big thicket swamps. And one with a creepy tarantula that crossed our path just before sunset!

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Deep, Dark and Stark

Featured

(2025 Balloons and Beyond Ep 11)

As September came to a close, we left Great Sand Dunes National Park and the Colorado alligators for Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park, a lesser-known national park about a half day’s drive away.

Lots of 5 Bs BBQ – we split a lunch special

We stopped in Gunnison, CO to resupply and to refuel Percy. Lunch was at 5 Bs BBQ, named for members of the Brown family who started a Gunnison catering business in 1991, expanded to a food trailer, moved into a gas station and settled into their current building in 2022. Their restaurant story is as great as the Q they serve!

Tummies, truck and pantry full, we discovered our route through town was blocked off for a high school homecoming parade. After a quick detour, we were back on the road.

Crawford Camping

We endured more than 30 miles of winding highway and finally arrived at Crawford State Park, our campsite for the next three nights while we explored Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park.

Colorado’s Big Four

Utah’s big five national parks are on many travelers’ bucket lists. Zion, Bryce Canyon, Capitol Reef, Arches and Canyonlands are not to be missed!

Colorado has its own bucket list combination of four national parks that are more diverse than those in Utah: Rocky Mountain, with incredible views at the top of the Rocky Mountains, Great Sand Dunes, with the tallest dunes in North America, Mesa Verde, the location of antient Puebloan cliff dwellings, and Black Canyon of the Gunnison, where the Gunnison River has carved a deep and narrow slit in the earth.

North Rim of the Black Canyon

We visited the remote north rim of the canyon, a dozen miles from the campground. The clear and cool weather couldn’t have been any better as we undertook a 3.2-mile round trip hike to Exclamation Point.

Starting at the ranger station, our first view of the canyon came after hiking about a half mile along the mostly level trail. The trail continued along side arms of the main canyon. We finally reached a viewpoint where we could see the Gunnison River, a tiny ribbon nearly 2000 feet below!

Full canyon view with the Gunnison River far below

Fourteen of the canyon’s 48 miles are located within the park. Varying from 1750 to 2700 feet in depth, the canyon has been carved by the Gunnison River as it falls an average of 95 feet per mile. No other canyon combines the depth, narrowness and sheerness of Black Canyon.

Trails to the bottom of the canyon, called wilderness routes, are steep, unmarked and unmaintained scrambles. We wisely continued hiking the trail at the top of the canyon.

After posing for a selfie at a sign pointing us to Exclamation Point, we continued to a broad rock outcropping where the rugged canyon was visible from three sides. We found shade under a pinyon pine and enjoyed the view as we ate our backpack lunch.

Black Canyon with the Gunnison River far below

The next morning, we returned to the park’s North Rim Road where several short trails took us to breathtaking views of the canyon. At one overlook we could see people, buses and cars on the south rim of the canyon, just .2 miles away!

Next Week

We travel to our fourth national park in Colorado, Mesa Verde NP, anticipating ranger-led tours of several cliff dwellings. Unfortunately, our plans had to change due to the US government shut down.

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Gators in Colorado?

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(2025 Balloons and Beyond Ep 10)

Buena Vista

Bad weather and early snows behind us, we continued south through central Colorado. We spent the night and did laundry in the small town of Buena Vista, where we were awed by incredible views of the Collegiate Peaks. Princeton, Yale and Harvard are three of fifteen 14ers (mountains over 14,000 feet) in the range across the valley.

We had a true Buena Vista (good view).

Alligators in Colorado?

The next morning, we drove Colorado route 17 southward toward the cutoff for Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve. To our left were the jagged peaks of the Sangre de Cristo mountains. We saw a brownish blur at the base of the mountains and realized it was the dunes – more than 30 miles away.

A road sign caught our attention, and we turned around for a closer look.

How could there be gators in Colorado? A tunnel from the Everglades? Holdovers from prehistoric times?

Nope.

The gator haven, located north of Alamosa, CO, started as a tilapia farm in 1977. In 1987, 100 one-year old gators were purchased to dispose of fish-processing waste. The fish (and gators) flourished in the 87-degree water from a 2050 foot deep geothermal well, and as the gators grew, visitors wanted to see them.

Gators in the snow (from Reptile Park website)

The farm, now the Colorado Gators Reptile Park, was opened to the public in 1990 and has become a home of unwanted, abused and even dangerous gators and other reptiles.

Great Sand Dunes

An hour or so later we arrived at Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve.

From our campsite we could see the dunes, the tallest sand dunes in North America, some as high as 750 feet!

The dunes were formed from sediments from surrounding mountains blown by southwest winds toward the base of the Sangre de Cristo mountains. The dunefield is approximately 30 square miles in size!

We started our dune hike along the top of a ridge

The next morning we hiked a half mile to the dunes. In the spring and early summer, the Medano Creek flows along the base of the dunes and visitors must wade across the shallow creek to reach the dunes. It was late September during our visit, and the sandy creek bed was dry as we began our hike.

We hiked up several ridges and spotted tiny Pap and Percy far off in the campground. As we topped each dune, still higher dunes appeared. People above us were making their way to the top.

Although we had climbed nearly 300 feet, it was still a long way to the top

During a visit to the park in 2004, our son, Phil, took some beautiful pictures from the top of the dunes. The dunes are best photographed in the early morning and late afternoon when the shadows make the dunes stand out from the tall mountains beyond.

A photo from the top of the dunes taken by our son, Phil. in 2004

Viva Zapata!

A ranger at the visitor center recommended a nearby hike to Zapata Falls. The falls’ Spanish name refers to a settlement in the San Luis Valley started by Mexican families in 1864.

Wading the cold waters of South Zapata Creek

We hiked a half mile up a steep and rocky trail to South Zapata Creek. For the final 75 yards, we scrambled over rocks and waded through the VERY cold creek.

Taking a video of the rugged gorge and falls

The marvelous 30-foot falls are hidden in a narrow, shaded gorge.

We thought about how refreshing the falls must be on a hot summer day and how stunningly beautiful they must be when frozen during winter.

Our main concerns, however, were carefully hiking down the creek from the falls and thawing our feet when we changed from water shoes back to hiking boots.

Pat’s feet were pink from the VERY cold water

Happy to have warm feet as we returned to the parking lot

Next Week

We visit Black Canyon National Park, a deep and narrow gorge in central Colorado.

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October in August!

Featured

(2025 Balloons and Beyond Ep 1)

After enduring brutal summer heat in Florida, we left home on a rainy Saturday to visit family in Georgia. We often do this when we travel.

^{_{We enjoyed visits with Henry, Josh, Emilia and Liz, and with my sister, Kitty, and her husband, Mike.}}

Christmas in July. Breakfast for dinner. October in August?

Family visits behind us, we were surprised the next morning with brisk temps (50 degrees) as we camped in Cherokee National Forest near Knoxville, TN. We fired up Pap’s furnace, arose and cooked breakfast to begin the day. Out came our jackets!

From our remote campsite on the North River we moved to Indian Boundary Campground, just 16 miles away, for the next three nights. On the way, we stopped to enjoy Baby Falls and Bald River Falls, and later rode our bicycles around Indian Boundary Lake. We continued to wear jackets in the cool October in August weather!

Bald River Falls in Cherokee National Forest

Pick a Parkway

Perhaps you have driven the Blue Ridge Parkway, a 469-mile scenic highway that winds through the Appalachian Mountains in North Carolina and Virginia, or perhaps the Skyline Drive as it continues another 105 miles from the end of the Parkway through Shenandoah National Park, just 70 miles west of Washington DC.

How about the Cherohala Skyway? It connects Tellico Plains, TN and Robbinsville, NC through Cherokee NF in Tennessee and Nantahala NF in North Carolina. The 43-mile scenic road rises to more than a mile high with mountain vistas, numerous overlooks and sweeping curves popular with motorcycle riders! (it’s very close to the well-known Tail of the Dragon motorcycle route)

Pat views the small waterfall after our steep downhill descent

At one overlook, we hiked three miles to a small waterfall. Nearing the falls, we tightly held onto tree branches, roots and rocks as we descended the final quarter mile. We ate lunch to the sounds of rushing water and gave thanks for God’s wonderful creation!

Cades Cove

The next day we left for a two-day visit to Cades Cove in Great Smoky Mountains National Park. The Cove is known for its 11-mile loop road with historic homesites and churches, and diverse wildlife (see Critter Count below).

A misty early morning sunrise along the Cades Cove Loop Road

We have visited and camped at the Cove several times in the past, and although the loop road and campground were busy this time with Labor Day visitors, we enjoyed our two drives around the loop road.

^{A number of historic cabins and houses (above) and barns (below) can be toured in Cades Cove}

Critter Count

Deer – 8
Black bear – 2 (plus a couple other we just missed as evidenced by two bear jams)
Turkeys – 10
Glow worms (bioluminescent larvae of fungus gnats) – lots
(faintly glowing on the ground at North River Campground)

^{Deer and black bear were among the critters we saw in Cades Cove}

Next Week

Our travels continue to a deep and very ancient gorge, and we watch dinosaurs and sharks under the moonlight.