Backpacking Adventures

Canada

British Columbia

Strathcona Provincial Park - Beautiful Alpine scenery and hoards of mosquitoes can be found at this Vancouver Island park

New Zealand

Christchurch area

Mount Somers Conservation Area - Hut hiking in a Lord of the Rings Land. For a two-day hike, this one's tough to beat.

United States

California

Yosemite National Park - Lush meadows, sheer granite walls and snow-capped mountains; backpacking doesn’t get any better than this.

Arizona

Saguaro National Park East - Where else can you start hiking in the desert with cactus and camp in snow?

Colorado

Rich Creek and Rough and Tumble Creek Loop Pretty 11.5 mile loop hike in Pike and San Isabel National Forest, near Denver.

Rocky Mountain National Park - Burried in 8" snowfall and the feeling of being an extra in "The Sound of Music"

Georgia

Coosa Backcountry - We take our spouses on a two night, almost non-stop uphill trek and live to tell about it.

New Hampshire

Franconia Notch State Park - Hiking with light packs to an Alpine-style hut in the beautiful White Mountains .

Texas

Big Bend National Park - Picture perfect mountains in the Texas desert - home to harrassing Mexican Jay birds.

Utah

Red Canyon Scenic Recreation Area - How to identify a little desert from quite a long distance, bad shoes on the wife and more.

Zion National Park - Wrestling a lizzard instead of a snake, dehydration and a really nice B&B.

Virginia

Shenandoah National Park - A pee-sniffing deer, bear cubs for breakfast and setting up a two-man tent with three people.

West Virginia

Cranberry Glades Wilderness Area - 3 hikes logged: An Elmo blanket, strange tundra terrain and more - returning to the area of our first hike.

Dolly Sods Wilderness Area - 5 hikes logged: OCD hiker wants to "sweep" the campsite, Hoyt the pet log, walking on the moon and the discovery of cairns.

Greenbrier River Trail - An angry bear, naked rock climbing, bonehead mistakes and more - on our second hike.

Otter Creek Wilderness - 2 hikes logged: More stamina than brains and hiking with an infant.

North Fork Mountain Trail - Breathtaking vistas, running out of water and toes that feel like "minced meat pie".

Tea Creek - Near fatal search for a hiking stick, Blackberry treats, Christopher flunks "Compass Reading 101" and more.

Spruce Knob - Highest peak in WV delivers incredible vistas shared only with Pagan trout fishermen.

Laurel Fork Wilderness - Waist-high weeds, bush-whacking on an island, near hernia building a seat.

Jeff finds out that it's not wise to carry your shoes in your hand when you hike through a swift moving creek; Dana learns to study a topo map a little harder before setting out; Christopher learns that packing an Elmo blanket will only bring you riddicule and shame; and we all learn that a cool mountain breeze on a hot summer's day feels a little better with your pants down. From our first unprepared hiking trip - that to this day has us scratching our heads and wondering how we survived - to more recent and better equipped outings, we've covered the miles, made the mistakes and discovered some secrets we'll share with you.