vacation Archives - Page 3 of 3

Top 5 Gifts for Hikers – Basic Day Hike Gear

Most recently updated January 17th, 2022

There are plenty of gifts any hiker or outdoor enthusiast on your list would be happy to get – whether they’re just beginners or experts.

Gifts for hikers come in all price ranges, too, so you can be sure to find something in your budget.

Basic day hike gear is a gift that any hiker would be thrilled to get, and I’ve included links to some of my top picks.

FYI, every image in this post – not just the specific recommended items – is also a link to merchandise.

You’ll also see “Related Products” sections that allow you to browse more if you want to go beyond the items I’ve called out.

So, if you see something you like, click it!

If you want any of these things for yourself, you could also send this article to your family. Just sayin’ 🙂

Continue reading Top 5 Gifts for Hikers – Basic Day Hike Gear

Tips for Your Visit to Arches National Park

Most recently updated July 31st, 2023

Estimated Reading Time: 15 minutes

When I was planning my Utah hiking trip, I asked for advice from hiker friends who had visited the area before:

Which National Parks should I visit? How much time should I allow for each park? Which trails are a must-do?

I was grateful for their insights, and found the advice to be mostly accurate – except for when it came to hiking Arches National Park.

Some feedback I got was that I didn’t need to plan for more than an afternoon at Arches National Park hikes, but we spent a day and a half there and still didn’t get to everything.

Entry to Fiery Furnace are at Arches National Park

While it could be said that Arches isn’t very challenging for expert hikers, there’s no doubt that it is breathtakingly beautiful for everyone!

Continue reading Tips for Your Visit to Arches National Park

Springtime in the Desert – Utah Hiking One Week Plan

Most recently updated January 18th, 2022

Estimated Reading Time: 8 minutes

Recently I did some hiking in Utah, specifically visiting several of the famous Utah National Parks. The trip to southern Utah was primarily to hike, but also to take in the beauty of the desert in the Spring.

Hikers on the Queens Garden Trail in Bryce Canyon

Photos can’t convey the scale of the mountains and desert, or the multitude of colors and rock formations we drove through while crossing southern Utah – but I tried anyway.

A few of my pics are in the text below, and you can see more in my detailed posts about Arches National Park and Bryce Canyon National Park.

This was our itinerary, maybe it could work for you! Continue reading Springtime in the Desert – Utah Hiking One Week Plan

How to Plan Your Multi-Day Hiking Trip

Most recently updated June 9th, 2022

Estimated Reading Time: 6.8 minutes

So you want to plan a hiking trip.

Great! Like any other event outside of your normal daily routine – hosting a party, having a night out, or even creating a special meal – it starts with planning and research.

Don’t know where to start? I’ll help.

Let’s begin by figuring out what your perfect trip would look like….

Continue reading How to Plan Your Multi-Day Hiking Trip

Lodging Options for Unhappy Campers

Most recently updated January 18th, 2022

Estimated Reading Time: 6 minutes

Camping is not everyone’s cup of tea.

It could be due to health considerations, or maybe you don’t enjoy all of the setup and planning – or you could just really appreciate modern conveniences on your vacation.

Whatever the reason for your preference, there are some good options to camping available, even in more remote places.

Some people think that you always have to camp out if you want to do any really interesting hiking.

Camp with bath house and dining hall at Torres del Paine

That’s really only true for some very wild or undeveloped areas, where you need to backpack for more than a day to get to your final destination.

My recent hike on the W Trek in Patagonia’s Torres del Paine national park is one example where there were few alternatives to camping if you wanted to go deep into the park.

There are similar longer remote stretches on the Pacific Crest Trail and the Appalachian Trail, where you may have to camp for a night or two because you’re so far away from civilization – which is kind of the point for those kinds of trips 🙂

That said, there are a wide variety of beautiful and interesting day hikes – in and out in the same day – that may be found both in the US and internationally, with opportunities for lodging other than camping out.

Continue reading Lodging Options for Unhappy Campers