Landscape Arch

Where: Arches National Park
Trail: Landscape Arch
Difficulty: Easy
Distance: 1.6 miles round trip
Adventure Rating: 2 Stars
Pets: no


Even though the adventure rating is only a 2, it's still an awesome hike with a great view. The day we went, it was crazy windy at Arches NP. It was especially windy in the beginning part of the trail, where you walk through all narrow "hallway" of rock. Once we were out of that, the wind settled down considerably. It was an easy hike starting at the Devil's Garden Trailhead. The trail is well marked and easy to navigate with some uphill areas, but nothing too strenuous.

The Windows at Arches

Where: Arches National Park
Trail: The Windows Trail & Double Arch

Difficulty: Easy
Distance: 1 mile loop & 1/2 mile RT
Adventure Rating: 2 Stars
Pets: no


Note: I am a fan of going off-trail now and then, however, Arches National Park is one place you really need to stay on the trail or on rock. The desert floor is covered in microscopic cyanobacteria that "bind[s] together grains of sand, creating stable sites for algae, moss, and fungi to grow." Basically, that black crusty soil is alive and storing nutrients/water for the plant life. So, do NOT step on it.

Park in The Windows Section. We hiked to the North Window around to the South Window and finally around to the Turret Arch. It's an easy hike that can be made more fun by climbing on the rocks and boulders.

From the same parking lot, you can hike to the Double Arch. It's a short hike, but once you get to the arch, there is plenty of rock climbing/scrambling.

Joaquin Miller Park

Where: Joaquin Miller Park, Oakland, California
Trail: Big Trees Trail
Difficulty: Easy
Distance: ?
Adventure Rating: 2 Stars
Pets: Allowed on leash

Joaquin Miller Park

Where: Joaquin Miller Park, Oakland, California
Trail: Sinawik Trail
Difficulty: Easy
Distance: ?
Adventure Rating: 2 Stars
Pets: Allowed on leash

Petroglyph National Monument

Where: Petroglyph National Monument, New Mexico
Trail: Piedras Marcadas Canyon
Difficulty: Easy
Distance: 1.5 miles round trip
Adventure Rating: 2 Stars
Pets: Allowed on leash
 
The Petroglyph National Monument wasn't the most exciting hike, at first. The monument is located right outside Albuquerque, New Mexico. The parking lot for the monument is in a neighborhood, but once you get out there, you sort of forget about the city.

We hiked the Piedras Marcadas Canyon trail which is dog-friendly and free. According to the NPS website, the trail is "Easy to moderate unpaved trail." We didn't find anything even moderately strenuous about the trail--which is probably why we went off trail.

Along the 1.5 mile (out and back) trail, you can see hundreds of petroglyphs. They tend to be really cool at first, but by the 20th one, I was much less interested. Unless I saw a funny one like the one to the right.

Overlooking Albuquerque

Ludington State Park

Where: Ludington State Park
Trail: Lost Lake Trail, Island Trail, and Ridge Trail
Difficulty: Easy to Moderate
Distance: 1.5 miles, 4 miles (both)
Adventure Rating: 2 Stars
Pet: Allowed on leash

Ludington State Park

Where: Ludington State Park
Trail: Lost Lake Trail, Island Trail, and Ridge Trail
Difficulty: Easy to Moderate
Distance: 1.5 miles, 4 miles (both)
Adventure Rating: 2 Stars
Pet: Allowed on leash

We started at the parking lot near the beach and the boat launch. We started on the Island Trail, which involves boardwalks that span across the Lost Lake onto several tiny islands. The Lost Lake is peaceful and some day I'm going to go back without my dogs and kayak the lake.

We hiked the entire Lost Lake Trail until it ended at the Ridge Trail. Most of the Ridge Trail is on top of sand dunes which makes the trek a little more difficult. But from up there we saw a raccoon in a tree as well as a group of deer down in one of the valleys. We watched a couple of fawns hopping around playing for about ten minutes.

A flight of wooden stairs brought us down from the Ridge Trail and connected us to the Lost Lake Trail, which took us back to the parking lot. Of the three trails, the Island Trail is the most visually interesting. The Lost Lake trail is the easiest and the Ridge Trail is the more strenuous.

Cedar Falls

Where: Hocking Hills, Ohio
Trail: Cedar Falls
Difficulty: Moderate
Distance: 1 mile round trip
Adventure Rating: 2 Stars
Pets: Allowed on leash

Of the places we visited in Hocking Hills, I think Cedar Falls was the least interesting to me. It had the most tourists in a small area and there just wasn't as much to see. We parked in the lot, walked a short ways on the trail before we climbed 59 steps and then crossed a sunny field to a bridge over Queer Creek. We followed the trail around until we were at the top of the waterfall. There was a small pool far over 100 feet away from the top of the waterfall, and we felt it was safe to venture into it. It was extremely slippery and icy cold. Thankfully, neither my sister nor I fell in. And then because I clearly haven't learned my lesson about hanging out at the top of waterfalls, I did just that. Thankfully, this time I was much more careful.

Rock House

Where: Hocking Hills, Ohio
Trail: Rock House
Difficulty: Moderate
Distance: 1/2 mile loop
Adventure Rating: 2 Stars
Pets: Allowed on leash

Marc is afraid of heights and there was one place in the cave (towards the end), where I was standing close to the edge and it was making him worry. I wasn't concerned at all--in fact, there was a place that I was able to jump down to and then to get back up, I had to have Dennis help me. I wanted to climb all the way down from the Rock House... it didn't look that far from where I was. Once on the ground, I could see that it was way higher and I never would've been able to make it.

I earned my first injury of the day when I jumped through some trees and banged up my wrist. It ended up scraped and bruised.

Watkins Glen State Park

Where: Watkins Glen State Park, New York
Trail: Gorge Trail and South Rim Trail
Difficulty: Moderate
Distance: approximately 2.5 miles total
Adventure Rating: 2 stars
Pets: Not allowed on the Gorge Trail

We hiked the Gorge Trail to the Mile Point Bridge and then took that to the South Rim Trail. For such a small park, it sure has a lot to look at, making it well worth the trip. The Gorge Trail has hundreds of stone steps, so sturdy shoes are needed. In addition, the steps and walkways are off wet and slippery due to the waterfall spray, so take caution.

Lake Mineral Wells State Park

Where: Lake Mineral Wells State Park, Texas
Trail: Primitive Campground Access Trail
Difficulty: Moderate (first 1/2 mile has steep grades)
Distance: 2.5 miles, one way
Adventure Rating: 2 Stars
Pets: Allowed on leash

Lake Mineral Wells is just west of Dallas/Ft Worth. The park has one interesting hiking trail. The other trails are multipurpose. It was on this trip that I learned a valuable hiking lesson. If a trail allows horses, it's probably not going to be that interesting. We hiked a bit on one of the multipurpose trails before switching over to the primitive trail.


 




















The second thing I learned was that it's a good idea to bring along a change of clothes so that you don't have to ride home (4.5 hours back to Houston) in hot, sweaty clothes. And they were hot and sweaty since the temperature reached into the 80s that day. In the sun, that was pretty hot. Which leads to the third thing I learned, and that is 80 degrees is a little too hot for hiking for Toby (my dog).

Enchanted Rock State Natural Area

Where: Enchanted Rock State Natural Area, Texas
Trail: Summit Trail?
Difficulty: Moderate
Distance: 1/2 mile, one way
Adventure Rating: 2 Stars
Pets: Allowed on leash

The trail markers weren't easy to follow, so I'm not 100% sure that we stayed on a trail or how much distance we covered exactly. The enchanted rock is a huge dome rock and you can just climb all over it, which is what we did.