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08/22/2021

Trust me by the time I'm done posting about my trip you will be so ANNOYED with all the waterfall pics! And if you're not, then Oregon is the place for you!

So this beaut in the background is Multnomah Falls. Probably the most visited spot in the Columbia River Gorge about 45min from Portland.

If you're in Portland for a short time, then make sure to hit this one. It's an easy drive and a much easier "hike".

To get to the bottom viewing point (as seen here) it's a short walk from the entrance.

We continued on the trail past the viewing point which is a 1.5mi uphill climb to the top of the waterfall.

Then there's a loop that takes you above the waterfall and over to 3 more falls until you hike bike down to street level. That's about a 3miler and takes you through a less traveled path than the crowds at Multnomah.

It's definitely worth the hike, if you have time and are up for a 1500ft incline!

The Fairy Falls that it leads you to before hitting street level is a great watering hole to jump in and cool off after the hike.

Parking at Multnomah Falls is hard to come by so my two cents is to park by Fairy Falls, walk over to Multnomah and after you hike the 3mi loop, you'll end up by your car.

08/19/2021

We started off our Pacific Northwest adventure with waterfalls galore

About 30-45min south of Portland (our first jump-off point in this trip) is a state park with 10+ waterfalls along a 7mi route👣

Silver Falls is a loop trail with a new insta-worthy shot around each bend.

For those that are hiking-phobic, this trail keeps you entertained enough to not feel like you're mucking about in the dirt, surrounded by insects 🦟for nothing.

But in reality that's almost every national & state park in the PNC. The hikes, nature & views are killin it out here!

Back to Silver Falls: if a 7mi loop is too much for you, there is a smaller inner loop which let's you bypass two waterfalls to cut out 2mi from your trek.

Unless you're like us with a back-to-back hikes lined up on each day of your trip, I'd suggest staying the full 7mi course & taking in all the views! See for yourself 👉🏾

08/01/2021

Saving the best for last!

One of the last hiking trips on our Utah & Arizona great outdoors trip was to Bryce Canyon.

To me, this is a highly underrated National Park. You hear about the a lot about the Grand Canyon and Zion but Bryce takes a backseat in those conversations.

Bryce is so unique because its showcases where a forest meets a desert.

You've got dry pink, orange & auburn rocks with tall, limber green leaved trees and shrubs. It's the awe-inspiring wonder of being surrounded by plant-life that's taller than you with the dry rugged terrain of the desert.

If I could pick only one National Park to go back to go in this area, it would be this one. (Yes, over the Grand Canyon, Arches & other national parks 😮)

07/29/2021

If I could sum up our Utah & Arizona trip in one word it would be "canyons" - Glen Canyon, Canyonlands, Big Cottonwood Canyon, Bryce Canyon and the list goes on.

But we can't talk about canyons without talking about the grandest of all canyons...

The Grand Canyon!

Hands down, we picked the worst time of the year to hike it. At 115F at the top of the rim and 130F at the bottom, this hike was brutal from the start.

The thing about hiking the Grand Canyon is that unlike other hikes, the return trip is the hardest part of the hike.

You start with a steady hike downwards. With each new layer, you uncover new soil, rock formations & a new era of the Earth's history unraveling before your eyes.

We did the the Bright Angel trail. Conveniently enough, there was a coffee shop, ice cream shop, and other forms of sustenance at the "trailhead" before we journeyed down.

At every 1.5mi there were bathrooms & water fountains. Luckily enough, those water fountains came in handy on the 115F day given that we went through both water bottles just on the hike down.

Hiking back up was of course much harder to do. I recommend taking all your pics on the way down because the way up you will be too tired, sweaty and dreaming of reaching the top to make a pic happen!

The full journey to the bottom takes hours on end with the trail being roughly 17mi long.

If you intend to do the entire hike you have a few options:
1- camp overnight at the bottom of the canyon
2- stay overnight at the elusive lodge which is at the bottom of the canyon
3- take a mule up & down the canyon

We ended up hiking a few miles and then curtailing it back up to the top. It was an experience but none can beat venturing to the base of the canyon!

07/26/2021

This is Arizona's "Delicate Arch". One of the most iconic sites in AZ, this is a super easy hike to the sightseeing wonder.

Horseshoe Bend was made over the years of wear & tear by the Colorado River onto the nearby rock structures.

If you're planning on doing one thing in the northern AZ/Utah border, this is high on the list. After a super easy 20/30min hike, you get to the viewpoint which is magnificent!

We came at sunset to watch the sun going down over the horizon illuminating Horseshoe Bend with the golden rays.

07/22/2021

Hanging out with the Monuments @ Monument Valley.

If this looks familiar to you, it's because it is! Its the iconic scene in Forrest Gump where he stops his days long marathoning right by Monument Valley.

And for good cause, cuz if your running this is a great place to stop, explore and be amazed by what exists in the deserts of America.

Post Moab, we kept driving south to the Utah-Arizona border and came across this along our route.

Regrettably we didn't explore it as we could've as lands part of the Navajo nation are still in the process of opening back up to tourism. If you're doing a similar trip, make sure to double & triple check as some things haven't fully opened back up yet due to the pandemic.

Stay tuned for more posts from the Utarizona adventure!

07/20/2021

Aaaand the beauty of Arches continues! 🏜

Arches National Park Pt 2: after the dedicated post on Delicate Arch, I had to share all the other arches and windows carved into sandstone by wind, erosion and water that can be seen in this national park.

It felt like a scene from Land Before Time to be amongst these structural beauties that have been here for hundreds of millions of years, surviving past dinosaurs and millions of other creatures.

Some of these arches have started collapsing, such as Landscape Arch (3rd pic 👉🏾) due to erosion. Come see them before more collapse by the stress of time!

07/19/2021

The iconic arch adorning every Utah license plate: Delicate Arch

If you do one thing in Moab, it's this: hike the Delicate Arch trail in Arches National Park.

Delicate gets its own dedicated IG post because of how freakin grammable the arch is.

The thinnest spindle of the arch propped up, seemingly fantastically, to eventually meet the same fate as the crumbled rocks along the trail which may have been it's brethren arches.

These nature-crafted arches have withstood the decades of the test of time but soon enough when erosion eats away at what is physically possible, this arch may only be remembered in our fondest memories (and pics).

But until then, make sure to do the 2+mile hike to get an up-close and personal view of the arch.

07/16/2021

Canyonlands Pt 2: This is really where the adventure starts. If you're ready for an off roading experience 🚗, keep reading!

Shafer Trail: a 30+ mile scenic drive which saves your legs from walking through the wilderness 🏞

Buuuuuuuut it's not a simple walk in the park (or drive in the wilderness)! Get ready to drive through winding cliff roads where a slip can mean toppling over the edge ⛰.

Not only do you need a steady driver behind the wheel, make sure you have a car/SUV with enough clearance to handle the bumpy roads. We had a low SUV which meant evacuating the vehicle and strategically navigating to avoid getting stuck.

After miles and miles of a bumpy ride and a steady 5 mi/hour drive, we finally made it to the end. This is where we saw what seemed reminiscent of modern art: a multicolored, salt pools called the Potash Ponds.

07/15/2021

Moab: our second stop on our great Utarizona trip

For those who don't know, Moab is a little hiking/adventure town geared towards travelers visiting both Arches & Canyonlands National Parks.

Canyonlands being the farthest from Moab & less IG-famous of the two gets the least love from out of town visitors.

But today, it's getting a lot of love from me. We spent our Canyonlands day by hiking Mesa Arch (first pic) and hiking Aztec Butta, a 2-miler rock scramble that gets you to the vista shown in pic 3.

In the next post, I'll go through our Canyonlands off roading adventure. Spoiler alert: we survived!

07/13/2021

The start of our Utarizona road trip 🚗 slash hiking bonanza 🥾

We traveled through the American Southwest to hike through the national forests over 10 days which spanned the Fourth of July 🎆weekend- it was kinda perfect.

Not perfect in how boiling hot it was, nor perfect in the brush fire warnings 🔥 we ran into at every national forest 🌳

It was a perfect way to celebrate America's birthday out in one of the most beautiful places in America 🇺🇸. I never truly appreciated how gorgeous our national parks were or how varied & diverse the landscape is across the US until this trip.

We started our hiking palooza with Big Cottonwood Canyon right outside of Salt Lake City. Strikingly enough, the canyon had large white barked trees, wildflowers galore 🌺

We hiked the Hidden Falls (second pic) and Dog Lake loop (first & third). We even caught sight of some moose & deer a couple feet from us.

Given its only a 20min jaunt from SLC, even if you're not up for a hiking palooza check this park out!

📸 credit:

04/27/2021

It's cherry blossom season 🌸 and instead of hopping on a flight and catching the Sakura action in Japan, the Brooklyn Botanical Gardens will just have to do!

Wonderfully enough, the gardens in BK have a dedicated grove to cherry blossoms and you get a wide springtime special of tulips & many other plants (I don't know what they're called! I'm not a plant-spert!)

Anyway, cherry blossom season is almost over! So given that international travel isn't as easy as the Before times, check out your local botanical gardens to see these beauties before they're gone!

📷 cred

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Saint Cloud, WA

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