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Featured Destination National Parks Utah

The Wildflowers at Cedar Breaks National Monument – Utah

Wildflowers at Cedar Breaks National Monument. One of Utah's lesser known but beautiful National Parks.Going to southern Utah in the summer is generally not a good idea. Its hot. Really hot. However, there are a few places that are high enough in elevation to escape most of the stifling summer heat. On our post-move out southern Utah loop, we spent a week at Bryce Canyon and then drove over to Cedar Breaks National Monument. Both are high in elevation with Bryce around 8000 feet and Cedar Breaks closer to 10,000. While not “cold” the weather was pleasant, cooled off at night, and definitely manageable.

When We Visited: Early July 2014
Ages of Kids: 8, 6, 4
Tips: Only about an hour out of Cedar City, this could definitely be a day trip. Earn a badge, go on a hike, enjoy the view. However, they do have a Night Ranger Explorer Badge that has some nighttime requirements.

The campground at Cedar Breaks is small, but situated close to a meadow. At first glance, the park doesn’t seem like much and we weren’t particularly excited to stay as there was no Verizon signal for Sam to get any work done. Then we went on a walk from the campground to the visitor center and fell in love. There were wildflowers everywhere and they were beautiful! After talking to the camp host, Sam learned of a spot in the nearby Brian Head Resort that had complimentary wi-fi. The next morning he drove the 20 minutes in to participate in some meetings while the kids and I started working on their Jr. Ranger Badges.

Cedar Breaks also holds an annual Wildflower Festival where they have volunteers on hand to help visitors search for different flowers and other activities. We were there a few days to early to actually attend the event, but it sounded really great so we were pretty sad we missed it. Having been to both Bryce Canyon and Fort McHenry during special events we are generally fans! While connected to wifi, Sam downloaded the Cedar Breaks Wildflower app to his phone and we had a lot of fun identifying the different types of wildflowers on our hikes. You can search by color, shape, size, and we were generally able to find the ones we were looking for.

Along part of the Alpine Pond Trail we came upon this rock formation called “The Apartments”. We pulled out the binoculars and spotted some marmots scrambling around in and out of the rocks. Aptly named.

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There are redstone cliffs (similar to Bryce Canyon) that you can view from the rim. Deeper and steeper than Bryce, Cedar Breaks has no trails that lead from the rim down into the valley. It was still a beautiful view!

We loved our stay here and are glad that we managed to spend a few nights instead of just a quick visit!

 

 

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Hiking National Parks Nevada Outdoor Adventures Video

Skiing a Glacier in Great Basin National Park – Nevada

We had plans to stay at a lake between Bryce Canyon & Cedar Breaks that fell through due to lack of Verizon signal, so with a couple of extra days before we needed to be back to Salt Lake for a photography workshop we decided to detour to Great Basin National Park. This had been on our list, but we had thought there wouldn’t be time. Good thing we are nothing but flexible.

When We Visited: July 2014
Ages of Kids: 8, 6, 4
Tips: Fill up on gas & groceries before heading out. This park is in the middle of nowhere on the border of Utah/Nevada and gas is expensive and groceries are hard to find. Local residents of the surrounding little towns drive an hour to two hours to go grocery shopping (crazy!).

When deciding what to do while we were in the park, I really wanted to go hiking. REAL hiking. The kind where you actually sweat and the next day you are sore and tired but you feel awesome because you showed that trail who was boss. Finding a glacier at the top of the mountain we calculated out the distance for a round trip and came up with just close to 5 miles. Next we just had to pitch it to the kids.

“Seriously mom? There’s SNOW up there?” Andrew asked skeptically.
“Yup. All the time. It never really melts,” I answered. “A glacier is a slow moving pile of snow & ice that carves its way down the mountain. You want to go see it? It’ll be the longest hike we’ve ever done.”
“Yes!!” All three kids answered at the same time.

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It was magical. The hike was great, but watching my kids scramble all over this snow in July was exhilerating. Andrew took off by himself, while Cara and Rachel stuck a little closer to Sam & I. Sam managed to step his way up the hill in a way that Cara and I could follow pretty easily in his footsteps. We threw snowballs, the kids slid down on their backsides, and we generally had a good time goofing off. THEN Sam started skiing down the glacier on his feet. Immediately all the kids wanted in on the action and one by one, we helped them know where to put their feet and we slip-slid down the snow together.

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There are a lot of great things about Great Basin National Park. The campground was clean and nice, Lehman Caves were very interesting (we learned about shield formations), the Bristlecone Pines were majestic, the kids earned a Jr. Ranger Badge, we went on an evening hike, and we even had ice cream in their on site cafe. We had a great weekend, but I think all of us will remember Great Basin National Park as the place where we went skiing in July.

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National Parks Utah

Astronomy Festival at Bryce Canyon National Park – Utah

The Annual Astronomy Festival at Bryce Canyon National Park is definitely worth a visit! Look through dozens of telecopes to see some of the brightest stars in the darkest skies in the United States!

Earlier this year during our planning phases, we had a conversation with my parents in which we discussed the possibility of attending the Astronomy Festival at Bryce Canyon the last week of June. My dad has been a member of the Salt Lake Astronomy Society (SLAS) for as long as I can remember and many of our camping trips included my dad pulling out his telescope and showing us the stars and telling stories. SLAS partners with Bryce Canyon to bring in volunteers and their telescopes for this free event for the public, and my dad goes to help out every couple of years. Every night during the weekend, the parking lot fills up with volunteer astronomers and their telescopes and anyone can come look at the stars. We attended the festival back in 2008 when Rachel wasn’t quite yet a year old so we were pretty excited hat my parents invited us to go back with them. This trip also became the milestone for us leaving the house in Utah permanently.

When We Visited: Late June 2014
Ages of Kids: 8, 6, 4
Favorite Part: Night Sky Viewing & Hiking Into the Valley

Although the festival ran Thur-Sat we picked only one night for the kids to stay up late (it wasn’t even really dark until about 10pm) to look through the telescopes. The kids had fun helping grandpa set up his telescope, and I enjoyed watching my dad do his thing. It was so fun to watch his whole countenance light up and get excited when he talked to visitors. Cara only lasted about 30 minutes, but the older two kids really enjoyed it and stayed up almost until 11:30pm. We saw Saturn, star clusters, nebulae, listened to the Dark Ranger’s constellation stories, and viewed what is now my favorite constellation: The Stargate.

In addition to the night sky viewing, the Astronomy Festival also included some solar viewing (looking at the sun through a special telescope), rocket launching, a planet walk, and other ranger talks in the evenings. We didn’t participate much in this due to either the length (the planet walk was an hour) or the time (after the kids should have been in bed). We were honestly also still recovering from selling everything and moving out and were just plain tired.

In addition to the Astronomy Festival, there is plenty to do in Bryce Canyon! We found a few shorter hikes that we all really enjoyed doing together.  Definitely hike down in as the views are incredible and its really not that difficult. We hiked the Queen’s Loop up through Wall Street with the kids and back along the rim for a total of about 3.5 miles. Just bring plenty of water as it really does get HOT down there. Hiking down the Navajo Loop to see the arch is also a quick and easy trek and we spontaneously decided to do that one without even any water (we were location scouting for star photos later that night). Bristlecone Pine Loop near the end of the park is also a beautiful hike especially in the evening.

The Astronomy Festival is a great time to visit Bryce Canyon National Park. With some of the darkest skies in the nation, you can really SEE the stars. Even without a telescope. Sam and I managed to sneak out a few nights as hike down in for some night sky photography as well. I never knew the Milky Way was so bright or had so many colors. Its definitely worth seeing!

Just for fun I thought I’d post the time lapse of the event that one of the volunteers set up and put together. I love watching the Milky Way rise up over the horizon!

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California Featured Destination National Parks

They Don’t Make ‘Em Like They Used To – Point Reyes National Seashore Lighthouse

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Imagine yourself out at sea on a small boat. Suddenly dark clouds gather on the horizon and the wind starts to whip your hair around your face. Moving too fast, the storm envelopes you and suddenly you aren’t sure which way is the shore. Then, a beam of light from the nearby lighthouse cuts through the storm giving you direction and guidance back to safety.

American lighthouses are iconic. From the sweeping coasts of New England, to the rocky shores of California, lighthouses have saved hundreds of lives as they’ve warned sailors of dangerous shores. Point Reyes is no exception. Jutting out on a peninsula just 10 miles from San Francisco Bay, Point Reyes is the windiest place on the Pacific Coast and the second foggiest on the North American continent. It is also my favorite lighthouse we’ve visited to date.

When we visited: March 2014

Ages of Kids: 8, 6, 3

Tips: The drive out to the lighthouse is not a short one (40 min to an hour depending on where you are staying), but is beautiful nearly any time of year. The road can be a little rough, though any standard passenger car should be able to make it, and certainly any tow vehicle. While there always seems to be an RV parked out there, I would advise against it. The weather can be rough as well. If the winds are strong enough, they close the stairway down to the lighthouse. Even when it’s open, it is worth bringing jackets to survive the weather.

Because there wasn’t a good location for a lighthouse on top of the bluff, engineers blasted a level spot 300 feet below the top of the cliff. This put the lighthouse below the level of the fog, making the light more effective as a warning system for ships. Supplies and materials for construction took 6 weeks to lower down from the top. Luckily, we didn’t have to be lowered by rope. Long ago, stairs were built into the side of the cliff, allowing visitors to travel down to see it.

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Retired in 1975, the National Park Service maintains the historic building and surrounding area and even has a ranger on site (and inside) the main room. Andrew was insistent he wanted to go inside, only when we arrived the door was very visibly locked. As we wandered around, ate our snacks, and generally tried not to get blown out to see by the gusty wind we noticed just as we were about to leave that the door was open! Andrew raced excitedly raced ahead only to find a room crowded with people and a ranger given a “tour”. Much to his disappointment he had to be quiet and not step on anyone else in the room. Poor kid.

We loved hearing the ranger talk about the lonely and secluded life of the lighthouse keepers, the operation of the lighthouse, how the Fresnel (frey-nel) lens was made in France and then brought over, transferred ships, and then brought by ox cart overland. We learned that the lighthouse and all of its parts are original. Many retired lighthouses have been converted into museums, have replicated parts, or are now restaurants. This one is completely original which adds to the romanticism of it all.

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Keeping up with safety and technology, the Coast Guard eventually automated the light, and then later decommissioned the lighthouse entirely and  installed an LED light on top of the nearby generator shed. Yup, that’s it. That tiny thing poking up from the roof with the solar panels attached. For me, having lighthouses reduced to small blinking lights makes original lighthouses like this one a real treat! If you are a lighthouse person, you’ll love it. If you are not, you might just become one during your visit!

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In addition to the lighthouse, the view out at Point Reyes is simply fantastic. After our climb back up the stairs, we took a small trail at the top to look out over the ocean and bluffs. Despite the wind and the cold it was a great day!

 

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Featured Destination National Parks New Mexico

White Sands National Monument, New Mexico

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Layer upon layer of gypsum sand scattered across miles of sweeping dunes. With promises of sledding and fun we excitedly geared up for an afternoon of exploring.

When we visited: January 23, 2014

Ages of kids: 8, 6, 3

Tips: Plastic bottomed boogie boards work really well as sleds.

“Mom? Is that snow?” One of the kids called from the back seat. “It sure looks like it!”

And it did. There was a even a plow.

The kids had begged and begged all winter to go someplace with snow. This was their first year away from Utah’s snowy, wintery, weather and I think they were feeling the lack of powdery goodness. However, with a promise of  “sanding” at White Sands National Monument, I think we kept them more or less at bay.

When we arrived mid-morning, it was cold enough outside that we bundled up. Coats, scarves, hats, and even gloves were employed to combat the New Mexico chill. Once the kids stepped out onto the crisp, white, sand however, all thoughts of shoes were forgotten. The ranger had even told us to make sure we took our shoes off to feel how delicate, fine, and soft the sand felt compared to the beach. Having just come from Florida a few months earlier we definitely wanted to make that comparison. The shoes never made it back on.

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Cara was content to sit and play with her sand toys, not really interested in the activities of her older siblings. Somehow Rachel became determined that Cara needed the experience of coasting down the white dunes, and gently prodded, coached, and enticed her on to the front of her boogie board turned sled. And then halfway down, Andrew had to jump on the back as well.

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After a few minutes of play, I retreated to the Airstream to make grilled cheese sandwiches for lunch while watching the kids out the kitchen window and listening to their screams of delight through the cracked door.

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Although we did one short hike, earned a Jr. Ranger Badge, and even met up with the coolest British traveling family, sanding was definitely the highlight of our visit.