Category: Mountain

Mount Rainier NP

Saluting Mt Rainier — Before and after Rainier I visited with family. The Pacific Northwest is where my heart calls home and I have more relatives in the area than you can shake a stick at. I’ve tried!

Great Hike: Sourdough Ridge

I had only finished my second hike and I knew that it was “The One”. At a starting point of 6,400 feet, twice the height of my favorite hike in Shenandoah, my hike took me upwards. Easy destinations can take you to 7,000 or 7,200 feet. Me? I climbed to 6,800 feet and ambled along a path called Sourdough Ridge. The word “ridge” in this case is key because at these altitudes you can see forever in many directions. I could look south to Mt. Saint Helens and Mt. Hood or north to snowcapped mountains in Canada. On a day such as today, what I could see was astounding. No doubt, my One Great Hike for Rainier is this hike in the Sunrise Area of the park.

Animal Hike Lake Mountain Road Travel

Glacier NP

On previous visits Spokane had impressed me so before I left the following morning I visited a few favorites. Here is the entrance to the tranquil Japanese Garden in Manito Park.

Great Hike: Logan Pass

You can’t hike all day in Yellowstone, shower, then head out to Glacier and expect to arrive at anything resembling a reasonable hour. Regardless, that’s what I did and by 1:30 AM I was at my campsite at the East Entrance to Glacier. When in awoke the next morning I was greeted by some of the most beautiful weather I’ve ever experienced and there I was in one of the most dramatic landscapes in the U.S. The stage was set for an excellent day of hiking adventures.

Animal Bridge Mountain River Road Travel

Yellowstone NP

Badlands Mountains — The scarred landscape of Badlands National Monument is something I cannot drive past, I must drive through. Besides, this time I had morning light and the Visitor Center was open!

Great Hike: Mammoth Hot Springs.

I can already tell that I have big problem with my theme: “One Great Hike Each.” Within U.S. National Parks pretty much every hike is great. For instance, in my one day in Yellowstone I went on three serious hikes. Each was remarkable in it’s own way. From past visits to Yellowstone I know this to be true of other hikes as well. Suffice to say I’m sticking with the theme and will simply explain my selection.

Hike Historical Lake Mountain Summary Train Travel

Wales Across England to Scotland

Post author By TravisGood
Post date September 11, 2010
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Wales England Scotland — Three ambitions, three countries, and six weeks to do it all. Another great U.K. trip. (But see that green island to the left...it’s next on my list!)

This trip started with three ambitions: ride the Snowdon Mountain Railway, walk the length of Hadrian’s Wall across England and again climb Ben Nevis. These ambitions happen to be achievable in three different parts of the U.K.: Wales, England and Scotland respectively. These geographies became the rough outline of my trip which was conducted in phases as outlined below.

The list below is in chronological order. If you’re curious to learn about any segment of my trip then just click on any title below. If you want to see the trip in its entirety then click the first title and subsequently click “Next” at the bottom of each page to progress to the next page. If you’re interested in the three ambitions listed above then click here. If you’re not interested in any of this then be off with you(!) and thanks for your time.

Hike Historical Mountain Summary Train Travel

My Trip to Outdoors U.K.

This acorn didn’t start out meaning very much to me but as I learned it stands for the National Trails of the U.K. I came to appreciate it. Have acorn, will travel. It’s a symbol of the potential for a lovely outdoor adventure.

This trip was planned for August for a reason. I expected it to rain less. All my previous trips had been off-season, any months but summer months. This usually affected outdoor activity moistly. While I did still have rain this trip I was largely able to plan around it. Bottom line: mission accomplished.

What inspired me to care to do things outdoors?

Three grand features of the U.K. –

Snowdon Mountain:
site of a climbing steam train and highest peak in England/Wales.
Hadrians Wall:
an Roman wall built across northern England to ward off Scots.
Ben Nevis:
the tallest mountain in all the U.K. in the Scottish Highlands.

My goals were to hike down #1, walk the length of #2 and climb #3.

That’s what I set out to do and that’s what I did.
Again, mission accomplished!

It was a great trip.

Hike Lake Mountain Train Travel

Ben Nevis Pulled Me In

“Serendipity” is a word I think of often. Many of my happiest moments in travel happen by chance because I notice things. Here in Fort William I came across a train of interest ... turns out it was the Hogwarts Express. For real! This is the train they use to portray it in the movies.

First, at 4,409 feet Ben Nevis is the U.K.’s highest mountain. Second, I’ve climbed it before. So as I hauled myself out of bed to catch the train to the north of Scotland I found myself asking, “Why was I doing this hike again?” Fair question! I didn’t know the answer myself until today.

While planning this trip to the U.K. I know the hike was a high priority for me. When deciding the day to hike I know the weather was a crucial factor. Only after discussing the hike with staff at the Visitors Center did I figure it out. I had hiked Ben Nevis before but on a day when the top third of the mountain was enshrouded in clouds. I hiked to the top but was never rewarded with the breathtaking views. I wanted that closure so the hike was a priority.

Hike Historical Lake Mountain Train Travel

A Stunningly Beautiful Ride up Snowdon

Post author By TravisGood
Post date August 20, 2010
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I would highly recommend that everyone visit Mount Snowdon and ride the Snowdon Mountain Railway … by any means other than mass transit. It took four hours to go up and down the mountain but an additional 11 hours to get from and to Liverpool. Granted, I didn’t have to choose an English city from which to visit western Wales but the long haul isn’t what took all the time. It’s the inefficient local bus system that added unnecessary hours of waiting and wandering. Go in a car, but go.

Two days ago I came to the mountain to scope out the situation.

Historical Mountain Train Travel

Untangling the Llanberis Knot

Post author By TravisGood
Post date August 18, 2010
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One of the cornerstones of my trip and the literal peak of my time in Wales will be climbing Snowdon Mountain. Well, “climbing” isn’t quite the right thing to say as I plan on taking a steam train to the peak and then hike back down. Without a car, my planning challenge has been to get to the base of the mountain early enough to pull this off. Today was to have been Hike Day but my perfect weather took a turn for the worse. Flexibility in my day’s plans was called for.

My plan now became to hike if the weather cleared. When my train arrived at Bangor it was still nasty out so I stayed onboard and rode it to the end of the line. Holyhead is a port city with ferry and cargo terminals focused mainly on Ireland. I had 30 minutes to run around so I took some pictures and hopped back on my train. I had one more stop planned before reaching Bangor and it had only one purpose. I wanted a picture of the longest town name as it appears on the train station: Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwyll. I got it, mission accomplished!

Bike Mountain Road Travel

The Great Expanse of Nothing

Post author By TravisGood
Post date April 11, 2010
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The Rockies-to-Plains contrast is stark no matter how many times I’ve experienced the transition. Whether I’ve just spent days running up and down and around mountains and drop into the plains or whether I’ve spent a week driving across the flat middle of our country and encountered the wall of the Rockies, I’m still never prepared for the contrast. That such great heights abut endless expanses of flatness is striking.

This time was no different though this time approaching the transition was complicated by weather. Knowing that a storm was approaching the Pacific Northwest, I tried to leave early and outrun it. My goal was to be on the east side of the Rockies before the snow hit. I almost made it

Historical Mountain Road Train Travel

Great Northern over Stevens Pass

Post author By TravisGood
Post date April 8, 2010
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I’m about to head home via Hwy 2 along the path of the Great Northern.

With the vision of connecting Europe to Asia via a transcontinental railway along the northern United States, James J. Hill founded the Great Northern Railway line. The last and largest obstacle to realizing his vision was effective rail over the Cascades Mountains at the chosen site known as Stevens Pass.

The challenge wasn’t easily met but instead took several attempts to secure a safe and predictable path. First the crossing was done by an extensive series of switch backs which took many hours to traverse. Then a two-mile tunnel was built but both snow and smoke were troublesome and when an avalanche occurred killing many passengers an 8-mile tunnel was built. For 60 years this was the longest in the western hemisphere and its still in use today.