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been out playing...want to see where?

7/15/2016

2 Comments

 
By Abby McAllister
So...we don't blog much in the summer...that's because we're too busy being outside!  Duh!  I am in between trips at the moment and am struggling to get photos downloaded, sorted, edited and posted.  I recently shared on FB our gallery of photos from Pinnacles NP and today got photos from Sequoia NP up.  You can find the inspiration galleries for each park under our "trip reports" tab above and then under the "National Parks" tab or by clicking the green linked text above.  We loved our time in California and will be posting more photos from the other parks as soon as we quit playing outdoors and find the time to get in front of the computer again!
Family in Sequoia national park
checking out lady bugs
Family together in Pinnacles NP Picture
Nothing beats family time at Pinnacles NP
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Countdown!  Utah book release coming in March!

2/12/2016

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We are excited to begin a countdown to our official Utah guide book release.  Although it is already available on Amazon and doing well, we have been planning to have a special release event in March.  In order to count us down to March 11th we will be posting our favorite Utah national park moments each Friday.  We will feature a favorite moment from one parent (Harley or I) and one moment shared by one of our kids.  Today we kick off the countdown with our Zion National Park most memorable moments!

Surprised by Unexpected Beauty

By Abby McAllister
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​Although Zion National Park offers stunningly deep canyons, famous peaks and terrific hiking, canyoning and climbing, my favorite moment came one evening after dark.  It is probably my favorite because it was totally unexpected.  I like to be surprised.  I like a moment when my breath is taken away by unexpexted beauty.  When that happens, it feels like a special gift.  When it occurs in nature it feels like I am blessed beyond measure to be in the right place at the right time to take in a sight that will never be repeated in exactly the same way.  In Zion I had one of those once-in-a-lifetime gift experiences when we came out of the lodge after the evening ranger led program.  It was late, the baby had fallen asleep on my lap and I was just expecting to head to the car, get all the kids buckled in and head back to the campground.  As we exited the lodge and walked across the big lawn towards our car we happened to look up.  Directly across from the lodge the full moon’s glowing light was reflecting off the sheer cliff walls that make up the peaks of The Court of the Patriarchs.  They seemed to be the face of the moon dropped in our laps.  They rose dramatically into the black night sky that is only found so far from cities.  We all stood mesmerized on the lawn that dark fall night and just drank it in.  Somehow the dark of the night and the light of the moon had transformed the peaks that seemed so rooted, so grounded each day, into something ethereal.  I don’t know how long we stood there but I remember I never wanted to leave.  We tried to capture the majesty with our camera but all attempts failed.  Sometimes you just have to be there.  I guess that is why we go to national parks, why we take our kids.  Photos in books and online, videos and movies-none of those can compare to being there.  

Feeling Like An Action Movie Star!

By Kaden McAllister, age 14
The most memorable part of Zion NP for me has to have been the hike to Hidden Canyon. This particular hike took us along a really steep cliff wall. The trail was carved out of the rock or sometimes followed a narrow ledge.  In some places chains had been drilled into the rock wall for you to hold on to, so you wouldn’t fall down the few-hundred-foot drop. I remember looking down and being glad of the chains! It made me feel like I was in a movie or something, hiking along that precipice. At the top of the mountain, the end of the path, there was a ravine with boulders that you could scramble over and around. We spent hours jumping over and crawling under the boulders. I also loved the view from the top. You could see all the way back to the trailhead, and see all of the people, as small as pinheads along the trail. It really let you see how far you had come. Going down was fun too because I didn’t have to work as hard as I had coming up.
kids holding chain as they walk the fine line
Trail skirting the side of the cliff
Surprise arch at the end of the hidden canyon
kids along the high trail
the views are only one of the rewards
beauty not seen by the masses far below
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It's that time of year again...Camping Reservation time!

2/2/2016

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By Abby McAllister
Boats on the shoreline at sunset in Glacier National Park
The clouds lift at sunset to give us vies of the higher peaks!
image from Glacier National Park near Grinnell Glacier
A cool and cloudy day near Grinnell Glacier
Kids atop high peak in Two Medicine area of Glacier National Park
Kids enjoying the thrill of the ascent in Glacier NP Two Medicine district
 As you may have seen on our facebook page, we have just finished reserving our campsites for an epic trip to see many of California's amazing National Parks (Yosemite, Kings Canyon, Sequoia, Pinnacles and Lassen).  Although it may seem hard to believe, now is the time to start planning that family trip to your national park of choice.  Many of the sites are available 6 months in advance from www.recreation.gov and they are filling up fast.  Already we had difficulty reserving 6 nights in Yosemite in a row!  Other big parks like Yellowstone and Zion fill up equally early.

Last year we spent a bunch of time exploring Glacier National Park since it is in our backyard.  We checked out many of the regions scattered around the park but were also unable to see some due to fires and bear activity.  We are looking forward to spending time exploring them this coming summer.  Although most of the campgrounds at Glacier are first come, first served (and tend to fill by 8 am in the summer), some are by reservation.  Previously you could reserve sites on recreation.gov in the St. Mary's and the Apgar campgrounds.  Starting on Wednesday the 3rd, the national park service will be releasing sites on recreation.gov for 41 of the 103 sites in the Many Glacier campground.

We hope that you find inspiration here at our4outdoors or elsewhere to start planning your 2016 family adventure to one of your national parks!  Don't forget, now is the time to start planning so go get those campsites reserved!  If you are planning a trip to Yellowstone, Zion, Arches, Canyonlands, Capitol Reef, Bryce Canyon or the north rim of the Grand Canyon then you might also like to check out our guidebooks on those parks.  You can learn more at www.nationalparkswithkids.com.


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Glacier National Park Family Vacation

10/4/2015

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by Harley McAllister

We made a number of trips to Glacier this summer, and we tried to fit in as many hikes as we could.  Unfortunately it was also a very busy fire season this year, and we had to change plans due to some of the fire activity - and some bear activity!  We had some of our camping reservations cancelled due to a bear in the area.  Anyway, we persevered and had some really great times on the trails, with more to come next summer.  But below are some photo highlights from this past summer.
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Amazing scenery abounds at Glacier National Park.
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Weekend at Heyburn State Park and Biking the Trail of the Coeur d'Alene

4/21/2015

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By Abby McAllister
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We recently took the chance to check out Heyburn State Park in Idaho which is only 1 hour from our home in Spokane Valley, WA.  We've done some exploring around that area but never taken the time to camp out there.  After this weekend, I'm sure glad we finally took the time.  Heyburn State Park is the oldest state park in the Pacific Northwest and it is well worth a visit.  Here are some of the things we loved about it, shared in the hope of inspiring you to get your kids out in beautiful Idaho!
Let me start out with the campground itself.  Nestled in the trees on a hillside rising above Coeur d'Alene Lake is Hawley's Landing campground.  Boasting a horeshoe pit, it's own dock, showers, flush toilets, 42 electrical hook-up sites and 10 tent sites, this campground is a sweet little spot.  There are a few other overnight stay options (info here) but I'm just going to review Hawley's for now.  Even though the campground is just off the "main" road, it seemed much more remote.  Instead of car noise, we heard the honking of geese and the chatter of other waterfowl.  It felt private and close to nature.  

The sites themselves were well spaced, clean and each had a level spot for your tent, chairs, a picnic table and fire pit.  There were water spigots scattered around in most areas to make for easy access to potable water.  We were camped in the loop that was the farthest up the hill, the furthest from the lake.  Still, it only took moments to walk down to the waterfront where our kids enjoyed throwing rocks in the water, walking out on the docks, and trying to identify waterfowl from sight and sound.  Oh, and all those trees make for great hammock hanging!
Visitor center at the entrance to Hawley's landing campground
Entering campground
mom and baby getting hot chocolate ready
example of tent site near waterfront
Evening view of the dock area
sunset from the dock
sunrise from camp
Hammock time!
One of the main attractions of the campground for many people is it's proximity to the Trail of the Coeur d'Alenes.  The Friends of the CDA Trail have this to say about it: "The Trail of the Coeur d'Alenes bike path follows the Union Pacific Railroad right-of-way from Mullan, a mountain mining town near the Montana border, to Plummer, a town on the prairie near the Washington border. More than 71 miles of paved path takes you from high mountain splendor, through the historic Silver Valley, into the chain lakes region, along the shore of Lake Coeur d'Alene, over the Chatcolet Bridge to Heyburn State Park, and finally climbs to the Palouse prairie: an adventure for the entire family!"  Now we only did the section from the parking area near the Chatcolet Bridge to Harrison, ID but we agree that it is fun for the whole family!  

You can get on the trail right out of Hawley's Landing campground but we chose to shave off two miles each way by driving the bikes to the parking area in Chatcolet.  From there we headed out on the path toward an intimidating looking bridge.  Because the path is along a former train route it is mostly flat.  This bridge is the only part that deviated from the norm.  It is intimidating to approach but it was constructed with an ingenious method of rises and rests that make it managable.  If you find it to be too steep to ride, you can always dismount and walk to the top.  Other than that it is smooth sailing along the banks of the beautiful Lake CDA.  We rode the approximately 7 miles to Harrison on a gorgeous, sunny early spring day.  The promis of an ice cream stop in Harrison spurred us on when we felt tired (mostly that just refers to me, as my boys never seem to tire out!).  


parking area in Chatcolet
Nice paved trail makes riding easy for young and old
Riding along the shores of beautiful Lake CDA
Peaceful and Private
Views from the top of the bridge
Bridge structure
More lake views
water to all sides!
Wildlife, like these deer, is abundant
After a delightful stop for ice cream in a waterfront shop in Harrison, we mounted up and rode back to camp.  On the way back we rode all the way back to camp in order to stop and check out an interpretive  boardwalk marsh trail.  This is located where the creek enters the lake just to the west of the campground.  There is a blind for viewing waterfowl and the boardwalk goes out further with some interpretive signs along the way. 
To summarize:  Hawley's Landing in Heyburn State Park (Idaho) is a great place to take your kids camping.  Attractions like water, docks, bike paths, grassy play areas, wildlife, waterfowl, and nice campsites make this a place your kids will enjoy.  And we all know, when the kids are having fun, mom and dad can relax and have fun too!
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    Authors

    Harley & Abby McAllister
    We are an adventurous husband and wife duo who drag our 4 feral kids outside with us as often as we can stand it!  Maybe, just maybe, our adventures will help inspire you! 

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