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!
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So if you live anywhere near the Spokane Valley, you owe it to yourself to check this place out. See the map below.
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 BeautyBy Abby McAllister
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.
By Abby McAllister
By Abby McAllister
If you haven’t tried them you should! They are easy to learn on, meaning wimpy moms like me and smaller children can join right it (or sometimes get pulled along on a sled if too small for the snowshoes). Although you can find snowshoes priced all the way up to $300 and even more, you can also get started for much less (in the $80 range) whereas skiing of any sort can be expensive as you have to buy lift tickets, trail passes and expensive special gear. Snowshoeing has a very low financial threshold to get started. You also won’t need expensive and time consuming lessons either! Once you know how to strap on your snowshoes and take a few minutes to practice (being careful of turning and trying to back up) you will be ready to go! A few tips before you take off. Make sure to follow a marked trail or take a GPS unit with you as places you are familiar with in the summer will look dramatically different wen covered in snow! Many State Parks, ski areas, and winter Sno-park areas will have designated trails for snowshoeing. At then end of this post we will tell you how to get out in the Spokane area this coming weekend! Another pre-trip tip is to review our list of how to make the cold weather endurable for wimpy moms and younger children. Staying warm is key to having fun in the snow so make sure you are prepared. Finally, remember, if this is your first time out take it easy. Pick a trail with little elevation gain, a shorter distance and give yourself plenty of time. This weekend you can get out on snowshoes with the parks department for a hike for #firsthike. Following in the very successful footsteps of #optoutside on Black Friday, State Parks are offering free admission to all parks on New Year’s Day with additional fun activities. On Mt. Spokane you can join a ranger led hike of 2-4 miles round-trip as part of #firsthike. Click here for more details! You will need your own snowshoes for this adventure. If you don’t own any yet you can rent them from various places around Spokane like Mountain Gear or REI. You will also need a snow park pass. You won’t need the normally required Discover Pass because Jan 1 is also a free parks day!
If you aren't ready to strap on the snowshoes yet, check out the other #firsthike being offered in Riverside Park. Details are available here. by Harley McAllister
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