2020 USA Road Trip

Travel Bytes from our 2020 USA Road Trip Journey

Silver Falls

July 15, Day 43: Silver Falls should be a National Park. Jean and I assess every hike in terms of it’s “payoff” – the reward for the effort. Typically, this is a great view or wildlife. This park has a ten-fold payoff: ten stunning waterfalls in a single eight-mile loop hike! Three of the falls are over 100 feet tall, with the highest at 178 feet. The trail cuts behind the falls in four places, with sunshine and rainbows before you as you rest in the cool of the rock alcoves. A huge payoff!

Arches at Daybreak

June 11, Day 10: We rose early in the morning to catch Arches National Park at Daybreak. Views were surreal; it was as if we were in a Mars science-fiction movie. The rocks reflected the fiery orange of the sunrise, with the gibbous moon hanging high above in the azure vault of the sky. In the far distance, Colorado peaks were still touched with snow, and dusty green brush filled the broad foreground.

Wrestling Marmots

July 20, Day 49: An extra “Byte” for today – wrestling marmots! Jean and I were hiking down Mount Rainier on the last leg of Skyline Loop Trail and found these two agitators. They were talkin’ smack (well, barking really) and facing off. The action was about to begin.

Rainier Hike

July 20, Day 49: Yesterday, we watched the sunrise at Rainier; today, we set out to hike Skyline Loop Trail. Snow still covered much of the mountainside, even in late July. Where it had retreated, bright green grass and wildflowers of every hue displayed their brief glory.

Rainier Sunrise

July 19, Day 48: Our day began at about 3:30 am, as we were intent on seeing the sunrise from Mount Rainier. The morning was chilly and clear, and the views brilliant.

Canyons of the Ancients

June 8-9, 2020 – Day 7-8 – Canyons of the Ancients National Monument in southwest Colorado gave us spectacular views, as did Hovenweep just across the border in Utah. Sleeping Ute Mountain often hovered in the distance, its grey-blue mass providing perspective to the landscape.

Theodore Roosevelt NP

August 25, Day 84: Theodore Roosevelt NP in North Dakota is one of the least visited of our National Parks. The area is very isolated, and the land beautiful. We found it surprisingly full of life, especially at dusk.

Mesa Verde

August 9, Day 69: We saw Mesa Verde Cliff Palace, and it took our breath away. Tucked beneath a massive natural alcove, it looks like a toy village at a distance until you zoom in and realize the scale. Over 600 smaller structures remain in the park, often lined across the valley from one another for easy communication. The ruins evidence a large population that thrived here 800 years ago.

Chaco Canyon

June 6, Day 5: Jean has long wanted to see the Pueblos of the American Southwest, and Chaco Canyon offers some of the most ancient and sacred. From 840-1150 AD, the Ancestral Puebloan people built massive, architecturally unique villages here, unlike anything before or since.

Craters of the Moon

August 9, Day 69: No, not those craters of the moon; Craters of the Moon National Monument! We almost bypassed this national monument to save an hour in our drive from Twin Falls to Jackson Hole. I am so glad we didn’t! The ancient lava flows there were astounding… I haven’t seen anything like that outside of the Big Island of Hawaii.