Ok, the photo is nothing spectacular, but it’s a window into what you will see if you hike the Kīlauea Iki Trail. You’ll descend through rainforests onto and over a solidified lava lake, passing a still-steamy cinder cone along the way. It’s a cool trail I’ve written about that’s been published in today’s edition of the National Parks Traveler as part of the Traveler’s “Trails I’ve Hiked” series.
To read the article and see the photos, click on the image above.
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Filed under National Parks, Hawai'i Volcanoes National Park, National Parks Traveler, Hiking Trail, Trails I've Hiked
Every national park has an iconic trail. Some parks have more than one. At Big Bend National Park in Texas, such an iconic trail is the Lost Mine Trail. Have any of you ever hiked it?
I’ve hiked this trail and the article I wrote for the National Parks Traveler’s “Trails I’ve Hiked” series is published in today’s edition of the Traveler.
Click on the image to read the article.
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Filed under Big Bend National Park, Hiking Trail, Lost Mine Trail, National Parks, Trails I've Hiked
Today (June 5, 2021) is National Trails Day, folks! Where will that trail take you? Perhaps out among the red rocks and surreal hoodoos of Bryce Canyon National Park? Perhaps closer to home? Where ever that trail takes you, stop a moment and appreciate the builders of that trail and the fact that you are out in nature. Also practice the Leave No Trace Principles, while you are at it.
This image above was captured one chilly spring morning in 2018, about three months prior to my move from Texas to central Washington state. It had snowed a couple of days before but most of it melted away by the time I hit that trail. It was my last day in the park, and I was tuckered out. So, I didn’t hike the entire 8-mile loop. Next time I visit this national park, I plan on finishing out the hike!
Copyright Rebecca L. Latson, all rights reserved.
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Filed under Hiking Trail, National Parks, Photography
Washington is filled with state parks. There are quite a number them that parallel the Columbia River. Beacon Rock State Park is one such park and it’s a place I’ve been wanting to visit for about a year – ever since I’d read about it in the local monthly Yakima Magazine.
In addition to being a place with picnic tables, rest areas, a boat ramp, and green fields through which to hike to views of the Columbia River, probably the Star of The Show is Beacon Rock itself, and with good reason. It’s an 848-foot tall volcanic plug – a remnant of what was once a volcano. The exterior was eroded away by ancient floodwaters to reveal the lithified basalt plug within the volcano. It was once called Castle Rock but after its 1915 purchase by Henry Biddle, the Beacon Rock name was restored. Biddle built an amazing trail of 53 switchbacks up to the top (complete with railing) and donated it to the state of Washington.
The park is located outside of Skamania, WA, along the Lewis and Clark National Historic Trail, which parallels the Columbia River for some distance. To hike this trail, you’ll need a Discover Pass, which you can purchase for a year for $30 or you can buy a day pass for $10 right there near the trailhead.
The majority of the one-mile (one way) trail is paved or covered with a wooden boardwalk, and near the top, the pavement gives way to dirt and rock.
It took me about 1-1/2 hours, give or take, to go up and then back down the trail. People of all ages were hiking the trail, which I would call easy – moderate. My knees took going up better than they did going down, and I was thankful for the handrailing on the way down.
I’m pretty tickled to have done that hike – it’s something I’ve wanted to do and I certainly got my exercise for the day.
Copyright Rebecca L. Latson, all rights reserved.
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Filed under Beacon Rock, Hiking Trail, Photography, State Parks, Travel, Washington State
Where The Trails Take You Photography 
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