[Big Bend National Park & Marathon, TX – Dec 28, 2021] After 2 full days in the park, it was time to say good-bye to this fascinating place. Our flight back to Los Angeles wasn’t until later in the day. Since we were going to gain two hours from Lajitas to El Paso, we took…
[Big Bend National Park, Dec 27, 2021] For our second full day in the park, we decided to take the Ross Maxwell Scenic Drive. With stops at some of the scenic viewpoints and short hikes, we expected it to take about 5-6 hours. The 31-mile point-to-point drive begins in the Chisos Mountains section of the…
[Big Bend National Park, TX, Dec 26, 2021] For our first full day in the park, we decided to do one of the most popular trails in Big Bend, Lost Mine. Although it’s short – less than 5 miles round-trip – it’s not exactly easy due to the 1,100 ft of elevation gain over a…
Pinnacles National Park is small but its two entrances make planning a trip there more difficult than it should be. While the east and west roads do not meet in the middle, a lot of trails do. Therefore, it’s possible to see both sides of the park without driving yourself all the way around, which…
[Pinnacles National Park, CA / San Juan Bautista, CA, Nov 27, 2021] On our second day, we left even earlier than the day before. We knew the gate to the west entrance of Pinnacles didn’t open till 7:30 am and we were there just a few minutes after that. We had our sights on Balconies…