The Adventures of Kinky Reggae: A Vagabond for Beauty

Oh, West Virginia... you let me down. Unless you're there to run the rivers, there's not much to do. Actually, that's unfair. There's plenty to do, but I wasn't interested in any of it. There's rock climbing, but I can't do that alone and no way am I paying a guide. They advertise rock climbing AND rappelling, but I've rappelled enough that the act itself isn't that glamorous, unless it's a gorgeous waterfall or something. Rappelling is just a means to an end. Near Fayetteville, there is a huge bridge that's like, 800 feet high that you can walk across on a 24 inch catwalk, but I hate bridges and heights. At Pipestem State Park, there's a tram you can take across the New River Gorge, but once again, I hate heights. I would spend the whole time picturing the cable snapping and me plunging to my death. There are tons of opportunities for tubing, but that's not something you do alone. So, I decided to visit all three rivers and then exit

Hopewell Culture NHP Let's be honest, mounds are not super exciting. However, these were more interesting than some of the others I've seen because they were burial mounds. Also, there were some cool artifacts in the museum.       Cumberland Falls State Park:     I stopped to see the falls, then camped down the street at the Sheltowee Trace Adventure Resort. I'm making note of this because I'd like to go back and do one of their river trips. They have wifi and clean showers and it's just a nice place to stay! Big South Fork NRA I hiked past enormous boulders and sandstone bluffs until I reached Yahoo Falls, which is 113 feet tall. (Does not look like it from this picture!) This late in the season, many of the falls around here are just a trickle.    This would actually be a pretty sweet rappel. Reminded me of Workman's Creek in AZ. I contemplated going back to the car for my rope, but as I stood there pondering, I was SWARMED by mosquitos. Nope. I hiked quickly

Pipestone National Monument was a peaceful, pretty spot. Native Americans have been going there for thousands of years to quarry the pipestone and make pipes. You can go for a little hike through the quarries and also see a waterfall. The rock in the middle that looks like a face is known as "the oracle."      Young men used to jump from the cliff onto Leaping Rock to prove their bravery.    I thought it was funny to see all of these polished looking pipes, and then the one on the bottom right looked like it was carved by a little kid. I'm sorry, I shouldn't say that... I couldn't carve any kind of pipe at all!     I also thought it was funny that the petroglyphs were inside the museum! My next stop was Effigy Mounds. I watched the informational video and climbed up to the top of the Little Bear mound. I was actually pretty excited to visit this spot after reading Terry Tempest Williams's account of her visit, where she describes walking the outline of the bea

Today was an exceptionally good day.  I was on the first tour of the day at Jewel Cave National Monument, which I think is one of the prettiest caves I've ever been in.    (When I got to this room, I thought, "That thing on the right looks like Jabba the Hutt." And then our guide said that is its unofficial name!)   Stalactites and a stalagmite. And when they meet in the middle, you get... A soda straw!      (Jellyfish)   (Frankenstein- top center)   ("Cave bacon-" 22 foot drapery) B ased on the amount of wind coming through the cave, they estimate they've only explored 3-5%. 189 miles has been found so far; it's the third longest cave in the world. The deepest part is 816 feet. After the cave, I explored Custer State Park. I couldn't believe the Cathedral Spires.   Dang, South Dakota!   I stopped at Wall Drug because it reminds me of childhood family vacations. When we were kids, the souvenir my brother picked out was a switchblade comb. Today I cho

My campsite was just a few minutes down the road from Sol Duc Falls, so it was great to wake up and just immediately head there before the trail got too crowded. I have to admit, these falls did not look impressive in pictures, but they were amazing in person.      I'll post a video when I have wifi. I waited for low tide, and then I hiked down to Second Beach. I think this was my least favorite of the beach hikes, which is funny because Nina and Rachel were told it's the best one! It was still beautiful, but just not as exciting as some of the others. There was no destination to hike to, and the tide pools were empty.     Besides these two short and fabulous hikes, the day was uneventful. But I love this summer life I'm living. I don't feel like I ever need to go back!

Feeling emboldened after my two long days of hiking, I decided to tackle another longer hike. I felt like I'd been neglecting the alpine areas of the peninsula, so I chose Lake Angeles. I saw the phrase "glacial cirque" in the description and I was sold! This hike climbs 2500 feet in 3.7 miles to get to the lake. Not gonna lie, I had to stop a lot to catch my breath! It wasn't too scenic; all forest. Although there was this cute little bridge that looked like something out of a fairy tale.   The trail really wasn't that bad. It was a pretty gentle grade, although relentlessly uphill. There were seriously NO level sections! But then I emerged from the woods and was greeted with this view:       An island! I wished I'd had a raft or something to paddle around and explore the lake. Gorgeous view! And then I made it down the trail FAST. It was nice that it wasn't steep enough to hurt my knees. I was even able to run parts of it.  It was nice to know I had a ca

I was sad that this was my last night at Mora Campground. Good ole site 71... I definitely made some memories there. There was a trail near the campground that's in my book, and I'm trying to check off as many hikes as I can, so I did that trail quickly before meeting up with Sarah. I saw a banana slug and listened to Bob Marley. (Lee and Neal totally expanded my musical tastes.) Sarah and I were going to hike Kalaloch beach. I was initially disappointed; at first it seemed like any other beach hike. But I couldn't complain about a nice long walk on the beach!  We saw this HUGE jellyfish... I'm sitting next to it for scale.   In two miles, we reached tide pools and rock formations. There was one that was FULL of sea squirts... just amazing.       There was also this cute little waterfall.    And then we found sand dollars! Two perfectly formed sand dollars. We were so excited, but now I am consumed with guilt. I didn't realize that sand dollars themselves were livin