Category: USA
We are finally back in California. For me, this trip to Canada felt incomplete, but what can you do when Mother Nature has her own ideas. Wildfires aren’t just limited to Canada, as we have our own forest fires to deal with south of the border. However, unlike the ones up north that were triggered … Continue reading McWay Falls
Behind Washington State, Oregon boasts the most waterfalls in the US making it a waterfall chaser’s paradise. The Silver Falls trail near Silverton brings you to 10 waterfalls if you walk the entire 6.5-mile Canyon/Rim loop. Unfortunately quantity does not equal quality, as the majority of the waterfalls are quite underwhelming, and only 3 - … Continue reading Silver Falls State Park
Crossing the US/Canada border at Osoyoos is a much more pleasant experience than crossing the border closest to Vancouver. Instead of a half-hour bumper to bumper traffic, there was only one other car crossing the border with us today. The drive through the interior of Washington State isn’t the most scenic, as it’s mostly through … Continue reading Wahclella Falls Trail
When people mention Yosemite National Park, the Half Dome comes to mind. The famed 16-mile Half Dome cable hike is a bucket list item for many hikers, but securing a permit is not easy. Luckily, there are other challenging trails within the park such as the Upper Yosemite Falls hike and the Four Mile Trail. … Continue reading Four Mile Trail
I did it again. I hiked to Havasupai for a third time in less than a year. This time, however, I went with 2 other hiking buddies - Michelle and Jeannette. Hiking with others offer opportunities not readily available for a solo hiker - one being hiking in more remote areas. The hike to the … Continue reading Confluence Hike
My last visit to Havasupai was cut short by a day due to potential rainfall on my last day. So there were a few places that I didn’t get a chance to check out. Hidden Falls is one of the least visited waterfalls due to its relatively hard to find and hidden location. The fact … Continue reading Unfinished Business
Shortly after returning home from my last Havasupai trip, I found myself looking for another hiking permit. This year may be the only year where permits are easy to obtain, and I reckoned that it would be foolish of me not to take advantage of this. There’s no guarantee that I will be lucky enough … Continue reading Second Time Around
It’s been 10 weeks since the contractors started work on our master bathroom, and our bathroom is now finally finished. We were initially told that the process would take 3-4 weeks, which I thought was an ambitious timeline, but 10 weeks?! I liked our old bathroom. Unfortunately, the bathtub needed to go. Not only is … Continue reading Bathroom Renovation
One of the most visited National Parks in the US is the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. The park is huge with trails galore. Had we traveled here by ourselves, I’d have schedule back to back to back hikes. As part of a party, I needed to be considerate of others who may not regularly … Continue reading Mount Le Conte Trail
There are 3 major mountain ranges in the US. On the West Coast, we have the towering Sierra Nevada and Rockies reaching elevations of over 14k feet above sea level, and on the East Coast, the Appalachian scraping close to 6.7k feet above sea level and stretching from central Alabama all the way up to … Continue reading Looking Glass Rock Trail
West Virginia isn’t normally on people’s radar. However, with the newly designated New River Gorge National Park, West Virginia is slowly starting to get some attention. The state is surprisingly beautiful, with lush green forests dotted with red, yellow, and orange this time of year. The New River Gorge Bridge WV actually wasn’t part of … Continue reading New River Gorge National Park
Our annual pilgrimage to NYC this time around was a little longer than our usual flybys. Joe had wanted to spend more time with his parents, but ended up only seeing them once. The extra days allowed us to see NYC through the eyes of a tourist. Our first night was at the Andaz on … Continue reading NYC & Boston 2023
I had one more day in camp but decided to leave a day early because of an incoming storm. My biggest concern was the dry washes becoming impassable during monsoon flooding. Hiking in the rain generally isn’t ideal for me, so it was another alpine start the morning before. Woke up at 3AM, broke down … Continue reading Solo Backpacking
After breakfast in camp I made a beeline for Havasu Falls to try to get a clean shot of the place. These travertine pools were full of people yesterday afternoon, but early morning offers a chance at solitude. The waterfall from a different perspective. I took advantage of having one other person there to snap … Continue reading Beaver Falls
There are several hiking permits in the US that are generally hard to secure. You have lottery systems for Yosemite’s Half Dome and Grand Escalante’s Wave, and others like Havasu Falls that require you to have fast internet connections to purchase permits. Permits for Havasu Falls for the entire year generally sell out within 5 … Continue reading Havasu Falls
Been back home for 3 weeks now, and in the midst of getting the house ready for termite tenting, roofing repairs, and various reno projects. Finally got a chance to get back on track running at Crystal Cove marveling at our wildlife here. It always gives me warm fuzzy feelings when I see dolphins. New … Continue reading Crystal Cove
Living on the arid mainland, Hawaii is a welcome change with its lush and jungle-like landscape. Hiking in Hawaii is perhaps my favorite activity. However, Joe isn’t a hiking fiend like me so we had to alternate our days between hikes and non-hiking activities. So on our fourth day, we decided to do some low … Continue reading Oahu’s Different Moods – Kaneohe & Koko Crater Trail
The Chinese saying「一言既出駟馬難追」means once a word is uttered, even a carriage drawn by four fast horses will not be able to catch it. Back in December, Joe, whether wondering out loud or not, asked if I’d wanted to go to Hawaii (if that’s not a rhetorical question then I don’t know what is). The next … Continue reading Oahu – Flora, Falls, Food, and Some Hiking
We finally get to take our very first points redemption flight. The original flight booked a year ago was to have us fly to Asia from the West Coast. However, EVA Air went ahead and canceled the flight back in April leaving us with no way to get to Taiwan using our points. I had … Continue reading NYC Drive By
Given the desert conditions of SoCal, our national parks pale in comparison to the ones located further north in the state. One of the best and most well known national parks in California is Yosemite. Due to its popularity, visiting the park requires advanced planning to secure lodging, permits, and reservations. But that’s not always … Continue reading Upper Yosemite Falls Trail
It’d be a shame to come to California and not visit any one of the National Parks. So we dragged Angela to her second National Park during her monthlong stay with us. Sequoia National Park is famous for its gigantic sequoia trees. General Sherman being the largest tree in the world by volume. While other … Continue reading Tokopah Falls Trail
After returning from Tanzania, we made a beeline for Vegas since Angela’s never been. For us, Vegas has always just been an overnight stop between home and our hiking destinations. But that doesn’t mean there isn’t anything else to see while in town. Walking through all the hotels for the decor and installations is a … Continue reading Reason Behind All The Madness
Taiwan’s borders are opening up slower than I’d like. At this point foreign tourists are still not allowed entry, which poses a problem for Joe. Dad doesn’t think Taiwan will open up this year because election is at the end of this year, and no politician wants to be blamed for rising COVID cases if … Continue reading A Day in NYC
California is one big National Park. In total we have 9 National Parks with varying scenery, from the desert terrain of Death Valley and Joshua Tree, to the Giant Sequoias in King and Sequoia, granite rocks with waterfalls in Yosemite, volcanic rocks of Lassen, and the shores of Point Reyes and Channel Islands. Today we … Continue reading Redwood National Park
Joe has a soft spot for Japanese gardens, and I have a particular fondness for Japanese maple. And what better place to go than to the largest Japanese garden in the US - the Portland Japanese Garden. Entrance to the garden Unlike most gardens, one thing we noticed about this one is the absence of … Continue reading Beauty All Around
FIRE'd @ 47 