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
Our road trip across British Columbia had us going from Vancouver to Jasper and Banff National Parks with a short stop in Kelowna in between. The sunny triple digit temps in Kelowna kept us indoors for the majority of the time, and I was finally getting excited about our upcoming outdoors trip in Jasper and … Continue reading Wildfire Evacuation at Jasper National Park
Vancouver is known to some as having the best Cantonese food outside of Hong Kong. In fact, some may argue that its food is even better after a lot of the top Cantonese chefs left Hong Kong for Vancouver after the handover in the late 90s. So naturally, Joe wanted to make this trip up, … Continue reading Stawamus Chief 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
Other than the Formosa Cypress, the Alishan area is also known for its wasabi and high mountain oolong tea. As a coffee drinker, I cannot speak to the quality of the tea. Tea plantations dot the mountainside on the way to the park. Taiwan cherry blossoms begin to flower in January. Other Sakura species bloom … Continue reading Alishan Park
To truly appreciate the beauty of Taiwan, one needs to venture outside the cities. There are a few places around Taipei but the real beauty is in the central part of the island where the mountain ranges course through. At 7,000 to 8,000 feet above sea level, Alishan (阿里山) isn’t the highest mountain in Taiwan. … Continue reading Alishan – Tashan (塔山) Trail
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
Our final leg of this trip is a 4-day stay in Sydney, a sudden jolt back to “civilization”. After 3 months of laidback traveling, it’s a nice change of pace. The Hyatt Regency Sydney is Australia’s largest hotel, catering to business travelers and conference attendees, and the energy is very different than anywhere else we’ve … Continue reading Hyatt Regency Sydney and Eats
We started this trip chasing waterfalls in New Zealand 3 months ago, so it’s only fitting to conclude it with a waterfall hike. Mount Field National Park is an hour and a half from Hobart, and has a trail that winds past 3 waterfalls - Russell, Horseshoe, and Lady Barron. The trail starts at the … Continue reading Mount Field National Park Waterfalls
If I had a chance to redo our itinerary, I’d definitely allocate more days in Tasmania. On the map Tasmania looks like a tiny island off the Australian mainland. But, my mistake was underestimating the size of Australia. Two weeks in Tasmania can superficially cover both the northern and southern parts of the island. With … Continue reading Wineglass Bay Walking Track
Seeing Tasmanian devils was the reason for our visit to Tasmania, however, it is almost impossible to see these nocturnal animals in the wild. Luckily, there are a couple wildlife sanctuaries on the island that house orphaned and injured devils. The Bonorong wildlife sanctuary, being one of them, is conveniently located just 40 minutes from … Continue reading Bonorong Wildlife Sanctuary
After the three incidents in Perth a few weeks ago, I had real reservations about Australia and was close to canceling the rest of our Australian itinerary. Luckily, I gave the country another shot, and I am happy to say that what happened in Perth were unfortunate. The people in the rest of the country … Continue reading Cape Raoul Walking Track
Back in Australia, and the experience so far is a bit more positive than the last time we left it. People in Cairns (pronounced “cans”) are friendlier than those in the Perth area. Cairns, known as the gateway to the rainforest and Great Barrier Reef, totally reminds us of Hawaii, with the palm trees, green … Continue reading The Search For Cassowaries
Following our 2 hour visit to the Sekumpul area waterfalls, we set off for the waterfalls in the Banyu Wana Amertha region. The nominal entrance fee ($3 pp) nets you 4 waterfalls. This hike is a bit shorter than the hike in Sekumpul, but at an incline on the way back in 85°F and 60% … Continue reading Banyu Wana Amertha Waterfall
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