Jean Nguyen

  • California

    Alabama Hills & Mt. Whitney

    October 18, 2016 - By 

    I’ve always said California has everything, and that was before I even knew that California also has the highest AND lowest points (both within ~100 miles of each other) in the contiguous U.S! Last year in Death Valley, we sauntered along Bad Water Basin, the lowest point in the U.S. at -282 feet below sea level. This year we figured we’d summit the U.S.’s highest peak, Mount Whitney, at 14,497 feet tall. By mountaineering standards, Mount Whitney is relatively easy to summit. Between summer and fall, anyone in decent shape can summit the mountain—no mountaineering experience required. As a result, the 22-mile out…

  • California

    Joshua Tree

    October 14, 2016 - By 

    I didn’t think I’d like Joshua Tree National Park.  I typically prefer the more “traditional parks” that consist of deep canyons or mountains, forests, and lakes.  I figured Joshua Tree NP would just be a boring desert with a bunch of cool trees, right? Free camping on BLM land outside of Joshua Tree NP: Within minutes of entering the park, I figured how very wrong I was, especially during the magic hour of sunrise.  Silhouettes of the gnarled trees beckoned us as we drove down the vast, empty road, and it became understandable why artists, poets, and nature lovers personify these trees.  I, too, became enamored…

  • Nevada

    Valley of Fire

    October 13, 2016 - By 

    Some lesser known state parks can flaunt the grandeur of national parks, and Nevada’s first state park, Valley of Fire, defends that claim.  Originally we planned on driving straight from Great Basin National Park, Nevada to Joshua Tree National Park, California but we made the spontaneous detour to Cathedral Gorge State Park.  While searching for a free place to boondock near Las Vegas, I stumbled upon Valley of Fire–there was BLM land just outside of it.  After the brief detour to Cathedral Gorge, I figured it wouldn’t hurt to make another brief detour to Valley of Fire. However, unlike Cathedral Gorge,…

  • Nevada

    Cathedral Gorge

    October 12, 2016 - By 

    As I quickly made my way in and out of the Great Basin National Park Visitor Center to use the bathroom, curiosity drew me to the information board.  I couldn’t resist skimming over the PLACES NEARBY map, especially with its beautiful pictures.  A stunning photo captioned “Cathedral Gorge” caught my eye, as it resembled a mini Badlands National Park.  Seeing that the state park was conveniently located right off the highway on our route to Southern California, I saw that there was no reason why we couldn’t stop for a brief visit. We pulled over to scope out Miller’s Point, the park’s most spectacular…

  • Nevada

    Great Basin National Park

    October 11, 2016 - By 

    Literally lost in the middle of nowhere across the expanse of a massive desert, Nevada’s sole national park quietly lingers between a cluster of mountains.  It’s a damn easy place to pass by along the lonely highway, and I’m sure most people do just that. However, making that adjacent turn into the labyrinth of mountains takes wanderers, explorers, and the curious into landscapes that can only be imagined: cave chambers at the foot of the mountains, groves of the Earth’s oldest living trees, iconic rock formations, a rock glacier, and Nevada’s highest peak at 13,159 feet.  That’s quite a bit for a tiny…

  • Montana

    Two Medicine

    October 9, 2016 - By 

    Leading up to our finals days at Glacier National Park in Two Medicine, Chris and I hiked a total of 49 miles over 4 days, and I tacked on an additional 50 miles by bike on the Going-to-the-Sun Road.  Our final day and hike at the park would be the arduous yet rewarding 19-mile Pitamakan/Dawson Pass Loop, totaling our hiking mileage to 68 miles over 5 days.  Not even our aching legs could hinder our spirits to set off on our final hike, especially since the day was the last day of an unusual string of perfect weather. We awoke early enough to catch glorious…

  • Montana

    Many Glacier

    October 6, 2016 - By 

    While Glacier National Park’s Going-to-the-Sun Road seems to attract the majority of its visitors (and predominantly the non-hikers), I assume that Many Glacier attracts the majority of its hikers and nature enthusiasts.  There’s no wonder why–it seems as if the scenery to mileage ratio on any given trail gives Many Glacier an epic factor of 10.  Upon gazing over the glassy, finger-like lakes, glaciers, dramatic cliffs and rock walls, which were all embraced by autumn drapery, we found ourselves lost in a whirlwind of a magical nature land.  To recall we were still in the United States was almost unbelievable. We arrived…

  • Montana

    Going-to-the-Sun Road

    October 4, 2016 - By 

    Towing a 16′ trailer meant we couldn’t drive through Glacier National Park via the famous Going-to-the-Sun Road, so we took the long route around the park to East Glacier.  The plan was to camp at St. Mary; most campgrounds along the Going-to-the-Sun Road were already closed, St. Mary was in primitive status ($10/night!), it served as the perfect base to cycle and explore the trails along the road, and it was the launching point for our next destination at Many Glacier. A quick photo stop just outside of Two Medicine: We pulled into St. Mary Campground by late afternoon on a…

  • Montana

    How to Experience Glacier National Park

    October 3, 2016 - By 

    I’ve always heard about Glacier National Park—the wildlife, the glacier-carved mountains and lakes, the unbelievable hiking trails, and the sheer size of it all. But then I read about the complaints: the visitor center’s and trailhead parking lots filling by 8am on any given weekday, the packed shuttle buses, the horrible traffic congesting the single-lane road, the tour buses, the long lines at bathrooms, swarming hiking trails, and all the campgrounds with long queues at the registration booths. That doesn’t sound like a getaway into nature. Then I learned why. Glacier’s hiking season only lasts a little over 3 months…

  • Oregon

    South Sister

    September 26, 2016 - By 

    After our first trip to Bend in 2015, I knew that we’d return. Again and again. Sure enough, exactly a year later, we found ourselves passing through Bend. This time we made sure to summit Oregon’s third highest peak, South Sister. Sprawling between Eugene and Bend, the gorgeous Deschutes National Forest is home to lakes, ski runs, campgrounds, trails, and mountains, the notable mountains being Mount Bachelor and The Three Sisters. Of The Three Sisters, the South Sister is the tallest at 10,358 feet, the least technical to summit, and offers incredible views of the other two sisters. At approximately…