California and Oregon Adventures: Redwood National Park and Crater Lake National Park

Redwood National Park

On Fourth of July, I picked up two of my friends in San Francisco and drove to Redwood National Park (taking a detour through Sonoma on the way).  We enjoyed some olive oil tasting in Sonoma (unfortunately most of the wineries were closed when we got there), as well as a great farm to table dinner (with some wine tasting).  We spent the night on the south end of Redwood National Park and drove to the north end of the national park the next day.  We enjoyed several hikes and scenic drives while in the park.  We spent the next night on the north end of the park and enjoyed some more hiking through the great trees the next morning.  Some highlights of the park included hiking through the Lady Bird Johnson Grove, spotting a bear on another hike (somewhat scary), and enjoying one of the most beautiful sunsets over the ocean.  The park is interesting - and very different from Kings Canyon and Sequoia National Parks because it is right on the ocean so it almost has a tropical feel despite all the conifers.  The park is interesting too because as you drive through the park, you drive through non-park areas to get back to the national park.  Some of those areas are state parks, some are national park, and some are part of a Native American reservation.  The weather when we were there was cold and damp.

After enjoying Redwood National Park, we drove to Crater Lake National Park which is one of the most beautiful places I have ever seen.  (The drive, while long, was also beautiful.)  We did some hiking, but unfortunately had not booked the boat trip on the lake far enough in advance for all of us to have been able to do it.  We enjoyed dinner in the park and spent the night outside of the park.  The next day, after some more hikes, we drove to Portland, Oregon from where I returned to New York.  

Crater Lake National Park

One warning about Crater Lake National Park - there was still a significant amount of snow on the ground in mid-July.  Definitely one of my favorite national parks though.

Second warning - this trip, while great, required a lot of driving.

Memorial Day Adventures: Carlsbad Caverns and Guadalupe Mountain National Parks

Guadalupe Mountain National Park

For Memorial Day, I flew to El Paso, Texas with a couple of friends.  We spent Friday night in El Paso and enjoyed a good Mexican food breakfast the next morning before stocking up the car with water and food and driving a couple of hours to Guadalupe Mountain National Park.  Guadalupe Mountain National Park is very remote, yet beautiful.  We spoke to a ranger and enjoyed a day-long hike.  After our hike, we drove a couple of hours to Carlsbad Caverns National Park.  (Note that the time zone changes between the parks, but both are actually in the same time zone.)  After some confusion, we did make it to Carlsbad Caverns National Park before the evening bat program.  On evenings (weather permitting), the bats fly out of the caves.  It was a great experience and definitely a "don't miss" if you go to the park.

We spent the night about 30 minutes from the park in New Mexico.  We enjoyed some local green chilis (in pasta) for dinner and spent the next day exploring the caves.  We did a lantern tour - adults only.  It was a great tour because you see parts of the caves you can't see without a guided tour.  We did the main cave tour (on our own) and one of the more popular guided tours through the cave.  We were quite cold after spending a significant chunk of the day in the cave and enjoyed hiking out of the cave.  The hike was billed as strenuous, but we did it quickly without much difficulty.  We enjoyed lunch then drove back to El Paso.  We had a great dinner in the mountains while watching the sunset and flew back to NY the next morning.  Great weekend.

Warning sign on the hike out of Carlsbad Caverns