National Parks

exit glacier alaska

Hiking the Exit Glacier and the Harding Ice Field

When we saw a few small shelters and signs, we knew we had reached the end of the trail. This was the observation point for the Ice Field. The view from this area was… other-worldly. The way the pure ice and snow stretched out before us. Three hundred square miles of ice. That’s about a quarter of the size of Rhode Island, and we stood there in awe of this. Formations like this once covered much of North America.

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Caves and Caverns of the Southeastern United States

These three sites–Russell Cave, Ruby Falls, and Mammoth Cave–represent a range of karst landscapes that played varying historic roles in the southeastern United States. There’s Russell Cave, which provided shelter to people for millennia; Ruby Falls, excavated only in the 20th century and opened as a tourist site, now renowned for its stunning formations and underground waterfall; and of course the incomparable Mammoth Cave, with its seemingly endless trails.

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Golden Hour - Savage River Denali Alaska

Hiking the Golden Hour – Exploring the Savage River of Denali

Officially, Denali National Park claims to have no trails in the wilderness. There are official, marked trails in some places, notably the park entrance and Eielson, but when asked, Rangers will never mention other trails. But there is a trail beside the Savage. It begins about half a mile south of the camp, when an unmissable bluff rises on the west side of the river. It’s a flat, smooth game trail which continues up to the point where the river enters the mountains.

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Horseshoe Lake Denali National Park, Alaska

Hiking Horseshoe Lake, Denali – A Beautiful Wilderness Hike

The rain was falling lightly, enough to ensure that I had the entire trail to myself. About half a mile in, the trail seemed to fall away at a bluff. I stood there in silence, looking out over a medium-sized lake framed by mountains, with a few tiny cabins in the distance. Join me on my journey as I Hike Horseshoe Lake of Denali National Park get lost in its quiet beauty.

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