Day 120: Trooper Spring to PCT mile 2076.4, 23.9 miles
Day 121: PCT mile 2076.4 to 2094.4, 18 miles 
Day 122: PCT mile 2094.4 to 2108.9, 14.5 miles
Day 123: PCT mile 2108.9 to Cascade Locks, 31 miles 
Day 124: Cadcade Locks, 0 miles

This blog post is a bit different because it has been raining for the last few days; so I didn’t take a lot of pictures. Day 120 was flat and cold, and we powered through for a big climb up to Timberline Lodge the next day. The lodge sits near the summit of Mt. Hood, and we made it in time for dinner. We camped nearby, and the next day went in for the buffet breakfast. We spent 3 hours at breakfast, chatting with other hikers (and eating!!!).

After breakfast we hiked by Ramona Falls, and enjoyed some sun for a change!

The next day we were 31 miles from the town of Cascade Locks, and thought we’d hike a regular day then a short day to get in; however, we awoke to a cold steady rain. We ate breakfast in the tent, and got going a little later than usual. The rain didn’t look like it would clear, and it got worse as we hiked on. We took minimal breaks, and by 2pm realized we’d already hiked 16 miles and that we had a chance to make Cascade Locks by nightfall.

We started downhill, and as we got out of the clouds the rain stopped. We passed by many waterfalls, and even by one you could walk behind.

We made it by 8pm, and feasted at the local burger joint before checking into a hotel. We spent the next day in Cascade Locks, and enjoyed the rest day! Tomorrow we walk into Washington across the Bridge of the Gods. Blog posts may be sporadic through Washington, as the next 505 miles to the finish are remote and I don’t have much hope for good cell phone service; but we’ll blog when we can!

Bridge of the Gods

Day 125: Cascade Locks to PCT mile 2150.5, 6.3 miles 
Day 126: PCT mile 2150.5 to Trout Creek, 23.6 miles 
Day 127: Trout Creek to Crest Horse Camp, 21.2 miles
Day 128: Crest Horse Camp to Trout Lake Creek, 26 miles
Day 129: Trout Lake Creek to Killen Creek, 20.6 miles

We had a great day off, and lingered the next day in town. Cascade Locks is a small town, with very limited dining options, we ended-up eating two breakfasts, two dinners, and a lunch at the Bridgeside Restaurant; it is casual, but excellent! They do burgers and comfort food using fresh, local ingredients; our type of place! It was my birthday the day we left town, so we stayed for a delicious birthday lunch!

We crossed the Bridge of the Gods, and entered Washington! A few minutes later we passed by some trail magic, and had to take a break to enjoy it! A southbounder came along, so we chatted for awhile. It became clear we weren’t going to go so far, so we meandered a bit further and found a nice camp spot by a stream. It’s become a tradition to camp on my birthday, so it was fitting that we continued the trend.

birthday toast!

that’s a glacier!

We passed over silty glacial streams, and munched on huckleberries throughout the day. Even though my ankle was swollen from a bee sting the day before, it was a great day!

Day 130: Killen Creek to PCT mile 2366.9, 25.1 miles
Day 131: PCT mile 2366.9 to 2384.2, 17.3 miles
Day 132: PCT mile 2384.2 to 2399.5, 15.3 miles
Day 133: PCT mile 2399.5 to Sheep Lake, 23.7 miles

We turned our backs to Mt. Adams the second highest peak in Washington, continuing north towards the tallest: Mt. Rainier. It had been in the 40s the past few days, but it started to warm-up a bit thankfully. 

We fetched water from a spring coming straight out of a lava rock formation in the morning, then enjoyed a more flat than not hike for the majority of the day as we entered the Goat Rocks Wilderness in Gifford Pinchot National Forest. Later, we met Blink, a section hiker living in Portland, ME! He also works in restaurants, and is a similar age, so it was fun for us to trade tales about our stomping grounds. Towards the end of the day we started the first few miles of what would be almost a 4000ft climb, and camped above a lake that evening.

The next morning we continued to climb, and reached Cispus Pass. Shortly after we had second breakfast near a waterfall, and then continued up into the heart of the Goat Rocks Wilderness. 

We found snow, and had to cross it for about 100 feet. It was surprisingly firm for being in the sun, and we imagine it won’t fully melt before the snow falls again this year. 

We took a bit longer of an alternative route, where the old PCT used to go, to climb above 7000ft to the Old Snowy peak ridge, where we could see Mt. Adams, Mt. St. Helens, and Mt. Rainier. The ridge was a start of a knife edge (a trail on the narrow crest of a ridge), which rejoined with the PCT, and then continued for a couple of miles. 

mt. adams

mt. rainier

Day 134: Sheep Lake to Mike Urich Cabin, 21.4 miles
Day 135: Mike Urich Cabin to PCT mile 2368.3, 23.7 miles 
Day 136: PCT mile 2368.3 to Snoqualamie Pass, 22.4 miles
Day 137: Snoqualamie Pass, 0 miles

In my last post I totally forgot to mention that we hiked into Mt. Rainier National Park on the PCT. We walked past gorgeous lakes and glacier carved U-shaped valleys.

And we had terrific views of the mountain!

On day 134 we were unhappy to see 100% chance of rain in the forecast. We lucked out and found a sheltered spot under a tree, and woke up at 5am to break down camp before the heavy rain started. Although it was already sprinkling, the tree kept us dry! Carrying a soaking wet tent is no fun. It rained, and looked like this all day.

We booked it the nearly 22 miles to a cabin by 3pm. A cabin! There are very few shelters along the way, and we were super lucky that we passed one on a rainy day. It was crowded and loud with hikers seeking shelter from the rain, but any frustrations were well worth it as we could stay warm and dry out overnight.

The rain cleared-up for a day, before starting again early the next. We were lucky this day too, as we were headed into Snoqualamie Pass. It rained hard most of the day, but it was made better by some very unexpected trail magic. Two previous PCTers had a pop-up tent, and were flipping pancakes and serving coffee. It was awesome to sit down in a dry place and eat hot food on a cold, dreary day! It fueled us on to get to the pass, and as we got close the sun started to peak out.

We checked into the hotel, and laid all of our things to dry. We had a nice relaxing day off the next day, and I even had a chance to see an old friend who lived nearby. We got our resupply box, and a box of treats from my Mom and grandma Mimi (thank you!!!). It was a good rest before the final 260 miles to the border! 

Day 138: Snoqualamie Pass to PCT mile 2405.3, 15 miles
Day 139: PCT mile 2405.3 to Waptus River, 20 miles
Day 140: Waptus River to PCT mile 2440.1, 14.8 miles
Day 141: PCT mile 2440.1 to Stevens Pass, 21.6 miles

We had a hearty pancake breakfast in Snoqualamie Pass before packing-up and managing to make it out of town a bit before 10AM. We walked the short distance back to the trail, and immediately started a long climb back up to the mountains. We entered the Alpine Lakes Wilderness, and were rewarded with wonderful views for most of the day. 

The weather is getting chillier, motivating us to get to the border before it gets much colder.

It rained briefly overnight, and then we were awoken by what we think was a Western Screech Owl cackling and hooting; making for an unusually eventful night! 

We had a day of a big downhill, followed by a long uphill, and capped off with another long downhill. As a result, we just barely made it to 20 miles to camp before it got too dark to see. We also passed by this raging waterfall!

We keep talking about waking up earlier, which is getting harder and harder to do as it becomes lighter later. Today we were unsuccessful again, and didn’t rise until 6:30am. We may have to start setting the alarm, but our sleeping bags are so warm and the outside is so cold! To make matters worse, as we were eating breakfast in the tent it started to sprinkle, and then rain. At least we were dry for a bit, but we then had to break down the tent in the rain. The rain continued for the entire day, and as we climbed higher up it rained harder and we became cold and wet (despite out rain gear). As we started descending down off the ridge, the rain seemed to ease, and it became a bit warmer. We had a tricky creek crossing, you can see it from above in the video below (along with Garrett’s narration of the weather and me giggling). Shortly after we decided we were done for the day, and took out chances setting up the tent during a short break from the rain. 

​

Day 142: Stevens Pass to Janus Lake, 10 miles 
Day 143: Janus Lake to Dishpan Gap, 21.3 miles
Day 144: Dishpan Gap to Fire Creek, 22.6 miles 
Day 145: Fire Creek to PCT mile 2536.7, 21.3 miles 
Day 146: PCT mile 2536.7 to Cedar Camp, 23.1 miles
Day 147: Cedar Camp to Stehekin Ranger Station, 9.6 miles

We woke-up warm and to the sound of coffee being prepared in Legend’s RV; we soon all rose and had pancakes. While Dirty Gil and we had intended to get on the trail by 730am, before anyone of us realized it was already 9am. Dirty Gil hit the trail, but we hung back and headed up to the now open ski lodge with Legend for some espresso from the coffee bar. This led to more talking, and by the time it was 11am I was hungry again. The restaurant had just opened, so we said farewell to Legend as more hikers started to filter in, and had a hot lunch before finally making it to the trail a bit afternoon. We had meant to get back to hiking the night before, but are glad that we stayed. Ah, the town vacuum! We had a nice 10 mile hike in, and decided to stop early at Janus Lake. All and all, it was a very relaxing day!

We started the next day climbing to the top of Grizzly Peak, where we got our first good view of Glacier Peak. We continued to see the peak throughout the day, as we had long climbs up and down several times, before ending our day at Dishpan Gap.

We woke up the next morning to the sound of rain. Fortunately, the rain was light throughout the morning, and we walked through the clouds towards the pass. The clouds cleared, and we dried out out our tent during lunch. We had another big climb to end the day, and made camp by Fire Creek.

silty water melting off from Glacier Peak

We made it to North Cascades National Park the next day, and caught the shuttle bus 11 miles down a dirt road to the small town of Stehekin. On the way the bus stops by the bakery, which is well prepared for the onslaught of hungry thru-hikers. We all purchased over $50 worth of bakery goods, including pizza slices, sandwiches, sticky rolls, and assorted desserts, then filed back onto the shuttle to town. Stehekin sits on the shore of Lake Chelan, the largest natural lake in Washington. It is only accessible by boat ferry, float plane, foot, or a very, very, long ride down a dirt road. 

There isn’t much there, but hikers don’t need much to entertain themselves. We got out maildrop, called home, and ordered take-out from the only restaurant before hopping on the shuttle back to the ranger station. There we devoured our dinners with seven other hikers, and had a great time. It felt very celebratory, as most of us will be finishing up the trail in the next four days. Afterwards, we all fit into a shelter and slept very well. Only 80.7 miles to be border! 

(Next blog post coming tomorrow, as spoiler alert- we just finished the trail!)

Day 148: Stehekin Ranger Station to PCT mile 2591.1, 21.7 miles
Day 149: PCT mile 2591.1 to 2613.8, 22.7 miles
Day 150: PCT mile 2613.8 to 2635.3, 21.5 miles
Day 151: PCT mile 2635.3 to Manning Park (Canada!!!), 23.5 miles

We had a great last few days on trail. Washington certainly didn’t go easy on us as far as terrain was concerned, but it was so beautiful that we didn’t notice much!

One of my favorite parts was seeing the tamarack trees changing colors; they are the only deciduous softwood, meaning that they change color and loose their needles each year. 

We had a bit of rain, hail, and snow a few times; but never long enough to be a bother, and we enjoyed hiking through softly falling snowflakes, it made us feel as if we are wrapping this whole trail up at the right time.

And then came day 151; I remember thinking that these last few weeks would pass by quickly, but it still surprised me how fast the miles seemed to go. We camped a bit earlier than we wanted to the day prior, due to the aforementioned rain, but still felt confident we’d make it in a day the 14.5 miles to the border (the northern terminus of the PCT), and then the 9 miles to Manning Park, a provincial park in British Columbia with a very hiker-friendly resort.

We stopped for a classic hiker lunch two miles from the border (a “ramen bomb” instant mashed potatoes and ramen mixed together- trust me it is delicious, even cold! You just have to hike a few hundred miles first to realize it.). We had a few moments to collect ourselves and reflect on our time. The last miles flew by, and we knew that we were a quarter-mile away when we could see the twenty mile slash that runs the US-Canada border.

you can see the slash on the right

We signed the journal at the monument, took another moment to let it soak in, and then hiked into Canada. We made it into the resort in time to have a celebratory dinner, and spent the next day there as well to do laundry, soak in the hot tub, and rest our tired feet (and ankles, legs, & hips!). Now it is onto Vancouver, and then we’ll slowly make our way back to Maine. After that, well we’re thinking about it! I will still try to continue the blog, although it will shift back to cooking, with maybe a few adventures thrown in!

It is still a bit fresh to sum-up what this whole hike has meant. We weren’t hiking to find ourselves (although, that is a very worthy reason to hike!), or for the challenge; we were doing it because we both love to hike, especially together. I’ve always dreamt about doing a long distance trail, and Garrett has had his eye on the PCT since he finished the AT in 2011, so it seemed fitting to do this as our honeymoon. It was and will always be a very special time in our lives, but leaving the trail I don’t feel like we’ve lost anything- as we still have the most important part of the experience, each other. We both could have done it alone, but we wouldn’t have wanted to. Thank you for following along, we appreciated all of your comments and encouragement! This is Tuff Broad & Bear Sweatz signing off, until next time!

Driving towards Tucson we didn’t have much of a plan; we knew we wanted to spend 2-3 days there, but due to the large number of hiking opportunities in the area we were having a hard time deciding. Once in town we went to Summit Hut, a local outdoor store, to purchase maps of the area. We hatched a plan, and decided to start with Saguaro National Park the next day.

Saguaro has a west and east unit on opposite sides of Tucson, and we visited the east unit. In that side of the park there is a 8-mile road that drives through the park with a variety of trailheads leading back to a cluster of trails. The day was sunny, but only in the 60s, so it was easy to spend the day connecting trails throughout the Saguaro forest. 

The Saguaro is the largest cactus that grows in the United States, and although it is a symbol if the American West it only grows in a small area of the Sonoran Dessert (as well as a small part of Northern Mexico). It was fun to meander through the cacti, and see their diverse shapes. 

Dried out Saguaro cactus

We spent most of the day there piecing together a 12 mile hike, and left around 4:30pm. There is no car camping in Saguaro, so we headed across town to Catalina State Park to camp for the evening. Along the way we visited a local brewery for appetizers and a drink, and made it to the campsite with just enough time to spare to set-up camp before it grew dark; or so we thought. We were surprised to find that a sign at the campground enterance that said they were full! The campground has over 100 spots, but lies at the foot of the mountains surrounding Tucson, making it extremely popular with RVers as we discovered. We looped around the grounds anyway, hoping there may be a mistake, and found one spot that wasn’t reserved. We self-registered for the site, and made camp as one of only two tents in the entire park. We had planed to hike in the park the next day, but didn’t expect we’d be able to keep our spot. Sure enough the next morning when the office opened they confirmed our suspicions that they were full again. We didn’t want a repeat of having a hard time finding camping after a long day of hiking, so a bit frustrated we decided just to leave the hubbub of Tucson, and continue west towards California and other hiking pursuits.

We left Tucson in the morning, and by the early afternoon we were entering Joshua Tree National Park. While we could have hiked in the park, since we already spent many weeks hiking through the Mojave and in Southern California along the Pacific Crest Trail this year, we decided to just sightsee from the car. The southern part of the park consists of the low Colorado Dessert, which is the ideal habitat for the plant below.

This rather mundane looking plant is the Creosote Bush. It is friendly to neighboring plants when times are good, but when drought occurs it releases an herbicide to fight off other plants competing for water. It also favors propagation via vegetative cloning over traditional reproduction. Scientists estimate that some clones alive today can be 9,400 year old, making it the oldest living organism on the planet. Another Colorado Dessert inhabitant is a variety of cholla, referred to as a teddy bear cholla. Despite its cute moniker, it’s barbed spines are notorious hard to remove from skin and clothes.

As we progressed northwest through the park we passed out of the Colorado Dessert, and into the higher Mojave Dessert and its iconic Joshua Trees.

We had seen some Joshua Trees while hiking through the Mojave this spring, but nothing of the magnitude that we saw in the park. Another striking feature of the park that I wasn’t aware of was the dramatic granite rock formations that look like a giant child was playing with boulders.

We had a fun afternoon seeing what could be seen from the road, which was surprisingly a lot. We found plenty of campsites this time in one of Joshua Trees many campsites, and set-up camp just before sunrise. As the sun set we heard coyotes howling in the distance and enjoyed whatching the colors develop and then disappear over the dessert.

We were enchanted with Death Valley National Park. Despite its foreboding name, the low lying valley hugged by snow capped mountains welcomed us in. We arrived after a couple days of visiting my brother in Los Angeles. I had never been, and to my surprise I really enjoyed my time there. We spent time riding amusement park rides on Santa Monica Pier, went to the Griffith Observatory, and generally had a good time.

The drive to Death Valley was an easy one, and along the way we enjoyed seeing exit signs for towns we visited while we hiked the Pacific Creat Trail. We caught a glimpse of the trail outside of Agua Dulce and drove right through Mojave, where we had spent a night before embarking into the final dessert stretch before the Sierras. We reminisced as we drove, and quickly found ourselves driving through a mountain pass only to descend into Death Valley- the lowest point in the Western Hemisphere. We made camp at Texas Springs campground and plotted out the following day.

badwater basin

We first visited Badwater Basin, at 282 feet below sea level. The salt crystals crunched under our feet as we ventured out to the shallow salt water lake that exists in the basin. 
We then hiked up a narrow canyon to take in the natural land bridge. 

From there we visited the Devil’s Golf Course, a landscape of small salt pinnacles. We hopped from salt flat to salt flat, enjoying it like a playground. The chunks of salt were surprisingly firm, despite their appearance which I thought looked like dirty snow.
Next up was a four mile loop hike through Golden Canyon to blank Gulch. We saw the high walls of Red Cathedral, and marveled at the patterned badlands surrounding us. 

that’s me, the little dot in the middle

We wrapped up our day with a short drive to Mesquite Flats to explore the sand dunes. The sun started to set as we headed back to our campsite. Death Valley surprised us with all of its beauty. We easily could have stayed a few more days to enjoy our surroundings and 80 degree temperatures, but needed to move on to our next stop. Zion National Park, here we come!

sand dunes

We packed-up camp at Death Valley and headed east through Nevada & Utah, crossing back into the Mountain Time Zone. Even with a stop to resupply our food stores, we arrived at Zion National Park around 3pm. We found a nice campsite by the river, and settled in for the evening.
The weather was much cooler than Death Valley, but comfortable in the 50s. We had hoped to go for a longer hike, but we didn’t bring our snowshoes to deal with the deeper snow in the higher elevations in the park. For lack of longer hikes in the low country, we settled for a few shorter hikes. Although due to the beauty of Zion Canyon, it felt like we gained rather than lost. We started with a hike up to Angel’s Landing, which gives hikers a hawk eye’s view of the canyon. We made it a little over two miles to Scout Lookout, about half a mile from the landing and assessed our options. We had encountered some ice and packed snow on the way up, but nothing that our microspikes weren’t suited for. The rest of the way had chains for hikers to grab as a safety precaution against slipping and falling off the sheer cliffs surrounding the lookout. We attempted to go further, but after dealing with some sketchy sections due to ice not quite deep enough for our spikes to sink into, decided to turn around and not risk slipping. 

The hike up to Scout Lookout

View from Scout Lookout

Chains on the way up to Angel’s Landing

We hiked a little up the West Rim Trail and found a nice spot to eat lunch. It was a Sunday, so the trails were crowded, but going a bit further than the lookout offered us a quieter spot to take in the grandeur that surrounded us. 

We hiked back into the canyon after lunch and ventured over to explore upper, middle, and lower Emerald Pools, which are filled by a waterfall from the lip of the canyon above. From there, we finished the six mile drive to the end of the canyon and ventured-up the trail paralleling the river to peer into The Narrows, named appropriately as the canyon becomes quite narrow (twenty feet wide in some places) for many miles. It’s a popular hiking route in the summer, when the temperature is hot, the water level is lower, and one can wade up the river. This time of year the hike requires dry suits to stay warm and dry in the ice cold water. Something left to be explored for hopefully another trip to Zion!

Upper Emerald Pool

Super Bowl, camper style

The next morning we drove out of the park, and spotted some big horn sheep feeding off the side of the road. We’ve never seen big horn sheep up close, normally we’re lucky if we can just make them out as little white dots that can be seen on mountain sides. We pulled the car over and watched them for awhile, before leaving them to continue their breakfast, and for us to continue south towards the Grand Canyon.

A note: we made it back to Maine! The hiatus from our travelogue can only be explained by the fact that I thought I’d wait to type up our last few stops on the road trip until we got home, but then when we got back there was a million things to do (and a million cat hairs to vacuum from our couches), and writing went to the wayside. Thank you to our friends that texted us and asked us if we were okay and if we had disappeared into the wild wild west. My lesson has been learned; either write as we’re going, or suffer the consequences of being a procrastinator. And there really was no reason to put off writing about the Grand Canyon, because we had a wonderful time.

Hiking down the South Kaibab Trail.

As we drove towards the south rim of the Grand Canyon from Zion, the weather steadily became colder until we were in the 30s. We wanted to get an early start to descend into the canyon the next morning, and freezing rain predicted for that evening into the next morning made camping sound like no fun. Fortunately, it was mid-week and off-season, so we were able to find an inexpensive hotel room at Maswick Lodge in the park. The last time we took showers was a week prior in Los Angeles, so we welcomed the chance to clean-up. We scored permits at the Backcountry Office, did some last minute grocery shopping, packed our bags, and double checked to make sure we had everything for our four days in the canyon.

This photo is actually from day 3 in the canyon, not the hike-in. Due to clouds, we didn’t get many good photo-ops that first day.

The next morning we hopped on the hiker shuttle to the South Kaibab trailhead, and started hiking down in full rain gear due to the cold and drizzly conditions. We didn’t get too many views on the way down on account of the low hanging clouds, but we made good time and after six miles we were able to break for an early lunch with a nice view… and squirrels. There are signs all over the main corridor trails in the park saying not to feed the squirrels. I always think that it is pretty easy not to feed wildlife, you just don’t feed them; but these squirrels were determined to get our attention. We got our food out quickly, and I stood-up as I ate, my food bag between my feet, to protect my food from the squirrels (and the squirrels from my food, human food isn’t good for animals and habituates them to people). Then it was a few more miles down, across one of the bridges spanning the Colorado River, and to find a spot at Bright Angel Campsite. We made it to camp around 2pm, the hike down was a little over 9 miles and went much faster than we anticipated. Phantom Ranch is at the bottom of the canyon, a 5 minute walk from where we camped, so we walked over and had a beer at the canteen. We went back to our site and made friends with the girl camping next to us, and we played a good game of gin rummy. It was neat to swap stories with her, she was a climber traveling around the southwest, and talking and card playing made the evening pass quickly.

We spent the next two nights camped out at the same spot, and did a dayhike out to Rainbow Falls the first day. We were able to walk behind the falls, and the whole spot was an oasis in the dry, dusty canyon. The second day we hiked east for ten miles or so, catching views of the Colorado River, and then turned around and repeated those miles to get back to camp. We normally like to do loop hikes, but the Grand Canyon is so impressive, we had no problem repeating all the beauty that came along with the trail. 

For our last night in the canyon, we had planned a short 4ish mile day to Indian Gardens campground, but read at the rangers station that rain was predicted for that evening. Between the rain on the PCT, and the rain that we will experience on the Appalachian Trail in a few weeks, we’re trying to avoid it when we can. So we got our hike on, and instead hiked the full 9 miles out of the canyon in good time. We made it to the rim for pizza, unpacked our bags, and hopped in the car to Flagstaff- where we quickly ate more pizza, and planned out the last week of our road trip. This was my second trip to the Grand Canyon, and I cannot wait to go back! We purchased a map of much of the canyon, and I had no idea just how many trails were in there. Next time we hope to spend a couple of weeks backpacking around the canyon, exploring beyond the popular trails. 

We planned our trip to explore as many National Parks and natural areas as we could on our way out to Los Angeles to visit my brother. It was easy heading west, but on the way east from Flagstaff we cut across the country further north so as to not repeat the same route. It was late-February, and even in northern Texas the temperature swung from below freezing to 70s during the day, and predictions of heavy storms peppered the forecast. Between the storms we had time to visit Palo Duro Canyon, just south of Amarillo, Texas. Palo Duro is considered the second largest canyon in the US at 12o miles long, 20 miles at its widest, and a maximum depth of 800 feet (for comparison the Grand Canyon, is 277 miles long, 18 miles wide, and 6000ft deep). It was a long drive from Flagstaff, and we pulled into the Palo Duro State Park in the dark around 8pm. Unlike the Grand Canyon, you can drive to the bottom of Palo Duro, so we followed the winding road to the bottom and found a spot in one of the campgrounds. We had time for a morning hike the next day to enjoy the canyon in the daylight.

We continued east to avoid the upcoming storms, and arrived in Hot Springs National Park (Arkansas), in time for lunch the next day. We didn’t quite know what to expect in Hot Springs, its the smallest national park, and is focused more on the historic bathhouses lining the main street than trails in the forest.

We found the town to be quite charming, with quirky places like Superior Brewing which is operated out of the renovated Superior Baths building. Two of the mineral baths are still operational, one run in the style of a traditional modern spa and the other in the early 1900s style. The baths were said to be a cure for a variety of diseases, with certain baths thought more beneficial for certain ailments. We opted for the more modern bath house due to timing reasons, and later walked around town stoping to gawk at cherry blossoms and the water (which is naturally at 150ºF) flowing out of springs in town. 

From there we started north, with our last stop being Mammoth Caves National Park (Kentucky). We pulled into the park in the dark, and made our way to the drive-in campsite only to find it closed. Nothing on the park’s website had indicated this, and we were hungry and cranky, so we headed back into town (Cave City) to eat Mexican food and figure out what to do. We found a Motel 6 for about $50, and decided to stay the night. The next day we headed back into the park for a morning tour. Unlike Carlsbad Caverns which has a self-guided tour as well as guided tours, at this time Mammoth only had two guided tours available (one just being an extended version of the other). There were about 40 people on our two-hour tour. We all piled into a school bus and were driven to a cave entrance, which the park has sealed off to protect the cave. You can see the ranger next to the door in the picture below. 

The tour took us down a steep network of stair ladders that had carefully been placed through the passage to get us to a larger cavern below. Unlike Carlsbad Caverns, Mammoth Cave has a capstone above the network of passages which makes water seepage into the cave a rare event. Without water seeping into the cave, stalagmites and stalactites are nonexistant. We saw some cave crickets, experienced complete darkness, and meandered through the mostly smooth passage. We saw Frozen Niagara, an impressive formation. If it sounds like I liked Carlsbad Caverns better than Mammoth, it’s because I did. I was disappointed with the amount of information on the park’s page, and that they only had two very similar tours. Most of that was our timing though, as we arrived in the off-season (and the two months of the year that the campground is closed). If we were to return, we’d wait until the summer months when the park is in full swing with a large variety of tours. Next time! From Mammoth Cave, we drove east with stops for quality time with our family in Pittsburgh & Rhode Island, and made it back to Maine weeks after all the heavy snow had fallen.

Frozen Niagara formation in Mammoth Cave

Part of the reason we set off on the road-trip was to see how we liked traveling around the country, and to maybe consider buying a van or RV one day more frequent trips. This time we just had our small car, which limited how much we could bring. Had we had more space, we could have brought our winter gear, which would have allowed us more flexibility in the conditions we were prepared for. More space also would have allowed us to sleep in our vehicle the few nights we found ourselves without a viable campsite. We also planned our trip to see a little of a lot of places and to break up the driving. Next time, we may try to focus our energy into exploring more of a specific area. That being said, we really enjoyed our couple months on the road! And we’ll have plenty of time to think about future adventures while we’re hiking the Appalachian Trail. We start in less than a week!