From other Travel Blogs...

Mykonos, Greece

Travel Tips:
Brave New Traveler shares 5 Tips Every Traveler Should Know About Internet Security. Find out how to protect your data when using internet cafes.

Amanda at Vagabondish has suggestions for using all 5 of your senses when you travel to get the most out of your travel experience.

Greg from Start Backpacking! has a guest post on The Traveler's Notebook about How To Take Better Notes For Your Travel Blog. One of his tips includes using those 5 senses to describe your experience. Even if you don't have a travel blog, these suggestions are also great for travel journals (and future scrapbooks!)

Travel Destinations:
BestHike.com recommends hiking in Hawaii with Kauaʻi - Hawaiian hiking paradise and hiking Waimea Canyon, Hawaii with kids.

Travel Bits:
Congratulations to Amy and Sloan from Reason to Wander for their recent engagement!

For more travel articles, check out the section marked From other Blogs in my sidebar.

5 of the Best Walks in Europe

... at least the ones I would like to try.

St Magdalena
Photo by gptwisted on Flickr

Italy- Alpe di Siusi in the Dolomites between Val di Fassa and Val Gardena (many day hikes)

Alpine Pass Route
Photo by Clare and Ben on Flickr

Switzerland- Alpine Pass Route from Sargans to Montreux (350km/220 miles)

Hardanger, Norway
Photo by Skygge on Flickr

Norway- Hardanger Plateau DNT Trail from peak to fjord (5-7 day hike)

West Highland Way
Photo by Jawcey on Flickr

Scotland- West Highland Way from Milngavie to Fort William (152km/95 miles)

Coast to Coast Walk
Photo by Slainte74 on Flickr

England- Coast to Coast Walk (C2C) from St Bees to Robin Hoods Bay (304km/190 miles)

There are also 11 European long distance paths maintained by the European Ramblers Association. Most of those trails are made up of several GR paths, especially in France, Belgium and Spain.

If you have other recommendations, please share them in the comments.

Related posts:
Tails from Trails: The Big Walk is about one couple's walk from Spain to Turkey.
Tails from Trails: Britain's End to End Walk about a man's walk from Land's End in England to John o'Groats in Scotland

Tales from Trails: The Big Walk

Valle de Baztan in Navarra, Spain
Photo by f0ff0 on Flickr

Thanks to Hiking Blogs, I have a new travel blog on my RSS reader. In 2003, Paul and Helen Webster left Cape Finisterre, Spain and started walking to Istanbul, Turkey. They are now sharing that adventure one journal entry at a time on The Big Walk. Check it out for the great stories and beautiful photographs. At this time, they are on Day 13 and walking El Camino de Santiago in reverse.

The original walk raised over £5,000 for the British Red Cross, and the blog is to raise money for the John Muir Trust. Please consider visiting their sponsorship page and donating to a great cause.

Reader's Question: Hiking Copper Mountain

Chris from Austin sent an email:

Stacy:

I found your blog by googling "hiking Copper Mountain".

We're planning a trip to Colorado in July, and are looking for a nice getaway with good hiking. We're taking my 6-year old son. We were thinking about Estes Park or Colorado Springs, but friends told us we should check out Copper Mountain.

Do you know of any good books or websites which will give us the inside, opinionated scoop on where to stay, where to hike, etc.?

Thanks. I really enjoyed looking through your blog!

If you are also considering a hiking vacation in Summit County, here is what I suggested for Chris:

A good place to get the inside scoop is the Trip Advisor Colorado forum. I did a search on Summit County hiking and several posts showed up in the results with opinions on where to go and what to do during the summer.

For other ideas, check out:

Lodging Options:
Copper Mountain
Keystone Ski Resort and Summit Cove for Keystone lodging
Craig's List for other vacation rentals in the Rocky Mountains.

Hiking Trails and Other Things To Do:
Copper Mountain for summer activities
Hiking trails in Summit County
ALL Summit County.com

If you have any other suggestions for Chris, please add them in the comments below.

Related posts:
Hiking at Copper Mountain
Friday Photo Post: Hiking Copper Mountain

Hiking the Wave

Photo by Picture Taking Fool on flickr

A post about The Wave on Backcountry Blog led me to enter the Coyote Buttes permit lottery for the boys' spring break this year. We've been wanting to go back to Bryce Canyon and also visit Arches National Park for a while now, so when I saw those incredible pictures, it seemed a perfect fit. Unfortunately, we didn't win permits for the days we would be in Utah. Oh well, we'll try again next year, or maybe for the fall.

The Wave is located in Coyote Buttes in Paria Canyon/Vermilion Cliffs Wilderness in Arizona, near the border with Utah. Visitors to Coyote Buttes North, where the wave is located, are limited to 20 per day. Ten of them reserved in advanced and ten left for walk-ins. All reservations are subject to a lottery system to make it as fair as possible.

The St. Paul Pioneer Press also has a nice article on hiking The Wave.

From other Blogs...

TRAVEL NARRATIVES:
A post on Dooce led me to The Daily Coyote, which in turn led me to Vespa Vagabond. Both sites are written by Shreve, who lives in a small cabin in Wyoming. The Daily Coyote is about her experience raising an orphaned coyote, and Vespa Vagabond is about her journey from San Francisco to New York City on her Vespa scooter.

Travis on Tour has a great story about his experience in a public bathhouse in Busan, South Korea.


TRAVEL DESTINATIONS:
National Parks Traveler writes about America's National Lakeshores.

The London Traveler shares A visitor's guide to Westminster Abbey.


TRAVEL TIPS:
If you liked my article on 10 Tricks to Meeting People While Traveling, you can read more tips on Brave New Traveler's How to Actually Meet Locals On The Road.

If you are considering a backpacking trip, Hiking Trip Reports shares some Hiking Trip Tips that will help you get started.

For more travel articles, check out the section marked From other Blogs in my sidebar.

Tales from Trails: Britain's End to End Walk

Photo by angryhaggis on Flickr

One site that has been taking up way too much of my time is Hiking Blogs, a directory of sorts for, well, hiking blogs. The site has a system for rating the quality of the blogs listed, and the current top 20 blogs can be found under the Top 20 category. I've been going through several of the blogs, starting with ones focusing on hiking in the United Kingdom.

Although it technically isn't a blog, one of the websites that caught my interest is My Long Walk, about Daryl May's experience hiking from Land's End to John o'Groats in Britain. A 63 year old American, Mr. May grew up in Britain, and this was a chance for him to see how it had changed since his youth. He shares his thoughts in 56 journal entries, one for each day of his walk.

Another good site about the End to End walk is Walking Land's End to John o'Groats with Mark Moxon. It includes a journal of the experience as well as tips and facts about the walk. For book lovers, When I Walk, I Bounce - Walking from Land's End to John o'Groats by Mark Moxon, was published this year.

Friday Photo Post: Mayflower Gulch

Here are more pictures taken by my brother, Scott, during his visit with us in Colorado. These are from Mayflower Gulch, just west of Silverthorne near Copper Mountain. There is an easy 2 mile walk with beautiful scenery that leads to the site of Old Boston Mine. (His other pictures were from Loveland Pass.)

If you are interested in free, or open source software, you can check out Scott's blog at MovingtoFreedom.org.

From other Blogs...

Here in the northern hemisphere, fall is in the air and Gadling shares a fun way to enjoy the autumn colors with Fall Leaf Peeping by Rail. Gadling also brings a USA Today tipping chart to our attention. The chart has up to date tipping guidelines for 77 countries.

Continuing with the theme of enjoying this season, National Parks Traveler suggests visiting Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks and shares tips of what to do at the parks. There is also an article about visiting Arches and CanyonlandsNational Parks during the fall.

Do you have your own suggestion for a getaway? Is it for $500 or less? Rob at Go Budget Travel is having a $500 Getaway Contest, with a prize of $500 USD for the winner!

A post on hiking in Hong Kong on Grigo's blog, Wondering with Wind caught my eye. Hiking in Hong Kong... What? That is one of the reasons I love blogs. I learn so much every day. If I'm ever in Hong Kong, I am definitely going on one of these hikes.

Need help writing a travel journal, blog or even book? David at authorblog is sharing writing tips in a series of posts called Telling Write from Wrong. For more technical help, check out Daily Writing Tips.

For other travel articles, check out the section marked From Other Blogs in my sidebar.

More State Parks on the North Shore of Lake Superior

Gooseberry Falls

There are many state parks along the north shore of Lake Superior. We've hiked most of them several times over the years. I mentioned Temperance State Park and Tettegouche State Park in earlier posts, here are some of the other parks we like to visit.

Gooseberry Falls: Usually our first stop as we drive up scenic Highway 61, Gooseberry Falls State Park is a popular place to climb over rocks around the upper, middle and lower falls. It is a short hike to the main falls area from the parking lot at the visitor's center. Depending on the water level, you can climb all over the falls themselves. There are longer hikes along the Gooseberry River if you really want to stretch your legs. You can also drive down to the beach and enjoy a picnic lunch and hunt for agates.

Split Rock Lighthouse

Split Rock Lighthouse: Although Split Rock is close to Gooseberry Falls, we usually save it for the last day so we can visit the rocky beach early in the morning before we drive home. The Minnesota Historical Society offers guided tours of the lighthouse and other buildings. You can hike or drive down to the beach from the lighthouse. There are several miles of hiking trails in the park and the paved Gitchi Gami State Trail section between Gooseberry Falls and Split Rock Lighthouse is now complete and open for biking, skating and hiking.

Palisade Head

Palisade Head: Located within Tettegouche State Park, Palisade Head is just south of the entrance to the park at mile marker 57 on Highway 61. This is a great place to stop for scenic views of the cliffs above Lake Superior. Drive the narrow winding road to the top, then walk around the rocky edges. Be careful, there aren't any fences and it can get very windy.

Cascade River

Cascade: Another spot with parking right off Highway 61, Cascade River State Park has a nice trail on the west side of Cascade River. Less than a mile from the parking lot is Cascade Falls and the Cascades, but you can follow the river for several miles past that on the Superior Hiking Trail. After your hike, walk across Highway 61 and climb down to the beach where you can relax and enjoy a picnic lunch.

Devil's Kettle

Judge C.R. Magney: Further up the North Shore, past Grand Marais, is Judge C.R. Magney State Park. This is the first year we visited this park and found the trail to the Devil's Kettle waterfalls to be a little challenging with a steeper trail and many stairs. It was worth it, though. Most people turn back after seeing the Devil's Kettle, but if you are still feeling energetic, you can continue hiking along the Brule River.

Hiking in Tettegouche State Park

High Falls 2007

The Minnesota State Parks along the North Shore of Lake Superior have miles of excellent hiking trails. One of the more dramatic hikes we enjoy is to the High Falls and Two Step Falls of the Baptism River in Tettegouche State Park. If you are staying at the park, you can start your hike from the campground, otherwise you can drive up to the nearby trail center and start your hike from there.

Baptism River 2005

We usually take the bridge across the river, but this year the water was low, and we were able to walk across by stepping from rock to rock. We were also able to stand at the edge of the High Falls. The last time we did this hike, the boys had to stand further away because of higher water levels.

High Falls 2005

From the top of the High Falls, you can hike down to the base of the falls, continue down to Two Step Falls, and then cross the river again to return to the trail center. The loop around the falls is about 2 miles, but it can be strenuous.

Base of High Falls 2007

There are a total of 23 miles of hiking trails, including 12 miles of the Superior Hiking Trail, inside the park. Another trail head is located off Lax Lake Road (402). From there, you can hike around several inland lakes. You can also park down by the visitor center off Highway 61 and walk to the beach at Lake Superior or enjoy the hike out to Shovel Point, which includes several scenic overlooks.

Beach at Tettegouche State Park 2005
Shovel Point in the background

Related posts:
More State Parks on the North Shore of Lake Superior
Camping at Temperance State Park

Camping at Temperance State Park

I recently took our three boys camping at Temperance River State Park, along the North Shore of Lake Superior. Doug was supposed to come with us, but scheduling conflicts occurred, and I was faced with the decision of canceling the trip or taking the boys on my own. I decided to go for it, and I'm glad I did because we had a great time.

One of the reasons is our campsite. This is the view from our tent. We were very close to Lake Superior, and it was so nice to fall asleep to the sound of waves hitting the shore. In the morning, the beach was deserted so the boys had the lake to themselves when they went swimming while I got breakfast ready.

Our days were spent hiking and climbing over rocks in several of the State Parks in the area. The water was very low, so we were able to go all over the different waterfalls. At night, we sat around the campfire, eating dinner and talking about our day.

You can access the Superior Hiking Trail from parking spots outside Temperance River State Park right off Highway 61. When we hike at the park, we follow the trail along the river for a few miles, then return to our campsite. You can also take a short walk from the parking lot down to the beach at Lake Superior.

Related Posts:
Hiking in Tettegouche State Park
More State Parks on the North Shore of Lake Superior

Falcon Guides for Outdoor Activities

Have any of you seen the Falcon Guides? Our local bookstore has some of the Minnesota books on display, including mountain biking, road biking, and paddling. Well organized and easy to read, these guides would be a good resource for planning outdoor activities.

According to the Falcon Guides website, there are guides for several different activities in the United States and other countries. I checked out the guides for hiking and added some to my wish list, including

* Hiking Minnesota
* Best Hikes along the Continental Divide
* Hiking Colorado's Front Range: Fort Collins to Colorado Springs
* Hiking North Carolina

In addition to hiking, biking, and paddling, there are also guides for climbing, camping, surfing, fishing and other activities. If you want ideas for outdoor activities, or places to go, check out the Falcon Guides website for books that will help you plan your next adventure.

Interstate State Park at Taylors Falls, Minnesota

We visited Interstate State Park in Taylor's Falls this weekend. The Taylors Falls Queen, one of the excursion boats run by Wild Mountain, was docked at the park. They have 30 minute or 80 minutes daily excursions available. You can bring your own picnic lunch, or there is a snack bar on board to satisfy anyone with the munchies. Dogs are allowed on board as long as they are leashed at all times. Dinner, picnic and specialty cruises are also available.

Wild Mountain also offers canoe and kayak rental at the park's canoe base. You can paddle from the park to the Osceola Landing 7 miles away, or to William O'Brien State Park 17 miles away. The first trip takes about 2-3 hours, and the second one takes about 5-7 hours. There is a shuttle at both landings so you can return to your car.

Wild Mountain itself is about 7 miles north of Taylors Falls. During the summer, you can cool off at the waterpark or try out the alpine slides and go-karts.

We stayed at Interstate State Park this visit. For 2 1/2 hours we climbed all over the rocks, walked along the paths, and looked at the glacial potholes. We brought our 9 year old golden retriever with us and she impressed everyone with her climbing abilities.

If you bring a dog to the park, make sure you have bags to clean up after them. We also brought a traveling water dish for Gabby. It folds up and fits into our CamelBak* water pack, and when we stopped for a break, we filled it with water from the pack. We also had water bottles in the car so she could drink again before we left the park.

During our exploration of the park, we stopped to watch some rock climbers on the Wisconsin side of the St. Croix River. There are opportunities to climb on the Minnesota side of the river, too. Climbing Central lists some of the different routes that are available.

Interstate State Park, Wild Mountain, and the historic town itself are all good reasons to visit Taylors Falls. About 40 miles away from Minneapolis and St. Paul, it is a good choice for a day trip or weekend escape.

*I was going to link to the camelbak site because I love their product, but the site requires flash player, and that irritates me. Instead, here is a link to CamelBak on wikipedia. We use our water packs whenever we go hiking. They are a great way to stay hydrated, and we can pack trail snacks, a small first aid kit, rain jackets and a camera inside the pockets and webbing.

From other Travel Blogs...

Some good travel articles to check out from this past week:

Dave at Go Backpacking explains CouchSurfing and shares his first experience as a host, then follows up with his thoughts and some CouchSurfing tips.

If you are traveling solo, Smarter Travel has a series of great articles including planning a solo trip, resources for solo travelers, and safety tips for solo travelers. Check out the site for a few others, too.

For tips on traveling in large groups, The Ecua Traveler has some good ideas.

Backpack Planet has some great tips for travelers to make things easier for family back home. There is also an article about free audio/video language phrase books for those of you who need help speaking a different language.

Going to Scotland? Viator shares possible itineraries for Edinburgh.

Or, if your destination is California, The New York Times has a good article on hiking the hills above the wineries in Napa Valley.

For even more articles, check out the section marked From Other Blogs in my sidebar.

*the picture above is a 200 year old oak tree that was recently cut down in the name of progress, I mean road improvements. The composition with the stop sign was deliberate, of course. I wish I had been there when they cut it down so I could have gotten a picture of that.

From other Travel Blogs...

Kiahuna Beach in Kauai, Hawaii
Photo by Scott Carpenter

Thinking of taking a RTW trip? The Lost Girls have a 3 part series detailing the expenses for their round the world adventure, including total costs, breakdown of flight, gear, accommodations, and breakdown of food, travel, entertainment.

Timen at in my All Stars shares Top 5 Reasons Why We Travel. He does a great job of explaining our need to get out and see the world.

National Parks Traveler has another guide to the parks, this time it's The Essential Glacier with tips for visiting Glacier National Park.

Conor is having a party! The place to be: New York City on June 21st. Conor's Mildly Thrilling Tales and Next Generation Nepal don't have any more details on their sites, but we'll keep you posted when we find out more. It's sure to be a great time, though, and a chance to help raise money for Conor's orphanage.

Backpackers.com has a post about Geobeats, a website featuring video travel guides. I ended up spending far too much time at Geobeats, exploring all the videos. The videos teaching the top local phrases are a great idea.

Another trail is being added to my summer of walking in England. Smarter Travel has an article about walking the Pennine Way that I found interesting.

Darren Rowse at ProBlogger has a group writing project going on. Stay tuned, I'll be writing about some of the travel articles that were submitted.

For more travel articles, check out the section marked From other Blogs in my sidebar.

From other Travel Blogs...

A few of the articles I enjoyed this week:

I've been thinking about doing the Coast to Coast Walk in England, just trying to decide if it should be with or without the boys. Guardian Unlimited has two articles by Martin Wainwright, Britain's Top 10 Coastal Walks and Sea Cliffs to Shingle: Coast to Coast Walk, that caught my interest. I've also mentioned walking along Hadrian's Wall. Maybe I'll be planning a summer of walks, because there are too many to choose from.

David at authorblog shares a beautiful picture of Algonquin National Park. I mentioned the park in my post about Camp Tamakwa, and this picture has me bumping the park up higher on my list of places to visit.

You can watch a video about Cafe Chavalos, a job-training program that gets young men off the street and teaches them how to cook and work in a restaurant, on Our Man in Granada.

Willy Volk at Gadling writes about Cool Capitals, a fun site with interactive maps of some of Europe's capitals.

There is also some good advice in the article 27 Personal Finance Tips for Overseas Travel on Ask the Advisor.

For more travel articles, check out the section marked "From other blogs" in my sidebar.

Sugar Loaf Mountain, Maryland

A fun place to explore in southern Frederick County is Sugarloaf Mountain. Not too far from Washington D.C., Sugarloaf is just north of Montgomery County, and close to the state of Virginia.

From the base of the mountain, you can drive up to the Potomac Overlook. Park on the east or west side and hike up one of 2 trails to the Bill Lambert Overlook. Each trail is just 1/4 mile long, but they are very steep in places, and can be strenuous. We had fun climbing all over the rocks at the top.

If it is crowded at the overlooks, try the more remote 5 mile Northern Peaks Trail and stop at the White Rocks viewpoint. If you want a longer hike, you can extend it with the 2 1/2 mile Mountain Loop Trail. Another option is the 7 mile Saddleback Horse Trail that circles the entire mountain.

Friday Photo Post: Hiking Copper Mountain

The above picture was taken just past Solitude Station as we began our hike down Bouncer. The picture below was taken after we crossed over to Fair Play and Foul Play.


Related post:
Hiking at Copper Mountain

Hiking at Copper Mountain

After hiking several trails in the Denver area, we drove up to Copper Mountain to explore some of our favorite ski runs without snow. The American Eagle chairlift takes people up to 11,250 feet at no charge. From there, we hiked a short distance up to a rocky area perfect for our young boys to go climbing.

We climbed all over the rocks, and enjoyed the incredible views. After working up an appetite, we hiked back down to Solitude Station where we enjoyed a barbecue lunch on the outside deck.

When we finished eating, we started walking down Bouncer, then crossed over to Fair Play and Foul Play. A narrow trail for hikers and mountain bikers criss crosses over the different runs.

If you are interested in biking down the mountain, a mountain bike chair lift pass is $14.00. The bike hooks on to the chair lift, and you can relax and enjoy the ride up.

It wasn't at all crowded when we were there, so we only came across a few small groups as we walked down to the village. For the most part, we were alone, and it felt like we had our own private mountain.

If you go, be sure to wear sunscreen, and bring plenty of water.