Hiking in Grand Teton

Snow-capped peaks, moose, wildflowers, crisp clean mountain air, cascading creeks, this is Grand Teton National Park.

One of our favorite hikes on all of our national park tours, is Cascade Canyon near Jenny Lake in Grand Teton.

We begin this hike with a boat ride across pristine alpine Jenny Lake. A ten minute ride gets us to the other side of the lake with beautiful views of the mountain peaks from the middle of the lake.

From the boat dock, a 1/2 mile hike along a beautiful cascading creek takes us to beautiful Hidden Falls. It is a raging waterfall that you hear, long before you actually see.

Next, we head up the switchbacks to Inspiration Point at 7200 feet with a beautiful view of the lake below. It is a good spot to catch your breath and have a snack. Just be careful the chipmunks and squirrels don't try and steal your sandwich!

The trail then heads into the canyon, following the creek in a more wooded area where picas, marmots, deer, and even pine martens aren't far off the trail.

Another 30 minutes up the trail, you lose the crowds and the canyon opens up to beautiful meadows along the creek, surrounded by mountain peaks and distant waterfalls. It is along this section of the trail we have seen moose 100% of the time! And black bear a handful of times.

You can follow the canyon a few more miles to the area called the Forks before heading back down and catching the boat back to the parking area.

Come enjoy this hike with us on our North to Yellowstone tour!

Hiking at Arches National Park

Arches National Park is one of our most favorite places to hike. We visit this park several times a year on our Arches and Canyonlands, Best of the West, and Grand Canyon and the Wild West tours. It also happens to be practically in our backyard in Moab! We never grow tired of the unique wind and sand carved rock formations, and of course, the fabulous arches!

Arches is home to more than 2,000 natural arches of all shapes and sizes. We spend most of our time hiking in the Devil's Garden area which has a high concentration of large arches including the world's largest arch, Landscape Arch.

We also hike past Pine Tree, Tunnel, Navajo, Partition, Double O, and the remains of Wall Arch, which fell in August of 2008.

The trails in Devil's Garden are a lot of fun. There isn't a lot of gain in elevation, but the trails are quite technical. Uneven rocks and sandstone fins make it necessary to do some fun scrambling.

In the spring months we see quite a few wildflowers and blooming cactus, but anytime is a good time to spot a leopard lizard or a desert cottontail.

We've hiked this trail dozens and dozens of times, but manage to see something new each time.

Our Favorite Hikes at Mt Rainier National Park

Mount Rainier National Park is a hiker's paradise. There are more than 260 miles of trails including the 93 mile Wonderland Trail that encircles the entire mountain.

On our Washington Coast to Cascades tour, we spend our day at Paradise near the Henry M Jackson Memorial Visiter Center. There, you can take in easy trails such as the Nisqually Vista Trail, the Alta Vista Trail, or for a bit more of a challenge, the Skyline Trail past Panorama Point. The Skyline trail climbs 1400 feet through alpine meadows, past glaciers, and offers incredible views of the surrounding Cascade Mountains. On a clear day you can even see Mt St Helens and Mt Hood.

No matter which trail you choose at Paradise, you'll see beautiful wild flowers, cascading streams and waterfalls, sweeping vistas, whistling marmots, and of course, Mt Rainier towering an additional 8000 feet beyond the trail head!

The weather can change quickly on the mountain, so it is a good idea to dress in layers. And don't forget your boots! The upper trails can stay snow covered for much of the summer. Our first trip there, we were completely fogged in and didn't get to see the mountain. But the hiking, alpine flowers, waterfalls, and wildlife were still amazing!

Join us July 9-15, 2011 for our Washington Coast to Cascade and you too can hike at Mt Rainier!