Rainbow Bridge Trail- February 2007

Day 3We attempted to use the Navajo Mountain Trail to reach Rainbow Bridge Monument by land. The Falcon guide book lists it as 12 miles round trip. It is 12 miles each way! The route is also very hard, going in and out of 5 canyons before you have finished 8 miles.















The snow turned out to be very deep in spots on the 5th canyon









Some of the most beautiful canyons I have ever seen




We didn't make it to the Bridge, but we found a lovely spot near a creek to make camp and have a nice evening under the stars. We were in the bottom of the canyon pictured above and the stars would appear and disappear around the tops of the canyon walls thousands of feet above.


We were not alone in our camp site.....

A couple of days of wet feet and they didn't look so good!

a look at how rough the last mile of road was till the trail head. I am sure it was a road at one time, but not anymore...

Superior Hiking Trail- November 2006

We had a fine cool weekend to hike some of the sections of the SHT. Unfortunetly we picked hunting season and the trail north of Duluth was closed to hiking. The only people that could be in the woods had permits and were wearing orange!

We hiked in Jay Cooke State Park, which covers both public and private land. We did see some 'oranged blazed' animals here as well

We took a tour up the coast, north of Two Harbors, where the SHT offically starts, and visited some of the state parks it passes through. The weather was cold but clear and offered some excellent views

Badlands and Black Hills with Mom- September 2006

My Mother had never been to the Badlands. She flew into Rapid City to join me for a weekend of site-seeing. The land lived up to its name this weekend with cold, hard driving rain.

All 98 pounds almost blew off the moutain top.

We spent a stormy night in the small cabins, with slanted floors, operated by the National Park. the next morning the weather was better

I took her on a tour of the Black Hills. We had a fabulous time on the wildlife loop near Wind Cave. We stayed at the famous Game Lodge in the Park.

Our new friends, thought they would come in the car with us.

The final day at Mt.Rushmore was a great weather day and made for some great views of the President's. Mom was a great sport for the whole weekend.

The "Show Me State" flag