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TrailGroove Blog

A Blog by the TrailGroove Team

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Entries in this blog

Trips

Hiking & Exploring Kentucky's Red River Gorge

Usually when I travel, I am pulled to the west – New Mexico, Arizona, Utah, and surrounding areas. For my latest trip, however, I headed in the opposite direction and visited a place that I had first heard about several years ago: Red River Gorge Geologic Area in northeastern Kentucky. My companion for this trip was Joel, with whom I’ve taken several other trips, both mountain biking and hiking. We left Oklahoma on October 2nd, 2022 and spent four days hiking in the area. The Red Rive
Steve Ancik

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Trips

Hiking Oklahoma: Where East Meets West

Thanks to Rodgers and Hammerstein and the Weather Channel, most folks know Oklahoma as that place in the middle of the U.S. "where the wind comes sweeping down the plains." And the designation is certainly fitting, especially in the spring of the year when it’s time for Oklahomans to hunker down for tornado season. While the plains indeed comprise a large portion of Oklahoma's land mass and contribute significantly to its cultural history, the state is home to more than 10 distinct ec
Susan Dragoo

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Trips

Views & Volcanoes: Backpacking the Timberline Trail

The Timberline Trail is one of the classic trails in America and is classified as a National Historic Trail. It was designed in the 1930s primarily by the Civilian Conservation Core. For about forty miles the trail circumnavigates Mount Hood, the highest mountain in Oregon at 11,250 feet. Staying near treeline, a hiker on this trail will experience lush forest, wildflower meadows, rugged canyons with glacial fed streams, and view after view of Mount Hood. Driving nearly 2 hours throug
Eric

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Trips

Meadows & Ridges: Backpacking the Goat Rocks Wilderness

With excitement we awaited the arrival of the rest of our group. There would be five of us, friends and future friends, and a dog. The rain that had been drizzling throughout the morning was subsiding and turning to a lovely late August day in the Pacific Northwest. The forested trailhead was beginning to fill with vehicles as we waited patiently. It was near mid-afternoon by the time everyone had arrived, finished packing up, and were ready to hoist their backpacks and begin the uphill climb in
Eric

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Trips

Backpacking in Glacier National Park: A Clouded Journey

Seeing almost 3 million visitors in 2018, Glacier National Park isn’t a piece of public land that could be described as “under-appreciated”. Its spectacular scenery and excellent infrastructure beckons crowds of hikers and backpackers who often fill its trails and backcountry campsites to capacity. However, given its enormous acreage – over one million acres – backpackers who don’t mind spending some time hiking cross-country or doing out-and-back portions of their trip to corners of the park th
Mark Wetherington

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Trips

Backpacking Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore Trail

The Pictured Rocks Lakeshore Trail is one of the best coastal hikes in the United States. This 42 mile trail has been called one of the crown jewels of America’s longest National Scenic Trail, the North Country Trail – a trail that runs from North Dakota and will soon terminate in Vermont. The Lakeshore Trail includes a variety of coastal features including sand dunes, a remote wilderness beach, and impressive cliffs high above Lake Superior. The trail is located in Pictured Rocks National Lakes
Eric

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Trips

Hiking the Tahoe Rim Trail Day by Day

For many backpackers, thru-hiking a major long trail just isn’t a realistic option. Not everyone can pause life, quit their job, and leave their family and friends behind for half a year to hike a long trail. Even if they could, not everyone has the mental and/or physical stamina to enjoy such an arduous task over multiple months. Maybe you’re an aspiring to thru-hiker, but feel like you need more experience before committing to such a long endeavor. If you fall into any of these categories, or
Wired

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Trips

Granite and Gold: A Hike Along the John Muir Trail

“Just take three steps, stop, and breathe.” The anthem I sang to myself scaling Mount Whitney, the highest peak in the continental United States. I had started down in the Owens Valley 7,000 feet ago, with a backpack loaded with a week’s worth of food. Now, each step that I gain in altitude makes the pack seem heavier and heavier. The Whitney Portal Trail comes to a "T" – I could either veer right and tag the summit and the official start of the John Muir Trail, or head left and down in elevatio
jansenjournals

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Trips

Ascending and Descending: Hiking the Wonderland Trail

Mt Rainier straddles the Cascade crest with a dry continental climate to the east and the luxuriant moisture of the Pacific Ocean to the west. The mountain’s geographical positioning coupled with its 14,410 ft elevation and 35 square miles of permanent ice and snow cover creates its own weather. The Wonderland trail is a 93 mile (150 km) circular loop trail around the mountain that traverses all drainages resulting in 22,000 feet of net elevation gain. Many seek the Wonderland Trail o
JimG

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Trips

Shelter on a Summit: Backpacking to Fire Lookouts

As a destination for hikers, summits are understandable at an instinctual level. Grand vistas, an imitable top of the world feeling, and a sense of accomplishment that can last for an afternoon or a lifetime are so appealing that it is often hard to resist the allure of bagging a peak. Whether on maintained trails, cross-country bootpaths, or technical rock climbing routes, there are ways to reach the tops of thousands of peaks on our public lands. While the memories of topping out on a remote h
Mark Wetherington

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Trips

Backpacking in Yellowstone: The Cascade Corner

Waterfalls were perhaps the first natural landform that truly fascinated me. There was something about the phenomenon of water travelling so fast, so abruptly, and so seemingly endlessly that captured my attention in a profound way. I remember being amazed by them as a child during camping trips with my parents, with Cumberland Falls in Kentucky and Fall Creek Falls in Tennessee being the ones that made the biggest impression. As a young adult, I sought out waterfalls specifically during the bac
Mark Wetherington

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Trips

Day Hiking in Chiricahua National Monument

My neck starts to ping. Craning upwards, gawking at a voodoo skyline of contorting rhyolite pillars, I intake neon moss splattered columns, pinnacles and balanced rocks rising vertically thirty feet overhead. Parallel rows of washboard ripples climb the volcanic gray façades, offering weather-beaten toeholds like primordial ladders to heaven. Giant eroded stone walls conjure fantastic shapes. Canoodling lovers. The hull of a wrecked pirate ship. Baymax from Disney’s Big Hero 6. The landscape is
Daniel Anderson Jr

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Trips

Dayhikes in Harriman and Bear Mountain State Park

Living in New Jersey, I’ve hiked all over my state: from the northwest region of the Water Gap, to the New Jersey Highlands (and their frequent view of New York City), to the majesty of the Pine Barrens in the south. I have made infrequent forays into the bordering states of Pennsylvania and New York, hiking a trail or two in both Harriman and Bear Mountain State parks. This past Fall, looking for something a little higher, different scenery, and a little bigger, I decided to explore both Harrim
Greg Jansky

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Trips

Hiking Chilnualna Falls & Beyond: Yosemite National Park

Tromping to the beat of my trekking poles’ clickety-clack against trailside stones, I notice perched on a low boulder ten feet away a yellow-bellied marmot, slothful and only superficially interested in the approach of my dad and I. Nozzle pointed heavenward, sniffing our advance, the marmot scuttles under his rock as we pass, unhurried, only to reemerge as soon as we hike several paces beyond. Looks like a giant hamster coated in grizzled cinnamon with a gold spackle gut. I snap a picture.
Daniel Anderson Jr

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Trips

Guadalupe Mountains National Park Hiking & Backpacking

Along the edge of an ancient sea, a reef formed. The water was an inland sea, connected to the rest of the earth’s oceans by a narrow channel. The reef grew and grew until it stretched around the horseshoe-shaped shoreline of the sea for a length of over 400 miles, towering high above the ocean floor, similar to the Great Barrier Reef off the coast of Australia. This 250-million year old reef is known as The Capitan Reef. It was a tropical ocean, teeming with life – sponges, algae, and other lim
Steve Ancik

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Trips

Backpacking in Bears Ears: Canyon Contemplation

In 1943 and after years of fruitless political wrangling, President Franklin D. Roosevelt finally used his unilateral authority under the Antiquities Act to establish Jackson Hole National Monument. The state challenged the monument declaration in court. Ranchers drove cattle across the Monument in direct defiance of Federal authority. On one side, there were accusations about rich outsiders interfering in local matters. On the other side, conservationists launched a campaign to convince the pub
Kevin DeVries

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Trips

Hiking the Fiery Gizzard Trail of the Cumberland Plateau

Just the name Fiery Gizzard sounds like an adventure doesn’t it? The Cumberland Plateau is known for spectacular waterfalls, spring wildflowers, and panoramic views overlooking wild gorges extending for miles in the distance. The Fiery Gizzard Trail has a little bit of everything for the hiker or backpacker looking for a true wilderness experience any time of year. The official name of Fiery Gizzard is the Grundy Forest State Natural Area which is part of the South Cumberland State Park complex
DustyD

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Trips

Hiking Grand Gulch & Bullet Canyon: A Magical Connection

It was gradual, the dawn of my understanding of Grand Gulch and its magic. Only five years ago, I rode a motorcycle right up the Moki Dugway, its dirt surface ascending in precipitous twists and turns, and traveled blithely across the gentle slope of Cedar Mesa, oblivious to the treasures hidden within its canyons. That changed with repeated visits to Arizona and Utah. Seeking new hiking destinations, I noticed an adventure guide offering a Utah backpacking trip and, through the itinerary, learn
Susan Dragoo

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Trips

Hiking the Greenbrier Area of the Great Smoky Mountains

Hiking along the Ramsey Cascades trail in the Greenbrier region of the Smokies, my good friend and hiking partner Mark, froze in his tracks. “Bear!” he said in the loudest whisper he could manage. There was indeed a large, dark mass about 40 yards up the trail and was difficult to see what it was doing in the low, dappled light at the end of the day. Not sure it was a bear, we walked forward a few steps and soon discovered the large black bear wasn’t moving, but turned out to be a shadow of a ne
DustyD

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Trips

Kearsarge Pass Trailhead Backpacking: Into the High Sierra

The Owens Valley and its surrounding mountains are far from the place I grew up and have become one of my favorite parts of this great nation. When I first came here I felt like I had discovered a secret. A lost and secret land. This dry country goes unconquered by man. The valleys between the mountain ranges are grand, quiet and peaceful, possessing a haunting beauty unique to this area. To many who first look upon it, the starkness of this landscape seems unnatural and provokes confusion,
michaelswanbeck

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Trips

Hiking in Winter: A Yearly Gift & Reflection on a Season

Unique among the seasons, winter wields the power to make many hiking destinations inaccessible. Roads are gated due to snow, mountain passes become snowbound and hazardous, and specific four-season gear is required in many regions for those venturing out in the winter months. Human-powered recreation is mostly left to snowshoers, skiers, snowboarders, and winter is also a good time to focus on cleaning gear, summer trip planning, fitness routines, racking up vacation time, and other hobbies. Ge
Mark Wetherington

Mark Wetherington in Trips

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Trips

Hiking & Exploring The Great Plains: Overlooked Wildness

The Great American Desert. The flyover territory. Flat. Boring. Uninspiring. All names or descriptions given to an area of North America that is five-hundred miles wide and two-thousand miles long. This area is The Great Plains. The Great Plains are arguably the most American of all landscapes. What people over the world often conjure up when the American West is thought about. The wide open spaces, the vast landscape and the sky above. Seemingly limitless. Extending forever. The Grea
PaulMags

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Trips

Hiking, Backpacking, & Exploring Enchanted New Mexico

In the “must see” places of the outdoors, certain areas seem to garner the most publicity. All names that are found in glossy photos for post cards, magazines or coffee table books. Destinations any backpacker would love to, and should, see at some point. Places to be added to their memories and experiences of where they have spent time in the outdoors. But among these places cataloged, discussed and portrayed in glossy photos is a place of deep canyons, ancient Puebloan sites, high a
PaulMags

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Trips

Backpacking the Elusive Eagle Rock Loop of Arkansas

I wince with every step as I cross the river. Bare feet had seemed like a good idea. But now, after too many crossings to count, my soles feel the pain. I grip my trekking poles for stability against the current and tread cautiously on the slick stones, picking my way to the other side. The river glitters in the late afternoon sun. Jessica and Shay are already on the opposite bank, searching for yellow blazes. Before attempting this crossing, we had bushwhacked away from the last vestiges o
Susan Dragoo

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Trips

Backpacking in Kluane National Park: A Remote Yukon Hike

Canada. The Yukon: it’s almost synonymous with adventure. And exploring the glaciated terrain of Kluane National Park on foot is an exercise in adventure any way you go about it. Just a few miles into our trip, the trail we’d been following quickly dispersed into a vast valley that I am certain some countries could fit into. The trail of your choosing was the only real path through the snaking mud pits of the low and glaciated brown river. The river which, I assumed in spring, covered our walkwa
jansenjournals

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