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TrailGroove Blog

A Blog by the TrailGroove Team

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Entries in this blog

Trips

Hiking Wolverine Canyon in the Grand Staircase-Escalante

As I approach a place as remote as Grand Staircase-Escalante in the middle of a hot summer I know I'm not going to find something tangible that I require to continue existing. I will, however, encounter some things that I want. Beauty, solitude, adventure. Maybe I'll find inspiration. Challenge. Do I need any of those things? Perhaps not, but what a dull existence it would be without all of them. My use of the word remote is not an exaggeration. This is a remote place, in a remote section of a s
SparbaniePhoto

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Trips

Thru-Hiking the Hayduke Trail of Utah & Arizona

Something is evoked in people when they envision hiking in the Southwestern United States. The unique and remote terrain triggers that wanderlust for exploration in remote and untouched places that few travel. There is that excitement and fear of the terrain and elements mixed with the calm and clarity of the scenery. In the late 90s, two men who had a great affinity for the Southwest, Mike Coronella and Joe Mitchell, wanted to do something that would encourage more to venture to those hard to r
Wired

Wired in Trips

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Trips

Backpacking to Russell Pond in Baxter State Park, Maine

Less than a mile up the trail and the space between my shoulder blades already aches. I’m regretting the overpriced mini tube of sunblock, which the dense trees and clouds have rendered unnecessary, the extra layer I threw in at the last minute, and my insistence on healthful foods that caused me to pack two pounds of green beans and carrots fresh from the garden, a jar of sunflower seed butter, and three loaves of German bread the size, shape, and weight of bricks. My last backpackin
AndreaL

AndreaL in Trips

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Trips

Backpacking the Noble Canyon Trail, Southern California

Distance mode. Proximity mode. Red light night vision mode. At 90 lumens, my new Black Diamond Spot headlamp is the newest addition to my backpacking kit in ages. For the second or third time on today’s maiden voyage hike, I unsheathe the Spot from my Gregory Z65’s brain pouch, cradle it in my fingers, and imagine how its endless wonderful qualities will make every trip better. The blood red bezel’s sharp lines attach to a diagonally-shaded retro headband conjuring the aura of Optimus Prime.
Daniel Anderson Jr

Daniel Anderson Jr in Trips

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Trips

Sierra Serenity: Hiking the Theodore Solomons Trail

You’ve no doubt heard of the John Muir Trail, justly known as one of America’s premier hiking trails. Perhaps you have even hiked it (if not, put it at the top of your hiking bucket list). But the JMT is not the only long trail through the heart of the Sierra Nevada. Just 10 miles to its west, the Theodore Solomons Trail parallels the JMT. Starting at Horseshoe Meadows south of Mt. Whitney, it bears west over the Kern drainage, turns north to Mineral King, then keeps to the west sides of Sequoia
HappyHour

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Trips

Maine's 100 Mile Wilderness: The Narrated Video

As a follow-up to Curry Caputo's excellent Issue 52 article Of Life and of Maine's 100 Mile Wilderness, a story that details a family backpacking journey through the wilderness of Maine and to the top of Mount Katahdin, here is the full narrated, audio version of the story alongside video documenting the entire trip. You can read the original article here in Issue 52, and watch and listen to the video below:
Aaron Zagrodnick

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Trips

Section Hiking and Backpacking Along the Ouachita Trail

I hear the wind approaching as it moves up the ridge. No other sound breaks the night's long silence, not even the rustle of a possum in the undergrowth. It is early autumn in a year of drought; perhaps the lack of water at this elevation keeps the critters away, which suits me fine. We took care to hang the bear bag high off the ground, regardless. Why tempt fate? I drift off, awakening later to an unmistakable sound a few feet away. Zzip! Opens the tent. Zzip! Closes the tent. It is Mary,
Susan Dragoo

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Trips

Luna Peak: Hiking the Heart of the Wild North Cascades

The Cascades have a reputation for long and brushy approaches, and the Pickets, a subrange in far northern Washington, have a particularly bad reputation in both respects. Even after escaping the dense vegetation, reaching many of the summits would feature more technical climbing than hiking. Together, these two factors have deterred most hikers from even contemplating a trip to this rugged and scenic area. The Pickets' reputation is not entirely deserved: Whatcom Peak at the far nort
seano

seano in Trips

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Trips

Hiking the Escalante of Southern Utah: Colors & Canyons

It’s a land of seemingly infinite slickrock and canyons, anchored by the Escalante River and its tributaries. The landscape’s intense colors are dominated by red and ivory sandstone and accented by brilliant green cottonwoods and willows along the waterways. In the deep slot canyons, the reds take on shades unimagined…maroon, purple, and indigo. Easy it’s not. Exceptional, it is, and worth every ounce of effort for the experience. Within the massive Grand Staircase-Escalante National
Susan Dragoo

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Trips

Short and Sublime: Day Hiking the John Muir Wilderness

If you’re traveling on California Highway 395 along the striking escarpment on the eastern side of the Sierra Nevada south of Yosemite and looking for a high-elevation hike deep in the heart of the mountains, but you only have a day or less, various roads off the main highway take you up to trailheads between 8,000 and 10,000 feet quite easily and quickly where you’re immediately immersed in stunning alpine scenery. For example, out of the town of Bishop, you can take Highway 168 stra
Madeline Salocks

Madeline Salocks in Trips

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Trips

Day Hiking the Grand Canyon Rim-to-Rim

If you’ve hiked the Grand Canyon rim-to-rim in one day, you can easily find someone who hiked it faster or ran it, went when it was hotter, and trod uphill both ways (in this case that applies to everyone). And then there are the rim-to-rim-to-rimmers. And the 14’ers. And it goes on and on, right up the side of Mount Everest. The View Looking back While Ascending the South Rim During Sunset That said, if such things were easy everyone would do them. It requires discipline, hard w
Susan Dragoo

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Trips

Backpacking the Grandview Loop in the Grand Canyon

With age comes wisdom, or so goes the old adage. But, as any observer of the world can plainly see, that’s not always true. With age certainly comes knowledge, but whether that knowledge is converted to the making of wise decisions is, so to speak, a crap shoot. Hiking in the Grand Canyon offers an excellent example. First of all, it’s challenging business. For us to successfully descend to the bottom and return to the rim in good health, we would have to gain adequate knowledge but we'd al
Susan Dragoo

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Trips

Backpacking to the Summit of Pikes Peak in Colorado

Pikes Peak soared above Colorado Springs as we drove towards the downtown area. As an ultra prominent peak, and one of the easternmost peaks in Colorado, it is easily visible for hundreds of miles on a clear day. The east face of the peak is massive, and the east face route of Pikes Peak, known as the Barr Trail, was our objective this weekend. The weather looked great except for the wind, which fortunately was coming out of the west, meaning the mountain would be our wind-block most of the trip
tmountainnut

tmountainnut in Trips

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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

Mark Wetherington in Trips

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Trips

The New Hardest Thing: The Trek to Everest Base Camp

Strong men and women are laid low by this place. Acute mountain sickness, the “Khumbu cough" (also known as the high altitude hack), gastroenteritis, the cold, the food...what makes them want to come here? What made me want to come here? Our friend Paul walks down the hall of tonight’s tea house, remarking on the sounds of hacking and coughing emitting from the guest rooms. “This place is full of crazy people.” And I can’t argue otherwise. I wondered, before I came to Nepal to hike to
Susan Dragoo

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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

Daniel Anderson Jr in Trips

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Trips

Hiking in Solitude: The Bighorn Mountains of Wyoming

The snow began to fly even before I put on my hiking shoes, but wasn’t this still August? It was, but any mountain range worth its salt was going to have snowfall in August, and this seemed to be the norm for me backpacking in Wyoming. Besides, I’d rather have snow than rain any day, and these colder temps meant only one thing: the death to millions of mosquitoes! Rugged terrain and a scenic waterfall in the Bighorn Mountains. A Backpacking Loop in the Cloud Peak Wilderness
David Cobb

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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

Eric in Trips

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Trips

Hiking the Grand Canyon: Hermit's Rest to South Kaibab

Winter had been especially harsh, even while living in the mild climate of Colorado’s Front Range. Multiple subzero nights had made me tired of the cold, longing for a warm retreat. As good as a tropical vacation with white sandy beaches sounded, I felt the need to get out and get dirty in the desert. I had backpacked into the Grand Canyon a year before in the spring of 2013, but it was an unplanned trip, and I had been very lucky, grabbing a walk-in permit for Bright Angel Campground.
tmountainnut

tmountainnut in Trips

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Trips

Backpacking the Tetons: Grand Teton National Park & More

Memories can be painful and happy. As I drove through the darkness past the national park boundary near Moran Junction, I reflected a bit on my last trip to the Tetons. In June 2001, my Boy Scout troop took a trip to Grand Teton and Yellowstone, and during that trip we backpacked one night up Granite Canyon. I know it was my first backpacking trip outside of Colorado and maybe my second or third backpacking trip ever. Two distinct memories pop out from that trip. I remember how beautiful the mou
tmountainnut

tmountainnut in Trips

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Trips

Empty Spaces: Hiking Carrizo and Picture Canyons

“Half of Colorado is beautiful and half of it is ugly, and the same is true for Oklahoma. But people only talk about the beautiful half of Colorado and the ugly half of Oklahoma.” Our friend, Steve, said this as we dined together in downtown Aspen, and he is a man who knows, as a fellow native of Oklahoma and longtime resident of Aspen, Colorado. While I think calling any of it ugly is harsh (although, understandably, if you live in Aspen everything pales by comparison), Steve has a point a
Susan Dragoo

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Trips

Into the Great White: Snow Camping on Mount Rainier

The Paradise area (5400') sits on the southern flank of Mount Rainier National Park in the direct path of winter storms coming off the Pacific. At 5,400 feet, it receives an average of 53 feet of snowfall a year, and a snowpack at the height of winter that can exceed 15 feet. A road is maintained to the Sunrise area throughout the winter, allowing direct access for day trippers, but also those wishing to snow camp. The road closes each night at 5 PM requiring an earlier departure from Paradise t
JimG

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Trips

Hiking & Backpacking the Black Ridge Canyons Wilderness

It rained, and then it rained some more, and then it snowed. And then it began raining again. It was the first week in May in Boulder, a time when hikers start looking to the hills, and begin hanging up snowshoes and getting out the trail runners. It would be a month or more before the high country was open, of course, but some lower-elevation hikes – Lost Creek Wilderness, the first sections of the Colorado Trail – would be feasible with 3-season gear. Usually. But not this year. 3 weeks o
HappyHour

HappyHour in Trips

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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

Sandstone Paradise: Hiking to the Wave in Arizona

Winning the lottery. Enduring 108 degree desert heat. Taking in the most amazing sandstone formation on the planet. What do all of these seemingly unrelated experiences have in common? A hike to the Wave. The Wave or more officially, North Coyote Buttes, is an almost mythical place that has captured the imagination of hikers and photographers from around the world. Impossible to describe with words, the Wave really has to be experienced and photographed to be fully understood. As a landscape pho
DustyD

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