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TrailGroove Blog

A Blog by the TrailGroove Team

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Entries in this blog

Trips

An Ancient Canyon: Hiking in Bandelier National Monument

Birdsong filled the canyon as we stepped into the cool of the morning. By arriving at dawn, my sister, Carol Harper, and I were beating both the crowds and the heat of the late July day, the former objective intensified by our recent escape from the summer hordes at Colorado’s Rocky Mountain National Park. A stop at Bandelier National Monument near Los Alamos, New Mexico presented an appealing alternative on the way home to Oklahoma. Not exactly on the way, but close enough. Adolph F.
Susan Dragoo

Susan Dragoo in Trips

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Trips

Along New Mexico's Cabezon Road

I have been exploring interesting and scenic areas in New Mexico for several years. Often these visits have been at the beginning or end of longer trips to places farther west, so the visits are often just a day or so – much less time than the area deserves. I am especially intrigued by the so-called “badlands” of the northwest part of the state. These badland areas include several wilderness areas, including the better-known Bisti/De-Na-Zin Wilderness. I first drove down Cabezon Road to ride my
Steve Ancik

Steve Ancik in Trips

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Trips

A Winter Refresher: Backpacking at Chief Joseph Pass

Although I did several trips on cross-country skis and snowshoes that involved camping out in the Northern Rockies in below freezing temperatures for multiple nights, the past few years my definition of “winter backpacking” has either included a US Forest Service rental cabin with a wood stove or a plane ticket to southern Arizona. I still find winter to be a beautiful time of year and I enjoy the heightened elements of the season that seem so magical, but I just hadn’t hadn’t been motivated to
Mark Wetherington

Mark Wetherington in Trips

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Trips

A Spring Hike on the Buffalo River Trail of Arkansas

A cool, rainy weekend in early April provides the perfect backdrop for a hike on Arkansas’ Buffalo River Trail. Moist spring weather in the Ozarks means the lush hardwood and pine forest is bursting with wildflowers, ferns and all manner of growth, keeping hikers engaged in identifying each plant and marveling over the delicate and diverse shapes and intense colors. Cloudy, humid weather intensifies the deep, vernal greens enveloping the trail, and likewise accentuates the rainbow shades of coun
Susan Dragoo

Susan Dragoo in Trips

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Trips

A San Juan Mountain High: Hiking on the Colorado Trail

The San Juan Mountains of southwestern Colorado have some of the most breathtaking scenery in the country. The views are filled with high peaks, beautiful waterfalls, scenic valleys, and prolific wildflowers which call to you to explore! I have spent several vacations in the area over the years, and was long overdue for another visit. This trip was with three of my hiking friends from the flatlands of Oklahoma and Texas – Craig from Houston, and Ward and Joel from Oklahoma City. We all live at l
Steve Ancik

Steve Ancik in Trips

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Trips

A Ridge of Riches: Hiking the Bridger Range of Montana

The view out the cabin window was nothing short of spectacular. Sitting perched at an elevation overlooking the Gallatin Valley, the city of Bozeman, and most importantly the Bridger Mountains; aptly named by the locals, “The Bridger’s” or “Bridger Range.” A spine that shoots up from the plains with a sheer drop on either side and a ridge that beckons the call for exploration. A sunset glow pierces the cabin window with the fire outside ablaze. The orange glow glissades down the edges of the ran
jansenjournals

jansenjournals in Trips

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Trips

A New Mexican Oddity: Hiking to the Paliza Goblin Colony

Even though this sounds like somewhere from J.R.R. Tolkien’s Middle Earth, it is indeed a place here on our Earth, in northern New Mexico. I had already planned a trip in May 2021 to see some New Mexican scenery, and this was right along the route, so I added it to the itinerary, and boy am I glad that I did! Leaving the somewhat boring highway, my hiking buddy Rod and I headed up into the Jemez Mountains where the colony is located. Climbing up higher into the hills, the scenery changed from dr
Steve Ancik

Steve Ancik in Trips

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Trips

A Monumental Tour: Gold Butte & Grand Canyon-Parashunt

I love the wide open spaces and views of the American West. So, I arranged for another westward trek, this time to southern Nevada. My sister Melissa and I drove her Toyota 4Runner, an excellent vehicle for the narrow, rough roads on which we would be driving. We planned on going to the Buffington Pockets area, Gold Butte National Monument, both northeast of Las Vegas, and the Vermilion Cliffs in northern Arizona (the subject for another story). We added, on the fly, a visit to Grand
Steve Ancik

Steve Ancik in Trips

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Trips

A Manistee River Trail Hike: Manistee National Forest

After a weekend hike on the Manistee River Trail loop, we were left with an interesting impression. While not a true wilderness experience, the trail has a unique feel that only the Michigan backwoods seem to offer. Quiet and remote, hiking the trail feels a bit like travelling back in time. The map shows that several roads will be crossed, but none are paved or graveled. Most are nothing more than wide, almost forgotten paths through the forest that see little use. It feels as though you’re wal
Aaron Zagrodnick

Aaron Zagrodnick in Trips

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Trips

A Hiking Guide to Historic Fire Lookouts in the Cascades

Washington's Cascades have an unfriendly reputation. Unlike the Rockies and Sierra, whose alpine basins and gentle saddles allow for easy travel, the Cascades are a maze of serrated ridges and deep, heavily-forested valleys containing swift-flowing rivers. While miners built high roads in Colorado in the 1800s that now service trailheads, most Cascades trailheads are in valley bottoms barely above sea level, deep in the dense coastal forest. The crux of a climb is often escaping 4,000 feet of ve
seano

seano in Trips

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Trips

A Hike on the Florida Trail: Juniper Prairie Wilderness

Our boots sunk deep in the sugar white sand, making each step more laborious than we were used to. My calves had begun to burn right along with my pale skin. There was no shade to hide under, no trees to from which to seek relief. Florida is a state with more than 30,000 lakes, but around us was as hot and dry as a desert. I had grown up in North Central Florida, and knew just how unforgiving the heat could be, but the Southern winters had become much too warm for me. My years away in cold mount
Jessica Smith

Jessica Smith in Trips

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Trips

A Hike of Water & Sand: Backpacking Coyote Gulch, Utah

Water and sand, water and sand, water and sand – it’s been a few years since I visited the canyon country of Utah and I forgot about the mix of water and sand here that can permeate one’s hiking shoes. I should have worn sandals. I read about walking the wet canyon bottom, but I stuck with my hiking shoes anyway. This time I arrived to explore Coyote Gulch, a photogenic but crowded canyon which cuts across Grand Staircase National Monument and the Glen Canyon National Recreation Area of south-ce
David Cobb

David Cobb in Trips

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Trips

A Day Hiking Weekend in Cuyahoga Valley National Park

My childhood best friend moved to Akron, Ohio right after she graduated high school to attend the University of Akron. Being from Virginia and having lived there all my life, I had never really heard of the city aside from its connection to Lebron James (but even about this my knowledge was severely limited due to my lack of interest in basketball). That was seven years ago, and I realized recently that I still had yet to visit despite her open invitation. Feeling guilty and quite aware of how l
Grace Bowie

Grace Bowie in Trips

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Trips

A Bailey Range Traverse: Hiking in Olympic National Park

We were five days into a trek across Olympic National Park – at low elevation in mid-summer. Even though I was tired and about as cold as I think I've ever been, I was relishing the experience. I knew it was always the hard days that we remember most, and most of the days on this trip were hard. Really hard. And after this experience down at Cream Lake I knew I’d be able to tell a good story. We also remember the beautiful days. Our ten-day journey – our own take on a traverse of the Bailey
eliburakian

eliburakian in Trips

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Trips

A Backpacker, a Wolf, & Wilderness: Fall in Boulder Canyon

There’s something puzzling but incredibly satisfying about arriving at an empty trailhead on a sunny Saturday morning during Labor Day weekend. While some national parks are setting records for visitation and crowded campgrounds and packed trails are the norm, I had an entire canyon in the Selway-Bitterroot Wilderness of Montana to myself for 24 hours. Ten miles of well-maintained trail passed through lovely coniferous forest and beside a delightful waterfall to reach four subalpine lakes. This
Mark Wetherington

Mark Wetherington in Trips

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Trips

A 2 Night Backpacking Loop in the Wind River Range

On this trip, Ted Ehrlich drove up from Colorado and we hit the Winds for a 2 night backpacking trip over the Fourth of July Weekend. We’d originally planned a point to point hike from the Scab Creek Trailhead on the southwest side of the Winds back to Lander, but logistics were a bit of a concern as well as the driving that would take time away from a weekend Winds trip. In the end, we weren’t too fast getting ready the morning of our start day either, so we quickly scanned the map a
Aaron Zagrodnick

Aaron Zagrodnick in Trips

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