national park — Hannah Elise Schultz

Posts tagged national park

Zion National Park (Day Two): The Narrows and the Emerald Pools

If you read my first post about this trip, you’ll know that our Zion adventure came in the middle of a very busy semester during my PhD program, so I didn’t do the ~ best ~ job researching and planning beforehand. I’d done some cursory reading on how to make sure that the water level isn’t too high; otherwise, the Narrows is impassible. But it had completely slipped my mind to think about the water temperature. Or question my assumption that a canyon/river hike is the same as a normal hike. I can only imagine that the poor NP ranger we asked about water level and the conditions of the Narrows the previous day was giving us weird looks for looking as if we wanted to hike 9 miles in 45-degree water wearing only leggings/shorts and a t-shirt (which, in fairness, was our original plan).

Hiking, TravelHannah SchultzSeptember 17, 2022Zion national park, national park, narrows, emerald pools, hike, hiking, waders, Zion outfitters, virgin river, riverside trail, slot canyon, upper pool, middle pool, lower poolComment

Paleontologist Dreams at Dinosaur National Monument, Utah & Colorado

Ever since I was little, I’ve always loved dinosaurs. For a long time, it was my dream to be Dr. Alan Grant from Jurassic Park. I was obsessed with t.v. shows like Prehistoric Park and Primeval. And though I’ve given up on my dream of being a paleontologist, I will still search out all things dinosaur. Colorado happens to be an amazing place for dinosaur-hunting, with Dinosaur Ridge in Denver being one of the coolest. So when I saw on the map that we could go right by Dinosaur National Monument on our return trip to Denver from Salt Lake City, I immediately implored my friend and husband to take the opportunity.

Hiking, TravelHannah SchultzAugust 20, 2022dinosaur national monument, national park, utah, colorado, jensen, quarry visitor center, exhibit hall, fossils, bones, swelter shelter petroglyphs, fremont, plug hat butteComment

Wind Cave National Park: Touring the world's densest cave and seeing 95 percent of the earth's boxwork

According to Lakota tradition, Wind Cave is where their people's souls emerged from the earth before their creation event. They held the site as sacred, aware of its existence long before brothers Tom and Jesse Bingham stumbled upon the natural entrance, an inexplicably windy hole in the ground, in 1881. By 1903, it had become America's first cave designated as a national park.

Travel, NatureHannah SchultzMarch 26, 2018south dakota, lakota, wind cave, national park, boxwork, 95, percent, cave, badlands, black hills, custer state park, garden of eden, popcorn, formation, bison, prairie dogs, flowstone, calcite, limestone, explorerComment

Mount Rushmore & Winter Hiking in Custer State Park

"On this towering wall of Rushmore, in the heart of the Black Hills, is to be inscribed a memorial which will represent some of the outstanding features of four of our Presidents, laid on by the hand of a great artist in sculpture," said President Calvin Coolidge in his Mount Rushmore Dedication Speech in 1927. At the age of 57, sculptor Gutzon Borglum began the project of carving into the Black Hills. The monumental project would be finished after his death in 1941, the finishing touches overseen by his son, Lincoln. In the end, the delicate sculpture became an icon of American history, four presidents—Washington, Jefferson, Lincoln, and Roosevelt—forever wrought in stone.

Winter in Badlands National Park

While South Dakota may not be a place associated with Spring Break, that is where my best friend, Mary, and I found ourselves last week for a whirlwind couple of days in the Black Hills and the Badlands. And even though it was freezing—and let me tell you, it was freezing—it was an unforgettable experience.

Hiking, TravelHannah SchultzMarch 12, 2018badlands, national park, south dakota, rapid city, interior, spring break, march, winter Comments

Dec 31, 2023

Photography and Video, Life

A Year in Pictures: 2023

It was a year of travel to new and old places, the year I started my dissertation, the year I hiked eight miles and up volcanic sands while pregnant, the year we bought a wagon to take Argos on adventures again, and most importantly, the year that I become a mom.

Oct 21, 2023

Travel With Me: Maui & Big Island, Hawai'i (Days Eight, Nine, & Ten)

Our final day on Maui was much more relaxed (at least for me) than the previous. While Ryan went on a scuba diving excursion to the Lahaina Cathedrals (which was one of his favorite parts of the whole trip), I got a prenatal massage at the spa at the neighboring hotel to ours and read a book on the balcony. We then spent the rest of the day lounging in the pool and enjoying some farmer’s market soursop (a fruit I’ve only ever had in Hawai’i and am obsessed with).

Maui, Hawai'i (Day Seven): Road to Hana & Wai’anapanapa State Park

Oct 14, 2023

Nature, Travel

Maui, Hawai'i (Day Seven): Road to Hana & Wai’anapanapa State Park

By far one of the most famous activities to do on Maui is to drive the Road to Hana, a 64-mile stretch of highway along the coast, connecting Kahului to Hana. While the drive technically only takes three hours, what’s special about it is the number of roadside stops to see waterfalls, buy fresh banana bread, and take dips in the ocean. so plan on spending much more than a few hours on this excursion. While ideally you would stay the night in Hana to maximize your time for pit stops, it is possible to hit some of the highlights in a single day.

Adventures in
Serendipity

— Hannah Schultz (biographical name): a Kentuckian, traveler, PhD student, hiker, environmentalist, and Great Pyrenees enthusiast

Adventures inSerendipity

— Hannah Schultz (biographical name): a Kentuckian, traveler, PhD student, hiker, environmentalist, and Great Pyrenees enthusiast

Adventures in
Serendipity