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

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Hiking, TravelHannah SchultzZion national park, national park, narrows, emerald pools, hike, hiking, waders, Zion outfitters, virgin river, riverside trail, slot canyon, upper pool, middle pool, lower poolComment
Zion National Park (Day One): Watchman, Pa'rus, & Canyon Overlook Trails
Zion National Park (Day One): Watchman, Pa'rus, & Canyon Overlook Trails

It’s my eventual goal to hike every national park in the U.S, so for the past couple of years, I’ve been asking my in-laws for a National Parks Pass for Christmas as a good motivator to wrangle Ryan into a couple NP trips throughout the year. When my NP pass was bestowed on me for 2022 and we didn’t have any Spring Break plans, I knew we needed to go on another camping trip. Popular national parks tend to fill up quickly (like 6 months out), but by some miracle, there were still a handful of spots available in March for Zion, one of the parks we’d been wanting to make it out to. So at the start of my Spring Break, we packed up all our camping and hiking gear and made the 27-hour drive from Kentucky to Utah.

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Hiking, TravelHannah Schultzhike, hiking, Zion national park, watchman, pa'rus, canyon overlook, trail, trails, camp, watchman camground, springdale, utah, tunnelComment
Fall Hikes: Lye Brook Falls Trail (Manchester, VT)
Fall Hikes: Lye Brook Falls Trail (Manchester, VT)

Last October, my husband and I took a short Fall Break camping trip to Grout Pond in southern Vermont. In addition to hiking the lake where we were staying, visiting the cute towns in the area, seeing one of Vermont’s famous covered bridges, and driving up Mount Equinox to learn about Carthusian monks, we decided to do one bigger hike while in the area: Lye Brook Falls.

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Hiking, TravelHannah Schultzhike, hiking, lye brook falls, vermont, manchester, vt, wilderness, green mountain national forestComment
Chasing Fall Colors: Camping & Hiking at Grout Lake, Vermont
Chasing Fall Colors: Camping & Hiking at Grout Lake, Vermont

Ever since Ryan and I took our first camping trip together back in the spring of 2021, I’d been itching for another. So when Fall Break afforded us an extra long weekend, we took the opportunity to seek out some fall foliage in one of the premier scenic spots in the U.S: Vermont. When I was applying to college, I toured one up in Vermont, and I had fond memories of the stunning vibrant leaves and rustic charm of the state. We settled on Grout Pond in southern Vermont, near Stratton, nestled in Green Mountain National Forest, as our destination.

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Hiking, TravelHannah Schultzhike, hiking, camping, fall foliage, autumn, grout lake, vermont, vt, green mountain national forest, strattonComment
Paleontologist Dreams at Dinosaur National Monument, Utah & Colorado
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.

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Hiking, TravelHannah Schultzdinosaur national monument, national park, utah, colorado, jensen, quarry visitor center, exhibit hall, fossils, bones, swelter shelter petroglyphs, fremont, plug hat butteComment
Lakes, Lakes, & More Lakes: Lofty Lake Loop (Kamas, UT)
Lakes, Lakes, & More Lakes: Lofty Lake Loop (Kamas, UT)

During my trip out to Colorado last August, we decided to take a roadtrip to Salt Lake City, UT, for a couple days. I’d never been to Salt Lake before, and I was really excited to check out the city and get some cool hiking in. Enter: crazy wildfire season. Enter: pressure system over SLC. Literally the weekend we went to SLC, smoke from the California wildfires moved into the city due to high winds and something about the weather system that was in the area trapped the smoke in the city. In the city, you weren’t supposed to be outside for long periods, and the day we drove in, everything was coated in a orange haze, like some kind of Mad Max apocalyptic color-grading.

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Hiking, TravelHannah Schultzlofty lake loop, trail, hike, hiking, kamas, utah, salt lake city, lofty lake, alpine lake, wildfire, pass lake, kamas lake, scout lakeComment
Mountains, Wildflowers, & Waterfalls: Diamond Lake (Nederland, Colorado)
Mountains, Wildflowers, & Waterfalls: Diamond Lake (Nederland, Colorado)

In early August of 2021, I had the opportunity to visit Colorado during the warmer months for the first time. One of my best friends lived in Denver at the time, and Ryan and I squeezed in a short visit before my fall semester began. Last time I was here was January, so everything was covered in snow, but on this trip, we were blessed with perfect warm weather and sunshine for our alpine lake hike.

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Hiking, TravelHannah Schultzcolorado, nederland, denver, hike, hiking, mountain, waterfall, wildflowers, diamond lake, trail, alpine lakeComment
Kauai, Hawai'i (Day Nine): Sleeping Giant, Lydgate Chocolate Farm, & Hanapepe
Kauai, Hawai'i (Day Nine): Sleeping Giant, Lydgate Chocolate Farm, & Hanapepe

This was our last full day of the trip and looking back, I’m shocked by how much we were able to pack in before our flight left that evening! The day began with a sunrise hike (or what was supposed to be a sunrise hike) to the Sleeping Giant. We were exhausted by day nine of nonstop hiking and traveling, so we may have slept in a little longer than planned, and we were dealing with vet calls to home before we could leave. Nevertheless, early in the morning, we set off on the Nounou East Trail, a 3.4-mile trail near our hotel.

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Hiking, TravelHannah Schultzhawaii, kauai, sleeping giant, lydgate farms, chocolate farm tour, hike, hiking, nounou east trail, hanapepe, lilo and stitch, swinging bridge, mural, cacao, dark chocolate, white chocolateComment
Kauai, Hawai'i (Day Seven): Waimea Canyon State Park
Kauai, Hawai'i (Day Seven): Waimea Canyon State Park

This canyon is one of the most striking views on Kauai. It’s known as the Grand Canyon of the Pacific, and it was formed after the central volcano there collapsed 10 million years ago. The Waimea river then carved its way through the lava and basalt formations, leaving a deep, colorful gorge.

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Hiking, TravelHannah Schultzkauai, hawaii, hike, hiking, Waimea canyon, state park, lookout point, berry flat trail, canyon trail, lava lava beach clubComment