Posts In The “Destinations” Category
The Bernese Oberland (Bernese Highlands) region topped every list we found of best places to visit in Switzerland for spectacular mountain scenery. Here are some of the highest and well-known peaks in the Bernese Alps, including 14,022-ft (4,274 m) Finsteraarhorn, 13,642 ft (4,158 m) Jungfrau, 13,480-ft (4,110 m) Monch, and 13,015-ft (3,967 m) Eiger. Some…
The Pilatus-Bahn, just outside Lucerne, is the world’s steepest cogwheel railway at 48% maximum and 35% average incline. The line opened in 1889 and ascends 5,279 ft (1,609 m) from Alpnachstad to the summit of Mount Pilatus in only 2.86 miles (4.6 km). Depending on snow conditions, the train generally operates from May to October….
The steamboat Stadt Zurich is the oldest of more than a dozen passenger ships that ply the waters of Lake Zurich. Built in 1909, the steamship makes regular two-hour runs the length of upper Lake Zurich between Zurich and Rapperswill. The vessel is beautifully maintained, particularly the original Escher Wyss & Cie engine, also dating…
The city of Zurich is the largest and wealthiest in Switzerland, and one of the oldest. Evidence of settlement in the area dates back more than 6,000 years, and the city was formally founded as a Romans camp around 15 BC. Over the centuries since, the city grew and prospered into the vibrant metropolis it…
Camping, like snowshoeing, initially held little appeal to us when we moved back to Seattle. We had camped a fair bit when we lived in Toronto in the late 1980s and enjoyed it. But we lost all interest in the activity following a miserable camping trip to Ontario’s Bruce Peninsula on a Labour Day weekend….
Slippery Creek is a tributary of the White River, that flows from the northeast flank of Mt Rainier and eventually through the Muckleshoot Reservation and later joins the Puyallup River to flow into the Puget Sound near Tacoma. Heading south from Seattle, we followed Slippery Creek upstream, first through the Muckleshoot Reservation and past their…
Even though we’d just returned from a two-night camping trip, we decided to head out for another night, this time to the Tinkham Campground in Mt Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest. We were eager to test our our new awning, and just couldn’t wait for the following weekend. It was a rainy Sunday night and we expected…
One of the aspects of wilderness camping that we really like is the opportunity to get out into the mountains and enjoy wonderful views. Finding the right campsite can take a bit of time, but we enjoy exploring and so far having been finding one excellent site after another, all with great views. Huckleberry Creek…
Amabilis Mountain, south of Keechelus Ridge, is a popular snowshoeing and cross-country skiing destination that is less-visited for summer hiking due to the number of better trails nearby. The winter recreation season was well over when we visited in mid-June, but snow still covered the road near the summit, resulting in few visitors to the…
Keechelus Ridge rises 5,000 feet (1,525 m) above I-90 east of Snoqualmie Pass, separating Keechelus Lake directly west of the freeway from Kachless Lake to the east. National Forest roads crisscross the ridge, many with great views westward to Keechelus Lake, the Yakima River headwaters and the Cascade Mountain Range. And several good wilderness campsites…
The desert resort city of Palm Springs, California is known for its mid-century modern architecture and extensive cultural and recreational opportunities. The city has much public art, and an excellent museum focusing on natural science, contemporary art and performing art. For recreation, Joshua Tree National Park is within an hour’s drive. And the city is…
Eureka Peak, at elevation 5,521 ft (1,683 m), is the fourth highest in Joshua Tree National Park and the highest that is road accessible. From the end of the road, a short walk leads to the summit with sweeping views in all directions. On our third and final day in Joshua Tree National Park, we…
Joshua Tree National Park straddles the boundary of the higher-altitude Mojave Desert and the lower-altitude Colorado Desert. We’d spent the previous day in the Mojave Desert portion and on our second day drove south into the Colorado Desert to a less-visited area of the park at Cottonwood. The plant life there is quite different, with…
Joshua Tree National Park, near Palm Springs in southern California, is known for its surreal rock formations and the twisted, spiky trees that are the park’s namesake. Straddling the Mojave and Colorado deserts, the 795,156-acre (1,242 sq mi; 3,217 sq km) park has a unique ecosystem that supports a wide variety of plant and animal…
Our first wilderness campsite was exactly what we were hoping for: secluded, with an interesting view and an opportunity for walking or hiking. After an initial test run of our camping gear at Bay View State Park, we went to look for a wilderness campsite at the Beckler River, near Stevens Pass in Mt. Baker-Snoqualmie…
For our first time camping in 30 years, we reserved a site at Bay View State Park near Anacortes. All our new camping gear worked out very well, and we had a great time both at the campsite and walking the beach nearby. We were warm and comfortable sleeping in the truck, and the awning…
Earlier this year we decided to replace boat exploration with SUV exploration and wilderness camping. But, as with moving back Seattle in the first place, we were pretty much starting from scratch with camping gear. Besides the Engel HD30 cooler that we’d purchased for our road trip across the country, everything else had to be…
Snowshoeing didn’t initially appeal to us as a winter sport. The gear seemed cumbersome, and our perception was that we’d be mostly walking along level ground through snowy woods or meadows. While we enjoy winter scenery, that just didn’t strike us as very exciting. We had wanted to do more winter hiking, but were finding…