Panama Travelog #15
El Valle, Panama - Tue, 24 Dec 2024. 2pm.

The trail up to La Dormida is steep. And I don't know that we're going to see anything at the top. I mean, I don't think we'll be able to see the legendary figure of La Dormida; we'll be standing on it. Though we should get a commanding view of the valley- actually a volcanic caldera- ( Read more... )

Panama Travelog #14
El Valle, Panama - Tue, 24 Dec 2024. 1pm.

Only a few minutes after beginning the trail to La India Dormida we're stopping. ...No, not stopping entirely; just stopping for a few views!


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Panama Travelog #12
El Valle, Panama - Tue, 24 Dec 2024. 11:30am.

Finally, we've done a hike in Panama. A hike on a trail that was open, accessible via our weeny rental car, and which delivered exactly what it promised (no touts or shills filling sites with fake reviews). And it only took us... 5 tries.

On the way back to town from our aborted ( Read more... )

Blue Ridge Trip '24 #31
Old Fort, NC - Sat, 7 Sep 2024. 1:30pm

Our hike up to Catawba Falls in western North Carolina today was enjoyable. The hike wasn't too bad of a climb, especially with a wide trail the whole way. And the falls were beautiful. For a long time that was the end of the line for most hikers. The brave few knew there was another ( Read more... )

Blue Ridge Trip '24 #30
Old Fort, NC - Sat, 7 Sep 2024. 12pmWe got up and got going early today! We were rolling in our car by 8:45am. Partly that's because the hiking trek we'd picked for the day was an hour and 45 minutes away by car and was expected to be crowded by midday on a weekend. Sure enough, the parking lot was nearly full when we ( Read more... )

Blue Ridge Trip '24 #28
Back at the hotel in Boone, NC - Fri, 6 Sep 2024. 6pm

The hike to Glen Burney and Glen Marie falls earlier today took more out of us than we expected. Partly that's because all the hiking we did yesterday- starting with Otter Falls, then Waterfall Park, then Upper Creek Falls, then Linville Falls- took a lot out of us. So ( Read more... )

Blue Ridge Trip '24 #27
Blowing Rock, NC - Fri, 6 Sep 2024. 2pm

Today we got out of the hotel even earlier than yesterday. Today we were on the road before 10am ( Read more... )

Blue Ridge Trip '24 #24
Linville, NC - Thu, 5 Sep 2024. 7pm

In beginning this hike toward the end of a long day, we hoped we'd get a good view of Linville Falls after the first 1/2 mile of Linville Gorge trail. Alas, it was not to be. The upper viewpoint was directly above the falls. Above the falls is almost never the vista you want for ( Read more... )

Blue Ridge Trip '24 #23
Linville, NC - Thu, 5 Sep 2024. 5:30pm

After finishing our hike at Upper Creek Falls this afternoon we called an audible and chose to drive to Linville Gorge next. Somehow it wasn't on our itinerary as browsing through AllTrails earlier in the week didn't turn up any obviously rewarding waterfalls trails we could hike. I ( Read more... )

Blue Ridge Trip '24 #22
Jonas Ridge, NC - Thu, 5 Sep 2024. 4:30pm

Upper Creek Falls turned out to be more than we expected- both in terms of the size of the main falls and the length/strenuousness of the trail. At the bottom of the big falls we weren't thinking about the latter, though. Yet.


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