Travel, Explore, and Capture--Activities
United States Locations
California Redwoods Guide – Highway 101 – California
The coast California redwoods parks of Northern California run about 150 miles (240 km) along Highway 101, from Crescent City near the Oregon border south to Garberville. This guide covers that whole corridor: the four parks of Redwood National and State Parks in the...
Lost Coast Scenic Drive – Mattole Road – California
The Lost Coast Scenic Drive runs from the Victorian town of Ferndale south along Mattole Road — locally known as the Wildcat — to the ocean at Cape Mendocino, then inland through Honeydew and the Mattole River valley to Humboldt Redwoods State Park. Allow about four...
Madaket Harbor Cruise – Humboldt Bay – California
The M.V. Madaket is a 1910 passenger ferry that runs narrated cruises on Humboldt Bay from the foot of C Street in Old Town Eureka, California. It is the oldest passenger vessel in continuous service in the United States, and it carries what is reportedly the smallest...
Tall Trees Grove – Redwood National Park – California
The Tall Trees Grove Trail is a 4.5-mile (7.2 km) round trip hike to an alluvial flat along Redwood Creek in Redwood National Park, where the soil, water, and shelter combine to grow coast redwoods that exceed 350 feet (107 m). The National Park Service rates it...
Lady Bird Johnson Grove – Redwood NP – California
The Lady Bird Johnson Grove Trail is a 1.5-mile (2.4 km) loop through old-growth coast redwood in Redwood National Park, about ten minutes north of Orick, California. The National Park Service allows 45 to 60 minutes for it, the grade is gentle throughout, and it's...
Lassen Volcanic National Park Guide – California
Lassen Volcanic National Park covers about 106,000 acres (43,000 ha) in Northern California, roughly 50 miles (80 km) east of Redding, and it is the only place on earth where you can see all four types of volcano — shield, composite, cinder cone, and plug dome —...
Subway Cave – Lassen National Forest – California
Subway Cave is a 1,300-foot (400 m) lava tube in Lassen National Forest near Old Station, California, that you can walk straight through on a self-guided trail. The full loop — down through the tube and back on the surface — runs about a third of a mile (0.5 km) and...
Bumpass Hell Trail – Lassen Volcanic NP – California
The Bumpass Hell Trail is a 3-mile (4.8 km) round trip hike to the largest hydrothermal area in Lassen Volcanic National Park, a 16-acre (6.5 ha) basin of boiling mudpots, fumaroles, and acid-blue hot pools. The trail runs between 8,200 and 8,400 feet (2,500 to 2,560...
Fern Canyon – Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park – California
Fern Canyon trail is a 1-mile (1.6 km) lollipop loop through a narrow, fern-walled gorge in Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park, on the Northern California coast about 50 miles (80 km) north of Eureka. The trail climbs roughly 150 feet (46 m) and takes at least 30...
Cinder Cone Trail – Lassen Volcanic NP – California
The Cinder Cone Trail is a 4-mile (6.4 km) round trip hike to the summit of a 700-foot (213 m) volcanic cinder cone in the northeast corner of Lassen Volcanic National Park. The trail climbs 846 feet (258 m) from the Butte Lake trailhead at 6,061 feet (1,847 m) to the...
International Locations
Amazing trip to the Scottish Isles – Scotland Bike and Schooner
We've done four bike and barge trips now, and they just keep getting better and better! If you aren't familiar, bike and barges are trips where you live on a boat for the duration of trip but then the boat takes you to several different locations for you to bicycle...
Scotland Bike and Barge Day 7 – Edinburgh
On the 7th day we departed early from the ship and traveled by bus to our hotel in South Queensferry, on the outskirts of Edinburgh. Queensferry is known for it's three bridges that all cross the Firth of Forth to North Queensferry. On the way into Queensferry, we...
Scotland Bike and Barge Day 6 – Tobermory to Glengorm Castle
Our last day on the bikes unfortunately started out as another wet one. Because of the weather forecast and steady morning rain, only about half of the riders made the revised ride to Glengorm Castle and back. The revised ride was only about 12 miles (19 km) round...
Scotland Bike and Barge Day 5 – Salen to Tobermory
Bike day 5 was our first rainy day of the trip. Because of the rain we waved off the side trip (10 miles round trip) to the brilliant white beach of Calgary Bay and continued directly back to Tobermory. The Flying Dutchman made the short trip in the morning to drop us...
Scotland Bike and Barge Day 4 – Mull Island: Duart Castle to Salen and to Tobermory
Our bike ride for the fourth day started with a drop off at the Inverlussa Mussel Farm in Loch Spelve on the Isle of Mull. The Mussel Farm was only one of the farming operations on the Loch with several other mussel and salmon farms apparent across the bay. This was...
Scotland Bike and Barge Day 3 – Isle of Jura to Isle of Mull
Our third biking day we cycled from the South end of Jura at Craighouse, nearly to the North end in Ardlussa, for a ride of 17 miles (27 km). The word, 'isolated' was made for Jura, it can only be reached by ferry. George Orwell, who stayed here while he wrote 1984,...
Scotland Bike and Barge Day 2 – Crinan to Island of Jura
Our second day of biking was a short circular ride from Crinan to several fascinating historical sites on the peninsula North of Crinan. We started out down the canal path and quickly passes the first of several locks we'd see along the canal. We were lucky enough to...
Scotland Bike and Barge Day 1 – Oban to Toberonochy
This was the first full day of our bike and barge trip to the Islays of Scotland, after a terrible travel experience the day prior. We had a nice combination of bikes provided by the tour company, I think it was about a 60/40 ratio of e-bikes to conventional bikes. We...
Amazing Bike and Boat Tour of the Greek Isles
We recently went on an almost unbelievable bike and boat tour of the Greek Islands. The tour was on a motor-yacht called the Panagiota. The Panagiota is a 75 foot (23 meter), two masted motor yacht with a large common dining area, and ten cabins able to house 20...
Hike to Prophet Elias Monastery – Hydra, Greece
Prophet Elias Monastery is located approximately 2.5 miles and almost 1,700 vertical feet above the harbor on the island of Hydra in Greece. The hike is a strong intermediate hike with a significant amount of climbing, but mostly on stone stairs and paths that are...