Saguaro National Park- West

When we arrived in Tucson the first thing we noticed were the giant saguaros all over the sides of the mountains and hills.  We've all seen the cartoon cacti that are shaped like this but it was our first time seeing them in person. Amazingly, they can grow up to 75 feet and can live up to 250 years. They normally don't even sprout arms until they are 75 years old.

Chris next to some young saguaros

We stayed at the Desert Trails RV Park which was just a short drive to Saguaro National Park West. The park has two districts. We unfortunately never made it to the east district and only went to the west park once in our short time in Tucson.

It was a hot day in the desert even though it was early March so we waited to go later in the day and just planned a short hike.

We always have to stop and get a picture with the sign and then get our passport stamped.

Chris at the Red Hills Visitor Center

Up next we did a little of the Bajada Loop Drive.

Then we arrived at the Signal Hill Trail which was just a short 1/2 mile hike. At the highest point of the hike you reach an overlook with some petroglyphs and there are some cool views of the cacti and mountains. The petroglyphs were created by the Hohokam people over 1,000 years ago.

On the drive out of the park we were awed by a breathtaking desert sunset and moonrise. There is nothing quite like them.

It seems like we never have enough time. We would love to go back to Tucson and check out some more of the park.

Have you been? If so what were some of your favorite hikes?

Kasha-Katuwe Tent Rocks National Monument

Through our travels one of our favorite things has become going to State Parks, National Parks, and National Monuments. While we were staying in Santa Fe, NM my sister Sarah recommended that we go to Kasha-Katuwe Tent Rocks National Monument. "Kasha-Katuwe" means"White Cliffs" in Keresan which is a language spoken by the Cochiti Tribe. The Cochiti are descendants of the people who occupied Bandelier National Monument. Here is the link to our blog post about Bandelier.

At the end of September we finally made a trip out to the monument. We really didn't do much planning before and kind of on the fly we decided to do the Cave Loop Trail. We would later find out by my sister that the best trail was the Slot Canyon Trail. This resulted in a rushed trip to see the "right trail". Sisters can be so pesty sometimes...but she was right the Slot Canyon Trail was way better.

Cave Loop Trail- Visit I

This thing looks like a little mushroom house

After we did the Cave Loop Trail we drove up to the Veterans Memorial Overlook. It was a super bumpy drive but we thought it was worth it. It was pretty up there.

Slot Canyon Trail- Visit II

The only day we were able to go back before leaving Santa Fe was one day after work. We really had to try and hurry before the park closed.

This time we were on the right going to the Slot Canyon Trail

Ok the slot canyon was WAY cooler hence the ridiculous pose

After I showed my sister these pictures she pointed out we will have to go back again sometime earlier in the day since the sun was setting and casting shadows through out the trail. lol Love you Sarah.

We made it to the top but didn't get to walk around long.
A park ranger told us we needed to start making our way back. Damn

I love when nice people on trails offer to take our picture. Doesn't happen often. 

In all seriousness we really enjoyed our hikes at Kasha-Katuwe Tent Rocks. We hope if you are ever in the area you will check it out.

Have you ever been? If so what did you think? Tell us in the comments below.

Bandelier National Monument- Los Alamos, NM

In September of 2016 Chris and I went to Bandelier National Monument. From May- October the monument is only accessible by shuttle. So, since we went in September we drove to the White Rock Visitor Center and took the free shuttle.

 Bandelier protects 33,000 acres of canyon and mesa that used to be home to the Ancestral Pueblo people. It is said to have signs of human presence that date back up to 11,000 years.

Once we arrived at the Bandelier National Monument Visitor Center we purchased a map of the trails which had some interesting information on the things we would see during our hike. It was only $1 and  well worth it.

We decided to do the main loop trial which was a 1.2 mile loop through some of the archaeological sites.

The sign to the main loop trail 

Big Kiva- this used to be a communal meeting place 

Our first views of the cliff that used to be home to the ancient Pueblos

Chris ready to see some cliff dwellings

The walls of Tyuonyi Village

The best part was definitely exploring the cavates(cliff dwellings) that were carved into the volcanic tuff.

Rachel being silly while climbing into the first dwelling

I'm not sure that this statue was but I thought it was neat

Chris doing some exploring- this was the only room he could stand in

The ceilings of the cavates were smoke blackened to harden the volcanic tuff  and keep them from crumbling

View of Tyuonyi Village( said to have housed 100 people) 

Some of the dwellings have eroded so you can only enter if there is a ladder. 

It is hard to see but here are some ancient smiley face emojis aka petroglyphs

Beautiful flowers that surrounded the cliff

The hike back to the visitor center

We really enjoyed our visit to Bandelier. Our 1.2 mile hike ended up taking us about 2 hours. It wasn't a strenuous hike by any means but sometimes we had to wait for someone else to leave before climbing the ladders and of course we stopped to take lots of pictures. We  would love to go back sometime and check out some of the other hikes. Thanks for recommending it Sarah & Eric!


Have any of you been? If so what was your favorite part or favorite trail? Let us know in the comments below.

Our Visit to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park

Yesterday, Chris and I visited our second National Park since hitting the road, The Great Smoky Mountains. It is the #1 most visited National Park in the U.S.  They estimated there were 10.7 million visitors in 2015. Just to compare the Grand Canyon which is the second most popular National Park only had 5.5 million visitors last year. 

We are currently staying in Pidgeon Forge, Tennessee which is less than a 30 minute drive to the park. We got up bright and early to avoid the crowds.

We came in through the Gatlinburg entrance and when we first arrived we stopped at the Sugarlands Visitor Center to load up on some maps. The maps were all .50 to a $1 but there was no charge to get into the park which is pretty cool.

Our first stop to admire the river on the way to Cades Cove

We decided to head to Cades Cove which is a valley surrounded by the beautiful mountains and it is the most popular destination in the park. It is about a 30 minute drive from the visitor center. It is an 11 mile one-way loop. You can normally see a variety of wildlife including black bears, deer, coyotes, etc. 

They have riding stables at Cades Cove and you can stop and visit the horses. 

Blue tailed skink 

Out of all the cool wildlife we saw....a turkey

Along the road there are many places to pull over and admire the mountainous views. There are also a lot of old log cabin houses and churches to get out and walk around. We enjoyed the John P. Gable Mill which was built in the 1800's and is still a working mill. They even sell the corn meal in the gift shop. 

Lovely view of the mountains

John Oliver House

Mountains and lots of wildflowers

John P. Gable Grist Mill

Our drive around the cove probably took about two hours. There wasn't much traffic when we first got to the park but it did continue to get more crowded through out the day.

After our visit to Cades Cove we headed over to the Elkmont area so we could hike the Little River Trail. 

Why did the deer cross the road? I've got nothing.

Elkmont is a ghost town and has 74 historic structures which you can walk around but you are not permitted to enter. Of course, once we got there it started raining but it didn't rain too long. Chris got a nice little nap in before we got out and hiked.

Haha Sorry Chris had to do it

Spence Cabin part of "Millionaire Row" in Elkmont- you can actually rent out the cabin

Beautiful view of the  river from the Spence Cabin patio

One of the run down old houses on the trail

We enjoyed our hike. It is an easy and peaceful hike down a paved trail with the river on the side. There were some people fishing and playing in the water. 

Little River trail- nice wide paved trail 

We had a lot more things we were planning to do but by this time we had to get back home to the dogs. It was a long day of driving and walking around and we were tired. 

We would definitely recommend visiting the park. We already picked out what we will do if we are able to come back this week. Plus, it is free to visit which is always nice.