Towards the end of our summer adventure up and down the U.S. east coast we had the opportunity to spend a week with part of my extended family in Acadia. We all shared a house together on Mount Desert Island in Maine. Situated alongside Acadia National Park and Bar Harbor Maine, this visit allowed easy access to great hiking, extremely fresh seafood, and amazing wildlife. It also provided a great opportunity for us to visit with my father and...
As we continued our meandering trip up to Maine, we took the time to explore central Massachusetts a bit. Our Airbnb for this weeklong stay was a beautiful 18th century farmhouse, nestled in the woods of Ashfield. The owner, who shared the property with us, noted that she had spent a good amount of time restoring the property vs renovating, a difference I had never really thought about.By restoring the property, she and her husband had focused...
As I write this post, I'm wondering in my head, if this area isn't akin to the "hill country" regions like the Cameroon Highlands of Malaysia, the Central Highlands of Vietnam, or the Darjeeling region of India. We haven't visited any of these yet, though we will in the next few years. As I understand it, during the Gilded Age, the area around Newland, North Carolina, which has been our home base for the past week, have historically been regions...
During the summer of 2026 we traveled from Virginia up and down the east coast to change our state of residence and see family before heading overseas. We spent the longest portion of our time in St. Marks, Florida where we could visit with friends and be close enough to Tallahassee to take care of certifying our Advance Healthcare Directives with the Secretary of State.Our Airbnb in St Marks was quite new, had everything we needed for a long...
We had planned to be in Ecuador in Summer of 2024 while DJ participated in Amigos International. However, the security situation became very bad that spring and we were forced to shift to either Panama, which we did last year, or Costa Rica. Needless to say, Costa Rica got the vote and we had an amazing time on the Camino de Costa Rica. We aren't at all interested in the traditional resort experience, nor are we fans of the manufactured...
It seems we keep eyeing bigger and bigger hikes and this year is no exception. While looking ahead to the potential for Camino de Santiago in Spain (fall 2026), we happened to find the Camino de Costa Rica and figured we'd give it a go. We've already done Volcan Baru in Panama and this spring we did Havasu Falls so why not?This will be our biggest trek yet, as the Mar a Mar Foundation, which created El Camino de Costa Rica, designed a route that...
Hillary shocked me last year by saying she wanted to see Havasu Falls and would be willing to go camping to make it happen. Hillary had never camped and the thought of sleeping on the ground, sleeping in a tent, eating backpacking meals, and carrying 35-40 pounds on her back had always been beyond consideration. Yet here we were, she was willing to go camping for the experience!We were thrilled to have the opportunity to visit Havasu Falls in...
At the very end of Havasupai Campground you will find the climb down to Mooney Falls. In fact, you can't proceed toward Beaver Falls and The Confluence at all without climbing down. There is effectively a massive cliff at this point in the canyon which must be scaled to proceed.We had watched numerous videos on YouTube in advance of the climb so we knew it was steep. We had also seen young(ish) children in these videos of maybe 8-9 years...
For our third day (day 1 being the hike in, day 2 was Mooney/Beaver Falls) we decided to head upstream from Havasupai Campground to explore the other big three -- Fifty Foot Falls, Navajo Falls, and Havasu Falls. Among other things I really wanted to go swimming at the base of one of the falls and had been disappointed that Beaver Falls seemed a bit too risky for my liking. With luck one of the falls today would be amenable.Rather than simply...
The hike to Havasupai Campground begins and ends at Hilltop at the end of Indian Road 18. It's a long way from anywhere. We left our Airbnb about 5 AM for the two hour drive from Kingman Arizona. Leaving this early provided a great opportunity to see the sunrise over the desert, note that the temperature dipped into the high 20s, and arrive at Hilltop before the vast majority of hikers arrived.It's 10 miles from Hilltop to Havasupai Campground....
