Tag: National Park to Park Highway

Joshua Tree National Park Photo Journal

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This desert park had really cool rock formations and Joshua tree plants. The scenery was gorgeous, but July was too hot a month to visit. We didn’t stay long, just long enough for bees to chase us and the heat to oppress us. And to get a few photos.  
Skull Rock

Like Joshua leading the people of Israel

The tots on the Ryan Mountain Trail
Remote and desolate

Follow Route 66 to Joshua Tree National Park

Can you tell the difference between a Yucca and Joshua Tree?

Grand Canyon National Park Photo Journal

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The great Grand Canyon. When I first saw this sweeping, awe inspiring landscape I felt inspired and joyful. Maybe that’s cliche, but it’s true. My kids saw the canyon and then immediately asked to go to the gift shop.

Smoke on the North Rim from the Fuller Fire.
Hiking the South Kiabab trail

Big E and Little G 
It’s hard hiking when you want to crawl.
Hiking on the South Kiabab trail.
Biking on the Greenway Trail was the highlight of our trip.
I conquered.
The Grand Canyon
Whatdya think?
Rock crawler Baby L
The Grand Canyon
Big E
See you on the trail!

Death in the Grand Canyon

Our National Park to Park Highway Tour schedule had us visiting the Grand Canyon in mid July in the hottest year on record. When we planned the trip we worried over how to stay cool, bringing battery operated fans and water misters for the heat, but when we got to the Grand Canyon the weather was surprisingly breezy and cool.

The high elevation at the rim combined with temperatures maxing out in the mid eighties gave us the perfect environment for exploring, biking the Greenway Trail and Hiking toward Ooh Aah Point on the South Kiabab trail.

Hours of preparation went in to how to stay cool in the Grand Canyon when what we should’ve been worrying about was death.
On our final morning at the Grand Canyon I read this article about Colleen Burns falling to her death on the very trail we had hiked the day before. Less than a week before we were there she hiked the same trail we had to Ooh Aah point, a hike of less than two miles round trip. She was just two years older than me and it’s not like she was being an idiot. She moved to the side of the trail to let another group pass, lost her footing and fell down the Canyon. Being polite can be deadly apparently.

In addition to that tragedy, on the same day we biked and hiked on the Grand Canyon Rim we noticed a huge cloud of smoke billowing from the North side of the Canyon. A column of puffy gray billowed up, filling the air with a fire fueled cloud. The Fuller Fire, a lightening caused wildfire has already burned over 1,300 acres on the North Rim of the Grand Canyon, enough to close the road to Imperial Point and other areas on that side.
I’m not an anxious person by nature but if I had heard of Colleen Burns’ death even one day earlier there’d be no way I would take my three small children on that trail. I also know wildfires happen and trust that people in charge have things under control, but reading about the destruction there would’ve also given me pause.


Nature can be a scary place. Being in the outdoors has always felt manageable and safe to me, a refuge from modern day demands on my time. I like to think I’m smart when I explore outdoors, especially with my tots. I’m not free climbing mountains or hucking thirty foot cliffs on my snowboard, but it seems that even with the precautions we take, the wild is still WILD – unpredictable and untamed.
Does knowing that people die in the outdoors change my desire to be there? No, but it does change how I act when I’m in the outdoors. It makes me more willing to put all my food in bear containers and less likely to roll my eyes at certain camping or park regulations. It encourages me to think twice before planning a hike or bike ride that may be dangerous for my kids. It makes me appreciate Mountain Dad’s emergency preparedness precautions like the snake bite kit in our glove box even though I haven’t seen a snake yet on this trip.

My kids loved this warning sign – the man is puking and has a massive sunburn.

Being in nature can be risky, even on the small scale. I was eaten alive by mosquitoes at Great Sand Dunes National Park, my kids have skinned knees, scraped chins and Little G got a bruise on her forehead after tripping on the concrete. Not to mention, all of us have sun burns. But even with those inconveniences I choose to be outdoors. The joy and peace I feel in the mountains or gazing at the ocean outweighs the annoyance of bugs, scrapes and sun burns. I understand how someone who lives indoors all their life wouldn’t want to go camping, get dirty or risk injury. If you don’t know the reward, why take the risk?

At MountainMomandTots I try to show how getting outdoors is worth the effort. There is joy to be had in the outdoors even with the risks. After reading about Colleen Burns’ death in the Grand Canyon I will be more aware of those risks with my kids. Seeing a great view or reaching the summit isn’t worth our lives or health.

Nature can be a scary place, but even knowing the risks I choose to be in it. What about you? How do you manage the risks of the outdoors?

Three Must Do Activities at Mesa Verde National Park

In 1917 Horace Albright described the road to Mesa Verde as “…one of the most disrreputable, dangerous, fearsome bits of slippery, rutted miseries I ever had the misfortune to travel.” Thankfully the quality of the road has improved since that time.
On this update of our National Park toPark Highway tour I will focus on my top three activities to do with kids. Other National Park posts list our top ten picks, but I really wanted to focus on these three things because they were so awesome. They require a bit more time and effort, but are totally worth it.

First some information – Mesa Verde is a World Heritage Site, meaning it’s so cool, interesting and important to human history that people have banded together to protect it. Part of that protection is that no food or drinks other than water are allowed in any cliff dwelling.

Also, most of the Native American cliff dwellings at Mesa Verde require a ranger guide to explore close up. You can purchase tickets for a ranger led tour a day or so in advance at the Visitor Center when you first enter the park or online through the Mesa Verde website. Tickets are $4 per person. The tours require some physical ability – you must be able to climb a ladder and fit through some tight spaces for a few tours such as Balcony House. Baby carriers are not recommended.

Balcony House – Touring this cliff dwelling was like exploring an ancient jungle gym. Before the tour started our ranger described the thirty-two foot tall ladder, eighteen by twenty four inch wide tunnel and steps carved in the rock by the Ancestral Puebloan people that we would be expected to climb.

I was nervous that Big E and Little G would have trouble on the route but I should’ve been worried about myself. Some of the spaces were so tight, I had to take Baby L out of her carrier and squeeze us through. I would not suggest taking a baby carrier on this tour. Seeing the ancient Puebloan homes was really cool, not to mention a great lesson in history. The shade in the cliff dwelling felt great on a hot summer day.

Cliff Palace – The overlook to Cliff Palace does not require a tour ticket, but to really experience it you should take a ranger tour here. This tour had fewer physical demands than Balcony House (no tiny tunnels thank you). If you bring young children here be sure they stay away from the edge – there are a few sections where the trail got close. Cliff Palace is a huge ancient site with kivas, towers and rock walls built from meticulously shaped rocks. It was fascinating to see up close.

Whetherill Mesa – My favorite part of our Mesa Verde visit was the bike ride on Whetherill Mesa. More remote than the other areas of the park, this adventure required an hour and fifteen minute drive from the campground just to get there, but once we were there we had the place almost totally to ourselves. We rode our bikes on the five mile, paved, multi-use trail, stopping at various places to see some of the ancient architecture close up.

Little G rode her Woom 3 with the pedals removed so she could use it like a balance bike. She loved the downhill sections, but without pedals she was by far the slowest one on the trail, requiring bucket loads of patience as Mountain Dad and I helped keep her moving. Despite protests before hand, she biked a full mile on her own before we locked her bike and put her in the Burley trailer.
Big E rode amazingly well. I’m still shocked that just this spring he transitioned off of training wheels. He can ride like a beast and I credit that to the Woom 4. It’s the perfect size for him and the easy gear change lets him be in control.
We finished our visit to Whetherill Mesa with a self guided tour of Step House. This cliff dwelling is near the parking lot and does not require a ticket, although a ranger is on site to answer questions. After a morning bike ride I was especially surprised that none of our kids complained on the one mile round trip hike, even with the sun bright on our backs.

Mountain Dad’s Corner – As I was writing this post, Mountain Dad said he wanted to share his Pros and Cons of visiting Mesa Verde. Here’s his takeaway.
Pros:

  • Ridiculously cool native american ruins.
  • Huge laundromat, free showers and a general store within walking distance of our campsite.
  • Balcony House Tour was a cool historic jungle gym.
Cons:

  • There was a lot of driving to just get to the Native American sites.
  • Weird camping reservation system – you can reserve a spot but you have to choose it once you get there.
  • Long line for tour tickets at the Visitors Center. Why was there only one ranger for all those people?
  • Hot, Hot, Hot Even though the temperatures never went over 85 degrees the combination of high elevation and direct sunlight made it feel hot.