u/Foomin_Z

I did not get to see everything here since the thunderstorm that was chasing me since visiting Meteor Crater first thing in the morning finally caught up to me. After hearing from a ranger at Sunset Crater that a friend of his died from a lightning strike, I did not climb up the mountain path, and had to have soon after.

I did get to see the first Pueblo from the direction of the back of Sunset Crater, as well as the one by the visitor center. The rangers here were extra friendly and happy to help.

The blowhole was really cool. It was blowing outward when I was there. Is this similar to the one at Wind Cave, does anyone know?

What an amazing place, to be able to walk through old lava fields. Someone launched a drone not too far from the parking lot so I yelled at him NO, and he actually stopped and put it away. A big thunderstorm was approaching fast, with strong wind gusts. He could have injured someone if the wind knocked it into a person.

I was too scared to go down more than a couple of flights of the stairs in the island trail. How lucky of those brave enough to be able to walk right next to the cliff dwellings.

I went on Memorial Day. I was asked to show my annual pass and ID even though it was a fee-free day. The parking lot was full so I had to drive back out past the check in both and park on the side of the road.

On the path at Montezuma, a woman was staring up at the castle and kept saying “no way.” Eventually she said “I could never live there!” I’m kind of glad that some visitors contemplate the way of life of people of the past and are awed by it.

Tuzigoot hardly had any people. It was so peaceful up on the hill, with a constant gentle breeze. When I went in the visitor center, the ranger eventually came out the back room, with a very loud burp. LOL what a welcome.

As I finished crossing the bridge, I saw a large lizard but it quickly scuttled under a bush and started doing “pushups” at me before I could get a picture.

The ranger in the visitor center did not want to see my annual pass, but said I could use it at horseshoe bend, which was incorrect. I was only given a photocopy of a quick facts and directions sheet of the Page area, no park brochure.

Looking at the “explore the area” poster on the display, how many weeks would one need to actually visit so many places? And not even thoroughly. It’s so huge, and the landscape is stunning.

Visited first thing in the morning before leaving the area to fly back home. I saw no Ewoks, though something was high up in the trees screaming at me as I walked around the grove.

During the drive back, I passed two signs telling me I was approaching Lassen Volcanic National Park. I had no idea I was so close to it, but when I checked the park conditions at the first highway rest stop it said most of the park was still closed due to ten feet of snow on the road.

My final stop in the Humboldt Redwoods, all done in one day and I still had plenty of daylight left to have done more, but I was worn out. Spotted a chandelier branch on one tree.

Says it’s a loop trail but good luck finding which of all the paths is the official trail! I did find the standalone French sign. I don’t know if the other two names have their own sign in this area. It’s a cute place to wander for a while.

Another can’t-miss grove, and the water right there makes it extra peaceful.

The bridge over the river to the tall trees grove was not yet put out (early May) so I didn’t get to see that area. The river didn’t look that deep or swift, and if I were much younger I would have gone across the rocks to get there. I followed this loop suggestion from Redwood Hikes, but I did not enjoy having to look out for horse poop the whole time on Homestead trail. This area was most like a normal forest out of all the redwoods areas I visited.

Amazing grove with a lot of variety in tree shapes and conditions, the popularity is obviously deserved. The trunks that brown upwards in spirals are so interesting. Spotted a couple of chandelier branches on trees. The fallen tree that has broken apart as if it was creating lumber planks really made me in awe. It’s too bad a family thought the rule of not climbing on anything didn’t apply to them. The mountain fog finally lifted most the way through my hike so I got to see blue sky and sunlight on trees.

Lots of interesting very large burls here, even high up on trees. It’s sad they had so many signs that said “this is not a trail” yet people are walking where they shouldn’t.

I was passing by it so I stopped in, except there are two pullouts next to each other and the second one was the spot with the plaque. Also I fell down the embankment to the stream. Mind your safety, please.

Another small grove that was nice to visit. The water levels of the streams were low but I still walked on the little bridge that was over “nothing”

Cute little grove to start my way through Humboldt Redwoods State Park. Not sure I was following the official trail much because there were so many unofficial ones in it.

When I pulled up to the booth at Richardson Grove, there was a car parked there and a woman got out. When I got out to pay the fee, she asked what I was doing there, then if I was going up Avenue of the Giants, and then said not to bother with this park because there’s better looking parks where I’m going. She then unlocked the booth, went in and did stuff. An employee of the park was trying to get me to not visit it! 😆

Anyway, it was worth the visit to Richardson Grove. I saw a large chandelier branch on one of the trees by the closed visitor center. The river was pretty. The last picture is of the drive thru chandelier tree in Leggett. It was fun to talk with various visitors at that tree.

It was a hell of a drive to get here, but it was so gorgeous in the grove. There was a landslide across some of the trail so you have to go down in the grove to get around it. I went counterclockwise from the start and there was no way back across the stream after getting past the landslide area, but I found a narrow place to jump across.

quiet morning in May with only four other people out and about

Bag felt heavy when I got it in the drive thru, thought it may have accidentally been the egg and sausage one. Nope, double egg patty.