Musings
Last Adventurer
#preservethegood

As you’ve seen above, #preservethegood could mean anything – it could mean helping someone in a time of need; it could be picking up trash on a trail, or a wilderness area; it could be educating people on leave no trace principles; it could be making a difference in any way you want; and it could be just about anything you want as long as you are focused in keeping the magic and the unique positive things in this world and this life. In terms of tangible things, I encourage you, my readers and followers to use the hashtag when you post a photo of something amazing; or when you’re talking about something exceptional you – or someone else has done to improve the world. I look forward to seeing how all of you end up preserving the good in 2015, and you can rest assured that as always, I will keep preserving the good where I find it as well, because as Plato says, “Good actions give strength to ourselves and inspire good actions in others.” 

#preservethegood
Hiking, State Parks
Last Adventurer
Canyon Trail to Waipoo Falls

As I mentioned previously, Waimea Canyon is a site that is most definitely one of the “must-view” locations on Kauai, and in the world; and as I also mentioned, the best way to experience it is to hike it. While there are many great hikes through the canyon, the best hike in my book is the Canyon Trail to Waipoo Falls. It is the best hike to me because at four miles roundtrip, it is accessible, it has stunning views of the canyon from inside the canyon, and it ends at the top Waipoo Falls. It also allows the hiker the chance to swim in a waterfall, which is a once in a lifetime experience.

Canyon Trail to Waipoo Falls

National Parks

Interview: Rock the Park Co-Hosts, Jack Steward and Colton Smith, #RTP100

Interview: Rock the Park Co-Hosts, Jack Steward and Colton Smith, #RTP100

On August 25, 1916, President Woodrow Wilson signed into law the National Park Service Organic Act, which established the National Park Service, a federal bureau that would be responsible for preserving and protecting the existing thirty-five national parks and monuments at the time, and would also bear the same responsibility for those areas yet to be designated. Over the last hundred years, the National Park System has grown to encompass fifty-nine national parks, and over one hundred and twenty one national monuments. More importantly, over the last one hundred years, the United States National Park system has served as an inspiration to the creation of similar preserves around the world.

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Emerald Pools Trail

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Emerald Pools Trail

The best example of this is that at every National Park, there is at least one trail that is accessible to all, and provides a great experience and introduction to nature and that specific park. These trails are gateways to nature – literally – as they allow all parties the ability to experience something that they would not otherwise experience. For Zion National Park, that trail, or trail system is the Emerald Pools Trail network.

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Winter Hiking - it's not really about the gear.

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Winter Hiking - it's not really about the gear.

Don’t go any further, you’ll die. Today’s quiz, hotshots, is what you would do if you heard this phrase on the trail. Would you turn around, or would you keep going? It’s also a statement that’s led me to pen this mini-diatribe. Before I go any further, I can already hear you asking, “Wait – what’s the situation? The terrain? The temperature? I can’t answer this question until I know these things.” Fair enough, let me give you the relevant background details: it was a partly cloudy day in Zion National Park. The cloud deck was resting at around 7,000 feet, and the ambient temperature at the Weeping Rock Trailhead (Information here) was around 20 degrees, although it could have been slightly colder as there were intermittent wind gusts of around 10 mph. For the last two days it had been snowing down to approximately 4,500 feet, but at the lower elevations there had been some melting and re-freezing. These were the conditions I found when I arrived at the trailhead one Sunday in mid-December of 2012 at around 7:30 a.m.