Alas, during my time in Phoenix last week, I heard the horses down by the Salt River, but as I hiked down the rocky incline,  I could hear the hooves as they scattered.  I spent an hour at the bend in the river, watching the early morning light change and dissipate my cold breath in the air.

One thing I miss about the Midwest is Fall.  Driving along roads full of...

Celebrating National Parks season kicks off this month in a variety of ways. Here is what you need to know about the when, where and how to celebrate our National Parks, Monuments and Forests.

Along one of the turns, we saw a crashed van pulling a boat on the side of the road where yellow caution tape was up. We all had our theories about what possibly could have happened. Did the van get too close to the edge? Did foul play happen because it looked like gunshots in the windows? We’ll never know. We pulled over by the lake for a picnic lunch and enjoyed the serene views. When we got to the dam, we stopped and marveled at the history of all that this land holds and tried to imagine riding this trail via stagecoach. It was an adventure even by car.

Sipping morning coffee in the mountain air at Half Dome while watching the sunrise in Yosemite is one of the greatest moments I've ever had. I've written previously about my goal not just to see Yosemite, but to experience Yosemite. There is nothing like the experience of mixing fresh, hot coffee, with cold pine air, watching the light bounce off the icy needles in the trees.