I woke to overcast skies and decided it would be a good day to hike. With a hot cup of Roastaroma in hand, a quick Google search led me to several trails within an hour’s …
July 7, 2011
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Stories by Ruth Newell
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Calistoga, California
Joshua Tree and Twentynine Palms, California
After hiking in Joshua Tree National Park, I camped in Indian Cove beneath batholiths. I had come to see the Wonderland of Rocks, which thanks to Minerva Hoyt is publicly preserved and accessible. Surrounded by …
June 30, 2011
Grayton Beach State Park, Florida
Eight days into our around-the-country trip, my friend and I walked the long stretch of white sand beach in Grayton Beach State Park from the setting sun towards the rising full moon. We had pulled …
June 23, 2011
On the Chesapeake: Easton, Maryland
As I drove east across the Chesapeake Bay Bridge at dusk, a Peregrine falcon rose from the water over the railing and above the car into the trusses above, a fish gripped firmly in its …
June 21, 2011
Roswell, New Mexico
Located in the Pecos Valley, Roswell grew up around large cattle ranches on land previously occupied by Mescalero Apaches. From the development of Fort Stanton in 1855 to the closure of the Walker Air Force …
June 21, 2011
Vikingsholm Castle, Lake Tahoe
Vikingsholm Castle sits at the bottom of a steep, mile-long switchback driveway that drops 500 feet to the shore of Lake Tahoe. Once at the bottom, I purchased a ticket to participate in a guided …
June 16, 2011
Historic Coronado, California
I float in a sun-warmed, peanut-shaped tile pool, watching the breeze flip the palm fronds against a turquoise San Diego sky, sipping a midday mimosa. Cally, the woman for whom I was house sitting, had …
June 9, 2011
The Conundrum of Desert Farming
Swaying in a hammock strung beneath palm trees on a cliff side high above Rainbow Valley, a tiny village just east of the unincorporated town of Fallbrook, I look out fifteen some odd miles over …
June 7, 2011
Carlsbad Caverns, New Mexico
Carlsbad Cavern National Park lies within the limestone Guadalupe Mountain range – the world’s best-preserved Permian-age fossil reef – in what was once a shallow inland sea some 240-plus million years ago. I talked my …
June 7, 2011
Hellhole Canyon, Anza-Borrego Desert State Park
Pummeled by roaring, tent-folding winds most of the night, I awoke to the softest of morning gusts coming out of the canyon. Swaying in my hammock, I sipped freshly brewed licorice root tea surrounded by …
May 26, 2011
Guadalupe Mountains National Park, Texas
The Amistad National Recreational Area on the Mexican border is beautiful waterway, surrounded with blooming prickly pear cactus and wildflowers. And, apparently, monster snakes. I was careful as I made my way down the rocky …
May 21, 2011
Camel Lake, Apalachicola National Forest, Florida
After just a week on the road together, my friend and I found that we were living for the next set of trees, the next perfect spot to string the hammock. It may seem like …
May 14, 2011
Padres Island National Seashore, Texas
The flag was at half-mast the Sunday morning last April when we pulled into Padres Island Visitors Center to purchase our backcountry camping permit to the largest undeveloped barrier island in the world. The National …
Desert Oasis in Indian Canyons, Palm Springs
Having seen two of the palm groves at the Anza-Borrego Desert State Park, I was inspired to drive north towards Palm Springs to see the largest palm groves in the world at the Agua Caliente …
May 6, 2011
Oak Alley Plantation, Louisiana
The thing about bayous is that they are humid, wet places. Very wet places. The trees that grow there know it. The things that live there know it. I knew it, too. Know it still. …
San Diego's Inland Sea: Salton Sea, California
I rolled my Celica up to the Border Patrol guards stopping traffic along Route 111 north of El Centro. When asked where I was headed, I explained that I was here to see “their” sea. …
April 29, 2011
Biltmore Estate, Asheville, North Carolina
Originally set on 125,000 (now a mere 8,000) acres in the rolling Blue Ridge Mountains of Appalachia, Biltmore Estate was built by George Vanderbilt along the French Broad River in North Carolina. With its original …
April 24, 2011
Boulder Park, Jacumba, California
Out on Route 8 east of San Diego stands the 70-foot Desert View Tower above Boulder Park in Jacumba. For three dollars I was allowed to climb the three-story stone tower that houses a museum …