Hiking In the U.S.A.

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Dec 30, 2019
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I have hiked a lot of trails and spent time in a lot of different climates here in the States. From the blazing heat of the white tanks. To the shale hills of Big Ben. I grew up in Michigan as a Michigander hiking was kind of a natural pass time in the hills made by glaciers. It is a unique landscape setting to anyone who has never seen the country side of the mitten. There is a place called the Irish Hills close to where I grew up. It is a beautiful place and plenty of activities for people to do highways to ride that are full of twists and turns and hills. Lakes at every turn and hiking trails that run for miles up and down the small steep hills. This is what I grew up with. So when i thought of going hiking somewhere far away I assumed it would be even more amazing. I was most of the time disappointed. I mean the view at the high point (the observation point) was amazing being at higher altitude but still not that much different from the hills of Michigan. I thought to myself there has to be places that are just as amazing and different than what I have already seen aso that led me to the desert. To say the least I was impressed to look at nature that was the exact same it was when the pioneers passed through in a hunt for something better. I could see in my imagination the cowboys on horseback peering over the ridges at a vast land of struggle and hardship ahead. I am nowhere near done exploring these places in the land I call home. I just need to know where to go next.
 
In Michigan try the Nordhouse Dunes, the McCormick Wilderness, Porcupine Mountains, and Isle Royale.
 
I have been all over Michigan as an adolescence that was our thing to do in the summers even some time in the winters. If any of you haven't been to the spots in Michigan you'r really missing out.
 
If you've never seen any of the Giant Sequoias in California, you definitely should put it on your list.
 
Grand Canyon, Zion, Canyonlands, Arches, Yosemite Nat'l parks. (You've seen RMNP...)

Havasu Falls on the Havasupai Indian Reservation, South Rim of the Grand Canyon.

Ouray/Telluride/Silverton/Creede area of Colorado.

Black Canyon of the Gunnison in Colorado.

Dinosaur Nat'l Monument in the NW corner of Colorado.

Canyon de Chelly Nat'l Monument outside of Chinle, AZ.

Niagara Falls (not so much hiking, but would be a good ride)
 
I see I'm going to have to be watching THIS thread. If this China virus lets up in time, my wife and I are headed to Canada to pick up a camping trailer that we ordered last fall. After that, we are planning on doing a LOT of exploring in the United States. While we still have our daughter to take with us. I can see this thread providing a lot of suggestions.

i've been on some magnificent hikes in Washington, around Mount Rainier.
One of my favorite places to go and hike, though, is Acadia Nat'l Park in Maine. Actually, that is probably my favorite.
Kearsarge Pass in the Sierra Nevadas is also fantastic. And Mount Whitney. Better have your altitude adjusted before you do those, though.
 
This was a state Park I stumbled on in West Virginia.

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pinnacle rock.
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Montana has some pretty nice scenario and it's easy to get lost in the openness of endless rock and wilderness that seems to be everywhere in the state. Most of the time I spent there was north of Billings on a ranch of a friend of a friend of my dad's, but I'm a Michigander myself.

I will say that hiking and cycling give two very different perspectives on the Michigan terrain. I tend to prefer the cycling side as I like to cover distance and the workout. I've found long days of grinding on gravel roads is really fun both in the suffering you get to enjoy along with the scenery you often come to. Seasonal roads are always a blasty blast as well.

I guess I'm more of a forest guy than a mountains and lack of tree person, but I always thought Minnesota and the Dakotas looked really nice but never stopped long enough to enjoy them as it was always passing through to Montana, California when some of my family lived out there, and Colorada.

Brown County State Park in Indiana is a pretty nice trail system that's nice if you're close-ish. I would say it's pretty similar to some of the more hilly areas of Michigan up north. I still haven't really found much I liked more than living near Lake Michigan in West Michigan, though sometimes the flatness of the area could make the cycling piece boring. Beautiful scenery though.

Personally, I always seem to find the areas less traveled and not on the map to be the nicest. Just the random bits of beauty you happen upon while just riding/walking along. When I'm in better shape than I am now, I like to pick a direction and just go for a hour or three and see where I end up. I bring a bigger "oh shit kit" when on the longer rides and walks.

This kinda stuff was frequent.
JS4EhW4l.jpg

5n6FTWIl.jpg

wWRMPsUl.jpg

lP1D8JZl.jpg


One of the better stories, when the Oh shit kit wasn't enough. Filled the tire with grass and corn stalks to get me home.
Jddisayl.jpg


Go this one walking through a frozen swamp in the middle of suburban area in SE Michigan, places you can't get to in the summer months without waders and a long dry spell.
zGDruEIl.jpg
 
Montana has some pretty nice scenario and it's easy to get lost in the openness of endless rock and wilderness that seems to be everywhere in the state. Most of the time I spent there was north of Billings on a ranch of a friend of a friend of my dad's, but I'm a Michigander myself.

I will say that hiking and cycling give two very different perspectives on the Michigan terrain. I tend to prefer the cycling side as I like to cover distance and the workout. I've found long days of grinding on gravel roads is really fun both in the suffering you get to enjoy along with the scenery you often come to. Seasonal roads are always a blasty blast as well.

I guess I'm more of a forest guy than a mountains and lack of tree person, but I always thought Minnesota and the Dakotas looked really nice but never stopped long enough to enjoy them as it was always passing through to Montana, California when some of my family lived out there, and Colorada.

Brown County State Park in Indiana is a pretty nice trail system that's nice if you're close-ish. I would say it's pretty similar to some of the more hilly areas of Michigan up north. I still haven't really found much I liked more than living near Lake Michigan in West Michigan, though sometimes the flatness of the area could make the cycling piece boring. Beautiful scenery though.

Personally, I always seem to find the areas less traveled and not on the map to be the nicest. Just the random bits of beauty you happen upon while just riding/walking along. When I'm in better shape than I am now, I like to pick a direction and just go for a hour or three and see where I end up. I bring a bigger "oh shit kit" when on the longer rides and walks.

This kinda stuff was frequent.
JS4EhW4l.jpg

5n6FTWIl.jpg

wWRMPsUl.jpg

lP1D8JZl.jpg


One of the better stories, when the Oh shit kit wasn't enough. Filled the tire with grass and corn stalks to get me home.
Jddisayl.jpg


Go this one walking through a frozen swamp in the middle of suburban area in SE Michigan, places you can't get to in the summer months without waders and a long dry spell.
zGDruEIl.jpg


That is a nice bike.
 
Checked out a local state park today... did a few miles with the wife and kiddos. Erie Bluffs State Park.

Brought my INFI FHFG CrabManDu with me for its first outing!

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49732440751_4fcd0e547c_b.jpg
 
That is a nice bike.

Thank you. I have a few bikes for different disciplines (I'm down to 6 now I think, but have 2 frames unbuild) and have had a few different carbon road bikes over the years but that is one that has stuck around the longest. It's held up really well for me... also helps I never crashed it in races when I was still competing actively.
 
Thank you. I have a few bikes for different disciplines (I'm down to 6 now I think, but have 2 frames unbuild) and have had a few different carbon road bikes over the years but that is one that has stuck around the longest. It's held up really well for me... also helps I never crashed it in races when I was still competing actively.


I used to do some downhill with a Trek Y back in the day. but mostly I did BMX racing.
 
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