Monument Valley
Monument Valley is the archetypal Classic Wild West. Even my first time here felt vaguely familiar. I had just found a job in Austin, Texas fresh out of grad school, and started rooming with my college buddy. My friend was…
Lower Calf Creek falls
So called for its use as a natural pen for calves in the early 1900’s, the Calf Creek is a south flowing tributary of the Escalante river. Located in the canyon carved by the Calf Creek are two spectacular emerald…
Goblin Valley State Park
Imagine this – an out of the world landscape filled with an army of “goblins” turned to rock stretching to the horizon! What the locals refer to as “goblins” are really “hoodoos” – strange looking, naturally artful, mushroom-shaped sandstone formations…
Darjeeling
If you do make a trip to Sikkim, it can be easily paired up with a trip to Darjeeling as well. Until the 19th century, Darjeeling was a part of the Kingdom of Sikkim. However, it was lost to the…
Juan De Fuca Hikes
When most people think of amazing backpacking trails in Vancouver Island, they typically think about the legendary West Coast trail in the Pacific Rim National Park. However, there are other backpacking trails that are equally good such as the Nootka…
Mishap at the Coyote Gulch
There was a time in my life when I was completely immersed with the beauty of the American Southwest. Its red rock terrain & its desolate yet paradisiacal landscapes had consumed my imagination. I felt truly ‘free’ in its wide…
Santorini
The Cyclades are a group of islands in the Âegean sea, South East from mainland Greece. The term Cyclades means circular or cyclic referring to the group of islands that encircle the sacred island of Delos. For the mythology aficionados,…
Family retreat at Munnar
Munnar is a charming hill station in the Idukki district on the Western Ghats of South India. In the local dialect Munnar means ‘Three Rivers’, and it is so named since it is the confluence of the three rivers –…
Birding in South India
Our first time birding I don’t think the birding world has seen bigger misfits than Pankaja & I! We finally bought a decent Sigma telephoto lens the spring of 2018, & promptly signed up for a Saturday morning “walk” with…
My favorite waterfall hikes in the Pacific Northwest
Both the Northwest states – Oregon & Washington, are blessed with a plethora of rivers and streams that while working their way through the Cascades to the Pacific Ocean, create plenty of waterfalls. Oregon alone has 200+ waterfalls! If you…