Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve: A Home Where the Buffalo Roam

"Oh give me a home where the buffalo roam,Where the deer and the antelope play,Where seldom is heard a discouraging word,And the skies are not cloudy all day." ~ "A Home on the Range", Vernon Dalhart Technically they're bison; buffalo have never lived in North America. Similarly, no antelope play in the Americas either; what's …

Foothill Momma’s BBQ Juke Joint: Smokin’

Their T-shirts proclaim, "Our Butts Are Smokin'," but as far as we're concerned, what they're smokin' is their competition! If there even is any. This place is everything you could want in a post-hike chow spot. After two days and 24 miles on the Appalachian Trail, we wanted quantity, not quality, so when we pulled …

Tinker Cliffs and McAfee Knob: Doubling Down on the Triple Crown (Part 2)

Back from our trip up to McAfee Knob that afternoon, and after a trip to filter water, we set about making dinner. I was having Mountain House Beef Stroganoff with Noodles; Lisa had chosen Chili Mac with Beef. Lisa found it to be "filling and tasty ... and great!" She also used the word "bangin'". …

Tinker Cliffs and McAfee Knob: Doubling Down on the Triple Crown (Part 1)

Lisa, my wife and editor, is out of town producing an opera. To give her a break from the responsibility of helping me prepare posts for publication, I am digging into the "archives". The following two-part post and associated restaurant review were written 2015 but not previously posted. Enjoy! The southwest view from Tinker Cliffs …

The Konza Godwin Hill Loop: Little Hike on the Prairie

"Me mind on fire -- Me soul on fire -- Feeling hot hot hot" ~ Hot Hot Hot, Buster Poindexter and his Banshees of Blue It was hot. The mercury was on its way to ninety. We stepped out of the air-conditioned Subaru into a perfectly still Kansas afternoon. The sun blazed down from partly …

Little Jerusalem Badlands and Monument Rocks: We Thought Kansas was Flat

Kansas is flat, right? To quote my late father-in-law, "It's common knowledge". There are some things you just know ... like, that Kansas is flatter than a pancake. It is, but it is not, in fact, the flattest state in the USA. There are six states that rank more geographically level than the Sunflower State. …

Chappy’s Mountain View Bar and Grill: Home of the Slopper

We were on our way to do something that I hadn't done in three and a half months. Even longer for Lisa. Eat out. At a restaurant. The last time I ate at an actual restaurant was my stop at Goblin and the Grocer (read here) after my Indiana Dunes hike (read here). That was …

Lakes of the Clouds Trail: Lost Among the Clouds

"I've looked at clouds from both sides nowFrom up and down and still somehowIt's cloud's illusions I recallI really don't know clouds at all" ~ Both Sides Now, Joni Mitchell Lost is maybe too strong a word. We were off-trail. There was some bushwhacking involved. This included scaling a steep embankment and fighting our way …

Venable Falls: A Venerable Hike

Willow Lake (read here) had blown our minds on Thursday. Our next Colorado hike was to be Lakes of the Clouds. Friday morning, we broke camp and made the two and a half hour drive from Crestone to the town of Westcliffe, where we would stay at the nearby Alvarado Campground. In that two and …

Willow Lake: Rose Tint My World Keep Me Safe From My Trouble and Sprain

“But he who dares not grasp the thorn Should never crave the rose.” ~ Anne Brontë Roses. There were other wildflowers on this hike, but the roses were so prolific they seemed ... thematic. A keynote. A thread. A motif. They were everywhere along the trail and in full bloom, their pink to red blossoms …