We enjoyed the rushing waters of Bridalveil Fall (it really is singular- both in letters and as a view!).  Walking up a short path in the May-June time period, you can find it hard to keep your footing, there is so much rushing water – and that it is a challenge to keep from getting a camera wet.  We wore waterproof jackets, but expect to get wet if you go that time of year.

Lower and Upper Yosemite Fall are both visible from many vantage points and, since they are accessible from the main shuttle bus route (free) that travels around the Visitor Center area, you might have a lot of company.  They are still worth seeing.

Another popular view, but also dangerous if you get too close, is the Mist Trail, which leads to the Vernal Fall and other hiking trails.  Vernal Fall’s trail is accessed by taking the bus to the Nature Center at Happy Isles, then go over a small bridge and follow the trail.  Early on, the trail is level, but later it becomes very steep.  We were told in one travel book that the trail was easy – no way!  By the top of the ascent before even reaching the bridge that overlooks Vernal Fall, most people are red-faced and puffing.  We asked a Park Ranger how difficult they consider that trail.  His response – “strenuous!”

So take travel books’ assessments of trail difficulty with a grain of salt.

By late in the year, the falls have a lot less water and are a lot less spectacular to view.  But go and enjoy the view if you can – nature surpasses herself in Yosemite!

Daytime temperatures get into the 70ºs (Fahrenheit) and the sun is shining. Soon, we’ll have a profusion of flowers – yes, it really can flower in the desert!

So, on a day when most of the country was socked in with snow, I’ll show you where I hiked.  With a jacket that I wound up taking off since I became too warm while hiking, I headed out on a trail that gave me views of downtown Phoenix, Camelback Mountain and a panorama of the whole surrounding area.

Take a look – South Mountain Park – the largest city park in the USA.   These pictures show the Javelina Canyon Trail (Easy to moderate difficulty) that you can enter from 46^th Street (south off Baseline Road).

Beginning of the trail - Javelina Canyon Trail in South Mountain Park

Camelback Mountain in the distance

The trail

Phoenix downtown (in the distance) from South Mountain Park

Head over there now!  (I’ll wait!) http://hiking.forthecouchpotato.com

Take a quick look at image number 4 at the top of the page (just scroll over) and you’ll see a reddish, sandstone rock that seems to have some people tucked in an opening.

Okay, now that you’ve seen that truly unusual natural development, wouldn’t you like to know where it is?

That image is the closest of the four to my home in Arizona.

It’s – Papago Park in the Phoenix, Arizona area.  Of the many natural formations in the central Arizona area, Papago Park allows visitors to come and hike up (from the area behind the photo you’re seeing) and look out at the world.  The walk is not too challenging, but since it’s terraced with some built in “stairs,” it would be tough for someone in a wheelchair.  However, most other people would be able to walk up to see the view.

Papago Park also is well-located, as it is near both the Phoenix Zoo and Desert Botanical Garden.  Plan a day seeing all of those sights if you’re planning to come to Arizona.

And, despite the bad press Arizona is getting these days about guns, most of us are not gun-toting, wild west types spoiling for a fight.   You can expect to be treated well here as some of the most luxurious hotels and exotic scenery of the US southwest is right here in the Phoenix area.  And, the majority of people are well- behaved, law-abiding citizens.

I’ve been offline for a bit because I’ve been concentrating on getting Hiking for the Couch Potato out to the world!  If you take a look at http://hiking.forthecouchpotato.com, then come back for details, I’ll explain what image number 3 at the top of my new blog is about.

Okay, so  - did you go look at the other web site?

If you did, then let me share with you that the image is from Hawaii, Wailoa River State Park, a park on the Big Island.  This is a gorgeous place to meander that provides many vantage points for photography. A local park, there is no admission fee.  You can climb down to be near the water or see the falls from higher up.

It’s peaceful and we had almost no one else to bother us, unlike many more known sites in Hawaii, where everyone seems to be jockeying for a place to take photos.

So, take a peek at the site and look at the second image near the top.  When you do, you’ll see an almost other-worldly location where the rocks have encircled a watery, breathtakingly beautiful lake.  If you look really carefully, you’ll even see a mountain with snow on it off in the distance.

Where is it?

The shot is of Granite Dells, just north of Prescott, Arizona at Watson Lake.  It’s a park, a picnic place and a fabulous place to hike.  There is a small entrance fee, but just sharing the view is worth it!

Take a look at our previous blog on this site that tells you more.  http://traveltipsandadventures.com/?p=1687

Enjoy!  We certainly have and we’ve been back several times.

I promised to identify the images at the top of our new website.

Image number 1 is:  ta – dah  – drum roll -

Haystack Rock in Cannon Beach, Oregon.

A monolith that juts 235 feet high above the long stretch of beach in Cannon Beach, Oregon, Haystack Rock seems to follow you in any direction wherever you are on the beach.  Birds and other creatures – especially humans – find it almost magnetic, but it is a protected site.  See our longer blog for more information – http://traveltipsandadventures.com/?p=1134

Return next week and we’ll identify our #2 image.

We hope you’ll visit our Hiking for the Couch Potato website – and maybe even consider buying a book!  Especially for those of you who know someone who really needs to get off the couch and get some activity in their life.

Have a great week, everyone!

Since I did not post a new blog this week, I wanted  you to know that I have not forgotten you!

I have just launched my new book, Hiking for the Couch Potato: A Guide for the Exercise-Challenged

and was caught up in details and preparations.

I invite you all to visit my new website – http://hiking.forthecouchpotato.com and see the great new details. We will be posting new places to visit on that site.  We’re encouraging everyone to get up and active by hiking or walking.

Also, you will see some images to travel at the top of the new site – (See numbers 1-4) –  I will share with you in future weeks what the images are about.

Please let me know on the new site what you think!

Thanks for visiting!

My new book, Hiking for the Couch Potato: A Guide for the Exercise-Challenged is debuting and you’re invited to take a look at the new website —-

Hiking.forthecouchpotato.com

Do you have a great recipe that’s easy or suitable to take on the trail?  Please submit it to the “Recipe” section.

Found a great hike that you want to recommend?  Submit that, too.

We’ll ask people to become a member so we don’t have those spammers who try to take advantage of everyone and fill their inboxes. (I’ve had more than my share of those.)

Also, if you’d like to purchase a book, you have the option of linking to Amazon or Barnes & Noble to purchase an ebook or buying a soft cover book , which will be very secure.  All of this will launch later this week, so we hope you’ll come back and become a regular.   (Also, see copanews.com, which has word of my book’s debut and first book signing.)

I hope to have fun and motivate everyone to be a healthier person!

Back to you soon!

But, I’m ready to share a new project I’m about to launch-

Drum roll, please.

Da- da- da- dum- da- dah!

Very soon you’ll be able to see my book: Hiking for the Couch Potato: A Guide for the Exercise-Challenged

In about three weeks, the book will be available as both as an e-book and a printed book.

A light-hearted guide that encourages people to get off the couch and go hiking, Hiking for the Couch Potato has everything from advice on hiking gear to recipes to an “Ode to Frozen Green Peas.”

It even talks about how to meet that significant other!

So, be on the lookout for the book – soon to be available at an e-store and on my new (not available yet) web site.

Suitable for gift giving! (And the web site will be a community where people can share their hiking experiences, recipes, and encourage each other!)

Looking forward to sharing Hiking for the Couch Potato with you!  Everyone likes potatoes!

PS Please let me know your reactions to my book!  I’ll autograph any book personally for someone who orders it through this travel blog.

A difficult, winding road, State Route 87, from the Phoenix area is a challenge – definitely not for the faint of heart.  North of Payson by just a few miles and still on 87, a turn-off leads to another winding access road.  Wiggling every which way, when you finally arrive at the bottom, the park is spread out below, but the natural bridge is not immediately noticeable.

Pay your entry fee ($5 per person) and head to a parking lot.  There are several trails and viewpoints to visit so you can see the travertine (according to Wikipedia a “sedimentary rock, formed by the precipitation of carbonate minerals from solution in ground and surface waters”) bridge, which has a waterfall dripping down.

A picturesque grotto with waterfall awaits the intrepid

Waterfall Trail

We were out for a day of hiking, too, so we decided to test two of the trails.  The park’s brochure says, “strenuous” to describe the trails, and they are.  The Waterfall Trail, while short, has angled, narrow steps that are partly wood, partly metal mesh and partly rock.  Water flows over some of the walkway and it is definitely not for anyone with a disability.  While only 300 feet long, the trail is a challenge!  At the bottom is a narrow area with a cave-like grotto surrounded by vines and foliage with a small falls.  You must take turns to see the very end of the trail, since it is narrow.

Stairway at Waterfall Trail - most were not this wide

Viewpoints 3 & 4

We stopped briefly to look at the natural bridge from these perspectives and were rewarded with a rainbow emanating from the falls.

Natural Bridge from Viewpoint 4 with rainbow

Gowan Trail

Again, the brochure warns that the trail is strenuous. Do people pay attention?  NO!  We saw people with flip flops and other footwear ill-suited to the twists, turns and narrow stairs.

The trail continues – up, down, and around – for nearly a ½ mile and arrives at an observation deck from which people can venture into the bridge.

Tonto Natural Bridge from a distance

Not for the faint of heart or for persons who are not surefooted – I had hiking boots on and still slid and fell just as I was almost back to the deck.  The rock is highly polished by the constant spray and EXTREMELY slippery.  There are pools of water nestled in the rock areas and it is not a good place to navigate even with the best of shoes.  A park guide said that even with just socks on, he didn’t think it was an easy experience.

We did enjoy the view – and I now share photos of them with you. (And see the short video by clicking below.)

View through Tonto Natural Bridge

Natural Bridge

Picnic time

We headed to a picnic table that had shade and enjoyed a picnic lunch we brought.  (The gift shop where you can pay for admission also has a small shop with some food items, but not an extensive selection.)

In general…

One able-bodied male in his late 20s indicated he wished he had our hiking poles.  There were some elderly people looking exhausted and huffing and puffing.  Let me repeat – do not attempt this series of hikes without water, proper shoes (and, even then, it isn’t easy to navigate at the actual natural bridge), and, perhaps, a hiking pole.

Note: Only portable toilets are available in the parking lots.  Bring hand sanitizer.  You should bring your own drinking supplies – and a lot.  The altitude (if you’re not used to it) and the climbing up and down the steps are demanding, so you need water.

We did enjoy the experience, but I wish I had not ventured on the slippery rocks.

Next week… The oldest schoolhouse still in existence in Arizona and some craft-y people.