Our Traveling Experiences – Unagis Travel: 2016

Grand Canyon National Park - South Rim, Arizona

Grand Canyon National Park - South Rim, Arizona

December 22, 2016

Distance: 10.93 miles

Time: 4 hours, 57 minutes.

Calories: 1,345.

Entrance Fee: $30 per car.

We had to take a flash trip to Arizona and we could not pass on the opportunity to visit the Grand Canyon National Park. Luckily for us, the South Rim is open all year round. (Make sure to check out the dates in which the North Rim is open before you go). We were warned about rain, hail, slippery conditions, and cold weather. However, we could not resist and we usually travel with good hiking boots, tent, extra clothes, water filters, raincoats, etc.

We arrived on the South Entrance Rd, directly into the Visitor Center. We decided to walk towards Hermits Rest, see map below for trail information and map.

Let me tell you, this is one of our favorites hikes, not only because the Grand Canyon takes your breath away, but because it was one of those hikes that came out without any special planning. Basically, it was like, we are here, why not?

The people that warned us were correct, it was raining and cold. I am glad we were prepared. Also, goes without saying, the views are simply amazing!

While it was cloudy most of the time, we were lucky to click some really nice pictures without rain. The mix of clouds with sunlight added a nice touch.

The Rim Trail allows you to walk through the Trail of Time, an interpretative walking timeline which allows you to get a glimpse on the history of the rock layers of the Grand Canyon. It starts close to the Yavapai Geology Museum.

Look at the names of those schists (a coarse-grained metamorphic rock which consists of layers of different minerals and can be split into thin irregular plates. Taken from Oxford Dictionaries).

One of the things we like the most is encountering with other beings along the way. It cheers us up!

Look at this guy, he learned to ignore the human-imposed boundaries.

This is the view of the village as we got closer to Hermits Rest.

Tips:

Tips: Check the weather before you go and dress appropriately.

There are multiple points along the Rim Trail for clicking spectacular pictures.

Food and water were not an issue, there were multiple places where you can get supplies.

Do plan to stay more than 1 day if you want to do a longer hike.

Remember, the South Rim is open all year round, the North Rim has specific dates, check them before you go.

We hope you enjoy your visit.

See you next time!

Welcome to our blog!

Welcome to our blog!

Our intention is to provide information about our travel and hiking experiences as well as to share some of our favorite pictures.

This is not intended to provide a detailed guide, please make sure to do your own research if you decide to travel or hike in any of the places you see here.

Enjoy!

Unagis Travel

Lory State Park, Fort Collins, Colorado

October 22, 2016

Distance: 9.61 miles

Time: 4 hours.

Calories: 1,707.

Entrance Fee: $7 USD.

Colorado is one of the states we absolutely love, for all that it has to offer! There is so much outdoor things that we have done here, we have hiked, camped, rock climbed, biked, and list goes on.

When we visited Lory State Park, we did not have in our mind an idea to write a blog based on our experience, however, it is one of those hikes that we truly enjoyed, and we wanted to share our experience about this hike.

We started with the Timber Trail, a moderate to the difficult trail, 4.2 miles long. Foot, mountain bikes, and horses are welcome. Keep in mind that if you are doing it with a horse or bike, the trail is quite hard so make sure you are prepared for it. You can download a PDF with all the trains and details from the official page.

We crossed some bikers along the trail but in general it is a quiet and serene hike. During the hike we had many opportunities to take pictures of the reservoir. As we hiked up, we had a view of Fort Collins city from the top.

Check out the view we had as we hiked uphill.

As usual, finding wildlife along the trail is something that cheers us up. We really appreciate these encounters.

From the Timber Trail, we switched to Arthur’s Rock Trail. The Arthur’s Rock is quite popular amongst hikers that visit Lory State Park, it offers splendid view of the Horsetooth Reservoir. Once we reached the base of the rock, the climb up to the Arthur’s rock is quite strenuous, we had to be extra cautious as there are many loose rocks, but the view from the top is totally worth making an effort.

After we spent some time relaxing and simply contemplating the horizon, we decided to take the East & West Valley Trails on the way back. The trail is 2.2 miles long, the difficulty is easy; foot, horse and mountain bikes are welcome in this trail. The trail is parallel to the main road.

You will have an opportunity to take some good pictures as the sun comes down or while it is partially covered with clouds.

Tips:

Bring plenty of water, especially during hot weather.

We hope you enjoy your visit.

See you next time!

Carlsbad and White Sands Monument, New Mexico

Roswell, Carlsbad, and White Sands Monument, New Mexico.

September 03, 2016

Distance: N/A

Time: 4/A

Entrance Fee: $5 USD per person; Carlsbad $16 USD per person.

For Carlsbad and White Sands Monument, we used our America The Beautiful Pass.

This is not a blog post about one of our hikes but one of our travelling experience on labor's day weekend, to three places in New Mexico. The trips started because we (by we, I mean me), really wanted to go to Roswell, New Mexico because, you know, aliens, spaceship crashing sites, UFO, etc.

We made a quick stop at Roswell, went to the International UFO Museum and Research Center, Downtown Historic District, and we visited the Roswell Spacewalk (Although we did not actually did it).

Our next stop was the amazing bat cave at Carlsbad Caverns. This is a must if you are in the area! As usual, the scenery is picturesque, and the bat cave is impressive. Carlsbad Caverns National Park does a before dawn event called Bat Flight Program.

Before the bats exiting the cave, you might be able to see some birds flying around. Picture this, but with millions of bats. In case you want to witness these visitors from the south, the best time to visit is from late May-October.

We do not have any pictures of the bats exiting as electronic devices, pets, or anything that makes noise is not allowed. It is a time to be quiet, relaxed and simply be in the moment and enjoy the site. Please do not be THAT guy whose phone rings in the middle of the event!

We decided to spend the night in the area and visit caverns the next day. We were able to take some good pictures that evening.

There are two ways of accessing the caves, you can take elevator right to the caverns or you can walk/hike all the way to the Big Room (about 1.25 miles) which takes close to an hour to two, depending upon your pace. The Big Room is the largest single cave chamber by volume in North America.

We took a hike called Natural Entrance Trail which is a 1.25-mile long walkway/paved trail that took us from the mouth of caverns(close to Amphitheater) to the Big Room. Be warned, the trail is steep, and it has a gain or loss of 750 feet. It is worth it, believe us! It will give you an idea of what the early explorers had to do and will allow you to enjoy natural formations.

Mouth of the caverns.

These caves have numerous formations, each one unique and spectacular. We can add some pictures but there is no way a camera can capture what our eyes can see.

Keep in mind we use our phone camera, and that we are not photography experts, these pictures do not come close to what you will see if you decide to go.

Our last stop in the three day trip was the White Sands National Monument a 275 square miles of white sand, it is truly a place like no other on earth! I mean take a look at these pictures!

There are some hiking trails in the park, please be very careful if you decide to hike here. The trails are not long (they range from 0.5 to 5 miles round trip). Keep in mind that you will need plenty of water, we do mean PLENTY, and it is not advised to start a hike if the temperatures are at or above 85°F (30°C). Did I mention that you need PLENTY of water?

This place is HOT, even with some clouds, the temperature is extreme but worth the trouble, you will be able to enjoy spectacular views and, if you are up to, play in the endless sand hills. You might even purchase a sled at the giftshop and have a blast!