The Protected Adventures

The Sunset from the Lewis Falls Overlook The next stop on my covidcation was Shenandoah NP. We started from the northern-most entrance and drove down. Our goal was to hike Hawksbill at night for some nice night time photos while also hiking to one of the falls. We got there around 3pm and drove down, stopping at most of the overlooks until we got to Big Meadow. We had a picnic lunch Elkwallow, where we regrettably missed the bathroom and gift shop by about five minutes We began running out of time somewhere around the Thorton Gap entrance, so we only made a few stops after that. One stop was Skyland which, despite the misleading name, lacked much of a view. We got to Lewis Falls just before sunset and managed to hike a shorter loop from a firebreak road. The trip there was downhill, the trip back, was the opposite, and I am far from in shape. No matter, the falls itself was a little disappointing, but the view of the sunset was pristine. I just wish I hadn't gotten winded so quickl...

Overlooking the Falls from Overlook 3 This summer, I was supposed to visit two of the most beautiful places in the world: Iceland and New Zealand. This, of course, did not happen (thanks COVID). Instead, I took a trip to my girlfriends for 4th of July where I managed to make a couple national park stops. The first of these was Great Falls National Park, right outside DC a small park centered around a segment of rapids along the Potomac River. The full gallery is available here . We didn't do much, just stopped at the three outlooks, and the gift shop was regrettably closed, but I managed to get some good shots.

Some people try to visit every national park in the United States. I want to take that a step further. It's a goal of mine to visit every protected site/wilderness area on the globe. There are a lot. The UN lists thousands of protected sites around the globe, many of which are in remote, inaccessible regions. The US alone boasts over 1,000 sites, some of which, I'm pretty sure are just people's backyards. I remember years ago, my family registered our backyard as a wildlife habitat with some organization – I honestly think that might be on this list. All jokes aside, this is a monumental task, but it's one I hope to achieve over the course of my life. For each site I visit, I'll upload a photo and a post. Hopefully, we'll all discover a few secret spots along the way. Good luck, and cheers.  Abe