Month: October 2020

 

About 26 years ago, my parents participated in a two year volunteer program called Peace Corps in Panama. It was kind of coincidence they both ended up there, as they both randomized their language and location preferences on their applications. About five years ago, I decided we HAD to visit Panama in person; my parents hadn’t gone back since they lived there, and traveling to Latin America was #1 on my bucket list. So, I used my Google Flights trick (and also searched for flights on Kayak, which has a similar “explore” option to Google Flights). I think we ended up getting tickets on Spirit Airlines for $250-$300 dollars…but that was 5 years ago, so I think it would even be possible to find tickets even cheaper now.

My family visited Panama during the rainy season. The winds were very calm, but it did rain at least once a day, which is both a good thing and sometimes a bad thing. We appreciated the rain while hiking in the rainforest because it felt like we were really in the RAINforest. We also heard from the snorkel excursion companies that the visibility was a lot better during the rainy season (the reasoning behind this is very similar to what I explained in my Florida Keys post). However, there were several times, like when we were going to hike in a higher elevation Cloud forest or we were going to go on a snorkel excursion, that we almost couldn’t because of the thunderstorms. Honestly speaking, there are downsides to visiting anywhere during every season, so my advice would be to visit Panama whenever there are cheapest flights (which tends to be during our summer months, or their rainy season).

Before I begin talking about all the places I visited in Panama, I would like to first talk about one of the places I didn’t get to visit. The San Blas Islands are a tropical archipelago located off the eastern coast of Panama, right in the Caribbean. They are Panama’s main tourist attraction, as the water is probably bluer than the waters in any other Caribbean island, and the archipelago is inhabited by Panama’s native population, the Kuna Indians (or the Guana people). As you can see in the pictures, visiting the San Blas would have been an amazing experience, but unfortunately, it was too expensive at the time. My parents visited when they lived in Panama before traveling there became part of Panama’s tourism industry, and they said it was absolutely incredible. I hope to go someday!

Also, quick disclaimer: I didn’t take very many pictures when I visited Panama (phone issues), so some of my photos are taken from the internet. I tried to pick photos that best represented what I saw with my own eyes.

1. Visiting Panama City, Panama

Panama City is Panama’s capital. The city itself is very interesting culturally and is filled with lots of street venders, fresh fruit markets, and great food. There is a lot of negotiating that has to be done with street venders, as many of them take advantage of the fact that you are a tourist. Just make sure you don’t buy a mango for $6…(oh yeah, Panama’s official currency is the US dollar!)

The city also features a gorgeous park called Parque Natural Metropolitano (Metropolitan Park). This park is right in the center of a very tropical rainforest filled with all kinds of wildlife. We saw an entire army of leaf cutter ants, several sloths, and a toucan during one of the hikes through the rainforest! The park also features a nice view of Panama City on top of a hill.

I feel like I would be committing some sort of crime if fail to mention visiting the Panama canal, so here we go. To be honest, I thought the canal was kind of boring to visit. I had fun reading up on the history of the canal and how it actually works (filling up the vaults to allow ships to pass), but in terms of actually seeing it in person, it wasn’t all that exciting. Others will definitely tell you differently, so I think it is still worth the stop if you’re in town.

2. Chicá

Next, we hit the road and visited Chicá, the small mountain town where my dad lived for two years. Even though we visited Chicá to see some of my dad’s old friends and host families, I would definitely recommend spending a day in Chicá to go on some hikes through the Cloud forest. A Cloud forest is basically a higher altitude rainforest. They are extremely fascinating ecologically, as everywhere you look, you see a whole new bunch of exotic tree species. It would be hard to study forest dendrology here!

The hike we did was called Cerro de la Cruz in Altos de Campana National Park. This hike was pretty moderate until the rocky top, which included ropes to help hikers summit the mountain. At the top of this mountain and many others in Panama and other countries in Latin America, there is a cross. I loved this hike because it took us through the heart of a gorgeous cloud forest and featured several stunning views of the National Park.

3. Isla Iguana

After visiting my dad’s site, we visited Portobellio, which was where my mom lived for two years. My mom’s old site is a small farming community that faces a lot of environmental challenges, one being overgrazing. In fact, there is a national park called Sarigua National Park that looks like a small chunk of desert. The locals have turned it into a National Park because desert is not normally found in Central America, but it is important to note that this desert formed due to over grazing cattle and not practicing healthy farming techniques.

That night, we stayed in Chichre in an Airbnb. It was one of our more wholesome experiences because we had a very wonderful breakfast with the host. My favorite food was probably a pasty mix of corn and onions wrapped in cornhusk leaves (they are boiled). In Chile, they call them humitas and in Panama, they call them pamonhas. I believe the dish is native to Brazil.

Just south of Portobellio and the larger city, Chitre, lies a very undiscovered gem. Isla Iguana has not yet joined Panama’s official tourism industry, so my dad had to use his Spanish and ask some of the local people for rides on their fishing boats to get to the island. Isla Iguana is a nature reserve, as it is home to a diverse handful of bird and aquatic species. On one side of the island, there are very interesting volcanic rock formations and on the other, there are white, sandy beaches filled with colorful corals right off the coast. We brought our snorkel gear and snorkeled right off the island.

4. Santa Catalina

My family decided to live one night of luxury and stay in a cabana with a pool at Hotel Santa Catalina. The pool looked like those pools you see in movies where the water rises all the way to the top of the pool, and the pool itself overlooks a gorgeous ocean. Access to surf boards came for free with our stay, so my dad and I went right to the ocean and tried to teach ourselves how to surf. We failed miserably, but it was still a lot of fun.

The hotel also gave us a free breakfast every morning that came with all kinds of fresh fruits and juices. You aren’t technically allowed to drink out of the tap in Panama, but my dad and I decided it was worth getting sick if we got to drink the fresh fruit (my mom and sister did not drink the juice).

5. Isla Coiba

This island was where Panama used to keep all of their most dangerous prisoners and mentally insane people. After the late 1900s, they moved the facility to somewhere on the mainland, and Isla Coiba became a place both history and nature geeks would visit. I think Isla Coiba is even lesser known to the tourist industry than Isla Iguana, so we definitely got a very special experience when we visited. We saw so many crocodiles and lots of marine life, including sea turtles, puffer fish, sharks, and corals during our snorkel excursions! I would definitely recommend.

6. Boquete

Boquete was one of my favorite places because it was a nice little town right in the mountains! My favorite hike in Boquete was the Lost Waterfalls trail…it featured a roped wooden bridge across a river, cloud forests with lots of giant tree ferns, and three gorgeous waterfalls with clear pools perfect for swimming.

I really wanted to hike Volcan Baru, the tallest volcano in Panama, but unfortunately, there was no time left. We had to get back to Panama City the next day for our flight home.

 

I am just in love with the western part of the US, if you haven’t caught on already. I just love how in some areas, you can drive on a road for hundreds of miles and see nothing but dry canyonlands and in others, you can drive five miles and watch a desert turn into a lush mountain landscape. In my previous posts, I left out a few key locations in the southwest and more Midwest regions. So in this post, I’ll be summing up my favorite experiences in the United States and talk a little bit about Nevada, California, Utah, and Colorado.

1. Nevada

If you are looking for the cheapest flights, flying into Las Vegas, Nevada is definitely the move. My family found tickets for under $200 on Spirit roundtrip (using my google flights trick I referenced in a previous post). Because I’m not a city person, I didn’t plan any time to be spent in Vegas. However, I might change my mind about this when I turn 21, haha.

A lot of Nevada is desert, which is certainly interesting, but if you spend too much time hiking around in 115 degree heat, it can definitely get tiresome. That is why I would suggest going straight to the Lake Mead National Recreation Area in the Black Canyon. I had seen on Pinterest several weeks before that there is a special cove in the Canyon called Emerald Cove that has very green and clear colored water. This is due to how the sun hits the water in the cave. So, after some research, I discovered the cove was about a 2 mile kayak ride from Willow Beach. We were also able to rent kayaks right on Willow Beach, which was very convenient. Definitely worth the stop! It’s even on the way to the Grand Canyon.

2. California

I always associated California with cities like San Francisco, Los Angeles, and Santa Barbara, but once I began to dig a little bit deeper, I found some really interesting places to visit.

The first place my family visited in California was a small town called McFarland. It is a cute farming town, and also happens to be where the movie McFarland USA (a true story) was both filmed and based off of. I ran pretty much my entire life, so I grew up loving this movie. If you’ve seen the film, it’s definitely worth the stop because it’s only about 20 minutes out of the way on the road to Yosemite National Park from Los Angeles.

 Yosemite National Park is one of my favorite national parks I’ve ever visited. This is due to it’s unique landscape. Instead of having typical snow capped mountains, Yosemite is filled with very interesting landmarks, such as Half Dome, Yosemite Valley, and Yosemite Falls. When I visited, my family camped about 40 minutes outside the park in Hodgdon Meadow Campground. At first, we were kind of upset that we weren’t right in the park near Yosemite Valley, but after driving that first morning at 6am to the park, we changed our minds. The views from the car were incredible both outside and inside the park. We would have totally missed all of them if we had camped in the crowded campground right next to Yosemite Valley.

If you are into backpacking, a good portion of the John Muir trail runs through Yosemite. We didn’t have time to spend more than 2 days in Yosemite, so the Yosemite portion of the John Muir trail is definitely at the top of my bucket list for when I return. I did, however, go on two very beautiful day hikes worth mentioning. My favorite one was called the Mist Trail, and this was a nice 9 mile roundtrip hike that featured two waterfalls: Vernal and Nevada falls.

My next favorite hike was called the Four Mile Trail, which is actually about 9.2 miles. The first half of the hike features gorgeous views of the valley and is all straight up the mountain. Once you arrive at the top, there are some gorgeous views of half-dome. I felt this hike had prettier mountain/landscape views than the Mist Trail, but the downside is that cars can access the top. It reminded me of Mount Washington in New Hampshire because the hikers arrive at the top all sweaty only to see a parking lot filled with cars and well-dressed tourists. Given this, I’d suggest getting a super early start. I started both hikes somewhere between 6 and 7am to avoid the crowds (and I was successful!)

3. Utah

I only got to spend 1 1/2 days in Utah, so I unfortunately did not get to visit all of the places on my bucket list, like Bryce Canyon National Park. However, I did see some other cool places worth mentioning.

Zion National Park was the main reason Utah had to be crammed in my family’s 3 week camping trip. I had heard about some great hikes and very diverse landscapes. My favorite hike, and the favorite of many who like to add a little adrenaline to a hike, is called Angel’s Landing. Angel’s Landing is a short 5 mile hike, but is very strenuous, as hikers are on a one foot wide ridge with a couple hundred foot drop on either side of them. There are chains connected to the ridge to help hikers balance and not fall off the edge. I’d definitely suggest using good hiking boots for this one.

On our way to Zion, we made a very impulsive stop at Snow Canyon State Park. We originally stopped just to stretch our legs but ended up staying the first half of the day because it was absolutely gorgeous. The red rock looked almost fluid, as it was extremely smooth and had wave like bumps. We didn’t see another person the whole time we were there, so we had a ton of fun just running up and down all the hills and climbing over all the rocks.

4. Colorado

The last western state I will talk about is Colorado. Colorado is probably one of the most diverse states in the United States; there are red rock canyons, white sand dunes, snow capped mountain peaks, lush forest, and gorgeous cities. Like with the other states, I didn’t have too much time to explore Colorado, so I still have a ton of things to do on my bucket list, like hike some of the 14ers (Mount Wilson and Elbert!) and visit Great Sand Dunes National Park. But I certainly made the most of my two day trip to Colorado, so I will share some of the highlights.

My favorite hike was probably the Blue Lakes Trail. This was a gorgeous 13 mile hike right outside of Telluride that featured some of the best views of the San Juan mountains. I remember there was a lot of snow on the ground when I hiked in June, so my dad and I thought it would be fun to take a polar plunge in one of the frozen over lakes. We have a thing where we have to swim in lakes, no matter the temperature, at least once in every place we visit (if a body of water is encountered).

We did some other cool hikes along the way, but unfortunately, I did not have my camera to take pictures. If you are interested in more hikes, here’s a list of the best ones in the state.

Out of all the states I’ve ever visited, Washington has to be my favorite. Alaska seems to take the hearts of most mountain-obsessed travelers, but I find Alaska very damp and often quite cloudy. It is also extremely expensive to travel to and within Alaska, so I’ve only been once when my Grandma paid for everything.

Washington, on the other hand, is an absolute gem. Not only does it have the popping city of Seattle (yes, the city where Greys Anatomy was based in), it also has gorgeous mountain landscapes, ecologically unique forests, and crystal clear glacier lakes. In this post, I’ll talk about my Washington experiences with Northwest Youth Corps and camping with my dad. Enjoy!

1. Leavenworth

I didn’t get to see much of Seattle; in fact, I think I didn’t even touch the Seattle ground outside the Airport both times I visited. But because I don’t only want to geek about hiking and mountains in this post, I’ll take a minute to talk about my absolute favorite city in the United States: Leavenworth. Leavenworth is a gorgeous Bavarian-influenced town nestled right within the mountains. All of the buildings have the same European style, and much of the tourism is centered around its unique European architecture and feel. However, Leavenworth was not always a European town; it got its Bavarian influence when the railroad rerouted around Leavenworth. Many of the tourists left, so businesses began to close. The European style was then born as an effort to save the town from becoming yet another ghost town. Now, it is one of the most popular gems in Washington. I visited in passing with my youth corps group; we rolled in our rig and took a shower in the state park for the first time in 5 weeks (best shower ever btw). We then spent the whole day playing frisbee in one of the mountain-front parks and shopping in the cute European towns.

2. Wenatchee State Park

I spent quite a bit of time around Wenatchee State Park, as it is the headquarters of the Washington branch of NYC. The state park itself consisted of a beautiful lake with a big sandy beach and a backdrop of snow-capped mountains. I would definitely recommend camping somewhere nearby and going on some of the many hikes around the lake. It is also right within the Wenatchee State Forest, so just like I mentioned on my earlier posts, it is possible to camp without a permit in the national forest as long as you follow the regulations.

If you do decide to camp, it is important to note that there are an INSANE number of mosquitoes at night. I literally got eaten alive, and there was nothing I could do about it because I wasn’t allowed to bring bug spray (smells attract bears). But honestly, it’s worth the low risk of being a bear’s dinner to get through a peaceful, mosquito-free night. I am not kidding when I say there was not a square inch on my legs and arms that did not get bitten.

3. Vancouver Island

In this excursion, you will need your passport because Vancouver Island is in Canada! My dad and I decided to take a day trip here because I wanted to “visit” a college (that was our excuse to see some more wilderness). The shortest way to get there is via ferry from Port Angeles Washington to Victoria on Vancouver Island. The ride was really beautiful, especially because the ferry weaved around and through the gulf islands that border Canada.

Once on the island, there are a lot of interesting hiking opportunities. All in one day, my dad and I were able to hike in old growth forests, go on a nice two hour forested drive through a dense pack of evergreens, and take a long walk along the beach at sunset without seeing a single person. A lot of Vancouver island is pristine, untouched wilderness. However, Canada also has loose logging regulations, so there were several patches of really ugly deforestation. The loggers also destroyed a lot of the old growth forests in Vancouver island, so it was honestly hard to find a hike that would feature some several hundred year-old trees. Luckily, I was able to find one hike through Avatar Grove that featured some gnarly ancient trees with a rainforest-type feel surrounding them. It is a pretty non-technical hike, so I’d definitely recommend to people of all fitness levels.

If you want a nice coastal hike and opportunity for a polar plunge, my dad and I hiked part of the Juan de Fuca trail. It was absolutely gorgeous at sunset, and featured views of Olympic National Park in Washington!

4. Bear Creek Mountain

My favorite hike on both of my trips was probably the Bear Creek Mountain trail. This was partly because I did work maintaining the trail for a week with my crew and because it was absolutely gorgeous. I remember seeing only one person that entire week on the trail; I conversed with the hiker, and she told me that I had to get to that summit while I was there because it was one of the most gorgeous in the state. Unfortunately, we had long work days, so it would have been nearly impossible to get a group to want to summit at 8pm instead of eating dinner. So, being the total goon I am, I set my alarm for 3am and set off on the trail before sunlight. This was totally against the rules (we weren’t supposed to leave camp without permission), but ever since that hiker told me I had to see the top, I knew I HAD to see the top.

I was honestly terrified during the forest portion of the hike. I kept on hearing strange sounds that I thought were bears, but I couldn’t do anything about it because I only had a small headlight that gave me 1 foot of visibility! I ran about 5 miles up the mountain until I came across a nice lookout, then I sat down and watched the sun rise from behind Mount Rainier. A deer even ran out in front of me while I was soaking in the morning sun. Once I realized I was 30 minutes behind schedule, I booked it down the mountain, fell down two switchbacks, and made it back in time for 7am breakfast. Now that I think back on it, I probably should have told someone else other than my tentmate (lots of things could have gone wrong), but it was also one of my most exhilarating adventures and favorite views, so I would 10/10 recommend.

 

 

I got my first taste of the Pacific Northwest when I worked with a youth branch of Americore called Northwest Youth Corps (NYC) a little over 2 years ago. I camped every night alongside a group of 7 other 16-18 year olds right smack in the center of the Wenatchee and Mount Hood wilderness areas in Washington and Oregon. By far, one of the best experiences of my life (and I’d totally recommend! Check out the website…there are jobs/internships for college-aged students too). Upon returning home, I knew immediately I needed to live out there hopefully for college and most certainly whenever I look for a job and settle down.

I somehow was able to convince my dad to take me out west to “visit colleges” during my high school spring break Junior year. Although I didn’t get to hike and camp everywhere on my Northwest bucket list, I saw some pretty cool things definitely worth mentioning. In this post, I’ll talk about my experiences in Oregon with both Northwest Youth Corps and my dad (the next post will be about Washington).

1. Finding the Perfect Flight

Because my dad and I wanted to cover quite a bit of distance but only had about a week and a half to do so, we booked a one-way flight from Philadelphia to Portland, OR and then another one way from Seattle, WA to Philadelphia. Although it was slightly more expensive than the bargain roundtrip tickets we usually book, it was worth it because it allowed us to spend more time outside rather than in the car. If you book the ticket through Spirit or Frontier airlines (given neither of them went under due to COVID), tickets regardless are cheap, so you would be saving money no matter what. We also rented a pick up truck (we had never driven in one before, so why not try it in a place where forest service roads tend to be more popular than highways?) Having a 4×4 is definitely encouraged.

2. Portland

Once you get to Portland, there are a lot of different things to see. My dad and I didn’t have enough time to visit the city itself, but if you have time, I heard it’s worth the stop; Portland is known for having all kinds of markets with artisans as well as lots of great places to thrift. It’s a very hipster and environmentally friendly place.

3. Willamette National Forest

About 2 hours from Portland directly west of Eugene lies a mossy, old growth forest. In reality, Oregon is filled with these mossy, rainforest feel old growths, but we chose to camp in one near Blue River in the HJ Andrews Experimental Forest. On their website, they list the adventure highlights and even offer a virtual tour of the Old Growth trail for people who want to learn about the ecology of old growth forests. My dad and I camped in the Slide Creek Campground, which was really peaceful and not crowded at all. Because we camped in the beginning of April, there was still a little bit of snow (and this goes for all the places we camped on this trip), so I would definitely recommend bringing an actual tent instead of a hammock. As for hiking, the Lookout Creek Old Growth Trail is worth a stop, as it features several 500+ year old trees and is where modern foresters conduct research on old growth ecology.

4. Columbia River Gorge

In 2017, a 15-year-old by set off fireworks into the Gorge with his friends. The air is very dry in the west, so these fireworks ignited a fire that burned for over three months, destroying about 50,000 acres of forest. Much of the Gorge was closed down, along with areas around it, for years afterwards. In 2018 when I worked for NYC, I actually got to work in a burn zone for a little bit. I remember in some parts, the fire was still burning underground; we would often walk around areas where smoke was rising from the dirt. Although the fires destroyed countless ecosystems murdering lots of lifeforms, there was something peaceful about being in the burn zone. The good news: some trails have opened up again. According to my friends that live in various places throughout Oregon, the Gorge is their absolute favorite place to hike, so I would definitely recommend checking out the different hiking opportunities.

5. Mount Hood Wilderness

I got to spend two out of the five weeks backpacking in the Mount Hood Wilderness with NYC, and I have to say, this was my favorite part of the whole summer. Mount hood is a gorgeous snow-capped volcano that is surrounded by pristine wilderness, and guess what, more old growth forests! We backpacked along the PCT to do work on the lesser known trails that stem off of the PCT.

If you are into backpacking, I would definitely recommend this portion (from about route 26 to the Hood River area intersection with route 84, right on the Columbia River). Check out the PCT map to plan the backpacking trip to fit how much time you have. Just a quick fact: you usually don’t need a permit to camp in state and national forests as long as you don’t camp in the same spot for more than one night.

For example, if you only have one car and don’t want to go through the trouble of taking a bus back to the point on the PCT you started your backpacking trip, you can find a nice long loop hike or make a loop by looking at the trails in the area and how they connect (I usually download the gpx files from AllTrails and upload them to GIA GPS on my phone for offline maps), then you can just camp right off the trail wherever you want as long as you follow the backpacking guidelines for that national forest or state forest (here is an example of the guidelines for the White Mountain National Forest…rules vary from forest to forest. Be especially careful out west because usually they don’t allow for campfires).

6. Oregon Coast

I didn’t get to visit the Oregon coast, unfortunately, but from what I heard, it is the most beautiful coastline in the entire country. I’ve heard great things about the Neahkahnie Trail, the Clapsop Loop Hike, and the Floras Lake Waterfall Hike.

There are obviously so many more places to visit in Oregon, but these were at the top of my list when I was visiting (and some of them still are!) If you are making a trip out and have a significant amount of time, I would definitely recommend searching on Pinterest to find more hidden jems. I usually use phrases like, “best hikes, OR” or “blue water swimming holes.” Something along those lines always yields very exciting results.