Category: National Parks

Expedition Team: Dave Miller, Rosie Miller

Date: September 15, 2021

Enjoyed a one-hour horseback ride from Skyland Stables down the Skyland-Big Meadows Canyon Horse Trail and back. Our guide was Jillian who was born in Texas. My horse “Sunshine” followed Rosie who was astride “Jasmine”. Rosie was one cute looking cowgirl. Jillian told me an interesting urban legend. The man that originally built Skyland in the 1930’s used to operate a still. When he heard the sheriff was coming, he would dismantle the still and bury the moonshine. Rumor has it there are hundreds of bottles of moonshine buried underground around the horse stable area. One horse (photo#3) in the stable had lost one eye to a disease.

Hiking Team: Dave Miller, Rosie Miller

Date:  August 3, 2021

Hiked this 4.6 mile shaded trail with the large wet bog on the trail’s south side. One boardwalk took us over one deeper bog then back on the dirt trail until we eventually ascended a large dune leading to a summit with a beautiful view of Lake Michigan. In the distance 43 miles away you could see the skyscrapers of downtown Chicago.  

Biking Team: Dave Miller, Rosie Miller

Date: August 2, 2021

We bicycled 9.5 miles on this small gravel/dirt, flat trail beginning near Mt. Baldy and heading southwest to Cowles Bog. Wildflowers grew along the entire length of the trail. On the South Shore Rail Line tracks that also ran parallel to the trail we saw many six car commuter trains bringing workers home from Chicago 55 miles way. Not much scenery but a good workout. After a long day of hiking and biking we enjoyed wild caught salmon & hot veggies from Lucrezia Café.

Hiking Team: Dave Miller, Rosie Miller

Date: August 2, 2021

This National Park has 15 miles of lakeshore beaches, hiking trails over rugged dunes, mysterious wetlands, sunny prairies, meandering rivers and peaceful forest. We hiked up the 145 foot tall closed dune trail that can only be hiked with a ranger once a day. The dune is considered dangerous due to many hidden sink holes discovered after a 12 year old boy got buried 13 feet deep in the sand ten years ago.  Milkweed plants lined the base of the trail with a few feeding butterflies. The ranger told us that sadly, the monarch butterfly population has dropped 90%. The sandy trail was tree covered until the summit and was a difficult climb. With the heat, humidity and me having to wear long sleeves and long pants, I was really breathing heavy even though my recovering lungs had improved. Mt. Baldy has an active moving dune, the largest “living” dune in the park that moves inland about four feet per year burying everything in its path including trees and will eventually consume the parking lot and restrooms. On the beach side it was eroding and many 1960’s artifacts (cans, bottles etc.) are found. Special marram grass has been planted on the slopes and summit to grow, spread and stop the dune erosion.

Expedition Team: Dave Miller, Rosie Miller

Date: 1987

Night came twenty miles from the North Rim on State Route 67. As dark took over, we saw hundreds of eye shine – deer on or near the road. We had to slow down to not hit them. We eventually arrived at the large North Rim Lodge built in 1928. It had rooms & Adirondack chairs you could sit in on the porch and view the Grand Canyon.  Nearby were over 120 individual cabins. We stayed in a simple stone and wood pioneer cabin that had a double bed. This was a small village compared to the much larger South Rim village. We hiked down Bright Angel Trail (the same trail that we hiked down on the South Rim side) about two miles and came back up. Hiking Bright Angel Trail 21 miles over 2 or 3 days will get you to the South Rim of the canyon. Driving around is a 210 mile trip taking about 5 hours. The canyon view on the north side was beautiful and slightly different than the south side. Since the North Rim is 1,000 higher than the South Rim the next morning, we saw an amazing sunrise.

Expedition Team: Dave Miller, Rosie Miller

Date: June 10, 2008

It’s always fun to visit a national park in another country. We bicycled to this 117-foot-tall working lighthouse in Southhampton Parish that was first lit in 1846. It has a beautiful panoramic view of Bermuda. The structure is the world’s oldest cast iron lighthouse. We viewed educational exhibits abouts its construction then walked up the 185 spiral steps and saw the 1,000-watt bulb that ships can see 40 miles out to sea.  

Expedition Team: Dave Miller, Rosie Miller

Date:  1987

We drove from Estes Park into the National Park and drove the winding trail ridge road up 12,000 feet and over the mountain.  We stopped at many beautiful overlooks to admire the scenery. Driving the steep roadways and switchback in this high altitude with less oxygen was challenging. I can’t imagine pulling my travel trailer over this route. The trees, lakes and mountains were beautiful. We spotted bighorn sheep, mule deer, elk and chipmunks. We eventually drove above the timberline or tree line and Rosie posed at the summit sign (Photo#4) at 12,005 feet. It was windy and cold outside at that height. We only have a few photos of this national park but we do have a Super 8 film with lots of great footage.

Expedition Team: Dave Miller, Rosie Miller, Jacqueline Miller, Matt Miller, Holly Miller, Shane Miller

Date: July 15-17, 2003

We visited here a half dozen times over the years camp, to hike outside, to take walking tours through different sections of the cave or to take Intro to Caving Tour and crawl, climb and wedge ourselves through tight areas of the cave. Mammoth Cave became a National Park in 1941 and today is a World Heritage Site. The cave is the world’s largest known cave system with over 400 miles of surveyed passageways. Only 3% of the cave is accessible to visitors.

Our family camped out at Mammoth Cave Campground and enjoyed some delicious meals over the campfire. Deer came out at night and in (Photo#4) Shane and Holly are feeding a deer (look for the deer’s eyeshine in the upper right of the photo). The following morning Holly, Matt and I saw many wild turkeys (Photo#5) on our way to the Visitors Center to take the 3.5 hour Intro to Caving Tour (Photo#6 & 7). That afternoon we all walked through the cave on the Violet City Lantern Tour carrying lanterns up and down passageways, past the TB Cabins and viewing beautiful stalagtite/stalagmite formations (Photo#8 & #9).

Expedition Team: Dave Miller, Rosie Miller, Matt Miller, Jacque Miller, Holly Miller, Shane Miller

Date: July 8, 2003

Driving along the Sage Creek Rim Road we went past Prairie Dog Town and pulled over at several overlooks. Further on we pulled over and hiked the Cliff Shelf Nature Trail, a .5 mile trail that took us through a juniper forest elevated along the Badlands Wall. Between me and Shane a small rattlesnake meandered across the trail into nearby sage (Left side of Photo#1). The trail climbed 300 feet and gave us a panoramic view in the distance of the White River Valley and the prairie grasses. Up close, the trail gave us a birds eye view of the unique sedimentary buttes and spires. The kids climbed up to “The Notch”, an opening in the Badlands Wall (Photo#4).

Expedition Team: Dave Miller, Rosie Miller, Jacque Miller, Shane Miller, Holly Miller

Date: August 16, 2009

Taking a break from hiking we rented horses and mules and enjoyed a two hour scenic ride viewing ancient trees and breathtaking overlooks.  We traveled a wagon path followed by early pioneers. The path was a gentle incline and we crossed several creeks. My mule was named “Big D”. Shane’s mule was named “Grizzly”. Jacque rode a mustang horse. One of the mustangs in our group was once rode by actor Kevin Costner in a western movie. Half way through the ride we had some excitement. I was on the fourth horse from the front (the rest of the family behind me) and I saw a black bear cross our path in front of our guide and then walked parallel to us in the woods to the left. I couldn’t get my camera ready fast enough to take a photo but fortunately our horses and mules did not spook.