day four: tulum ruins

On Thursday morning, we set out early to go to the Tulum ruins. It was only a 10-minute or so drive from our place, but we'd heard that it got really crowded later in the day and we didn't want to chance that! Based on what little I'd read about the ruins, I thought it was a fairly small site, with not much more than a big temple in the middle and a parking lot right nearby. Actually, it was a pretty big site (not compared to Chichen Itza, I'm sure) and the parking lot was a nice, shaded walk away. And it's a National Park!







The entrance fee was about $3 per person - we declined hiring a guide at the entrance, but in retrospect I kind of wish that we did. Even though there were descriptive signs all over the park, from everything I overheard the guides saying, we would have learned more if we'd hired one! It was still a really interesting place, though. We learned that it was one of the few Mayan coastal cities in this part of the Yucatan and it traded with cities all up and down the western side of Central America. I overheard a guide telling his group that all of the buildings were originally painted in bright colors - reds and yellows - and you can still see tints of the pigment in some places!


















(click to see the panorama!)







By the end of our visit (about 9:30am), it was already starting to fill up with visitors! I'm glad we went early - especially because there's absolutely no shade at all and I somehow managed to avoid getting sunburned on our whole trip. The beach below the ruins is supposed to be really nice, but it was closed because of high tide when we were there. On our way out, we finally got cocos frios! They just chop the ends off of a coconut, you drink the coconut water, and then they chop it in half and you can eat the coconut! When we got back to our place, Molly & Ryan decided to bike to the beach again and Matt & I set out for the town. I really wanted to stop in a few shops I'd seen online that stock Mexican-made crafts. There are tons of souvenir shops up and down the main street, but most of them sell really similar things. I did end up buying a blanket from one of those shops too, so it's not like they aren't worth stopping at! Before we shopped, we needed to eat - and we finally ate at the taco place at the top of our "to try" list. We both got one of each of their four options (skipping a chicken one) - cochinita pibil, relleno negro (shredded turkey with black chile paste and a hard-boiled egg), and poc chuc (like carne asada). Best tacos of the trip! And that's saying a lot. I think it was about $5 for six tacos and two drinks. If we'd gone there on the first day, I might not have eaten any other tacos...except maybe the al pastor.











After tacos, we headed out to shop! We went to both of the stores I'd seen before and I kind of wanted to buy everything in the second one. In the end, we stuck to buying "just" a wool rug (!), some traditional artwork, and a little enameled metal skeleton. I'll post photos later! On the way home, we decided to stop for margaritas because it was happy hour and they were 2 for 70 pesos (so...about $1.75 each). We spent $10 and that was enough to put me to sleep when we got home around 2pm!

happy 100th birthday, national parks service!!

To celebrate the 100th birthday of the National Parks Service yesterday, I thought I'd make a post of all the National Parks we've been to! Taking a crazy road trip after graduating college helped us to see a bunch - out of the 50 National Parks in the US, we've been to 11. Before we looked it up, we guessed we'd been to at least half. Oops! Well, that gives us something to aim for anyway. Here they are, in chronological order of first visit!

#1: Grand Canyon National Park



What's even to say about this place? It's something you just have to see in person - like the ocean or the view from on top of a tall mountain. I knew it was supposed to be really amazing and yet I was still surprised by how amazing it was when I saw it in person. We didn't get to do any real hikes here - just walked along the canyon rim. If I ever go back, I'd like to hike to the bottom and back!

#2: Saguaro National Park



Seeing so many huge cactuses (cacti?) in real life was really weird, and special. It was a really nice park, and we visited twice in two days (there are two separate halves in different parts of Tucson). We got to see a lot of the park, between the scenic drive and the nature center. I would love to go back here and do a hike or something!

#3: Petrified Forest National Park





Kind of in the middle of nowhere - the actual pieces of petrified wood weren't that interesting to see in person, but we hiked a highly recommended trail called the Blue Mesa trail and it was pretty outstanding! We only passed two other people on the hike and it was like we were in some strange desert moonscape. Probably wouldn't go back here again unless we were driving nearby, just because it's really not near anything else (except the meteor crater, which we also visited!).

#4: Death Valley National Park



The only photo I have of Death Valley, of us driving up out of it. I'm sure it's beautiful and a great visit at certain times of year...but early June is not one of those times. It was 116F at 11am or so. We didn't get out of the car for longer than it took to walk into the visitor's center. Then, we spent the whole climb out of the valley (it's a deep valley!) worried that our car's radiator was going to overheat. There are emergency pull-offs and water stations the whole way up, so it was a fairly valid concern! The highlight of the whole trip for me was when we finally escaped and there was a weird, lovely shack by the side of the road that sold smoothies & milkshakes. I'd go back - it's pretty close to Las Vegas - but only in the winter!

#5: Lassen Volcanic National Park



We didn't spend much time here at all - it barely counts as a visit. As newcomers to mountainous driving, we were unsettled and turned around. But what we saw was really cool! There's a lot of geothermal activity here and everything smells like sulphur. I'd visit again!

#6: Yosemite National Park









The first time we went to Yosemite, we basically drove in, checked out Bridalveil Fall, parked at the visitor's center, were overwhelmed by the insane crowds, and quickly left. Overall, I thought it was overrated and way too touristy for me. But then we unexpectedly went back seven years later! This time with my dad & stepmom - and it was completely different! We stayed in a rental cottage just outside the park and were able to explore different areas of it. We did a few great hikes (one was recommended by a park ranger who said we probably wouldn't pass another person on the trail, even though it was in Yosemite Valley - and he was right!) and it was all beautiful and definitely not overrated. I'm really glad we had the chance to go back! I'd love to go again and visit parts of the park we didn't get to, like the high alpine meadows.

#7: Zion National Park



Zion was also really beautiful and super unique! It was like the Grand Canyon, except you started out at the bottom of the canyon. It was so strange because the inside of the canyon was fairly lush with trees and plants and then up all around it was desert. We camped here for two nights and only did one hike - I'd love to go back now that we know what we're doing (like, we have actual hiking boots) and see more of the park.

#8: Arches National Park



File this one under "too hot in June, didn't really count as a visit". We walked to the closest possible arch from the parking lot (the famous one! They know how to place their parking lots.) and then left - it was too hot to do anything else. It would probably be really nice to visit in a cooler month, but I'm not sure if I'd go back when there are so many other parks nearby.

#9: Congaree National Park



We stopped in here on our way back from Charleston, SC - there are nice boardwalks through the swamp and it was really interesting. I don't know if I'd go back, because it's pretty small and we saw a lot of it in one visit.

#10: Olympic National Park

















My favorite national park of all - so that explains all the photos! The Olympic peninsula was one of the most beautiful, amazing places I've ever been. The landscape and culture is just so varied - rainforest, high mountains, rocky coast, Quileute Nation (American Indians who have lived in the same spot for 1000+ years), beer and cider makers, tiny coastal towns, hot springs, and lots and lots of great hikes. We were super lucky to go here twice in one year, once in the spring and once in the fall. I would absolutely, without a doubt, go here again and would be more than happy to fly out to the west coast just to visit it!

#11: Cuyahoga Valley National Park



The only park I can say I visited before it was a national park! ...Because that change happened pretty recently. Since it's so close to Cleveland, I'd definitely go back here when visiting family!

Honorable mentions - the National Parks Service also administers lots of other lands that aren't national parks - including national monuments and national historic places

White Sands National Monument



Lewis + Clark State & National Historic Parks



...and one from about 20 years ago!

Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore



(and of course, on the island where I work! Governor's Island National Monument!!)

Next Up...

Here are the next five national parks on my list, in no particular order!

1. Acadia (we have no excuse, Matt's parents only live a few hours away!)
2. Glacier
3. Grand Teton
4. Joshua Tree
5. Great Smoky Mountains

Day Trip - Mt. St. Helens

Living in Portland, it's hard to miss Mt. St. Helens. Every time we drive to the Post Office, we see it. Any time we shop at Target or Ikea, we see it. It's like Mt. Hood - it's "out" in nice weather, it looks pretty right before sunset, and it has snow on it well into the summer. Except we'd never visited - so we decided to change that. It's about a two hour drive from Portland, since (unlike Mt. Hood) it's tucked away into National Forest land without any major roads nearby. 

We decided to do two hikes once we got there - the Hummocks Trail and the Boundary Trail. On the drive in, we got a few peeks at the volcano but arrived at the trailhead for the Hummocks loop in the midst of a pretty forest. We were expecting everything to still be barren from the eruption but it's actually really green in some areas! 

We walked through the forest, spotted lots of pretty wildflowers, and then the mountain was suddenly in front of us when we came around a bend! It looks so peaceful, it's hard to imagine the whole top of it blowing off instantly. The area we hiked in was full of "hummocks" - rocky hills created by debris from the landslide. It was a really unique hike, weaving in and out of the trees and the open desert-y landscape.

After our "warm up" hike, we headed farther up the slopes to the visitors center at Johnston Ridge. We'd only passed a few hikers, but there were all kinds of people at the visitors center! Tour buses and lots of people speaking other languages - I had no idea it was such a popular destination, nationally and internationally! We had a snack and set out on our second hike. It followed a high ridge that faces Mt. St. Helens - with perfect views the whole way.

Most of the hike curved around hills and the top of the ridge, but near our turnaround point, it clung to the edge of a steep rocky slope. It warned us not to go any further if we had a fear of heights and it turns out that we don't - so that's good to know! We ended at a curve in the trail with a perfect view - we looked at Mt. St. Helens from directly opposite the crater, could see the peak of Mt. Adams, Spirit Lake, and the whole area in front of us was what was most affected by the eruption. It was really incredible to see everything in person - we'd always heard about the eruption, but never knew how devastating it was to the area nearby. Everywhere we looked from up on the ridge, we could see flattened tree trunks fanning outward from where they were knocked over from the volcanic blast. I guess I always thought nature worked faster - it's been over 30 years and those trees haven't rotted away yet! 

It was a perfect hike and a perfect time of day, especially on our return hike. The trail continued on all the way to Mt. Adams, but it was time for us to head home!