The Painted Desert and Petrified Forest National Park in Winter

For the past several years, my mom has travelled to Arizona for the Gem & Mineral Show in Tucson. It’s long days at the shows but a few times we have made it into road trip where I got to check some national parks off my list. One of those times we drove to the Petrified Forest National Park and Painted Desert.

I loved how the snow dusted the barren landscape. The temperature was a high of 35 that day but the sun was out. It was so peaceful with hardly any other people walking the trails or cars clogging up popular areas.

I remember our bed & breakfast, Brad’s Desert Inn, had themed rooms. We were in the eagle room (go birds) and the owner would make the most enormous breakfast. She told us about her dreams for renovating the rooms and I hope to go back one day to see how they turned out.

This trip had many memorable stops. Arizona is one of my favorite places but I definitely loved our time at this park. Stay tuned for a more detailed blog post on the route we took and stops we made along the way!

This national park has preserved part of Route 66. This old Studebaker sits at the crossroads where the newly built I-40, runs almost parallel with it.

Painted Desert Inn

sedimentary layers of Blue Mesa

Agate Bridge

Like a giant chocolate log cake.

This is where I bought a petrified wood specimen to further my collection! :)

A Southern Excursion: Part I

On this section of our journey... touring the Trans-Allegheny Lunatic Asylum in Weston, West Virginia and while supporting the privately funded attempt to preserve one of the largest hand-cut stone buildings in the world. Then spelunking into a world created by slightly acidic water through soft limestone in Mammoth Cave National Park, Kentucky and tasting the effect of this combination at a few of the areas historic bourbon distilleries nearby in Bardstown, Kentucky.  Lastly, testing the “hype” about the renovation of East Nashville, Tennessee.

Weston, WV

The first stop on the southern leg of our journey took us to Weston, West Virginia, touring the Trans-Allegheny Lunatic Asylum. The Asylum had been in use since the Civil War and it is one of the largest hand-cut stone buildings in the world, second only to the Kremlin. This being the case, we were astonished that such a historically and architecturally significant building could fall into such a state of disrepair.

Weston, like many of the small towns we passed through in the mountains of West Virginia, seems to have been left behind economically. As the towns deteriorate there is little monetary power to prevent it.

Scenes like these are repeated in almost every small town we passed through.

Local and state government doesn’t even seem to be in any position to stem the tide, but the Trans-Allegheny Lunatic Asylum’s fate has been saved privately, by Joe Jordan and his daughter Rebecca Jordan Gleason.  Despite most of the grounds still being in a crumbling state of disarray, they’ve started giving tours to raise money for the renovation.  Naturally we had to take a tour.

Louisville, KY

From Weston we headed west toward Louisville, which would serve as the starting point for our enjoyment of the byproducts of Kentucky’s large limestone deposit. The first byproduct being bourbon as the limestone filters spring water bubbling up from below. Kentuckians claim this pristine water is the base for the bourbon flavor profile.  

Protecting the water supply at Heaven Hill.

Before hitting the bourbon trail we decided to go “glamping” for a night in a renovated vintage 1960’s camper.

You can rent this camper on Airbnb.

Bardstown, KY

If you do not have the time to cover the entire Bourbon Trail, Bardstown, KY is a great way to maximize your time with a multitude of distilleries nearby. We decided to visit Willett Distillery and Maker’s Mark sampling some of Kentucky’s finest.

A rickhouse at Heaven Hill.

Willett is a family owned and operated distillery and when visiting it definitely has a more personal feeling; we met members of the family during the tour of the grounds.  However, despite its small-business feel, Willett is still a large-scale producer of bourbon and an official stop on the Bourbon Trail.  We felt this combination made them a great business to support.

Rickhouses at Willet.

The photographs below follow the process of creating bourbon chronologically.   

Tasting the mash during the fermentation process.

Signature limestone green water.

The copper pot still for distilling the mash.

Country hams hanging with the bourbon.  They absorb some of the flavors that escape the barrels.

We decided on Maker’s Mark for distilling in its most beautiful form. The picturesque grounds and facilities made for ideal photo documenting of the distilling process. This place just oozes classiness. Plus, they make fantastic bourbon!

You can dip your own bottle at the end of the tour.

Both Willet and Maker's Mark end their tours with a tasting.

Mammoth Cave, KY

The other result of water running through Kentucky’s limestone is Mammoth Cave. Water of the Green River Valley has been working its way through the earth for ages, eventually creating the longest known cave system in the world.  

The National Park service offers a multitude of cave tours, we decided on two evening tours since it’s the same amount of dark down there at all times and we wanted to use the daylight hours to explore the rest of the park. Important to note it’s also the same amount of cold down there, the temperature stays around 54°F year round, so you may want a jacket.  

We started with a lantern tour which tries to capture the experience of cave exploring from about two hundred years ago. You pass an odd assortment of man-made structures ranging from an area used to produce gun powder to a tuberculosis hospital. Exploring the meandering, intertwined network of tunnels with limited light instills a sense of respect toward the early explorers of the cave and also provides plenty of references to the Mines of Moria.

Between trips below the surface we decided to hike along the cliffs of the Green River in hope of finding a few rattlesnakes. The layers of sediment that make up the cliff face provide little crevices for the snakes to hide in that seemed like perfect habitat, but our search was in vain. We did find a few other little critters.  

A ferry across the Green River.

Rat snake

Flat-backed Millipede

Five-lined Skink

For our second subterranean adventure we chose the Focus on Frozen Niagara tour because it is catered to photographers. After a brief tour most of the time is dedicated to allowing photographers free range of the Frozen Niagara area of the cave system.

Cave cricket

East Nashville, TN

We surfaced from the damp cave into a rain-soaked Kentucky night and drove south to Nashville.  We wanted to explore the urban renewal of East Nashville and see if it lived up to all the hype as the neighborhood of country music’s younger, hipper side.  

The renovations concentrated around, but not limited to, Main Street, Woodland Street, and Gallatin Avenue are ambitious. It seems every available building is being renovated into a bar, restaurant, café, music venue, brewery or vintage clothing store regardless of the purpose it served before. We found East Nashville to be an easily walk-able neighborhood, great for aimlessly traveling from one establishment to the next.  

The Basement- music venue/event space.

An assortment of vintage goods and clothing stores.

As mentioned before, the majority of the establishments we visited were along three main streets, so there is plenty of room for growth in East Nashville.  With some of the most visited attractions having been created from buildings that once served other purposes, combined with the fact that we observed plenty of dilapidated buildings not far from the main-strip, we feel that it is a safe conclusion that the new East Nashville is just beginning.

Barista Parlor- an auto garage converted into a cafe.

Fat Bottom- a brewery with a bar.

Stay tuned for the next part of our excursion into the South!

Buck Hill Inn | The Heart of the Honeymoon Capital of the World

The Poconos are still thought of as a vacation destination, but the “Honeymoon Capital of the World” is not what it once was.  Many of the luxurious mountain hideaways have closed, but that doesn’t mean these spaces in nature should no longer be enjoyed. Buck Hill Inn will soon be demolished by Smart Recycling Inc. rather than renovated or preserved.  We are grateful to have been able to collect these images before it was too late.  It is sad to lose such a historic landmark, but we can only hope that in doing so, more people will be able to enjoy nature responsibly.  

Buck Hill Inn is a quintessential representation of the decay the resort industry has undergone in the Poconos.  Built in 1901 with a number of large additions over the span of its 89-year life and surrounded by natural attractions including waterfalls and swimming holes, its age and size is unmatched among the abandoned resorts.  

The resort property is owned by Buck Hill Falls company and is not open to the public.  The grounds are patrolled by security guards, so this large swathe of developed land and a vast amount of the surrounding forest is not open to the public.  Those curious about the "Honeymoon capital of the world" will soon not have the chance to explore and enjoy the beautiful architecture, while imagining the potential for such a space.  

We decided to explore the series of waterfalls and swimming holes along Buck Hill Creek first.  Trails ran from the Inn down to the stream, so visitors could take a short stroll for a swim.  We hiked in from High Acres Park off of Creek Road, Barrett Township.  

The following morning we explored the inn at sunrise.  Hiking from PA-390, Cresco.

Flooded structures across the road from the Inn.

The view from our approach.

We found a floor plan from 1985, helping with navigation through the dimly lit estate.

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Overlooking the West Wing

The Observation Roof

Indoor Pool

Walking up from the complete darkness of the below ground first floor.

One of the main halls on the Lobby Floor.

The Greenery Luncheon Restaurant 

Exploring the Delaware Water Gap Part II - The Hunt

The other recreational activity Zack has introduced me to is hunting.  The Water Gap has provided Zack and his family hunting adventures and wild fare for over 10 years.  It took some convincing, with promises of “free-range, steroid-free” meat and remote photo-shoot locations, but this past spring we embarked on a hunt for wild turkey. However, I quickly realized in observing the nuances of the hunt and Zack’s intimate knowledge of the area that has come from hunting the area for so long would provide plenty of unique photography opportunities.  Here is a general guideline for the process of turkey hunting and some photographs along the way.

Locating Turkey Populations

Before the hunt can begin the turkeys’ approximate locations must be found.  We narrowed our search to old farm fields and the wooded ridges that surround them.  Some of the fields are completely over-grown now, some are mowed and others are still leased out and used for farming.  All make for great turkey habitat.  Turkeys can be located using any number of calls impersonating a turkey.  Zack uses a “box call.”  It is ideal to find their location just before dark because the turkeys roost in trees for the night, so you know they’ll still be there in the morning.

A Lynch Box call.  The underside of the lid has a thin layer of chalk and is scraped across one side of the box.

This hen (female turkey) was getting ready to roost in the area close to where we decided to hunt.

Preparing our camp for the night.  We slept in the car.

The Morning Hunt

The key is to get close enough to where you think the turkeys are roosting, but not too close as to alert them of your presence.  The turkeys must be lured to you using a call, but using a decoy turkey can also add incentive, if you can find a spot open enough for the decoy to be visible while also offering enough cover for hiding.  As the sky begins to lighten, the turkeys begin to talk to each other.  We knew their approximate location, so we tried to plant ourselves amongst them in hopes of luring one within range.  All morning we could here them calling in what seemed like every direction, but no luck.

A Browning semi-automatic for the hunting and a Mindshift backpack for the photographing.

The Late-Morning Hunt

In New Jersey turkey hunting is only permitted until 12pm to prevent hens from being disturbed as they hunker-down in their nesting areas for the afternoon.  In the final hours before noon Zack likes to find a sunny-open area, preferably on a ridge close to a stream and take a little nap.  After putting our decoy out about 30 yards from us, we relaxed under cover amongst dense vegetation surrounded on all sides by a mowed field.  Zack would pop his head up every 15 minutes to look around and call.  Sure enough, after about an hour two turkeys came out to investigate.  The result was turkey chili. 

Looking out from our hiding spot amongst the brush in the middle of the field.

Turkey down!

Filling out the turkey tag.

Finishing the job

Shooting the turkey is not the end of the hunt.  After properly tagging and checking the turkey in at the proper location, the task becomes removing and cleaning the meat.

The turkey "beard."

Plucking the breast meat area.

After enough of the feathers are removed cut along the sternum to remove the breast meat.

After the breasts are cut out, the skin can be pealed away from the drum sticks (basically turning them inside-out) and then cut them away from the body.

If you missed part I of our favorite things to do at the Delaware Water Gap, click here. 

Our Favorite Things To Do at the Delaware Water Gap

The Delaware Water Gap National Forest boasts a large swathe of preserved land on both the Pennsylvania and New Jersey sides of the Delaware River, offering endless recreational activities. Plus, exploring past human developments ended by the purchase of the land by the Federal Government, now frozen in time by the protection of the park, can be just as fun.  It is awesome having land preservation on such a large scale less than 2 hours away from Philadelphia. The miles of, at times treacherous, back roads make one feel as though they are in a remote wilderness.   

Crossing Dingman's Ferry Bridge from PA to NJ.

Thunder Mountain Road, NJ

The smoke from a forest fire on the Pennsylvania side of the Delaware River from New Jersey.

The Delaware Water Gap National Forest came into existence in the 1960s when the federal government began buying up land in the area in order to put a dam on the Delaware River.  The plan fell through and the land was turned over to the National Park Service who continued to buy up land in the area from anyone willing to sell.  In many cases the settlements on that land, farms, inns, houses and even small towns remain and are left untouched.  This scattered abandonment offers a unique natural experience and a glimpse into the areas history.  Plus, it makes for some damn good photo ops.  Here are a few of the best locations for abandoned development in the Delaware Water Gap National Forest…

Looking across Long Pine Pond, New Jersey, once the center of a Boy Scout Camp.

A picnic area, part of which is now in Crater Lake, New Jersey.

An overlook close to the Appalachian Trail, New Jersey.

An abandoned farm off of Mountain Road travelling north toward Buttermilk Falls, New Jersey.

Abandoned farm at the intersection of Old Mine Road and Kuhn Road, New Jersey.

If you walk toward the Delaware River from the farm shown above you come across some older ruins.

Remains of the New York, Susquehanna and Western Railroad Bridge at Karamac.

As far as more traditional recreation activities, we love hiking through the park, specifically in the summer when the destination is a waterfall or some sort of cliff where we can jump into a pristine, or at least refreshing, body of water.  There are opportunities for this on both the Pennsylvania and New Jersey side of the park.  Here are a few locations for swimming, cliff jumping, or at least sight seeing in the Delaware Water Gap National Forest.

Buttermilk Falls and the staircase along-side it.

Walking along Brodhead Creek, Pennsylvania on the way to the remains of the New York, Susquehanna and Western Railroad Bridge at Karamac.

Adams Creek Trail, Pennsylvania: On our way to a series of waterfalls. See below.

Plus, there's always plenty of wildlife along the way...

This is not a beaver or muskrat, just a ground hog taking a swim on a hot day.

Common Merganser

Canada Geese and Mallards on a double date.

Deer remains, based on the scat (poop) found around it, probably eaten by coyotes.

A big black bear dump.