Tag Archives: hiking

Thunderstorms, loud neighbors, and leaky air mattresses…our time in the Daniel Boone National Forest

05/22/2022 Danielle Huddleston Leave a comment

Even with the hardships and struggles that come with travel and camping I find myself disappointed that it is over.

30mins into leaving my parents house on our way to Kentucky our brake caliper locked up and needed replaced.

Not going to miss the leaky air mattress though…kind of reminded me of my parents old waterbed but without the fun water.

Red River Gorge in Kentucky won me over with the first hike.

The woods felt earthy, deep, and wonderful. And I knew I would miss them.

Mountain Laurel abounded as well as magnolias, giving the place a rainforest and magical feel.

Thunderstorms came which lead to a lot of “keep away from the sides of the tent!” But also falling asleep to the sounds of rain (and let’s be honest kids complaining of rain leaking in).

Tearing down and setting up the camp is stressful and not my favorite but the endless possibilities to explore make it worth it.

I missed our RV but enjoyed being closer to the forest. I did not enjoy being closer to loud neighbors that liked to stay up until 2am though…

Cumberland falls took me back in time and I reread “Moonbow Inn” by Laura Frantz while we stayed there. Seeing the places described in the book made it come alive.

Cumberland Falls State Park Campground was a letdown after the beauty and peace of the Koomer Ridge campground. The spaces were smaller, tons of light flooded our tent all night, and the heat and bugs were pretty oppressive but I loved the falls.

Next time I would just stop for the day. But I am glad we got the chance to hike out to Dog Slaughter Falls ( my kids were concerned about taking our dog to such a tragically named place though). Hardly anyone was on the trail and the hike and falls were breathtaking.

I feel like we went at a great time of the year, bugs were not too bad, the weather was pretty good although it got a bit hot once or twice, and the crowds were non existent.

I would not mind going in early May again!

Hiking

5 hikes around lake Keystone

03/22/2022 Danielle Huddleston Leave a comment

Two Rivers Trail

Just over two miles, this trail has easy parts and difficult parts.

This was one of the more difficult sections.

It is a fun hike though, right on the lake!

2. Ranger Trail ~Keystone State Park

A nice easy loop trail, it is just over a mile long but Keystone State Park is part of the Park pass system so there is a fee.

3. Keystone Mountain Bike Trail

You can do the large loop for over 4 miles or the smaller loop for 2 miles (that is what we did), there are other trails also that can cut it shorter I believe.

I have gotten lost here in the past but this time used the AllTrails app and it worked great! I love hiking here, a nice beautiful hike that still has enough challenges it feels like a hike 😉

This is right across from the Keystone State Park but is not part of the fee area so no charge to park there.

4. Falls Trail ~Keystone Ancient Forest

A difficult trail it is 3.5 miles long but takes around 1.5 miles to get to it from the parking lot.

My youngest had trouble finishing this hike but thankfully her brothers kept her distracted.

I would image that the waterfalls are only really there after some rain, there were not really any falls when we went this time.

Bonus ~ Wilson Hike at Keystone Ancient Forest

It is only 1 mile long but you have to hike on the Frank trail to get to it. The Frank Trail is a moderate hike though and less than a mile to reach the Wilson Trail, the Wilson Trail is difficult but beautiful. They also have other trails there but check to make sure they are open before going. They are usually only open on the weekends.

5. Washington Irving Trail

This is a very easy out and back trail that is just over a mile.

They have signs throughout the trail giving information about the area but some of them are too messed up to read.

We did all of these trails last week while we stayed in our trailer nearby and really enjoyed them!

I would love to live closer to this area to take advantage of all the great hiking every day!

Camping, Hiking, National Forest, National Memorial

The Black Hills of South Dakota

12/01/2021 Danielle Huddleston Leave a comment

Thankfully the rest of our trip was not as bumpy as the first part.

Not smooth but definitely not crazy.

We left the Badlands and promptly needed to find somewhere to dump our black tanks. We were dry camping (no water in tanks) but using the bathroom when needed and the last spot had no other bathroom.

Seven people for three days is apparently the max with no other bathroom choice.

And we needed a new tongue jack.

Thankfully we were able to find a place for both of those before heading into the Black Hills.

We stayed at a National Forest Campground and it was beautiful!

And most importantly had a bathroom (just a vault toilet, most places did not have water on).

Tons of wildlife, a lake, and near these guys…

I did not even have to bribe them to get these smiles!

They were surprisingly excited about seeing Mount Rushmore!

I quickly realized that this was a one stop place though. We did everything including watching all the movies on the making of (my daughters favorite part, they loved feeling like they were in a theater, something I avoid doing with them normally) in one visit.

So the next day we did the Little Devil’s Tower hike in Custer State Park.

I thought my kids would like the possible climbing part and foolishly thought I could do “the easy part” and wait for them.

Instead I tried to kill myself to get pictures of the beautiful views.

I stopped to “enjoy” the view often because I could not breathe though.

It started going uphill and then it ended in a scramble to the top.

And I did it because I wanted the shot!

I will forgive all the rest of my family for saying they were not really sore the next day when I could not use my arms or legs without groaning in pain.

This kid in the above pic was the worst, flew up like it was no problem.

But then on the way back down to the vehicle he asked if he could go ahead, I confirmed that he knew the way, reminded myself that he is growing up and said okay stay within hearing.

I did not think much more of it until we were almost back to the vehicle and he runs up from BEHIND us…

I thought he was in the front.

He said he took a wrong turn and had to run to catch up!

Never going to trust the whole he is getting older thing again.

Lies!

He will hold my hand from now on.