Lettered Trails

Haven’t posted in a while :( but hopefully will get back on track. 

I’ve decided to redo my last post and make it a bit more graphic. Hope to take future pieces more in this direction, too. Hope you like!

Ever see those signs at camping sites that say “Do not feed bears”? I’ve always wondered who those signs were for. Would anyone actually think feeding a bear is a good idea? I thought I’d do one of these from the bear’s perspective instead.

Torrey Pines, San Diego

Torrey Pines is a very easy 3+ mile trail in beautiful San Diego. It has a few not so steep inclines, beautiful views of the clear bright blue waters of the Pacific, and some pretty scenery. The reason this trail inspired this particular piece was not because it was difficult but because, unfortunately for me, I caught some sort of a virus on the plane and was becoming sicker by the minute as we went on this hike. To add to this, we also ran out of water midway though and got a little lost, and I really thought I wasn’t going to be able to make it out of there. Lesson learned, always bring lots of water on hikes.

Difficulty: 1 out of 4 (easy) Pros: Beautiful views of the ocean, nice and relaxing hike Cons: It may be hard to find parking and it may not be THAT close where the trail starts. They have a parking lot for the park but it’s not big and I think it’s paid. We parked a ways away by the water, there are plenty of spots along the beach.

Velma Lakes, Lake Tahoe

When I was a bit younger, my brother once took me to California and Nevada as a birthday present. We stayed in Lake Tahoe for a day during this trip and went on a hike to the Velma Lakes. It was one of the most beautiful hikes I’ve ever been on and every single view throughout the hike looked like a postcard. The hike goes through Eagle Lake, which is only about a mile from the trailhead, and goes up some1000+ feet until the first Velma Lake. There are three all together, lower, middle, and upper Velma Lakes. We started a bit late in the day and were only able to reach one of the Velma’s and got half way to the second one. I was also pretty out of shape at the time and was huffing and puffing and stopping way too much. To be fair, though, this trail is very steep and will give you a really good leg workout. We really wanted to make it to the second Velma Lake but it was getting late in the day and if we hadn’t turned back, we might’ve gotten stuck there in the dark, which would not have been great. So this hike remains on both mine and my brother’s lists until we both manage to see all of the Velma’s.

Difficulty: 2 out of 4 (moderate) Pros: Incredible postcard-worthy views everywhere you look, really quiet and serene Cons: None really

Old Rag Mountain

Shenandoah National Park is the closest National Park to us, so last year, we took a long weekend trip there. One of the hikes on my must-do list was Old Rag Mountain trail, which came highly recommended by everyone. 

You have to pay to get a permit for the trail at the parking lot, which I’ve heard fills up quickly. It was still half empty at 8am in October but was filled up by the time we came back.

To get to the hike from the parking lot, it’s about a mile walk and when the hike is over, there’s another 20-30 minute walk in the woods on flat ground back to the lot. The hike itself is about 9 miles and gains about 2300’ in elevation and there is some really fun rock scrambling along the way. This was one of the most fun hikes we’ve ever done because it was like an obstacle course and at some parts, you actually had to pull yourself up with your arms because the rocks were too high to be able to use your legs. We saw several people along the way needing help to get up on some of the rocks. Apparently, this hike has a lot of search and rescue missions and people get stranded all the time.

Aside from scrambling, you also get to pass through cool rock tunnels, walk through narrow crevices and enjoy beautiful views from up high. This was the hike where my sandwich ended up being left behind in my car, which was unfortunate since it’s such a long hike, but luckily I had some trail mix and an apple, along with a few bites of my husband’s sandwich to hold me over :)

Difficulty: 3 out of 4 (moderately difficult) Pros: Extremely fun, beautiful scenery, serene when walking through the woods Cons: Hard to think of any, but maybe the parking lot is a bit annoying as it’s a mile away from the hike and gets filled up quickly.

Tips: - If doing the hike in the fall (maybe spring, too), bring a hat and gloves. I forgot my hat at the hotel and had no gloves and it was freezing, both in the morning and on top of the trail. The wind was very strong and our hands were frozen, which made it hard to hold on to rocks - Get there early, especially if you’re visiting during popular months in the summer, as the parking fills up. - Bring food! and don’t forget it in the trunk of your car :)

Lock Lake Trail, Rocky Mountain National Park

One of the first real hiking trips that my husband and I went on was to Rocky Mountain National Park. At that point, I didn’t know what you expect out of visiting a National Park so I wasn’t very prepared research and gear-wise. Since I didn’t have any hikes planned, we relied on recommendations and last minute google searching. One of the hikes we ended up going on was the Lock Lake Trail. We did this hike in August and still saw snow on the way, which was pretty unexpected.

This trail is mostly a walk through the woods, without too many views along the way. It’s definitely less trafficked that some of the popular short trails, which made it relaxing and quiet. It’s not a difficult hike at all and if it wasn’t for the constant hum and attack of mosquitoes along the way and especially by the lake, it would be even better. It may have been the time of year we were there but the most memorable thing about this hike for me, aside from the beautiful view of the lake and mountains at the end, was that it was filled with very pesky mosquitoes. Thankfully, it was chilly at the top and we had our hoodies on but that didn’t stop them from biting us through our pants. At any one point that I would look down at my hoodie, I had at least 10 mosquitoes sitting on it. Not fun.

Difficulty: 2 out of 4 (Moderate) It’s not a walk in the park but it’s not hard Pros: Beautiful lake at the end Cons: Too many mosquitoes, the trail may feel a bit monotonous

Angel’s Landing

Ever done a tough hike where the whole time you’re thinking “I know this isn’t even the worst of it yet”? And when I say “worst” I don’t mean it in a bad way, really, just as a way to say “it gets even tougher.” One of those hikes for me was Angel’s Landing at Zion National Park. I looked forward to this hike for a long time, as it’s on the list of the 10 most dangerous hikes in the U.S. and is one of the most popular trails in the whole National Park system! Adventure is my middle name.

The whole trail is only about 5 miles round trip and starts out pretty flat to get your guard down but then quickly becomes a string of serious leg-burning climbs. One of these climbs is called Walter’s Wiggles but don’t let the cute name fool you. This part of the trail is an endless series of switchbacks that are so short and steep that they just look like a zigzag going up the hill. Apparently, it’s only about 20 switchbacks but it feels more like 100.

Once you’re done with those, you get to a flat part of the trail called Scout’s Landing. Here, you can see countless significant others left behind as their braver halves attempt the climb up to the top of Angel’s Landing. The spine of Angel’s Landing is pretty scary looking from Scout’s Landing but it’s mostly chained. The cliff has a 1200 ft drop-off on one side and 800 ft drop-off on the other side, so holding on to said chain is in your best interest.

We saw several people give up half way up to Angel’s Landing, where the chains stop for a few feet and you have to free-climb. It’s definitely not for everyone and if you’re severely afraid of heights, this climb could be paralyzing for you. That said, I’ve always had a fear of heights and my husband has an even worse fear of heights than me and neither one of us felt terrified while climbing.

The view from the top is incredible. Zion is just spectacular, I’ve never seen anything more beautiful. I feel like I wouldn’t have been surprised if I saw dinosaurs roaming and flying through the valley down below. There are also a lot of chipmunks at the top that will climb all over you, it’s pretty hilarious.

The climb down is hard and probably scarier than the climb up because you’re looking down the whole time and see the drop offs much more. I remember holding on to the chains more on the way down than I did on the way up.

This is one of the most fun hikes I’ve ever done, though, and I’m so happy that we got to complete it.

Here are some tips and info:

Difficulty: 4 out of 4 (Difficult) Pros: Insane views, an overwhelming feeling of accomplishment once you’re done, fun climbs, lots of chipmunks Cons: None? Walter’s Wiggles feel like they’ll never end

Tips: - Wear hiking shoes with good grip - Make sure your arms and legs are in decent shape - Take your time when climbing up the spine of Angel’s Landing - Get a patch or pin that says “I climbed Angel’s Landing” in the gift shop afterwards :) I unfortunately lost mine a couple of months later :(

After our harrowing ordeal driving to the trail of the Peek-a-Boo and Spooky slot canyons, we finally got to the start of the trail. We thought the worst was over and, aside from having to drive back through the terrifying roads, we were going to have an easy time at the canyons.

Finding Peek-a-Boo slot canyon was just a little bit of a challenge. You have to walk through a stretch of Utah dessert first and then you see a large slot canyon in front of you at ground level that looks like fun. That’s not Peek-a-Boo, though, it’s Dry Fork. The walls of this slot canyon are really high and narrow, and it’s pretty cool walking through it. It goes on for a bit and then narrows so much that you can’t keep going and have to turn back. Peek-a-Boo canyon is a bit off to the right side from this canyon and starts several feet off the ground. You have to scramble and pull yourself up to be able to get into it. There were people at the entrance so that’s how we found it.

Scrambling through this slot canyon is so fun! This was my first real slot canyon and it was like a game trying to figure out which way to go, up or down, and climbing through it. I felt like a kid in a jungle gym

Once you scramble out of this canyon, you have to follow the gradually decreasing frequency of cairns to Spooky Gulch. Unfortunately for us, it was already the afternoon and there were not a lot of people around and we were the only ones headed to Spooky, which was, well, spooky. The cairn markers are not great here and we did not have a compass, so couldn’t find our way to this canyon sadly.

With the afternoon sun lowering in the sky, we decided that it wasn’t the best idea to keep looking and then possibly get stuck there in the dark (which you DO NOT want to do) and we should give up and head back to the car. There is a trail through the top of the canyon that is supposed to lead you back to the parking lot. Unfortunately, the trail markers are not great here either and we got a bit lost in the middle of the Escalante dessert. We wandered around the trail a bit and finally saw the parking lot…with only a huge canyon surrounded by cliffs between us. It was one of those moments when you think you may be lost in the dessert forever. Thankfully, I noticed a very small and narrow trail leading down a steep hill to the bottom of the canyon. It almost didn’t look like anything but there was a distinct steep narrow path to our left and we followed it down and finally reached the trailhead.

Tips for hiking Peek-a-Boo and Spooky slot canyons: - Bring a map and compass, seriously (you’ll have a much easier time finding the canyons) - Start early because you don’t want to be pressed for time in the afternoon - Bring sunblock and cover ups because there’s nowhere to hide from the sun. We were there in April and it was the hottest place we visited out of the entire south part of Utah - Bring water. It’s HOT - Be in decent shape because in some places, you really have to pull yourself up, especially if there’s no one around to help you

Last April, during our week-long Utah National Parks trip, we stayed over in Escalante for a night and wanted to hike the Peek-a-Boo and Spooky slot canyons. So off we went in our rental car through miles of gravel roads and a small stretch of dirt road. Shh don’t tell the rental company.

The road leading to the parking lot of the trails, called the Hole-in-the-Rock Road, is the longest 26 miles of your life if you’re in a rental car. It took us a little over 40 minutes to get through it because I was terrified of every loud bump and heard so many rocks hit the car that I thought our car would have turned into a dented mess by the time we were done with it. My nerves were already on edge before we even got to the infamous .5 miles of dirt road, at the Dry Fork turnoff, that we had to traverse in order to reach the parking lot. After a deep breath, we figured we got this far, what’s another .5 miles to the parking lot? Oh boy were we in for a surprise.

About .1 miles in, another car decided that it was a good idea to start driving in the opposite direction through the one-car wide road. I wasn’t about to drive backwards through pot-hole city so I had to drive a bit to the side to let them through. Unfortunately, the side is also up a steep mound and getting off of it proved to be a serious challenge. Suffice it to say, I’ve never been more terrified in my entire life as I felt the car tilt so much (while simultaneously noticing a sign inside the car indicating that it had a high tip over chance), that I really thought it was going to flip over. It’s been a year since this incident and I still get a pit in my stomach thinking about it.

Anyway, after you get through the .5 miles, you can either park your car and walk a mile to the slot canyon or keep driving through an even worse dirt road to another parking lot. We walked, of course, but nervously watched so many cars attempt this drive, even in sedans, which I DEFINITELY wouldn’t recommend. A guy drove through it with a camper van that we really thought was going to end up on its side.

My recommendations for the drive to the Peek-a-Boo Slot Canyon: - Have a high-clearance vehicle. Preferably not a rental car because if something happens, insurance won’t cover you - Drive through the 26 miles of Hole-in-the-Rock road at normal speed. On the way there, I cautiously drove too slow and I think it makes it sound and feel worse than if you drive a bit faster. I think on the way back I drove about 30-35 miles per hour and it wasn’t nearly as terrifying. It’s possible that I went through so much stress that day that this road was the least of my problems by the end. - Be very careful on the .5 mile of dirt road leading to the lot and try to stay centered while avoiding the gigantic pot holes - Just walk the 1 mile to the canyons and don’t attempt the rest of the dirt road drive unless you have a 4WD - Take many deep breaths

More on the actual slot canyon hikes in the next post!

Ever get to the trail and realize that it’s much harder than you originally thought? That happened to us at the Mount Beacon trail in upstate New York. To be fair, I did not read up about the trail beforehand because one of our friends planned it, but we did not expect the elevation gain to be so intense. We only did about 3 miles or so of the trail, there and back. It climbs about 1000ft in elevation within a short distance so the way up is a lot of huffing and puffing. The overlook at the top is really nice, it’s a pretty expansive view. There’s also a cool abandoned brick building close to the overlook that’s just ruins of the Mount Beacon Incline Railway and still has some of the railway machinery in it. Throughout the trail, you’ll climb some 200 metal steps, skip along big boulders, swat at clouds of mosquitos, see some cute dogs maybe, and be tempted by a lot of shortcuts (don’t do it). The trail itself is not too difficult to follow and it doesn’t take long to reach the overlook.

Tips for Mount Beacon trail: - Bring mosquito repellent, those guys are annoying - Wear good shoes, there’s a lot of rock skipping and uphill climbing - Do yourself a favor and go to Tito Santana Taqueria after your hike. The food is so good and they have really nice outdoor seating. There is also an ice cream place next door that looked amazing.

Mount Beacon trail: Difficulty: 2 out of 4 (moderate) Pros: Great views, pretty good leg workout Cons: Lots of mosquitos

This is my general sentiment every time we go hiking, so there is no specific hike that relates to this piece. It’s this and “what are we eating after this?” Food is always on my mind because I get hungry so fast when hiking out in nature.

One of the longest hikes we’ve done so far was Old Rag Mountain trail in Shenandoah National Park, which I will talk more about in another post but I think of this hike for this piece because it was the only time I didn’t have food with me, other than some trail mix, on a long 9 mile hike.

Of course, I didn’t mean to come unprepared, I bought a sandwich that morning and put it in my backpack along with an apple and my trail mix. Somehow, though, I ended up taking the sandwich out of the bag for a second to take my jacket out of the bag and after I packed everything back in, I didn’t notice the sandwich bag and ended up leaving it in the trunk of my car. I only realized this, though, when I was starving at the top of the mountain and went to get my food out of my pack. Thankfully, I had my trail mix and an apple to hold me over and a sweet husband who shared his sandwich with me. You live and you learn I guess because I’m definitely always going to double check my supplies before heading off on a long hike again.

Of all the hikes I’ve done so far, and it’s not that many (..yet), I think the most physically demanding one had to have been the Observation Point trail in Zion National Park. The amount of steep, relentless, uphill climbing on that trail was so insane that at some point, you are just forced to tune out the fact that your legs are giving up on you and hating you for every step you take and just focus on putting one foot in front of the other. This is an 8 mile round trip trail that, according to the park’s estimate, takes anywhere from 4-6 hours to complete. We finished it in 4 hours, including lunch at the top, but it was probably some of the longest 4 hours of our lives. It really felt like a whole day passed before we got back down. This was also one of the last hikes we did after an entire week of hiking all 5 National Parks in Utah so we might’ve been worn out by then, too.

The view you get at the top is incredible, you see the park from the highest vantage point. Observation Point trail gains a whopping 2,100 feet in elevation, which might be hard to imagine but it is so steep in the first mile or so that going down is even harder than going up because the downhill makes everything hurt. It was probably a once in a lifetime hike for me, but I’m very happy I did it.

Difficulty: 4 out of 4 (difficult) Highlight: Amazing view of Zion from the top Distance: 8 miles Pros: Scenic (but what isn’t at Zion), very quiet and serene mid way through, where the trail gets much flatter and there aren’t a lot of people. Cons: The descent is hard on your knees, hips and feet. Make sure to have proper shoes because it’s very steep and your toes will hit in the front of your shoes.

One of the things I love about hiking is how quiet it gets when you’re deep into a trail with very little people around. It’s so peaceful and relaxing. It’s also very easy to hear any sounds coming from the woods around you, which is a little scary when you’re in an area where bears are active. I find myself constantly imagining what I would do if I saw a bear on the trail. I’ve read so many guides about what to do when you run into a bear and it’s crazy how you have to basically do the complete opposite thing depending on which type of bear you see. I used to get annoyed when I would hear people talking very loudly on a trail because it disturbed the peace, but later learned that it’s actually one of the best things you can do to avoid bears. It lets them know you’re around and, more often than not, they want nothing to do with you either.

From all of the places I’ve hiked so far, I don’t remember ever seeing as much large wildlife as I did in Rocky Mountain National Park. It’s one of the most beautiful places I’ve ever been to. While visiting last July, we did a very short but incredibly scenic 3.2 mile hike on the Emerald Lake trail. Most of this trail is pretty easy and the views are extremely rewarding. You pass a beautiful waterfall, see a clear mountain lake and an unbelievable view of Hallett Peak (next visit, definitely want to climb this mountain).

While on this trail, I heard a rustling sound in the woods close by. As we kept walking, I saw a very large dark shape very close to the trail. Naturally, I imagined a bear, although I was really hoping to see a moose (which I did the next day!). Well, turns out it was just a really large elk with enormous antlers chewing on some leaves. Not as exciting, I know. Although he was the biggest animal I’ve ever seen out in the wild, which was pretty amazing. He looked so majestic and impressive. And I was glad it wasn’t a bear.

Difficulty: 2 out of 4 (moderate) Highlights: The most beautiful scenery ever with lakes and mountains in the background, a waterfall Distance: 3.2 miles Pros: Scenic, pretty easy hike, lots of wildlife Cons: Not much with this hike but maybe crowds by the waterfall

It’s all uphill from here…

Last summer, my husband and I went to Hawaii for our honeymoon. While there, and while on a mission to visit all of the U.S. National Parks, we ended up in Haleakalā National Park in Maui. Haleakala is a gigantic dormant volcano and is known for its incredible sunrises viewed from the summit. Unfortunately, we could not make ourselves wake up at 2am and drive for 2 hours in the dark of an unknown place, so we settled on going to the park during the day, which was still incredible. The view is fantastic and you really feel like you’re on Mars the entire time.

After lots of research, we decided to do the Sliding Sands Trail, which starts off at the summit (10,000ft elevation) and just goes down from there, dropping some 2,800 ft in the first 4 miles. Sounds great until you need to turn around and go back!

So unlike with most hikes, where you climb up, reach a beautiful view at the end, eat your lunch, laugh at some chipmunks, and then have a leisurely stroll downhill, with Sliding Sands, you start with the beautiful view, hike down the crater, pick a random point on the trail to turn around (unless you have plenty of time and can hike 11 long miles that day), and then kind of regret your decision to go as far as you did because now you have to climb the whole way back up a very steep and sandy crater. But seriously, it’s pretty unreal while you’re there. I was expecting little alien men to jump out from behind the rocks the whole time. Even the plants there, the Haleakala-native silverswords, look like they’re from another planet.

My advice for this hike if you ever want to do it: 1. At 10,000 ft, there’s no such thing as too much water. Both my husband and I got massive headaches even though we really thought we were drinking enough water.  2. Bring Tylenol (or similar) with you because if that headache strikes, oh boy does it strike. Of course, I also forgot to refill my first aid kit with Tylenol that morning. Thankfully for us, hikers are the nicest people. We were desperate enough to ask passersby for something to help our awful headaches and people were eager to come to the rescue. 3. Wear lots of sunscreen because you’re up high and out in the open the entire time. I think on that whole trail, I saw just one tiny tree and one shady area under a huge rock.  4. Wear proper shoes - they don’t call it Sliding Sands for nothing 5. Bring layers - we did this hike in August but it was FREEZING up there!

Hi everybody!

Welcome to Lettered Trails, a side project by Olga Muzician, a designer and letterer based in New York City (olgamuzician.com | @olgamuzician). Here, I will be lettering thoughts that sometimes jump into my head while I hike, mostly when I’m really tired and have already been walking for several miles. I love hiking more than anything. To me, it’s one of the most calming and rewarding things to do, but let’s face it, after 4 miles of walking up a 45 degree hill, we all start having some weird and maybe even slightly melodramatic thoughts. They all go away after we see the rewarding views at the end of the trail, of course. You can follow this project on Instagram @letteredtrails