Today, a slideshow.
At the end of May, I helped my daughter move from North Carolina to Salt Lake City for her first job. Along the way, we managed to work in a hike or four. All were spontaneous, there was no planning. These were pretty much of the, ‘Hey! We’re in the Ozarks! Let’s pull over and hike” variety. Roadside hikes that were pretty dang awesome.

We started in the Ozarks of Arkansas, where we discovered the 162-mile Ozark Highlands Trail (and a tasty lunch at the Oark General Store). Moved on to Albuquerque to hike the Sandia Crest in the Cibola National Forest, then to Grand Junction, Colorado, where a trail out the backdoor of the hotel revealed distant mesa after distant mesa. Finally, Moab. Moab itself is the Gatlinburg of the outdoors set. But escape its touristy grip and you’re quickly in the best that the outdoor world has to offer.

A reminder, if nothing else, that a good hike is rarely far away, no matter where your travels take you.