7 Scary, Random, and Magical Moments From Three Years of Travel
#1: Getting lost in Arches National Park
Let’s start with the scary: we got lost - lost, lost - in Arches National Park on one of their “primitive trails” (half of the Devils Garden Trail).
In over three years of traveling and more hikes than I can count, this trail made me the most nervous of ANY trail we’ve ever done. I’m talking about being on the verge of full-blown panic tears… because we were lost… with about 1.5 miles left on the trail (or about 5 miles should we need to turn around), and no trail markers in sight. To make matters more concerning, we had about 20 minutes until sunset.
The Background: We decided to hike the Devils Garden Trail in Arches National Park after work. We knew we wanted to see as many arches as possible (you can see 6 or 7 on just the first half of this trail alone), so we started there. The hike was gorgeous so we kept going - to see the final arch - and decided to explore the primitive side as well.
According to the National Park Service’s website, “The obstacles in this segment include difficult route finding, steep slopes, narrow drop-offs, and rock scrambling. Hiking the Primitive Trail requires crossing a pool that may contain water.”
Chances are high that we got lost after the gradual descent in the picture below, but we were having so much fun climbing over rocks and exploring the unique landscape of Arches. So, we just kept going and walking… until we attempted to climb a rock pile multiple times our height and realized we had to be off course. When Jon got to the top of the rock pile and couldn’t see any cairns or any direction that would be safe to go next, we realized we were definitively lost.
So we scrambled back down the rock pile and ran in multiple directions to look for cairns nearby. When we couldn’t see anything, panic rose.
Mostly because the sun was setting in just 20 minutes, and we knew at the shortest, we were still 1.5 miles away from the trailhead. If we had to turn around and attempt to retrace our steps back to the marked half of the trail, we’d have 5 miles to go. Meaning, either way, we’ll be finishing this hike in the dark.
(Note: We have since bought a pro version of AllTrails and pack headlights for all of our hikes. We’re constantly learning even after years of traveling!)
We decided to make our way back (so we didn’t continue forward without direction and get even more lost or turned around), hoping we could find the trail by getting back to a few landmarks we recognized (moving in the direction of a huge boulder that looked like a cruise ship/alligator). Then we hoped we could use the defined trail and our cell phone light to finish the hike.
Then… like magic (or better yet, divine intervention)… while making our way back toward the landmark, we literally stumbled upon a cairn. Then another.
Somehow, we ran into the trail on the primitive side and could see which way to go to keep moving forward. (After what felt like the longest three minutes of our travels - ever.) Ultimately, we did get lost right after the descent and were only about 15 feet away from the trail marker without realizing it! Oops :)
We were lost for maybe three minutes, but it was one of those moments when time slowed down and everything felt longer. The sun was setting. Our dog was home alone. We were lost in a national park. And had seen no one for about an hour and a half!
We were back on a defined trail with one mile to go just as the sun set. We finished our trail in the dark, but at least we knew where we were, yay!
Have you ever been lost on a trail or in a national park??? Please share your experience with us below!
RTL Tip: Hike counterclockwise (stay to the right when you get to the fork), and be sure you have plenty of daylight if you’re wanting to do the entire Devils Garden Trail in Arches National Park. And bring AllTrails and keep track of the cairns!
The Primitive Trail
The cruise ship / alligator landmark
Where I’m guessing we got lost? But we just kept walking cause look how amazing this landscape is!
#2: Jon climbing a tree three stories… because we locked ourselves out of our rental
… and a locksmith couldn’t be located 🤷🤷😅
I mean… we just HAD to lock ourselves out of our rental in Angel Fire, New Mexico, after our host made it CLEAR how important it was to bring our key everywhere - and keep the spare in the lock box - because there wasn’t a locksmith in town and the condo complex most likely didn’t have an extra key… right?!
Right.
After an hour of trying to get a key from the complex or a neighbor, or locate a locksmith who was open at 6pm on a Tuesday during Angel Fire’s off-season, Jon thought to himself, “Why not climb a tree three stories to our rental and use the backdoor - that we *think* is unlocked - to let me in and unlock the front door?” Mind you, there were fires nearby at the time which left the apartment complex and town much less populated than normal as people wanted to leave just in case, making it harder to find a locksmith or folks to help.
On his first attempt, Jon made it to the first-floor balcony and realized what a stupid idea this was.
On his second attempt, after waiting 30 more minutes to see if we could locate a locksmith with the help of the condo building’s manager, Jon made it to the second floor and once again realized this was a terrible plan not well thought out, as 1) climbing the tree was harder than you’d think / it looks and 2) there was a ~5 foot gap between the tree and the third-floor ledge that would have to be traversed at the top.
With the temps dropping and Jon in just shorts and a shirt (because who would’ve thought we’d lock ourselves out?!), we had to do something quickly.
So luckily the third time really is the charm, and Jon made the final climb up the tree to our third-floor balcony and hurled himself over the rail!!
And thank goodness, the back door was actually unlocked 😅😅.
One more wild but this time magical thing we experienced during this trip in Angel Fire, NM? Seeing a snowflake that looked like a “snowflake”. (Check out the third picture below to see what I mean.) Have you ever seen one? Let us know in the comments below!! So cool!
The start of the climb
About to get onto our balcony! PALMS ARE SWEATING JUST LOOKING AT THIS
A snowflake ❄️
#3: Driving The Tail of the Dragon (accidentally)
Now that we’ve addressed some of the scariest, most nerve-wracking moments of our travels, let’s move on to the random.
Normally, we’re very intentional with our plans. We have a travel planning document and we prepare our days in advance. We know at least generally where we want to go and what we want to see.
But this time?
This time, we were just on our way for a routine health check-up.
We were in Bryson City, NC, and the closest in-network doctor’s office to where we were staying was 2 hours away in Knoxville, TN.
So midday on a random Thursday, we were off to Knoxville.
I was driving, which is unusual, but Jon needed to work so he was in the passenger seat with his laptop.
About halfway through the drive, we notice someone taking pictures of us driving.
Then another person.
Then another.
It was odd, but then we started to take notice of the cars passing us. (I’m a slower driver, so I’ll use pull-offs to let faster cars pass when we’re on one-way roads.)
A sports car.
A motorcyclist.
Another sports car.
Another motorcyclist.
Turns out (pun intended), we were driving “The Tail of The Dragon” - America’s #1 Motorcycle and Sports Car Road with 318 curves in 11 miles.
It just so happened that the fastest path to get from Bryson City to Knoxville included driving the Tail of The Dragon, where dozens of other motorists go to intentionally cross an epic drive off a bucket list. That’s why there were photographers snapping pictures as we drove: photographic souvenirs from your drive. Knowing what we know now, I wish we had stopped to get our picture, ha!
A few years later, this one’s still a story we think and laugh about because it’s just so random. Just picture going about your day, doing something completely routine and ordinary (like being on your way to an appointment), and noticing multiple photographers taking pictures of you as you drive!
(Also in case anyone is wondering… Jon did NOT feel well being in the passenger seat trying to work with all those curves and turns LOL. Do a quick image search for the tail of the dragon to see why!!)
The Toyota CHR we were driving
I’m sorry I don’t have any good photos of the CHR or the Tail of the Dragon!!! But a google search for ‘Tail of the Dragon images’ is SO worth it to see the windy road
#4: Sleeping in our car in Glacier National Park
Let’s set the scene: It was the end of a two-week road trip through the Pacific Northwest. In just two weeks, we had hiked over one hundred miles (~111 miles) and we were camping in everything from 100-degree weather in Portland (during a heat wave) to 30-degree nights in Yellowstone (in July). Clothes-wise, we were prepared for neither!
So after we arrived at the last stop of our road trip (Glacier National Park), and after we spent 30 minutes trying to battle the wind to get our campsite tent up and secured, we looked longingly at the car and thought, “That’ll do.”
(This was even after the nice couple at the campsite next to us offered to help. We’d had enough and decided sleeping bags on the seats of the car would do just fine. Have you been there too!?)
Glacier National Park was one of those trips for us that just didn’t go as planned all-around. You know the one, right? Where no matter how much planning or how much research you do, it just doesn’t work out as you hoped or expected?
We’ve been fortunate on our travels to see a lot of cool things and even have a few serendipitous moments of being in the right place at the right time (unexpectedly visiting Yosemite National Park during the week of Firefall was one of those times).
But, other times, we’ve had those moments we all have when you miss out on something you really want to do or see because of weather or something else out of your control. We sometimes call these moments ‘What You’re Supposed to See vs. What You Actually See’.
This was the case here when, after sleeping in our car at the end of our two-week road trip, Hidden Lake in Glacier National Park decided to fully live up to its name and stay hidden as a wall of fog left us with visibility of about 10 feet. (When’s the last time you had one of these moments when no or low visibility obstructs what’s supposed to be an otherwise incredible view? We’ve also experienced this in Kalalau Valley in Kauai, Hawaii and Cadillac Mountain in Acadia National Park.)
#5: Randomly running into friends on the top of Mount Washington, NH
HOW DOES THIS HAPPEN?!?
This one’s a little bit random and a little bit magical… but without knowing one another was in town let alone at the same activity, we found some friends at the top of Mount Washington in New Hampshire.
The number of things that have to line up for this to happen is the reason this one makes the list.
We had to…
1. Be in the same state at the same time (they live in DC and we live in Texas)
2. Be on the same mountain at the same time (they were in town for a wedding while we were in New Hampshire as part of our 2022 Travel Season)
3. Walk to the same off-path overlook at the same time (they were finishing a hike and heading back to their car, while we had just arrived… both decided to hop off the path for a picture)
4. Recognize one another when you’re absolutely not expecting to see anyone you know (truth be told, they recognized Lincoln first, ha!)
… What are the odds ALL of this lines up without intentionally planning it or even knowing the other is in town?!
We were planning to hike the Mount Washington Loop via the Tuckerman Ravine but opted instead to catch up with friends at The Ledge Brewery. Best choice!
The picture taken right before running into friends on Mount Washington
At the summit with friends!
Grabbing a drink together afterwards
#6 Seeing a double rainbow at the summit of Mt Van Hoevenberg on our last day in Lake Placid, NY
We’ve had a few moments that felt like magic during our three years of traveling - photographing a mountain goat in a snow pellet storm on the top of Mount Evans in Colorado, walking through the fall foliage fairyland along the Jesup Trail in Acadia National Park, and the one we’ll talk about here, spotting a double rainbow at the summit of Mt Van Hoevenberg in Lake Placid, NY.
It was our last day in the Adirondacks. We’d been there for three weeks and it was the first place in over three years that I just didn’t want to leave. So after work on Friday, our last day in town before leaving for Maine the following day, I was really feeling like we needed to get out of the house and do one more activity.
The problem? It was raining. We were hoping the weather would change by the time we arrived at the trailhead so we got in the car anyway. By the time we parked at the Mt Van Hoevenberg parking complex, it was still raining, but lightly and not storming, so we grabbed umbrellas and decided to walk as long as it felt safe to do so.
We kept walking, umbrellas open until we got to the summit. As we did, the rain stopped and just a few minutes later, a gorgeous double rainbow appeared.
Pure. Magic. On our last day in one of my favorite places!
#7: Winning the Wave Lotto after 15 days. Last Day. Last Ball.
We entered the online Wave Lottery before our 2021 Travel Season but didn’t win. So once we got to Kanab, Utah, we entered the in-person lottery each morning.
Every day for two weeks, at least one of us walked to The Kanab Center to put our names in the running for a permit to visit ‘The Wave’. At first, this experience was a ton of fun. It feels like a true lottery (and actual lotto balls are used).
Tons of groups arrive to enter their application into the lottery, then 4 balls are drawn or 16 permits are issued - whichever comes first - to visit the Wave the following day.
We figured, “How hard can it be?” and assumed our number would be drawn on one of our first few days entering.
On Day 1, we were just happy to be there and in no rush for our number to be drawn.
On Day 5, we were still expecting our number to be drawn soon but were surprised it hadn’t yet.
But by Day 15, our last day to enter before heading back to Texas, we were kinda over it.
We’d spent two weeks watching other groups win (many of which won their first day entering) and realization was starting to set in that we were likely not going to get picked and get to see The Wave.
Since your number gets drawn for visiting The Wave the following day, this was truly our last chance to enter. If we didn’t get picked, we’d head back to Texas that same day. If we did get picked, we’d visit The Wave then immediately start our drive. Either way, we could leave no later than Friday, November 5th.
So here’s what happens on November 4th, 2021, as we enter on our final day (15th day in a row) to visit the wave on Friday, November 5th:
(Ball #1) Number 27: This couple was here for her birthday. They’d been applying online for over 15 years. This was their second day at the in-person lottery, and won! Yay!
(#2) Number 28: In the video below, you might hear us say… “No freakin’ way…” Number 28 was drawn… right after number 27. This happened more often than you’d think!
(#3) Number 47: As happy as you are to see other people happy, this is also when the realization starts setting in even further that you’re not going to win…
(#4) EXCEPT WE DO. On our last day to enter the lottery! The last ball to be drawn that day!!!!
You can watch the video of us winning below. When the gentleman running the lottery says “alright” and then “so”… I’m starting to tap Jon because I’m thinking, “OMG, THIS IS DIFFERENT, HE USUALLY GOES RIGHT FOR THE PAPERS… COULD IT BE!?”
Then as soon as he shows the number to his colleague and he laughs, I’m starting to tap Jon WAY harder like “OMG OMG OMG, IT HAS TO BE US, RIGHT?!?!?!” — No one else had been there for so many days and we knew how much those working the lottery hoped we’d finally win! You can see in the video, the gentleman holds up the paper, tells our story briefly, looks back in excitement at us, and folks even start to clap!
Look at all the crossed out numbers on the left of the paper I’m holding to see all the different days we entered the lotto!
The Wave!
The changing colors as the sun rises
Your turn!! What’s something memorable that has happened during one of your travels?
We’d love to hear about your adventures too! What’s something unique, memorable, or magical that’s happened during one of your trips or while you’ve been traveling? Please share with us in the comments below!
