In May 2025, I plan to set out on a thru-hike of the Appalachian Trail as the Appalachian Trail Conservancy’s first artist-in-residence. I’ll be blogging about my progress, and in preparation, I’m recapping some of the trips I’ve taken in the past. Thanks for your interest, and stay tuned!

Bryce Canyon NP/Escalante, July 2021
Bryce Canyon National Park Mallory Weston Bryce Canyon National Park Mallory Weston

Bryce Canyon NP/Escalante, July 2021

For the last few days of our trip, we headed further East through Utah, stopping in Bryce Canyon and Escalante. This was more of a mishmash of different locations, loosely focused around seeing some slot canyons. Here are some of our hikes:

  • Peek-a-Boo Canyon (3.3 miles)

  • Wall Street and Queens Garden Loop (3.7 miles)

  • Willis Creek Narrows Trail (6.0 miles)

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Zion NP, July 2021
Zion National Park Mallory Weston Zion National Park Mallory Weston

Zion NP, July 2021

After spending a solid week in California, we packed up our campsite and drove several hours across Nevada and into Southern Utah. Alex’s sister, Callie, was working as a park ranger at Zion National Park, so we planned to spend another week visiting with her and exploring the area. This turned out to be a really generous amount of time, and it allowed us to visit some more remote areas of the park. Here are a few of our hikes from the week:

  • Angels Landing via West Rim Trail (5.9 Miles)

  • Observation Point via East Mesa Trail (7.3 Miles)

  • Northgate Peaks via Kolob Terrace (5.2 Miles)

  • West Rim Trail, Top-Down (16.4 Miles)

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Yosemite NP/Mammoth Lakes, July 2021
Yosemite National Park Mallory Weston Yosemite National Park Mallory Weston

Yosemite NP/Mammoth Lakes, July 2021

West Coast road trip continued! After spending a few days in Sequoia, Alex and I drove North toward Yosemite. This was our first time in the park and we decided to drive from East to West on Tioga Pass Road to get to where we would be camping in Mammoth Lakes. It was a massive detour, but worth it for the scenery. We spent a few days hiking in and around Mammoth and then went back into Yosemite for a full day. Here’s a few of the highlights:

  • Little Lakes Valley to Gem Lakes (9.8 miles)

  • Tuolumne River Loop: Dana and Lyell Forks (3.9 miles)

  • Vernal and Nevada Falls via the Mist Trail (9.0 miles)

  • Rainbow Falls via Devils Postpile (4.6 miles)

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Sequoia/Kings Canyon NP, July 2021
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Sequoia/Kings Canyon NP, July 2021

In July 2021, Alex and I set off on an incredible West Coast road trip. We flew into Las Vegas and rented a car to travel around Nevada, California, and Utah for about two weeks. Our first stop was a few days at Sequoia NP. We camped just outside the park in the town of Three Rivers. We spent our time day hiking and had a brush of excitement after our rental car nearly ran out of gas on the first day driving within the park. Here are some of the hikes we did:

  • Tokopah Falls via the Tokopah Valley Trail (4.5 miles)

  • Giant Forest Loop Trail (8.1)

  • Heather Lake, Emerald Lake, and Pear Lake (11.7 miles)

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