from rscottjones

Apparently, August 13th has been an eventful day for me over the years. Iceland was one of my all-time favorite trips, so it’s going to be fun seeing photos for the next week plus. Until Africa, the Angle Inlet border crossing (near the bottom) was the weirdest I’ve been to.

On Aug 13 2023,

…we continued our time in Scotland, just Jen and I at this point.

On Aug 13 2022,

…I did an evening paddle with my friend Brittany.

On Aug 13 2021,

…Jen and I landed in Iceland and picked up a campervan, our home for the next ten or so days. We grabbed some supplies, took a nap, and started exploring Thingvellir National Park.

On Aug 13 2020,

…I brought a couple bartender friends, a regular from the bar, and Jen on a morning paddle down the Salt River.

On Aug 13 2017,

…we spent the day at John Day Fossil Beds National Monument in central Oregon, my 379th national park unit.

On Aug 13 2013,

…I visited what is now New River Gorge National Park, Gauley River National Recreation Area, and Bluestone National Scenic River—quite the busy day!

On Aug 13 2012,

…I visited that silly little notch in the northern border of Minnesota. To get there, you have to cross into Canada and then back into the US—using a videophone booth to clear immigration and customs each time. It’s a trip. There’s no security, you just stop because that’s what you should do. You enter, pick up the phone handset and press a button to start the one-way video call. YOu answer some basic questions, hold your passport up for viewing (no scanning), and…well, that’s about it.

I also apparently decided to officially adopt my High Points of Otherwise Flat States quest this day (which I just finished in May).

I’m working on a new web project that showcases public lands across the US. If you enjoy our public lands and have some photos to share as a contributor, please get in touch. I’m primarily interested in BLM and USFS lands, but might scatter in some national park lands as well.

It was fun to get an email from Sid, who is blogging all month about the websites of other #Blaugust2025 participants, when he featured mine. What a great idea!

Another installment of my “On This Day” photos for the month-long #Blaugust2025 blogging challenge.

On Aug 12 2023,

…we wrapped up our time in the Scottish Highlands.

…and toured the Culloden Battlefield, where so many Scots clans were crushed;

…and stopped by the Clava Cairns, too.

On Aug 12 2017

I visited Lewis and Clark National Historical Park, then Fort Vancouver National Historic Site, and ended at a brewery in Bend, Oregon—where I finally finally got to meet one of my earliest social media friends, @Calipidder.

On Aug 12 2013

…I was continuing my roadtrip around Ohio, which included a short detour in West Virginia to visit Marshall University. Marshall is famous for the tragic plane crash that claimed its entire football team, who was returning from a game. But I didn’t visit fort that reason—it was my dad’s alma mater and I wanted to FaceTime him the campus so he could see what it looked like these days and hear some new stories that might be triggered by seeing various places on campus.

On Aug 12 2012,

…I stopped by the incomparable Corn Palace in Mitchell, South Dakota—my second visit to the famed roadside attraction.

On Aug 12 2010,

…I hiked in Fern Canyon in Redwoods State and National Park. This is the only photo in my Photos library, which is a shame because I loved this hike and back then it wasn’t crazy crowded.

I’m a day late on posting this, mostly because I belatedly decided to add some Facebook memories photos, which featured a North Rim of the Grand Canyon trip that I wanted to include. I’m still heartbroken about those wildfires—the Dragon Bravo fire that took the lodge is still only 44% contained!

On Aug 11 2023,

…we spent the day exploring around the Isle of Skye, which was incredibly scenic. I’m glad Jen suggested adding it to our Scotland itinerary.

On Aug 11 2018,

…I caught an evening ASU practice. Looks like I ran into PJ and Adam from the Crafty Devils tailgate and a former player, Antonio Longino.

On Aug 11 2017,

…we did some exploring around the San Juan Islands in Puget Sound, WA.

On Aug 11 2013,

…I was in Ohio on a national park roadtrip I called #RustBeltRoadTrip. Funny enough, I’ll be revisiting many of those stops in a couple weeks with Jen. I also marked off the Indiana high point, which really solidified it as a quest.

On Aug 11 2012,

…I found myself in Iowa and Nebraska, visiting a state high point, two competing Jolly Green Giants, and a national park unit. I’d post photos from the day, but I apparently only posted them on twitter, and I’ve deleted all those posts after Elon took over. So—make sure you don’t rely on social media as a life archive!

On Aug 11 2011,

…I visited the North Rim of the Grand Canyon with my then-girlfriend, Laura. We were planning a Rim to Rim hike and wanted to hit a bit of the North Kaibab as a test run.

Man, I’m so bummed that wildfires have devastated this area, including burning the lodge and visitor center. The entire amazing forest shown here burned. What a loss.

Another pre-scheduled post while I’m traveling. I’m back home tomorrow.

Aug 10, 2023,

…we made our north towards Inverness, Scotland.

On Aug 10 2019

…we paddle Blue Ridge Reservoir and camped again on the Rim, enjoying this excellent sunset.

On Aug 10 2017,

…we found ourselves in Seattle. We toured a bunch of the standard tourist spots, adding in a number of stops focused on Pearl Jam, Nirvana, and Soundgarden history.

On Aug 10 2013,

…I found myself in Northern Ohio and Detroit. I wish I had more photos from this day accessible, but they’re either lost or in a random hard drive somewhere. I made it to Put-In-Bay (look at this view of Cedar Point, which was a real treat when I was a kid), trucked it up to River Raisin Battlefield, and stopped by my old house in Grosse Pointe Park, a suburb of Detroit. It was my first time back since moving away after 3rd grade.

Another pre-scheduled post! I’m in LA hanging with some friends.

On Aug 9, 2023,

…we explored some of the Scottish Highlands, with a focus on waterfalls. Look at all these cool places!

We also stopped by Doune Castle 🥥🥥 (iykyk).

I should mention that Jen’s mom and her close friend along for half of this Britain trip, one of the family trips we planned with each of our parents the last few years.

On Aug 2019,

…it was another camping trip on the Mogollon Rim, this featuring some cool ass clouds.

On Aug 9, 2024,

…my buddy was moving away and we made one last stop together at our old haunt, Paradise Lounge. (Yes, this one is out of order)

I’m en route to Los Angeles for the weekend, but managed to schedule this post ahead of time. Surprisingly, I’m somehow ahead of schedule on #Blaugust2025, which seems rather remarkable.

On Aug 8 2023,

…we did touristy things in Edinburgh, highlighted by the Castle and Royal Mile. It was the Fringe Festival, so we found a comedy show in an Irish pub in an archway tunnel under the Royal Mile. It was an especially fun way to mark off Scotland on our Irish Pub quest.

On Aug 8 2022,

…I was driving home through metro LA and stopped to mark off the Reagan Presidential Library and gravesite for my A Site for Each President quest, which features retired Air Force One and Marine One aircraft. Funny enough, I’ll be marking off the other LA-area presidential library tomorrow—the Nixon Library.

I was then able to catch up with a couple #ParkChat friends. (I’ll see Krista again this weekend, too).

On Aug 8 2015,

…I hiked up to the summit of Mount Ord to climb the fire tower.

I’ll likely miss the next three days of posts, as I’ll be traveling. But here are some photos from Aug 7 over the years.

On Aug 7 2023,

…we headed to London’s Kings Cross Station and took a train north to Edinburgh.

On Aug 7 2022,

…we camped in the Coast Range in California, stopped at a brewery to meet an internet parks friend (who was delayed and couldn’t make it in time), then I dropped Jen off at the SFO airport while I continued on to meet another internet parks friend. (Lemme know you’re an internet friend and want to meet up 😆).

On Aug 7 2019,

…I brought my dad up to Camp Tontozona, the famed ASU fall camp practice facility near the Mogollon Rim, to check out that year’s team. I had planned on heading up there again this week, but my current elevation restriction prevents it. Bummer.

I also dropped off camping gear at our favorite dispersed campsite on the Rim, in preparation for a group trip there the next morning.

On Aug 7 2021,

…no surprise, I was kayaking again.

On Aug 7 2016,

…I lounged around camp at Sunset Crater, enjoying the cool respite from the Phoenix heat.

On Aug 7 2013,

…I apparently rode some corn, as one does. 🤷‍♂️

And I finally found Waldo, too.

And danced with some silly rabbits.

Sneaking this post in before bedtime!

On Aug 2023,

…we visited Stonehenge…

…then Woodhenge…

…found a “futuristic” payphone…

…and some old graves.

On Aug 6 2022,

…we found some bear cubs climbing a tree….

…and found momma bear chowing down not too far away…

…and Paul Bunyan and Babe, too (not to mention Babe’s impressive ballsack).

On Aug 6 2016,

…we made the trek out to Grand Falls of the Little Colorado River, which is often misnamed as Chocolate Falls online. The water wasn’t flowing as much as preferred, but my buddy Matt hadn’t been and we were en route to camp in the area, so we went anyway.

On Aug 6 2011,

…I paddled on the Lower Salt River, a summer hobby I still do today (I still have that Vermilion Cliffs nalgene, too).

Just updated the Treasured Places quest list, which now includes 495 of America’s best protected public lands: every national park unit, national monument, and national conservation area in the country.

Who else wants to visit them all?

I’m going to keep this one shorter than the last few, so here are a few photos from just two prior August 5ths.

On Aug 5 2023,

…we spent the day in London doing touristy things, like Westminster Abbey. My favorite was the Churchill War Rooms though, which was fascinating. I still can’t believe they were tracking u-boat attacks using push pins on a bulletin board map. 🤯

On Aug 5 2019,

…I did another tour of the ASU football facility, in part to see the Tillman statue, but also to bring my dad so he could see everything.

Yesterday was packed, so I didn’t get to post this. But here it is.

On Aug 4 2023,

…we did some touristy things in London. The surprise of the day was running into our friend Erin, who happened to be visiting the city.

On Aug 4 2022,

…we camped in Redwoods State and National Park.

On Aug 4 2020,

…we took the “very long” home and drove the Devils Highway (formerly US666, but since renumbered to RT191) after camping in the White Mountains.

On Aug 4 2018,

…we drove back to Anchorage from Wrangell-St Elias National Park via Valdez, passing lots of great scenery.

On Aug 4 2017,

…I was named Time Magazine’s Man of the Year at a Big Lebowski bar.

This is post 4/30 for #Blaugust2025, and is a rundown of some photos I took on this day in previous years.

On Aug 3 2024,

…we found ourselves in London, on our first full day in the city during our England/Scotland/Wales trip. The primary stop this day was the famed British Museum. It’s an overwhelming place, of course, filled to the brim with artifacts from around the world.

We also stopped by the Bloomsbury Tavern, reportedly Britain’s oldest brewer (dating from 1698), for a quick pint.

On Aug 3 2022,

…we found ourselves in Oregon, enjoying a stop at the cavernous Rogue Brewing, followed by Yaquina Head Lighthouse and a relatively quiet Devils Punchbowl, plus a visit with some friends who had just moved to Oregon (sorry for the unexpected nipple tickle, Matt).

On Aug 3 2020,

…we spent the weekend camping at Big Lake in Arizona’s White Mountains. This was our first weekend away during the covid pandemic, and boy was it great to get away after soooo many months stuck at home.

We also made a number of short stops along the way, including to Arizona’s only covered bridge, the Town of Show Low (famously named after a card game that “won” the town for one of its players), and a yard full of metal art constructed from random parts. I was especially delighted to see this Teddy Roosevelt piece.

On Aug 3 2019,

…we spent the day brewery-hopping in Tucson at Ten55, Pueblo Vida, Thunder Canyon, Iron John’s, and Dove Mountain—all breweries that Jen hadn’t visited yet. Quite the day. I won’t show pics of all of them, instead just highlighting this favorite from the day (I felt the same way about most of the beer that day—only Pueblo Vida is worth driving down for).

On Aug 3 2018,

…we took the long bus ride into the heart of Wrangell-St Elias National Park & Preserve in Alaska, a massive park that’s nearly the size of West Virginia. After a several hours-long ride, you’re deposited at a footbridge across the Kennecott River, which is an outflow of the nearby Kennecott glacier. You wander a mile over to the town of McCarthy, then take a shuttle up to the Kennecott mine area, where the NPS visitor center is, before exploring the mining town remains and seeing the glacier. On the way back, we apparently stopped at the lodge; not a bad spot to stop and grab a beer.

On Aug 3 2017

…I got a chance to tour the newly constructed football facility at Sun Devil Stadium. I’ve been a season ticket holder since 1987, so it was cool to see all the behind the scenes locations, from the locker room to workout facility to coach offices to position rooms other than training table to recovery areas, and even walk down the Tillman Tunnel onto the field (the Tillman statue had not yet been installed but I got to tour again soon after it was installed).

On Aug 3 2014,

I said bye to my dog, Sipapu before enjoying a sunset hike in the Phoenix Mountain Preserve. I think he was bummed I didn’t take him.