California’s underrated national parks
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July 26, 2025: Island Adventures and Sea Caves
Our journey began on the evening of July 25th, flying from Chicago to Los Angeles and staying the night near LAX. The next morning, we drove to Ventura to catch a ferry to Santa Cruz Island, the largest and most accessible island in Channel Islands National Park. We had a kayaking tour booked for 10 a.m., but our ferry ride was wonderfully delayed when the captain made a detour for us to watch a playful school of dolphins! The Channel Islands are home to deep underwater canyons that are a haven for sea life, making this area one of the most dolphin-dense in the world.
Upon arrival, we were split into small groups for our tour. Our guide, Luke—an American lifeguard, birder, and natural entertainer—gave us a brief introduction to kayaking. After gearing up in wetsuits and PFDs, we were ready for our adventure. I took the front of our two-person kayak, while Poy, the more experienced paddler, steered from the back.
We kayaked for an hour and a half, navigating through seven sea caves of varying difficulty. It was an incredible experience, paddling through forests of sea kelp and gliding through the dark, mysterious caves. Our arms were sore for days afterward and I got a bit of a sunburn (a reminder: wear lots of sunscreen and maybe exercise a little more beforehand!). Afterward, we enjoyed a picnic of Buc-ee’s jerky and sticky rice before setting off on a short, two-mile hike to Cavern Point. From the top of the hill, the ocean view and refreshing sea breeze were fantastic. Back on lower ground, we spotted several tiny island foxes, a species endemic to the islands.
It was a tiring but exhilarating day. On the ferry ride back to Ventura, our captain once again detoured for an unforgettable surprise: our first-ever whale sighting! We spent an amazing thirty minutes watching them. Back on the mainland, we drove to Santa Clarita to have dinner at “Pho Sure” with Poy’s friends, Waan and Aun, before heading to our Super 8 motel for a well-deserved rest.
July 27, 2025: Caves and Pinnacles
After a bit of a sleep-in, we stopped at Albertsons and Trader Joe’s for supplies and set off for Pinnacles National Park around 8:30 a.m. We arrived at the west entrance around 11:30 a.m. and had a quick lunch before heading to the Balconies Cave Trail. As we hiked through the cool talus cave, we spotted several beautiful, bright blue scrub jays.
After exploring the west side, we drove to the more popular east side of the park, arriving around 3 p.m. We immediately started our hike on the Bear Gulch Reservoir Loop. The trail led us up through another cave system to a lovely, serene reservoir at the top. The climb took about an hour, and we took a slightly longer, scenic route back down, making the total hike a little over two hours. Afterward, we drove back to Fresno for some boba tea and checked into Hotel Piccadilly, a surprisingly nice and affordable hotel.
July 28, 2025: Giant Trees and Icy Rivers
On the last day of our trip, we visited Kings Canyon National Park, which is sandwiched between its more famous neighbors, Yosemite and Sequoia. We couldn’t fit it into our California trip last year because the park’s main canyon area requires a dedicated hour-long drive to reach, and we simply ran out of time. This year, we dedicated a full day to it. We enjoyed seeing the giant sequoias once more—this time, the magnificent General Grant Tree!—but the true highlight was dipping into the cold, clear water of the Kings River at Muir Rock.
The drive up to the end of the road, where Muir Rock is located, follows the river the entire way, making for a beautiful journey. The water was so cold that we jumped in and out several times, but it was incredibly refreshing. On the way back down, we were treated to some spectacular views of the canyon that gives the park its name.
That marked the end of our adventure. We flew out of Fresno, just an hour from the park, for another red-eye flight back home, tired but full of incredible new memories.
At the end of Summer 2025, we embarked on a grand tour of the northern United States. Our goal was to explore a mix of popular national parks and hidden gems across Montana, Wyoming, Oregon, and Washington. The journey took us through breathtaking mountain ranges and bountiful wilderness teeming with wildlife. Thanks to booking our flights more than six months in advance, we were lucky enough to fly directly out of Champaign, a perfect start to our adventure!
This trip was a triumphant redemption for our failed attempt last year, exactly one year prior, when Frontier Airlines unexpectedly canceled our flight just eight hours before departure, derailing our Fourth of July plans. This year’s adventure, thankfully, proved to be the best redemption ever! We successfully visited all the national parks in Colorado and even managed to include Wind Cave National Park in South Dakota, which we’d missed last summer.
We had the chance to return to England for Poy’s graduation at Oxford University—a trip filled with celebration, friends, and family. It was such a joy to revisit familiar places and explore new ones, like Canterbury and Hampton Court Palace, which took us a bit outside the city. Accompanied by Poy’s family and my college bestie, Emma, the trip was packed with laughter, meaningful moments, and plenty of walking—over 15,000 steps a day!
At the end of the spring semester, I attended a number theory conference in Dallas for a week. After the conference, my fiancé flew in to pick me up, and we took a trip to Hot Springs National Park in Arkansas! We hadn’t originally planned it, but once we realized how close Dallas was to the park, we decided to go for it. Without the conference, we probably would never have considered visiting Arkansas, given its distance and how far it is from other national parks. We really enjoyed the thermal baths there and hope to return someday!