My Top 40 Hikes (A blog post in progress)

I love hiking, and I have been blessed to take lots of great hikes!  These have been day hikes, which I prefer to backpacking.  Some of the best hikes I have been on have spoiled me for some of the lesser hikes.  For instance, I have learned that my favorite hikes involve both majestic mountains, water, and sweeping views - preferably all the way, not just at the end.  So though hiking in the Smoky Mountains in my backyard is fun, those hikes are not top on my list.

I've thought a lot about what makes a good hike.  To me the ultimate hike would have mountains, water (bonus if a waterfall), sweeping views, good weather (only sort of out of my control as I try to plan my visits when the weather has a strong probability of  being excellent), good company (I have never hiked alone), and a restaurant along the way (hey, a girl can dream).  And while I have a sense of accomplishment with a long and hard hike, I really appreciate a hike that gives similar views with way less effort.  

My top 40 hikes reflect my particular adventures on these trails.  Different weather or different company might give you a totally different experience. These hikes include mountains, lakes, ocean, waterfalls, canyons, desert, cool rock formations, villages, castles and even a movie set!   

So here is my list as of January 2026 (and except for #1, it is MY list, not Terry's).  Many of the hikes have their own blog posts and are linked. 

1.  Stairway to Heaven (Oahu, HI).  Terry and I have agreed that this will remain #1, as it was the first epic hike we took together.  And it is now illegal and comes with a huge fine to any who attempt it.  To be fair, it was also illegal when we took it, but a boy scout at a grocery store in Kailua recommended it and told us how to do it. I admit it being illegal did add to the thrill!  This hike goes up a rickety staircase to a radio tower used in WW2 and has almost continuous views of mountains and the Pacific Ocean.

2.  Four Mile/Panorama/Mist Trail (Yosemite,CA)  Also our longest hike at approximately 15 miles.  Truly epic scenery. 

3.  Angel's Landing (Zion, UT)  Probably the best bang for the buck as it's a relatively short hike and totally legal, so it perhaps could have been #1

4.  Precipice/Beehive Trails (Acadia, ME) Two trails that are very similar, and you can do both in one day.  If you have to choose, take Precipice, but it is not open all year. 

5.  Cat Bells/Maiden Moor/High Spy (Lake District, UK) Such a special memory of this hike taken with my daughter!  I want to go back. 

6.  Hooker Valley Track (Mt. Cook, NZ)  So many great hikes in NZ.  But many of them were quite a challenge.  This one I could do over and over. 

7.  Roy's Peak (Wanaka, NZ)  - a hike with a continuous view!

8.  Rob Roy Glacier (Wanaka, NZ)  - my only glacier hike on the list

9.  Ben Lomond (Queenstown, NZ) - another continuous view hike

10.  Chapel Basin (Pictured Rocks, MI) on Lake Superior

11.  Monterosso/Vernazza/Corniglia (Cinque Terra,Italy) - a very unique hiking experience from village to village.  Wonderful food in each village, and very picturesque. 

12.  Skyline Trail (Mt. Ranier, WA) - lots of wildflowers!

13.  Mostnica Gorge/Voje Waterfall (Triglavski National Park, Slovenia) - not just good food for a hike, this was the best food we had on our entire trip 

14.  The Narrows (Zion, UT) - So fun to hike in a river!

15.  Avalanche Peak (Yellowstone, WY)- This is the first alpine hike I ever took, and it was one that I took with my Dad.  A Very special memory.  

1.      

2025 Memories

We have actually had a quiet holiday season here, so it's given me a chance to reflect and be thankful for the events of 2025.  

The first big event of 2025 was the birth of our 4th grandchild - a son born to Rebecca and Joseph.  I got to be there for the delivery and those first special days as they became a family of five!  

Then in March, Terry and I celebrated our 35th anniversary with a long-anticipated camping trip to New Zealand.  We had three weeks of living in a tiny van and having a great adventure seeing some gorgeous sites.  Also lived through a wreck with a tractor trailer and had our return flight unexpectedly leave a day early without us!  

2025 also brought the purchase of Scott and Ann's lake house on Melton Hill Lake.  It's such a beautiful spot and we are very blessed. We hosted the Schaefer clan there for a week in July and had a blast.  I wasn't sure we could top the reunion of 2022, but I think we did!  

We also hosted our immediate family at the lake house over Thanksgiving.

Though it's just 25 minutes away, our current plan is not to move out there but to continue to run it as an AirBnB and just stay out there occasionally.  It has kept us quite busy as we decided to manage it ourselves.  It's been a fun project, and we have reminded ourselves several times of how we used to dream of owning a Bed & Breakfast someday.  

We sold several rental properties in order to buy the lake house, but we have a few other rentals that Terry maintains.  I am still doing dyslexia therapy and really enjoying my students this year.  

We didn't do any big travels after NZ, but we have a trip to Portugal planned in early 2026.  We also found out we have another grandbaby due in July (thanks, Caleb and Meredith, for that Christmas news!).  

2026 Superlatives:

Best moment - birth of grandbaby #4 in February

Best book - Green Dolphin Street (set in 1800s NZ and surprisingly inspirational)

Best movie - Freakier Friday 

Best food - Montanaro pizza with pistachio sour cream in Queenstown, NZ

Best date - Hobbiton in New Zealand

Best hike - Roy's Peak near Wanaka, NZ

Reunion 2025

In 2022, we gathered with my sisters and their families here in Knoxville for a week-long reunion at the lake!  We had so much fun that we decided to do it again this year.  It is quite an undertaking.  There were 40 of us - including 17 grandkids.  

Lots of planning went into our time - spreadsheets for food, games and activities planned.  This year’s event included a big family history Kahoot and a talent show.  And trips to see fireworks on the water.  All in addition to lots of time spent swimming, tubing, skiing, paddle boarding, riding the air chair etc.

We also had the requisite photo shoot with our designated family photographer, Rebecca.

Rob Roy Glacier and Roy's Peak

Wanaka was the last big stop on our trip.  We made some friends in Knoxville last year that had told us Wanaka was their favorite place on earth.  We could see why!  It was beautiful (though I think I liked Queenstown a bit better).  

We took two awesome hikes in this area - Rob Roy Glacier and Roy's Peak.  Both of these spots are named for the Scottish hero, Rob Roy McGregor. 

We first visited Rob Roy Glacier.  It was not what I expected at all because there are Matrix bikes at the YMCA that feature hikes while you are walking on the treadmill or riding the stationary bike, and I had "taken a hike" to a glacier on NZ's south island.  Turns out that the YMCA bike took me to Franz Josef glacier, which just looked like dirty ice to me.  But our friends had said this was a beautiful hike.  It really was!  The pictures just do not do it justice because the snow was blinding white and we had to shoot into the sun to get many of the photos.  It was simply gorgeous with many waterfalls.

Just starting out

A really beautiful river

The glacier is in front of that blinding sun.  Easier to see with the naked eye. You could see about 10 waterfalls from this spot. 

You can see the glacier better here

Sadly, this was not open

This and the next two pics are from the drive to the hike which was quite an adventure with many creeks to ford

So many sheep!

These same friends who recommended Rob Roy Glacier told us that Roy's Peak was a hike we should definitely skip - that it was just hot and exposed all the way up and that the view wasn't worth it (though they admitted they had never taken the hike).  Thank goodness we didn't listen!  This hike was fantastic and definitely a great hike to end our trip. 

We started right at sun-up and were worried that the rain that was forecast was going to ruin our hike.  But the rain never materialized.  The hike was long (over 10 miles round trip) and quite difficult (over 4200 ft of elevation change), but we survived and loved it!