“The mountains are calling and I must go.” -John Muir

Most people in this area know about the Cascades hike; it’s a very scenic and easy trail that leads to a massive waterfall. During the summer, many will brave the freezing waters and jump into the falls. The Cascades is 4 miles total, which is shorter than most hikes nearby (Dragon’s Tooth is ~6 miles and McAfee’s is ~8 miles). What most people don’t know is that there is another trail (2 miles) that continues above the Cascades towards Barney’s Wall. To get to it, take a left after heading up the wooden stairs and follow signs towards the Conservancy Trail then signs towards Barney’s Wall. 

I went for the first time after my last final last semester; before then, I had always just stopped at the Cascades, but Barney’s Wall quickly became one of my favorite trails. It’s a very serene and barely tread upon trail. With minimal traffic and grass and tiny blue and white flowers growing in the middle of the path, it feels seldom treaded upon.  I’m not really sure how to describe it entirely, but it has a much different vibe from the other popular hikes. The trail leads to a jaw-dropping open view of rolling mountains covered with forest green trees. I imagine it looks incredible during autumn. With most other hikes, the peak is so high up above the mountains that everything seems so far away. At Barney’s Wall, the mountains are so much closer that you truly feel like you’re within the mountains. 

For those who love longer hikes and beautiful mountainous views, I would definitely recommend heading over to Barney’s Wall after the Cascades!

These are the five main steps I took to plan my trip:

1. I bought a Rick Steves’ guide to England. I read all the advice and skimmed to see which landmarks I would be interested in visiting.
2. I started to keep a running list of things I definitely wanted to see and things that I would like to check out if time permits. Since I knew I wanted to spend most of my time in London, I planned for 4 days in London and 2 day trips to other nearby cities. Based on my interests and how much time we had, we ended up going to Cambridge and Bath.
3. As for our time in London, I split up the days based on location- north, west, south, and east.
4. Instead of wasting time pouring over maps there, I familiarized myself with the London Underground ahead of time– making sure I knew exactly which lines to take, which stops to switch at, and where to get off.
5. Since I knew day trips would be much more exhausting, I planned the day trips to be sandwiched between days in London, and then I bought train tickets for those specific days

Hopefully these steps were useful and will help you when you plan your next trip!

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