Red River Gorge

One of my favorite places to hike that is still within driving distance to my home base in Indianapolis is Red River Gorge down in Kentucky. It has become mine and my girlfriend’s go to place to get out of town and explore nature. This was our third weekend trip to Red River and we have done different hikes every time, which is awesome! Officially it is known as the Red River Gorge Geological Area which is part of Daniel Boone National Forest.  Directly next to the area is also Kentucky’s Natural Bridge State Park which features one of the best natural bridges / arches in the area. This time we only had 1 day to hike and picked out 3 medium length trails near the west side of the area. I also had something special planned…

Growing up in the Midwest and being an avid snowboarding I know not to expect too much at the local ski resorts but I have been pleasantly surprised every time I have been to Perfect North. First off, Perfect North is an Indiana ski resort which right there doesn’t make much sense with Indiana being as flat as a pancake. Last year I went to Perfect North for the first time after record snowfall in Indiana and hit all the most difficult runs on my snowboard but this year I wanted to learn how to ski there and thought it would be the perfect place to try.

To start off with I went there on a day trip with a group of 9 friends and most had not skied or snowboarded ever. While heading to the line to get a lift ticket a lady stopped us and offered for us to join their group to get discount lift tickets. This was awesome as the price came out to $48 total for an 8 hour lift ticket and rental compared to the standard $47 for a lift ticket and $25 for rental. For future reference groups must register online before coming but can add any amount of people as long as their is a minimum of 15 people. After getting the tickets situated we headed to down to the basement of the lodge to pickup rentals and it was packed like any typical Midwest ski resort. I found a decent pair of ski boots and struggled to put them on as I am used to snowboard boots which are not only easy but relatively comfy.