Actually did some hiking in the good ol' USA, not overseas.  The trip was planned to celebrate my sister's birthday and nieces' masters' degrees, to explore southwestern Utah's Snow Canyon and Zion National Park, and to see the annual ("ring of fire" but not total) solar eclipse.

Many areas around St. George are beautiful for hikes ― not just Snow Canyon and Zion.

Many parts of Snow Canyon consisted entirely of white Navajo sandstone (petrified sand).

Snow Canyon (shown here with mostly red sandstone) gets overshadowed by famous nearby Zion but Snow is filled with great hiking trails and is far more accessible than Zion with its thousands of tourists.

The Kolob corner of Zion is north of the main Zion strip but also has breathtaking vistas.

Grey ponders the scenery.

In Kolob, before starting the leisurely pre-eclipse picnic ― well supplied with lots of Reed's Extra Ginger Brew.

The moon was a bit too close to the earth to perfectly cover the sun as it does in a dramatic total solar eclipse. My photos were terrible, but this one (shot nearby) offers some idea, although the landscape was not nearly this dark.