Not the destination but the traveler

  • Black Elk Peak: The Highest Point in South Dakota

    Black Elk Peak: The Highest Point in South Dakota

    Reach for the heavens atop Black Elk Peak, the highest natural point in the Midwest, soaring to 7,242 ft. Here, depending on how tall you are, the top of your noggin may, for a moment, be the highest human point in South Dakota. Besides the potential of this great honor,… Read more

  • Stride To the Summit of the Spectacular Opal Ridge

    Stride To the Summit of the Spectacular Opal Ridge

    Deep in Kananaskis country, a magnificent wonder awaits discovery: the spectacular Opal Ridge. Marvel at the rocky sentinels crowned in snow and gilded by the sun as you stride to the summit of Opal Ridge. Beware, the trek will not be easy, but it will certainly be an adventure to… Read more

  • Trek To the Legendary Devils Tower National Monument

    Trek To the Legendary Devils Tower National Monument

    Many millennia ago, a most curious wonder thrust itself from the molten depths of Earth…a giant tree stump made of stone. Today, this stump is known as the Devils Tower, standing tall amid the mixed grass prairies and ponderosa pine forests of Wyoming. Dedicated by President Theodore Roosevelt on September… Read more

Hike to the top of Black Elk Peak in South Dakota.

Welcome to The Unofficial Florence

My name is Florence, but I am not of the Italian sort. You will find me roaming around here and there…sometimes, because I am lost, but other times because a bird or a deer or a goat has caught my eye. Luckily, I stumbled my way back to share tales of the wild, wacky, and wonderful unofficial wonders of the world. Experience the joys and frustrations of hiking and birding from comfort of your armchair and perhaps you will embark on the adventure yourself.

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Though my social media presence is as fleeting as the tiny Black Rail, I do endeavor to appear every now and then.

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