Two Chicks with Hiking Sticks

Monica Gonzalez and Susan Resendez
  • 4.9 (7)
  • Places & Travel
  • Weekly

Two Chicks with Hiking Sticks is a podcast that aims to entertain and educate about the outdoors through experiences that will empower us to explore the rich intersections of culture, history, and the natural world. We really appreciate your support over these last few months. We've had comments from several of you asking about merchandise and we heard you! The Two Chicks with Hiking Sticks storefront is now open and we'd love it if you would consider supporting our endeavor to inform and educate about our cultural, historical, and natural world by buying a t-shirt or sticker or pin to help spread the word by buying a t-shirt or sticker or pin. If you see something you like on the storefront but would like it more personalized, send a direct message and we'll do our best to accommodate your request! Thank you! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

  1. 1d ago

    You Can Walk INTO a Volcano?! Capulin Volcano National Monument

    Ever wonder what it's like to walk into a volcano? This week the Two Chicks head to northeastern New Mexico to cover Capulin Volcano National Monument — one of the most perfectly symmetrical cinder cone volcanoes on Earth, and one of the only places in the world where you can actually hike down into the crater vent. In this episode we cover: 🌋 How Capulin formed — and why it "seeped" instead of exploding, spreading lava roughly 16 square miles in every direction 🚗 The 2-mile road that spirals to the summit (plus a brand-new 2026 update: it's now one-way for vehicles, but open for hiking and biking!) 🦴 George McJunkin — the self-taught cowboy who found bones that rewrote how long humans have lived in North America 🥾 The Crater Rim Trail and the short-but-steep Crater Vent Trail that takes you right down into the volcano 🌌 Why Capulin is also a certified Dark Sky Park 🇲🇽 Capulin's "sister" volcano in Mexico that looks almost identical — but erupted in 1943 instead of 54,000 years ago If you've ever driven Raton Pass and blown right past the sign, this episode is your sign to stop next time. 👍 Like, subscribe, and share with a fellow trail lover ☕ Buy us a coffee / grab our merch — links in our Bio 💬 Drop a comment: have you ever eaten too many pine nuts and lost your sense of taste?! Susan and Monica want to know. #CapulinVolcano #NewMexico #NationalMonument #HikingPodcast #TwoChicksWithHikingSticks #DarkSkyPark #NPS Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    You Can Walk INTO a Volcano?! Capulin Volcano National Monument

  2. Oct 29

    America’s Biggest, Least-Visited National Park: Wrangell-St. Elias

    Wrangell-St. Elias National Park & Preserve is the largest national park in the U.S. — 13.2 million acres that almost never got protected at all. In this episode, Susan and Monica dig into the Russian explorer the park is named after, the 1978 deadline that nearly opened the land to development, and the wild story of Kennicott: a copper mining town that made $200 million in ore and then vanished almost overnight. Plus: the infamous 60-mile, pothole-filled McCarthy Road, hiking the north side's Caribou Trail, and an honest debate about whether the trip out to Kennicott is actually worth it. Featured: Kennicott Mining Town, McCarthy Road, Caribou Trail, Wrangell & St. Elias Mountain Ranges New episodes every week. Subscribe and drop a comment with a park you want us to cover next! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    America’s Biggest, Least-Visited National Park: Wrangell-St. Elias

  3. Oct 22

    A 99-Year Border Dispute, Solved with Concrete | Chamizal National Memorial

    Chamizal National Memorial doesn't look like much — until you learn a flood moved a river, stranded a piece of Mexico inside U.S. territory, and kicked off a border dispute that took 99 years, two presidents, and a concrete channel to finally settle. In this episode, Susan and Monica dig into the 1864 flood that started it all, the human cost of relocating 5,000 El Paso residents to make the border permanent, and why Chamizal is one of only two NPS sites in the country honoring a peacefully resolved international boundary dispute (the other? Washington's "Pig War" island). 📍 Featured: Chamizal Visitor Center & Museum, the U.S.–Mexico border crossing, the only NPS site flying both flags together 🥾 Also mentioned: San Juan Island National Historical Park (WA) 👟 Subscribe for more National Park history, culture, and trail adventures! #ChamizalNationalMemorial #ElPasoTexas #USMexicoBorder #NPS #HikingPodcast #TwoChicksWithHikingSticks #BorderHistory #RioGrande #SanJuanIsland Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    A 99-Year Border Dispute, Solved with Concrete | Chamizal National Memorial

  4. Oct 15

    Manassas Battlefield: Two Battles, One Field, and the Fight to Save It

    Two battles. One field. And a modern fight to keep it from being swallowed by development. In this episode of Two Chicks With Hiking Sticks, Susan and Monica head to Manassas National Battlefield Park (a.k.a. Bull Run) in Northern Virginia, site of the Civil War's first major land battle. We cover the well-to-do spectators who showed up with picnic lunches and ended up fleeing for their lives, the birth of the "Stonewall" Jackson nickname, and the Henry House, which was destroyed in the fighting and rebuilt by the family in 1870. Then we look at a side of the park you might not expect: its status as an Audubon Important Bird Area, the grassland birds it shelters, and the development pressure from data centers pressing in on its borders. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    Manassas Battlefield: Two Battles, One Field, and the Fight to Save It

  5. Oct 8

    Denali National Park: Saved for Sheep, Renamed Twice, and One $230M Bridge

    Denali National Park almost wasn't named for the mountain at all — the whole thing got saved because one guy in the early 1900s wouldn't stop fighting to protect the Dall sheep from overhunting. In this episode, we dig into how Denali became a national park in 1917 (as Mount McKinley National Park), how it tripled in size to over 6 million acres under Jimmy Carter in 1980, and the messy, ongoing fight over what to call the mountain itself. We also cover the wild story of the Pretty Rocks Landslide — permafrost that was moving up to 14 inches a day and swallowing the park's only road — and the brand-new bridge engineers built to span it. Plus: how to actually plan a Denali trip (spoiler: you only need one day inside the park), where to go for the best mountain views, and what to do outside the park boundary when you're done. 🎒 Featured: Denali (the mountain), Denali Park Road, the Pretty Rocks Bridge, Dall sheep, sled dog kennels, George Parks Highway viewpoints 🥾 Also discussed: bus tours vs. driving limits, ATV wilderness runs, river rafting, guided nature hikes, and where to actually see the mountain from outside the park 👟 Subscribe for more National Park history, culture, and trail adventures — new episodes every week! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    Denali National Park: Saved for Sheep, Renamed Twice, and One $230M Bridge

  6. Oct 1

    Where Flight Became Real: Exploring Dayton's Wright Brothers & Paul Laurence Dunbar National Park

    Two Chicks with Hiking Sticks head to Dayton, Ohio to explore the Dayton Aviation Heritage National Historical Park — the six-site park honoring Wilbur and Orville Wright AND poet Paul Laurence Dunbar.  We walk the Wright Cycle Company shop and discuss where the Wrights proved flight was practical. Come with us as we uncover how a bicycle shop, a poet, and a prairie changed the world. 📍 Featured: Wright Cycle Company | Huffman Prairie Flying Field | Paul Laurence Dunbar House | Wright Brothers Memorial Hill 🥾 Trails covered: Wright Brothers-Huffman Prairie Trail, Eastwood MetroPark Buckeye Trail, and more easy/moderate options great for 50+ hikers 👟 Subscribe for more National Park history, culture, and trail adventures! #DaytonOhio #WrightBrothers #NationalParkService #PaulLaurenceDunbar #AviationHistory #NPS #HikingPodcast #NationalHistoricalPark #TwoChicksWithHikingSticks #HuffmanPrairie #OhioTravel #HistoryPodcast Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    Where Flight Became Real: Exploring Dayton's Wright Brothers & Paul Laurence Dunbar National Park

  7. Sep 24

    White Sands National Park: Ghost Tracks, Missile Ranges & Legends

    This week Susan and Monica cover White Sands National Park — our 62nd of 63 — and there's way more going on here than sand. We get into why it sat as a "national monument" for 86 years before finally becoming a national park in 2019 (spoiler: it involved a defense bill), why the park sometimes has to shut its only road down for active missile testing next door, and the 21,000–23,000-year-old human footprints that are rewriting what we know about the first people in North America. Plus: the Mescalero Apache and early farming cultures who called this basin home, a ghost story called Pavla Blanca, and an honest-to-goodness unsolved 1896 disappearance. 📍 Featured: Dune Drive, the White Sands Missile Range, the fossil footprint fields 🥾 Good to know: check road closures before you go — missile testing can shut the only way in for hours 👟 Subscribe for more national park history, culture, and trail chat! #WhiteSandsNationalPark #NewMexico #NationalParks #NPS #GypsumDunes #IceAgeFootprints #MescaleroApache #PavlaBlanca #TwoChicksWithHikingSticks #HikingPodcast Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    White Sands National Park: Ghost Tracks, Missile Ranges & Legends

  8. Sep 17

    "Tumacácori: Arizona's Oldest Mission

    This week we're at Tumacácori National Historical Park, a 360-acre National Historical Park protecting the ruins of three Spanish colonial missions along Arizona's Santa Cruz River. We dig into Padre Kino's 1691 mission and the Anza Trail's road to San Francisco. 📍 Featured: Mission San José de Tumacácori, Tumacácori Museum 👟 Subscribe for more National Park history, culture, and trail adventures! #Tumacacori #ArizonaMissions #NPS #SantaCruzRiver #HikingPodcast #TwoChicksWithHikingSticks #NationalHistoricalPark #AnzaTrail #SonoranDesert #ArizonaHiking Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    "Tumacácori: Arizona's Oldest Mission
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Ratings & Reviews

4.9
out of 5
7 Ratings

About

Two Chicks with Hiking Sticks is a podcast that aims to entertain and educate about the outdoors through experiences that will empower us to explore the rich intersections of culture, history, and the natural world. We really appreciate your support over these last few months. We've had comments from several of you asking about merchandise and we heard you! The Two Chicks with Hiking Sticks storefront is now open and we'd love it if you would consider supporting our endeavor to inform and educate about our cultural, historical, and natural world by buying a t-shirt or sticker or pin to help spread the word by buying a t-shirt or sticker or pin. If you see something you like on the storefront but would like it more personalized, send a direct message and we'll do our best to accommodate your request! Thank you! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Information

  • Creator
    Monica Gonzalez and Susan Resendez
  • Years Active
    2025 - 2026
  • Episodes
    79
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © Monica Gonzalez and Susan Resendez
  • Show Website
    Two Chicks with Hiking Sticks

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