tarol
Trail Wise!
Redding, CA
Posts: 582
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Post by tarol on Dec 1, 2016 23:22:48 GMT -8
Yep! We visited 4 new to us National Parks and several other monuments, etc ran by the NPS - and only found crowds in one spot - Mt. Rainier. We went to Crater Lake, Mt. Rainier, North Cascades, and Olympic. Also Whitman Mission NHS, Lava Beds NM (the petroglyph site, anyway), WWII Valor in the Pacific NM (Tule Lake Unit), and John Day Fossil Beds NM twice. Oh, and our 4-year-old son became a junior ranger 3 times this summer! He began reading and writing in preschool in the spring so by the end of summer I knew he was ready! And, also very noteworthy, we visited Hells Canyon National Recreation Area twice (deepest canyon in the country, managed by the USFS and once proposed to be a National Park, combined with the incredible Zumwalt Prairie and Wallowa Mountains). Also very impressed with the area around North Cascades NP, the Okanogan-Wenatchee NF. We drove up the Hart's Pass Road, the closest road to the end of the PCT, and very beautiful and scary. Probably the scariest road I've ever been on. Anyway, that area looks like Yosemite - without 99% of the people, and I thought perhaps prettier than North Cascades. And we went to Mount Saint Helens National Volcanic Monument, managed by the USFS, which is absolutely incredible. In college I visited the west side, this time we went to the east side. We went to Olympic National Forest and the scenery there, again, I thought was perhaps better than the neighboring park. At least in terms of the rain forest where we were. And so few people, of course, makes it more enjoyable. Oh, and one more, Columbia Gorge National Scenic Area, managed by the USFS. We saw incredible flower displays in the Columbia Gorge on state park and Nature Conservancy land that rivaled anything I've ever seen anywhere. And that's saying a lot, because that's the #1 thing I seek to find, wildflowers blooming in the spring Not to mention the plethora of waterfalls there! Anyway, I really do encourage folks to think outside the parks. They are great, for sure, but be sure to include visits to the neighboring NF's, BLM, State lands, and Nature Conservancy Properties as well. Trip reports here! www.tarol.com/
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tigger
Trail Wise!
Posts: 2,547
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Post by tigger on Dec 2, 2016 1:15:40 GMT -8
We spent two weeks on the Rogue river in a national park area and I spent a month on the Greenland ice sheet this year which is considered a national park I think...at least, we had to get permits to travel around on it.
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Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
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Post by Deleted on Dec 2, 2016 4:26:41 GMT -8
@gooniesnvrsaydie I found Craters of the Moon pretty unique. I thought it was worth the trip slightly out of our way. We went into the Buffalo cave. We wanted to go into the Boy Scout cave, but it was so crowded, so we skipped that one. My son wants to go back and see the Boy Scout cave one day though. I definitely want to go back to that area of the country and explore more. I felt rushed. Yeah it's definitely unique. I got lucky, as there were only a few people there when I was there, so no crowding. All three caves are pretty cool. I can't remember what the one at the very end of the walk i called, but it's not as "neat" as the other two. Did you drive from Yellowstone to Cody by any chance? On that road, there is a freaking Bob's Big Boy statue in the middle of a prairie with mountains behind it. It's the weirdest thing to see. I have a pic of it, but my photobucket is being a jerk.
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Post by bluefish on Dec 2, 2016 4:33:04 GMT -8
We had a snowless winter last year that made for icy terrain in the ADK's and Vt. . We went south to hike in Harriman/Bear Mt. State Park and had a blast. We did about 15 days and walked a majority of the trails and stayed in most of the stone shelters, including New Year's eve. Amazing to see the NYC skyline, 30 miles down the Hudson, lit up at night from a shelter perched on bald rock. I grew up in northern NJ before it was almost destroyed and it reminded me of being a kid exploring the woods. Joy is good. We've done 1 trip to Harriman so far this year (after Thanksgiving) and plan to go back at least twice more this winter. We also made our 5th April trip to the Grand Canyon and it was as always, jaw dropping, a challenge, and full of incredible memories. This year our Spring trip is going to hit the 4 campsites on Point Reyes, then car camp our way down the coast to San Diego. Always wanted to backpack and surf fish....
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zeke
Trail Wise!
Peekaboo slot 2023
Posts: 9,890
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Post by zeke on Dec 2, 2016 4:33:46 GMT -8
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foxalo
Trail Wise!
Life is infinitely stranger than anything the mind could invent.---Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
Posts: 2,359
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Post by foxalo on Dec 2, 2016 5:07:13 GMT -8
@gooniesnvrsaydie I did not drive that route. We came up through the south. We actually camped in Grand Tetons. Might have to try that way next time.
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Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
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Post by Deleted on Dec 2, 2016 5:53:29 GMT -8
Zeke: That's it. Pretty weird to see.
I wish I would've camped in the Tetons as well, but I overstayed my schedule in Yellowstone.
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markskor
Trail Wise!
Mammoth Lakes & Tuolumne Meadows...living the dream
Posts: 651
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Post by markskor on Dec 2, 2016 7:06:47 GMT -8
dang markskor is that a pin? The only one I've seen this year was in Death Valley that included the NPS birthday and the name of the national park. Obviously someone Aramark had thought this out beforehand. On the 100th birthday of Yosemite NP this summer... (FYI, daily supply truck from the Valley arrived ~ 11:00 AM daily). At noon they trotted out 200 - 300 of the pins. (Employees were free of course)... sold for $1.00 @ the TM store. 100 coffee mugs too ($10) - all with the same/really liked the: "I Found My Park - Yosemite" logo, plus had the "Happy 100th!" - anniversary date too ... pretty cool! Sold out in 4 hours - never did get a mug.
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Westy
Trail Wise!
Diagnosed w/Post-Trail Transition Syndrome
Posts: 1,960
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Post by Westy on Dec 2, 2016 8:58:03 GMT -8
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davesenesac
Trail Wise!
Our precious life is short within eternity, don't waste it!
Posts: 1,710
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Post by davesenesac on Dec 2, 2016 10:22:09 GMT -8
Following link lists of areas in the United States National Park System:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_areas_in_the_United_States_National_Park_System
This link counts the number of units in each of the 18 national system types and below lists the units by state:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_the_United_States_National_Park_System_official_units
California shows 27 units. Some I am not familiar with much less have visited. Just the parks:
Acadia American Samoa Arches Badlands Big Bend Biscayne Black Canyon of the Gunnison Bryce Canyon Cabrillo Canyonlands Capitol Reef Carlsbad Caverns Channel Islands Congaree Crater Lake Cuyahoga Valley Death Valley Denali Dry Tortugas Everglades Gates of the Arctic Gettysburg National Military Park Glacier Glacier Bay Grand Canyon Grand Teton Great Basin Great Sand Dunes Great Smoky Mountains Guadalupe Mountains Haleakala Hawai’i Volcanoes Harpers Ferry Hot Springs Isle Royale Joshua Tree Katmai Kenai Fjords Kings Canyon Kobuk Valley Lake Clark Lassen Volcanic Mammoth Cave Mesa Verde Mount Rainier North Cascades Organ Pipe Cactus Olympic Petrified Forest Pinnacles Redwood Rocky Mountain Saguaro Sequoia Shenandoah Theodore Roosevelt Valley Forge Virgin Islands Voyageurs Wind Cave Wrangell–St. Elias Yellowstone Yosemite Zion
David www.davidsenesac.com/2016_Trip_Chronicles/2016_Trip-Chronicles-0.html
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mk
Trail Wise!
North Texas
Posts: 1,217
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Post by mk on Dec 2, 2016 10:50:17 GMT -8
Westy your photo makes me homesick for the Grand Canyon. Some days I just want to get in the car and start driving ...
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Post by starwalker on Dec 2, 2016 11:57:59 GMT -8
mk, you would be jealous of us then. Our son works at the Grand Canyon and we go there as soon as school is out in May, then again at Christmas time. It's a long drive from Oklahoma, but it is worth it to see him, his wife and our two grandsons, not to mention gazing at the Grand Canyon again.
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Westy
Trail Wise!
Diagnosed w/Post-Trail Transition Syndrome
Posts: 1,960
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Post by Westy on Dec 2, 2016 11:59:07 GMT -8
MK...I went nearly 18 years between permits. Hiked Escalante Route (Autumn 2014) and got re-hooked. Kicking myself for the lapse of time. Won't let that ever happen again. Have the next permit in hand.
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desert dweller
Trail Wise!
Power to the Peaceful...Hate does not create.
Posts: 6,291
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Post by desert dweller on Dec 2, 2016 12:33:13 GMT -8
I'm also a Civil War buff so I visited the battlefield While walking through the museum part of the Park's building, I saw the photo of the informal rock cairn built on the supposed site where General Lyon was killed at Wilson's Creek. The caption said the cairn was long gone. After doing some research, I found out that a formal memorial was built to replace the cairn in 1928. What caught my eye about the original cairn was the name of the person on the "top-rock" of the stack. It says, "Ella Pike Bisbee Ariz. With the "z" written backward. It seemed weird that the name of the person, who had placed one of the last rocks on the cairn at the time of the old photo, was from the small mining town of Bisbee. I know Bisbee very well and have spent many nights there. It's hard to imagine someone from that town having ties to Wilson's Creek. Bisbee didn't become incorporated until 1880. So, I'm assuming she must have come to the site between 1880 and 1928. I did a detailed google search and couldn't tie anyone by that name to Bisbee or Wilson's Creek. [Edit to add: I've done a little more research and found out the photograph of the cairn was done around 1885. Adding more: The source may have said 1885, but there are dates on some of the cairn rocks from the 1890's. So, who knows.] Anyway, here are a couple of photos of the photo of the cairn. I cropped and edited one to bring out the name.
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Post by drilldaddyo on Dec 2, 2016 12:54:44 GMT -8
Hi,
In 2016 I made it to Mt. Rainer NP, Yellowstone NP (missed the Big Boy statue somehow) and the Great Basin NP. Loved them all!
Randy
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