We first visited Olympic National Park two years ago in the fall, and immediately promised ourselves that we would return. With tidepools filled with colorful sea creatures, mysterious rainforests, snow-capped mountains, shimmering lakes, beautiful lodges, and a rich history of native culture, this is a diverse and enchanting park. Although it’s possible to do a […]
Archive for National Parks – Page 2
Considering that it’s pretty much in the middle of nowhere, it’s kind of surprising that we’ve made our way to Great Basin National Park three times now. I resisted going there for years, thinking that a national park in Nevada couldn’t possibly amount to much. But this remote, little-visited national park has become one of […]
While perusing the website for Carlsbad Caverns National Park, we decided to make reservations for a guided tour. We knew we wanted to visit the Big Room, the main cavern that’s open for self-guided wandering. But—what the heck! Let’s do it all! I was in charge of making the reservations and considered signing up for […]
It’s in the middle of nowhere, at the end of a winding 30-mile, two-lane county road with no gas stations, no grocery stores, and no cell reception for miles. It’s bone dry and brutally hot in the summer months. In the campground, shade is meager. There are no water hookups. The landscape is not especially […]
Whether you’re in the mood for alpine meadows and high mountain peaks, ancient forests, serene lakes and waterfalls, or rugged coastlines and tidepools, you can have it all in Olympic National Park. The diversity and splendor are so remarkable that the United Nations has declared the park both an international biosphere reserve and a World […]
Anchoring one end of “The Loneliest Highway in America,” Great Basin National Park has become one of our favorite parks. The hiking is spectacular, the spring and summer wildflowers abundant (in the fall, the leaf colors are equally stunning), the night skies for star gazing are among the finest in the country, and there’s even […]
It’s a fairyland of fantastical rock formations—towering spires and arches painted in varying shades of pinks and oranges. The Paiute Indians believed the colorful rock totems were “Legend People,” who were turned to stone by Coyote. Early geologists named the rock formations “hoodoos,” and thought the imposing spires were capable of casting spells. Ebenezer Bryce, […]
I doodled and daydreamed my way through history classes in high school and college. Fortunately, my short-term memory was good enough that I could spend an evening memorizing dates, people, and events—just enough to pass exams. And then, of course, I promptly forgot everything. Now, though, we’re on The Mother of All Field Trips, visiting […]
That last Yellowstone post was too long. So I’m making this one brief. The subtitle is “Jams: Various Varieties.” Day 5: Woke up to a couple of inches of snow. Tried to drive to the Canyon area, but halfway there, got stuck in a huge traffic jam; walked a half-mile to find a truck and […]
We arrived in Yellowstone National Park with the intention of spending about three days. Eight days later, we weren’t quite ready to leave. However, the government sent us on our way when they shut the gates to the park on October 1st. According to the stone arch that we drove through every day to enter […]
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