Here are a few within a 3-4 drive from home. Only this first one is from a national park, though it's one of the less visited ones - Great Sand Dunes National Park. Looking at this pic, you'd think you were in the Sahara, but there are a number of 14000 ft snow capped mountains behind the dunes:
Next pic is from Maroon Bells, just outside of Aspen. It's not a national park, but located in the White River National Forest. Pic was taken on Sept 18, 2018 which was the peak of the Fall color change of the aspens. Leaf change is that early because it's at an elevation of about 12000 ft. The peak of the Bells exceed 14000 ft.:
And this one from within the forest, part of a hike I did. I recall seeing a couple of elementary school classes on a "field trip" on the trail. I thought to myself that it was funny how they get to do stuff like this and my field trips, growing up in NY, were to Broadway or the Museum of Natural History.
And this last one isn't a national park either, but is a cool place I often bike to, about 10 miles from home, called Dinosaur Ridge. Yes, those are real dinosaur footprints and there are plenty more. It's across the street from Red Rocks Amphitheater:
Most of our trips to national parks were taken before I had a digital camera. I remember doing the Badlands early in our marriage before we had a car with air conditioning. Revisiting a national park this year sounds like a great idea as we probably won't be traveling internationally until 2021. The pictures I have added are of Glacier Bay, Joshua Tree and Yosemite.
FWIW, there is a buffalo herd accessible directly from i-70 about 20-30 minutes west of Denver. No national park required. There probably aren't too many interstate highway signs that say "Buffalo herd overllok, next exit."
Since we had several from Yellowstone, this first batch is from Glacier NP. It had rained for 2 days before this clearing out a lot of smoke haze from wild fires in Washington. We had picture postcard worthy weather. Sadly the Road to the Sun was being worked on so traffic was one way. We waited in line for 1/2 an hour then gave up (that's the last photo) and went to the northern part of the park.
Here's a couple from Bryce Canyon taken at the end of April 2016. The white stuff is snow. Just as we entered the park it started snowing so hard that visibility dropped dramatically. We turned the truck around, kill some time in the town just outside the entrance then went back and shot these pictures. It looks sunny and nice but was incredibly cold and windy. Life in the SW.
Speaking of National Parks. Has anyone visited all of our National Parks? We recently had a, how many of the 50 states have we visited discussion going, so I was wondering who is close to having visited all of the National Parks and which they might be missing.
This is great. Looking at the post Sam provided, if I counted correctly, we have been to 24 of them.
We have not been to Alaska. Always thought it would be easier to do. Earlier this year we called Tauck to book it for 2021 and they had no dates until much later than usual, so we gave up and instead booked to go on the land tour in Scandinavia for July 2021. I guess we won’t be going there either. Hopefully, it may be easier to go to Alaska in the near future compared to abroad. We have never been on a big cruise ship but realized we had to for Alaska, I guess it could be an advantage if passenger load is decreased for social distancing and no buffets which I don’t care for, not least because I can’t resist desserts that I am more disciplined about at home.
As near as I can remember I've been to 14 of the NPs. Found a slightly incomplete printable list of all the parks and think I'll use it to make some plans. Maybe for next spring. Here's a couple of shots from the Black Canyon of the Gunnison in CO.
I have some other nice shots of this Tauck tour In September 2018, but does anyone else have difficulty finding them on the small thumbnails you have to use, like I do?
I have only been to 4 NPs, Zion, Teton, Yellow Stone and Great Smoky Mountains. I hope to visit more in the next couple of years. I do have a Member of our local Camera Club that has visited all of the National Parks as of 2 years ago, quite a feat. It was always one of his major goals.
Here's a couple of Grand Canyon photos taken from the river during my 1979 raft trip. The bridges are the Lee's Ferry bridge and the Phantom Ranch bridge. The others are the Upper Granite Gorge and Lava Falls (the largest rapid on the river within the park).
31 National Parks so far. While I doubt we will make to all of them (and don't have that as a goal), we always work to incorporate as many as we can in our travels.
I've been to 28 on the list. 29 if you include one not on the list (Thaddeus Kosciuszko home in Phila). Don't know how many others are missing.
Favorites (a tie) - Bryce and Zion
Least favorite - Great Smoky Mtn
One on the list in my home state I haven't been to (yet) - Black Canyon of the Gunnison. Maybe I'll go in the Fall to replace a cancelled international trip.
BKMD - The National Park Service calls the Thaddeus Kosciuszko you are referring to a National Memorial vs a National Park. I sent you a PM with a link to it ( nps.gov ). Perhaps there is some distinction. I did find the following for National Park vs National Monument. Didn't find anything comparing to National Memorial.
Although there has not been a steadfast criteria over the entire period that National Parks and National Monuments have been created, there’s a pretty specific set of criteria used today. The main difference is that National Parks are created through acts of congress and must be large enough for broad use by the public. National Parks should have inspirational, educational and recreational value. National Monuments, on the other hand, are made through declarations from the president and have historic, prehistoric, or scientific interest.
Hello Cathy, yes, we have been to Hawaii twice, once in 1999 for ten days to celebrate our Silver wedding, stayed the entire time in Kauai and loved it. Travelled all around. Second time to Honolulu and on Waikiki beach. My husband was at a conference and I explored, including Pearl Harbor. Very disappointed by Waikiki and the hotel was geared to the Japanese with lots of high end shopping instead of nice landscaping. Loved Hawaii but it’s so far away and therefore much prefer the Caribbean. Especially love the British Virgin Islands, have had sailing Catamaran Vacations there in the past. Also love st. Kites, Nevis and Cayman Islands.
From 1999 to 2010 I was the camp administrator for the Boy Scout Camp at Wolverton near the General Sherman Tree.
"Camp Wolverton was a Boy Scout camp located in Sequoia National Park, California, at an elevation of 7,200 feet. The Camp opened in 1939 and was about one mile from the General Sherman Tree, and three miles from the Lodgepole Campground and Visitor's Center. It was reportedly the only BSA camp in a National Park.
CAMP WOLVERTON PERMANENTLY CLOSED AFTER 73 SUMMERS AT THE END OF THE 2011 SEASON.
The site of Camp Wolverton is now used on an occasional basis by the administration of Sequoia-Kings Canyon National Parks for Park guests and researchers."
Please Note: The above information is from an archived copy of the web site campwolverton.com which expired in March 2019.
Comments
Here are a few within a 3-4 drive from home. Only this first one is from a national park, though it's one of the less visited ones - Great Sand Dunes National Park. Looking at this pic, you'd think you were in the Sahara, but there are a number of 14000 ft snow capped mountains behind the dunes:
Next pic is from Maroon Bells, just outside of Aspen. It's not a national park, but located in the White River National Forest. Pic was taken on Sept 18, 2018 which was the peak of the Fall color change of the aspens. Leaf change is that early because it's at an elevation of about 12000 ft. The peak of the Bells exceed 14000 ft.:
And this one from within the forest, part of a hike I did. I recall seeing a couple of elementary school classes on a "field trip" on the trail. I thought to myself that it was funny how they get to do stuff like this and my field trips, growing up in NY, were to Broadway or the Museum of Natural History.
And this last one isn't a national park either, but is a cool place I often bike to, about 10 miles from home, called Dinosaur Ridge. Yes, those are real dinosaur footprints and there are plenty more. It's across the street from Red Rocks Amphitheater:
Most of our trips to national parks were taken before I had a digital camera. I remember doing the Badlands early in our marriage before we had a car with air conditioning. Revisiting a national park this year sounds like a great idea as we probably won't be traveling internationally until 2021. The pictures I have added are of Glacier Bay, Joshua Tree and Yosemite.
I think this is from Yosemite, but I'm not sure. I found it in a folder labelled CA-2004. Does anyone recognize it? If so, I'd appreciate specifics.
FWIW, there is a buffalo herd accessible directly from i-70 about 20-30 minutes west of Denver. No national park required. There probably aren't too many interstate highway signs that say "Buffalo herd overllok, next exit."
https://www.denver.org/blog/post/only-in-denver-buffalo-herd-overlook/
Is that a buffalo nest in hte first picture?😂
Great collection of photos today.
Great Sand Dunes looks innocuous enough. Been there twice for very short stops. Eaten by midge like bugs. Last time in my scalp. Not going back ever.
Since we had several from Yellowstone, this first batch is from Glacier NP. It had rained for 2 days before this clearing out a lot of smoke haze from wild fires in Washington. We had picture postcard worthy weather. Sadly the Road to the Sun was being worked on so traffic was one way. We waited in line for 1/2 an hour then gave up (that's the last photo) and went to the northern part of the park.
Here's a couple from Bryce Canyon taken at the end of April 2016. The white stuff is snow. Just as we entered the park it started snowing so hard that visibility dropped dramatically. We turned the truck around, kill some time in the town just outside the entrance then went back and shot these pictures. It looks sunny and nice but was incredibly cold and windy. Life in the SW.
Been to a lot of National Parks and have many, many photos as memories. One we like best is Yellowstone...in winter:
We are so lucky with all our beautiful National Parks.
Mount Ranier NP is awesome. I has a snowball fight with my daughter on the 4th of July several years ago
Speaking of National Parks. Has anyone visited all of our National Parks? We recently had a, how many of the 50 states have we visited discussion going, so I was wondering who is close to having visited all of the National Parks and which they might be missing.
Here is a list of the National Parks:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_national_parks_of_the_United_States#:~:text=The%20United%20States%20has%2062%20protected%20areas%20known,by%20an%20act%20of%20the%20United%20States%20Congress.
Somebody probably has.
This is great. Looking at the post Sam provided, if I counted correctly, we have been to 24 of them.
We have not been to Alaska. Always thought it would be easier to do. Earlier this year we called Tauck to book it for 2021 and they had no dates until much later than usual, so we gave up and instead booked to go on the land tour in Scandinavia for July 2021. I guess we won’t be going there either. Hopefully, it may be easier to go to Alaska in the near future compared to abroad. We have never been on a big cruise ship but realized we had to for Alaska, I guess it could be an advantage if passenger load is decreased for social distancing and no buffets which I don’t care for, not least because I can’t resist desserts that I am more disciplined about at home.
As near as I can remember I've been to 14 of the NPs. Found a slightly incomplete printable list of all the parks and think I'll use it to make some plans. Maybe for next spring. Here's a couple of shots from the Black Canyon of the Gunnison in CO.
I have some other nice shots of this Tauck tour In September 2018, but does anyone else have difficulty finding them on the small thumbnails you have to use, like I do?
We love to visit National Parks, here are few images of five Utah's National Park: Arches, Bryce Canyon, Canyonland, Capital Reef, and Zion.
I have only been to 4 NPs, Zion, Teton, Yellow Stone and Great Smoky Mountains. I hope to visit more in the next couple of years. I do have a Member of our local Camera Club that has visited all of the National Parks as of 2 years ago, quite a feat. It was always one of his major goals.
Sorry, when I uploaded the 15 Utah National Parks, The image got randomized. Here is the ID of each image:
1 Rainbow near the entrance of Capital Reef NP
2 @ Moab, outside of Arches NP
3 Canyonland NP
4 Canyonland NP
5 Capital Reef
6 Arches
7 BryceCanyon
8 Zion
9 Canyopnland
10 Zion
11 Bryce Canyon
12 Capital Reef
13 Zion
14 Bryce Canyon
15 Arches
More images of our Fantastic National Parks:
Grand canyon NP, Arizona
Petrified Forest NP
Yosemite NP, CA
Rocky Mountain NP, Colorado
Crater Lake NP, Oregon
Olympic NP, Washington
Grand Teton NP, Wypming
Yellowstone NP, Wyoming
Here's a couple of Grand Canyon photos taken from the river during my 1979 raft trip. The bridges are the Lee's Ferry bridge and the Phantom Ranch bridge. The others are the Upper Granite Gorge and Lava Falls (the largest rapid on the river within the park).
31 National Parks so far. While I doubt we will make to all of them (and don't have that as a goal), we always work to incorporate as many as we can in our travels.
I've been to 28 on the list. 29 if you include one not on the list (Thaddeus Kosciuszko home in Phila). Don't know how many others are missing.
Favorites (a tie) - Bryce and Zion
Least favorite - Great Smoky Mtn
One on the list in my home state I haven't been to (yet) - Black Canyon of the Gunnison. Maybe I'll go in the Fall to replace a cancelled international trip.
BKMD - The National Park Service calls the Thaddeus Kosciuszko you are referring to a National Memorial vs a National Park. I sent you a PM with a link to it ( nps.gov ). Perhaps there is some distinction. I did find the following for National Park vs National Monument. Didn't find anything comparing to National Memorial.
Although there has not been a steadfast criteria over the entire period that National Parks and National Monuments have been created, there’s a pretty specific set of criteria used today. The main difference is that National Parks are created through acts of congress and must be large enough for broad use by the public. National Parks should have inspirational, educational and recreational value. National Monuments, on the other hand, are made through declarations from the president and have historic, prehistoric, or scientific interest.
Here is a Wikipedia list of National Monuments:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_national_monuments_of_the_United_States
Here is the Wikipedia list of National Memorials. The Thaddeus Kosciuszko is in this list.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_national_memorials_of_the_United_States
Trying to find something not already posted.
Sequoia, General Sherman tree
Yosemite, climbers on El Capitan
Hello Cathy, yes, we have been to Hawaii twice, once in 1999 for ten days to celebrate our Silver wedding, stayed the entire time in Kauai and loved it. Travelled all around. Second time to Honolulu and on Waikiki beach. My husband was at a conference and I explored, including Pearl Harbor. Very disappointed by Waikiki and the hotel was geared to the Japanese with lots of high end shopping instead of nice landscaping. Loved Hawaii but it’s so far away and therefore much prefer the Caribbean. Especially love the British Virgin Islands, have had sailing Catamaran Vacations there in the past. Also love st. Kites, Nevis and Cayman Islands.
From 1999 to 2010 I was the camp administrator for the Boy Scout Camp at Wolverton near the General Sherman Tree.
"Camp Wolverton was a Boy Scout camp located in Sequoia National Park, California, at an elevation of 7,200 feet. The Camp opened in 1939 and was about one mile from the General Sherman Tree, and three miles from the Lodgepole Campground and Visitor's Center. It was reportedly the only BSA camp in a National Park.
CAMP WOLVERTON PERMANENTLY CLOSED AFTER 73 SUMMERS AT THE END OF THE 2011 SEASON.
The site of Camp Wolverton is now used on an occasional basis by the administration of Sequoia-Kings Canyon National Parks for Park guests and researchers."
Please Note: The above information is from an archived copy of the web site campwolverton.com which expired in March 2019.
Don't feel bad British. The only time I've been to Alaska was a middle of the night layover on an Air Force MAC flight to Japan. Maybe someday.