I just got a national park pass and I’m so excited! Where should I go first?? I want to check off all the things and see everything. I live in Salt Lake City and I’ll be going to Orange County California (where I’m from) next month (Nov 15) for my birthday and then to Boston.
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Would love recommendations!!!!

I hiked from the Giant Forest Museum to Moro Rock for sunset.

The land and animals deserve better, as do we. If you know these idiots, please share.

The Missoulian has clear photos of those involved (i.e., if these are assholes you know, you would absolutely recognize them from the photos there), but that article is behind a paywall, so here's this instead: https://nbcmontana.com/news/local/park-rangers-seek-tips-after-hiker-confrontation-on-glaciers-hidden-lake-overlook-trail

Watching the video, it's clear these guys not only have no respect for the etiquette of the park system and the rules in place to protect the land and animals, they're also racist.

I know this may feel small relative to everything else going on, but this country has been feeling increasingly conscienceless as of late, and it would be deeply refreshing to see someone held accountable for their bad behavior, especially when it comes to our wilderness and national parks, some of the few good things we still have going for us.

Thanks! 💚

Some photos from the Alaska trip this summer and Acadia trip last weekend.

Parks covered

Katmai, Lake Clark, Denali, Kobuk Valley, Gates of the Arctic, Independence Mine SP (bonus) and Acadia

Scenically diverse and somewhat challenging hike through beautiful dolomite walls and breccia formations...a geology-lover's playground! Some scrambling involved, but doable for older youth.

Otherworldly - don’t know how else to describe it

Sydney, Australia

Mostly on Big Creek and West Prong

Hi everyone 👋 I am trying to plan out a backpacking trip to do half dome with my fiancé, mom, and dad this upcoming year. I’ve been to California as a small child, but don’t recall anything about it, so this’ll pretty much be my first time. I’m feeling pretty overwhelmed about it and want to get everything planned and set up right. We’re all pretty fit and love the outdoors and have prior camping experience as well, but when it comes to planning stuff I feel like it’s going to be a lot of me and my fiancé doing the work to figure out the details on how/what to do. I don’t have a set amount of days decided, so I’m all ears on recommendations.

I’m anticipating my parents will be flying out from Pennsylvania, and my fiancé and I may be driving out from Colorado. My fiancé and I have typically driven to our camping/adventure locations out here in the west (Arizona/Utah/Wyoming/New Mexico) and we’re not even sure if this is the right move at all, so we’re wondering if we should consider flying ourselves? But also flying all the camping equipment out has to cost a pretty penny I assume?

Besides travel accommodations, the other part I’m kind of antsy about is the permits. I’m fairly positive we all are not trying to do Half Dome one single day out and back, even though we’ve all done that distance and elevation gain before. I’d like to make a backpacking trip out of it to really fully immerse ourselves in the nature of Yosemite. I’ve read there’s options for this that all include a Half Dome permit with the backcountry camping permit:

Happy Isles to Little Yosemite Valley
Happy Isles past LYV (Donohue pass eligible)
Sunrise Lakes
Cathedral Lakes
Rafferty Creek to Vogelsang

I’m interested in hearing about some of your treks. and also how you did the permit process, cause I’ve read attaining a Half Dome permit can be quite competitive.

Would our best odds be for each member of our group to submit a permit for each one of these back country permits and just cross our fingers and hope one of us wins? I’m assuming if all four of us submit a 4 person permit for all 5 of these we’d have a good shot right?

The travel and permit situation is really what’s got me anxious, (and maybe what gear we’d need) and I feel like once that’s figured out the rest of the trip will kind of plan itself. TBH I’m not really keen on going to the city or anything too urban/congested (I know it’s California, so I’m going into it anticipating congestion anywhere we go). Prioritizing experiences at national/state/local parks out there is my main objective, I just really want to connect with the nature I’ve never had a chance to experience before. I’m open to all suggestions though, as I’m obviously not a local, and I have no idea when I’ll ever be back in California.

Thanks so much for the help, I’m just overwhelmed at where to start planning this. Hoping that everyone reading has an amazing day 🫶

Planning a 3-night trip in mid-November with my wife, our 3-year-old, and my mom. We're torn between flying into Vegas and staying in Springdale to visit Zion, or flying into Phoenix and heading to Sedona.

We're looking for incredible scenery, easy hikes and walks with a toddler, and a nice town with good coffee shops and restaurants. For those who've been to both, which would you recommend for a trip like this?

Dry Tortugas National Park