U.S. National Parks thread

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  • darwinstheory
    darwinstheory LaPorte, IN Posts: 7,382
    That's some pretty neat...and scary looking stuff. Thanks for sharing. 
    "A smart monkey doesn't monkey around with another monkey's monkey" - Darwin's Theory
  • tempo_n_groove
    tempo_n_groove Posts: 41,537
    jerparker20 said:
    Made it back from Death Valley National Park. A very awesome place. Beautiful views, hikes, and landscapes. I highly recommend a visit.  A high clearance 4x4 vehicle is a must though.

    An added bonus to the trip was getting to witness a very rare occurrence, RAIN. It made the first day of the visit a little rough, but it provided a different look at the park.

    also took in some of the weirdness the area has to offer. Spent a night at the Armagosa Opera House and Hotel. Hands down the strangest place I’ve ever slept at. Took a side trek on the way out of the park to the ghost town of Ballarat. Charlie Manson’s old truck is there, and the Barker Ranch is near by.
    Did you see Seldom seen Slims gravesite in Ballarat?!?

    Also I thought Charlie and company were in Panamint?!?
  • hauntingfamiliar
    hauntingfamiliar Wilmington, NC Posts: 10,368
    jerparker20 said:
    The wife is the picture taker, but here are few:

    These pictures are breathtaking. It reminds me of how much catching up I need to do in these parks. What is the brilliant blue/turquoise in the mountains from?
  • jerparker20
    jerparker20 St. Paul, MN Posts: 2,529
    tempo_n_groove said:
    jerparker20 said:
    Made it back from Death Valley National Park. A very awesome place. Beautiful views, hikes, and landscapes. I highly recommend a visit.  A high clearance 4x4 vehicle is a must though.

    An added bonus to the trip was getting to witness a very rare occurrence, RAIN. It made the first day of the visit a little rough, but it provided a different look at the park.

    also took in some of the weirdness the area has to offer. Spent a night at the Armagosa Opera House and Hotel. Hands down the strangest place I’ve ever slept at. Took a side trek on the way out of the park to the ghost town of Ballarat. Charlie Manson’s old truck is there, and the Barker Ranch is near by.
    Did you see Seldom seen Slims gravesite in Ballarat?!?

    Also I thought Charlie and company were in Panamint?!?
    I probably did, but really wasn’t looking that closely. Honestly, I didn’t know anything about the place till after we left and looked it up on google. 

    The Barker Ranch is just down the road from Ballarat, which just outside of Panamint. Also, the breakfast burrito with sausage gravy at the Panamint Springs Cafe is delicious.
  • jerparker20
    jerparker20 St. Paul, MN Posts: 2,529
    hauntingfamiliar said:
    jerparker20 said:
    The wife is the picture taker, but here are few:

    These pictures are breathtaking. It reminds me of how much catching up I need to do in these parks. What is the brilliant blue/turquoise in the mountains from?
    I believe it is chlorite. The rain really made the colors in the earth pop. That was up in the Artist’s Pallet/Golden Canyon area. Lucas used the area as a set for some of the desert shots in Stars Wars and Return of the Jedi.
  • hauntingfamiliar
    hauntingfamiliar Wilmington, NC Posts: 10,368
    ^ Interesting :plus_one:
  • tempo_n_groove
    tempo_n_groove Posts: 41,537
    jerparker20 said:
    hauntingfamiliar said:
    jerparker20 said:
    The wife is the picture taker, but here are few:

    These pictures are breathtaking. It reminds me of how much catching up I need to do in these parks. What is the brilliant blue/turquoise in the mountains from?
    I believe it is chlorite. The rain really made the colors in the earth pop. That was up in the Artist’s Pallet/Golden Canyon area. Lucas used the area as a set for some of the desert shots in Stars Wars and Return of the Jedi.
    Copper and hematite also.
  • tempo_n_groove
    tempo_n_groove Posts: 41,537
    jerparker20 said:
    tempo_n_groove said:
    jerparker20 said:
    Made it back from Death Valley National Park. A very awesome place. Beautiful views, hikes, and landscapes. I highly recommend a visit.  A high clearance 4x4 vehicle is a must though.

    An added bonus to the trip was getting to witness a very rare occurrence, RAIN. It made the first day of the visit a little rough, but it provided a different look at the park.

    also took in some of the weirdness the area has to offer. Spent a night at the Armagosa Opera House and Hotel. Hands down the strangest place I’ve ever slept at. Took a side trek on the way out of the park to the ghost town of Ballarat. Charlie Manson’s old truck is there, and the Barker Ranch is near by.
    Did you see Seldom seen Slims gravesite in Ballarat?!?

    Also I thought Charlie and company were in Panamint?!?
    I probably did, but really wasn’t looking that closely. Honestly, I didn’t know anything about the place till after we left and looked it up on google. 

    The Barker Ranch is just down the road from Ballarat, which just outside of Panamint. Also, the breakfast burrito with sausage gravy at the Panamint Springs Cafe is delicious.
    OK that makes sense.  We used to go all over the desert in those areas and all the books we had said the bus/compound was at the foot of the panamints.

    Lots of really neat things to see and do out there!
  • jerparker20
    jerparker20 St. Paul, MN Posts: 2,529
    tempo_n_groove said:
    jerparker20 said:
    tempo_n_groove said:
    jerparker20 said:
    Made it back from Death Valley National Park. A very awesome place. Beautiful views, hikes, and landscapes. I highly recommend a visit.  A high clearance 4x4 vehicle is a must though.

    An added bonus to the trip was getting to witness a very rare occurrence, RAIN. It made the first day of the visit a little rough, but it provided a different look at the park.

    also took in some of the weirdness the area has to offer. Spent a night at the Armagosa Opera House and Hotel. Hands down the strangest place I’ve ever slept at. Took a side trek on the way out of the park to the ghost town of Ballarat. Charlie Manson’s old truck is there, and the Barker Ranch is near by.
    Did you see Seldom seen Slims gravesite in Ballarat?!?

    Also I thought Charlie and company were in Panamint?!?
    I probably did, but really wasn’t looking that closely. Honestly, I didn’t know anything about the place till after we left and looked it up on google. 

    The Barker Ranch is just down the road from Ballarat, which just outside of Panamint. Also, the breakfast burrito with sausage gravy at the Panamint Springs Cafe is delicious.
    OK that makes sense.  We used to go all over the desert in those areas and all the books we had said the bus/compound was at the foot of the panamints.

    Lots of really neat things to see and do out there!
    The area is awesome. My in-laws have officially made Palm Springs their winter residence, so I’m out there a couple times a year.  I love all the odd stuff out there. Next year the plan is to spend a few days down at the Salton Sea and spend a night in the Gram Parsons room at the Joshua Tree Inn.
  • tempo_n_groove
    tempo_n_groove Posts: 41,537
    jerparker20 said:
    tempo_n_groove said:
    jerparker20 said:
    tempo_n_groove said:
    jerparker20 said:
    Made it back from Death Valley National Park. A very awesome place. Beautiful views, hikes, and landscapes. I highly recommend a visit.  A high clearance 4x4 vehicle is a must though.

    An added bonus to the trip was getting to witness a very rare occurrence, RAIN. It made the first day of the visit a little rough, but it provided a different look at the park.

    also took in some of the weirdness the area has to offer. Spent a night at the Armagosa Opera House and Hotel. Hands down the strangest place I’ve ever slept at. Took a side trek on the way out of the park to the ghost town of Ballarat. Charlie Manson’s old truck is there, and the Barker Ranch is near by.
    Did you see Seldom seen Slims gravesite in Ballarat?!?

    Also I thought Charlie and company were in Panamint?!?
    I probably did, but really wasn’t looking that closely. Honestly, I didn’t know anything about the place till after we left and looked it up on google. 

    The Barker Ranch is just down the road from Ballarat, which just outside of Panamint. Also, the breakfast burrito with sausage gravy at the Panamint Springs Cafe is delicious.
    OK that makes sense.  We used to go all over the desert in those areas and all the books we had said the bus/compound was at the foot of the panamints.

    Lots of really neat things to see and do out there!
    The area is awesome. My in-laws have officially made Palm Springs their winter residence, so I’m out there a couple times a year.  I love all the odd stuff out there. Next year the plan is to spend a few days down at the Salton Sea and spend a night in the Gram Parsons room at the Joshua Tree Inn.
    You want an adventure?

    Hike up to Panamint city via Death Valley.  You'll need two cars but it's one hell of a trip.
  • helplessdancer
    helplessdancer Posts: 5,293
    one of the coolest hikes ive done was in hawaii, the big island
    down the one side of a dormant volcano, walking across the crater and then back up the bank of it to the top on the other side
    it took a few hours and walking on the volcano crater was like out of this world...imagine being on the moon
    Hawaii Volcanoes National Park: Big Island Of Hawaii


  • jerparker20
    jerparker20 St. Paul, MN Posts: 2,529
    helplessdancer said:
    one of the coolest hikes ive done was in hawaii, the big island
    down the one side of a dormant volcano, walking across the crater and then back up the bank of it to the top on the other side
    it took a few hours and walking on the volcano crater was like out of this world...imagine being on the moon
    Hawaii Volcanoes National Park: Big Island Of Hawaii


    I have done that hike. It’s really awesome. I also did a night hike out to the crater during a new moon. I have never seen stars like that before, or since. 
  • helplessdancer
    helplessdancer Posts: 5,293
    ^^^^
    very cool that someone else has done that hike!! and during a new moon...wow! that 4 hour crater hike was one of the most incredible life experiences i have had and i have also horse back rode and hiked other volcanoes on maui and done the sunrise there as well. all incredible+
    and like u said the stars are unreal there. i know ed mentioned the stars in telluride being like hawaii and i get that also...
  • helplessdancer
    helplessdancer Posts: 5,293
    not sure if anyone has hiked to crater lake at maroon bells in colorado, just outside of aspen
    the hike is also about 4 hours and not that easy, yet incredible. when we did it we went through 4 different weather/temp zones. on the hike it hailed, rained, snowed and was sunny and warm...crazy good times...especially in colorado where the hippies have a lot of fun  ;)
    https://www.tripadvisor.ca/Attraction_Review-g29141-d2292499-Reviews-Maroon_Bells-Aspen_Colorado.html
  • rgambs
    rgambs Posts: 13,576
    Looking forward to knocking off the Crown Jewel of the National Park system, the mighty Sequoias, Cathedral and Range of Light known as Yosemite.
    Monkey Driven, Call this Living?
  • tempo_n_groove
    tempo_n_groove Posts: 41,537
    I am trying to set up a North Rim Grand Canyon trip.

    Has anyone here done that?

    I'm also looking into the possibility of doing a Rim ti Rim trip.

    Any help on this would be appreciated!
  • brianlux
    brianlux Moving through All Kinds of Terrain. Posts: 43,665
    In practice, I'm a huge fan of National and State Parks.  I've long renewed my National and California state parks pass every year and, as a "senior", now have a life-time National Parks pass.

    However, after reading Richard Manning's excellent book (he's written a bunch of them and they are all excellent) Inside Passage, I question the whole idea of parks.  As wonderful as they are, what they tell us is, We'll draw a little line around these small, select parts of the state or country where people can cram together to enjoy a little "nature" and that way we can ravage the rest of the land for our own short-sighted, greedy needs.  If we worked with the land and with greater regard to nature's ways, we would need no parks.  This is how the aboriginal and indigenous in the north west of America see it.  They find the idea of "parks" as rather absurd. 

    But as long as things are the way they are, I will continue to support parks, visit them, and dream of a world in better harmony.
    "It's a sad and beautiful world"
    -Roberto Benigni

  • jerparker20
    jerparker20 St. Paul, MN Posts: 2,529
    tempo_n_groove said:
    I am trying to set up a North Rim Grand Canyon trip.

    Has anyone here done that?

    I'm also looking into the possibility of doing a Rim ti Rim trip.

    Any help on this would be appreciated!
    I was at the North Rim for a few days in October 2015.  Left the day after the lodge closed, so there weren’t a lot of people there. Which was nice. Camped in a van outside of the park in the dispersed camping sites for two nights, then one in the park. Dispersed camping isn’t for everyone, and I’ve heared a few horror stories...

    Did the North Kaibab hike into the canyon to Roaring Springs. Park Rangers don’t recommend going further down than that on a day hike, cause you got to go back up. Beautiful hike. I got very hot the further down we went, and hiking out was a lot of work. 3000’ of elevation drop in roughly 4 miles.
  • tempo_n_groove
    tempo_n_groove Posts: 41,537
    jerparker20 said:
    tempo_n_groove said:
    I am trying to set up a North Rim Grand Canyon trip.

    Has anyone here done that?

    I'm also looking into the possibility of doing a Rim ti Rim trip.

    Any help on this would be appreciated!
    I was at the North Rim for a few days in October 2015.  Left the day after the lodge closed, so there weren’t a lot of people there. Which was nice. Camped in a van outside of the park in the dispersed camping sites for two nights, then one in the park. Dispersed camping isn’t for everyone, and I’ve heared a few horror stories...

    Did the North Kaibab hike into the canyon to Roaring Springs. Park Rangers don’t recommend going further down than that on a day hike, cause you got to go back up. Beautiful hike. I got very hot the further down we went, and hiking out was a lot of work. 3000’ of elevation drop in roughly 4 miles.
    I'm reading that you should take a siesta during the hottest part of the day.
  • jerparker20
    jerparker20 St. Paul, MN Posts: 2,529
    tempo_n_groove said:
    jerparker20 said:
    tempo_n_groove said:
    I am trying to set up a North Rim Grand Canyon trip.

    Has anyone here done that?

    I'm also looking into the possibility of doing a Rim ti Rim trip.

    Any help on this would be appreciated!
    I was at the North Rim for a few days in October 2015.  Left the day after the lodge closed, so there weren’t a lot of people there. Which was nice. Camped in a van outside of the park in the dispersed camping sites for two nights, then one in the park. Dispersed camping isn’t for everyone, and I’ve heared a few horror stories...

    Did the North Kaibab hike into the canyon to Roaring Springs. Park Rangers don’t recommend going further down than that on a day hike, cause you got to go back up. Beautiful hike. I got very hot the further down we went, and hiking out was a lot of work. 3000’ of elevation drop in roughly 4 miles.
    I'm reading that you should take a siesta during the hottest part of the day.
    After a few beers, I slept very well that evening.

    I definitely want to do the rim to rim hike before I kick off though. 

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