Cadillac Mountain is the worst I've been to because you don't even have to hike. You can drive up it. So it's more than twice you'd normally have.
Yea, we are still gonna do it though. Feels like we have to. We are going to hike up instead of drive, so I am sure we can figure something out.
Any recommendations for state or national parks in the St Louis area? We'll be there in late March with the family. Mostly interested in awesome hikes and views but open to all suggestions within a couple hour radius.
make a reservation at Jordan pond house for lunch in the park. Popovers are dynamite. I went to bar harbor almost every summer for about a week and love it up there.
I've been. From looking at the descriptions it looks like I did the Domes and Dripstones tour. It's the only one I've done so I can't compare it to the others, but it was a solid tour with neat formations. You can read about the history in the visitors center, so this one is probably better than the historic tours. The Cleaveland Avenue Tour does sound interesting to me. I love national parks, but Mammoth Cave would be way down my list on favorite parks. Unless you just love caves, or are going to be in the immediate area I don't know that I would highly recommend going. (I actually just looked and over the summer I ranked all of the parks I have visited in this thread. I ranked Mammoth 31st of 33, and the other two I didn't really get to visit.)
thanks for the recs. I agree it’s not one I would go out of my way for but I’ll be driving right by it so why not?
Ya, if you have never been to a cave then it's a unique experience and you should go to one. In East Tennessee we have a few that are common field trip destinations in school. Going in I expected more out Mammoth because of the national park designation, and all caves are pretty much the same. But if anyone is interested in a more interesting cave, the Lost Sea in Sweetwater, TN has your normal stalactites and stalagmites, the typical big rooms, and it also has an underground lake with glass bottom boat rides. You can also do the "wild tour" where you crawl around tiny little caverns like an actual spelunker.
Pelican once posted a crazy story about people getting stuck in a cave (and eventually dying when rescues failed) so I no longer am intrigued by caves
I'm going to search through the thread to get some ideas but I am heading to Seattle for a guys trip Aug. 18-21. I want to fly out there the Friday before (8/12) and do some hiking in the area. I know Olympic, Mt. Rainier, and North Cascades are all within about 2.5 hrs of downtown Seattle. Do you all have any suggestions on which one to do? Should I focus on one or do two days at one and two days at another? Particular places I should stay? Etc...
I did all three in 2020. I did like 18 parks or something like that in 2020-21 and Olympic and Mount Rainier were probably in the top 5 of all of the ones I've done. Just my personal opinion but I enjoyed both of them quite a bit more than Northern Cascades. Also very nice in the summertime. I only got to see Rainier for about 1.5 days but I will be going back again sometime. I regret I didn't have more time there. Rainier is pretty easy and straightforward to get to from Seattle. Maybe 2-2.5 hours. You can get an Airbnb near the Ashford area for cheap. It's remote like most all national parks but a few places to eat and very close to the park. I think Rainier is perhaps the most underrated park I've been to. I was blown away by how beautiful it was. Olympic is a little tougher. It is a huge park and most of the best areas are on the far western side on the coast. That makes it probably more like 3-3.5 hours from downtown Seattle, which is a haul if you're on a short trip. It's really worth it. To me, the hiking in the Hurricane Ridge area was just OK but the Hoh Rainforest/Sol Duc/Coastal areas was magnificent. You'll probably want to stay in Forks for the best parts of the parts. Forks is pretty weird/depressing little town but it's all that has lodging really. I thought Northern Cascades was pretty mediocre just because I thought the hikes we did all were pretty much the same and had the same view. Very pretty alpine lake below, but it's kinda just one big highway that runs through the middle of the park and all the various hikes just lead to different views of the lake. I've heard the really difficult hikes there are spectacular, but they are very taxing. I consider myself like an intermediate hiker, 10-12 miles a day and like 2-2.5k elevation change are about my max. But I've talked to friends that do like the multi-day 25 mile hike things with 5k elevation change and they've shown me some pretty spectacular pictures from Northern Cascades. But I'm just not on that level haha. BamaNug gave me some good recs on the area and he may be able to help here as well. Good luck on your trip, I'm jealous.
This thread will help you out for in-city stuff: https://www.the-mainboard.com/index...to-seattle-this-is-the-thread-for-you.163967/
Also to plan the trip if you've only got 6 days, when you land I'd do Olympic first, then Rainier, then maybe 1 day in Northern Cascades. I did the opposite order and Rainier got squeezed because it was in the middle. I'd rather have squeezed Northern Cascades unless you're a very hardcore hiker. If I could do it over again and had 6 days like you, I'd do like 2.5 in Olympic, 2.5 in Rainier, and the last one in Northern Cascades.
Went to Yosemite with the wife a few weeks back & stayed at The Ahwahnee… Lucky the conditions were great a few nights & caught the Firefall Spoiler
that's awesome. How'd you enjoy the hotel? Had a bunch of meals/drinks there but never stayed. Just from visiting, it's a beautiful hotel but I wish it was kept up a little better. Several NPS hotels are like that- particularly in Glacier.
It was pretty badass, being right under half dome & views of Yosemite Falls. Spent every night drinking by the massive fireplace. Apparently it's closing down for 2-3 months, so it can be renovated. It was super convenient. If we went back, we'd definitely stay somewhere within the park again, but not sure I'd pay the premium to stay there.
Scratch off North Cascades. I'd spend a good majority of your time in the Olympics. The coastal trail system is worthy of a 4 day trip alone.
Pro tip: Bring crampons & poles when visiting Yosemite in winter. I though crampons would be enough & regret leaving our poles behind... there were several hikes that we had to cut short due to safety.
Little late on the cave talk but if you're in S AZ, Karchner Caverns is a must. People come from all over the world to study. Most of it is still prestine from when it was discovered in the 70s. It's a pretty cool story about how it got discovered and subsequently protected and became a St Park.
Olympic is awesome because it is so diverse and you could definitely spend a day or more in each the mountains, rain forest and coast. The Hurricane Ridge Hike is one of my favorite anywhere. To hike in North Cascades most of the better stuff is in backcountry wilderness and is harder to access or day hike. But the drive through the park is great, the views at Washington pass are awesome. You can make a pretty good road trip day, if that interests you, going through the mountains on HWY 20 and then back on HWY 2. One of the best things I did in the area was a whale watching tour around the San Juan Islands. We saw a ton of orcas and other wildlife, and the islands are cool as well.
Echoing a lot of what Leonard says. Olympic is my favorite, it's spectacular. There are basically two entrances -- the north part of the peninsula, through Port Angeles and the west part of peninsula (Pacific Ocean) through Forks. The western side is better imo, but it's a haul -- It's taken me 4+ hours from Seattle before, depending on ferry schedule. The beaches (Rialto, Strawberry point) are only on the west side, as is the Hoh rainforest. And yes, Forks is a shithole. Super weird. August should be perfect weather, depending on wildfires. If you're much of a camper, highly recommend a night or two on the beach -- it's a magical camping experience. Bears, deer, the occasional whale, all next to a temperate rainforest that abuts to a beautiful white sand beach on the Ocean. If you're there for more than 24 hours, then you hike out to the rock formations during lowtide and see amazing sea life in the tide pools. The north side is about 2, 2.5 hours from Seattle (depending on ferry schedule). If you can only do the north side, then Hurricane Ridge is the most popular hike. Stay in Port Angeles, which is a cool little town and overlooking the Strait of Juan de Fuca with Victoria/Vancouver Island on the other side. Rainier is amazing and super easy -- it's just one big mega volcano, hard to miss. Main hike is Panorama Point -- on top of that is Camp Muir, if you're feeling froggy and have experience hiking on ice/snow. Another good one is Comet Falls. North Cascades is pretty much exactly like described above -- super gnarly. Referred to as the "American Alps" because of how rugged the peaks are. Not really an easy hike to be had, most are 10-15 miles with a ton of vert. It's also really out of the way. But, if you're looking for 1-2-3 nights in the backcountry, it's hard to beat. Some of my favorite backpacking trips have been in the North Cascades. Can definitely answer any follow-up questions.
All my birding camera practice definitely paid off on the trip, coupled with a major upgrade to my camera base & glass. I surprised myself.
Yosemite is one of the most visually impressive places I've ever been. Once you enter the valley you're literally in the land of giants. So cool. Awesome pics.
I am so fascinated by tidepools. I didn't explore them in Olympic, which I regret, but I did check them out in Redwood NP and it was so awesome. I guess it's just because we had nothing like that at all growing up in the South on our beaches. Crazy to see how much life is right there beneath the surface. When I go back to Olympic I will spend more time on the beach. Redwood NP is super underrated as well but pretty damn hard to get to if you don't live in NoCal or the PNW.
Rivals 00s - [Place that isn't my home] sucks. Absolute garbage tier. TMB 20s - I am fascinated by environments near and far from my home. Getting older is nice
Me and seven friends applying for Wonderland Trail permits. 93-mile loop around Mt Rainier. They changed the reservation system to a lottery -- apparently 2,700 applied last year and they can only accept 700. 26% chance LFG
There's a not insignificant part of me that dreams of fucking off and becoming a NP ranger in Olympic/Glacier/Utah.
Read Desert Solitaire by Edward Abbey and become even further motivated. Sadly, modern life for NP Rangers is a lot different. Finding affordable lodging is a very real challenge for them. At least it is in Utah. Except for, maybe, those at Capital Reef NP.