Check out Bruneau dunes state Park just off 84 SE of Boise. A lil hidden gem with the steepest single strand dunes in North America and a crazy wind vortex all next to a lake. Gorgeous.
Has anyone ever driven the Blue Ridge Parkway between Shenandoah and Great Smoky Mountain? I was wondering how long it took. I wanted to do another park road trip over spring break.
They have some really nice longleaf pine savannah too. Nice campgrounds if they are full of white trash - though I think they were cracking down on that a while back
No, that was great advice and very much appreciated. I'm looking to fish first, the camping is secondary. Thank you. Looking closer, I might just run up the Blue Ridge Parkway and the Trout Trail on the NC side, save Tennessee for later this spring, it's where I'm from so I can always crash on my father or a cousin's couch.
if you think you're going to be in either state more than twice a year id get the year pass. 2 temp passes = 1 year roughly for out of state. nc temp pass is 10 days though
Been meaning to post this after someone else requested it from another thread, (maybe High Cotton?) Anyway, not so much a National Park, but a National Forest on the edge of a National Park. A few weeks ago my Brother in Law and I rented Snowmobiles in Arapahoe National Forest, right on the edge of Rocky Mountain National Park. The rentals were out of Grand Lake, and the trails were extensive through Arapahoe Forest, something like 130 miles of trail. From what I could gather, in the summer, they use these trails for both ATV rentals and horseback riding. Anyway, my own personal experience was awesome. First I have never been in so much snow in my life. The guy at the rental place said it has been great this year, and if they got a few more inches of snow, it would be the snowiest January on record (This was in mid-January). I'm kind of a mountain guy, and by that I mean I am fascinated by mountains and land formations, and I love being out in all of that. I'd love to live in Colorado some day for this very reason. Just a beautiful area, even on a cloudy/snowy day. At one point we stopped for a break, and when I held my breath, I think it was the quietest sound I have ever heard. We saw a few pronghorns out there, but nothing much else in the way of wildlife. We did about 75 miles in the 4 hours we had the sleds. Could have done more, but right when we started, I lost my fucking phone when I went off the trail and went over a dropoff that I damn near flipped my sled on. It was in my chest pocket, and I forgot to zip it up. We didn't realize it for a while, but when we did, I was able to use Find my Iphone on my BIL's phone to locate it, which was a miracle given the lack of cell service out there. It was 1.8 miles away from where we were. When we went back for it, I parked my sled off the trail and started climbing up this hill where I thought the phone was. Got about 5 steps up and my foot broke through and I sunk all the way up to my crotch. Had to go back down, get on my sled and drive up there to find it. It was under about a half foot of snow. Saved $1000 bucks there. Technology, man. Anyway the trail system is full of all kinds of open parks you can fuck around in, and big hills to climb. The sleds we rented were 4 stroke 600cc Ski Do's that were really nice (2017 models with handlebar and throttle warmers, nice and quiet too), but if I had to do it again, I'd probably pay the upgrade to a 2 stroke 900 just so we could get up some of the bigger hills easier. That said, the sleds we had topped us off at about 60mph on straight sections, which was plenty for me as a snowmobiling amateur on trails that hugged cliff lines at times. I can't wait to do this again. And I would recommend this to anyone. In case you're interested, the place we rented from was called "On The Trail Rentals" Place is great because rentals include snowsuit, boots, and helmet. You just need to bring gloves and goggles. Pics from the trip in the spoiler: Spoiler Handy map of the trail system Ya boy farva ready to go out and lose his phone. View from the rental place Parking Lot Grand Lake with Longs Peak in the background. Picture doesn't do this justice. Cascade Mountain on the right, and Radial Mountain on the left (Snow covered peak) View of Porphyry Peak Southwest (From Porphyryr Peak Northeast [Chicken Hill]) This was all the farther I could get up Gravel Mountain (Super Chicken Hill) before I started sliding backwards View down from how far I made it up gravel mountain
nice spin job by Chaffetz there trying to pretend he cares about the land. dude you've introduced the same bill 3 times.
Is this the de facto hiking thread? I remember we had a solid outdoors one, but it must have gotten lost in the crash. Or the other crash. Or even the other crash.
Yeah he's still a tool. He'll probably introduce it again sometime this year when no one is paying attention.
Anyone have experience/advice on Congaree NP? Mrs and I want to go canoe/kayak one day. Typically we hike so not sure where to start. Planning to go this October.
Do the boardwalk and weston Lake loop. Great trail, fairly quick to hike. The uplands are cool too, got some nice restored longleaf pine savannah. I've canoed Cedar Creek, it's beautiful.
I live within 6 hours of Banff, 4ish of Glacier so driving is easy for me. You would need to do like 1.5-2 weeks to go all three. I would say fly into Calgary which is 1.5 hours from Banff and then work up north to Jasper. Spokane would be best fly in spot in US, Kallispel is a little closer, but would be quite a bit more and the drive from Idaho panhandle is really great. Calgary is an awesome city as well. The drive up to the city of Jasper is what makes it so remarkable. You need to spend a whole day on the drive at least since you should take at least a half day hike somewhere along the way and back. An ideal plan would be to fly into Calgary, spend first couple of days in banff, then lake louise, then work way up to Jasper for a few days. I personally like Jasper the most since it's very desolate and better wild life. The southern end of Jasper by the glacier is insane
It's going to rain in Zion and snow in Bryce this weekend, tifwiw. I love both, btw, but have only been to them in the summer.
Went to Everglades last week around the Southern end. It really isn't worth any time unless you're willing to go slogging or take a fanboat. Some cool birds, but it really is all about delving into the micro climate and looking for smaller animals. I couldn't think of a place where I was like everyone needs to see this if they come
We did all three last summer. Like someone mentioned Banff and Jasper are without peers. IMO there is no more beautiful place in North America (never been to Alaska). The Canadian Parks topped Yosemite and Zion as far as all the NPs I've been to (haven't made it to Yellowstone yet) and Glacier comes very close to Yosemite. My wife said Glacier is now her favorite American park. We flew into Kalispell. Delta has direct flights from Atl during the summer. Its a 6 hour drive to Lake Louise/Banff - where we stayed for 5 nights but the drive is awesome. We then drove back to Glacier and stayed there 3 more nights. Definately wish we had more time at each place. I really wanted to hike the Iceline trail in Yoho but didn't have enough time. Drive up the Icefields Parkway. I wish we could have spent more time in Jasper. Iceburg Lake and the High line Trail in Glacier are pretty awesome too. Wildlife at all 3 parks are amazing.
Rare White Wolf Killed in Yellowstone Park Was Shot Illegally https://mobile.nytimes.com/2017/05/...d-in-yellowstone-park-was-shot-illegally.html
Ecology of fear. Fascinating stuff. It's a shame wolves are going to be extinct again in the near future.
yeah thats old. every time some broad posts it on FB i tell them this is why we need to murder deer. they kill more Americans every year than any other animal.
Absolutely. The Republican party doesn't give a shit about conservation, and I doubt the park can sustain a healthy population when they get shot as soon as they leave the boundaries. They have a huge territory, and you'd need several healthy packs to sustain a population.
Its sad that the gov't has to step in to help animals and even trees. Reading about the California Grizzly Bear and the Redwoods is sad. Apparently we logged like 97% of the Redwood trees in the 18 and 1900s. The California Grizzly sub species was hunted to extinction.
Not to be political in here but recently President Trump ordered a review of several national monuments set aside by prior presidents. Below I've linked an NPR article describing what that means and which exactly which monuments are under review. Additionally I've provided a link to the Department of the Interior where you can submit comments to the DOI regarding each national monument under review. Per the DOI: "To ensure consideration, written comments relating to the Bears Ears National Monument must be submitted before May 26, 2017. Written comments relating to all other National Monuments must be submitted before July 10, 2017." http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-...ing-american-landscapes-under-review-by-trump https://www.regulations.gov/document?D=DOI-2017-0002-0001
Zinke is a fucking coward. He said several times he's against transferring public lands to private interests, and is going to hide behind this horseshit to do it.
Hopefully im wrong but I think Bear Ears is the one in most trouble due to it being the most recent and the issues that went along with. Trump would probably get off on undoing another Obama action. There was a good article about a GPS company going out for a few weeks to try and map trails there. Said there was a lot of potential for outdoor activities and MTBs in particular.
Slightly off topic but, has anyone done this route or something similar? Scenic/worth it? I'm planning a trip to Aspen and I want to go through RMNP as I have never been before. https://www.google.com/maps/dir/Den...c782cf672!2m2!1d-106.8175387!2d39.1910983!3e0
Scored a permit to hike the Subway in Zion in August. Going to try and take 5-6 days to roadtrip out from Colorado and hit Capitol Reef and Bryce Canyon along the way as well. Any tips for where to try and camp either around Zion (I know by now tons of reservable spots are likely booked) and/or on the way there? Subway hike is for a Monday. Going to try and spend Sunday and Monday in the park for sure but still trying to get my thoughts organized on what I should prioritize for the trip. Within Zion I think must do things are the Subway itself (obvious), Angels Landing, and Observation Point. Happy to take further suggestions. Whether it's in Zion, on the way there, or close by.
That won't be terribly scenic. 131 up through Kremmling and then 40 over to Granby is going to be largely wide open spaces with some rolling hills. You'll get some mountains off to the distance but there is a whole lot of nothing in between 70 and Granby on that path. More scenic option would be to ride 70 all the way east to 40 and go over Berthoud Pass (passing through Winter Park). I've got some great RMNP hike suggestions depending on what you're looking for and the amount of time you'll have there
On second thought, a much better idea (albeit longer drive), would be to take Independence Pass out of Aspen (to the east) and go to Twin Lakes and then head north up through Leadville and then hop on 70 for a short while before taking 9 north at Silverthorne. Independence Pass is spectacular and the Twin Lakes and Leadville areas are very cool with a ton of 14ers surrounding them.