On the Road: Yellowstone Report

by Adrienne Wilson on

Yesterday while Erik was busy typing up this great summary of National Parks to check out during winter, I was more than likely uploading my very own photos from America’s most well-known park – Yellowstone. I’m no National park geek, but having done several over the last two weeks it is pushing me to want to see them all. Yes, I’m finally beginning to understand the beauty and wonder Erik has so often mentioned in his park promoting. Anyhow, I won’t go largely into detail here on my day parading around the park snapping photo after photo of falls, wildlife, geysers and frozen snowy plant life. For the most part I found visiting Yellowstone at this time of year chilly, but incredibly awe-inspiring.

During the summer I’m told about 97% of Yellowstone’s annual visitors flood the park making major attractions like Old Faithful extremely difficult to view. On the flipside, I hadn’t one problem clearly seeing the geyser push 3,000 to 4,000 gallons of water from the Earth’s core into the air. I stood there waiting with numb finger tips and the wind ripping through my jacket joined by about 30 other people (nothing in comparison to the 25,000 who may show up during summer) who shivered and wished for the show to begin so we could all retreat back into our warm vehicles. Once Old Faithful had done it’s thing I took off and started heading back into Jackson wishing I had more time to see all the geysers and all the park had to offer. The park rangers noted too much interest is invested in Old Faithful and that Yellowstone has much, much more to offer visitors who place loads of time into their stay. Loads of time is exactly what I did not have, sadly. In addition to lack of time, we found several roads were a bit too icy for our vehicle (unequipped with snow tires) to travel down safely or during late night hours with all sorts of wildlife all over the place. In brief, Yellowstone is an awesome choice for winter if you can stand the cold temps, but after looking at Erik’s piece, I’d have to say some of the other parks could very well give Yellowstone and her Old Faithful a run for their money.

Parks in Winter

by Erik Olsen on

One of my new favorite blogs on the National Park Service – Park Remark – has got a post on some info put out by the Coalition of National Park Service Retirees. Don’t let the “retirees” part fool you. The list is about the best parks to visit during the winter, and the suggestions are NOT about Bingo and Backgammon, let alone erectile dysfunction. The piece is titled “Beyond Yellowstone: Seven Winter Travel Favorites” and Park Remark rightly points out that too much is often made of Yellowstone and that lots of other parks around the National Park System offer stuff to do in the colder months. Here’s the brief list courtesy of Park Remark:

  • Apostle Islands National Lakeshore – Wintertime magically transforms the Lake Superior shoreline at Apostle Islands National Lakeshore into a frozen fairyland.
  • Mount Rainier National Park – Storm tracks in the northwest bring enormous snowfall to this area, in some years exceeding 1,000 inches of snow for the season.
  • Dry Tortugas National Park – Not all winter national park visits have to involve waist-deep snow and sub-zero temperatures! (located among the Florida Keys)
  • Big Bend National Park – “For birders, Big Bend is a great place to build those all-important life lists. “
  • Yosemite National Park – “For those who want to get away from civilization and are willing to engage in a bit of strenuous activity, Ostrander Ski Hut is a wonderful destination”
  • Cabrillo National Monument – Between mid-December and March, it is possible to see pods of gray whales as they migrate from summer feeding areas off Alaska to sheltered bays in Baja California.
  • Statue of Liberty – To avoid long lines, plan a winter trip when visitation is way down.

Photo of the Day (10/15/2006)

by Erik Olsen on

The Sierra Nevadas are one of the most photogenic mountain ranges in the world. While the Himlayas definitely get their share of attention…their scale is truly amazing…the Sierras provide a mix of barren crags, towering pines and mirror-surfaced lakes. And when the light falls just right like it does in this superb photo of Mt. Spencer by Misha Logvinov, well, then you have the makings of a Photo of the Day. This photo, need I remind you, came from the gadling pool, to which anyone can contribute and from which we select our much coveted (OK, maybe no that much) POTD.

“Hiking” Glacier

by Erik Olsen on

Going on about the wonder and glory of the National Parks here has become something of a cliché. Sorry, the parks are one of the best things for the traveler and outdoorsman that we have to offer.

The problem is, too many people know that. And so when you hit places like Yosemite during the summer (or God forbid, Labor Day) the bovine hordes descend upon these places as if they were offing e-ticket rides to the Rapture.

But one park has managed, by virtue of its remoteness and lack of, say, a geyser named Old Faithful, to keep the hordes at bay. It is Glacier National Park. To let you know how relatively unvisited Glacier is…well, I’ve never been there. So how’s that?

But Susan Hegger with the St. Louis Dispatch did get to go, and in this so-so piece she tells the tale. Now, let me say here that the title of the article “Hiking in glacier” is a bit misleading. If I read the article correctly the writer seems to be doing more driving than hiking as she makes her way through the park. That’s rather lame. But you do learn a bit about the park, and I like to take advantage of every opportunity I can to bring attention to the parks and, in particular, places like Glacier, even though that is a rather absurd thing for me to do since I prefer they stay idyllic and yet try to promote them as much as I can. I guess I’m just schizophrenic that way.

Patagonia in the Star Trib

by Erik Olsen on

If there’s one place that I’ve blogged about here that I sometimes dream about, it’s Patagonia. It seems like a century ago that I was there with a friend of mine, trekking the Torres del Paine circuit in Chile, and trudging my way (by horse at one point) to the base of the Grey Glacier. The landscape in Patagonia is awe-inspiring. I like to tell people that it is a mixture of Yosemite, Yellowstone and scenes from a science fiction novel. In regards to the latter, not only are some of the gaping spaces there other-worldly, but there are animals like the guanaco and the reah (also known as the Nandu, an awkward, flightless ostrich-like bird) that roam the countryside and sometimes stalk unsuspecting passers-by (we were followed by a curios rhea for about three miles).

So given my enthusiasm for the place, I can hardly pass up the opportunity to post about new articles on Patagonia as I fine them. To wit: here is one from the Star Tribune in Minneapolis. Writer Chris Welsch finds the allure of the true land down under nearly as inviting and fascinating as I did. He’s on the road with several fellow travelers including some Aussies and an Argentine makes a fine story of his trip down there. Of course, he make the obligatory nod to Bruce Chatwin’s In Patagonia and rather conspicuously throws in a couple of foreign words like cebadora, but that’s OK. We’ll forgive him the travel-writing cliches. It’s otherwise a fine piece.