As we close today’s “Wild America” theme, I couldn’t resist sharing this great shot of American buffalo shot and shared by JasonBechtel. The image was captured at The Wilds, a wildlife conservation area in southern Ohio. True personification of “home on the range,” I think!
If you’ve got some great travel shots you’d love to share, be sure to upload them to the Gadling pool on Flickr. We might just pick one as our Photo of the Day.
It’s Wild America day here at Gadling, and we should feel grateful to have so many wild things to be crazy about here in America! Well, if nothing else, there’s always “Where the Wild Things Are,” which could very well be this year’s sleeper of a film. Here are few more Wild America travel sleepers that should have caught your eye but for some reason didn’t.
‘Til tomorrow, have a great evening!
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Pull up a chair and start placing your bets — it’s about to get ugly.
No, really, the elephant seals will be gathering soon at Año Nuevo State Park in California for their breeding season. (And have you seen one before?) All nose and gut, the males vie for alpha male status, bellowing their complaints and battling it out by throwing their chests against each other.
They make the Central California coast their home from December to March, and visitors can take a guided tour to see the breeding colony up close — from the first arrival of the males to the final departure of the pups.
Año Nuevo is the world’s largest mainland breeding colony of the northern elephant seal. But back in 1892, fewer than 100 elephant seals existed anywhere because of hunting. Now, thanks to legislation first implemented in Mexico and then the US, they are more protected. Their numbers have increased to about 150,000 — many of them come to Año Nuevo annually.
Advance reservations are recommended for the 2.5-hour walking tours, which run December 15-March 31. First, read the FAQs about the walks, then book your reservation either by phone (650-879-2033) or online. The admission price is $7.00 per person (free for children 3 and younger).
Año Nuevo is located along Highway 1, just 20 miles north of Santa Cruz. Another elephant seal spot is farther south on Highway 1 at Piedras Blancas (7 miles south of San Simeon), which is home to about 15,000 elephant seals. No admission fee or reservation is required there.
If you’re afraid of heights, you’ve got to do this hike.
First, check out this amazing photograph. See that little strip of black in the upper right? That’s a two-lane highway. Dizzy? Good. Head on over to Zion National Park in Utah and go on the Angel’s Landing hike.
Zion is my personal favorite among the national parks, even beating out the breathtaking but rather touristy Grand Canyon. Readers over at Tripadvisor voted Zion number one of the Top Ten National Parks.
Take a look at this gallery and you’ll see why. Zion is nestled within a network of towering canyon walls of Navajo Sandstone that turn an infinite number of shades of red, brown, and gold as the sun rises and sets. Their shadows and the streams and rivers at the bottom create lush valley floors with a variety of wildflowers and animal life. The main visitor area has most creature comforts, with a luxury hotel and campgrounds with fantastic views. From there you can head off into a maze of side canyons and hike to your heart’s content. It’s one of the best places in the country to go cayoneering.
The most popular and nerve-wracking hike is Angel’s Landing. It starts not far from the main visitor area and climbs a ridge up, up, up, growing ever narrower until sheer cliffs fall away on either side of a thin sliver of rock. Don’t worry, there’s a chain to hold onto in case you get unsteady. In fact, with the rock being pretty slippery even when dry, it’s a good idea to hang onto the chain in any case. There have been a number of fatalities on this hike, but if you’re careful you will be in no danger.
I’m scared of heights. When I was in college I took up rock climbing to get rid of my fear, but weekends spent scaling the cliffs of the Catalina Mountains near Tucson didn’t cure me. All they did was make me able to control my fear. Now I can go up to any height with steady hands and a sure step, while inside I’m screeching like a schoolgirl. My inner schoolgirl was screeching pretty loud on this hike! But what a reward at the end. When you reach the top you’re 1,208 ft. (368 m) above Zion Canyon with the river making a hairpin turn below you. You feel like you’re literally on top of the world and the clean breeze blowing a bit too hard against you fills your lungs and makes you feel truly alive. Nothing like acrophobia to add a little extra zing to a hike!
More sedate hikes into the remote side canyons will be rewarded with quiet trails as well as glimpses of rare animal life like Golden Eagles and cougars. Steams cascade down little waterfalls and you’ll find lush, peaceful grottoes sheltered from the desert sun. These side canyons are good places to go bird watching and there are even some decent rock climbing routes in case you still want to prove you’re not afraid of a sickeningly long space of air beneath you.
Zion National Park is an easy road trip from Southern California and much of the Southwest, but even if you’re living in Maine it’s worth the drive to see one of the country’s truly great National Parks.
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The TV commercials keep telling us “there’s an app for that”, and in most cases they are absolutely right. If you enjoy spending time in the 392 National Parks, then check out Park Maps by Big Air Software.
The application covers 250 different parks, and downloads zoomable maps directly to your iPhone or iPod Touch. Because the maps are stored on your device, you’ll be able to view them when you are in the middle of a park without any cell coverage.
The app is fairly basic, you don’t get navigation, and no additional information is provided for the various parks, but at just 99 cents (temporary lower price), it is a fun and handy tool to have on your device, just in case your day takes you somewhere you had not expected to end up.
You’ll find the application in the app store at this link.