Five national parks to hit this weekend

by Kraig Becker on

Yesterday we mentioned that the National Park Service has waived all entry fees to every national park this weekend, and while that may increase the crowds in places like Yellowstone and Yosemite, there are still plenty of great parks that you can visit that will remain quiet. Here are five suggestions on where to take dad this weekend and still avoid the crowds.

Badlands National Park, South Dakota
Located in the southwest corner of South Dakota, Badlands National Park offers spectacular scenery and a surprising array of activities to keep you occupied. The windswept landscapes range from towering jagged rock spires and winding canyons to open grasslands and and miles of prairie. The Badlands also contain a huge fossil bed dating back more than 30 million years, giving visitors the opportunity to peek back in time to an era when long extinct animals still roamed the area. Today, the park is home to a large herd of bison, plenty of big horn sheep, and the endangered black footed ferret, amongst other species of wildlife.

Carlsbad Caverns, New Mexico
The National Park system is home to one of the most spectacular cave systems found anywhere in the world in the form of Carlsbad Caverns, located in the far southeast section of New Mexico. With its 94 individual caves, carved from the limestone that is prominent in the region, the Carlsbad Caverns are otherworldly in their beauty. The underground labyrinth is filled with narrow, twisting passages as well as large chambers and open passageways. Perhaps the most spectacular is the Big Room, which is 8.2 acres in size, handicap accessible, and well lit with electric lights. The more adventurous will want to sign up for one of the tours that will take them deeper into the Earth, where they’ll make their way with headlamps into seldom visited dark crevasses.Crater Lake, Oregon
Located deep within the Cascade Mountain range, Crater Lake was formed when water from retreating glaciers in the last ice age, filled in the caldera of an extinct volcano. The lake is six miles across and more than 2000 feet in depth, making it the deepest in the U.S. It also happens to sits at the middle of 250 square miles of pristine wilderness that is the perfect outdoor playground. Hikers and backpackers will find plenty to love on the spectacular trails, and SCUBA divers have been known to plunge deep into the lake’s crystal clear blue waters. In the winter, the hiking gives way to skiing and snowshoeing as well.

Congaree, South Carolina
South Carolina is home to the remains of the largest old-growth floodplain forest in North America. Conagree National Park covers more than 22,000 acres and is home to 75 species of ancient trees, earning it a designation as a International Biosphere Reserve. Visitors can stroll beneath one of the world’s highest natural canopies along 20 miles of trail. But to really explore this park you’ll want to break out a canoe or kayak, and paddle deep into the interior. The park offers free guided tours on most weekends, although an advanced reservation is required. Birdwatchers will enjoy Congaree as well, with its plethora of birdlife, and white tailed deer, raccoons, and otters are also frequently spotted.

Great Basin, Nevada
Don’t be fooled by the desert location of Great Basin National Park, it is far from a dry, dead wasteland as many believe. In fact, the park is alive with plants and animals, and is accented by snow capepd Wheeler Peak, which stands over 13,000 feet in height. The best way to explore Great Basin is on foot, and there are plenty of great hiking trails to take you past the parks top attractions, such as the 5000 year old bristlecone pine trees and the six-story tall Lexington Arch Trail. If you do go to Great Basin, be sure to stick around after dark, as the view of the night sky is spectacular, with the Mikly Way on full display.

These are just a few of the many national parks and monuments that will be fee free this weekend. To find others, be sure to head to NPS.gov to checkout the options close to you.

Take dad to a national park this weekend for free!

by Kraig Becker on

Just in time for the Father’s Day weekend, the National Park Service has announced that all entry fees will be waived for both Saturday and Sunday, June 20th and 21st. This means that more than 100 parks that traditionally charge for entry will be fee free this weekend.

In addition, a number of NPS partners that provide concessions, and other services, within the parks have announced special deals as well. For instance, those visiting Badlands National Park in South Dakota or Big Bend in Texas this weekend will receive a free, eco-friendly shopping bag that can be reused on your weekly trip to the grocery store. Meanwhile, travelers going to Glacier National Park can take advantage of a “buy-one-get-one-free” deal on commemorative t-shirts.

Already have plans for the weekend, and they involve relaxing at home instead? Never fear, there are still two more fee free wekends yet to come this summer, and most of the special deals from the concessioners will be available then too. The NPS has designated July 18-19 and August 15-16 as the other fee free days.

So, if you’re looking save a little money on your vacation this summer, perhaps you can plan to visit one of the many spectacular national parks around the country on one of these weekends. There is a nataional park or monument in 49 of the 50 states (Sorry Delaware!) and it has just gotten a little easier to pay them a visit. Head over to NPS.gov to find one near you.
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Mountain biking from Canada to Mexico

by Kraig Becker on

The 2745 mile long Tour Divide mountain bike race got underway last Friday, with 42 riders setting out from Banff in Alberta, Canada on a 3+ week long odyssey along the Great Divide Mountain Bike Route that will end when they reach the border of Mexico at Antelope Wells, New Mexico.

The race requires the competitors to be completely self sufficient while out on the trail, carrying all of their food, water, and gear with them, although they are allowed to stop in towns along the way for resupply. The region is quite remote however, and riders will go more than 100 miles between resupply points at times. They are also responsible for their own navigation, as the trail is not always well marked, and there are no official course markers.

The Great Divide Mountain Bike Route is the longest unpaved bike path in the world. The trail winds its way through Alberta and British Columbia in Canada, as well as Montana, Idaho, Wyoming, Colorado, and New Mexico here in the States. The quality of the trail varies greatly as well, ranging from old backcountry roads to narrow, barely maintained, single track. Riders that complete the course will have climbed more than 200,000 feet over its length from start to finish.

The race is expected to take roughly three weeks to complete, with most riders averagng about 16 hours per day in the saddle. Over that time, they’ll face muscle crushing climbs, pass through wilderness thick with mountain lions and grizzly bears, and deal with weather that can change for the worse at a moments notice. And since the race lacks entry fees or prizes of any kind, the riders will be doing it just for the adventure.

Adventures in the Amazon: A Night in the Jungle

by Kraig Becker on

It was one of the darkest nights I had ever encountered. Well, at least it was when the lightning wasn’t flashing across the sky, giving me an ever so brief glimpses of the forest that surrounded my tent. Despite the heavy rain, which had been falling for several hours, the night sounds of the jungle continued unabated. It was nearly as noisy as it was during the day, and when you added the thunderstorm to the mix, I couldn’t help but think that people payed a lot of money to the Sharper Image for a machine that replicated these very sounds.

It was my second to last night in the Amazon, and we were camping in the jungle. Earlier in the day we left our river boat, La Turmalina, behind once again and went ashore for another jungle trek that took us even deeper into the forest. Along the way, we passed trees stretching more than 65 feet into the air, with vines running their length and all manner of critters scurrying up their trunks.

We hiked for several miles, while overhead the rolling thunder could be heard drawing nearer. By the time we reached the campsite, the rain had begun to fall, and the night was closing in, but fortunately the dense jungle canopy kept much of the rain from actually hitting the ground. While it sounded like a torrential down pour was going on over head, it felt like a light rainstorm at the forest floor.

%Gallery-63881%The camp itself was nicer than I had expected. The tents were erected on a permanent wooden platform, which kept them off the damp ground, and provided a more comfortable experience. Inside, there were two cots, a small table, and a lantern, with room to stand and easily move about. The side panels were rolled up, allowing for a steady breeze to flow through, and I was surprised to find that it was quite comfortable, even a bit cool inside, despite the humidity that pervaded the entire area.

After getting settled, we all assembled in a screened in mess hall for a traditional dinner from the region consisting of chicken stuffed with rice and wrapped in the leaf of one of the jungle trees, then cooked over an open fire. Following the meal, we were joined by a guest who appeared from the darkness, joining us inside the mess hall. She was a tiny young woman, in her early twentys, and from one of the Quechan Indian villages in the area. Our guide introduced her, and told us that she was a shaman who had been studying her craft for more than five years.

Over the next hour or so, she showed us some of the various medicines that she had created using plants that grew in the jungle. She had begun learning at a young age which herbs, leaves, roots and so on, were useful and where they could be located. She had also learned how to properly harvest them, then mix them together to create her various potions and elixirs. She had several glass jars filled with her creations with her, and passed them around for us to examine. Most shared some common traits in that they were thick, came in various shades of green , that smelled incredibly awful. I’m reasonably certain that her patients got better out of fear of having to continue to take this “medicine”.

The last bottle that she passed around was unlike the others however. It was orange in color and more of a fluid than the others. Our guide informed us that this particular concoction was mainly made from a specific vine found deep in the Amazon, and that was one of the most powerful hallucinogens in the world. At various times in their lives, the shaman, as well as others, would drink the liquid when they were in need of guidance or enlightenment in their lives. It is believed that while under the influence of the hallucinogens, they would have visions that would show them the path they needed to take to get past what ever obstacle was troubling them. The process described to us was not unlike Native Americans going on a vision quest in North America.

Before the night ended, the shaman gave us a traditional blessing, calling on the spirits of the rainforest to protect us and keep us safe, no matter where our travels took us. While we sat, she danced around us, blowing smoke from a handrolled cigarette, and chanting a prayer. One by one, she approached each of us as she moved about the room, extending the blessing to all who were there., When she was finished she collected her things, and disappeared into the darkness, the storm raging around her as she went.

After the shaman departed, we all said our “good nights” and retired to our individual tents. Most of my companions were soon sound asleep, their lights blinking out one by one. But I sat alone staring out into the darkness, listening to the storm and sounds of the jungle itself. It was one of those singular experiences you have when you travel in which you experience something that is both surreal and tangible at the same time. I was in a tent, in the middle of the Amazon, with thunder crashing all around me. The night creatures of the forest continued to make their calls, sheltered from the storm in the branches over head, and as I finaly lay down to sleep, I couldn’t help but think that everything was right with the world.

Next: Ecotourism in the Amazon

Read more Adventures in the Amazon posts HERE.

The Top 10 American Adventures (According to National Geographic)

by Kraig Becker on

National Geographic Adventure has posted a great list of their choices for the Top 10 American Adventures, offering up plenty of great ideas for adventurous vacations that are close to home. Each of these ten adventures includes a video as well, giving us the opportunity to see first hand just why they deserve to be on the list.

From top to bottom, there are some excellent suggestions for summer vacations for anyone who isn’t looking to add a stamp to their passport in the near future. For instance, the number 10 adventure on the list is SCUBA diving in the waters near Grand Portage, MN. This portions of Lake Superior is littered with shipwrecks, making it an ideal dive spot for those wanting to stay close to home. National Geographic also points out that these are freshwater wrecks, meaning they are far better preserved than their saltwater counterparts in places like Fiji or Mexico.

Looking for an adventure that stays above the surface? Willing to peddle for a few days? Then perhaps RAGBRAI is more what you’re looking for. Sponsored by the Des Moines Register, RAGBRAI stands for the Register’s Annual Great Bicycle Ride Across Iowa. The seven day cycling tour is as challenging or leisurely as you want to make it. The event has taken place for years, and more than 10,000 riders are expected to take part this July. RAGBRAI is an interesting mix of physical challenge, midwest hospitailty, and summer fun, all rolled into one great event, and the nightly parties are legendary as well. The classic bike ride comes in at number 7 on the list.

Of course, there are eight other great adventures as well, ranging from hiking in the High Sierra to canoeing in the Adirondacks. There is something for everyone, no matter where you live. So don’t let the summer pass you by without taking part in one of these amazing trips.