Vicarious Tour of North America's Parks

[freedombecki]

This is the thread to share your campfire stories, pics, videos of parks you've been to or plan to go to some day. My only request is to please keep it family-friendly.

Ok, I'll start. Here's a video of one of Texas best-kept secret fishing holes, Choke Canyon State Park:

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sz56VNlCABQ&feature=player_profilepage]Choke Canyon State Park, Texas [Official] - YouTube[/ame]

If it doesn't show up, the link to the video is here

Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't.

 

[yidnar]

This is the thread to share your campfire stories, pics, videos of parks you've been to or plan to go to some day. My only request is to please keep it family-friendly.

Ok, I'll start. Here's a video of one of Texas best-kept secret fishing holes, Choke Canyon State Park:

Choke Canyon State Park, Texas [Official] - YouTube

If it doesn't show up, the link to the video is here

Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't.

the Appalachian MTNs are not only beautiful they are also the oldest MTNs on earth!!

 

[freedombecki]

Yes, the Appalachians are something to behold, yidnar. We've driven through a time or two in our travels across this country.

The Resiliant Earth: Appalachian Mountains

 

[LordBrownTrout]

All the NP's out west are nice. Yellowstone has great trout waters and Glacier NP's Going to the Sun road is one of the prettiest routes I have driven through in the US.

 

[freedombecki]

All the NP's out west are nice. Yellowstone has great trout waters and Glacier NP's Going to the Sun road is one of the prettiest routes I have driven through in the US.

Thanks, LordBrownTrout. I particularly love the Snake River Overlook of the Teton Mountains near Yellowstone, and oh, Two Ocean Lake! However, for some reason every time we go up to Yellowstone, we just can't resist Old Faithful!

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l3lb2EjR4O4&feature=player_detailpage]Old Faithful Geyser - YouTube[/ame]

There is also a live videocam of Old Faithful erupting on a constant basis at the this page. Unfortunately it has to be seen during Rocky Mountain daytime or it looks like a big black brick.

 

[freedombecki]

And of course, there are all kinds of animals up in Yellowstone and Grand Teton Parks in Wyoming:

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UVLzALKNBKQ&feature=player_detailpage]yellowstone moose - YouTube[/ame]


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[freedombecki]

And it is not uncommon to see Bears on the way to Two-Ocean Lake, which is a fun side trip if you are spending time at Jackson Hole, Wyoming.

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dqobNjXlRJA&feature=player_detailpage]2 Ocean - YouTube[/ame]

Know and Teach Bear Safety to Kids Before Visiting Bear Areas:

Bear Safety

Bears are big predators and need to be treated with care. For the most part they are not interested in humans and will go out of their way to avoid us, and some simple precautions will encourage that behavior. First, hikers should go out of their way to make noise in bear country. That gives bears plenty of notice of the presence of humans, encouraging them to withdraw and at least guaranteeing that one or more hikers will not stumble upon a bear and startle it. Second, hikers and campers need to take extreme care in packing food, since food scents are the thing most likely to attract a bear. The park requires all food to be stored in bear-safe containers, and the park's designated campgrounds all come equipped with them. If a bear is sighted nearby, one must do their best to stand their ground and not run, as fleeing will only attract a chase and most humans have no hope of outrunning a bear.

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[uscitizen]

I support the right to arm Bears.

 

[Foxfyre]

New Mexico's creme de la creme of National Parks is Carlsbad Caverns located in southern New Mexico at the north edge of the Chihuahuan desert. This time of year you can go from daytime temperatures of 110 degrees outside the cave opening to the year round constant 56 degrees on the cavern floor.

This promotional video does not do it justice. You have to stand inside those massive chambers and experience the sheer magnitude of it as well as incredible beauty:

Both of these videos are about two minutes:

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ob9WFa6FGDo"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ob9WFa6FGDo[/ame]

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uo8bRuNUA5A]Carlsbad Caverns National Park Highlights - YouTube[/ame]

 

[freedombecki]

I support the right to arm Bears.

Done!

Chicago Bears Flex Arms!
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[freedombecki]

New Mexico's creme de la creme of National Parks is Carlsbad Caverns located in southern New Mexico at the north edge of the Chihuahuan desert. This time of year you can go from daytime temperatures of 110 degrees outside the cave opening to the year round constant 56 degrees on the cavern floor.

This promotional video does not do it justice. You have to stand inside those massive chambers and experience the sheer magnitude of it as well as incredible beauty:

Both of these videos are about two minutes:

Carlsbad Caverns 2-minute Tour - YouTube

Carlsbad Caverns National Park Highlights - YouTube

I've seen them twice. My parents took us to Carlsbad Caverns when I was very young, and we took our children there when they were young. Both times, the experience was awesome! Thanks for sharing the Carlsbad Caverns videos, Foxfyre.

 

[LordBrownTrout]

And it is not uncommon to see Bears on the way to Two-Ocean Lake, which is a fun side trip if you are spending time at Jackson Hole, Wyoming.

2 Ocean - YouTube

Know and Teach Bear Safety to Kids Before Visiting Bear Areas:

Bear Safety

Bears are big predators and need to be treated with care. For the most part they are not interested in humans and will go out of their way to avoid us, and some simple precautions will encourage that behavior. First, hikers should go out of their way to make noise in bear country. That gives bears plenty of notice of the presence of humans, encouraging them to withdraw and at least guaranteeing that one or more hikers will not stumble upon a bear and startle it. Second, hikers and campers need to take extreme care in packing food, since food scents are the thing most likely to attract a bear. The park requires all food to be stored in bear-safe containers, and the park's designated campgrounds all come equipped with them. If a bear is sighted nearby, one must do their best to stand their ground and not run, as fleeing will only attract a chase and most humans have no hope of outrunning a bear.

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Jackson, Wyoming is awesome. There's great flyfishing about twenty miles into the Gros Ventre river. Also, Burke's Chop House has some great elk chops.

 

[LordBrownTrout]

I support the right to arm Bears.

Those griz have some pretty nice claws in YNP. They're armed pretty well.

 

[freedombecki]

There's an amazingly beautiful Virtual Tour of Acadia National Park in Maine here.

We traveled there in 2003, and couldn't have enjoyed it more. It's so spectacular, and the smell of the evergreen trees enhances all its loveliness.

People have been drawn to the rugged coast of Maine throughout history. Awed by its beauty and diversity, early 20th-century visionaries donated the land that became Acadia National Park. The park is home to many plants and animals, and the tallest mountain on the U.S. Atlantic coast. Today visitors come to Acadia to hike granite peaks, bike historic carriage roads, or relax and enjoy the scenery.

Acadia National Park page that has links to information for planning a fun trip

Has anyone been there who might share some pictures? Or another National Park that you are fond of?

 

[freedombecki]

One other place I haven't been to is Big Bend National Park. Unfortunately, pictures take a lot of points away from Verizon users, so I can't post pictures again until September 3rd, or I have to pay the big bucks, and I'm retired.

So, please go here, and hopefully someone with unrestricted picture use or a bigger wallet can come back and post a few of Big Bend and/or Acadia National Park from either link.

Thanks in advance.

 

[freedombecki]

California is closing 70 parks. Thought those of you read this thread might like to know and post your comments on Jroc's thread, "California will close State Parks But Fund Illeagals education ".

 

[Foxfyre]

Here ya go for some Big Bend pics. I have been there, several times, and it, plus Guadalupe Peak, is perhaps the only shining jewel in otherwise pretty monotonous and featureless West Texas scenery, though to me a ripe wheat field rippling in the wind is beautiful too:

 

[waltky]

Smuggler's luck...

Massive US fire somehow misses marijuana operation
Mon, Sep 05, 2011 - This summer’s Las Conchas fire in New Mexico scorched tribal lands, threatened one of the nation’s premier nuclear facilities and pushed bears into nearby cities. However, it somehow spared more than 9,000 marijuana plants in a remote area of Bandelier National Monument.

Officials said no arrests have been made in the sophisticated growing operation in the park’s backcountry. However, authorities said on Friday they were looking for at least two suspects. They estimate the plants were 1.83m to 10 3.05m tall and had a street value of about US$10 million. “It was a lot larger than we anticipated,” park superintendent Jason Lott said. “It [was] much bigger and more sophisticated than we ever expected.” The marijuana operation had an irrigation system and a possible evacuation route for those overseeing the plants, Lott said. Temporary housing structures, trash and food caches were also found nearby.

The pot was discovered in rugged terrain during an Aug. 23 helicopter flight surveying a flash flood, Lott said. That flooding was caused when monsoonal rains fell on the charred area of the monument, where soil and rocks had been loosened by the fire, the largest in New Mexico history. A number of local and federal law enforcement agencies raided the area early on Thursday morning. No one was captured, but investigators say at least two men were seen at the grow site earlier in the week. The Bernalillo County Sheriff’s Office and the New Mexico National Guard both lent helicopters to the operation and a National Guard Blackhawk helicopter airlifted the marijuana out, the National Park Service said. Most of it was transported to an undisclosed location for proper disposal and some was retained for testing as evidence.

Officials said on Thursday’s bust was the first marijuana growing operation detected in Bandelier National Monument, which features centuries-old dwellings carved into canyon walls by ancestors of the Native American pueblos that surround the area. The Las Conchas fire burned more than 632km2 over 36 days in the mountains surrounding the town of Los Alamos and the Los Alamos National Laboratory. The fire started on June 26 when a tree fell on a power line. The flames raced across parts of the monument, Valles Caldera National Preserve and lands belonging to northern New Mexico pueblos.

Massive US fire somehow misses marijuana operation - Taipei Times

 

[NGSamson]

Yes, the Appalachians are something to behold, yidnar. We've driven through a time or two in our travels across this country.

The Resiliant Earth: Appalachian Mountains

At is on my list of hikes to make. I have done the Western States trail, that was a blast, All thees areas are nice, and I plan on doing alloy of exploring when we get moved to Utah.

 

[Foxfyre]

Smuggler's luck...

Massive US fire somehow misses marijuana operation
Mon, Sep 05, 2011 - This summer’s Las Conchas fire in New Mexico scorched tribal lands, threatened one of the nation’s premier nuclear facilities and pushed bears into nearby cities. However, it somehow spared more than 9,000 marijuana plants in a remote area of Bandelier National Monument.

Officials said no arrests have been made in the sophisticated growing operation in the park’s backcountry. However, authorities said on Friday they were looking for at least two suspects. They estimate the plants were 1.83m to 10 3.05m tall and had a street value of about US$10 million. “It was a lot larger than we anticipated,” park superintendent Jason Lott said. “It [was] much bigger and more sophisticated than we ever expected.” The marijuana operation had an irrigation system and a possible evacuation route for those overseeing the plants, Lott said. Temporary housing structures, trash and food caches were also found nearby.

The pot was discovered in rugged terrain during an Aug. 23 helicopter flight surveying a flash flood, Lott said. That flooding was caused when monsoonal rains fell on the charred area of the monument, where soil and rocks had been loosened by the fire, the largest in New Mexico history. A number of local and federal law enforcement agencies raided the area early on Thursday morning. No one was captured, but investigators say at least two men were seen at the grow site earlier in the week. The Bernalillo County Sheriff’s Office and the New Mexico National Guard both lent helicopters to the operation and a National Guard Blackhawk helicopter airlifted the marijuana out, the National Park Service said. Most of it was transported to an undisclosed location for proper disposal and some was retained for testing as evidence.

Officials said on Thursday’s bust was the first marijuana growing operation detected in Bandelier National Monument, which features centuries-old dwellings carved into canyon walls by ancestors of the Native American pueblos that surround the area. The Las Conchas fire burned more than 632km2 over 36 days in the mountains surrounding the town of Los Alamos and the Los Alamos National Laboratory. The fire started on June 26 when a tree fell on a power line. The flames raced across parts of the monument, Valles Caldera National Preserve and lands belonging to northern New Mexico pueblos.

Massive US fire somehow misses marijuana operation - Taipei Times

No luck involved. That is little more than an hour's drive from my house.
A plane flying over the massive burn spotted the patch of green and authorities went to look. Apparently the pot growers defended their pot field as there was evidence they fought the fire on all sides until it passed. Some of the crop had been harvested but the remaining healthy plants would have yielded something like $12 million on the street?

Bandelier is definitely one of our local treasures though. As is the case of most places, the photos don't really do it justice, but it is always alive with myriad wildlife, song birds, butterfles, wild flowers and flowering cactuses depending on what time of year it is. The fires roar through there from time to time but by the next year it is always back to normal and beautiful again.