Amanda and I just got back from a short trip to the Rocky Mountain National Park in Colorado. We were just there for a couple of days, but it was a blast. We spent one day snowshoeing in the park, which was quite an experience. We've done it once before, but this time was much different. We took off from Bear Lake and followed a sketchy trail up to Emerald Lake, passing two more lakes along the way. The problem was that, although there was technically a trail, it was extremely difficult to follow. Due to the high winds, any tracks you made were usually mostly covered within a couple of hours. Also, sometimes the trail got too steep for snowshoes to handle, and we'd have to scout a new route. It actually wound up taking us about 6 hours to cover 4.5 miles, mostly due to having to constantly reset our route, and we took lots of time to take in the scenery as well.
Anyway, we had a great time, saw some great scenery and some elk, and made it back safe!
Wow, guys your idea looks like so much fun. I'm sure you're the envy of all of your friends. I've been snow shoeing in the Rockies too. Glad you had a good time.
Hey Derek, Jenny Trimble here. I didn't know you guys were here on pleo. I have been wondering about you guys for about 8 years now....since the wedding in 2000. :) Hope you are doing well. It sounds like you have been bitten by the travel bug as well. John and I are very good at traveling. Give Amanda my email- uptownwm@hotmail.com. Take care.
So, about six months ago I decided to make it my life long goal to visit all of this nation's amazing national parks. Many people do not realize how difficult this task actually is (well, it's difficult if you have limited funds and limited time to travel, which I guess that includes about 99.99% of people). There's currently 58 areas designated with national park status by the United States, but there's always more land up for consideration for new parks (although, more often the politicians are trying to sell away what little we do have). Some of the parks are easy to visit due to proximity to major cities, such as Rainier in WA, Death Valley in CA, and the Great Smokies in TN. Others are a little more difficult, like the 8 parks in Alaska, 5 of which require landing a charted plane on a lake, and 2 of which lie entirely within the Arctic Circle. There's also even the American Samoa national park which is in the southern hemisphere, 2500 miles from Hawaii! I've currently visited 15 of the 58 parks, and I expect it will take me 10-15 years to obtain the rest, depending on money and time. Also, I'm not just driving through and checking them off a list. I'm trying to spend at least a full day in each park and usually it's several days to a week, mostly backpacking.
I have to admit that nothing brings me closer to God than immersion in the natural solitude that is offered by some of these beautiful places. I also believe that if you want to truly know God, every once in a while you need to just sit back and breathe in His creation.
Amanda is in full support of my goal, although she doesn't share it with me. Most of the parks she has visited with me, but she has no interest in visiting some of the more "rugged" ones. I did however introduce her to backpacking last year in Glacier National Park in Montana. We hiked 22 miles in 3 days crossing two steep mountain ranges. Although the first few miles were rough for her, after the first day and a half I could barely keep up with her! We saw some of the most beautiful landscape carved by God on this earth and got a little too close to some mountain goats, but I believe I may have gotten her "hooked".
Here's a list of the parks I've visited so far, and a few pics as well:
Death Valley, CA (2008)
Mesa Verde, CO (2007)
Capitol Reef, UT (2007)
Bryce Canyon, UT (2003,2007)
Zion, UT (2007)
Arches, UT (2003)
Canyonlands, UT (2003)
Grand Canyon, AZ (2003,2007)
Petrified Forest, AZ (2007)
Glacier, MT (2007)
Big Bend, TX (2006)
Great Smoky Mountains, TN (too numerous to count)
Yellowstone, WY (2005)
North Cascades, WA (2006)
Rocky Mountains, CO (numerous)
Here's what's tentatively planned for this year:
Mar - Rainier or Olympic - Snowshoeing
Apr - Guadalupe Mountains - peak climb
Apr - Carlsbad Caverns - spelunking
May - Hawaii Volcanoes (and Haleakala if time/money permits)
Jun - none
Jul - Denali, AK - cross country backpacking (no trails!)
Aug - none
Sep - Channel Islands, CA (sea kayaking and whale watching)
Oct - undecided
Nov - none
Dec - none
Amanda and I are always looking for company on these trips, so if anyone's interested in coming along, please let us know!
Quite an ambition goal, and an ambitious schedule to match! Rose and I just visited Haleakala in January, it is way cool. Rose's grandparents live at the base of the mountain, so it was a nice one that we'll get to come back to!
