happy 100th birthday, national parks service!!

To celebrate the 100th birthday of the National Parks Service yesterday, I thought I'd make a post of all the National Parks we've been to! Taking a crazy road trip after graduating college helped us to see a bunch - out of the 50 National Parks in the US, we've been to 11. Before we looked it up, we guessed we'd been to at least half. Oops! Well, that gives us something to aim for anyway. Here they are, in chronological order of first visit!

#1: Grand Canyon National Park



What's even to say about this place? It's something you just have to see in person - like the ocean or the view from on top of a tall mountain. I knew it was supposed to be really amazing and yet I was still surprised by how amazing it was when I saw it in person. We didn't get to do any real hikes here - just walked along the canyon rim. If I ever go back, I'd like to hike to the bottom and back!

#2: Saguaro National Park



Seeing so many huge cactuses (cacti?) in real life was really weird, and special. It was a really nice park, and we visited twice in two days (there are two separate halves in different parts of Tucson). We got to see a lot of the park, between the scenic drive and the nature center. I would love to go back here and do a hike or something!

#3: Petrified Forest National Park





Kind of in the middle of nowhere - the actual pieces of petrified wood weren't that interesting to see in person, but we hiked a highly recommended trail called the Blue Mesa trail and it was pretty outstanding! We only passed two other people on the hike and it was like we were in some strange desert moonscape. Probably wouldn't go back here again unless we were driving nearby, just because it's really not near anything else (except the meteor crater, which we also visited!).

#4: Death Valley National Park



The only photo I have of Death Valley, of us driving up out of it. I'm sure it's beautiful and a great visit at certain times of year...but early June is not one of those times. It was 116F at 11am or so. We didn't get out of the car for longer than it took to walk into the visitor's center. Then, we spent the whole climb out of the valley (it's a deep valley!) worried that our car's radiator was going to overheat. There are emergency pull-offs and water stations the whole way up, so it was a fairly valid concern! The highlight of the whole trip for me was when we finally escaped and there was a weird, lovely shack by the side of the road that sold smoothies & milkshakes. I'd go back - it's pretty close to Las Vegas - but only in the winter!

#5: Lassen Volcanic National Park



We didn't spend much time here at all - it barely counts as a visit. As newcomers to mountainous driving, we were unsettled and turned around. But what we saw was really cool! There's a lot of geothermal activity here and everything smells like sulphur. I'd visit again!

#6: Yosemite National Park









The first time we went to Yosemite, we basically drove in, checked out Bridalveil Fall, parked at the visitor's center, were overwhelmed by the insane crowds, and quickly left. Overall, I thought it was overrated and way too touristy for me. But then we unexpectedly went back seven years later! This time with my dad & stepmom - and it was completely different! We stayed in a rental cottage just outside the park and were able to explore different areas of it. We did a few great hikes (one was recommended by a park ranger who said we probably wouldn't pass another person on the trail, even though it was in Yosemite Valley - and he was right!) and it was all beautiful and definitely not overrated. I'm really glad we had the chance to go back! I'd love to go again and visit parts of the park we didn't get to, like the high alpine meadows.

#7: Zion National Park



Zion was also really beautiful and super unique! It was like the Grand Canyon, except you started out at the bottom of the canyon. It was so strange because the inside of the canyon was fairly lush with trees and plants and then up all around it was desert. We camped here for two nights and only did one hike - I'd love to go back now that we know what we're doing (like, we have actual hiking boots) and see more of the park.

#8: Arches National Park



File this one under "too hot in June, didn't really count as a visit". We walked to the closest possible arch from the parking lot (the famous one! They know how to place their parking lots.) and then left - it was too hot to do anything else. It would probably be really nice to visit in a cooler month, but I'm not sure if I'd go back when there are so many other parks nearby.

#9: Congaree National Park



We stopped in here on our way back from Charleston, SC - there are nice boardwalks through the swamp and it was really interesting. I don't know if I'd go back, because it's pretty small and we saw a lot of it in one visit.

#10: Olympic National Park

















My favorite national park of all - so that explains all the photos! The Olympic peninsula was one of the most beautiful, amazing places I've ever been. The landscape and culture is just so varied - rainforest, high mountains, rocky coast, Quileute Nation (American Indians who have lived in the same spot for 1000+ years), beer and cider makers, tiny coastal towns, hot springs, and lots and lots of great hikes. We were super lucky to go here twice in one year, once in the spring and once in the fall. I would absolutely, without a doubt, go here again and would be more than happy to fly out to the west coast just to visit it!

#11: Cuyahoga Valley National Park



The only park I can say I visited before it was a national park! ...Because that change happened pretty recently. Since it's so close to Cleveland, I'd definitely go back here when visiting family!

Honorable mentions - the National Parks Service also administers lots of other lands that aren't national parks - including national monuments and national historic places

White Sands National Monument



Lewis + Clark State & National Historic Parks



...and one from about 20 years ago!

Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore



(and of course, on the island where I work! Governor's Island National Monument!!)

Next Up...

Here are the next five national parks on my list, in no particular order!

1. Acadia (we have no excuse, Matt's parents only live a few hours away!)
2. Glacier
3. Grand Teton
4. Joshua Tree
5. Great Smoky Mountains

Yosemite : Mariposa Grove

Our last day in Yosemite started out with a visit to the Mariposa Grove - one of three stands of ancient Giant Sequoias in the park. Near the southern entrance, the grove was only about 20 minutes away from where we stayed. Matt and I were excited to see the trees but thought - "We see big trees all the time in the PNW! Sequoias can't be that much bigger, right?" Well...they were much bigger. Huge! And so old - up to 3,000 years. They almost didn't look real. It felt very otherworldly to walk amongst them, like we were in some other time or place.









We ended up doing quite a hike, with around 1,000 feet in elevation gain - more than the most we've ever done in the gorge! The hike started off amongst big crowds of people, taking pictures by the famous trees. After we passed through the tree above (inside a tree!) and made our way to the museum at the top of a ridge, the crowds really thinned out. We passed through trees that were blackened from forest fires - we learned that Giant Sequoias not only survive forest fires, but need them to reproduce. Their bark resists flames and the heat opens up their seed pods and clears the forest floor for Sequoia seedlings to grow.









The trees at the top of the ridge were just as big as those by the entrance, but without all the crowds. In the museum, we learned that while these trees live up to 3,000 years old, they don't die because of disease or old age, but because of wind. They have shallow root systems and eventually just fall over. We felt really lucky to see these amazing trees, that don't live anywhere else in the world!

After our Sequoia adventure, we had a quick lunch and headed back down to Yosemite Valley for an open air tram tour of all the sights. It was informative and interesting, and we saw parts of the park we hadn't seen before, including one of the spots Ansel Adams photographed from (first one below - how does mine live up?).









When our tour was over, it was sunset and time for one last thing to do in Yosemite - go star gazing! Led by a park ranger, we paid $5 each to lie in a big field with a group of people and learn about the stars. It was pretty incredible. We were lucky to have a new moon during our visit, so the stars were all super visible. The ranger pointed out constellations to us using a laser pointer and we learned about the history of constellations and basic facts about the solar system and galaxy beyond. We could even see the milky way because the skies are so free of light pollution! To cap off the night, we saw three shooting stars - at first, they looked fake, they were so perfectly visible. It was a really special experience that I know I'll remember forever.

The next day, we drove back to Tahoe for one last night of vacation and headed home the following morning. It was a great vacation, with beautiful sights and fun experiences with family - and we're so glad we got to really see Yosemite and Lake Tahoe. A+ !

Now, back to work!

Yosemite : Glacier Point

On our second day at Yosemite, we visited Glacier Point. It was supposed to be a "must do" so we did! And we were really glad we did, too. The way to Glacier Point is a small road off of another small road that winds up the mountains through the forest, eventually arriving around 3,000 feet higher than the floor of Yosemite Valley. 

On our way up, we stopped at an overlook with a view of part of the valley. We got there at a perfect time, because there was a thick fog moving through and in and around all of the trees and rocks and ravens. It was so much more special than bright sunshine would have been!

By the time we left, we weren't sure if Glacier Point was going to be much different - it was only a mile further up the road, and the first viewpoint was so pretty. Glacier Point was even better, though! It had an even wider-view angle of the whole valley. We could see the hike we did the day before from above, all of the waterfalls we'd passed, and even the famous Half Dome (on the right, below). We even saw little tiny people at the top of it, through our binoculars.

It really put everything into perspective! It's one thing to see tall mountains from the ground, but it's something else to see it the other way around. On the way back down, we drove past trailheads and pretty meadows and by one meadow, a few cars were stopped. We wondered why and looked out to our left and saw a black bear!

It was just happily munching on its lunch, not at all concerned about all of the people photographing it from across the meadow. Close up thanks to my dad's zoom lens!