As many of you surely do, I get seemingly hundreds of letters each week asking for contributions, donations, gifts, or pledges. I have an infinite supply of address labels, a collection that grows by the month.
This week I received a fundraising letter from one of my pet causes, the U.S. National Parks. So I thought I would echo the call here.
Before I go any further, let me say this: This is not primarily a fundraising diary.
It is an appreciation diary. In the same way I think an argument needs to stand on its own to merit attention, I think a cause needs to stand on its own to make it worthwhile. So I hope to share my love of the Park system, and hope that you will all contribute your stories and pictures too.
They say a picture is worth a thousand words. So don’t pay attention to the little Scoop word counter; despite what it says, there are thousands of words below the fold.
This place is bad, like, not Michael Jackson bad, but bad as in ‘not fit for habitation’. It’s very impressive. The only environments I’ve read about that seem similar are on other planets.
Many people consider Bryce to be more impressive than the Grand Canyon. I wish I could have gone on a day that wasn’t very foggy (and very cold), but you can see that even if it doesn’t have the vastness of Grand Canyon, the spires are certainly intriguing.
This is one of the most all around beautiful parks I’ve visited. Unfortunately, some inclement weather rolled in while I was there, and I had to cut my visit short.
One of the few parks that has a point in 3 different states, the Smokies are absolutely gorgeous.
If you do care to make a donation, you can check out the National Park Foundation donation page here.
Another highly deserving organization is the National Parks Conservation Association (thanks AndiF!).
If I didn’t include a picture from the most peaceful place I’ve ever been to.
That’s Bighorn National Forest.
I hope that you will all feel welcome to share your own pictures/thoughts/experiences of those special set-aside places that you’ve visited.
It’s a great idea. Our national parks need all the support they can get.
Wonderful pictures, too.
When I was but a wee lad, my family spent a night in bighorn, on the edge of a massive, perhaps 200 acre meadow, filled with with lupins, at the peak of lupin season. Absolutly amazing.
I have to admit that I was taken completely by surprise by it. I was taking the scenic route out to Grand Teton, and I thought it might be fun to go through Bighorn.
I was very pleasantly surprised at how scenic it turned out to be 🙂
WOW, fantastic pics E. They each look like postcards.
I think it’s important to show that beyond the ugly political / social issues in our country, there really is true beauty in our land that we must protect.
I consider myself lucky to have been able to visit all of these places. If you can make it, you’ll surely get some postcards of your own 🙂
I so agree with you about how it’s important to show what we’re protecting. It’s one of the reasons I love this site–nobody is dismissive of photos of nature and animals and kids, the very reasons we lean left.
Between Whidbey and Fidalgo Islands in northern Puget Sound. This is Washington state’s most-visited park.
That is gorgeous, Gooserock.
Despite being born in the Pacific NW, I have definitely not spent enough time there. When I do make it back, I’ll definitely have to check this place out!
Just because of the many awesome “1000 word stories” contained within…
Man e was right. I thought they were postcard pics at first. Then I remembered that this is the home of the Booman Tribune Photo Fair. lol
I was really bummed that I missed out on the photo fair (I was on vacation and away from digital electronics on the whole).
Maybe this is my way of compensating 🙂
But really, it’s the model, not the photographer that ultimately ‘makes’ the pics.
Hurricane Ridge in the Olympics National Park, WA.
is definitely in my top 3 of next NP’s to visit. Also in there are Glacier and Acadia (in no particular order, of course).
you can make a magnificent trip by combining Olympic, Mt. Rainier, and Mt. St. Helens.
As the Guiness commercials say, ‘Brilliant!’.
I lived in Oregon when Mt. St. Helens blew her top. I don’t remember it, since I was only 1, but I got pictures from my parents. Everything was totally covered in ash.
They collected some of it and put it in some small bottles. I still have them…I remember doing show & tell in grade school with them, and being quite a hit 🙂
These are beautiful! I can only imagine how stunning the view was live. The Mt. Moran capture is exceptional. one of the places I’d love to visit someday … Great Smokey Mountains. I’ve heard such wonderful things about them and the ecosystem, and the photos are always so attractive. Thanks for sharing these!
The Smokies are fantastic. I am planning on going back next summer, it was such a great place to hike.
Here’s a picture of my campsite the first night in, when I went backpacking this past August:
That looks so wonderful! Is that your tent peaking out? I’m so jealous… :^)
It sure is! That was a perfect campsite. Right near the lake, and there was a mountain stream about 30 yards away that lulled me to sleep that night.
If you didn’t do this hike, you’ll want to put it on your list; it’s a true classic. It’s an often steep 8 mile round-trip through an beautiful old growth forest with huge trees to a gorgeous waterfall.
I didn’t do it, but I will probably go back next summer, so I’ll definitely check it out. Thanks for the tip!
Another organization, which is more political, is the National Parks Conservation Association
My place to hike — Canyonlands National Park, Needles District
The Grabens
My vote for park with the greatest “Wow Factor”: Glacier National Park
Gunsight Lake from Gunsight Pass
I keep hearing such great things about Glacier (and seeing great photos!). I think I’m going to finally suck it up and go out there next year.
I’m going to add the NPCA link up in my diary text. Thanks!
If you get there, I feel confident in saying you won’t be sorry.
Missoula, by the way, is a nice place to do some hanging out. It’s got pretty much all the things you’d expect in a college town.
to veterans and antidote to Republican politicians than the pictures and words in this diary?
Our country’s natural beauty is extraordinary in its variety and I’ve been awed by the photos posted that attest to the same. Having visited almost all these places makes me feel like one of the truly lucky people on the planet. So awesome.
An observation: There are two Nat’l. Pks., polar opposite in many ways, that share an aspect of the act of appreciation in common. The two are Everglades and Grand Canyon. And what they have in common, IMHO, is that one must get out of the car and roam, either on foot or in a floating craft of some kind, in order to fully appreciate the intimate, subtler beauties that make them unique.
.
~ Posted earlier :: House Leaders Postpone Vote on Budget Bill ~
House leadership dropped its plan to allow oil drilling
in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge as part of the budget bill.
“Treason doth never prosper: what’s the reason?
For if it prosper, none dare call it treason.”
▼▼▼ READ MY DIARY
My favorite:
Cape Cod National Seashore.
Good afternoon, ej! Thanks for the stunning photos (and the shout-out for the worthy cause). Bushco’s attempts to pillage these national treasures is nothing short of criminal.
As for me, I have wonderful memories of Acadia National Park, along with a strong caution for anyone planning to go there . . . NEVER, NEVER, NEVER go on a whale watching tour in Maine. EVER!
Warning If you’re eating breakfast/lunch, or if you have tendencies toward queasiness, now would be a very good time to stop reading this post.
Our whale watch tour involved 150 passengers on a twin-hulled catamaran – with assurances from the locals that the aforementioned catamaran would offer smooth sailing with little chance of sea sickness. (I have yet to forgive the locals) Within minutes of setting sail, the madness ensued, and there was no escape from the horror. Passengers bolting starboard, projectile vomiting in every direction. (On the deck, on the railings, on the chairs, on their loved ones.) Adding to the mayhem, it was a very, very windy day, and some of the passengers simply didn’t have time to determine the velocity and direction of the airstream prior to “projectiling”. (Suffice it to say that many passengers needed a shower and a fresh change of clothes after that little excursion.) Then . . . amidst the carnage of it all, the following moments played out like a Fellini film in slow motion.
With passengers heaving to and fro, and crew members swabbing the decks and hosing down fixtures as swiftly as possible – an enormous man lumbered down the center aisle, seemingly oblivious to the events unfolding before us. One hand clutched a large frosty mug of beer and the other hand was hidden under the enormity of two immense bratwurst – each piled high with every condiment known to man. And as soon as the commingled aromas of bratwurst, onions, sauerkraut, beer, hurl and cleaning solution wafted our way – that was all she wrote for everyone in the vicinity.
I’d post my favorite picture from that trip, but it wouldn’t align with the lovely, striking images on this thread. It’s a picture of my green-hued husband, regaining his balance by gripping the dock, while giving me “the look”. (The look that told me I was in really deep trouble for selecting an afternoon on a catamaran.)
Oh my, so sorry for my inadvertent diary hijack, but I felt a profound sense of obligation to warn others of that gruesome experience, in hopes that someone – anyone – will heed my warnings. ;^)
Most importantly, thanks to all for the breathtaking photos. Wishing everyone a fabulous day – your pictures and comments have injected a great deal of fabulous into mine!
I’m sure that day on the boat was horrible, but I have to admit, I was cracking up as I was reading it. It sounds like something straight out of a sitcom 🙂
The afternoon was quite Seinfeldian in nature. Oh to have had a video camera!
One hasn’t fully lived until they’ve spent an afternoon surrounded by, um, “regurgitators” – with the regurgitation flying by at 40 mph. (Duck and cover, indeed!) ;^)
“Surreal” doesn’t begin to touch the surface of what took place that day. The beer and brat guy was the most fabulous icing on the cake!
Oh yeah – and we didn’t see any whales. ;^)