Pacific Northwest and mid-Ocean

ALASKA presents the largest challenge, with eight parks (five remote). To schedule them in one month will require a leap of faith, since the state's notoriously fickle weather can easily disrupt plans. Those plans are currently aimed at July 2022, though the adventure may spill over into August. My hopes include:

  1. My Denali adventure is unsettled
  2. Gates of the Arctic is most often seen on a flightseeing tour, flying in on a small plane with a bush pilot. cost could run over $3000.
  3. How about a cruise on Glacier Bay? Estimated cost is $230 (plus getting there) to see these impressive tidewater glaciers before they melt.
  4. Have you seen pictures of salmon jumping into the mouths of waiting bears? Chances are it was taken at Katmai. This adventure spends a day at Brooks Camp watching bears, with a second day for a side trip to the Valley of 10,000 Smokes. Estimated costs with local airfare and lodging is $1686.
  5. I have found an outfitter in Kenai Fjords that takes you to a glacier and then lets you mush a dog sled team. Sounds like a once-in-a-lifetime adventure - a real high point. Cost should be under $500.
  6. Kobuk Valley could be added on to the Gates of the Arctic flight, as they are not far apart. But I am applying to take a Special Adventure in this park.
  7. I'm looking for to some wilderness relaxation at Lake Clark. How about glamping in the park for 2-3 days, spending time kayaking and hiking to a nearby mountain. Estimated cost is $1030. This is an adventure I REALLY hope to share with 1-3 people - being alone on the edge of wilderness is not something I would relish.
  8. Wrangell-St. Elias: this is the largest park in the system, and has the largest number of ranger-suggested activities. One that sounds truly quirky is getting air-mailed to the park - catching a flight on the plane that delivers mail to the village in the park.

WASHINGTON/OREGON is scheduled for July-August 2023.

  1. Ever heard the term 'circumambulate'? It means 'walk around '. At Crater Lake, I want to circumpedalate the lake - i.e., bike around it. Of course, I'll take time to take the boat tour, hopefully stopping at Wizard Island.
  2. I would dearly love to circumambulate Mount Rainier on the Wonderland Trail - I've hiked parts of it, and it is a pleasure. However, it is 90+ miles, and it generally takes 10-14 days to backpack it. Am I up to that? What would be easier is if I could arrange slackpacking the trail with 2-3 other people. That's like backpacking, but instead of carrying and sleeping in a tent each night, you hop in a car, drive to a hotel, then drive back the next day to continue.
  3. For North Cascades, a day trip white-water rafting is on the list. A second Way would be staying in the floating cabins there. Estimated rafting cost is $80.
  4. Let's enjoy Olympic at a slower pace, tide-pooling while the water's out, then enjoying the Hoh rain forest.

PACIFIC ISLANDS - it's hard to travel to many of the parks during winter, so that's a good time for places with milder weather. Let's shoot for February 2023 to fly over the ocean.

  1. A bucket-list activity for Haleakala is watching the sun rise, but it's difficult to get tickets for that. I hope to arrang a bike rental, coasting on two wheels down from the summit - cost of $250?
  2. Hawaii Volcanoes is host to Mauna Loa which, at 13,665', is the highest point on the Pacific Rim - and if you measure from the (underwater) base of the volcano, is the tallest mountain in the world. I would love to peak-bag this.
  3. NP of American Samoa is the most remote park, with flights twice weekly from Honolulu. There is very little commercial infrastructure in place here - but you can apparently arrange to have a home-stay with a native family. That, plus quiet walks on sandy tropical beaches should make this a nice 'vacation from the vacation'.

Southwestern US

ARIZONA - to avoid summer's heat, I hope to visit these parks in May 2022.

  1. After Rocky Mountain, I have probably visited Grand Canyon more than any other park. However, I am jazzed to see the North Rim for the first time. I will ride on a burro into the canyon. The ride costs around $100 - anyone care to join me?
  2. For Petrified Forest,I plan to try a new adventure: geo-caching! This is one of the parks where it is allowed.
  3. Saguaro - I am working on a Special Adventure.

CALIFORNIA contains the most parks, with nine. Too many to do in one sweep. Could I do the first two in December 2022, the last two in August 2023, and the rest in April of 2022 (or 2023)?

  1. If late-year weather allows, I would love to kayak the sea caves at Channel Islands
  2. Joshua Tree has a lot to explore - I'd like to zip around with a four-wheel drive here.
  3. In Death Valley, the park offers a paleontology tour and some ghost towns.
  4. King's Canyon - since the parks are adjacent, I may combine this with ...
  5. Sequoia - still looking into these parks. There used to be a wild cave you could tour, and I hear something about a ladybug camp.
  6. Pinnacles - many people here hike through talus caves and look for condors, acting as citizen-scientists for the park.
  7. I'm still investigating Yosemite. I've heard they have a golf course and a resort where you can take art or yoga lessons.
  8. Lassen Volcanic - a possible Special Adventure - but the park was closed part of the summer due to the CA wildfires, so I have not succeeded in reaching them.
  9. Redwood - trying to arrange a Special Adventure.

NEVADA/UTAH will be done in two visits, the first two in May 2023 and the western four parks in September 2023.

  1. In Arches, you can slither a slot, or work your way down a maze-like slot canyon.
  2. Another adrenaline adventure I've planned for Canyonlands, taking a 6-day packrafting trip down the Colorado River. The first five days is a gentle paddle, followed by a run through Cataract Canyon - a river so wild that John Wesley Powell, when first scouting the river, portaged that entire stretch rather than run it. Sound like a fun vacation? You can join me for about $1150.
  3. Bryce Canyon is an International Dark Skies Park, and the rangers lead full moon hikes.
  4. Capitol Reef contains fruit orchards planted by the original Mormon pioneers, and at the right time of year, you can forage for fruit.
  5. There's a similar story for Great Basin in Nevada, where you can pilfer pinyon pine nuts.
  6. There is an incredible adventure available in Zion - for a handful of weeks each year, you can hike the Narrows - which entails long stretches of wading through the river as canyon walls tower hundreds of feet above you. Did it once years ago, would love to do it again.

Rockies to Great Plains

COLORADO is slated for August 2022, after returning from Alaska.

  1. Black Canyon of the Gunnison - I will consider taking a rock climbing lesson here.
  2. Great Sand Dunes - what more iconic activity here than sandboarding?
  3. Mesa Verde is still being investigated
  4. For Rocky Mountain - where I really cut my teeth on National Parks - I have two Special Adventures I am working on.

DAKOTAS I have scheduled for June of 2023, near the tail end of my challenge.

  1. I have visited the Badlands once before. I will check it out on foot and by auto again, but for a different perspective, I will take a helicopter ride over the park.
  2. One president did more for our public lands than any other. To repay him, his name has been attached to Theodore Roosevelt National Park in North Dakota. The perfect activity for this park is not yet on my radar.
  3. Wind Cave is obviously a good park for a cave tour. Hopefully, they still offer the cave tour by cnadlelight, shedding new light on how people used to experience the caves.

NORTHERN ROCKIES will be the premier winter trip of the challenge for the Wyoming parks, in January 2023. But for the adventure of choice in Glacier, buses don't run in the winter, so I may tack it on to the WA parks in July 2023.

  1. There is a lot to do and see in Glacier. You could join me as I see it how thousands of people have seen it for nine decades, by taking a tour on the iconic, 1930s-vintage Red Buses the still operate.
  2. I have to try doing some parks in the winter. Decades ago I visited Yellowstone during a ski vacation, and spent a few days snowmobiling in the park. I can still remember the wintry wonderland, covered with white, steam rising from the hot springs, the buffalo pawing for forage. Ready to do it again!
  3. May as well knock off Grand Teton at the same time, either cross-country skiing or snowshoeing. I'm sure it will be a completely different vibe, with much of the park shut down.

SOUTHERN TIER - most of these I will attempt in October 2022 - but Hot Springs will be my first park, this March.

  1. I've never been to Big Bend, but pictures make it look majestic. After taking hikes, I have heard there is a historic but largely undeveloped hot spring in the park.
  2. Carlsbad Caverns - here comes another Cave Park! I plan to get batty here, watch the exodus of bats at sunset, and hopefully take a unique cave tour.
  3. Guadalupe Mountains has a reputation: when the fall foliage colors burst forth, it is said to the most beautiful spot in all of Texas. Thus, I have to time my visit here for leaf-peeping
  4. One of the newer parks is White Sands. The standard way to play in the big sandbox is to sand-sled.
  5. Hot Springs - this park was the first land set set aside by the federal government to preserve it from development, in 1832 (40 years before Yellowstone). I've never been here, but it does have an alluring feature - the original bathhouses, where you can have a spa treatment. Sounds like a great way to begin my parks challenge!

Eastern US

ATLANTIC STATES will mostly be visited in April 2022 per the schedule.

  1. Acadia (Maine) is far from any other park, so I will tentatively squeeze it in for November 2021. I plan on biking or hiking (or X/C skiing?) the carriage roads.
  2. Congaree (South Carolina) is aligned with the river running through it. What better way to experience it than to float through it by canoe?
  3. Great Smoky Mountains is the nation's most-visited park. I may consider entering the lottery for seeing the synchronous fireflies in late May or early June - or enter a lottery to stay at the LeConte Lodge, the highest-elevation lodging east of the Mississippi. Since no roads lead to it, people staying there must have at least 5.5 miles to get there. A fall-back option is to inner tube down the river forming one of the park borders.
  4. Shenandoah is currently the park I live closest to (and have visited twice recently). My tentative plan is to try shinrin-yoku, a.k.a. forest bathing here.

CARIBBEAN/FLORIDA region is another destination well-suited for the cooler months. I have pencilled in March 2023 for this trip.

  1. Biscayne Bay definitely qualifies as a water park. It piqued my interest when I heard that you can snorkel among sunken shipwrecks in the bay. Of course, I'll hit some boat tours also.
  2. The Dry Tortugas ranks among the harder-to-reach parks. While there, you can tour the old Fort Jefferson, go swimming, or kayak in the area. I found oue company that offers catamaran rides to the island.
  3. I originally thought Everglades might be more ho-hum than many parks, but I found it has three - yes, three! - different adventures I look forward to. The obvious one is the air-boat ride through the swampy park. Second, there are ranger-led slogs through the slough, where you mog through the swamp. What really got me riled, though, is the Tamiami Trail Triathlon (not an organized event, but a do-it-yourself assignment). I've never considered doing a triathlon before, because I don't run [unless someone chases me] and rarely swim. However, this triathlon involves a 15-mile bike ride, a 3-mile hike, and a 3.5 mile paddle. My three sports!
  4. For Virgin Islands, ya gotta get in the water. I choose this spot to finally try stand-up paddleboarding .

CENTRAL EAST will be picked up as I go along.

  1. Gateway Arch - the only real adventure here is to ride the pod to the top of the arch. I plan on doing this in March 2022.
  2. Mammoth Cave - tentatively set to visit after seeing Gateway Arch - unless I push it back a month or two and sign up for a Sierra club volunteer trip
  3. New River Gorge - the country's newest park offers a unique attraction if you don't have acrophobia. The centerpiece of the park is the highway bridge over the gorge, over 700 feet above the river. Did you realize that you can cross the gorge on a catwalk just below the highway? You are hooked in with a safety harness, but any latent fear of heights would likely disqualify you from this. The cost to walk this is $72.

GREAT LAKES - the first two parks will come up in June 2022, while the northern parks are slotted for the solitude of September 2022.

  1. Cuyahoga Valley offers two adventures - a ride on the Cuyahoga Valley Scenic Railroad and the CanalQuest, which sounds like a variation on geocaching.
  2. Indiana Dunes has a Special Adventure scheduled.
  3. Isle Royale - will have to take a seaplane or ferry to get there. Still looking at options - I'd love to sea kayak there, and do something associated with the rare double lake island there - i.e., one of the world's few islands in a lake, on an island in a lake.
  4. Voyageurs - as I near the halfway point of the challenge, spending up to a week on a houseboat through the watery wilderness with friends or family will be a good time to reflect on how things are going.

That's how things stand today! Let me know in which parks you'd like to join me!