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Rachael posted an update in the group
Straddlin' Nature! 12 years, 2 months ago
Sooo . . . I’m curious, what are your favorite National Parks? I can count on one hand those I’ve visited, but I’d really like to see more. I don’t know that I could chose between Death Valley and Olympic. Both are fantastic in such different ways.
I’m really fortunate to live near 3 — Olympic, Rainier, and North Cascades. I hope to visit Mammoth Cave in the near future since my family lives within driving distance of it. The canyonlands are also on the top of my to-do list.
Yosemite’s the one I’m most familiar with. I like it best in early spring, when the winter crowd’s gone, the summer crowd’s still weeks away, and the dogwoods and wildflowers are just blooming. Gorgeous. I also love the expanses of glacier-polished granite, even though it’s roughly the only time I’m ever afraid of heights. It’s beautiful stuff, white/gray/black and shiny-smooth as a plate, but really dangerous. You’ll come across a stretch that’s nearly flat, but it’s so highly polished that one misstep and you’re going to go tumbling down a cliff.
That sounds really beautiful. I’m accustomed to seeing smoothly polished rock in river beds, but nothing on the the type of scale you write about!
BIG Yosemite love. I grew up visiting the park and lived there for almost a year after college. It’s gorgeous and one of the best places I’ve ever lived. Nothing quite like waking up in a tent under Half Dome every day
Yosemite is phenomenal. I recently (last summer) visited a bunch of parks in Utah (I was part of a team of excavators at a dinosaur quarry in Hanksville) and fell in love. Dead Horse Point State Park is GORGEOUS. Here is a photo I took while there:[http://www.flickr.com/photos/meganluczak/4696585929/in/photostream]. Goblin Valley is neat, as well as Arches National Park.
Finally, I LOVED the Humboldt Redwoods State Park in Eureka, CA.
Wow, talk about a majestic view! That’s some photo! State parks in Utah must really be a cut above! O to be there right now . . .