Ok, Glacier NP took our breath away (figuratively and literally). The fires were a bummer but we had one good day on the east side.
Favorite National Park?
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Last: 29 days ago by mpl35
Nice!
Did you do the Grinnel Glacier Hike?
Two Medicine Lake?
Are you still there or home now
Did you do the Grinnel Glacier Hike?
Two Medicine Lake?
Are you still there or home now
We're home now. These pics were taken Sunday. We did Grinnell Glacier trail. Didn't make it to Two Medicine. Fire near Lake McDonald was flaring up on our way out of the park Sunday evening. We were staying in Columbia Falls. Couldn't access Logan Pass from the west by Monday morning and we didn't have enough time to circle to the east side entrance. We'll have to go back.
Bachelor99 said:
1. Yosemite is by far and away the best national park in the national park system. words and pictures do not do the place justice....first class hiking all around the park.
2. Glacier
3. Yellowstone/Grand Teton
4. Zion
5. Rocky Mountain
6. Grand Canyon
7. Olympic
8. Bryce
9. Sequoia/Kings Canyon
10. North Cascades or Crater Lakee...
We are headed to Zion, Bryce, and the rest of Utah next May
Can you share your favorite things to do there? Have a full day at Bryce and 1.5 days at Zion
Wow.. sad about the fires! Best hike for us was Highline trail at Logan Pass
We stayed 4 days in Columbia Falls. 2 days in East Glacier, and 2 days in Waterton north of the border
It was amazing.. thanks for sharing your experience
We stayed 4 days in Columbia Falls. 2 days in East Glacier, and 2 days in Waterton north of the border
It was amazing.. thanks for sharing your experience
Zion:
Angels landing
Narrows (even bottom up for a few hours is worth it
Observation point
Angels landing
Narrows (even bottom up for a few hours is worth it
Observation point
We want to do the Narrows.. but get a feel for it, get in the water, and turn back.. not the entire hike which is more of the same
Where is the stopping point.. after 30 minutes or so?
Where is the stopping point.. after 30 minutes or so?
We'll definitely return with the kiddos. Will do it early-mid July tho to get there after everything has thawed but hopefully before it burns.
That's exactly when we went and Wife and 4 kids
2 days Banff, then the other days I listed earlier
Don't miss Waterton NP.. it's so serene and best weather of the trip
2 days Banff, then the other days I listed earlier
Don't miss Waterton NP.. it's so serene and best weather of the trip
nosoupforyou said:
We want to do the Narrows.. but get a feel for it, get in the water, and turn back.. not the entire hike which is more of the same
Where is the stopping point.. after 30 minutes or so?
I don't think there is a "stopping point" unless you get to the area people camp. That's pretty far up. My wife and I hiked up for several hours in May way back when. It was 90 degrees so the cold water and shade were nice. We got past Orderville. It was hard to stop because the canyon gets narrower and there are less people the further you go. We kept saying "just one more bend" but just kept heading up stream.
So if all you have is an hour, go for 30 minutes. Even that is worth it. Very sweet hike.
I'll add that the emerald pools were not worth it. The watchman is decent but exposed. Weeping wall is a cool stop too. And super short.
Zion is great. I got my fill of Bryce in 1/2 a day. Did lots of viewpoints but didn't feel it necessary to hike down. Too me while it's neat, it's a one hit wonder.
Excellent and helpful feedback Thank you for that. If you have the same thing for arches, canyon lands, capitol reef, etc it would be welcomed
Arches is a great drive-thru park with lots of short hikes.
We hiked a short trail at Canyonlands that took us to Mesa Arch. I think my husband/son did White Rim as well.
We hiked a short trail at Canyonlands that took us to Mesa Arch. I think my husband/son did White Rim as well.
Perfect timing for this post, I'm actually at Arches right now. Over the next 6 days we are going to do the following:
Canyonlands
Capitol Reef
Bryce
Grand Canyon Northern Rim
Zion
I'll post a trip report once we get back of the hikes we do, pics, and suggestions. Haven't gone through this whole thread so hope it won't be a repeat of info.
Driving to Moab from SLC, we saw some of the fires. Facing one way you saw blue skies, but turn around and the whole sky was covered with smoke. Terribly sad to see.
Canyonlands
Capitol Reef
Bryce
Grand Canyon Northern Rim
Zion
I'll post a trip report once we get back of the hikes we do, pics, and suggestions. Haven't gone through this whole thread so hope it won't be a repeat of info.
Driving to Moab from SLC, we saw some of the fires. Facing one way you saw blue skies, but turn around and the whole sky was covered with smoke. Terribly sad to see.
Thank you!! I'm hitting all of those in May and planning now for ideas
I took the family out to LA for the long Labor Day weekend. We spent Saturday on the island of Santa Cruz, one of five islands that make up Channel Islands National Park. It's about an hour ferry ride out and when we got there, we did a kayak tour thru some sea caves. When then rented wet suits and snorkeled thru the kelp forests. I wish I had one more day to hike a bit, but the kayak and snorkel took up most of my time (the rest of my time was lunch and working with my son on his Junior Ranger badge).
This morning we drove out to Joshua Tree. We were tired and it was hot so we didn't do all that we wanted to do but we still had fun. It was a cool park, but I doubt I'll go back, unless I just happen to be driving through the area someday on a cross country trip.
Skull Rock
This morning we drove out to Joshua Tree. We were tired and it was hot so we didn't do all that we wanted to do but we still had fun. It was a cool park, but I doubt I'll go back, unless I just happen to be driving through the area someday on a cross country trip.
Skull Rock
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Anyone have any day hike recommendations for Yosemite? I've hiked the Upper Yosemite Falls trail before. Gonna be there next week.
Do you have a hike in Mariposa Grove planned? It's been closed for a few years but should be open now. If you haven't been to Sequoia NP or and other sequoia groves, I'd highly recommend going there early in the morning before crowds show up. Those trees are magnificent.
Big trees are cool.
Half Dome
Cloud's Rest
Cathedral Lake
Mist trail up to nevada falls and JMT down
Four Mile Trail
Panorama Trail
Sentinel Dome
taft Point
Half Dome
Cloud's Rest
Cathedral Lake
Mist trail up to nevada falls and JMT down
Four Mile Trail
Panorama Trail
Sentinel Dome
taft Point
You must hike to May Lake.. it's great! Off the main path and not too long but great to hang out there a bit
Tulomeme Meadows was pretty also
Definitely Inspiration Point But get there early for the sunrise.. amazing
Tulomeme Meadows was pretty also
Definitely Inspiration Point But get there early for the sunrise.. amazing
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Nice. Looks like it's a toss-up between Mariposa Grove and May Lake then. Will report back in a few days. Thanks peeps.
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mpl35 said:
Half Dome
Should have given parameters like gain/mileage.Head Ninja In Charge said:mpl35 said:
Half Dome
We just figured out that we are indeed going to Glacier Bay next summer for a few nights. Adding Olympic NP to the front end of that trip too. I'm already stoked.
You could probably do both. The Grove doesn't take long. Just get there super early and enjoy that early dawn light. Then head up to May Lake. I like cathedral lake much better but it is also much longer and harder.Head Ninja In Charge said:
Nice. Looks like it's a toss-up between Mariposa Grove and May Lake then. Will report back in a few days. Thanks peeps.
A few summers back I was there in August and Tenaya Lake looked like a freaking beach there were so many people on the shore. I bet it isn't as busy in September. It is a good place to kick back and eat a meal while taking in the view.
We just got back from Grand Teton NP (and Yellowstone enough to see Old Faithful) and we loved it. The scenery in Grand Teton was amazing everywhere and nice little hikes for our 4yo. We will be going back at some point to give Yellowstone it's due and will be adding another day or two at Teton. We did see another Aggie there randomly when watching some moose drink early in the morning.
hikes.htmHead Ninja In Charge said:
Anyone have any day hike recommendations for Yosemite? I've hiked the Upper Yosemite Falls trail before. Gonna be there next week.
i have been to Zion multiple times...some of our favorite hikes are angels landing, observation point, canyon overlook and the emerald pools...i need to do the narrows on a future visit....bryce is a unique park...not many places to see hoodoos but you probably only need 1 day here...drive the loop and stop at the viewpoints...i would do 1 hike into the canyon its cool to look at the hoodoos up close...we enjoyed the fairyland loop trail. Enjoy your trip!!nosoupforyou said:Bachelor99 said:
1. Yosemite is by far and away the best national park in the national park system. words and pictures do not do the place justice....first class hiking all around the park.
2. Glacier
3. Yellowstone/Grand Teton
4. Zion
5. Rocky Mountain
6. Grand Canyon
7. Olympic
8. Bryce
9. Sequoia/Kings Canyon
10. North Cascades or Crater Lakee...
We are headed to Zion, Bryce, and the rest of Utah next May
Can you share your favorite things to do there? Have a full day at Bryce and 1.5 days at Zion
great tips - I added this to my agenda
here's my plan at Bryce - this is from several different posters and I'm confused as to what I have here - I think that these instructions are the same thing written differently? Could you make sense of this? Assume we start at 8am and get to Mt Carmel at 10 pm - so likely no time for a single 4 hour hike
o Drive 10 minutes and Shuttle to the end of the park and see Bryce Point. Hike the rim trail to Inspiration Point. Hike Sunset Point go down to Navajo Loop Trail. Then Sunrise Point along the rim. Then drive to Fairyland to hike the rim. Drive the loop and stop at the Viewpoints. Fairyland Loop Trail
o Hike Queen's Garden and Navajo Loop Start at Sunset Point. Hike north (left) along the canyon rim until you reach Sunrise Point. From there follow the Queens Garden Trail to a 4 way intersection down at the bottom of the canyon. Continue straight ahead into the Wall Street half of Navajo Loop which will return you back to Sunset Point.
we also, if we have time, want to then do this during the same day
o Check out Grand Staircase and Willis Creek Slot Canyon? Also Kodachrome State Park?
o Drive 1.5 hours to Lodging - 2 nights at Mt Carmel Motel and RV Park - arrive late.
here's my plan at Bryce - this is from several different posters and I'm confused as to what I have here - I think that these instructions are the same thing written differently? Could you make sense of this? Assume we start at 8am and get to Mt Carmel at 10 pm - so likely no time for a single 4 hour hike
o Drive 10 minutes and Shuttle to the end of the park and see Bryce Point. Hike the rim trail to Inspiration Point. Hike Sunset Point go down to Navajo Loop Trail. Then Sunrise Point along the rim. Then drive to Fairyland to hike the rim. Drive the loop and stop at the Viewpoints. Fairyland Loop Trail
o Hike Queen's Garden and Navajo Loop Start at Sunset Point. Hike north (left) along the canyon rim until you reach Sunrise Point. From there follow the Queens Garden Trail to a 4 way intersection down at the bottom of the canyon. Continue straight ahead into the Wall Street half of Navajo Loop which will return you back to Sunset Point.
we also, if we have time, want to then do this during the same day
o Check out Grand Staircase and Willis Creek Slot Canyon? Also Kodachrome State Park?
o Drive 1.5 hours to Lodging - 2 nights at Mt Carmel Motel and RV Park - arrive late.
re Zion, here's my plan - I feel like my Day 1 plan is probably about right - hitting the 2 big ones, but not sure what my Day 2 plan will look like -
Day 1 Zion National Park
o Drive 20 minutes to Zion National Park Day 1
o Hike to the top of Angels Landing 5 miles, 3.5 hours round trip hike. Be at the busses before 6:00 am.
o Hike the Narrows (riverbed hike go to where it forks, no further 1.5 miles is Wall Street) (rent dry suit/boots/stick?)
o Hike the Great White Throne, the Court of the Patriarchs
- head back to RV park at the end of day
Day 2 Red Canyon Slot, Coral Pink Sand Dunes, Zion NP, Las Vegas 200 miles
o Drive 20 minutes to Red Canyon Slot
o Drive 30 minutes to Coral Pink Sand Dunes State Park
o Drive 40 minutes to Zion National Park Day 2
Hike Weeping Rock (.4 miles 30 minute RT), Observation Point Hike, Canyon Overlook, Emerald Pools (3 miles RT) and Riverside Walk (2.2 miles, 90 minutes on the Narrow's hike?) Canyon Overlook Trail, other hikes HERE,
Drive 2.5 hours to Las Vegas
Day 1 Zion National Park
o Drive 20 minutes to Zion National Park Day 1
o Hike to the top of Angels Landing 5 miles, 3.5 hours round trip hike. Be at the busses before 6:00 am.
o Hike the Narrows (riverbed hike go to where it forks, no further 1.5 miles is Wall Street) (rent dry suit/boots/stick?)
o Hike the Great White Throne, the Court of the Patriarchs
- head back to RV park at the end of day
Day 2 Red Canyon Slot, Coral Pink Sand Dunes, Zion NP, Las Vegas 200 miles
o Drive 20 minutes to Red Canyon Slot
o Drive 30 minutes to Coral Pink Sand Dunes State Park
o Drive 40 minutes to Zion National Park Day 2
Hike Weeping Rock (.4 miles 30 minute RT), Observation Point Hike, Canyon Overlook, Emerald Pools (3 miles RT) and Riverside Walk (2.2 miles, 90 minutes on the Narrow's hike?) Canyon Overlook Trail, other hikes HERE,
Drive 2.5 hours to Las Vegas
I havent contributed since Memorial Day but we've been busy.
For 4th of July we took the trailer up to Banff (it rained unfortunately) and then spent a few nights in Glacier again. I hadn't been to Glacier that early and unfortunately Grinnell Glacier Trail was partially closed due to snow and treacherous conditions - oh well, I guess we'll have to go back
Then we did a week up in Alaska. The first couple of nights were in Denali - we could have stayed another week - it was gorgeous....definitely not enough time there (but we expected that when we planned it). Then we met my wife's family in Soldotna for the rest of the trip. Kenai Fjords was awesome - but the highlight was taking a sea plane over to a lake just outside of Lake Clark NP on a bear watching tour....hands down the coolest thing I've ever seen in my life.
Then we did a long weekend up to Acadia NP....it was the kids first trip there and my son and I did The Beehive Trail, which he thought was AWESOME.
For 4th of July we took the trailer up to Banff (it rained unfortunately) and then spent a few nights in Glacier again. I hadn't been to Glacier that early and unfortunately Grinnell Glacier Trail was partially closed due to snow and treacherous conditions - oh well, I guess we'll have to go back
Then we did a week up in Alaska. The first couple of nights were in Denali - we could have stayed another week - it was gorgeous....definitely not enough time there (but we expected that when we planned it). Then we met my wife's family in Soldotna for the rest of the trip. Kenai Fjords was awesome - but the highlight was taking a sea plane over to a lake just outside of Lake Clark NP on a bear watching tour....hands down the coolest thing I've ever seen in my life.
Then we did a long weekend up to Acadia NP....it was the kids first trip there and my son and I did The Beehive Trail, which he thought was AWESOME.
Pics or it didn't happen.
Headed to Rocky Mountain NP in late October. Tips?
depends on the snow. Trail Ridge Road closes 10/23 on average. So if that is closed, you miss out on a lot. Ask about hikes in 2-3 more weeks and it will be easier.prisschris said:
Headed to Rocky Mountain NP in late October. Tips?
Ask and you shall receive....
BANFF:
Our campsite in Banff - we stayed at Tunnel Mountain Campground inside the park - we were on loop 1, by sheer luck, which has some fabulous views (to my back as I was taking this picture)
Lake Louise - we actually left Banff a day early because of the weather
Morraine Lake
GLACIER:
Ran across this little guy heading in to Many Glacier....my son was PUMPED because it was his first black bear sighting (in the wild)
The waterfalls were incredible in early July
Hiking to St. Mary's Falls
St. Mary's Falls
(note: unless you're trying to do the full Piegan Pass Trail, don't hike from St. Mary's Falls up along it to Jackson Glacier Overlook - it is a marshy suck of a hike)
We drove up to Logan's Pass and started hiking to Hidden Lake
Ran across this guy on the trail
Somewhere along Going-to-the-Sun Road
DENALI:
The kids loved the dog kennel.....I thought it was pretty incredible that they are used in the park, as an integral resource - since the majority of the park is designated wilderness there is no machinery allowed in most areas so the dogs haul everything everywhere
We had a clear view of Denali, which I'm told is only visible about 30% of the time
My son and I hiked Horseshoe Lake Trail - we saw three different moose
KENAI FJORDS:
We took a wildlife cruise - it was GORGEOUS that day. Sea otters, sea lions, a whale, and lots of birds (the Puffin is the only one I can remember - there were two types of them)
LAKE CLARKish (it was just outside but close enough):
The sea plane flew us from Soldatna to Big River Lake
Our first brown bear sighting (of 6)
Our first black bear of the day (of 3)
This stream runs from Lake Clark to here....the salmon pooled up at the bottom (THOUSANDS of them) and the bears just strolled down the stream picking them off....and we were on a pontoon about 30 yards away
These two were just playing
It was just the coolest experience ever - we were on the boat for about 4 hours - the kids (cousins aged 2-9) were good after about 2-1/2 hours, but I was impressed their attention was held that long....I could have sat their until dark
On the flight back to Soldatna they swung us over this glacier field......it was amazing (and I have no clue what it was called or where exactly we were)
ACADIA:
The Beehive
BANFF:
Our campsite in Banff - we stayed at Tunnel Mountain Campground inside the park - we were on loop 1, by sheer luck, which has some fabulous views (to my back as I was taking this picture)
Lake Louise - we actually left Banff a day early because of the weather
Morraine Lake
GLACIER:
Ran across this little guy heading in to Many Glacier....my son was PUMPED because it was his first black bear sighting (in the wild)
The waterfalls were incredible in early July
Hiking to St. Mary's Falls
St. Mary's Falls
(note: unless you're trying to do the full Piegan Pass Trail, don't hike from St. Mary's Falls up along it to Jackson Glacier Overlook - it is a marshy suck of a hike)
We drove up to Logan's Pass and started hiking to Hidden Lake
Ran across this guy on the trail
Somewhere along Going-to-the-Sun Road
DENALI:
The kids loved the dog kennel.....I thought it was pretty incredible that they are used in the park, as an integral resource - since the majority of the park is designated wilderness there is no machinery allowed in most areas so the dogs haul everything everywhere
We had a clear view of Denali, which I'm told is only visible about 30% of the time
My son and I hiked Horseshoe Lake Trail - we saw three different moose
KENAI FJORDS:
We took a wildlife cruise - it was GORGEOUS that day. Sea otters, sea lions, a whale, and lots of birds (the Puffin is the only one I can remember - there were two types of them)
LAKE CLARKish (it was just outside but close enough):
The sea plane flew us from Soldatna to Big River Lake
Our first brown bear sighting (of 6)
Our first black bear of the day (of 3)
This stream runs from Lake Clark to here....the salmon pooled up at the bottom (THOUSANDS of them) and the bears just strolled down the stream picking them off....and we were on a pontoon about 30 yards away
These two were just playing
It was just the coolest experience ever - we were on the boat for about 4 hours - the kids (cousins aged 2-9) were good after about 2-1/2 hours, but I was impressed their attention was held that long....I could have sat their until dark
On the flight back to Soldatna they swung us over this glacier field......it was amazing (and I have no clue what it was called or where exactly we were)
ACADIA:
The Beehive
Good Lord I hiked the Beehive in Acadia this summer & it scared the bejeezus outta me. (I am not good with heights!)
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