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07/31/2009 - 5:25am9-Year-Old Killed By Rock Slide at Lassen Volcanic National ParkWhoa, Anon. Referring to an entire mountain as a peak is a practice as common as dirt. If you really want to avoid confusion when referring to the very top of the mountain, use the word summit.
09/19/2008 - 4:26amA Section of the Appalachian Trail Designed for Wheelchair Access Opens in VermontMerryland, remember that the newly constructed AT segment (boardwalk and path) replaced an AT segment that consisted of road surface (Thundering Brook Road). This new trail segment is a step toward nature, not away from it. Further, the segment was built across a floodplain, which made a boardwalk a logical ...
01/06/2009 - 4:30amAccessibility in the National Park SystemIf you're interested in wheelchair accessible portions of the Appalachian Trail, be sure to read the Traveler posting on that topic. You'll find it at [url=http://www.nationalparkstraveler.com/2008/09/section-appalachian-trail-designed-wheelchair-accessibility-opens-vermont]http://www.nationalparkstraveler.com/2008/09/section-appalachian-trail-designed-wheelchair-accessibility-opens-vermont[/url]. If you're interested in the National Accessibility Achievement Awards for access-related projects and programs in the parks, see our Traveler posting on that topic ...
04/30/2009 - 8:01amAccessible National Parks, Airline DivisionIs it true, Anon2, that Townsend anchors "The Quiet Side of the Smokies"? On a scale of one to ten, where Gatlinburg/Pigeon Forge and Cherokee represent a ten, how would you rate Townsend on the scale of Gateway Clamor and Visual Noise?
08/12/2008 - 4:45amAccidents Happen at Lake Mead National Recreation Area, Usually Because People Break Commonsense Water Safety RulesInteresting question, Frank. The National Park Service considers LAME's birthday to be August 11, 1947, just as it is indicated in Wikipedia. If you'd like to see the NPS list of national park birthdays, see [url=http://www.nps.gov/history/history/hisnps/NPSHistory/birthdays.htm]this site[/url]. The NPS considers the park birthdates to be the dates "... of the ...
04/10/2009 - 1:06pmAging Activists Gather at Congaree National Park to Recall a Nick-of-Time RescueI think you've pretty much hit it on the head, Jim. As Jim said in his opening remarks, "all we had was the voice of the people."
04/14/2009 - 6:47amAging Activists Gather at Congaree National Park to Recall a Nick-of-Time RescueLots of people have never heard of Congaree National Park, Jess. Publicity has been stepped up since the park was redesignated (from National Monument) nearly six years ago, but Congaree is still one of the better kept secrets. Since you're interested in photographing big trees, you should be aware that ...
11/12/2008 - 6:48pmAllegheny Portage Railroad National Historical Site Commemorates a Great Achievement in Early TransportationWow, Mike; that's some interesting genealogy! Having a connection like that will make your visit very special -- something to really look forward to.
09/28/2009 - 10:33amAn Analytical Look At The National Parks: America's Best IdeaI'll let someone else speak to the matter of Hot Springs, but I would like to point out these Mesa Verde facts. Mesa Verde's claim to national park status dates back over a century (Congress designated Mesa Verde a national park in 1906). The park is not only a World ...
08/26/2009 - 8:36amAn Untimely Accident Fatally Injures a Colorado National Monument BicyclistI'm glad that the punctured tire didn't do you in, SaltSage. I would imagine that you are truly entitled to say: "There, but for the grace of God,........"
09/03/2009 - 7:02amAn Untimely Accident Fatally Injures a Colorado National Monument BicyclistClaudia, we're happy that [i][b]Traveler[/b][/i] can serve as a vehicle for conveying the sentiments you've expressed here. By telling people what a warm and caring person Stan was you've helped to put a personal face on this tragic incident. I never had the pleasure of meeting Stan myself, and more's ...
07/25/2009 - 4:40amAncient Mammal Footprints Excite Paleontologists at Dinosaur National MonumentThanks for writing, azborn2001. It's always nice to get positive feedback and interesting comments/questions. I don't know about any claw marks that might be visible in the footprint impressions at this particular trackway. Maybe somebody in the know will chime in on this one. While I have your attention, let ...
07/26/2009 - 2:28pmAncient Mammal Footprints Excite Paleontologists at Dinosaur National MonumentThank you very kindly, Dr. Chure. (Man, when you invite somebody "in the know" to chime in, you never know what you're going to get!) Since you are one of the scientists who found this amazing site, is there any other personal observation that you'd like to make? And BTW, ...
07/27/2009 - 5:31amAncient Mammal Footprints Excite Paleontologists at Dinosaur National MonumentThanks, Dan. This is fascinating stuff. Sounds like you'll need several lifetimes to get the Glen Canyon Group facts sorted out. Will you at some point be seeking volunteer workers for this project?
12/15/2007 - 9:37amAre The National Parks Not Part of Our Federal Lands?Lone Hiker is right on target with that complaint about government officials using important words like "federal" and "democracy" without due regard for their nuances of meaning. If elected officials or other public servants have so little respect for the English language that they don't even bother to use the ...
09/29/2008 - 3:26pmAre There Really 391 Units in the National Park System? You Won’t Think So After You Read This!Charles Pinckney National Historic Site is not in Charleston harbor; it's well north of Charleston just off US-17 and not far from Boone Hall Plantation. The park's main physical entity is [url=http://www.nps.gov/chpi/historyculture/index.htm]Snee Farm[/url] (a remnant of the original plantation that doesn't have a single Pinckney-era structure on it!). That little ...
09/30/2008 - 7:18amAre There Really 391 Units in the National Park System? You Won’t Think So After You Read This!Not much to see at Snee Farm, dapster. The Charles Pinckney NHS has been described as a sham (I find it hard to disagree) because it has so little to do with Charles Pinckney and has NO Pinckney era structures. This park would be very high on my list of ...
09/30/2008 - 11:19amAre There Really 391 Units in the National Park System? You Won’t Think So After You Read This!None of these non-NPS administered National Monuments are counted in the National Park System 391-tally, of course. Still, the administrative ambiguity does add an additional layer of confusion. [i]Traveler[/i] is going to take up the topic of designation confusion in a future article. In this one we tried to stay ...
10/01/2008 - 3:07pmAre There Really 391 Units in the National Park System? You Won’t Think So After You Read This!Since the National Park Service doesn't know what a national park is, why should I be expected to know?
10/09/2008 - 10:46amAre There Really 391 Units in the National Park System? You Won’t Think So After You Read This!Beenthere, you really can't blame [i]Traveler[/i] for thinking that NOAA is the four-letter code for Western Arctic National Parklands. The URL for the Western Arctic National Parklands homepage on the publicly accessible Internet is http://www.nps.gov/noaa/ (try it for yourself) and there is no such URL as http://www.nps.gov/wear/. Perhaps you could ...
10/10/2008 - 11:24amAre There Really 391 Units in the National Park System? You Won’t Think So After You Read This!No cigar, I'm afraid. The four-letter code for Noatak National Park & Preserve is NOAT.
06/03/2008 - 9:45amArtists' Paint Pots Area in Yellowstone National Park Temporarily Closed Due to Thin Surface CrustBeing well prepared makes good sense to me, Bob. I do have a question about the snake bite kit, though. Here in South Carolina, where people are outdoorsy and snake bites are not just a theoretical hazard (we have four venomous species), medical authorities have told people very emphatically that ...
09/11/2008 - 8:08amAt Big Thicket National Preserve, a Combative Drug Dealer Changes His Mind When Ranger Stafford Shows Him His TaserBeamis, I agree with the general thrust of your argument, but I take issue with two specifics. First, Johnny Walker Red is cheap and popular (the world's best selling whiskey), but you really should expand your horizons and develop your sophisticated side. Try a couple of bottles of JW Black ...
09/12/2008 - 4:23pmAt Big Thicket National Preserve, a Combative Drug Dealer Changes His Mind When Ranger Stafford Shows Him His TaserJust a point of clarification here. Removing the cartridge from a Taser doesn't incapacitate it. The sole function of the cartridge -- a container of compressed nitrogen -- is to allow the Taser to fire the two electrodes through the air (about 21 feet, I'm told) so the officer doesn't ...
09/19/2009 - 10:35amAt Gateway Arch, a Two-Week Blackout Benefits Migrating BirdsJim, some of the citizen complaints about the initial three-hour lighting schedule were actually quite funny. One guy reportedly said that turning the Arch's floodlights on at 9:00 p.m. made little sense to him because he and many other elderly residents of St. Louis were already in bed by then. ...
09/19/2009 - 10:45amAt Gateway Arch, a Two-Week Blackout Benefits Migrating BirdsYour point is well taken, Kath. There are lots of other distracting lights in the Gateway Arch vicinity, including the very bright lights of a huge hotel/casino complex (Lumiere Place) only a few blocks to the north
12/22/2008 - 6:31amAt Jefferson National Expansion Memorial, Old History Made Way for New HistoryAnn, I think only a very tiny minority of Americans consider the Arch boring or think of it as a symbol of hardship and horror (the suffering of the pioneers, the slow motion Holocaust that was the Indian Wars, the environmental devastation in the prairies and mountains, etc.). The history-polishing ...
12/23/2008 - 8:31amAt Jefferson National Expansion Memorial, Old History Made Way for New HistoryTed, it's interesting that you mention the Soviet approach to public architecture (huge-heroic-stylized). The arch was a product of its time, so some people are naturally going to try to make something of the fact that the arch was designed and built during the heyday of Soviet public architecture. Though ...
09/21/2008 - 8:33amAt New River Gorge National River, an Iconic Bridge Attracts Suicide JumpersThank you for your comments, Anon. They lend valuable perspective to this story, and I couldn't have said it better.
08/01/2009 - 7:49amAt New River Gorge National River, an Iconic Bridge Attracts Suicide JumpersBrian, I'm not sure what you mean by town practices. Could you expand on that a little?
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