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08/25/2008 - 8:07amGiving a Name to Yosemite Area Peak for Longtime Ranger Carl Sharsmith.Some of you might remember Larry Nahm, one of Yosemite National Park's first librarians. Larry worked with many of us who had the privilege of residing in Yosemite during the early 1970's. I just received the following account from Larry of a recent hike he took up to the summit ...
08/14/2008 - 9:36amMSNBC’s Top 10 National Park Lodges List Draws Curmudgeonly, but Gentle CriticismMy favorite lodge in the Canadian Rockies is Num-Ti-Ja Lodge in Banff National Park. It is located on the shores of Bow Lake, just off the Icefields Parkway. This facility was personally designed and constructed by mountain man, adventurer, guide, and big-game hunter Jimmy Simpson. I highly recommend Room 13. ...
08/14/2008 - 9:02amTraveler's Picks for Where to Get Wet in the National Park SystemOf course there's the chance to get wet by wading or swimming in the deepest lake in the USA at Crater Lake National Park. Hike down the Cleetwood Trail to Cleetwood Cove and let your feet dangle off the boat docks, or better yet, go for a swim. Take a ...
08/13/2008 - 2:04pmStar Party Scheduled for June 21-28 at Grand Canyon National ParkMore than likely they were two bright meteors occurring 1/2 hour apart that were part of the show of the spectacular August 11 and 12th Perseid meteor shower. At 9:30 PM at night at the Grand Canyon, the waxing gibbous moon would have been high in the southern sky, causing ...
08/08/2008 - 6:45amOdes to the National Park Rangers Who Wear the Grey and GreenFrank, is the problem really one of recruiting subtandard employees, or is it the absence of training, auditing, and mentoring? If it's the former, how does the NPS as a Federal agency rise above the plethora of restrictions and preferences placed on hiring and pormotion of women and minorities that ...
08/06/2008 - 8:29amOdes to the National Park Rangers Who Wear the Grey and GreenWho would lead us on hikes if there were no rangers? In 2006 my wife and I visited the Canadian Rockies. We found a few park wardens in uniform, but none were involved in leading hikes. When we stayed overnight at Moraine Lake Lodge, the Lodge offered guided walks and ...
08/06/2008 - 6:28amWhat Suggestions Do You Have For the National Park Service?"The National Park Service likes to promote that visitors give the National Park System a 96 percent approval rating." Kurt, One of the problems I have with this statistic is with its implications when compared to the total visitation to our parks. For example, if we were to say that ...
06/08/2008 - 4:21pmHow Can We Build Advocates for the National Parks?Kurt, Thank you for raising this issue on NPT. It's difficult for most people, for whom parks are one-time travel destinations, to become interested in the details of park funding issues when personal finances and free time become more restrictive and gasoline prices soar above $4.00 per gallon. For most ...
06/05/2008 - 12:40pmCongressman Accuses Sec. Kempthorne of Pandering to NRA on Gun IssueI just don't get it. We don't allow people to carry concealed weapons in our public schools, churches, museums, libraries, and courthouses. Therefore, why should people feel a special need to carry concealed weapons in our national parks? Are our national parks not special, sacred places? Or, are they just ...
06/04/2008 - 6:14amYosemite National Park Waterfalls Approaching Full ThrottleI had the priviledge of living in Yosemite Valley for two years. The Valley is most exciting when the big waterfalls hit their peak in mid to late Spring. During this wonderful season of the year, one can literally "feel" the vibrations created by the sound of falling water. I ...
06/04/2008 - 6:09amNational Park System Quiz 5: Biggest This or ThatRick, Are you thinking perhaps about the Kolob Arch in Zion National Park? It's big, but it is not a natural bridge. To be considered a natural bridge, there must be water flowing underneath. I don't think this is the case with Zion's Kolob Arch. Owen Hoffman Oak Ridge, TN ...
05/29/2008 - 6:17amStar Party Scheduled for June 21-28 at Grand Canyon National ParkIt's great that the Grand Canyon Star Party has become a special event during the time of the Summer Solstice. National Parks are special places where dark skies and curious minds collide. Be sure to take advantage of this organized effort to promote public star gazing in the parks. There's ...
05/23/2008 - 9:45amPark History: Crater Lake National ParkDuring the summer of 2000, the USGS and their contractors extensively resurveyed Crater Lake's inner caldera below the lake's surface. Using the USGS benchmarked elevation for the lake's surface of 1883 meters (6178 feet), they determined the lake's maximum depth to be 594 meters (plus and minus 1.2 meters [one ...
05/08/2008 - 7:13amWhere Are the Best Sunrises in the National Park System?I would vote for sunrise (and pre-sunrise) at Canyon Overlook above the Great Arch of Zion in Zion National Park, looking west at Bridge Mountain and across Zion Canyon into Oak Creek Canyon. There is a dramatic change of color on the Great West Temple, the Temples of the Virgin ...
04/23/2008 - 12:53pmTraveler's Top 10 Picks For Movies Involving National ParksI'm surprised you haven't listed my personal favorite: "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid" (1969), with Robert Redford, Paul Newman and Katharine Ross. Much footage was filmed in and near Zion National Park, UT. The famous Rendevous House was located in the present ghost town of Grafton, UT, on the ...
03/24/2008 - 8:25amWhatever Became of the Decommissioned National Parks?Due to the powerful economic forces of modern-day tourism, as well as community pride in local green spots on the map officially designated as part of the NPS, I think it will be very difficult, if not impossible, to decommission any unit of the NPS. The only way I see ...
02/25/2008 - 7:07pmA Winter Visit to Grand Canyon National Park's Phantom RanchKen, Thanks for identifying yourself. Although we've never met in person, it's indeed a very small world. When I was in college, I also ran track (middle distance, San Jose State). Sharing roots as former seasonal employees of the National Park Service, we probably know some of the same persons. ...
02/25/2008 - 9:28amA Winter Visit to Grand Canyon National Park's Phantom RanchDiane, Are you spending the night at Phantom Ranch? If so, will you be eating meals there as well? I found that the Phantom Ranch breakfast of hotcakes, eggs, and bacon was quite good, especially the bacon. If you have them prepare a sack lunch for the hike out, it ...
02/20/2008 - 2:25pmA Winter Visit to Grand Canyon National Park's Phantom RanchKen, Here are some additional pictures to wet your appetite for your upcoming trip and hike into the Grand Canyon. http://www.parksonline.org/parks/owenhoffman/grandcanyon2007/index2.html You won't need to worry about ice on the trail at that time of the year. The inner canyon will be much warmer than in winter, but still more ...
01/29/2008 - 11:54amWinter Visits to the National ParksI can highly recommend a winter visit to Carlsbad Caverns. Although the bats are gone, so are the summer crowds. The silence while strolling slowly down into the Natural Entrance to the cave along the dimly backlit self-guided trail is overpowering. It's like entering a sacred underground gallery of art, ...
01/22/2008 - 10:16amA Winter Visit to Grand Canyon National Park's Phantom RanchHi Carol, It's great to see you contributing to the commentary on [i]National Parks Traveler[/i]. To answer your question, yes I met several women on the trail who were in our age bracket. No one in the women's dorm at Phantom Ranch complained of snoring either. Owen Owen Hoffman Oak ...
01/21/2008 - 8:34amA Winter Visit to Grand Canyon National Park's Phantom RanchYes, I used two hiking poles (that I purchased in Glacier National Park almost ten years ago). Both the Bright Angel and the South Kaibab trails show signs of recent trail mainentance, so they were not as rocky or eroded as I remembered from previous trips. I recall that in ...
01/19/2008 - 6:05amA Winter Visit to Grand Canyon National Park's Phantom RanchOne of the really pleasant surprises of this trip was encountering NPS park interpreter Stewart Fritts while he was conducting a guided walk along the rim at the Grand Canyon Village. His walk focused on the historic architectual accomplishments of Mary Elizabeth Jane Colter. Mr. Fritts is among the most ...
01/19/2008 - 5:46amCrater Lake, On Average, Is Deepest Lake in North AmericaJust to provide an update about my ongoing research on the deepest lakes of the world: Crater Lake is the deepest, when compared on the basis of average depth among lakes whose basins are entirely above sea level. The average depths of Lakes Baikal and Tanganyika are deeper than Crater ...
11/23/2007 - 1:56pmCrater Lake, On Average, Is Deepest Lake in North AmericaAfter checking my data and performing some additional online research, I have concluded that Crater Lake, based on a comparison of average depths, is not only the deepest in North America, but also the deepest among lakes in the entire Western Hemisphere! Based on average depth, Lake Tahoe is second ...
11/20/2007 - 1:54pmVideo Postcard : Tallgrass Prairie National PreserveJeremy, I note that you drew a different interpreter on your bus tour than I did. I hope the amplification was better. I actually did meet your interpreter at the visitor center/gift shop area, and belive he had experience at several other parks. Did you ask about when the TGPNP ...
11/06/2007 - 8:31amPark History: How Volcanics Sculpted Parts of the National Park System In 2000, the USGS along with a team of private consultants, performed a new bathymetric survey of the subsurface caldera of Crater Lake. The newest USGS estimate for the maximum depth of Crater Lake is 1949 feet give or take about 6 feet. The average depth is 1148 feet ...
11/04/2007 - 7:04amGiving a Name to Yosemite Area Peak for Longtime Ranger Carl Sharsmith.To me, Dr. Carl W. Sharsmith was no mere mortal. He is an integral part of Yosemite's history. His Yosemite legacy stands with that of John Muir and Ansel Adams. However, unlike Muir and Adams, there is not a wide-spread collection of published works or photographs. Instead, there are an ...
09/25/2007 - 12:43pmPadre Island Interpretive Program Simply SucceedsI agree with Merryland above. The internet and other electronic means of communication are excellent mechanisms for promoting inter- and intra- staff communications. The internet and other forms of electronic communications can be very effective in keeping interim employees like seasonals and volunteers current on park administrative changes, new procedures ...
08/31/2007 - 11:13amInterpretation on the Tallgrass PrairieMJ, I did not know about the differences between flint and limestone before I took the guided bus tour last Saturday. This tour was conducted through a portion of the Flint Hills of Kansas (within which the Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve is situated). Being naturally curious, I asked my question ...