If you've stood before Old Faithful as it erupts against a golden sunset, or perhaps a frosty sunrise, you're likely going to carry that image with you for the rest of your life. Or maybe the profile of Half Dome, as seen from Glacier Point in Yosemite National Park, leaps first to mind when you think of national parks.
Those are two bold, hard-to-forget images. But perhaps there's another setting in the National Park System that you hold most dear. It could be the sunset that softly backlights the sea stacks at Rialto Beach in Olympic National Park, the first rays of sunrise as spied from atop Cadillac Mountain in Acadia National Park, or the waving sawgrass that sweeps to the horizon at Everglades National Park.
There are other images cast by the national parks -- the Gettysburg battlefield at dusk, the silent cliff dwellings at Mesa Verde, the rippling waters of Voyageurs. Tell us what setting in the parks is burned forever into your memory.
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Walking in the fog and rain in Thoroughfare Pass in Denali National Park and have the skies break open and reveal a completely cloud free Mount McKinley.
Watching the face of my students when first seeing the Grand Canyon.
Hiking from Hermit Creek Campground to the Colorado River and back in Grand Canyon.
Watching a wolf chase down and kill a caribou calf in Denali Park.
The stars of the Milky Way on the rim of Bryce Canyon.
Running the rapids of Cataract Canyon in Canyonlands National Park.
Standing in Lincoln's Home.
An afternoon lounging and writing on an island in the Lewis River in Yellowstone National park.
Trying to grasp the experience above the Little Big Horn River
The sight and sound of a rutting bull moose in the morning fog in Denali Park.
And so many more..........
National Parks.....what a treasure!
My National Park Image is a bit smaller than everyone elses. The iconic image I have in my mind is the lowly brown sign that reads "Trailhead". It brings to mind many many hikes & walks in many many National Parks. It brings the anticipation of a great hike, and it's also the friendly sign that greets me at the bottom of the hill, at the end of a great day of hiking.
The beauty of so many of the above is true but to me, the first time I got a glimpse of the Grand Canyon, all I could say was" OH MY GOD..." as I stood in complete awe.
That first sight is still the most awesome I have ever seen and one that I will never forget.
One rarely mentioned but dear to my heart: The mist rising off the Current River in southern Missouri. Part of the Ozark National Scenic Riverways. No other canoes but ours. 8am. Out of the mist hovering over the river a great blue heron rises with its feathery wings and long dangling legs. There's the burbling of the springs that feed the river. The jump of the fish. The dank smell of the mossy cliffs. The slip of the paddle in the clear water. Peace.
So many! Climbing into Hidden Valley off the Itkillik River in the Gates of the Arctic. Driving a dog team up the frozen North Fork of the Koyukuk between Boreal Mountain and Frigid Crags in Gates. Coming face to face with a brown bear on the trail to Brooks Falls in Katmai. Landing on Surprise Lake in the caldera of Aniakchak. Cycling along the edge of Bryce Canyon. They are all special.
Watching a barred owl fly through heavy fog at Big Meadows in Shenandoah. The colors of autumn foliage along Skyline Drive. Mather Gorge at Great Falls in spring flood. The rainbows seen at Niagara Falls. These are the memories I cherish.
Standing on top of the Half Dome is my most lasting memory.
A close second is standing on top of Carthew Ridge on the Carthew-Alderson Trail in Waterton Lakes National Park in Canada a week ago.
Third would be the first time I happened upon the afternoon 400 ft rainbow across Nevada Falls viewed from below on the Mist Trail at Yosemite.
Several thoughts come to mind.
The beautiful blue of the water surrounding the island in Crater Lake.
ANY view of Mt. Rainier.
My view looking up at the snout of the bear entering my pup-tent in the Shenandoah's back in the spring of 1969.