National Parks Part 2

This past spring I had the pleasure of continuing my National Parks tour.

I flew into Fresno and started in Yosemite in early May. The area received some of the highest snow totals in history. The snow pack while I was there was still very high. This was perfect for viewing waterfalls and getting wet on the mist trail.

Yosemite Falls

Upper & Lower Yosemite Falls From 4 Mile Trail

I spent most of the time hiking around the valley and stayed in a canvas tent in Half Dome Village.

My next stop was Grand Sequoias and kings Canyon parks. This is where the worlds largest tree by volume grows.

The trails are well maintained and you can walk and drive through some trees.

After a few very enjoyable days at sequoias and Kings canyon, I flew to Cody Wyoming. My next stop was Yellowstone National Park.

Old Faithful

This place felt like I was on another planet.

Grand Tetons is just south of Yellowstone. I lucked out with the weather while I was there. I was lucky enough to get these pictures on a perfectly still morning:

One afternoon, I visited Jackson. There is a tram that takes people up to the top of Rendezvous Mountain. I took it up and the winds were so high, the tram shut down and wouldn’t run for about an hour until the winds died down. Thankfully there is a nice warming hut on the top of the mountain. They serve really good waffles and hot beverages.

I had to drive through a snow storm to get back to Cody. When I arrived in Cody, that afternoon, I visited Buffalo Bills Wild West Show Museum. I highly recommend visiting the place if you are ever in the area.

I then traveled from Cody to Salt lake City Utah. There were some places I wanted to visit that I didn’t get to the first time around. After spending the week-end exploring what Salt Lake City had to offer, I headed south to Goblin Valley State Park.

Grand Staircase Escalante was my next to last stop in Utah. It’s the largest national monument in the country at 1.9 million acres.

There are no established trails I was told at the visitors center. There are paths and other unofficial trails that lead to some amazing sights:

The water was cold, but felt great on the 90 plus degree day.

Slot Canyons

The slot canyons were a highlight. Definitely worth exploring.

I revisited Capital Reef for a couple of days and was able to get some great trail runs and hikes.

My final parks that I visited were in Arkansas. Crater of Diamonds State Park and Hot Springs National Park. Hot Spring is the smallest national park in the country. It’s also one of the most unique. There were old bath houses that are still in operation today. Also, there are spigots around the park where you can fill up your water jugs with hot or cold spring water. I didn’t take too many pictures at these parks, but they were still well worth the trip.

I can’t say enough about these experiences and I hope I inspired others to get out and explore.

Thank you for reading.