Month: August 2011

Posted on

Acadia National Park Photos

One of the great things about the Internet is that even if you haven’t been to a particular National Park, you can do a little research and see the photos that others have taken at it. These are some photos that make me want to visit Acadia National Park all the more:

Sand Beach at Acadia National Park:

Acadia sand beach
Courtesy of Lee Coursey

Jordan Pond at Acadia National Park:

Acadia Jordan Pond
Courtesy of kds4850

Blue Hill Overlook on Cadillac Mountain at Acadia National Park:

Blue Hill Overlook on Cadillac Mountain Acadia National Park
Courtesy of Gary Brownell

View from Park Loop Road at Acadia National Park:

Acadia national Park park loop road view
Courtesy of Dana Moos

Schoodic Peninsula tide pools at Acadia National Park:

Acadia Schoodic Peninsula tide pools
Courtesy of Dana Moos

If you have visited Acadia and have a particular photo that you particularly enjoy, we’d love for you to share it with us!

Posted on

Lime Kilns Limekiln State Park California

In addition to seeing Limekiln Falls at Limekiln State Park (CA), hiking to the historic lime kilns is also a must. It’s pretty strange seeing these huge iron and stone furnaces in the middle of a redwood forest where they look so completely out of place:

lime kilns at Limekiln State Park California

According to the Limekiln State Park brochure:

Beginning in 1887, the Rockland Lime and Lumber Company extracted, processed and exported thousands of barrels of lime from Limekiln Canyon. Four stone and iron furnaces were built at the base of a large talus slope eroding from the limestone deposit. Limestone rocks were loaded into the kilns, where very hot wood fires burned for long periods to purify lime.

The lime was packed into barrels, hauled by wagon to Rockland Landing on the coast and loaded onto ships that carried it to northern ports for use in concrete.

After only 3 years, the limestone deposit was depleted, as was the redwood forest that had been nearly clear-cut to use for lumber and fuel.

Today the four kilns, some stone walls and bridge abutments are the only remains of the thriving lime industry that existed here.

lime kilns in redwood forest

To get to the historic lime kilns, you follow the same directions as to Limekiln Falls, but take the fork to the left and remain on Limekiln Trail instead of right onto Falls Trail. The trail is quite easy without the obstacles that Falls Trail has, and the scenery is quite beautiful as you hike along West Fork Creek:

West Fork Creek Limekiln State Park California

If interested, here are some more photos of Limekiln State Park. Unfortunately, Limekiln State park is on the list of California State parks to close.

Posted on

National Park Wilderness Photo Contest For National Park Service

If you have quality photos from your recent National Park trips, the National Park Service would love to take a look at them for possible inclusion for an upcoming wilderness section of Park Science. The beauty of the National Parks wilderness has inspired millions of people who have visited them, but it’s often difficult to capture the spirit of wilderness in words. The National Park Service is hoping to capture wilderness in photos to share in an upcoming issue of Park Science.

Photographers of the winning wilderness photos will receive full credit for their photo and their photo will be featured in a four-page color spread in the center of the Park Science edition. Winning photographers will also receive a handy item which can be used in the wilderness such as a trowel.

For those interested, you should attach up to three wilderness photos for consideration to Christina Mills at [email protected] in TIFF or JPG format by Friday, September 16, 2011. You should also include your name, where the photo was taken (what National Park System wilderness area), the date the photograph was taken and your contact information along with a short description of your thoughts when you took the photograph.

Photo Contest Rules

1. All photos must be digital.
2. All photos must be 3 MG in size or larger.
3. All photos must be in either TIFF or JPG format.
4. There is a submission limit of three photos per photographer.
5. Submitted photo must have been taken in a National Park System wilderness area.
6. Submitted photo must not have been retouched, optimized or had filters applied.
7. The photographer must license unrestricted use to the National Park Service if the submitted photo wasn’t taken on official National Park Service duty.
8. Photos should be emailed as an attachment to Christina Mills at [email protected]
9. Deadline for submission is Friday, September 16, 2011.
10. Please contact Christina Mills at (202) 513-7124 or email [email protected] with any additional questions.

Posted on

Plaikni Falls Trail Crater Lake National Park

Crater Lake National Park has a new hiking trail that will officially be opening this Saturday (8/20/2011), but I had the fortunate chance to hike it today. It’s called Plaikni Falls Trail and it’s a wonderful change of beauty from what most people only see when they visit Crater Lake National Park — the lake. The Plaikni Falls Trail leads to a gorgeous “secret” waterfall and cascading river which, until recently, few people knew how to get to.

The trailhead is along Pinnacle Road, 1.2 miles southeast of the Phantom Ship overlook off of East Rim Drive. The trail begins with old growth fir and hemlock forest all around which provide a nice bit of shade:

Plaikni Falls Trail at Crater Lake National Park

Plaikni Falls trail is a pleasant hike and relatively easy at 1.1 miles to the waterfall (2.2 miles round trip). The only real issue for most is that because it’s so short, it’s difficult to get away from other people if you’re looking for a bit of solitude — it can get congested. The trail travels through the trees and along rocky bluffs until it hits Sand Creek where it opens up to wildflowers and lush vegetation at the base of Plaikni Falls:

wildflowers at Plaikni Falls at Crater Lake National Park

While Plaikni Falls isn’t grand in size, it’s quite beautiful as it comes down with abundant wildflowers (with butterflies fluttering all around while I was there — also mosquitoes, so you may want to spay on some bug spray before beginning the hike) and other vegetation to compliment the overall scene:

Plaikni Falls with wildflowers at Crater Lake National Park

Plaikni Waterfall at Crater Lake National Park

I would highly recommend this hike for those looking to see a different type of beauty other than the lake when visiting Crater Lake, especially for people like me who have a thing for waterfalls.

Note: This may not be an issue once the trail has officially opened, but it would have been today. While the trail is supposed to be a hard packed surface suitable for wheelchairs and strollers, not enough people had traveled the trail to make the hard-pack hard. A wheelchair or stroller would have definitely had some trouble getting to the falls when I went. This issue may very well be resolved by Saturday for the official opening. There were still volunteers hard at work finishing up the last touches on the trail, so they are aware that there is still work to be done.

sign at the trailhead of Plaikni Falls trail

Posted on

Little Colorado River Confluence Grand Canyon National Park Rafting

We spent our second night in Grand Canyon National Park along the Colorado River at a campsite called Above Little Colorado River. As its name implies, the campsite was located just upriver from the Little Colorado River. The Little Colorado River has a high alkaline and mineral content which gives the river a beautiful turquoise hue. This can readily be seen at the confluence where the Colorado River and the Little Colorado River meet:

Meeting of the Colorado River and Little Colorado River

It was fascinating watching the color of the two rivers meet and blend together as the color line between the two constantly changed and moved.

Posted on

Bumpass Hell Trail Lassen Volcanic National Park

I had made a trip to Lassen Volcanic National Park in June to find that most of the park was still closed to snow. Since I was in the general area again on a trip to visit a friend, I decided to make another stop knowing that a lot more of the park would be open.

The main goal I had was to hike to Bumpass Hell since I heard good things about it. It’s never good when you go to the trailhead of the hike you are planning to take and see the following sign:

Bumpass Hell hazardous trail sign Lassen Volcanic National Park

Since starting this blog I have become much more aware of all the deaths that take place in National Parks, many of them due to people doing stupid things that they have been warned not to do. At the same time, there were quite a few people taking the trail so I was torn on what to do. I eventually stopped a couple of hikers that were coming back and asked them how the trail was. They explained that there were still areas of the trail covered in snow and ice that were slippery, but passable if you took your time. I decided to give the trail a try figuring I could turn back if it ended up being too dangerous. In the early going, the trail was clear and it didn’t seem there would be any issue:

Bumpass Hell trail August 2011

And provided some spectacular views:

view hiking along Bumpass Hell Lassen Volcanic National Park

Diamond Peak from Bumpass Hell trail Lassen Volcanic National Park

It wasn’t long, however, that the reason for the warning sign became apparent. Despite it being mid August, here were several long stretches of the path that were still completely covered with snow that would have made the path quite difficult for anyone that wasn’t very sure footed:

Bumpass Hell trail covered with snow at Lassen Volcanic National Park

While the trail was definitely passable, there were quite a few people on the trail that were struggling and having to take the trail at an extremely slow pace. This was especially true for those that were in tennis shoes rather than hiking boots and families that had younger children. While the trek would have definitely been a lot easier had all the snow been cleared, it still may be a few weeks until that happens. If you happen to be in the area, I think it is worthwhile making the trek despite the snow — just be sure that you are wearing the proper hiking equipment.

Posted on

National Parks By State List

the emblem of the National Park Service

The very first post I made on this blog was a list of National Parks in alphabetical order. I recently received an email asking if I had a list of the National Parks by state, and since I didn’t, I decided that it was time to place one on this blog. Only half of the states have at least one National Park (plus the Virgin Islands). Of those 25 states that do have a National Park, 13 only have one National Park while the other 12 have multiple National Parks. Here is a list of National Parks by state:

Alaska National Parks

Denali National Park
Gates of the Arctic National Park
Glacier Bay National Park
Katmai National Park
Kenai Fjords National Park
Lake Clark National Park
Wrangell-St. Elias National Park

Arkansas National Parks

Hot Springs National Park

Arizona National Parks

Grand Canyon National Park
Petrified Forest National Park
Saguaro National Park

California National Parks

Channel Islands National Park
Death Valley National Park
Joshua Tree National Park
Lassen Volcanic National Park
Redwood National Park
Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Park
Yosemite National Park

Colorado National Parks

Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park
Great Sand Dunes National Park
Mesa Verde National Park
Rocky Mountain National Park

Florida National Parks

Biscayne National Park
Dry Tortugas National Park
Everglades National Park

Hawaii National Parks

Haleakala National Park
Hawaii Volcanoes National Park

Idaho National Parks

Yellowstone National Park

Kentucky National Parks

Mammoth Cave National Park

Maine National Parks

Acadia National Park

Michigan National Parks

Isle Royale National Park

Minnesota National Parks

Voyageurs National Park

Montana National Parks

Glacier National Park

North Carolina National Parks

Great Smoky Mountains National Park

North Dakota National Parks

Theodore Roosevelt National Park

Nevada National Parks

Great Basin National Park

Ohio National Parks

Cuyahoga Valley National Park

Oregon National Parks

Crater Lake National Park

South Carolina National Parks

Congaree National Park

South Dakota National Parks

Badlands National Park
Wind Cave National Park

Texas National Parks

Big Bend National Park
Guadalupe Mountains National Park

Utah National Parks

Arches National Park
Bryce Canyon National Park
Canyonlands National Park
Capitol Reef National Park
Zion National Park

Virginia National Parks

Shenandoah National Park

Virgin Islands National Parks

Virgin Islands National Park

Washington National Parks

Mount Rainier National Park
North Cascades National Park
Olympic National Park

Wyoming National Parks

Grand Teton National Park
Yellowstone National Park

Posted on

Lake Helen Lassen Volcanic National Park

Lake Helen at Lassen Volcanic National Park, much like Emerald Lake (which is just below it), is still covered with a thin sheet of ice even though it’s the middle of August. In fact, it has quite a bit more ice than Emerald Lake:

Lake Helen at Lassen Volcanic national Park

ice covered Lake Helen at Lassen Volcanic National Park

Lake Helen can be seen both from the Main Park Road and while on Bumpass Pass trail, but with all the snow it was a bit too dangerous for me to go down to the lake edge (there are a lot of “thin ice” hazard warning signs all around) since in many areas it’s difficult to tell where the snow on the ground ends and the thin lake ice begins. I’m sure this is another beautiful lake with crystal clear water that delivers a magnificent reflective photo opportunity when all the snow is gone and the sky is blue and I hope I get a chance to get back in the near future to see it this way as well.

Posted on

Emerald Lake Lassen Volcanic National Park

Being August, I knew that Lassen Volcanic National Park would be much more snow free than it was on my last visit. Even so, the park was definitely not snow free. Driving Main Park Road, I reached Emerald Lake to find that half the lake still had a sheet of thin ice covering it:

Emerald Lake covered with ice at Lassen Volcanic National Park

I’m sure that when Emerald Lake is free of ice and it’s a clear day, the reflection in it is absolutely beautiful. I was able to get a small glimpse of this on the side that was somewhat free of ice:

reflection in Emerald Lake at Lassen Volcanic National Park

Posted on

Rock Slide Grand Canyon National Park Rafting

One of the most interesting things I learned while river rafting down the Colorado River in Grand Canyon National Park is that much of the Grand Canyon sandstone isn’t originally red. When you look from the rim of the Grand Canyon down toward the river and see the huge expanse of red sandstone walls, it isn’t difficult to assume that all that color is the original color of the canyon walls. In reality, much of the lower Grand Canyon walls that are red in appearance have simply been stained on the outside by upper layers of the canyon that are red. A perfect illustration of this is the scar left by a recent rock slide within the Grand Canyon we came across after leaving Redwall Cavern:

Grand Canyon rock slide Colorado River rafting

As the rock slide shows, the color of the rock is actually white and not the red of the surrounding rock that has been stained over time. Of course, this newly exposed rock will also eventually get stained to the red we all associate with the Grand Canyon, but I found it interesting to consider what impressions we would all have of the Grand Canyon if it were mostly white instead of red…