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UHD
Nov 11, 2006


ate poo poo on live tv posted:

I just got back from the Grand Canyon. It owned.

Here is a lovely photo that I took. (Only the photo is lovely, the canyon owns)


jfc that canyon

I wanna go back it's been years

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ate shit on live tv
Feb 15, 2004

by Azathoth

Agean90 posted:

Nice! Stick to the rim or did you hike down

4 day hike from Hermit Creek to the Bright Angel Trailhead. That was at Plateau Point outside of Indian Garden on the 3rd day of the hike, also a storm was rolling in.

Here's a double rainbow after the storm.

ate shit on live tv
Feb 15, 2004

by Azathoth
Last pic for now, but this is looking down the Bright Angel Trail the next day. Plateau Point is in the distance, and you can see the lush grove that is Indian Garden.

the bitcoin of weed
Nov 1, 2014

i was in oregon last summer and went on a day trip to some state park in the cascades that had a shitload of waterfalls. it was slightly cool (like in the 50s) and a bit humid and very foresty and i made out w a girl behind one of the falls that has the path go behind it



nice place

Bethamphetamine
Oct 29, 2012

I spent a day chilling out in an awesome park in Ohio that wasn't 2D like florida parks. It had rivers and canyons and waterfalls. And a steel bridge that was bent and kept only to show how intense the power of a flood is. And then we smoked a lot of weed. I can't remember the name and I assume the weed was just really great.

That is my national park story.

Bethamphetamine
Oct 29, 2012

Oh poo poo, Hocking Hills. The power of poast compels me. I finally remember.

e: in my defense, it was a lot of really good weed.

Bethamphetamine has issued a correction as of 02:56 on May 23, 2017

Chard
Aug 24, 2010




Preserving natural areas is without question the single best thing that the USA has ever and will ever accomplish.

Kazak_Hstan
Apr 28, 2014

Grimey Drawer

Agean90 posted:

I found out that Germans at bizarrely obsessed with the American West and research every little thing about it and wind up with dangerously/hilariously incorrect info.

See this one German couple a co-worker took to Yellowstone who packed tazer in case of bears

If they had a real taser with probes, and not a basic shock device, it would probably work. The more muscular the target, the more effective the lockup. I've thought about using mine to haze bears before, but the margin for error is pretty thin if you gently caress it up and I'm usually working solo. Our taser instructor at refresher training this year said he's seen video from a hazing project that used them to great effect. Apparently it's so disorienting and bizarre to them they flee once the NMI ends, instead of getting up and owning the person who tased them.

The Germans are legit terrific visitors, at least in Alaska parks. Every time I see a Jack Wolfskin jacket I perk up a little bit. It's really endearing the way they say bears like beers, even though it's pronounced the same in both languages.

Pener Kropoopkin
Jan 30, 2013

Kazak_Hstan posted:

I've thought about using mine to haze bears before

What kind of frat are you in?

taco_fox
Dec 14, 2005

I went on a roadtrip across the southwest a couple years ago and the parks are loving great.

Grand Canyon


Arches


Zion

Larry Parrish
Jul 9, 2012

by Jeffrey of YOSPOS
Pretty much every State park and national forest in California is amazing tbh. Although congress slashed the forestry departments budget so a lot of smaller parks are managed by tweakers in RVs who made you pay $20 a car at various lakes and stuff

Larry Parrish
Jul 9, 2012

by Jeffrey of YOSPOS
If your out this way on a parks tour you oughta stop at the valley of fire near Lake Meade and also Crystal basin/loon lake/desolation wilderness near Tahoe

call to action
Jun 10, 2016

by FactsAreUseless

Larry Parrish posted:

Pretty much every State park and national forest in California is amazing tbh. Although congress slashed the forestry departments budget so a lot of smaller parks are managed by tweakers in RVs who made you pay $20 a car at various lakes and stuff

If it's anything like Colorado, your America the Beautiful pass should still get you into the tweaker run facilities, at least the USFS and BLM managed ones

brugroffil
Nov 30, 2015


Larry Parrish posted:

If your out this way on a parks tour you oughta stop at the valley of fire near Lake Meade and also Crystal basin/loon lake/desolation wilderness near Tahoe

We did the hike from Echo Lakes to Aloha Lake back in 2012. That was a great trail.

Missingnoleader
Mar 10, 2014

I only just found out that Red Rock Canyon's not part of the National Park Service and its only managed by the Bureau of Land Management... So if you're staying in Vegas and want to take a trip to somewhere that isn't Lake Mead or the Strip consider this.

Jose
Jul 24, 2007

Adrian Chiles is a broadcaster and writer
If you're in vegas pay for a helicopter ride into the grand canyon its really cool


Drive to the entrance of area 51 and take a photo of the sign telling you not to take a photo too

Jose has issued a correction as of 15:14 on May 23, 2017

a helpful bear
Aug 18, 2004

Slippery Tilde
Took a roadtrip out to the midwest a couple of years ago and it gave me an appreciation for the NPS that I never had before. I see why our ancestors risked death to keep exploring west. Saw Badlands, Devil's Tower, Crazy Horse Memorial, and Mt. Rushmore in the matter of a few days. Every single one is breath-taking beyond belief.

NPS owns and gently caress trump/gop for trying to destroy them

Jose
Jul 24, 2007

Adrian Chiles is a broadcaster and writer
I went to see devil's tower but the cloud was so low I couldn't see much

a helpful bear
Aug 18, 2004

Slippery Tilde

Jose posted:

I went to see devil's tower but the cloud was so low I couldn't see much

It was probably my biggest surprise since I had only really had a cursory knowledge of it. It's absolutely tremendous. We got to see it on a clear, warm fall day and walk around the base. Some folks were scaling it which is insanely rad

NPS also produced some badass posters:





http://imgur.com/gallery/1GpZq

Coolguye
Jul 6, 2011

Required by his programming!

Karl Barks posted:

if u don't like the national parks there is something wrong with u imo

this btw

Control Volume
Dec 31, 2008

Zion has the best hiking in america, and the best deep state operatives

UHD
Nov 11, 2006


Chard posted:

Preserving natural areas is without question the single best thing that the USA has ever and will ever accomplish.

:yeah:

on this note does anyone know a good org I can donate to or volunteer for to help the national parks

like I paid for a socal adventure pass even though they're apparently not supposed to sell them anymore but if the money goes to helping socal national forests then I am glad to pay it

Arcteryx Anarchist
Sep 15, 2007

Fun Shoe
Wilderness is the best thing and the endless layers of conservation organizations in California are great (regional parks, state parks, national parks, BLM, national forests, etc)

Pinnacles National Park is pretty cool (except really hot in the summer) and small; technically new after its recent upgrade to full park status, and way less crowded than most parks. There are talus caves too (they were flooded out when I went :()





Also they have these great bastards hanging out there



Lava Beds up north is good too; can go crawl around some lava tubes and an ice cave







Calaveras Big Trees SP will let you see some giant sequoias without having to go down to Sequoia NP areas



Point Reyes National Seashore also great







Even as crowded as Lake Tahoe gets its pretty nice on the south side



brugroffil
Nov 30, 2015


We saw about a dozen condors up close as Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park in the Big Sur area a few years ago. They were in a tree right next to the McWay Cove overlook

McWay Cove (not my photo)


Condors (my photos)

Chard
Aug 24, 2010




brugroffil posted:

We saw about a dozen condors up close as Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park in the Big Sur area a few years ago. They were in a tree right next to the McWay Cove overlook
Condors (my photos)



That's cool as gently caress dude, great photos.

brugroffil
Nov 30, 2015


https://twitter.com/nytimes/status/867364590547587072

:(

Mayor Dave
Feb 20, 2009

Bernie the Snow Clown
When I was a kid we went camping a ton, because my parents were poor and camping is cheap as hell. We went to a ton of national parks, and a lot of cool and scary things happened. A moose walked through our campsite when I was eight, for example.

One of the coolest parks I remember going to was Petrified Forest National Park. The giant rock trees and the semi desolate landscape create a real sense of otherworldliness that I found irresistible. There are also pueblo ruins, which make the area feel even more haunted. Even though it's illegal to take wood from the forest, what they don't tell you is that petrified wood can be found all over that part of the country. We grabbed a small log that was just there at a gas station near Monument Valley, which is also cool as hell.

Another one that I liked was craters of the moon national monument. It's the remains of a bunch of volcanic activity, with basalt flows, calderas, and small cones that once spewed lava. The flows are still young enough that nothing really grows there, so it appears to be a black lifeless plain when you hike on it.

Larry Parrish
Jul 9, 2012

by Jeffrey of YOSPOS
It probably goes without saying but everything between Tahoe and Yosemite is with checking out in the mountains. Especially the numerous limestone caverns

Arcteryx Anarchist
Sep 15, 2007

Fun Shoe
Yeah Lava Beds NM has a lot of cool leftover volcano stuff too, in addition to the lava tubes you can explore

Devil's homestead





Pit to unknown horror





Big old cinder cone



Native paintings

LinYutang
Oct 12, 2016

NEOLIBERAL SHITPOSTER

:siren:
VOTE BLUE NO MATTER WHO!!!
:siren:
The parks are too popular and busy its annoying

Go home tourists

Arcteryx Anarchist
Sep 15, 2007

Fun Shoe
The trick is to go out of season, on weekdays, and/or not go to the 4 anyone actually remembers

Also hike out more than a couple miles and most people will disappear

brugroffil
Nov 30, 2015


lancemantis posted:

The trick is to go out of season, on weekdays, and/or not go to the 4 anyone actually remembers

Also hike out more than a couple miles and most people will disappear


Yeah that is the trick. My wife and I had the entire Panaroma Trail at Yosemite to ourselves a couple of years ago until we got back down to Nevada Falls because we got out on the trail early.

pushpins
Sep 11, 2006


Title text (optional; no images are allowed, only text)
I was at Kenneth Hahn State Recreation Area yesterday and it was cool and good

Chard
Aug 24, 2010




pushpins posted:

I was at Kenneth Hahn State Recreation Area yesterday and it was cool and good

Nice, I used to commute past there every day - they've got some fun trails in the middle of the city.

Concerned Citizen
Jul 22, 2007
Ramrod XTreme
hiked in gallatin national forest, i was the only one to visit today hyalite lake that day (which was a miserable hike but at least i got this photo)

Concerned Citizen has issued a correction as of 20:22 on May 28, 2017

UHD
Nov 11, 2006


Concerned Citizen posted:

hiked in gallatin national forest, i was the only one to visit today hyalite lake that day (which was a miserable hike but at least i got this photo)



think it was worth it imo

Concerned Citizen
Jul 22, 2007
Ramrod XTreme
some more photos from that trip:

-the snowmelt is pretty intense right now, obviously. i really found the fast moving icey streams stunning - a photo really can't do it justice, i ought to have made a video and turned it into a gif.


-had to cross this horror bridge to make it up to the lake. in retrospect, a really bad idea.


-but you get a nice view of a waterfall as a reward


-finally, the destination! hyalite lake, sans lake. the trail goes on to hyalite peak but lol

Badger of Basra
Jul 26, 2007

I went to the LBJ national historical park or whatever they call it and his house looks almost exactly like how my grandpa's house used to look, decor-wise

brugroffil
Nov 30, 2015


went to the Midewin National Tallgrass Prarie yesterday

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Lamebot
Sep 8, 2005

ロボ顔菌~♡

LinYutang posted:

The parks are too popular and busy its annoying

Go home tourists

Agreed, they should be making way for the loggers, pit-miners, and oil drillers.

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