From Acadia to Yellowstone: 12 months of National Parks, Forests and Monuments

Author assing around in White Mountains last year

“I can’t believe that was a year ago,” I said a year ago.

I was in New Hampshire with my two friends named Ben, one from my hometown, the other from my college.

The previous August, Ben from College, Max from College and Tom of “Tom’s On The Move” fame, had left for a month-long journey in Peru.  If you scroll back far enough through the hallowed pages of this blog, you will find my riveting accounts of that adventure — from our wanderings in the dry deserts around Nazca , through Machu Picchu and the shits, until at last I scaled the glacier to the summit of Yannapaccha. 

A year later, the two Bens and I were getting to go on a slightly less ambitious adventure in the White Mountains, along the barren 5,000 ft ridge from Mt.  Lafayette to Lincoln and then Little Haystack.

The mountains weren’t quite as big as Peru’s but they have a stunning New England beauty that is all their own. As we hiked through the pines and up into the barren alpine zones, we talked about what kinds of adventures we could have next.  Peru was just so damn awesome, what could we do to top that?

It’s debatable whether I’ve topped anything over the last 12 months, but I’ve also been pretty busy.  In that time, I’ve seen more National Parks and Monuments than I have in all the previous years of my life.

If for no purpose beyond my own callow validation, I’ve included listed some pictures and descriptions of my visits to these awesome places. Feel free to stop reading now. The page view counter has already registered your visit and I can feel good about myself regardless.

The White Mountain National Forest-New Hampshire, Maine

The Bens looking out over the Lafayette ridge in the White Mountains

I’ve done more hiking here than anywhere else and I still think it’s beautiful. Westerners may scoff at a range who’s highest prominence is just over 6,000 feet. Yeah, laugh all you want. Try climbing Mt. Washington in winter when it gets to 20 below and hurricane force winds are blowing ice into your face. 4,000 feet.

The ridge along Lafayette wasn't quite so intense when I hiked it last, but it made for a nice summer trip with plenty of hundred mile views across the New Hampshire landscape.

Acadia National Park-Maine

Waiting for the sunrise on Cadillac Mountain

A fine place to see the sunrise come up before the rest of the country does. Max, Josh and I climbed up Cadillac Mountain in the early morning hours, managed to avoid tripping or falling down anything, and watched the sun rise out of the ocean. The carriage roads around the island afforded some spectacular running. None other than Mr. Nelson Rockefeller had built them and they are reminiscent of the paths through Central Park — only they weave around mountains. 

Rockefeller also deserves some credit for buying up the land for Grand Teton National Park (included a little further down).

One day I went kayaking and got to see some of the local attractions like the Cranberry Isles and The Thunder Hole.

  

Sand Dunes National Lake Shore-Indiana

I can’t say that I really got a chance to experience this place, since I was simply driving through. I made a point of pulling off the highway though, even though it was pouring rain. I got drove down to the beach, got out and skipped a rock across lake Michigan.

If the weather hadn’t been so crappy, and I wasn’t so hell bent to keep pushing west, I would have camped there. Instead, I drove a few hours more and spent that night sleeping at a truck stop inside my car.

Anyway, Sand Dunes is administered by the National Parks service, so I’m going to add it to my count.

Badlands National Park-South Dakota

My dad on our trip to the badlands

I first encountered this strange desert landscape when I made the drive out to Wyoming. That’s also where I ran across my first rattlesnake and saw buffalo for the first time.  In March, my dad came out to visit and I got to go over the same territory of  buttes and canyons. This still may be the most beautifully strange place that I have ever been.

The Black Hills National Forest-South Dakota, Wyoming

Spearfish canyon in March

There is plenty to love in the Blackhills if you are into driving RV’s or have always dreamed at spending the night in a Flintstone-themed campsite. From Wall Drug to the Reptile Gardens to Mt. Rushmore millions of Americans have flocked to the sacred lands of the Sioux, now an oasis of tourist schlock. 

But there is still plenty of beauty out there. I am particularly impressed by Harney Peak, the highest point in South Dakota, which I have been up twice since moving out west. The nearby Needles rock formation is spectacular.

There is also Spearfish Canyon, which is a fine place for cross-country skiing or hiking, and the Bearlodge Mountains, in Wyoming, which afford much of the same scenery with fewer tourists.

Devils Tower National Monument-Wyoming

No, there is no apostrophe in Devils Tower.

I still haven’t climbed it, but I have been around its base for what that’s worth. Not only is the tower itself a spectacular sight to behold, but the land around it is very pretty. There are the ponderosa pines and the Red Beds near the Belle Fourche River down below. In my trips there, I have had the chance to see hawks and bald eagles wheeling around its summit.

The Bighorn National Forest-Wyoming

Looking past a cairn towards summit of Cloud Peak

The majestic Big Horn Mountains lie right outside of Buffalo, just 70 miles west of me. They are a nice place to get away to that’s not so far.

I’ll just want to have some good snowshoes in order to hike there when winter rolls around.

Grand Teton National Park-Wyoming

View of Grand Teton between two pine trees

I can’t wait to go back here and climb some more mountains.

Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument-Montana

Memorial to fallen Indians  on the Little Bighorn Battlefield

If Custer had come in on a day like the day Ben (from my hometown) was there, the battle probably wouldn’t have happened. The smoke from a fire on the nearby Cheyenne Reservation obscured cut the visibility drastically so that he probably wouldn’t have spotted the Indians from the “Crows Nest” up in the mountains. It was a great way to see where this terrible battle occurred, which hardened the United States resolve to  subjugate native  tribes and land.

 I had read “The Last Stand” by Nathaniel Philbrick earlier in the year, which gave me a better sense of how the battle had unfolded, and how strong personalities like Sitting Bull, Crazy Horse had clashed with against one another like tectonic plates. As wonderful as the national parks are, in many ways they seem like a compromise made necessary to check the land-grabbing ambition of Manifest Destiny. Manifest Destiny won and the west was tamed.  As great as the parks are, they will never match that original freedom over the land.

Shoshone National Forest-Wyoming

&Custer National Forest-Montana

Shoshone National Forest near Cody, Wyo.

I haven’t really hiked in these places yet. But based on my drives to and from Yellowstone, I really want to.

They have the beauty to match Yellowstone and the Tetons and have the added bonus of being less populated and not requiring campers to register their places in advance.

 Both Shoshone and Custer are in the Absaroka range, in Wyoming and Montana respectively.

On the way from Cody to Yellowstone’s east entrance, the mountains in the Shoshone Forest have a Utah-like quality to them with majestic, weathered stone overhead. The elements have hewn the rock into strange, towering formations that would look right at home in a surrealist painting. Even with the desert quality of the landscapes, there is still snow on the peaks, that climb as high as 13,000 feet.

On my second trip to Yellowsone, Ben and I went to the Northeast Entrance via Red Lodge, Montana, taking us through Custer National Forest and through a different segment of Shoshone.

After we stopped to sample beer at the brewery in Red Lodge, we went over the pass, which tops out at almost 11,000 feet.

We stopped at the Montana/Wyoming border and went for the walk in the tundra. Above us glaciers remained, scorning the heat of summer. Below, pine forests climb the slopes..

Shoshone on the Wyoming side, was far different from the Utah-like waste near Cody. Instead, the mountain slopes were lush with pines and meadows full of wildflowers. It was spectacular in the late day light.

Shoshone National Forest near the Montana Border

Yellowstone National Park – Wyoming, Montana and Idaho

Ben looking at the Yellowstone River at the start of our hike in the north part of the Park

In my two excursions to Yellowstone, I have covered a good part of the territory. From Mammoth Hot Springs, to Grand Prismatic and of course, Old Faithful. Along the way, I saw plenty of buffalo and elk.

Needless to say, the place is not overrated. It is filled with tourists up to the Wazzoo, but I think the park does a good job of accommodating them all.

Plus, when I did want to get away, I managed to. Ben and I spent two full days of hiking near Mammoth and the only time we saw people was near the trailhead. In their place, we had an ungodly amount of bugs, which was a drag.

On my first trip out, my dad and I climbed to the top of 10,500-foot Mt. Washburn and got the treat of taking in a panorama that included the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone, Yellowstone Lake and the distant peaks of the Tetons.

Like any place, taking the time to walk away from the car and get into nature firsthand makes the experience all the more rewarding.

Elk horn resting near the trail in northern Yelowstone

And there you have it! 12 months, 12 national parks, forests and monuments. And while I’m on the subject of federally maintained lands, I guess I’d be remiss if I left out the Burnt Hollow Recreation Area 20 miles outside Gillette. This land belongs to the government via the Bureau of Land Management. When I don’t have the chance to explore the far-flung and spectacular places, it’s nice to have something relatively close and still pretty good.

I would like to thank Big Government for setting aside these areas specifically for me to play in, and for the amount of work they have put into keeping them unspoiled and full of wonder.

Grand Prismatic, Yellowstone