Shoulder Season 2: (Supposed) Best Hikes in the U.S.
Let’s begin with the obvious: there is no such thing as a “best hike.” We have chocolate and vanilla for a reason, which is that people have different tastes. And capacities. What might excite or challenge one hiker could bore another. You get the point. That said, it is an interesting exercise to gather together...
Indoor Kids: A Contrarian Opinion
Fast on the heels of our last dispirited post—on the reported decrease in the number of Americans willing to venture outdoors, leaving behind the comforts of fridge, recliner and screen—came two stories that provide an interesting nuance to the discussion. And maybe a reinterpretation. The first, from Colorado Public Radio, documents the strain placed on...
Are We Harvesting the National Parks?
When a business executive looks at his or her product lines, it’s common to come across an offering that appears to be on its last legs. Maybe sales have stopped growing, or there’s a looming patent cliff or unstoppable competition. Whatever the reason, it doesn’t make sense to keep investing in it. Instead, the decision...
Parks without the traffic
Here’s a stunning statistical head-to-head: the population of the United States is 327 million; the number of visitors to America’s National Parks in 2018 was 318 million. In other words, statistically speaking, every able-bodied American…and some on crutches…took in a national park last year. Blame the hordes of...
No service, no sequester
You’ve got two weeks off, America, and there’s gas in the station wagon. The tent is packed, along with your camp stove and a jug of DEET. You were thinking of maybe Yellowstone or Yosemite. But now you’re anxious, which is exactly how you’re supposed to start your vacation. But this is a more acute...
Retired park rangers: Don’t drill, baby
U.S. Park Rangers are trained to work in extreme and dangerous environments, in deserts void of human touch and uncivilized wildernesses, among mindless beasts and insects. So they are prepared—or at least better prepared than most of us—to operate at the fearsome intersection of federal bureaucracy and the oil industry. A group of retired...
When 5% less means obliteration
You can probably cut your caloric intake by 5 percent and be just fine. (Maybe better.) Some other things you can easily cut by 5 percent: Time watching TV. Old t-shirts. Beer. Caffeine. Old books. Cut some other things by 5 percent and you’ll feel the bite, but you’ll survive: Time with loved ones....
Kiss your sweet pass goodbye
Do active old people—those who hike, bike, ski and get about outdoors—think of themselves as self-reliant, fiscal conservatives? Do they see themselves as people who are proud to pay their fair share? Probably not. Or they shouldn’t, if they do. We’re not talking about Social Security or Medicare here. (Yes, those programs do...
Travel notes: Do not try to leap over volcanic steam cracks
This ought to be an unnecessary warning, along with “Don’t pet the bison.” But it remains true that what is obvious to you and me might not be clear to someone else. In this case, a 15-year-old visiting Hawaii Volcanoes National Park. Said teen thought it would make an excellent story if he were to...
Jackson Hole fills gap, removes snow
The citizens Jackson Hole, Wyoming (population 9,710)—an almost-gateway to Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks and a pleasant tourist town in its own right, if you don’t mind the town square with its frankly creepy antler arches—has taken on the job that couldn’t be managed by government of the United States of America (population 313,914,040)....
A “Vertigo” moment for the NPS
The National Park Service is like your cool aunt who can never quite get it together. Despite all her great beauty and abilities and the consensus that life just wouldn’t be the same without her, she’s eternally on the edge of a collapse. Lipstick on her teeth, one corner of her deck railing is loose...
What would “more accountable” parks look like?
If we hated election season anymore, we would advocate for monarchy. We would trade this rancorous debate for no debate. We would replace distortions of political ads for the relative integrity of other ads. For chiropractors and mattress stores. But we aren’t there yet. We still pay grudging attention to what the sides are...
