Ranger Peyton

Desert Eye, by Elliot McGucken.

most of my trips have been smooth and even super fun. but not all.

if you've never driven that distance & you've always lived within an hour of basic necessities (hospital, grocery store, etc.) the idea of being hours away from any of those things might seem impossible unless something has gone very wrong but many people live like that all the time and there are plenty of places in the world where you need to prepare for that even if you're just passing through. i genuinely don't think anyone should be driving 3,000 miles without food & water, clothes & a sleeping bag that can keep you safe overnight in extreme temperatures, and basic vehicle skills like changing a tire, checking ur oil & transmission fluid, etc. i know we all do what we gotta do and we can't always prep as much as we want to so it is what it is.

Being prepared does not make you some crazy conspiracy theorist who thinks the world is going to end tomorrow because Yellowstone erupts or something. It makes you smart enough to acknowledge that we live on a weird little rock in a weird little universe and sometimes shit just happens.

Best National Park in the US? It's not Yellowstone, Yosemite or the Great Smokies, according to new list (msn.com)

Beartooth Pass, Wyoming.

I hadn’t seen mountains since I was 6. I think… so I was thrilled to see some again!

My first taste of them came in the form of Beartooth Pass, shown in the first three photos. I have a fear of heights, so I spent that long winding trip up glued to the window, alternating between wanting to shut my eyes, but being unable to look away. SO worth it. We made multiple stops, saw mountain goats, and crawled up to the top of the pass and enjoyed all 10,947 feet of elevation. Bonus: snow!

Alaska (No. 2)

Indigenous people have lived in Alaska for thousands of years, and it is widely believed that the region served as the entry point for the initial settlement of North America by way of the Bering land bridge. The Russian Empire was the first to actively colonize the area beginning in the 18th century, eventually establishing Russian America, which spanned most of the current state and promoted and maintained a native Alaskan Creole population. The expense and logistical difficulty of maintaining this distant possession prompted its sale to the U.S. in 1867 for US$7.2 million (equivalent to $157 million in 2023). The area went through several administrative changes before becoming organized as a territory on May 11, 1912. It was admitted as the 49th state of the U.S. on January 3, 1959.

Abundant natural resources have enabled Alaska—with one of the smallest state economies—to have one of the highest per capita incomes, with commercial fishing, and the extraction of natural gas and oil, dominating Alaska's economy. U.S. Armed Forces bases and tourism also contribute to the economy; more than half of the state is federally-owned land containing national forests, national parks, and wildlife refuges. It is among the most irreligious states, one of the first to legalize recreational marijuana, and is known for its libertarian-leaning political culture, generally supporting the Republican Party in national elections. The Indigenous population of Alaska is proportionally the second highest of any U.S. state, at over 15 percent, after only Hawaii.

These practices are very disruptive and destructive for a wide variety of aquatic creatures.

Info about Leave No Trace