#np diary

Thinking about national parks now and how I'd love to go to more of them. I'm going to list the ones I've visited and a thing or two I remember about each of them. Acadia: thunder hole and the rocky shores Badlands: the prairie hike and the way you can hike off trail, scooting down a very steep descent on my butt because it was better than falling headfirst Big Bend: hot springs, jays in the Chisos Mountains, Ross Maxwell Scenic drive and sunset near Santa Elena Canyon Bryce Canyon: the sun hitting the hoodoos late in the day Carlsbad Caverns: bats and the descent, learning about the ascent into Halloween Hall Gateway Arch: I didn't realize this was a national park?? It's surprisingly narrow but it was interesting seeing the mechanism to get to the top. Grand Canyon: on the north side black squirrels and a storm rolling in, on the south side the classic view Grand Teton: sunrise against the mountains, getting caught between a moose and a bear on a trail Smoky Mountains: the fall colors, the way the fog really is mysterious and thick and smoky Guadalupe Mountains: Smith Spring and the transition from scrub to forest Indiana Dunes: spending a day at the beach before it became a national park, the bog hike, taking a solo hike in the rain while my friends slept Mammoth Cave: the ice-cream cone formation, a playground at the motel (i was very young) White Sands: my deep desire to spot a lizard, the bright white of it all, admiration for people doing multi-mile hikes Yellowstone: my dad wearing socks on his ears because we did not expect winter weather in June, Moose Valley, my brother and i picking out the smallest hot springs and naming them after ourselves Yosemite: lots of big ravens, bridalveil fall viewed at a distance, sequoias Zion: bighorn sheep, peeking into the narrows, promising myself i'd come back with people who aren't afraid of heights and hike angel's landing