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I went to America's worst national parks so you don't have to

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Re: I went to America's worst national parks so you don't have to

#61

Post by BeetleB »

jobs_throwaway wrote: post #19

> Every day hike in Zion Canyon is kind of like waiting in line at Disney World. You’re waiting in line in a magical place, but you’re still waiting in line. You ask a dead-eyed park ranger to recommend you a less popular hike, and he spits in your face. There is no such thing as a less-popular hike in Zion Canyon. You will wait in line on the trail and you will be grateful you piece of shit. Yeah, you can safely dis…

It's been over a decade since I went, but I went there (and Bryce Canyon) twice during the winter. You practically have the whole park to yourself!

With Bryce Canyon, it's best to go before snowfall, though. Once the ice sets in, they shut down a lot of the trails.

Also went once to Arches in winter. Awesome (except again, a lot of trails too slippery).

Re: I went to America's worst national parks so you don't have to

#63

Post by timdiggerm »

logicalfails wrote: post #47
impendia wrote: post #9

I live in South Carolina, about half an hour from Congaree National Park. It's not a place you'd drive across the country to see, but it's beautiful and highly worth a visit. There are some freaky trees -- with knobs of roots that stick out from the ground, like nothing else I've seen. The place is kinda creepy, as if you're about to be attacked by zombies, and I love that. There is a two mile elevated boardwalk whic…

I live about 2 hours from it. Is there any other hiking to do on the park other than the boardwalk that the Author mentions?

https://www.nps.gov/cong/planyourvisit/trail-information.htm

Re: I went to America's worst national parks so you don't have to

#64

Post by BeetleB »

I actually strongly recommend Mammoth Caves National Park. They also have nice trails on the outside (within the park).

The caves are grand. But just keep in mind: You will not see stalactites/stalagmites there. For that, there's a cave tour right outside of Mammoth Caves (I forgot the name) - it has plenty of them.

Re: I went to America's worst national parks so you don't have to

#66

Post by bombcar »

ekr____ wrote: post #40
MarkusWandel wrote: post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Back when I was younger and challenges were mostly mental, I did participate in a group hike to the bottom of the Grand Canyon (via the Hermit trail). Yes, the hike back up was tough, but we had two nights' camp out at the bottom, right by the river, in what for us Canadians was pleasant August type climate, while we had started in a bit of snow at the top (late October) and the rest day was beautiful. During the hik…

> In Yosemite, all you have to do is outhike the "Reebok hikers" as we called them back then. An hour's serious walk gives you relative solitude. You actually don't even need to do this if you park somewhere other than Yosemite Valley. For example, Tenaya Lake is nice and not that far in on Tioga Road.

There's a statistic that floats around which may be apocryphal - something like 90% of visitors to national parks don't get more than a 5-15 minute walk from the parking lot (and some literally never leave the car).

National parks are huge and you can quickly literally get lost forever in them (which is an actual danger, stay on the trails!) if you're willing to walk.

Some of them have very obvious "goals" to see (the geyser, the half-dome) which of course are high traffic, but others are beautiful "all over" and taking the treks is worth it.

Re: I went to America's worst national parks so you don't have to

#67

Post by oliver236 »

oliver236 wrote: post #56
jobs_throwaway wrote: post #19

> Every day hike in Zion Canyon is kind of like waiting in line at Disney World. You’re waiting in line in a magical place, but you’re still waiting in line. You ask a dead-eyed park ranger to recommend you a less popular hike, and he spits in your face. There is no such thing as a less-popular hike in Zion Canyon. You will wait in line on the trail and you will be grateful you piece of shit. Yeah, you can safely dis…

no one is an idiot. no one has that identity. people do not have more or less value. we are all worthy of respect. someone can act with idiot tendencies, but they are NOT an idiot.

oh.

Re: I went to America's worst national parks so you don't have to

#68

Post by ekr____ »

BenFranklin100 wrote: post #26

“I’m pretty content to say that North America absolutely mogs the rest of the world in national parks. “ This is exactly what a European friend remarked to me years ago. He thought us Americans were a bit unaware of just how good we had it compared to the rest of the world.

I mostly agree with this, but... if you're a hiker or a trail runner the alps really are amazing, and the infrastructure is far better than in the States. Once you get outside of really built up places like Yosemite Valley, the trails in the US basically are out in the middle of nowhere and so you're carrying all your stuff. For example, if you do John Muir Trail, there's basically nothing between Muir Trail Ranch and Whitney Portal, so you're looking at 100+ miles of carrying your own stuff.

By contrast, many European trails have huts/refugios every 10 or so miles, so you can stop and get a coffee or a meal, or even stay the night. This means that not only do you not need to carry a lot of food you may not even need to carry your own shelter, which lowers the weight considerably. There is some stuff like this in the US, for instance the High Sierra Camps [0], but it's not the norm and it's not cheap (~200 USD/night).

[0] https://www.travelyosemite.com/lodging/high-sierra-camps

Re: I went to America's worst national parks so you don't have to

#69

Post by BeetleB »

jackconsidine wrote: post #13

> Can you hike in the Grand Canyon? Yes, technically. You can walk along the rim, but the view won’t change; same damn canyon on one side, same damn parking lot on the other. There are trails that go down into the canyon, but they’re a trap. They are featureless steep inclines formed into endless switchbacks, and when they finally end, there’s nothing to do except go back up, which will be just as boring but three ti…

His experiences mirrors most people's I know. They all told me - go to it if you have the extra time, otherwise The southern Utah parks are much better.

Re: I went to America's worst national parks so you don't have to

#70

Post by Aurornis »

jobs_throwaway wrote: post #19

> Every day hike in Zion Canyon is kind of like waiting in line at Disney World. You’re waiting in line in a magical place, but you’re still waiting in line. You ask a dead-eyed park ranger to recommend you a less popular hike, and he spits in your face. There is no such thing as a less-popular hike in Zion Canyon. You will wait in line on the trail and you will be grateful you piece of shit. Yeah, you can safely dis…

This article was either written to be clickbait, or written by the kind of person who can find a way to be unhappy in any situation.

The article is safely ignored.

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