National Parks

We were unlikely friends, Rob fresh from the military and the Gulf war, me anti-arms, anti-war. But we had a big thing in common: our love of the outdoors, our love of the mountains. "Climb the mountains and get their good tidings. Nature's peace will flow into you as sunshine flows into trees" said Muir. We hiked many trails of Olympic National Park and Rainier National Park together, spent a few new year's eves in the snow watching moon rise over Mt Rainier. We told each other many stories of hikes, rides, climbs, outdoor adventures we so cherished.

Earlier this month, I had the opportunity to visit our country's first National Park, at a time when only 10% of their yearly visitors make the trip to Yellowstone.  Our adventure started on the west entrance of the park where we entered by snowcoach (a vehicle uniquely suited to driving on packed snow with tractor-like treads and skis serving as front tires).  The first thing to come into view was the beautiful Madison Valley with the Madison River on one side and great volcanic slopes on the other.  Before you see any of the wildlife along the river you notice that there ar

In the US, we have a long history of preserving places commonly special to us through the National Park System. Recently I have been thinking about the usefulness of the designation of National Park and questioning whether it is always the best prescription.