Cooped Up? Get Uncooped.

National Geoggraphic is making a series of underwater wreck photos, including one from the Titantic (sans Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet), available as computer monitor wallpaper. The images at nationalgeographic.com are incredibly clear and sharp. They'll keep any diver, even us shallow snorklers, longing for the water over our heads. 

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It can be tricky to find the perfect place to set up tent, especially in the back country.  On my rookie adventure trip a few years ago we had a problem while backpacking in Glacier National Park. Black Flies. They were beastly. Worse than you'd ever think imaginable. So horrible in fact, that we had to painfully cut our trail 3 days shorter. I was almost turned off of backpacking for good... almost. Now they were...

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Some friends have been telling me that national parks they've been to this summer as looking kind of shabby, like they're really in need of major repairs and maintenance. I remember news coverage earlier this year that reported the National Park Serivce is billions short of the money it needs to get things back on track and keeping them from sliding any more. Have any uncoop-ers seen similar problems on national park visits this summer?

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Any recommendations for three full days in Glacier National Park in early July?  My husband and I are taking our two children, ages 11 and 6.  Both are active, but we are starting some conditioning hikes this spring.  We will be camping...where's best to stay?  What trails are best?  Keeping in mind children...

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The wave-washed granite shores of Acadia National Park on Mount Desert Island in the Gulf of Maine are featured in the laste e-tour of a national park developed by the National Park Service.Because of the watery setting, this one's called an e-cruise, but you get the idea.Take the tour at http://www.nps.gov/acad/photosmultimedia/virtualtour.htm.

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I’m not going to add any of my own thoughts on this, other than to note the amazing distance between the positions of recent press releases by the National Park Service and the Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility. It’s a real jaw-dropper.  PEER, FYI, is a national alliance of local, state and federal resource professionals. The group’s environmental work is solely directed by the needs of its members rather than by any agency policies or...

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The Outdoor Writer (http://www.theoutdoorwire.com) this morning carries an interesting piece on the issue of human waste in popular national park destinations. When you answer the call of nature, there are occasionally other calls that simply can't be ignored. Without going into the details of scatological needs, there are times in the outdoors when nature's "other call" must be answered. That simple fact of life is causing problems in some of the more popular places in the...

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The official National Park website for Yellowstone National Park features a whole collection of short, narrated clips - all with magnificent film - of the major sites throughout the park.Find the click-through list of the whole collection at http://www.nps.gov/archive/yell/insideyellowstone/videolist.htm.There's also a multi-part mini-documentary about the park available at http://www.nps.gov/archive/yell/yellowstoneindepth/episode1.htm.

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Elk grazing on the Estes Park Municipal Golf Course. Estes Park, CO June 2006

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