Our Hiking Adventures in America's National Parks
My treasured junior ranger patches fleece.
Check out my blog post and videos of our Summer of '22 hiking adventures in Badlands, Wind Cave, and Theodore Roosevelt national parks in South and North Dakota
And this is how it all got started! My husband Jon, my son Sebastian, and I visited our first national park in July 2010 - Grand Canyon. Since then my husband and I have hiked in 26 more national parks and 2 military parks.
There are 63 national parks in the US, including US Virgin Islands and American Samoa. We hope to visit and hike in all 63. When we grow up and retire, we want to be volunteer park rangers. To date, I have been sworn in as a junior park ranger in 23 national parks.
It's a lot of work: hiking, going to ranger programs, and completing some intense activity books during our visits. But I love it! And so far, I have been the only adult pledging to be a good junior ranger while being sworn in with other children. So far, 18 of my patches have been sewn into my Yellowstone fleece and Badlands vest. I need to buy a new fleece to sew in more patches.
I hope my love for hiking in our national parks inspires you to go and find your park! I hope our adventures in Grand Canyon, Arches, Yellowstone, Grand Teton, Rocky Mountain, Bryce, Zion, Yosemite, Sequoia, Kings Canyon, Acadia, Great Smoky Mountains, Shenandoah, Virgin Islands, Biscayne, Everglades, Cuyahoga Valley, Congaree, Mammoth Caves, Carlsbad Caverns, White Sands, Guadalupe Mountains, Petrified Forest, New River Gorge Badlands, Wind Cave, and Theodore Roosevelt national parks move you to slip on your hiking boots, strap on a backpack, carry a hiking stick to help you navigate terrain, and to take in the beauty of our national parks in the company of amazing wildlife, birds, insects, reptiles, and the beautiful landscape of trails, mountains, geysers, rivers, waterfalls and much more. We recently came back from Great Sand Dune NP, Mesa Verde NP, and Black Canyon on the Gunnison. Stay tuned for my blog post and videos.
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Don't forget to visit more of our national parks adventures at 7 more on the national parks ii link and my blog post about our adventures at New River Gorge national park.
Be filled with a childhood sense of awe and wonder!
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My article How to Enjoy the National Parks: Plan and Hike Safely is published in my blog. I provide tips for packing, planning, and having an awesome time in the national parks.
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I wrote a HuffPost piece on the 100th anniversary of National Park Service and our national parks. Click here to read Keep You Childlike Sense of Wonder Alive in America's National Parks.
Here's my review of Temple Tempest Williams' memoir about her experience with the national parks - The Hour of the Land.
Go ahead! Take a hike! Click on slide show and click on each national park link and have an awesome adventure! I am happy to share it with you! Happy Trails!
"Keep close to Nature's heart...and break clear away, once in awhile, and
climb a mountain
or spend a week in the woods. Wash your Spirit clean"
~ John Muir
I am the author of Come What May, I Want to Run: A Memoir of the Saving Grace of Ultrarunning in Overwhelming Times. Some of our national parks adventures make an appearance in my book. You can You can also order the book from Wipf and Stock Publishers, Amazon, Bookshop, or Barnes & Noble. It's available in hardcover, paperback, e-book, and Kindle.
