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Teach Your Children Well...When it Comes to Hiking in National Parks And Elsewhere Outdoors

Aug 13th - 15:15pm | Catherine Dold

Carl and Connie, you've figured out the secret: the adult's guide included in the Certified Good Hiker Kit is intended to educate the adults as well as the kids. Glad to hear you like the GoodHiker idea! Cathy

Aug 13th - 14:52pm | Jerrie Hurd

This kit is complete. Really good deal. Makes going outdoors fun because it's more than an adventure; it's a skill.

Aug 13th - 07:41am | Connie Hopkins

Great idea! Last summer, our 2 oldest grand-daughters along with our daughter and son-in-law, went on a vacation to Yellowstone with us. It was a first for the girlies as well as our son-in-law. For their birthdays that year, my husband and I had gotten them hydration packs and a whistle to clip onto it.

Aug 13th - 06:57am | Carl Robinson

We need an adult version and it should be required reading.

Appellate Court Says National Park Service Violated First Amendent By Requiring Permits for Free Speech

Aug 13th - 14:31pm | Daryl L. Hunter

Since some say the constitution is a living breathing document the new constitution doctors will soon fix their problematic issues with the first amendment.

Aug 12th - 07:13am | PA-Pilot

Requiring a permit or notice of any kind is still an abridgment of the freedom of assembly. It is none of the government's business where and when people congregate. The Constitution does not give the government permission to regulate assemblies.

Aug 12th - 01:12am | Anonymous

There is nothing in the First Amendment regarding permits. Period.

Aug 11th - 23:30pm | Anonymous

Just what we need, more lunatics passing out pamphlets about their version of what constitutes a sin, without regulation.

Aug 11th - 16:49pm | chris

The meat of the ruling starts on page 18. What really bothers the judge is a lack of size limit for gatherings requiring permits. The parks have many reasons to need to know about large groups in advance, but they have no justification for not allowing a group of 8 people to gather at a picnic table.

Aug 11th - 12:12pm | RangerLady

My understanding is that the permits are used so the park knows when this is going to be occurring so they can place extra rangers in the area in case something goes wrong. I've never known a 1st admendment permit to be denied. A lot of towns require permits as well for the same reason.

John Wessels Appointed Director of National Park Service's Intermountain Region

Aug 13th - 14:11pm | Anonymous

This comment flies in the face of reality. Mr. Wessels has not demonstrated the traits of a good NPS manager...those of us who actually worked with and around him in IMR know that for a long time, his focus was on pleasing Snyder's "run the NPS like a business" mentality. Wessels was right there with him.

National Park Mystery Spot 14: An Outdoorsy Four-Letter Word that You Have Often Heard

Aug 13th - 12:29pm | Bob Janiskee

All things considered, it's probably best to leave things pretty much the way they are. I will normally schedule the mystery plant and mystery spot puzzles for release at about 6:15 eastern time. We'll try to embargo the correct answers for a decent interval while readers in other time zones take a crack at the puzzles. As in the past, Wednesday will be quiz/puzzle day.

Aug 13th - 08:55am | RangerLady

Honestly, either way works for me. I love the quizzes and never look at the answer until I think I have it figured out. I'm just terribly competitive. So what ever is easiest on everyone is fine with me. No sense changing the way things are done for one little competitive complainer =)

Aug 12th - 14:59pm | Kurt Repanshek

No extra work is involved, RangerLady. However, a question that crops up is if the time is set for 11 a.m. Eastern, will East Coast folks who glance at the Traveler before they head to work and don't look at it again until after work then be coming into the quiz after it's solved? Time zones are a perplexing problem with this story of posting.

Aug 12th - 14:50pm | RangerLady

That would work for me as long as we're not creating any hardships for Bob. Goodness knows you have a lot to do. But I'm at work by that time, which is the only place I get internet.

Aug 11th - 18:20pm | Lee Dalton

Hmmmmm. Might just work. Those things are really fun, but it's frustrating as heck to get into it and discover that you've already been skunked. RangerLady -- what thinks ye?

Aug 11th - 16:20pm | Bob Janiskee

It's impractical to hold off on the answer until the next day, Lee, but there might be a way to give RangerLady and the the other Left Coast folks a fighting chance. I could schedule the release of the Mystery Spot and Mystery Plant puzzlers for, say, 11:00 a.m. eastern time. That would be 8:00 a.m. on the Left Coast. Wadda think?

Aug 11th - 15:11pm | Lee Dalton

RangerLady is right -- it's really hard for us westerners to beat those doggoned easterners unless we want to get up before breakfast. How about holding off on handing out the answer until the next day?

Aug 11th - 12:04pm | Bob Janiskee

@ Tomp: Connie's comment (which provided the correct answer) was the only comment we received prior to yours. As for the Google approach to getting the correct answer, well, it's always available if you want to use it. As you've pointed out, I didn't try very hard to make this one Google-proof.

Woman Dies in Fall From Angels Landing At Zion National Park

Aug 13th - 12:15pm | Anonymous

Patricia Bottarini fell (or was allegedly pushed) to her death from the Observation Point trail, not Angels Landing.

Arrive Early to Find Parking At Logan Pass in Glacier National Park

Aug 13th - 09:29am | Connie Hopkins

They actually have a service already in place. Until they make it a regulation though like other Parks, people, sadly myself included, will still take our own vehicles. I remember hiking the Granite Park Chalet loop in 2005 and taking the shuttle back to our van at Logan Pass, it was nice having someone else doing the driving since I was worn out.

Aug 13th - 09:20am | Lee Dalton

Isn't it past time to start looking at a shuttle option?

Aug 13th - 07:27am | Connie Hopkins

I am in complete agreement with you on the parking at Logan Pass. We were there 2+ weeks ago and we actually lucked out the one afternoon and managed to find a spot. We were escaping the rain down at our 2 Medicine Lake campsite. We witnessed tickets being written on vehicles that were parked alongside the GTTS road.

Popular Junior Ranger Program is Expanding to Add "Let's Move Outside" Activities

Aug 13th - 09:25am | Lee Dalton

I always thought the word searches and other paper exercises were supposed to be used in the car. They can sure help eliminate the whining, "When are gonna get there?"

Aug 13th - 07:20am | Anonymous

This is excellent! We love the Junior Ranger Program (my kids have almost 200 badges) but one of my complaints about the program is there is so much busy work that requires them to sit inside. I often wondered if it was worth our time to sit in the visitors center doing a word search rather than be outside hiking a trail.

National Park Road Trip 2010: Return to the Beginning

Aug 13th - 09:13am | Gene Douglas Er...

Thanks. It has been fun following your trip. Since I have lived close to some of the places you mentioned, I was eager to hear what you had to say about them. Never know how your hometown stuff comes across to strangers. Thanks again.

Pocket Guides Help Explain The Nature You See in National Parks

Aug 13th - 07:52am | Connie Hopkins

I purchased one on Montana Trees and Wildflowers while we were on our trip to Glacier last month. The wildflowers were especially beautiful and I was surprised at how helpful this small pocket guide was to help me identify some of what we were seeing.

Loggerhead Sea Turtle Crushed By Vehicle At Cape Hatteras National Seashore

Aug 13th - 01:34am | Anonymous

George W. Bush made the laws that removed many protections from the animals that americans care about, he also approved legislation for oil-drilling in the gulf despite americans saying no! and you're actually blaming Obama?

One Dead, 16 Injured Following Lightning From Thunderstorm in Grand Teton National Park

Aug 13th - 00:14am | Anonymous

These guys are as close as you get to real life superheros. Well done.

Maine North Woods National Park: Has The Time Arrived?

Aug 12th - 22:12pm | Anonymous

It is not just a park. Please go to: http://takingliberty.us/ This is happening all over the country. Sounds good - isn't good. If you have doubts, PLEASE investigate on your own. People are waking up.

Park Service Says No Predetermined Outcome With Transmission Project at Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area

Aug 12th - 16:48pm | Cliff Leverette

Heck, fit all the lines into a pipe and bury it at night so no extremist knows its there. When it get to the AT, bury it to run a distance along under the trail so that damage done to the landscape by unfairey-like heavy feet of serious, self righteous backpackers won't wear the trail down into the hellish regions of the earth... they will be prevented by the pipeline.

Wolverine Sightings Growing in Rocky Mountain National Park

Aug 12th - 16:40pm | Joe Porter

BADGER!!!! sorry, keep looking

By the Numbers: National Monuments

Aug 12th - 16:18pm | jason

Great Falls Park Catoctin Mountain Park

One Best Hike: Grand Canyon

Aug 12th - 12:52pm | Sandy

I agree that this sounds like a good and much needed book. There does need to be a little clarification, however, about the deaths by air tour. Those are minimal as well until you include the major mid-air collision of two huge craft that were not actual tour aircraft. That skews the statistics very quickly.

Aug 12th - 10:36am | Gaelyn

Sounds like a good and much needed book. Could use one for the North Kaibab trail as well. Now if more unprepared people would read it there might be less deaths and rescues which put our Park Rangers at risk.

Three Rescues in One Day: Just Another Day For Rangers in Rocky Mountain National Park

Aug 12th - 08:25am | Connie Hopkins

Two of the most enjoyable books I have read this year are by Nancy Eileen Muleady-Meacham title "Park Ranger" & "Park Ranger Sequel". Her experiences in the Grand Canyon are a large portion of the books but it was interesting to read of the many different hats that Park Rangers wear!

Aug 11th - 16:36pm | Cliff Leverette

Looks like maybe men should walk, women of all ages should drive.

Tectonic Plates Thought Responsible for Swarm of Yellowstone National Park Earthquakes

Aug 12th - 00:41am | Anonymous

There is nothing to see here, move along. 2012 ? It's just nature's way of shrugging off parasites from its coat, like a dog scratching a flea. The earth will be here long after we are gone.

Reader Participation Day: Acadia National Park, or Great Smoky Mountains National Park?

Aug 11th - 21:16pm | the Bat

I have been to and enjoyed both. I would go back to Acadia simply because it is far less crowded. I love GSMNP but the continual traffic jam really sucks the soul out of it.

Aug 11th - 17:45pm | Barky

Acadia. Far too much country music near the Smokies. ;-)

Aug 11th - 11:21am | Richard

I live close the GSMNP and have only been to Acadia once. It's hard to say which is a better park. They are different and each one has positives and negatives. GSMNP has the mountains, an immense variety of flora and fauna, rivers, streams and waterfalls. Spring time in GSMNP is amazing! Acadia has the rocky shore, the carriage trails, great views from the top of mountains and hills.

Fatal Fall from Angels Landing in Zion National Park

Aug 11th - 17:27pm | Anonymous

"more government" created the park

Inupiat Heritage Center On Top Of The World

Aug 11th - 16:31pm | d-2

My understanding is the New Bedford national historical park bill was stuck in the Senate, but that the liaison by the NPS planners with the people in Barrow interested in the relationship between the two sites came to the attention of Senator Stevens. He then helped un-stick the legislation and included the connection to Barrow, AK.

Aug 11th - 16:18pm | d-2

Considering the death of Senator Ted Stevens, it is worth reflecting that without his support for this Heritage Center connected to the national park in New Bedford, it is likely one or both would not exist.

Boy Scout on Backpacking Trip to Zion National Park Found Dead

Aug 11th - 15:06pm | Lee Dalton

Whoa up there, anonymous. That seems like a comment that might come from someone who has never tried to keep tabs on a herd of enthusiastic young people. There are times when, no matter how hard you try or how many safeguards may be in place, things happen. Don't judge until you know ALL the facts.

Aug 11th - 12:41pm | Anonymous

"he had a buddy, he went off the trail. this was no one's fault."

On Bison Science, Bison Politics, and the Rebisoning of the West

Aug 11th - 14:31pm | Anonymous

How about rebisoning the Valles Caldera?

Who Are Those Masked Men At Colorado National Monument?

Aug 11th - 14:24pm | Jan

Three cheers for the work that these unsung heroes perform for our National Parks and National Monuments. These stone masons definitely deserve all the appreciation we can show them. Those of you in cars, please slow down for the flaggers who are safe guarding these brave men that are working to restore the historic stone walls.

Aug 11th - 11:12am | Lee Dalton

Y'know, rangers seem to get all the credit when it comes to our parks, but the people who REALLY keep them going are guys like these.

Aug 11th - 11:02am | kathy trader

I want one of those! We had the worst gnats this year at PA state Park, French Creek. We were trying to play frisbee golf (they have a nice course), and the gnats were brutal! We had to quit.

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