| Page 1208 | National Parks Traveler

Wow. My family and I have stayed at the resort a number of times over the past 10 years (the most recent Sep 2007). It sounds like the change of ownership has completely changed the quality of the place. My stays were pretty good (we stayed the newest addition; Great Bear Lodge?.. and the view and rooms were very nice).

Aug 14th - 12:51pm | Anonymous

I read all of these reviews and must say to Michelle "thank you for your comments, it is amazing that you do not mention that you tried to steal $200 before leaving....I guess we know where your morals are.

Echo Bay Resort at Lake Mead NRA has a New Concessioner and a New Name

Aug 14th - 15:16pm | Jim Burnett

Anonymous - Do you have firm information that the restaurant and hotel at Echo Bay are closing? I've been unable to reach them by phone to verify that information. Thanks.

Aug 14th - 14:35pm | Anonymous

Closing the restaurant and hotel 1 week short of Labor Day is basically just pissing away profits.

A Piece Of History

Aug 14th - 13:38pm | sthdrum

Yes, why do you need to carry while in the Park? The fears that have been accepted by too many people over the past 9 years need to be purged. Remember: "We have met the enemy and he is us!" Pogo "We have nothing to fear but fear itself" FDR

Mission

Aug 14th - 11:15am | DesignGreen

The Lorax March 23, Day 14 Indio, CA –Joshua Tree National Park – Los Angeles, CA

Yellowstone National Park Officials Working on Management Plan for Lake Area

Aug 14th - 10:11am | Anonymous

WOW, I wanted to work in yellowstone or crater lake, but after reading the endless bad comments about xanterra, I think I'm going to write my congressman.

Aug 13th - 16:48pm | Lake Lodge Employee

Xanterra appears to be environmentally conscious to the public, but due to a static, outdated system of bureaucracy, many environmentally unfriendly actions take place every day.

How To Buy National Park-Related Gifts Without Leaving Home

Aug 14th - 08:05am | Alan E.

I recently revisted a website I went to to purchase National Park gifts That I first heard about from the National Parks Traveler website. Innerpeacedesigns.net They make and manufactures National park ornaments with great detail. They redesigned their website and have an American Flag and it says 100% manufactured in the USA. Thank God !

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

Aug 13th - 21:32pm | Anonymous

I keep reading about core operations, can someone tell me what it is, and what problems it caused?

Aug 13th - 18:02pm | Anonymous

Perhaps the first real evidence of what John Wessels will do as Regional Director will come as he fills the three Associate Regional Director positions that are now vacant - let's see who he surrounds himself with in the hall of heroes at the IMR.

Aug 13th - 17:55pm | Anonymous

So JLongstreet - just whhich NPS do you work for? Curious that there isn't a single Longstreet listed in our email directory?

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.

Flamingo Master Plan For Everglades National Park Proposes New Lodge, Cottages, Upgraded Marina

Aug 13th - 19:58pm | tomp

I suspect that at least the hotel and cottages and probably the marina building as well will be paid for by a concessionaire, who will then have a long-term lease.

Aug 13th - 15:58pm | Tom Stoa

The plan for the Flamingo area sounds good. We visited Flamingo last fall, and were disappointed that we could not stay there, or anywhere on that side of the park for that matter. The problem of course will be where the $78 million will come from. I wish them well.

National Park Road Trip 2010: Return to the Beginning

Aug 13th - 19:47pm | PM

I have really enjoyed reading about your adventures. I hope you document another trip like you did this one. I've always wanted to do a trip like this but usually when the weather is nice I am busy at work so I can't. Thanks again.

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.

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

Aug 13th - 17:51pm | Anonymous

I was in Glacier last fall and never drove anywhere that the shuttles went. I found them to be so easy to use, they are free, and the schedules were quite workable. Took only a minimum amount of extra planning to time hikes, etc. around the shuttle schedule. It was wonderful to just be able to enjoy the scenery while having someone else have to deal with the road.

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.

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

Aug 13th - 16:09pm | Carol L

A few years back, I interviewed rangers and Search & Rescue professionals all over the country for a hiking safety program I gave on the Blue Ridge Parkway.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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!

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.

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