National Parks Traveler

Why in the world does the right-wing continue to realize that you lost. We won. And to whine about Obama visiting our national parks and other treasures of the west tells thinking Americans that you were sound asleep during the eight years of the worst presidency in the history of this country. The bumbling failures are so obvious I don't need to list them.

Obama visited the USS Arizona Memorial last Dec. Being from Hawaii I'd think he's probably been to Hawai'i Volcanoes NP and perhaps Haleakala. He said that he'd been to the Grand Canyon in his younger years.

Kathy, I truly hope we can inspire more black families to visit the national parks instead of it being a white dominated phenomenon. Perhaps we can also recruit more black rangers into the national parks as well. With President Obama visiting the national parks this past weekend is a very good start.

I don't think Obama was much of a national parks visitor BEFORE he became president either. Michelle takes the kids to Paris and London and Rome but not to any of the national parks. They just don't like the outdoors or the national parks and this trip was purely a photo op.

If you can stand one more comment from me, I'd like to say how mystifying it is to me to see the huge RV's complete with TV, internet, all the comforts of home at the campground. It's like bringing your house with you! IMO that's not camping. And when I go camping I don't care to hear their generators or their loud music, thanks very much.

Why would anyone be asleep after 6 a.m.? Early morning is the best part of the day, especially in most national parks.

There are a lot of "camping lite" experiences out there. There are the so-called "tent cabins" where most of the stuff is provided and semi-permanent. A lot of concession or NPS employee lodging is of the same type.

It's a hard question. I'm not opposed to an air mattress instead of sleeping on rocks, or a DVD player to get you through that drive through Illinois. Nor do I have a problem with sending a quick email home to say I'm doing OK. But some of this goes over the line - when you pay someone to set up a tent and grill for you, it just seems like a manufactured experience.

My approach to camping includes a variety of battery powered devices. Vinyl air mattresses have been around since forever, but I found the inflation was aided with a battery powered inflator from Coleman. It's essentially just a blower which reached a maximum inflation point that wasn't quite enough - but that's 80-90% of what I needed.

For those who haven't clicked the link, it's to a story that tells about the arrival of most creature comforts for family campers:

Tomp, I do believe you're right. I was just cutting to the chase;-)

Thousands of people go jogging/biking/hiking in Rock Creek NP every week. No entrance fees are charged; collecting them would be difficult considering how many access points there are to the paths (it's smack dab in the middle of D.C.). So how would you gauge higher visitation in an urban park like this? It seems this park has to rely on whatever monies Congress sees fit to allocate.

The index is revised every two years to reflect congressional actions.

I remember what's now Giant Sequoia National Monument probably used up most of Sequoia NF's human resources. There are several campgrounds, Hume Lake, Boyden Cavern, and a few lodges. It would have been a pretty huge blow to the FS if they took that out of their jurisdiction and handed it over to the NPS.