Essential Park Guide, Winter 2016-17

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Essential Park Guide / Winter 2016

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Winter, Texas Style

By Rebecca Latson Winter often is associated with snow, but Big Bend National Park runs counter to that, replacing the fluff with a healthy dose of scenic solitude.

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Yosemite’s Quiet Season Winter in Yosemite National Park brims with activities enjoyed without the elbow-to-elbow crowds of summer.

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Taming the West

By Jane Schneider Before the Indian Wars, forts out on the American Frontier were places for trade, provisioning, and swapping a few stories.

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Winter’s Rocky Mountain Beauty Snowshoeing, skiing, wildlife viewing and hiking: Rocky Mountain National Park has it all in a setting as pretty as a picture.

Around The Parks Snowbound doesn’t mean you can’t enjoy the National Park System. We’ve found two incredible websites, and a current history of Yellowstone’s wolves, to keep you sated this winter.

Fleeing Winter’s Cold Colorful marine fisheries, mild equatorial breezes, and a place in the sun are within reach for those fed up with snow and cold.

Winter Destinations

By Patrick Cone, Gary Vogt, and Kurt Repanshek Across the northern tier of the country, Mount Rainier National Park, Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore, and Katahdin Woods and Waters National Monument offer surprising avenues into winter.

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Drink Up! Dehydration is no fun, and it can strike in winter. So drink up this season.

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Good Reads

By Patrick Cone and Kurt Repanshek Death in Glacier, Bristol Bay, and Antietam’s hallowed grounds provide the background to three books worthy of your library.

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Friends of the Parks Friends groups showcase winter in Acadia National Park and on the Blue Ridge Parkway, help Grand Teton National Park protect a square mile, and show how to bring younger, diverse populations into the parks.

Editor: Kurt Repanshek Art Director: Courtney Cooper Special Projects Editor: Patrick Cone Senior Editor: Scott Johnson Contributors: Rebecca Latson Jane Schneider Gary Vogt Published by

Essential Park Guides are published by National Park Advocates, LLC, to showcase how best to enjoy and explore the National Park System. National Park Advocates, LLC, P.O. Box 980452, Park City, Utah, 84098. © 2016 Essential Park Guide, Winter 2016.

All rights reserved. The contents of this publication may not be reproduced in any form without written permission from the publisher.

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•••• from the publisher

There are plenty of options, all across the National Park System during the winter months.

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ou can cross-country ski through Grand Teton National Park in Wyoming, experience the wintry wonders of the brandnew Katahdin Woods and Waters National Monument in Maine, soak up the sunshine on a beach at Virgin Islands National Park in the Caribbean, or simply watch it snow while planning next summer’s vacation.

Winter is peak season in Everglades National Park and neighboring Big Cypress National Preserve in Florida, as it is in Death Valley National Park in California and Nevada. But, it’s the low season in Shenandoah National Park in Virginia. For those who venture there, however, the lack of leaves in the forests opens up vistas normally hidden in summer.

You can see where this is going.

There are so many ways to enjoy the national parks this winter that your toughest task won’t be finding possibilities; it more likely will be deciding on which one or two to pursue.

To help you decide, Rebecca Latson took her pen along with her cameras to describe three days in

on the cover Our newest national monument, Katahdin Woods and Waters in Maine, offers miles and miles of snowy landscapes for winter fun, such as this cross-country trail on the Katahdin Loop Road/ Susan Adams

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Essential Park Guide | Winter 2016

Big Bend National Park in Texas.

Her story begins on the next page, and she points out some nice drives and hikes in this well-known, but seemingly overlooked, national park.

On page 22 of this Essential Park Guide you’ll also find details on three wintry destinations scattered across the northern tier of the country: Mount Rainier National Park in Washington, Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore in Michigan, and Katahdin Woods and Waters National Monument.

And, plan your next spring or summer trip. Jane Schneider

visited Bent’s Old Fort National Historic Site in Colorado and got a lesson in Western history prior to the Indian Wars. This site, and some of the others she describes, is short on crowds, and long on history. They’ll leave you with a deep understanding of our colorful Western history and these park units.

If anything, the National Park System offers too many options.

But that’s not necessarily a bad thing, is it? ~ Kurt Repanshek

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Written and Photographed by Rebecca Latson

Quiet spreads across Big Bend National Park during the winter months, both in the lack of visitors to this grand rumpled slice of parkland in southwestern Texas as well as audibly. Silence pervades the Chihuahuan Desert, both day and night. The wind blows, but it’s felt more than heard. The Chisos Mountains are quiet as well. The cactus and Ocotillo plants look drab and thornier than usual without their brilliant spring blooms to grace and hide the sharp spikes. Cooler temperatures prevail, and occasional snow- or hail-storms punctuate the season.

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Essential Park Guide | Winter 2016

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y last December visit was noticeably lacking in birdsongs, although that didn’t mean the birds were not there. I think I saw a single roadrunner dashing across the long road from the Persimmon Gap entrance to the Panther Junction Visitor Center, and that was it. The trees and tall shrubbery bore fewer leaves, and I could see all sorts of nests of varying sizes and shapes.

There were, however, quite a few large, brown tarantulas crossing the road. Subsequent January, March and April trips yielded no tarantula sightings at all, which might be knowledge enough to affect the scheduling of your own winter escape to Big Bend.

Why come to Big Bend during the winter? Daytime temperatures are much milder than during the spring or summer, and the nighttime temps will be downright chilly. Park visitors are slim to none during the season. In fact, you might see more Border Patrol and National Park Service vehicles than regular tourist vehicles. If you really want to get away from it all within the contiguous United States, then this is the national park to visit.

Be sure to pack a couple of fleece or down clothing items, and a hat, as well. And make sure you always have water. Cold or hot, this national park is dry and will literally suck the moisture from your body.

Cell service is sporadic at best, and your vehicle had better be in good condition, as the closest town with any real services is Alpine, where I had to get a flat tire repaired during my most recent 2016 visit (thank you, kind Fed Ex man for being such a Good Samaritan).

The park has several large campgrounds but only one brickand-mortar lodge: The Chisos Mountains Lodge. If you plan to visit and want to stay at the lodge, make your reservations as early as possible. Just because there are fewer park visitors doesn’t mean the lodge doesn’t fill up quickly.

Photography-wise, the winter atmospheric conditions provide nice, clear venues for great shots.

If you are lucky, you’ll get some

Volcanic dikes rise out of the floor of Big Bend, hinting at the park’s geologic underpinnings / Rebecca Latson

interesting cloud action in the park, as well. The sunrises and sunsets are—to me—the clearest and most colorful during the winter.

How should you navigate Big Bend in winter? There are myriad ways, but here at three suggestions to help get you thinking:

Day 1 Take a hike. And with a bit more than 801,100 acres, Big Bend offers quite a few places to take a walk.

Before you head out, though, determine your fitness level. How much hiking do you think you can do and how much do you want to do? The

trails I hiked were steep/narrow, rocky/slick in some places, level and/or easily traversed in others.

None of the trails were that long (I’m talking anywhere from 3-5 miles), but I wasn’t in the best of shape and, being a photographer, I carried more than I should have regarding camera gear.

Cameras, lenses, tripod and assorted accessories such as filters and extra batteries can get a little heavy, trust me, not to mention the addition of water and a snack or two tucked somewhere in my camera pack or in a vest pocket.

Among the trails in this park, a couple of very popular hikes and my

personal favorites are the Lost Mine Trail and the Window Trail. Both are relatively short hikes (about 5 miles round trip, more or less), but neither is level and the end of the Window Trail might be a bit wet and slick if the water is flowing.

A great hike for scenic vistas is the two-mile roundtrip Grapevine Hills Trail, but be prepared for the seven miles of gravel road leading to the trailhead. From there, it’s an easy 2.2-mile walk through the maze of balanced rocks found here. A more challenging hike through Devil’s Den, a limestone slot canyon 3.5 miles south of the Persimmon Gap Visitor Center, is not quite 6 miles in length.

A short, but classic, Big Bend hike is the third-of-a-mile walk along the Window View Trail. An accessible trail that can handle wheelchairs, the paved walkway culminates with views of the “Window,” a notch in the mountains that during summer frames sunsets. During winter months the sun sets a bit left of the notch, bathing the rock walls with a golden glow; the trail offers a great appetite builder before dinner.

Day 2

Chisos Mountains Lodge is the only brick-and-mortar lodging within Big Bend’s borders / Rebecca Latson

Go for a drive. Ostensibly, you can see almost the entire park if you spend just a single day (or maybe a day-anda-half) in your car driving Big Bend’s main paved road both east and west (this includes the Ross Maxwell Scenic Drive). It will be a long day, and you won’t really do any trail walking, but you will get a nice survey of the park that should help you decide what you want to do during the rest of your stay.

During your road trip, you’ll move from the vast expanse of the Chihuahuan Desert into the volcanic Chisos Mountains, created from violent eruptions as well as uplift and erosion of an ancient seabed. You’ll see textbook examples of volcanic and sedimentary geology, with some faulting and folding thrown in for good measure.

Stop off at all the viewing areas to immerse yourself in those grand vistas. Sotol Vista along the Ross Maxwell Scenic Drive is my personal favorite viewpoint and might end up being yours, too. You can see far south, beyond the notch of Santa Elena Canyon in the distance and into Mexico’s own Cañon de Santa Elena

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Some of the darkest night skies in the National Park System make stargazing a great way to end the day at Big Bend / Rebecca Latson

National Park, or look west toward Study Butte, or north or east into the Chisos Mountains.

If your trip is after mid-January, swing by the Fossil Discovery Exhibit that chronicles the park’s 120 million years of paleontologic history. Built thanks to the support of the Big Bend Conservancy, this exhibit found eight miles north of Panther Junction on the road to Persimmon Gap will interpret the park’s rich paleontologic and geologic history. A grand opening is set for January 14, 2017.

Day 3 Stargazing at Big Bend is a yearround practice, but it really stands out in winter thanks to the clear night air.

Back in 2012 the International Dark Sky Association praised the park for its dark night skies and designated it as a Gold Tier International Dark Sky 6

Essential Park Guide | Winter 2016

Park. A Gold Tier designation denotes a sky free from all but the most minor impacts of light pollution, a sight of increasing scarcity in North America.

Measurements by the National Park Service Night Sky Team show that the Big Bend region offers the darkest measured skies in the lower 48 states.

To enjoy the star show, take a latenight drive to Sotol Vista or one of the other view areas, or simply pull over alongside the road, step outside and view the amazingly clear, starry sky.

If you are very lucky, you might hear a coyote howl in the distance. If the moon is out, you can almost read by its light while still enjoying the stars. Just be careful and drive slowly because of the nocturnal creatures, like the many jackrabbits that might lope to and from either side of the road.

Of course, there are many other enjoyable diversions in Big Bend. You

could explore the historic remains of the Sam Nail Ranch found along the Ross Maxwell Scenic Drive, soak in the 105-degree waters of the hot springs in the park’s Hot Springs Historic District where a bathhouse once stood, or simply relax.

That’s right, take it easy. Don’t try to see everything at once. Most people don’t believe me when I tell them this, but if you try to see too much, you come back not remembering much. You also miss the richness of spending time doing less but experiencing more in a single area of the park rather than attempting a marathon overview of the entire park.

That being said, you can definitely see a lot in three days. Just don’t push yourself. Consider your winter visit a sort of reconnaissance of the places in which you’d like to spend more time during your next trip out to Big Bend National Park.

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SNOW&Solitude Amidst Yosemite’s Winter Splendor

There’s one sure-fire way for avoiding the crowds at Yosemite National Park: visit during the winter.

Gone until May are the crowds that fill the Yosemite Valley, Glacier Point, and the Mariposa Grove. You’ll love the freedom from take-a-number tourism, and be mesmerized by the pure, clean, quiet whiteness. It just might seem like you have the place all to yourself.

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Essential Park Guide | Winter 2016

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ut what can you do in the winter?

That’s the easy part. There’s plenty to do; the hardest part might be deciding what to do when you realize you can downhill ski or snowshoe, hike or ice skate, cross-country ski or go tubing. Away from the snow sports, make time to take plenty of photographs, explore historic buildings, watch the sunset on the peaks as you dine in front of a roaring fire, then watch as the sky is taken over by the Milky Way amidst the deep indigo night.

Where to call home during this idyllic

season? Head to one of Yosemite’s Scenic Wonders Vacation Rentals at Bass Lake, Yosemite, or Wawona and take advantage of the low rates at this time of year.

That base camp is well-situated for taking advantage of a wide range of activities in Yosemite during the winter months. There are ranger-led full moon snowshoe walks through the big trees. You also can sample local wines at the Vintners’ Holiday, take in a seven-course meal at the Bracebridge Dinner celebration, or find farm-totable fare at Chef’s Holidays. Nothing will make you merrier than spending the year-end holidays in Yosemite.

In the Yosemite Valley, the open-air shuttles that run in summer are replaced with warm tour buses for the winter months, so hop aboard to tour the valley. You can jump off to visit the snowfrocked Yosemite Chapel or walk along the Merced River that cuts the valley, watching for ducks that bob peacefully in the snow-lined waters that reflect the surrounding towers of granite. Rise early and take a morning stroll along the boardwalk at Cook’s Meadow west of the village for a view of Cathedral Rocks.

Keep an eye on the giant icicles that form along the park’s waterfalls, as they might crash to the rocks as the sunshine hits them in the morning.

You could spend a morning skating in what is arguably the world’s most beautiful outdoor rink at Half Dome Village. Open since the 1930s, the rink offers fun and opportunity for romance, and its outdoor fire pits help you ward off the cold. The century-old stone LeConete Memorial Lodge, now called

Though waterfalls are virtually nonexistent in winter, barring a heavy rain, snowfall on the Yosemite Valley creates a sublime setting / Scenic Wonders

Winter brings a peacefulness to the Yosemite Valley / Scenic Wonders

the Yosemite Conservation Heritage Center, sits like an ice castle next to the rink. Its steep gable roof and parapets make it an architectural gem.

While the Tioga Road that runs through Tuolumne Meadows isn’t open to vehicles in winter, hardy souls can cross-country ski or snowshoe along its path.

Or you can head up towards Glacier Point and the Yosemite Ski & Snowboard Area, formerly called Badger Pass Ski Area. The ski area offers five lifts, 800 vertical feet, and 10 runs. Though not on par with Squaw Valley, this little ski area that usually sees 300 inches of snow a year has been the training grounds for countless park visitors. There’s also a tubing area and terrain park here, and the access to the backcountry and cross-country ski trails is superb. Bring your skis, or rent, and take a few turns down the mountain, stopping for views and cocoa as often as you wish. You’ll also find 90 miles of marked snowshoe and cross-country ski trails, and 10.5 miles of groomed skating track.

With nearby accommodations in one of Yosemite Scenic Wonder’s more than 100 properties, which are the closest lodgings to the ski area, you can easily catch the day’s first lift to make first tracks after storms.

From the ski area, you can crosscountry ski to Glacier Point. At mile-marker five, look across the canyon to the Clark Range, named for Galen Clark, the first guardian of the Yosemite Grant. The views of the valley, El Capitan, and Half Dome

are phenomenal. Across from Glacier Point, Yosemite Falls plummets more than 2,000 feet.

You could also take a bit shorter snowshoe trip out to Dewey Point, with guides from the Yosemite Conservancy, or head out into Aspen Grove for a self-guided snowshoe hike. There are also two overnight huts accessible from the ski area for the more adventurous, and if you’re visiting in February, don’t miss the Nordic Holiday celebration.

Winter is a wonderfully quiet season in Yosemite, too. That solitude can be hard to fully appreciate while you’re building up a sweat as you kick-andglide or skate towards Glacier Point. But pause to catch your breath. There’s just the sound of a small breeze in the trees, and the beating of your own heart.

And don’t head for home without taking in the majesty of the stately sequoia trees at Tuolumne Grove. A short, mile-long ski or snowshoe walk from Crane Flat will lead you into these big trees.

After a day in the forest, on the slopes, amongst the giants, or skiing along the valley’s rim, take the easy 20-minute drive back to Yosemite West and your home for the night. Soothe your body in a hot tub before, or after, sitting down to a well-earned feast.

The only decision you have to make is where you plan to go the next day.

Explore at your own pace, enjoy the peacefulness and beauty, and get ready to do it all again the next morning.

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Western Frontier Early Forts Tell the Story of America’s Fur Trade Era

By Jane Schneider

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n the early 1800s, following in the footsteps of Lewis and Clark, a host of scouts, soldiers, trappers and traders began venturing from St. Louis, eager to explore and exploit the natural riches to be found in the wilderness of the West. It was America’s new economic frontier. The expansion of the fur trade would introduce new cultures and trading partners to farsighted business entrepreneurs.

To learn more about this era, pay a visit to one of several frontier forts established

in the 1820s and 1830s, places like Bent’s Old Fort National Historic Site, a legendary trading post 90 miles southeast of Pueblo, Colorado; Fort Laramie National Historic Site, an important destination on the Oregon Trail in southeastern Wyoming; and Fort Union Trading Post National Historic Site on the Missouri River in far northwestern North Dakota. Walk the grounds of these early business hubs and you’ll gain new insights into a fascinating period of westward expansion.

Set Up For Business Driving east along Highway 194 in Colorado, I’m surprised by how diminutive Bent’s Old Fort appears, sitting alone on the horizon of the open plains just above the bend of the Arkansas River. During the time of its operational existence—from 1833 to 1849—the fort was the largest, most significant dwelling to be found between St. Louis and Santa Fe, and one of the pillars of the Western fur industry. It was described by George R. Gibson, a soldier who visited in 1846, as “being castle-like with towers at its angles…the design…answering all purposes of protection, defense, and as a residence.”

This was a commercial venture, not a military installation. Bent’s Today’s replica of the original fort helps interpret stories of westward expansion / Jane Schneider

Old Fort’s raison d’etre was to do business with the Plains Indians and as a trading post, and it quickly became an important way station for all who traveled on the Santa Fe Trail. The Santa Fe Trail (1822-1880) was a vital, 1,200-mile trading route, connecting the Missouri frontier at Franklin, Missouri, to Santa Fe, New Mexico, then a northern province of Mexico that was desperate for trading partners.

The two-story adobe edifice you see today is actually a reconstruction, built on the original location of the fort (a practice the National Park Service no longer endorses so as to better preserve historic sites). The fort’s layout was derived from maps, detailed drawings, diary accounts, and several archaeological digs that took place here in the 1950s and 1960s.

“Piecing information from those sources was like a puzzle,” points out Rick Wallner, the park’s chief of interpretation. “It enabled us to know the use of the rooms.”

Bent’s Old Fort was established as a National Historic Site in 1960 and the reconstruction completed in 1976, when it opened to the public.

A Step Back In Time Walk through the stout wooden gate into the dusty central courtyard and you’ll find yourself transported to the 1840s. Park interpreters greet visitors in period dress as they describe how the fort functioned. On this hot August afternoon, rooms like the dining hall and sleeping quarters, outfitted as they might have appeared in the 1800s, feel decidedly cooler thanks to the fort’s thick adobe walls. Listen closely and you can almost hear the roar of the fire from the blacksmith’s forge or the whinny of horses tied up in the corral.

Since Bent’s Old Fort was situated just north of the Mexican border, it soon became a melting pot of cultures: Mexican traders from Santa Fe, U.S. soldiers from Missouri, fur trappers from the Rocky Mountains, and Native Americans from the surrounding Arapaho, Apache, and Cheyenne tribes. All converged here to replenish supplies. The Cheyenne often created a village just outside its walls during the summer months (William Bent married a Cheyenne woman). Inside the courtyard, the fort’s convivial environment offered guests a chance to rest, barter, and swap information

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Bolts of cloth, heavy blankets, and every day utensils could be found in the fort’s trade room. Guide David Newell brings the past alive for visitors / Jane Schneider

after spending long, lonely weeks on the trail. The Plains Indians even hammered out agreements in a council room the Bents provided, encouraging intertribal councils as a way of fostering a stable trade environment.

“Thomas Jefferson believed the easiest way to assimilate the Indians was to encourage trade,” says guide Dave Newell, a 20-year veteran of the park as he leads our tour through the interior of the fort.

Newell tells us that trading with the Indians was precisely what brothers William and Charles Bent had in mind when they established the fort in 1833.

The pair initially went to the Upper Missouri for fur trading, but after an expedition to Santa Fe in 1829 they quickly saw more opportunity in the Southwest. They became business

partners with an important ex-trapper and Taos trader, Ceran St. Vrain, forming Bent, St. Vrain and Company.

Charles directed business in Santa Fe, St. Vrain tended their stores in Santa Fe and Taos, and William managed the Indian and trapping trade at the fort.

Here, the Plains Indians were eager to exchange buffalo robes for European goods. Company traders even traveled out from the fort to conduct trade with distant Indian villages.

As we peer into the trade room, a frontier haberdashery of sorts, we see shelves filled with bolts of calico fabrics, colorful wool blankets, tins of coffee and tea, metal buckets, rope, Mexican chocolate, axes, and knives.

This is where important bartering took place, where an armload of beaver pelts or buffalo robes translated into much needed wares for survival on the plains. Newell tells us that among the Native Americans’ most prized trade items were metal points, mirrors, and woolen Hudson’s Bay point blankets.

Kelly McCartney and her three school-aged daughters listen closely as our guide describes the scene.

They’ve come to the fort on a day trip from Albuquerque. A Colorado native, McCartney remembers visiting here as a teenager, not long after the park opened in 1976. “They’ve really brought this back to life,” says McCartney.

“When the fort was first opened there wasn’t much in it,” Wallner explains. “The Park Service began to acquire things with research to make it look as much as it might have looked during its heyday.”

While some period furnishings were initially purchased, none were original to the fort and over time were slowly replaced with reproductions that visitors could touch and handle.

During our walking tour, we step into rooms that reflect the range of life at the fort: the billiards room, where guests could drink rum or brandy from the bar while playing cards and telling stories; the blacksmith’s shop, with its huge bellows and vast array of hammers, tongs, and anvils; and the three living quarters, which were available to company employees and selected guests who needed to stay overnight at the fort. Here, trappers repaired buckskins and rested before setting out again to the mountains.

Pay a Visit to the Frontier West Entrance to these parks is free, though donations are welcomed. Special events are also offered during the holiday season.

Fort Union Trading Post National Historic Site (1828-1867) Williston, North Dakota (25 miles) This site commemorates the fur trade era on the upper Missouri River. Built by John Jacob Astor’s American Fur Company, Fort Union was a commercial venture and traded with the Northern Plains tribes. It operated longer than any other trading post on the frontier.

What you’ll find: Full-scale reconstruction of some buildings and 18-foot-high wooden palisade which encloses the fort. Buildings were erected on exact location of original structures.

Don’t miss: Hiking the one-mile Bodmer Overlook Trail for an outstanding view of the confluence of the Missouri and Yellowstone rivers.

Fort Laramie National Historic Site (1834-1890) Fort Laramie, Wyoming What began as a privately held fur-trading post in the 1830s would evolve into one of the best known military outposts on the Northern Plains. Fort Laramie tells the story of the sweeping changes brought by westward expansion, from fur trading and pioneer emigration along the Oregon Trail to Indian uprisings as native lands became encroached upon by settlers.

What you’ll find: Some, but far from all, of the original buildings have been restored. Old Bedlam offers a view of officers’ accommodations, while the Cavalry Barracks displays where soldiers slept and ate.

Don’t miss: Just 15 miles away are Guernsey Trail Ruts State Historic Site and Oregon National Historic Trail, where you’ll find ruts carved by wagon wheels by emigrants on the Oregon Trail.

Records show that, at times, the fort’s population swelled to 150 or 200 souls.

Journey’s End Bent’s Old Fort’s successful run would eventually come to an end, however, with the onset of the Mexican-American War in 1846. The fort hosted troops and became a strategic supply point as the United States readied for its invasion of

The Bourgeois House is the focal point inside the palisades of Fort Union Trading Post National Historic Site / Kurt Repanshek

Bent’s Old Fort National Historic Site (1833-1847) La Juanta, Colorado What you’ll find: A full-scale reconstruction of the adobe trading post on the original fort site, including an interesting array of rooms that demonstrate how people lived and worked here.

Don’t miss: Taking a guided tour, which introduces you to several of the people whose diaries helped give shape to the understanding of this place.

Mexico’s northern provinces. Later, as more settlers and gold-seekers began to arrive after the war, the peaceful relations the Bents had carefully nurtured with the Plains tribes began to erode and trade dwindled. After the death of Charles Bent, St. Vrain tried to sell the fort to the U.S. Army, and William Bent may have tried to burn the fort down in 1849. He eventually moved 40 miles down river and built

Bent’s New Fort in 1853, but it never achieved the prosperity of the original venture.

Bent’s Old Fort and all of these frontier parks offer living history programs that provide a glimpse into the role these early commercial ventures played in the nation’s push westward. It is a fascinating tale. But don’t take my word for it; go see for yourself.

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A Wintry Destination

As Pretty And Inviting As A Painting

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t was just for a day, but the lateSeptember snowstorm that closed Trail Ridge Road and Old Fall River Road in Rocky Mountain National Park sent a clear message: winter can come quickly, hard, and heavy in the park, turning it into a winter wonderland with endless opportunities for exploration and enjoyment.

But just how to enjoy the park in winter is an enduring question. Embark on a snowshoe

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Essential Park Guide | Winter 2016

hike up to Emerald Lake? Kick-and-glide up Trail Ridge Road? Photograph wildlife in Horseshoe Park? Take a hike to Cub Lake?

Or all of the above?

With a landscape and setting that might have inspired a Thomas Kinkade painting, Rocky Mountain National Park and charming Estes Park down below abound with memory-making wintry activities.

Here’s a glance at just some of the winter possibilities.

A winter’s visit to Rocky Mountain National Park could be filled with snowshoe explorations of the park or, for the more adventurous, heart-racing climbs up waterfalls / Joe Pyle (below) and Brooke Burnham (right)

v Take a hike. On snowshoes, of course. This unique form of footwear was how Native Americans and original mountain men negotiated these mountains when the snows piled up. Fortunately, you don’t need to bend any tree saplings into snowshoes, as there are plenty of rentals available in Estes Park.

Great trails to explore by snowshoe include Bear Lake and Glacier Gorge area trails. The Wild Basin area and Hidden Valley offer opportunities, but are busy on weekends and have limited parking at their trailheads. If you’re new to the sport, sign up for a ranger-led snowshoe hike in the park. These hikes are offered three days a week when conditions allow; check with park headquarters for the schedule (970 586-1206) or visit the park’s website, www.nps.gov/romo.

v Skip the snowshoes and kick-andglide your way along Trail Ridge Road or Old Fall River Road. You’re sure to get an aerobic workout when you don cross-country skis, and the ability to cover more mileage quickly gets you out into the serene winter solitude that descends on the national park.

v If snowshoeing and cross-country skiing are a tad too sedate for you, go climb a waterfall. The bitter cold that wraps Rocky Mountain National Park at times during the winter months turns waterfalls into icefalls perfect for kicking your crampons and biting your ice axe into.

v While the Hidden Valley ski area that once operated within the park’s boundaries is no more, that doesn’t mean you should leave your skis at home. Backcountry travelers comfortable in skinning up into the mountains and skiing back down their slopes have endless miles of terrain to explore.

v If you’re going to play in the snow or on the ice, you need to know how to do it safely, so consider signing up for an avalanche or winter survival course. And if you go into the backcountry, consider wearing an avalanche beacon and go with probe and shovel.

v While winter months see fewer Rocky Mountain National Park visitors, the wildlife remains plentiful no matter the temperature or the form of precipitation. And that’s why you should consider a wildlife safari, the one where you go armed with a camera. Just be sure you have a flashcard with lots of gigs of storage

and an extra battery or two, as cold temperatures can zap a battery of its power surprisingly quickly (especially if you continually view your photos to see if you nailed your shot).

v Anglers know no off-season, and that works well with the many streams found in and around the national park. Most streams inside Rocky Mountain freeze during the winter so are not good places to fish. However, the Big Thompson River outside the park, below Lake Estes (Olympus Dam) would be a good river to fish. Ice fishing is allowed in all but waters designated closed by the park. There are some special regulations, so check with park officials before you cast.

v There are times when you might find snow-free trails on the eastern side of Rocky Mountain, and these are great to hike during the winter months. As with other winter sports, be sure to have eye protection from the sun, water to keep you from getting dehydrated (yes, it can happen in winter), layers of clothing so you can adjust as temperatures change or your activity level ebbs and flows, sunscreen, and snacks for energy.

v Spending a day in the park can be both rejuvenating…and exhausting.

So treat yourself before calling it a day. Check into one of Estes Park’s

spas to work out any kinks you might have picked up on the trails. You can find body wraps, deep massage, and hot rock treatments to sooth you and remove any residual aches.

v Of course, what would winter be without a festival? Plan your trip for mid-January and take part in the Estes Park Winter Festival & Winter Trails Day. There will be live music, a chili cookoff, bungee run, obstacle course, snowshoe demos, and adult beverages…for the adults!

v While the winter landscape might seem like the main attraction during your Rocky Mountain vacation, take some time to explore Estes Park.

There are wonderful galleries to inspire your artistic side, restaurants to tempt your palate, three breweries, and even a winery and distillery providing a variety of culinary discoveries.

v While any day of the week is great for exploring the park and town, schedule a mid-week visit to avoid crowds and enjoy the prospect of untracked slopes and trails.

Best of all, at the end of a long day head back to your lodge or cabin, light a fire (or turn one on) in the fireplace, and recount the winter wonders of this Rocky Mountain wonderland. Then starting planning tomorrow’s fun.

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| Around The Parks |

Savoring Winter In Comfort T

wo websites of interest are the National Park Service’s Treasured Landscapes site (which showcases art collections telling America’s stories) and the Open Parks Network (“350,000 cultural heritage objects and 1.5 million pages of gray literature...”).

That’s a lot of information.

Treasured Landscapes Click on the link for the Treasured Landscapes site and enter a virtual museum of artworks that captures the beautiful landscapes from more than 50 of our national parks. Be prepared to spend more than a little time on this site, as it includes: “(S)tunning paintings, watercolors, sketches, and works on paper from National Park Service museum collections…”

The site is divided into three central themes: Treasured Landscapes (by such artists as Thomas Moran and Albert Bierstadt), landscape art displayed in the homes of eminent Americans, and the American experience, which, “document(s) experiences that have molded America’s character.”

One nifty feature lets you place your cursor over a painting, zoom in and out, and move the image right and left. You can spend more than a little time exploring this site, searching for your favorite artists, your favorite park landscapes, or your favorite period of American history.

A painting (Grand Canyon Scene at Eastern End of Canyon) by Thomas Moran. 1920 / NPS

Open Parks Network The Open Parks Network, a collaboration between Clemson University and the National Park Service, was funded by the Institute of

Museum and Library Services.

On this site you’ll find: “100,000 high-resolution digital scans of photographs and 200,000 images in all, including more galleries of building plans, maps, and illustrations.”

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What are you likely to see? How about one link to photographs of Carl Sandburg’s goats, whose North Carolina home is now a national historic site.

There are photo collections from all over, from Yellowstone National Park to Jimmy Carter Memorabilia to Civil War era maps and newspaper illustrations, and Mammoth Cave Glass Plate Negatives.

Plus, you not only can view thousands of images and documents, but download them as well.

Yellowstone Wolves It’s now been 20 years since the wolf recovery program began in Yellowstone National Park, and while there have been lots of highlights, there have also been some setbacks.

Some packs have thrived, while others were decimated by attacks from other wolves and disease.

But during the past two decades these wolves have finally rediscovered their niche in Yellowstone, and researchers have been able to the observe the repopulation of this keystone species on a daily basis.

In a special edition dedicated to the wolf recovery program, called Celebrating 20 Years of Wolves, Yellowstone Science has compiled a number of articles that highlight the lessons learned over the years. You can learn how the predators have impacted the park’s northern elk herd, how packs have claimed territories in the park, and how a thriving tourism industry has grown around the animals.

“The first lesson that I take from the Yellowstone experience is the imperative to continually explain, in language accessible to the public, the ecological case for restoring endangered species and their habitats,” writes former Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt in the magazine. “Aldo Leopold set an unforgettable example with his account of shooting one of the last wolves in the Escudilla Wilderness, only to watch a ‘fierce green fire dying in her eyes,’ an epiphany that has ever since inspired so many of us to action.”

This is a rich and informative 100page collection of articles. It’ll surely be of interest to researchers, of course, but also to anyone who hopes to spy a wolf or two loping wild through the Lamar Valley in Yellowstone.

Whether you’re curious about Carl Sandburg’s goats, or early explorations of Mammoth Cave, you can find materials relating to them on the Open Parks Network.

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Essential Park Guide | Winter 2016

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Take a Break FROM WINTER At Dry Tortugas National Park As you shovel your walks, chip ice from your windshield, and brace against the winter wind, think some warm thoughts, because down south, the Dry Tortugas are calling your name.

Stow the snow shovel for a few days to snorkel clear waters dancing with tropical fish, walk the sandy beaches for some relaxation, and watch our feathered-friends as they pass through.

It’s beyond wonderful.

T

hese seven, small islands (only 70 miles and a three-hour boat ride from Key West, Florida) are home to one of our least-visited national parks, Dry Tortugas National Park, which welcomes fewer than 80,000 visitors per year. And winter is a great time for a trip.

Originally named Las Tortugas by Ponce de Leon in 1513, they are now called the Dry Tortugas due to their total lack of fresh groundwater. The Dry Tortugas are well-named, since from November to April (known as the dry season) there’s only a little more than two inches of rainfall per month, while temperatures range from the mid-60s to the mid-70s.

Unlike the sweltering summer months, humidity is usually only around 50 percent during the mild winter.

While northern storms at times kick up swells and waves, might reduce underwater visibility and drop the temperatures, most of the time it’s just sunny weather, clear blue skies, and cooler temps. Perfect.

There are fewer visitors, but lots of birds seeking safety from passing fronts.

These islands are right on the main flyway between Cuba and Central America,

and while there are only seven nesting species, more than 300 migrating species pass through. You might spot the Brown Noddy, Sooty Tern, Brown Pelicans, Magnificent Frigatebirds, or Black-bellied Plovers. Spring months are the best time to see these migrating species.

While Yankee Freedom III provides snorkeling gear you can use, you might want to bring a wetsuit, as the ocean is a bit cooler during the winter months.

Once suited up, you can explore the underwater world just offshore and revel in the abundant undersea wildlife.

You’ll encounter corals, manatees, turtles (tortugas), and schools of brilliantly colored fish. The coral reefs and nearpristine seagrass beds are still prime habitats for marine life and scuba divers.

Or, kayak and fish, sunbathe and camp, or dive and boat along these islands.

Another bonus? There are fewer insects during the dry season.

Of course, you can’t miss one of the main attractions at the park: historic Fort Jefferson on Garden Key. This three-level, six-sided fort was built in 1846 to control the Straits of Florida and Gulf of Mexico during the Civil War, was armed with more than 400 cannon, and housed more

Above: An easy, comfortable way to reach Dry Tortugas National Park is via Yankee Freedom III, which makes the crossing from Key West to the Dry Tortugas / Yankee Freedom III

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Essential Park Guide | Winter 2016

Dry Tortugas National Park protects both a 19th century fort that was manned during the Civil War as well as a small handful of deserted islands / Yankee Freedom III

than 1,000 soldiers. Its 11-foot-thick brick walls are surrounded by a moat, and there are 109 cisterns that were built to capture rainwater.

You can take a ranger-led tour, or explore this incredible structure on your own. Dr. Samuel Mudd (who set John Wilkes Booth’s broken leg following the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln) served time here, where he eventually earned salvation by containing a yellow fever outbreak in 1867.

While these islands are only accessible by water or air, the 115foot Yankee Freedom III, based in Key West, runs daily trips out to the Dry Tortugas. Make sure you take a sweater for the ride, and for the cooler temps on the islands. In Key West, before or after your visit to Dry Tortugas, learn more about the local color and history at the national park at the Key West Bight Museum. You’ll see a model of Fort Jefferson, and there’s even a special Kids Exploration Station.

February through April is the busiest season in Key West, but don’t let that lead you to neglect “Papa.”

Author Ernest “Papa” Hemingway’s home, haunts, and dives are everywhere, and his own trips to the Dry Tortugas are still legendary.

He and what he called his “Mob” (writers, painters, fishermen, and saloon-keepers) boated, fished, and drank their way to the islands many times. During their last trip they were even stranded by weather for a week. Luckily they’d stashed away enough canned food, coffee, and gin to survive. But at the end, they were fishing for their suppers.

So enjoy the hustle, flavors, and fun of the Keys, but take a trip out to these incredible islands, and spend some time away from civilization and winter. It’s what Papa would have done.

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Winter destinations Katahdin Woods and Waters National Monument: A Pretty Magical Place “Perhaps I most fully realized that this was primeval, untamed, and forever untamable Nature, or whatever else men call it, while coming down this part of the mountain.” — Henry David Thoreau.

Thoreau’s impression of the Maine North Woods, penned during one of his three trips to the region in the 1840s and 1850s, more than likely would have been different had he visited in winter today.

Though the woods still appear primeval in some spots, the hand of man is evident since Thoreau’s days. This winter, the first visitors will explore Katahdin Woods and Waters National Monument by snowshoe, snowmobile, and ski. They’ll find an inviting landscape of thousands of acres of backcountry.

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Essential Park Guide | Winter 2016

Lucas St. Clair, whose family donated 87,500 acres through its Elliotsville Plantation, Inc., nonprofit to the federal government in late August to create the monument, recalls: “Some of the more memorable experiences for me over the years have been going in the winter to really remote sections of the monument on skis. You just see so much stuff that you typically don’t see. Moose at really short range. You can see all the tracks so much more clearly.

“It’s really cool to be skiing along and see all these lynx tracks and drops of blood in the snow where a lynx had eaten a rabbit. You don’t see that stuff in any other season,” he adds.

Elliotsville Plantation, Inc., has cut roughly 20 kilometers of crosscountry ski trails near the northern tip of the monument, and 32 miles of snowmobile trails over the years.

Those trails, with their connections to Baxter State Park and other

snowmobile routes, offer nearly 100 miles of trail to explore.

“There’s several little (ski) loops that go down along the East Branch (of the Penobscot) and go into Messer and Little Messer ponds,” says St. Clair.

“They go down to Haskel Rock and Haskel Pitch and then Grand Pitch.

It’s super cool being by these giant waterfalls in the middle of the winter when they’re all frozen over and there’s big globs of ice hanging on rocks.”

Thanks to two huts that Elliotsville Plantation maintains in the monument, you can also spend the night: Haskel Hut (which sleeps 10), and Big Spring Hut (which sleeps up to a dozen).

Stacks of firewood keep the huts warm with propane stoves for cooking.

Winter visitors can choose from a number of other lodging options:

v Mount Chase Lodge is just 16 miles from the monument, on Shin Pond, operated by the same family for

Far left: With nearly 90,000 acres, the new Katahdin Woods and Waters National Monument in Maine offers miles of winter trails to explore / Elliotsville Plantation, Inc. At left: Before the land was transferred to the National Park Service, Elliotsville Plantation, Inc., staff cut crosscountry, ski, and snowmobile trails into the landscape / Elliotsville Plantation, Inc.

Climbing Ice at Pictured Rocks You don’t have to be crazy to ice climb, but it helps.

Crazy, that is, about getting out in the winter, breathing in some cold, clean air, and just getting away...far away. Because, when you’re setting an ice screw into a frozen waterfall, clipping in a carabiner, balancing on the front points of your crampons as you consider your next move, you’re not thinking about anything else but that. Crazy. It’s all about being in the present. Climbers know that their sport is as much of a concentration game as it is physical prowess, and ice climbing is even more so.

The surface of the ice is slippery, of course, but it can be as hard as stone when the temperatures drop. The challenge is to ascend something temporary, with evidence of your ascent erased quickly: the ice is always changing.

past 40 years. They have private cabins, main lodge rooms, with fare such as pan-seared salmon with blueberry chutney, grilled marinated Portobello mushrooms.

v The New England Outdoor Center cabins can accommodate from six to 14 guests, and are just 8 miles from Millinocket. St. Clair says, “They have snowmobile rentals, ski rentals, and there’s skiing trails right there at the lodge and you can easily access the monument for snowmobiling from the lodge.”

v The Matagamon Wilderness Lodge’s cabins can handle up to a dozen, and it’s right at the entrance of the monument’s cross-country ski trails.

“From a national park perspective, people think of Acadia National Park and the summer on the coast,” says St. Clair. “But the winter inland is really a pretty magical place.”

— Kurt Repanshek

Spray Falls is just one of the ice-climbing options in Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore / Lars Jensen NationalParksTraveler.com

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Climbing frozen waterfalls is also flat-out beautiful. Look into the blue ice, hear water running behind a curtain of ice, and peer down at the fantasy castles of ice.

The UP (that’s the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, by the way) has one of the largest concentrations of shortpitch ice climbs around. The 15 miles of cliffs at Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore are prime climbing, with dozens of ice features.

But don’t just focus on the ice. This is a region of vast forests, quaint villages, and pristine waters; where the eastern deciduous forests and northern boreal woods meet maples and beech, pines and fir trees. At the lakeshore you can hike, snowshoe, snowmobile, crosscountry ski, ice fish and, of course, climb ice. These multicolored sandstone cliffs have been stained by water over time, as it flows towards the lake, and even the ice picks up this color.

Many roads aren’t plowed, so access is by snowmobile, ski, or snowshoe, but approaches are easy and flat. The town of Munising (population 2,500) is the western gateway to the lakeshore with easy access to areas like Sand Point, Miners Castle, and Munising Falls. You should be able to find a climb (mostly top roped) to suit you 24

Essential Park Guide | Winter 2016

(from 70 to 200 feet), with names such as Dryer Hose, Dairyland, and Sweet Mother Moses.

If you’d like to test yourself against the pros, or learn how to climb ice then head to the Michigan Ice Fest from February 14-19 near Munising.

Take instruction from world-renowned alpinist Conrad Anker, find a climbing partner, or just generally have a hot time on the cold ice. For more information visit MichiganIceFest.com.

— Patrick Cone

Mount Rainier, “A Significant Winter Playground” With the sun waning and the wind rising, I left my 7,500-foot perch on Cowlitz Rock with its marvelous view of the east side of Mount Rainier. The first dozen ski turns were great, but my favorite part was the mellow, mileslong schuss back to Mazama Ridge.

I paused in my morning’s tracks and looked at the ski and snowshoe tracks of others. Then, spoiled by the untracked snow above, I headed down the rolling plateau, toward Reflection Lake.

A mile of kick-and-glide took me into an obscure gully that led into somewhat steeper forested terrain.

‘The Ditch’ is a long natural half-pipe full of deep snow, sheltered from the ravages of sun and wind. I skied out to the warm spring on the shore of the lake, where I basked in the sunshine while listening to my buddies ski the shaded Tatoosh powder far above.

Scenic Paradise at Mount Rainier National Park in Washington State was named for its summer wildflower displays that draw visitors from around the globe. But the name is apt for lovers of winter scenery and recreation, too.

The stretch from the park’s Nisqually Entrance to Paradise is the only park road plowed in winter. It dead-ends at a little piece of Alaska, a former world-record single-season snowfall station where slightly more than 90 feet (1,122 inches officially) fell during the winter of 1971-72. While that record has been eclipsed, the snow accumulation records for 24 hours (70 inches), one month (363 inches), 12 months (1,224 inches), and maximum snowpack on the ground (367 inches) still stand. The annual average is more than 600 inches.

Not every day at Mount Rainier is bluebird, and the maritime climate leans towards moisture and clouds, but it’s not unusual for a week of storms to be followed by a week of sunshine. Timing and planning

Left: Evidence of a past avalanche is visible at Cowlitz in Mount Rainier National Park / Gary Vogt

Below: A golden sunset washes across Mount Rainier on a clear winter day, while backcountry skiers wear out their legs descending Castle Bowl / Gary Vogt

The mountain’s landscape undergoes a dramatic transformation in winter. Its colorful subalpine meadows and lush old growth forests are draped with a thick blanket of snow for much of the year. The sometimes dusty appearing glaciers are freshly covered in white and the snow-covered roofs of the rustic historic buildings are rimmed with icicles, creating a picture perfect setting. ~ National Park Service

are key. This Pineapple Express can bring rain as high as 10,000 feet, and extreme weather can prevent the gate at Longmire from re-opening after its nightly closure.

Winter here is long, and snowy.

Twenty inches of snow have fallen overnight in September, and the snowpack is often still growing in the spring when ski resorts in the Rockies are closing. Tenfoot-high walls of snow commonly box the parking lots well into June.

But, all that snow is a magnet for those who revel in the white stuff.

Ranger-guided snowshoe walks are offered twice daily on weekends and holidays when the Paradise Visitor Center is open. There’s also a supervised snow play area where, once 5 feet of snow accumulates, sledding is the sport of the day.

(For safety, no hard-runner sleds or toboggans are allowed.) Those with their own snowshoes and avalanche

training can pick up map handouts that show the more popular routes.

But skiing remains the hallmark winter sport at Mount Rainier. According to the administrative history, the first director of the National Park Service, Steven Mather, “had singled out Mount Rainier as one national park with the potential to become a significant winter playground.”

And that potential has been realized.

—Gary Vogt NationalParksTraveler.com

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WINTER TRAILS Require As Much Water As Summer Trails

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Essential Park Guide | Winter 2016

After many decades traipsing about the National Park System, many of us have dozens of water bottles, old and new. There are hard plastic and aluminum water bottles in multiple colors that spill out of kitchen cupboards, and several soft, plastic bottles stashed in an overhead cabinet.

Some laundry room drawers are stuffed with water bladders, which in turn are stuffed into packs.

Winter is not a time to be short on water. While you might not seem overheated, you still can become dehydrated outdoors in the snow and cold / Vapur

A

nd there’s typically a story behind every one. There are bottles with topographic maps of Yellowstone National Park on them. Some are National Parks Traveler models. There are the bottles with harnesses to hitch onto canoe thwarts, and several for cycling. There are even bladders that fit specifically with backpacks designed for snowshoeing.

These various containers get used— some more than others, but all at various times—by those who always want to have clean water within reach when out on the trail or paddling a lake. It wasn’t always like this. For years many folks unwittingly kept their bodies on the verge of dehydration.

Well-traveled guides will tell you that if your pee isn’t clear, then you’re not drinking enough water and are risking dehydration.

The constant need to top off your body’s fluids runs year-round, too.

Years of snowshoeing, skiing, and even shoveling snow have convinced many that they grow quite a thirst, even when the temperature is headed below zero.

So staying hydrated in winter is just as important as in the hot summer months, whether you’re snowshoeing the backcountry of Glacier National Park or kayaking the Ten Thousand Islands area of Everglades National Park in Florida.

It helps you maintain your energy level, helps keep you warmer, boosts your immune system, and even plays a role in keeping you mentally sharp past mile five on the trail or river.

The folks at Vapur make it particularly easy to stay hydrated while out in the parks. Their 1.5-liter “antibottle” is made of soft plastic, which makes it easy to slip into your pack and, in cold weather, comfortable enough to keep close to your body.

After all, have you ever gone to sleep in your tent and woken up to a water bottle full of ice or, worse, a wet bag?

Plus, the DrinkLink Hydration Tube System screws into that bottle so that you can sip as you hike, snowshoe, or cross-country ski across the parkscape Key, of course, is to sip frequently, not just when you realize you’re thirsty.

Start off with a glass or two of water before you head out, then take a drink every so often. Your body will show its appreciation by functioning better when

Vapur offers an array of “anti bottles” to help you and your friends and family stay hydrated in winter / Vapur

it’s not running low on fluids.

More and more parks are helping visitors to stay hydrated, too, by installing free water stations. Fill your bottles at these stations before you head out and refill them once you return. Always having some water nearby is wise.

If you plan to be gone for most of the day, or for several days, and are skeptical about some of the water sources you intend to use, consider adding Vapur’s Microfilter. This tube inserts into their water bottles and will filter out “99.9999% of waterborne bacteria (including Salmonella, Cholera and E. coli) and 99.9% of protozoa (including Cryptosporidium and Giardia),” according to Vapur.

More than a few backcountry travelers like to enjoy an adult beverage in camp, and Vapur can help you out with that, too. Their Vintage Wine Carrier holds 750 ml of your favorite beverage. Thanks to the flexible plastic, you can stuff this bottle deep down into your pack until you need it. Just remember, though, to follow that adult beverage with enough water to keep yourself hydrated; alcohol can dehydrate you.

For the kids, Vapur has a colorful series of 0.4-liter plastic bottles known as Quenchers that are perfect for youngsters. It’ll get them in the habit of drinking while outdoors.

While the thin, collapsible Vapur bottles store easily, it can be hard to get over the clanging nature of bottles falling out of kitchen cupboards to completely replace your collection with Vapur models. But there’s room, and uses, for both.

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Books Worth Considering Death in Glacier National Park: Stories of Accidents and Foolhardiness in the Crown of the Continent With visitation to the National Park System this centennial year at an all-time high, it’s no surprise I suppose that more and more people get in trouble, and some of those pay the ultimate price. Every year Glacier National Park lures hikers, anglers, employees, and climbers to the park’s high peaks, deep lakes, and raging rivers…and some to their own demise.

This past summer a mountain biker (an experienced U.S. Forest Service ranger) was attacked and killed just outside the park by a grizzly bear, which brings back memories of the two women fatally mauled in Glacier in a single night, many miles apart, during the summer of 1967.

Their stories are retold in Randi Minetour’s chapter: Bear Bait.

This book describes each of the known fatalities (260 of them) in Glacier from 1913 to 2015 by category: from suicides to murders to climbing accidents to bear attacks. Again and again it seems hikers take that one last step on a slick glacier, take a fall above a waterfall for their last ride, or are in the wrong place at the wrong time with an ornery bear. Sadly, employees who came to spend a fun, not deadly, summer in Glacier made many fatal steps.

There is a safety guide to the park in the book, which hopefully might make people think twice before becoming part of Minetour’s next volume.

From Lyons Press, this book is a quick read; easy to pick up and put down, and because of this seems smaller than its 240 pages. Many of the citations are perfunctory, and seem to be taken from media accounts instead of deep archive research, however. For others very little information exists, but at times the descriptions are too brief, succinct, and I think readers want to know more about these unfortunates.

— Patrick Cone

Where Water is Gold This is a wonderful look at life around Bristol Bay, Alaska. While the bay’s waters are known as the foremost source of sockeye salmon, the mountains surrounding the bay are also sources of great mineral wealth, and therein lies a conflict. Carl Johnson’s gorgeous, and human, photography does a fine job of showcasing a way of life that may be threatened by the Pebble Creek mine that long has been proposed to dig into the landscape.

This mine would lie at the headwaters of two of the largest tributaries of Bristol Bay, and is directly between Lake Clark National Park and Preserve and Katmai National Park and Preserve. Fishermen, homesteaders, Native Americans, and fish and wildlife all depend upon this pristine area for life itself.

Individual chapters call for preserving a way of life, and are written by such notables as former U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor, Erin McKittick, and Nick Jans.

With words and images this book showcases the people, animals and landscape like no other book I’ve seen. The imagery is breathtaking: from a young moose running through a stream to a fisherman holding salmon roe, to dogsledders racing towards the finish line and to aerials of untouched mountain redoubts. This is the Alaska I know, and would like to preserve, now and in the future.

This is obviously a labor of love for Johnson, who served as artist-in-residence for Gates of the Arctic National Park and Preserve, Rocky Mountain National Park, and Badlands National Park.

Published by Mountaineers Books, this 176-page book has a crisp layout and beautiful printing on a silky paper that will make you want to hold it in your hands.

There’s a lot at stake at Bristol Bay, and it’s important to know what may be lost.

Where Water is Gold shows what may be lost in the name of progress.

— Patrick Cone

A Field Guide to Antietam Gaze across the fields of Antietam National Battlefield and the bucolic landscape in many locations speaks of tranquility and an agrarian 19th century society. Scratch beneath that surface, however, and stories roll out about the bloodiest single day of not just the Civil War, but of all American military engagements.

Carol Reardon and Tom Vossler, who previously authored A Field Guide to Gettysburg, relate nearly two dozen stories associated with the battle on September 17, 1862, that led to nearly 25,000 casualties.

With the help of full-color maps, the authors show the relative positions of the armies (led by Gen. George B. McClelland on the Union side and Gen. Robert E. Lee on the Confederate) and where their artillery stood. They even inserted star symbols on the maps to show where you should position yourself as you read the supporting narrative to gain a better sense of how the battle played out.

Adding depth to the narrative are words of some of the combatants that were memorialized by history.

“I am an officer of distinction, an officer of rank, for God’s sake come over and send my dying words to my family,” one Union officer cried out after being wounded along the Smoketown Road.

Reardon and Vossler have created a terrific field guide for on-the-ground exploration of Antietam, which was named for a small creek that runs through the town. This heavily footnoted, 300+-page book asks, and answers, six questions, as you visit 21 sites across the battlefield.

As you stand at each location the authors explain what happened, who fought, who commanded, who fell, who lived, and what historians said afterwards.

As you visit the Sunken Road, or Burnside’s Bridge, you’ll get an excellent idea of what mayhem ensued during the battle. The detailed maps and illustrative photos help give context as well.

— Kurt Repanshek

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Friends Of the parks A Winter Of Solitude Can Be Found At Acadia National Park After the busy and exciting summer celebrating the National Park Service’s 100th birthday, a little quiet with elbowroom isn’t a bad thing. You can have just that at Acadia National Park this winter by pitching your tent at the Blackwoods Campground.

During the slow winter months the park staff offers free “primitive” winter camping—you’ll have to pump your own water, and don’t blush at using a portable toilet in the cold—at the campground located on the southeastern tip of the park.

After picking up a free camping permit at park headquarters, you’ll have to work a bit extra for this solitude, as the campground entrance road is “gated and closed, requiring campers to hike in a distance of approximately one mile to the campground.”

If you don’t want to rough it quite that much, wait for a good snowstorm to coat the park and break out your crosscountry skies or snowshoes and take to the carriage roads or unplowed sections of the Park Loop Road. Forty-five miles of carriage roads in the park offer the perfect setting for cross-country skiing and snowshoeing. When there’s enough snow, a volunteer group grooms nearly 32 miles for skiing.

While you’re camping, huddling around your campfire looking for shooting stars, or after your ski or snowshoe, remember that 2016 is the centennial of Acadia National Park, too, and that you can contribute to the ongoing campaign to help the park through its second century.

Earlier this year, Friends of Acadia launched its Second Century Campaign, one that recalls the conservation and philanthropy that launched Acadia National Park in 1916 and which has a $25 million goal. The funds are to help tackle the park’s “most urgent 30

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challenges...and ensure that Acadia will thrive for many years to come.”

Above right: A sudden storm can turn Acadia National Park’s carriage roads into inviting cross-country ski trails / NPS

In addition to Acadia’s carriage roads and trails, the Second Century Campaign is focused on the intertwined goals of Wild Acadia, to protect Acadia’s natural resources; The Acadia Experience, to address challenges of Acadia’s increasing popularity; Tomorrow’s Stewards, to get more young people outdoors and involved in Acadia’s future; and the FOA Endowment, to ensure FOA’s long term sustainability in its support of Acadia and the surrounding communities.

Below right: When snows come to the Blue Ridge Parkway, the landscape transforms into a wonderland for snowshoeing, skiing, or simply admiring / Vicki Dameron

So head out to Acadia this winter to enjoy the snow, solitude, and centennial celebration.

Winter Brings New Views To The Blue Ridge Parkway Fall’s glorious colors are gone, and so are the tailgating cars that they lure to the Blue Ridge Parkway. And that’s just one reason to visit this meandering ribbon of pavement during the winter months.

True, the deciduous trees have dropped their leaves. But that simply means your vistas are much more expansive along the parkway that ties Great Smoky Mountains National Park and Shenandoah National Park together. It also gives the rhododendrons a bit more glory, as they hold their greenery through the winter.

Along with enjoying these sweeping views, the Blue Ridge Parkway offers

ample activities to convince you to hang around in winter. Backcountry skiers, cross-country skiers, and snowshoers all have many destinations to explore if the snow gets deep.

If you come upon a closed section of the Parkway, park and take a hike. Local residents and visitors use these sections like a greenway for treks and cross-country skiing. Foot traffic is allowed even if cars aren’t, and snowfalls provide a totally different way to experience the Parkway.

Of course, the rangers advise you to bring layers of clothing and to tell someone about your route before setting out on a winter hike.

You also can access the carriage trails at Moses H. Cone Memorial Park near Blowing Rock, North Carolina, for crosscountry skiing and horseback riding. While there, consider donating to the Blue Ridge Parkway Foundation’s ongoing campaign to revitalize the manor.

Cold-weather hikers can discover that summer’s waterfalls turn into winter’s icefalls, you still can tour the Biltmore Estate in Asheville, North Carolina, at rates much lower than in summer, and the North Carolina Minerals Museum near Spruce Pine, North Carolina, as well as the Folk Art Center and the Blue Ridge Parkway Visitor Center, both near Asheville, all remain open through the winter.

Consider parking your car for a couple days at Peaks of Otter Lodge & Restaurant near Bedford, Virginia. It’s open daily until early December, and then just

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Friends Of the parks

A campaign is nearing its goal of raising $46 million to purchase one square mile of land within the boundaries of Grand Teton National Park now owned by the state of Wyoming / Ryan Sheets

weekends until spring. The Foundation has been busy at Peaks of Otter, overseeing the paving of the Abbott Lake Loop Trail and the restoration of Polly Woods Ordinary, a historic inn built in the early 1800s for travelers.

After a few days exploring, you’ll quickly come to realize that winter is meant to be embraced on the Blue Ridge Parkway.

Imagine a Development in Grand Teton National Park It took one man—John D. Rockefeller, Jr.—working surreptitiously to acquire much of the acreage that today is at the heart of Grand Teton National Park. Now national park advocates are following in his footsteps, donating millions of dollars to help protect one square mile in the park from possible development.

Whereas Mr. Rockefeller used his Snake River Land Company as a front to buy out private landowners at the foot of the Tetons, the Grand Teton National Park Foundation and the National Park Foundation have publicly mounted the current drive. Together their joint campaign is closing in on the $46 million needed by December 31, 2016, to purchase the 640 acres on Antelope Flats, a purchase that

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would permanently preserve the park’s remaining highest-value wildlife and scenic land.

So important is it to transfer this land to the national park that the Interior Department and the National Park Service have made its acquisition their top land protection priority.

Spend time here and that priority becomes more obvious than simply the gorgeous view of the Tetons.

The acreage lies along a primary migration route for not just pronghorn, but also bison and elk. It also contains nesting and brood-rearing habitat for sage grouse and is frequented by deer, moose, badgers, coyotes, fox, bears, wolves, and dozens of bird species.

To the state of Wyoming, which owns the parcel, the value of this Antelope Flats parcel lies in maximizing a financial return from its sale, as the land currently is held in a trust that by state law must generate revenue for public education.

Purchasing the Antelope Flats land from Wyoming would not only be a tremendous

victory for Grand Teton National Park, but also for the state. The money generated from the sale will help Wyoming meet its fiduciary mandate and trust obligations, generating income for public schools at a time when decreasing energy revenues have hurt the state’s economy.

Grand Teton National Park Foundation and the Washington, D.C.-based National Park Foundation are in the midst of a $23 million private fundraising campaign to help the National Park Service purchase the Antelope Flats parcel. The NPS is securing the other half of the required funds, $23 million, from the federal Land and Water Conservation Fund.

For up-to-date news on fundraising progress or to join this critical effort visit www.gtnpf.org.

Putting The National Park Service’s “Urban Agenda” To Work At Saguaro National Park In pursuit of the National Park Service’s “Urban Agenda,” a program to nurture a more collaborative relationship between Saguaro National Park and Tucson’s diverse urban community, Friends of Saguaro and Saguaro National Park secured

a $25,000 grant this year from the National Park Foundation’s “Active Trails Program” to develop an innovative Lideres del Sendero project—training Latino Millennials to lead hiking clubs in their communities.

Now in its eighth successful year, the NPF Active Trails Program provides an excellent platform through which to raise awareness about, and increase usage of, the variety of land and water trails that are found in national parks for health and well-being activities.

Through generous support from The Coca-Cola Company and The Coca-Cola Foundation, this program is promoting healthy living by literally getting people out and active on national park trails.

The NPF grant enabled Friends of Saguaro and the park to retain two (Spanish-speaking) NextGen Ranger interns to develop and implement the Lideres del Sendero project—recruiting young Latino adults (ages 18-36) from throughout the Tucson community. Over 20 activities were held from January through August—including regular hikes in Saguaro National Park, hikes in the Coronado National Forest, a camping trip to Grand Canyon National Park, and an “NPS Centennial Challenge” course in

Flagstaff. Training sessions included First Aid and CPR classes, as well as a “Leave No Trace” workshop, and participants volunteered for Earth Day projects at the Park before hiking the Bright Angel Trail into the Canyon.

The Lideres del Sendero program is currently recruiting additional participants for the upcoming hiking season at Saguaro—where these young people can lead their own community hiking clubs as part of the NPS Centennial initiative to connect with, and create, the next generation of park visitors, supporters and advocates. Lideres del Sendero is part of a growing nationwide network of young people who support public lands, and want to foster a love for these lands in others.

Latino Millennials volunteering on an Earth Day project at Grand Canyon / Friends of Saguaro NationalParksTraveler.com

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Parting Shot

Cliff ruins illuminated by luminaria, Mesa Verde National Park. NPS photo

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Essential Park Guide | Winter 2016