Essential Park Guide, Winter 2015-16 by Kurt Repanshek

We’ll start our watery centennial celebration June 18-21 with a float through the legendary Gates of Lodore on the Green River through Dinosaur National Monument with Holiday River Expeditions. This trip will feature noted national park historian Dr. Alfred Runte, who will look back on the Park Service’s first century and peer into its next. CLICK HERE for more details on the Gates of Lodore trip June 18-21, 2016

On July 22, we’ll be at Grand Teton National Park for a three-day sea kayak trip on Jackson Lake with O.A.R.S. We’ll camp on Grassy Island, find time to fish for trout or hike up Moran Creek, and wrap up with a half-day float down the Snake River. CLICK HERE for more details on the Grand Teton trip July 22-24, 2016

We’ll conclude the centennial excursions with a return to Cataract Canyon in Canyonlands National Park. This trip, September 26-October 1, with Holiday River Expeditions will feature Kevin Poe, the original ‘Dark Ranger,’ who will help us track the constellations overhead after the sun goes down. CLICK HERE for more details on the Cataract Canyon trip Sept 26-Oct 1, 2016

Inside

Essential Park Guide / Winter 2015-2016

Wintering in the Badlands By Bryan Hansel Seeking solitude? Badlands National Park offers that, and much more, for winter adventurers.

Rocky Mountain Winter Peaks, trails, and forests muffled by snows are just excuses to get out into the cold at Rocky Mountain National Park.

Undaunted By War By Barbara Moritsch Greg Carr’s concern for wildlife, and Mozambicans, has spurred an amazing post-war recovery for Gorongosa National Park.

Glacial Gateway No winter lodging in Glacier National Park is no reason not to explore this wondrous playground, with nearby Kalispell your nightly sanctum.

Your Yosemite Retreat With careful planning, Badger Pass to the Yosemite Valley can be your backyard this winter.

Finding Winter In The Parks So many choices, and so little time, so choose wisely where to enjoy winter in the National Park System. Friends Of The Parks When a park manager needs help, these groups step up.

Snowbird Paradise By Kurt Repanshek Warm temps, snow-white sands, and turquoise waters make Virgin Islands National Park a mid-winter paradise. Gear, Books & Such A centennial parks photo book, a far-reaching PLB, and a twist on jerky are among the items that caught our eyes… and appetites.

On The Cover: A sheet of ice covers the boulders in West Pond Cove during frigid weather and a fiery sunset on the Schoodic Peninsula, Acadia National Park. Photo by Colleen Miniuk-Sperry

Editor: Kurt Repanshek Art Director: Courtney Cooper Special Projects Editor: Patrick Cone Contributing Photographers: Colleen Miniuk-Sperry, Bryan Hansel, Barbara Moritsch Contributors: Bryan Hansel, Barbara Moritsch 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. © 2015 Essential Park Guide, Winter 20152016. 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 editor

“El Niño.” Those two Spanish words summon both joy and concern. Joy because it means more moisture, preferably in the form of snow for California, the Southwest, and the southern Rocky Mountains. They raise concern because it could also mean another unseasonably warm and dry winter for the Pacific Northwest and the northern Rockies.

ow will it play out this winter? Will the High Sierra and the southern Rockies be graced with a thick, bountiful blanket of white, one that will fuel Yosemite National Park’s waterfalls next spring, quell next summer’s fire danger, and at least slow the lowering waters of Lake Mead and Lake Powell? Time will tell. Meanwhile, while we’re waiting for the outcome, the parks still beckon to us. Badlands National Park in South Dakota might seem an unlikely winter destination, but Bryan Hansel made the journey and came away with an amazing story of this park’s personality. You’ll find that beginning on page 5. One park’s management challenges on the other side of the world are revealed in Barbara Moritsch’s wonderful piece on Gorongosa National Park in Mozambique. Gorongosa, thanks to the philanthropic efforts of an American businessman, has rebounded from two wars and is flourishing once again. The story begins on page 14.

Sunset from the Nisqually Vista Trail in Mount Rainier National Park / NPS, Kevin Bacher

And, if you’re eyeing that massive cold front, perhaps you’d rather flee the cold and snow with a mid-winter visit to Virgin Islands National Park in the Caribbean, with its warm waters, colorful marine life, and relaxing setting. We lay out our plan for 3 Days In Virgin Islands National Park beginning on page 36.

Essential Park Guide | Winter 2015-2016

But if that’s too far to travel, we also offer three dozen park destinations around the country for the coming winter months. The National Park System is a four-season operation, and there’s always something wondrous and exciting for you, no matter what the forecast. ~ Kurt Repanshek

Written and Photographed by Bryan Hansel Otherworldly. The spires, buttes, and indescribable angles on badlands formations that rose inexplicably out of the flat plains caught my attention, but it was the weather that felt otherworldly. All night long winds shook my tent as I shivered in a 0° sleeping bag covered by a 30° sleeping bag. Despite the sub-zero temps, by noon the thermometer in my car read 50°. Fifty wasn’t what I was expecting for winter temperatures in Badlands National Park.

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“We’re in the banana belt,” said the park ranger behind the counter in the visitor center. “It can snow one day and be 70° the next.”

ccording to the National Park Service, moist air from the Pacific Ocean travels east to the Rockies, where it rises over the mountains. As it rises, the moisture precipitates as snow. When the now dry air descends the eastern slopes of the Rockies, it warms and travels to the Black Hills and Badlands. It keeps the area warmer than other parts of South Dakota and the Midwest and creates a banana belt. When I had arrived late the evening before it felt nothing like a banana belt. I set up my tent in the group campground, the only open campground during the winter, while wearing two down coats and almost all the clothing I brought. It was my second visit to the park during this winter, and I really wanted to photograph snow on the formations. I wanted the contrast between the white snow, the browns, and amber browns of the formations with a colorful sunrise or sunset above the scene. I hadn’t gotten the shots I wanted on that first visit when it was 50s and 60s all week, and it wasn’t looking like I would get what I wanted on this visit if the temps were to continue rising. By the afternoon, it was snowing again. After photographing bison in the snow, I crashed in my tent. Badlands National Park in South Dakota is about an hour east of the Black Hills and

Essential Park Guide | Winter 2015-2016

Rapid City. Its 244,000 acres protect a mixedgrass prairie and 26- to 75-million-year-old sediment eroded into spires, buttes and rugged cliffs. It also contains one of the richest fossil beds in the world. Almost any hike into the formations yields a fossil. The park instructs you to leave them in place and report your finds. On my first, we found a skull, a leg bone of a 35-million-year-old horse-like mammal, and an almost complete tortoise with leg and neck bones sticking out of its shell. We reported our finds and later heard back about what animals they were from. The park itself is divided into several units. The North Unit is the most popular. It’s popular because it’s close to the Interstate and it has a road, the Badlands Loop Road, running straight through it. The Stronghold Unit located within Pine Ridge Indian Reservation has no roads and Palmer Creek Unit is surrounded by private property. The ease of access to the North Unit makes it the most popular and usually the busiest. Despite the otherworldly weather, there are advantages in visiting the Badlands in the winter. Because winter visitation is so low, you’re likely only to see the rangers and maybe one or two people passing through on the road. In summer, you’d be lucky to have an overlook to yourself. In the winter, you could sit at an overlook all day and not see anyone. With such light traffic on the road,

My tent set up in sub-zero temperatures. Just a dusting of snow covers the ground.

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Essential Park Guide | Winter 2015-2016

the animals come out from hiding. It’s easy to spot bison, bighorn sheep, mule deer, rabbits, prairie dogs, and even an occasional coyote. In summer during the busy months, you probably won’t see anything other than bison. The best reason for visiting in winter is that the sunrises and sunsets line up with the badland formations and the overlooks in the northern unit better than any other time of the year. In the morning, I opened my tent’s door to more otherworldly weather. Thick fog. There would be no sunrise to photograph. After getting up, I drove the Badlands Loop Road west from the campground and stopped in the fog now and then to take

a picture of a formation in the whiteout. It was hard to see anything in the distance, but bison near the road made good subjects. By the time I reached the end of the road, it looked like the fog might lift. I proceeded onto Sage Creek Road, a gravel road that reaches into the wilderness section of the park. At noon, I made it to Hay Butte Overlook just as the fog lifted. In the distance, the badland formations covered with a dusting of snow stood out against the clearing fog and newly revealed blue sky. By late afternoon, the temps reached back into the 60s and the snow was melting quickly. I tried to get a picture of the snow before it melted away completely from the

Left: Sunset over the Badlands in the Conata Basin. While it’s winter, hardly any snow remains from a snowstorm.

Right: The fog starts to lift at the Hay Butte Overlook revealing blue sky and snow-covered badlands formations.

The best reason for visiting in winter is that the sunrises and sunsets line up with the badland formations and the overlooks in the northern unit better than any other time of the year. NationalParksTraveler.com

Above: A bison in the fog and snowstorm makes a great subject for photos. Left: While the warm temps melted away much of the snow, just enough remains to make the formations in the background stand out. The orange in the sky matched the color of the ridges and was exactly what I was looking for.

top of Saddle Pass, a steep historic pass that settlers used to get from the lower sections of the Badlands to the flats above it. But, despite looking dry on the surface, the clay making up the formations was wet underneath. After a fruitless 10 minutes, I understood the literal meaning of one step forward and two steps backwards. I made it made 30 feet up the pass before turning around with shoes that weighed a ton from the caked-on mud. For sunset, I went to Pinnacles Overlook, one of the most scenic overlooks in the park. While balanced on the side of a formation, I watched as the sky turned the same reddish mud color of the formations. The leftover snow set off the patterns of the 26+-millionyear-old sediment and I felt giddy while taking the shot. Everything had lined up perfectly for the shot I had wanted. While I had suffered through two days of 60- to 70-degree temperature swings, it was all worth it when I saw the result. The otherworldly weather paid off.

Essential Park Guide | Winter 2015-2016

Open slopes of Rocky Mountain powder await those who trek to Hidden Valley / Joe Pyle

Essential Park Guide | Winter 2015-2016

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t was just a dusting, but when the first snow of the season fell in the high country of Rocky Mountain National Park in August, it was an alert to begin the transition to a new season. Snowfall in August sounds crazy for most, and that August 19th storm certainly didn’t pile fluff up deep enough for winter frolicking. But it sent the message that fall was fading, winter wasn’t too far away, and a heavy dump of the white stuff wasn’t out of the realm of possibility for the near future. Not only is it time to frequently check the forecast, but you have to remember where you stored last winter’s clothing, dig out the cross-country skis and snowshoes for binding checks and waxing, and sit down with the calendar to align your schedule with the full moon for those invigorating after-dark snowshoe wanderings. In other words, winter is not the season to stay indoors, and right now is not too early to get focused on snow and coldweather adventures. Rocky Mountain National Park is 415 square miles of wonderful winter wilderness. You can backcountry ski steep slopes, kick-and-glide Nordic trails, snowshoe into the high country, and on occasion even find dry ground for hiking if you don’t have the gear for snowy pursuits. Wildlife still call the park home in winter—elk and bighorn can be found, and birding for colorful Pine Grosbeaks, raucous Gray Jays, and the hard-to-spot White-tailed ptarmagins can consume all the daylight hours. For family fun, the Bear Lake area is very popular for an easy, tykefriendly trek around the frozen lake and incredible mountain views. From novice to experienced, snowshoers with more

There’s plenty of places for family snow play in Rocky Mountain National Park / VisitEstesPark

time and ambition can head higher into the mountains via a web of trails that lead out from Bear Lake. Be sure to prepare properly and select routes that match your skill level to help ensure fun, and safe, winter exploration. Another winter destination in the park is the old Hidden Valley ski area found below Many Parks Curve on Trail Ridge Road. The ski lifts are gone, but the hillsides remain and are great for backcountry alpine turns on the 1,200 acres of skiable terrain. The lower slopes are designated for sledding and offer great fun—especially during lower-altitude snow dumps in the spring! Hankering for some serious backcountry runs? Skin yourself up Flattop Mountain and make some turns on the Couloir or The Drift, or check with the local shops and guides for current conditions. Remember, this is real wilderness, so be prepared with both proper training and equipment. Got more adrenalin to burn? Hidden Falls, Jewel Lake, All Mixed Up, Petite Grepon and Grace Falls are all popular ice-climbing destinations. If you’re not sure of your moves on ice, check with the

Hidden Valley waits with its snowfields for adventurous backcountry skiers / Joe Pyle

Colorado Mountain School or Estes Park Mountaineers for a guided trip. For a more mild ski excursion, crosscountry skiers can venture to the Sprague Lake area or head to upper Trail Ridge Road, which is closed to cars during the winter months. The epic views and incredible solitude—especially on weekdays—make for snowy perfection. Regardless of your choice of sport and destination, go prepared. Sign up for survival skills or avalanche classes, read up on backcountry safety and consult the rangers for updated conditions. You can also hire a guide or join in a guided group venture to take away some of the mystery. Come sundown, kick back at one of Estes Park’s new brewpubs—Lumpy Ridge and Rock Cut Brewing—or head to the Stanley Hotel to sample Colorado’s largest collection of whiskies. Either way, you’ll find the perfect warm-up spot to regale the day’s adventures. For lodging and dining options during your stay, be sure to visit www.visitestespark.com.

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How did I miss what may be the largest, most significant ecological restoration project ever to occur in a national park? How did I miss what premier biologist E.O. Wilson claims is, ecologically, the most diverse park in the world? Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;m an ecologist; much of my career has focused on habitat restoration. I read a lot. I pay attention to environmental news. And I fell under the spell of Africa in 1995, when I visited Kenya, and again in 2005, while exploring Tanzania. So, how did I miss Gorongosa?

By Barbara J. Moritsch

Essential Park Guide | Winter 2015-2016

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he advertising world claims a person must be exposed to a product numerous times before a purchase is likely. This concept must apply to other aspects of life as well. In 2009, I met Jane Goodall at a reception hosted by Zoo Boise. During the presentation that followed, Mozambique’s Gorongosa National Park was discussed. In 2014, I spotted a new book by E. O. Wilson at Barnes and Noble: A Window on Eternity: A Biologist’s Walk Through Gorongosa National Park. Finally, this past February, I saw a Zoo Boise newsletter announcing a trip to the park. I knew right away I had to go. Now, after an extraordinary experience, I am missing Gorongosa in an entirely different way. The sun had set by the time we turned off the paved road into the park. Our group of 13 had flown from Johannesburg, South Africa, to the coastal city of Beira, Mozambique, and then driven for several hours. The park’s dirt road seemed endless, and the darkness framing the van’s headlights was absolute. Mesmerized by the rhythm of tires rolling over washboard ruts, I was disoriented by movement on the road ahead. I struggled to process the information: Africa, large animals with dark bodies, stout curled horns. “Cape buffalo,” I announced. The driver stopped the van, and we silently watched the dozen or so animals amble out of sight, leaving a lazy cloud of dust in the headlights’ beam. Had we visited ten years earlier, in 2005, we would not have been greeted by buffalo. In fact, between 1992 and 2005, visitors would have seen little or no wildlife. If we’d come 50 years earlier, though, around 1965, we would have witnessed thriving populations of numerous species. Wildlife surveys from the 1960s and ‘70s revealed up to 500 lions, thousands of buffalo, elephants, wildebeest, zebra, waterbuck, impala, and hippos, as well as large herds of eland, sable and hartebeest. But, a 1994 survey revealed only 100 elephants, 300 reedbuck, 100 waterbuck, and a handful of zebra and small antelope. The huge declines were the result of war. The War of Independence between Portugal and the Mozambique Liberation Front (Frelimo), lasted from 1964 to 1974, but had little impact on the park. Two years

Essential Park Guide | Winter 2015-2016

later, a much more damaging conflict erupted. For 16 years (1977-1992), the Frelimo-led government clashed with the Mozambique National Resistance group, Renamo. Animals were slaughtered for food and ivory, the latter sold to finance the war. Professional hunters also slaughtered wildlife for the next several years. Approximately one million Mozambicans were killed, and most of Gorongosa’s animals were destroyed. In 1992, Mozambique was considered the world’s poorest country. After waving goodbye to the night buffalo, we continued to the park’s main camp, Chitengo, and received a warm welcome from the Girassol Gorongosa Lodge staff. After depositing my bags, I found the restaurant, and was immediately pulled into a round of introductions with several park staffers. At the center of the circle stood Greg Carr, dressed in khaki shorts and a blue T-shirt sporting a Gorongosa National Park emblem.

Previous page: Though still low in numbers, lion populations are slowly coming back in Gorongosa / Barbara J. Moritsch

...once again become a safe haven for wildlife as well as an economic engine for local communities...

He greeted us all with sparkling eyes, a broad smile, and a handshake. An Idaho native, and an extremely astute businessman and philanthropist, Carr is the driving force behind Gorongosa’s restoration. He visited Mozambique and the park in 2004 while searching for a project that would significantly benefit people. Recognizing Gorongosa’s potential to once again become a safe haven for wildlife as well as an economic engine for

Essential Park Guide | Winter 2015-2016

local communities, he began investing in the park. In 2008, he launched the multi-million-dollar Gorongosa Restoration Project, establishing a 20-year agreement with the Mozambican government to restore and protect the million-acre park while benefiting approximately 250,000 people living within the park or its 1.3-million-acre buffer zone. In 2007, on a separate path, but with similar wildlife conservation goals, Steve Burns (Director, Zoo Boise and current Chair of the Board, Association of Zoos and Aquariums) started something new at the Idaho zoo—a fee (25¢ at first, then 50¢) added to the admission price to fund conservation projects. This shifted the nature of a zoo visit: Visitors now help the very animals they are seeing. Conservation fees also were added to zoo memberships and to special activities like feeding giraffes and taking a cruise to see monkeys. To date, fees have generated more than $1.7 million for local and global wildlife conservation. After Burns visited Gorongosa in 2008, the park became a key recipient of Zoo Boise’s conservation dollars. For the last three years, the zoo has provided $200,000 per year to support Gorongosa’s wildlife and community support programs. Thanks in large part to Zoo Boise, our group was immersed in all things Gorongosa for a full week. The first wildlife adventure involved a quest with Greg Carr to see elephants. I’d seen them in Kenya and Tanzania, but this was the first time my friend, Janette, had visited Africa. As we cruised east in the Jeep, with the sun descending behind us and the African fan palm forests closing in around us, Greg explained that Gorongosa’s elephants sometimes charged vehicles. He said if we encountered them close to the road he might have to take evasive action, so we should sit down and hold on. We were to tell him where the elephants were at all times so he could keep us at a safe distance. I thought he was exaggerating, being overly dramatic for our benefit.

The numerous elephants I’d seen in Africa had come close to vehicles, and had never seemed aggressive. Much to Janette’s delight, we saw a few pairs of elephants, at quite a distance. We emerged from the forest onto the edge of the Lake Urema floodplain, where we enjoyed our “sundowner.” Wine was poured, gin and tonics were stirred, and we raised our glasses to toast the spectacular red-orange sunset, the thousands of birds and ungulates visible across the floodplain, and new friends, all from the balcony of an old bombed-out structure known as Hippo House, once an upscale restaurant frequented by park visitors. It was nearly dark when we left Hippo House. Once again, Greg mentioned the elephants. We entered the palm forest, came around a curve, and suddenly the air exploded in a trumpeted bellow. The first warning was followed by a second. A solo male elephant stood no more than 50 feet to our left, trunk in the air, tusks gleaming, big ears waving. Greg drove on, quickly. The elephant stood his ground. We experienced a similar charge later in the week, and our guide explained the situation. Elephants can live 60 to 70 years, so many of these individuals witnessed horrific atrocities perpetrated on their friends and family members during the war. Humans are perceived to be enemies and must be driven off. And these older elephants are likely teaching their offspring to charge vehicles as well. The guides and elephant researchers are trying to work with the traumatized animals, giving them time to understand that people no longer seek to harm them. The next day, we tracked lions with the park’s lead lion researcher. The dry season was well advanced as we navigated through scattered stands of fan palm and stunning yellow-trunked acacias known as fever trees. We traversed broad expanses of grass— crisp, cream-colored, and often taller than the Land Cruisers. Using data transmitted from one lion’s collar, we

Gorongosa National Park continues to recover from wounds inflicted during the wars. Elephants are particularly wary of humans in light of the losses they endured. But restoration efforts are proceeding, Mount Gorongosa has been brought into the park and opened to hiking, and wildlife are more numerous and visible / All photos by Barbara J. Moritsch, except Jeep shot by Janette Gamble

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honed in on the Sungue pride, lounging in the sun in a grassy, rock-studded clearing, blending well with the tawny background. Researchers believe there are currently about 50 lions in the park, compared to 500 before the wars, and five or fewer after the civil war ended. With respect to recovery of other species, reintroductions began in 2006 with 54 buffalo obtained from Kruger National Park. Since that time, a total of 186 buffalo, 180 wildebeest, 35 eland, 15 zebra, 6 elephants, 5 hippos, and 4 cheetahs have been reintroduced. These actions helped Gorongosa’s recovery, but, according to Marc Stalmans, director of Scientific Services, the big story is how few animals have actually been re-introduced, and how much of the recovery has been through rapid growth of the small populations that remained after the war. Fewer than 20

Game drives enable park visitors to get out into several different habitat types in Gorongosa and spot wildlife, such as elephants / Barbara J. Moritsch

500 animals have been re-introduced—all species whose remaining numbers were very small. Future plans call for more zebra, then tsessebe and roan antelope (both were totally extirpated), black and white rhino (but only when substantial progress has been made in combating international rhino poaching syndicates), and possibly spotted hyena and leopard. Recent surveys, according to Stalmans, indicate all large herbivore species, with the exception of zebra, now occur in numbers sufficient for continued recovery and viability. An aerial survey conducted in late October and early November of 2014 documented over 71,000 hoofed animals and 1,582 crocodiles.

Essential Park Guide | Winter 2015-2016

Lion recovery is slower than expected, based on prey availability. Researchers are determining the limiting factors, one of which appears to be poacher’s snares. In addition to wildlife watching, we visited the park’s Community Education Center, an impressive “green” facility completed in 2010, and we toured the new E. O. Wilson Biodiversity Laboratory, a base for long-term research and training opportunities in biodiversity documentation, ecology, and conservation biology. We also took a short hike and boat ride (powered by one man with a long pole) across the Pungue River to Vinho, a community near the park boundary. In Vinho, the Gorongosa Restoration Project constructed a school and medical clinic, and is promoting sustainable agriculture, as well as reducing conflicts between villagers and wildlife.

For additional information on Toward week’s end, we hiked the flanks of Mount Gorongosa to search for the rare endemic green-headed oriole (which we saw!), and to tour a sustainable coffee farm designed to enhance economic development for people living near the mountain, and to help them shift away from slash-and-burn agriculture, which threatens the rain forest that cloaks the mountain slopes. In 2010, Greg Carr helped get Mount Gorongosa added to the park—the ecological health of the mountain is critical to the hydrological functioning of the park. The night before our last day, Steve asked if anyone was interested in a helicopter tour the following day. I was ecstatic; a low-elevation flight over a national park in Africa was a dream come true. The flight was all I had hoped for

and more. The broad landscape unfolded as the sun rose. The river network flowed into floodplains, which flowed into grasslands and forests, all teeming with wildlife. The waterways hosted dozens of huge crocodiles (one of the few species little affected by the war), and a huge clump of slumbering hippos. Elephants trotted through the palms, hundreds of waterbucks and other antelope grazed or wandered in search of food, and groups of storks, cranes, pelicans, and other assorted waterbirds flew in all directions. Simply put, life does not get any better. I dreamed of Gorongosa every night for two weeks after returning home. As Steve said, the place gets under your skin. I am missing Gorongosa once again—this time I know what I am missing, and I will return. The land, the wildlife, and the people

Gorongosa National Park, please visit: www.gorongosa.org

are all very compelling, but I think what makes Gorongosa different from other places I’ve visited in Africa relates to Greg Carr’s stated dream: “That we can achieve human development and biodiversity protection at the same time.” It’s a great dream unfolding, and the work in progress is a model applicable to national parks and wildlands worldwide.

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YOSEMITE in Winter Summers in Yosemite National Park traditionally are crazy, busy and frenetic as throngs of visitors are in a hurry to recreate. But winter here is like being in another world. A crystal-white blanket covers the iconic valley’s floor, waterfalls are rimmed with ice, and the high granite domes have toupees of snow while the backcountry has a thick layer of snow.

unset light filters into the valley, reflecting off placid, icy ponds. The crowds are gone, snow muffles sound, and you’ll seemingly have this crown jewel park to yourself. Whether you want to ski, skate, hike, snowshoe, or sip cocoa as you watch the big, fat flakes fall, this wonderland is a special place. In recent winters snowfall has been sparse, but hopes are high for the coming months as the building El Niño weather pattern seems poised to dump moisture on California and make up for lost time. This may very well be the year when Yosemite winter can become your paradise of solitude. The Tioga Road from the eastern entrance on Tioga Pass to Crane Flat on the western side of the park typically closes in November, but Wawona and the Yosemite Valley are accessible all year long. Snowstorms might lay down a foot of snow in a few hours, but clear, crisp days usually follow the storms. But come prepared, with snow tires and winter driving skills. You can enjoy this wintry setting as if it were your own backyard from a vacation rental home or condo in Yosemite West. Yosemite’s Scenic Wonders Vacation Rentals, which has made TripAdvisor’s Hall of Fame for being No. 1 five years running for specialty lodging in the park, manages more than 75 properties in this small community laid out in a forest surrounded by the national park. This quiet village is just 20 miles to the Yosemite Valley if you want to view the LeConte Memorial Lodge draped in snow or see if the “frazil ice” is on the move. The Merced River is languid and dark as it winds through the snow-covered meadows of pines and oaks. Take a morning stroll along the boardwalk at Cook’s Meadow west of the village for a view of Cathedral Rocks. Or better yet, cross-country ski or snowshoe through this setting. Wildlife viewing isn’t quite as easy as in the summer: bears here don’t hibernate, but spend the winter in their dens in a torpor. In Yosemite West you’re also 20 miles from Badger Pass with its alpine ski area and miles of cross-country ski trails. You can choose from 90 miles of marked ski trails, and nine miles of groomed skating track that lead to Glacier Point with its inspiring views of Half Dome and the Yosemite Valley. Kick and glide and feel the clean, cold air in your lungs as you watch the scenery; the firs bending underneath a load of fresh powder. The silence is deafening. Or, take a shorter snowshoe trip to Dewey Point, with guides from The Yosemite Conservancy, or around the Ghost Forest Loop. There are also two overnight huts accessible from Badger Pass for the more adventurous, and if you’re visiting in February don’t miss the Nordic Holiday celebration. Maybe you can time your winter’s visit for a full moon and ski, or snowshoe, along the Glacier Point Road with the moon lighting your way. If downhill is your preference, Badger Pass offers five lifts, 800 vertical feet, and 10 runs; it averages around 300 inches of snow per year. There’s a tubing area, terrain park, and terrific access into the backcountry. At day’s end, return to your rental unit, light a fire, relax in the quiet with family and friends, and let your muscles unwind. No rush to clear the table for other guests, no struggle to be heard over the din from dozens of other conversations. Finally, don’t forget your camera when you head to Yosemite: the low winter light, clouds, snowfields, and reflections are gorgeous. For a special treat, spend your Christmas here away from the bustling city. Santa knows the way to Yosemite.

Essential Park Guide | Winter 2015-2016

This may very well be the year when Yosemite winter can become your paradise of solitude.

From the snow-covered Yosemite Valley, with its quiet roads for snowshoe walks or cross-country jaunts, to Glacier Point with its memorable views of Half Dome, Yosemite National Park doesnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t disappoint winter visitors / Yosemiteâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Scenic Wonders (top) and NPS

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Let’s count the ways...

Head to Death Valley National Park in Nevada and California for one of the more mild winter experiences in the park system. While the park might get snow atop Telescope Peak, which reaches 11,049 feet, down in the sand dunes the daily highs for DecemberFebruary are typically in the 60s and 70s, perfect for exploring the park.

Schedule a trip to Everglades National Park in Florida. Winters are milder, and less buggy, than the mid-summer months, and wildlife usually easier to spot. If there’s a downside, it’s all the other folks who agree with this strategy. You could leave the crowds behind by paddling off into Florida Bay by sea kayak or canoe. Spend the nights on platforms known as chickees that are elevated above the water.

Another warm-weather winter destination is Virgin Islands National Park on the island of St. John, where the breezes are mild, the currents warm, and the beaches white as snow…without the cold.

Hurricane Ridge Visitors Center / NPS, Dave Turner

9 Snowy hoodoos in Bryce Canyon National Park / NPS

2 Chickee camping in Everglades National Park / NPS

You can stay within the snowbelt, yet avoid the snow (for a while) by going underground at Mammoth Cave National Park, where the subterranean temperature usually stays around 54 degrees year-round. Sign up for the Domes and Dripstones Tour and you’ll see Frozen Niagara.

Keep an eye on the weather and hope for an Arctic Express cold front that will turn the shoreline caves at Apostle Islands National Lakeshore in Wisconsin into “Ice Caves” and take a trip to explore them.

Walk among the trees—the really, really, big trees—at Sequoia National Park’s Giant Forest in the snow. Cross-country skis and snowshoes are optional, depending on the snow depth. If you like to ski, test yourself on the Trail of the Sequoias, an advanced intermediate route, or the Pear Lake Trail, recommended for advanced skiers. This 12-mile round-trip takes you to the 9,500-foot summit of “the Hump.”

Trek to Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming and marvel at the steam billowing from Old Faithful when the mercury dips to 20 degrees Fahrenheit below zero or more. Then head inside the Snow Lodge for a nice hot drink. Stop at the visitor center to pick up maps of cross-country and snowshoe trails. A great morning or afternoon trek leads from Old Faithful down to Lone Star Geyser. Just be sure to check with the rangers for the predicted time of eruption so you arrive before, not after, it goes off.

Cross your fingers that New England gets dumped on again as it did last winter and head to Acadia National Park along Maine’s coastline to explore the landscape on snowshoes or cross-country skis. With the exception of the park’s carriage roads, the use of dog sleds, dog carts, and skijoring with dogs is permitted on all closed motor roads and fire roads.

Set your sights on a February visit to Bryce Canyon National Park in Utah to attend the annual winter festival there. Or visit during any winter month to enjoy the incredible contrast of white snow against 28

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red-rock hoodoos. Time your visit to the full moon and join a rangerguided nighttime snowshoe hike from November through March when snow depth exceeds 12 inches. Snowshoes and poles are provided but you must provide your own snow-boot or waterproof hiking boots.

Do you like waiting around a hole in the ice for the fish to bite? Voyageurs National Park in Minnesota is popular with ice anglers. Or, the Rainy Lake Visitor Center is open year-round and offers crosscountry ski rentals and a snowshoe loan program during the winter.

10 Ice fishing in Voyageurs National Park / NPS

Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore in Michigan is another great spot for cross-country skiing when the snow gods are willing. Guided snowshoe hikes with a ranger are offered on Saturdays and during the winter holidays. Bring your own snowshoes or try out those available for use on the hikes.

Head to southern Arizona and Saguaro National Park, where the lower elevations of the park typically are snow-free and warm with daily highs in the mid-60s, a hiker’s delight. Or, test your winter camping skills by heading up into the Rincon Mountains, which top out around 8,500 feet. Just be sure to pack plenty of warm clothing, for it does occasionally snow at this level of the park.

Glacier National Park in Montana might not be entirely accessible in winter, as the Goingto-the-Sun Road closes to wheeled traffic, but there is still much to do. Try a 16-mile round-trip crosscountry ski from Lake McDonald Lodge to Avalanche Lake, or strap on a pair of snowshoes and explore any of the forests accessible via the roads. Check for when rangers lead snowshoe hikes.

Check with the staff at Cuyahoga Valley National Park in Ohio to find out when the Polar Express™ runs. Typically a park partner runs the train in November and December. Children are encouraged to ride in their pajamas and enjoy a reading of The Polar Express™ during a journey to the North Pole. Cookies and hot chocolate are served. The park also averages five feet of snow, and when it falls and piles up, snowshoeing and cross-country skiing are popular here. The Winter Sports Center at Kendall Lake Shelter is the starting point for both activities.

Explore the western side of Rocky Mountain National Park, where the heaviest winter snows fall before storms cross the Continental Divide, by snowshoe or cross-country ski. On the eastern side, head to Bear Lake if you like tubing, or check with the rangers for snow-free trails for great hiking.

Snowshoe novices, and experts, are welcome at Grand Teton National Park in Wyoming, where rangers typically lead snowshoe tours every Saturday in winter. The Teton Park Road is closed to wheeled traffic and open to crosscountry skiers and snowshoers. The road gets intermittently groomed for cross-country and skate skiing from the Taggart Lake parking area to Signal Mountain.

Plan to be in Alaska in February 26-28 to help celebrate Denali National Park’s 16th annual Winterfest, a park-community celebration that has guided snowshoe walks, winter camping demos, films, and more.

At Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore in Indiana, the best option for cross-country skiing is the Glenwood Dunes Trail. This 6.4-mile trail is a series of interconnecting loops that meander through gently rolling wooded dunes.

Winter wasn’t kind to Mount Rainier National Park in Washington last year, so hope that it bounces back to normal and allows the snow play area at Paradise to open for snow sports. This area generally opens in late December and stays open through mid-March, depending on snow. Sledding and sliding are permitted only in the designated snow play area at Paradise. The park offers rangerguided snowshoe walks there.

Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore in Michigan generally sees 140 inches of snow every winter, which makes the park popular for cross-country skiing, snowmobiling, ice climbing, winter camping, ice fishing, and snowshoeing.

Denali National Park’s 2015 Winterfest activities included mushing / NPS, Jay Elhard

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Mix volcanics with crosscountry skiing at Craters of the Moon National Monument and Preserve in southern Idaho. Here the dark ‘lavascape’ is set off by dustings of snow. When enough snow accumulates, the park’s Loop Drive is open to cross-country skiers and snowshoers. The groomed track

is 4-7 miles in length with mostly level terrain or gentle hills. You also can follow the orange snow poles to explore a 1.5-mile Snowshoe Loop Trail or venture off of the winter trails and climb a cinder cone. Snowshoe walks typically are scheduled in January and February.

Spruce Tree House in Mesa Verde National Park / NPS

With the strong El Niño that formed in the Pacific promising a snowy winter for the Colorado Rockies, consider a visit to Mesa Verde National Park. Here you’ll find opportunities for cross-country skiing and snowshoeing. Once there’s enough snow, crews groom the trails for both activities.

Olympic National Park in Washington has opportunities for alpine skiing, cross-country skiing, and snowshoeing on Hurricane Ridge. Before you go, though, check both the park’s website and hurricaneridge.com to see if the ridge is open for winter activities.

Test your winter backpacking skills at Great Smoky Mountains National Park in North Carolina/ Tennessee, where the mountains can collect deep snows, deep enough for skiing and snowshoeing. Just be sure you have the right gear…and leave word with family and friends where you plan to go in the park.

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Lassen Volcanic National Park ski patrolers / NPS

Keep your eyes on the volcano as you snowshoe, or ski, around Lassen Peak at Lassen Volcanic National Park in California. Backcountry skiers have boundless slopes to weave their skis through. Winter camping also is a growing activity in the park.

Hawai’i Volcanoes National Park is always a tempting option, winter or summer. If the winter weather cooperates, you could follow a day on the beach with one frolicking in the snow on Mauna Loa! If snow is not in the forecast, pick up a backcountry permit and hike to the summit cabin at 13,250 feet and spend the night.

Summer can be a miserable time to backpack Big Bend National Park in Texas due to the hot weather. Winter, though, is another story. Those looking to test their abilities should consider the Outer Mountain Loop, a 30-mile circuit that links the Pinnacles, Juniper Canyon, Dodson, Blue Creek, and Laguna Meadows trails as it wends through woodlands and desert.

Like Big Bend, Joshua Tree National Park in California can be deathly hot in summer, which is why it’s such a great winter destination. Climbers view the park with the twisted trees as a Mecca for its many bouldering routes. Within the park rise more than 8,000 climbing routes and bouldering problems.

Cold, snowy winters might not allow you to glimpse the blue waters of Crater Lake National Park in Oregon, but they will provide endless miles of snowshoeing and cross-country skiing possibilities, as well as challenges for winter camping. You can drive to Rim Village and start your trek from there. Be careful, though, as avalanches have slid here and snow cornices have broken off and plunged some to their deaths. Above: Climbers rappeling in Joshua Tree National Park / NPS 29

Left: Crater Lake National Park’s Steel Information Center / NPS NationalParksTraveler.com

Shenandoah National Park doesn’t get the love it deserves in winter…which can be a plus if you like solitude. Low snow years are perfect for backpacking the Appalachian Trail through the park. Deep snow years are great for snowshoeing some of the shorter trails. A demanding snowshoe trek, depending on snow depth and your fitness, is the 6.5-mile loop that takes you down to Dark Hollow Falls and around Big Meadows. Of course, you could always reduce that mileage by either hiking around the meadows or doing an out-and-back to the falls.

Like other parks, the Grand Canyon doesn’t close, and winter can be a great time to peer into that gash in the Earth. Hard-core winter lovers will want to crosscountry ski out onto the North Rim, a real heart-pounder, while those not quite up for that can explore the South Rim in relative solitude (compared to, for instance, July or August). The South Rim does get snow, so come prepared with traction devices for your feet.

Theodore Roosevelt National Park in North Dakota is another destination for solitude lovers. It can be cold, extremely cold, but not as snowy as you might think. On average the parks receives just under 3 feet of snow a year, and gusting winds constantly rearranges that. Still, there are snowshoeing hikes with rangers, cross-country skiing on the Little Missouri River when it ices over deep and hard, and even backcountry camping.

Head to Washington, D.C., to see not only Thomas Moran’s original 8-foot by 14-foot Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone painting on the 2nd floor of the Smithsonian American Art Museum…but then ask if they’d let you see the rest of the Moran collection they have.

Thomas Moran’s Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone is on display in the Smithsonian’s American Art Museum. 33

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Great Smoky Mountains National Park / NPS 24

Spend a weekend, or a week, touring the Natchez Trace Parkway, which stretches from Tennessee to the Mississippi.

Chaco Culture National Historical Park in New Mexico is a testament to the Puebloan culture and their architecture, where the Chacoan peoples lived for more than 300 years. Through the Chaco Night Sky Program there are many opportunities to join experts in learning about archaeostronomy and viewing the stars through telescopes.

This winter visit on December 21 to mark the winter solstice at the Chacoan Great House. (Contact the park visitor center at 505-786-7014 to reserve your spot. Reservations can be made beginning December 1, 2015. Groups for the sunrise equinox and solstice programs are limited to 100 people.)

Turn the calendar back a century or so with an overnight stay at one of the lockhouses within the Chesapeake & Ohio Canal National Historical Park. The “Canal Quarters” program operated by the C&O Canal Trust makes six historic lockhouses available for overnight stays. Accommodations range from truly rustic—no heat, electricity, or running water—to full amenities, such as a modern stove, refrigerator and stove, as well as bathroom with shower. Rates run $100-$150 per night.

Above: Horsehead Nebula seen from Chaco Culture National Historical Park / NPS Right: One of six “Canal Quarters” Lockhouses for rent in Chesapeake & Ohio Canal National Historical Park / C&O Canal Trust

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Stronger Parks Through Stronger Friends Groups

At National Parks Traveler, our mission is to support the parks, help you get the most enjoyment from them, keep you abreast of issues confronting the parks, and provide calls to action when necessary. Key to your national park experience often is the friends group or cooperating association behind the park. These non-profit organizations work to support the National Park Service as it manages the parks, both in terms of raising dollars for needed projects and by creating educational and interpretive materials for you. Through our new Friends of the Parks program, we are working to strengthen the national parks community by keeping you informed on friends groups and cooperating associations and how your support of them benefits the parks.

Grand Teton National Park Foundation

Jenny Lake Trail work is a focus for the Grand Teton National Park Foundation / Kurt Repanshek

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To celebrate the National Park Service Centennial, Grand Teton National Park Foundation is focusing its fundraising efforts on improving one of the parkâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s most-visited destinations: Jenny Lake. Through the ongoing Inspiring Journeys campaign, the park and the Foundation are working together to transform the visitor areas and trails around this iconic destination and, ultimately, improve the experience for the more than 1 million people who visit the area each year.

This past summer, Grand Teton crews completely restored the Inspiration Point Trail—building new bridges, walls, steps, and drainage structures. Trail crews built more than 1,300 square feet of stone masonry dry-stacked walls, 224 steps, 628 lineal feet of single tier wall, and 1,100 cubic feet of stone causeway. The trail will open to visitors in late June 2016 before the busy summer season that will mark the centennial of the National Park Service. Backcountry trail construction will continue in the Jenny Lake area throughout 2017 along with renovations and improvements to front-country visitor facilities The campaign for Jenny Lake is a $17 million public-private partnership between Grand Teton National Park and Grand Teton National Park Foundation. We need your help to reach our goal and complete our gift to Grand Teton for the National Park Service Centennial celebration on August 25, 2016. Gifts up to $500 will be matched dollar for dollar through our $50,000 challenge grant. With your help, $50,000 will become $100,000 in on-the-ground project funding. Learn about and support this critical centennial project today at www.gtnpf.org, or contact Grand Teton National Park Foundation at 307-732-0629.

Friends of Saguaro National Park

This year has been a groundbreaking one for Saguaro National Park. Besides being an integral part of the NPS “Urban Agenda,” Saguaro is celebrating the National Park Service Centennial with a dynamic career development program for local youth. Friends of Saguaro joined with the Park Service to establish the Next Generation Ranger Corps program, and raised funding to support 17 “Next Gen Ranger” positions. Engaging youth in national parks is vital to cultivating tomorrow’s park advocates and stewards. Among the programs Friends of Saguaro uses are curriculumfocused park field trips that engage youth

Visitors celebrate Take Pride in Acadia Day in Acadia National Park / Friends of Acadia

of all ages in activities that allow them to explore and discover the significance of the park’s resources. Along the way, they’re introduced to the National Park System and its conservation mission. We also utilize park ranger visits to classrooms to augment in-class teaching with a variety of age-specific programs; youth hiking clubs that involve students in regular after-school activities, and monthly hikes at the park—empowering youth with outdoor recreation experiences that build skills and confidence, and; schoolyard BioBlitzes that enable middle school students to utilize GIS database platforms and apply skills and knowledge gained in the classroom to explore differences in biodiversity between their own schoolyard and the park. For older students, our Cactus Rangers and Park Stewards programs engage them in “experiential learning” activities— undertaking a variety of projects at the park to help restore habitat, survey saguaros, or monitor wildlife. Thanks to the generosity of our donors, Friends of Saguaro enables the park to extend these multi-faceted environmental education programs to nearly 10,000 youth each year.

Friends of Acadia A school group takes a tour of Saguaro National Park / Friends of Saguaro

The National Park Service isn’t the only entity marking its 100th anniversary next year. With Acadia National Park’s own 2016 centennial fast approaching, Friends of Acadia is busy coordinating a yearlong grassroots celebration involving

more than 200 community partners, each honoring their own special relationship with the park. From area chambers of commerce, school organizations, museums, and local businesses, we’re all working together to both celebrate the park’s first 100 years and ensure its integrity through the next century. It’s no easy task, and getting every visitor to Acadia to appreciate not only the park’s beauty but its needs is critical. Through the many centennial events and commemorative products, we hope every visitor to Acadia will take part and deepen their own relationship with Acadia—to be a more committed and inspired part of Acadia’s protection for the future. Along with getting ready for both the park’s and the Park Service’s centennials, at Friends of Acadia we constantly are building on essential programs to preserve and protect Acadia continue. Our final event of 2015 is Take Pride in Acadia Day, to be held November 7. From there, we will begin gearing up our volunteers for winter grooming of Acadia’s historic carriage roads for cross-country skiing, planning for next spring’s hiring of interns and volunteer leaders to provide a margin of excellence for the park, and seeking support from members and all who love Acadia for the Friends of Acadia Annual Fund. Through that fund, Friends of Acadia is able to remain a strong and nimble partner, ready to meet the park’s most pressing needs.

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By Kurt Repanshek

3 Days At Virgin Islands National Park

he Jeep maneuvered nimbly, but my nerves were definitely rattled. St. John’s rolling and pitching landscape features narrow, weary roads with blind curves and overhanging vegetation. Those challenges were compounded by driving on the “wrong side” of the road. It made me wonder just how much insurance coverage I had. My wife was even more frazzled, as the passenger. She was more exposed to oncoming traffic as I hugged the centerline. Not surprisingly, her review of my driving skills was more pointed than usual. We survived, and after a week of exploring Virgin Islands National Park on the island made us want to extend our stay, which, sadly, was impossible. Encompassing most of St. John—the smallest of the U.S. Virgin Islands at just about 19.5 square miles—Virgin Islands National Park is a Caribbean jewel. Warm, turquoise waters lapped the sugar-sand beaches, with rainbow-hued fish and trunk-sized sea turtles beneath. Hiking trails weave through thick, tropical forests heading to cool springs, watched over by petroglyphic faces and curious images carved into rock faces, perhaps a millennium ago. Beaches and bays rim the island and the national park is sun-soaked, palm-shaded, secluded, with wonderful snorkeling. Can you spend three days and leave satisfied? Probably not entirely. But if you’re pressed for time during your trip to the U.S. Virgin Islands, here’s one way to make the most of those 72 hours. 36

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Little Cinnamon Bay is just one of the many watery jewels that draw snorkelers / Anne Finney

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Day 1 You can’t fly to St. John; you’ll need to take a ferry from St. Thomas or perhaps charter your own bark. For the ferry, rise early and head down to Red Hook on the southeastern tip of St. Thomas. From there you can catch a ferry as early as 5:30 a.m. for the 20-minute crossing to Cruz Bay and Virgin Islands National Park. Charlotte Amalie, on the western side of St. Thomas, also has a ferry station, but its first outgoing ship isn’t until 10 a.m. and the ride to Cruz Bay is twice as long. As you planned your trip you naturally lined up a rental car at Cruz Bay. So, once there, head to the car rentals on King or Prince streets, both a very, very short walk away (we’re talking a few minutes). Sign the paperwork, get a quick primer on driving about the island, reinforce “right” and “left” in your mind, summon your courage, and head off for your lodging. There are a lot of lodging options on St. John, from “villas,” or vacation homes you can rent, to beachside resorts and tent cabins. If you rented a villa, do your grocery shopping before leaving

Cruz Bay (unless you arranged to have groceries delivered), and then proceed to your base of operations. How you spend the rest of the day depends on when you reached Cruz Bay. Opt to relax in a hammock or deckchair with your favorite drink, admiring the view and enjoying the warm breezes. Or, if you’re in the Cruz Bay area, head down to Hawksnest Bay for a refreshing dip and relax on the beach. There are grills there, too, so bring dinner to barbecue.

Day 2 Get up, and get out early. This is your busiest day. After a good breakfast, pack a picnic lunch, grab your beach chairs and Rattan mats, and head to the far side of the island and Salt Pond Bay. It will take you longer than you might expect to reach this idyllic cove, as there’s no straight-line approach. From Cruz Bay you will need to drive east on Centerline Road across St. John to Coral Bay, where you pick up Route 107 to head back southwest to the bay.

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Stories of the dark days of slavery are held in the walls of the buildings at the Annaberg sugar cane plantation / NPS

Start early so you’ll be one of the first to arrive; that’ll give you your choice of spots along the curving beach. Debate continues as to whether this bay offers the best snorkeling in the national park; detractors point to the long drive needed to get there, as well as the hike down from the parking lot. During our visit we swam with sea turtles and nurse sharks, parrotfish and even barracuda. Out near the mouth of the bay there’s a rock outcrop lush with sea fans, corals, darting sergeant majors and blue tangs. Just be careful of the sea currents; they can be hard to swim against and could sweep you up the coast. But, if you like solitude, you’ll find it here. A couple of nice hikes—the Drunk Bay Trail and the Rams Head Trail—provide a nice diversion to all the submersion, and offer sprawling views of the Caribbean Sea.

Right: Though rugged and rocky, the view of the beach and off to other Caribbean islands make the hike to Drunk Bay worthwhile / NPS, Jayne Schaeffer Below: Few visitors manage the trek to Lameshur Bay, but it’s definitely worth the effort / Ken Wild

If you’ve traveled in a four-wheel-drive rig with decent ground clearance, then consider visiting Great and Little Lameshur bays, just up the coast from Salt Pond. The snorkeling here is decent, and the scenery—like most anywhere in Virgin Islands National Park—is gorgeous. After you’ve had your fill of snorkeling, beachcombing, and napping on the warm sand, retrace your route to Cruz Bay for a night out, or in your abode. We enjoyed one evening on the deck with a view of cruise ship lights on the horizon while we dined on a home-cooked meal of fresh sea scallops..

Day 3 Your trek to Salt Pond and back the day before likely wore you out— especially if you hiked to not only Drunk Bay and Rams Head but also down the Reef Bay Trail that leads you past a cool spring with the petroglyphs—so rein things in a bit on your last day. Within easy reach from Cruz Bay are Trunk Bay and Cinnamon Bay, two of the more popular destinations in the national park. Trunk Bay has received praise as one of the world’s most beautiful beaches, and it features a 225-yard-long underwater “trail” for snorkelers. You’ll get a primer on corals such as staghorn and elkhorn, and marinelife like yellowtail snappers, parrotfish, and even spotted morays. Cinnamon Bay has the most visitor accommodations—a campground, snack bar, showers—and so it can get crowded. Push on a bit further to Maho Bay, or Leinster Bay, and you’ll leave behind the crowds and find some great snorkeling. Want to peer into some of the Caribbean’s dark 16th and 17th century slave history? Then head to Leinster Bay and visit the ruins of the Annaberg School as well as those of the Annaberg Sugar Mill. The self-guided tour at the sugar mill site will take you to the ruins of a windmill where sugarcane was processed. Along the route you’ll also see a dungeon where punishment was meted out as a means of keeping the slaves under control. NationalParksTraveler.com

Whether itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s your first stop of the day, last stop of the day, or only stop of the day, Maho Bay is a great destination at Virgin Islands National Park / NPS, Christy McManus

One of the more interesting collections of ruins in the park, though, lies at the bottom of the Reef Bay Trail: the Reef Bay Sugar Mill. Here stand a number of buildings in surprisingly good condition for their age. While the history of sugar plantations at this location dates to the early 1700s, the buildings now standing are from the mid-1800s. You can either make this hike on your own, or check with the park staff for the next ranger-led trek to the mill site.

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Though Virgin Islands National Park covers little more than 7,000 acres, as this threeday tour shows thereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s much, much more to explore. We spent our week stay snorkeling a different bay each day. And since it can take a full day of travel to reach St. John from the U.S. mainland, you really should set aside more than 72 hours to explore and enjoy this paradise.

Books & Gear Worth Considering DeLorme’s inReach Explorer Heading into the backcountry of a national park is not without risk, and so more and more travelers are opting to take some form of personal locator beacon (PLB) with them. They’re well aware that cellphone coverage can be iffy at best, if not totally non-existent. Not only do these devices provide a measure of reassurance (you can summon help at the push of a button) but they update your family and friends as to your location, anywhere in the world. One of the best PLBs we’ve tried is DeLorme’s inReach Explorer. (MSRP: $379.95) We were able to field test it this fall during a six-day float trip down the Green and Colorado rivers through Canyonlands National Park in southern Utah. Like others in this category, the Explorer connects you to civilization via satellite. It has an onboard GPS tracking system that lets you map out your journey, an internal tracking system that tells you how long you’ve been on the move, how many miles you’ve covered, and how fast you’re traveling. A compass and altimeter also are built in to the hand-sized unit, and you can even download topographic maps onto it. Unlike some of the other PLBs we’ve tried, Explorer allows you to send 160-character emails from the field. While there are three preset messages you can load before you head into the wild, this ability to send real-time emails is a huge bonus. And if you really can’t leave civilization behind, you can even launch posts to your Facebook and Twitter followings, and your buddies can even ping the unit to find out where you are. Now, the Explorer does have some flaws that hopefully DeLorme will address in future models. The biggest issue is the tiny screen: 1.5 inches wide by 1 inch tall, which is difficult to read in sunlight, especially if you wear contact lenses that aim to serve as bifocals. I do, and I simply couldn’t read the screen while wearing them. The decision to use a text pad set up alphabetically, rather than using the traditional QWERTY keyboard, seemed curious as well. There were problems, too, with such a small screen and my big fingers. But frequent use no doubt will help users overcome some of these issues. Overall, the ability to send emails from the field, and post to your social channels, make this a great tool to add to your gear, especially if you like to stay in touch while heading into the backcountry, or travel alone. Data plans range from $24.95 for 30 days (nice if you use it infrequently) or the “extreme” plan at $79.95 per month, which will give you an unlimited number of text messages, and allows tracking every two minutes. — Kurt Repanshek DeLorme’s inReach Explorer lets you send messages from the field (top), and provides links so your family and friends can see where you are / Patrick Cone NationalParksTraveler.com

Books & Gear Worth Considering

The National Parks: An American Legacy Tour Yellowstone or Yosemite, Acadia or Great Smoky Mountains, and you can feel it. Power of place. These magnificent landscapes of the National Park System fill us with awe, whether we’re watching Old Faithful erupt, the mists weave among the summits of Great Smoky, or the waves crashing endlessly to shore at Acadia. That same feeling is repeated for me each time I enter a unit of the park system, whether it’s Rocky Mountain National Park in Colorado, Cape Lookout National Seashore on the Outer Banks of North Carolina, or Theodore Roosevelt National Park in North Dakota. While it’d take a lifetime to visit all units of the National Park System, you can “visit” many of them through the lens of Ian Shive, whose The National Parks: An American Legacy, Celebrating 100 Years of the National Park Service, has arrived just in time for year-end gift giving or simply to grace your coffee table and inspire your next vacation. This is not Mr. Shive’s first tour through the national parks. He long has been at work capturing the beauty and grandeur of parks, both for books and magazine articles. Mr. Shive is the author of the topselling conservation and photography book, The National Parks: Our American Landscape. The hardcover edition was released in April 2009, while a second, softcover edition, with more images arrived in 2011. In both editions, the photographer pays homage to America’s greatest national treasures through an ambitious collection of breathtaking imagery encompassing richly colorful giant sweeping vistas to smaller but still remarkable, captured minutiae of Acadia, Denali, Glacier, Grand Canyon, Great Smoky Mountains, White Sands, Yellowstone and Yosemite national parks, to name a few. His efforts have led to the photographer being honored by the Sierra Club with its Ansel Adams Award for Conservation Photography. In his latest work, Mr. Shive takes us to the snow-covered forests rimming Crater Lake in Oregon, the roof of Haleakala National Park in Hawaii,

the sandy beaches of Apostle Islands National Lakeshore in Wisconsin, and into the cliff dwellings of Bandelier National Monument in New Mexico. And that’s just a quick selection seized while thumbing through the 240-page hardcover book. All told, there are more than 300 images from more than 50 of the 59 “national parks” taken by Mr. Shive that have never been published previously. Combined, the images come together like pieces of a jigsaw puzzle that forms a picture of what the National Park System embraces...and which challenges us to not only feel the power of these places, but think of conservation of nature on a larger scale. That is part of the point Clark Bunting, until recently the president and chief executive officer of the National Parks Conservation Association, drives home in the book’s introduction:

When I think about large landscape conservation, I think about connectivity—of the land, yes, but also the air, the water, the wildlife, the migratory patterns and the

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corridors—and how all these things know no park boundaries. They connect ito a greater whole that is a tapestry made up not just of the parks, but of natural spaces in a much broader sense. Seeing, understanding, and preserving those connections is perhaps the greatest conservation challenge of our generation. We’ve got to manage our resources in a thoughtful way that recognizes and nurtures the interconnectivity of the planet. Fortunately, because of the foresight and hard work of those who came before us, we’ve inherited the national parks—one of the best resources we have to visualize that interconnection. Buy this book, set it out on a coffee- or end table for your family and friends to page through, and think of the wonderful places to visit in the National Park System. Then go into them, and feel the power. — Kurt Repanshek

Fusion Jerky Not all jerkies are created equal. That message quickly came across as we dug into the bag of Chipolte Lime beef jerky while watching the Green River flow slowly by our campsite in Stillwater Canyon in Canyonlands National Park. The lime flavor came through quickly, followed by the tangy chipotle bite that lingered until doused with a swig or two of beer. This was, as the company boasts, an artisan jerky. KaiYen Mai was inspired to create this different style of jerky while climbing Mount Kilimanjaro in 2006, faced with largely unappetizing protein snacks. When she returned home she drew from her Asian heritage and crafted a range of taste bud-arousing jerkies packaged in eye-catching colors. The result is an “all-natural, high-protein, lowsodium delicious tasting gourmet jerky made without gluten, preservatives or nitrites.” Unlike more traditional jerkies that can take a while to chew, Fusion Jerky (MSRP $6.99/bag, plus $5.70 for shipping if you order online) offers a softer, less chewy product in the model of Asian style jerkies. That’s good…and bad, too, as you quickly go through these 3-ounce bags, leaving a pile of beef/turkey/pork/chicken crumbs at the bottom. If the chipolte is too hot for you, then consider these options: Island Teriyaki pork jerky, Basil Citrus chicken jerky, Garlic Jalapeno pork jerky, Lemon Pepper chicken jerky, Basil Citrus beef jerky, Chili Basil turkey jerk, or Rosemary Citrus turkey jerky. — Kurt Repanshek

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Books & Gear Worth Considering Wild Cats Of The World

Mountain Equipment’s Eclipse Hooded Zip Tee Visions of a cold, snowy winter are dancing in our heads, but how will you stay warm when you’re out snowshoeing, skiing, or winter trekking through your favorite national park? The Polartec Tee (MSRP: ~$140 US) from Mountain Equipment is worth inspecting. It can be a base layer that provides next-to-skin warmth while wicking away perspiration, or use it as a mid-layer, which you can quickly pull on, or shed, as temperatures vary. Weighing in at just 11.8 ounces the shirt fits tightly like a second skin and features an offset zipper that, when closed, pulls the hood across your face for great protection against wind and snow. It will even fit under your helmet. There’s a chest pocket for your music, but no cord portal, so add Bluetooth earphones to your holiday wish list. Size-wise, these tees definitely are tight-fitting, and they run a bit small. At 6-foot, 185 pounds, the large was too small for me, while the extra-large was much more reasonable. Now, let it snow. — Kurt Repanshek

Essential Park Guide | Winter 2015-2016

The cat, or Family Felidae, has been with us for about 30 million years, having evolved into one of the most magnificent hunters and carnivores ever. This amazing book lists each of the 38 wild members of this modern family, with in-depth detail, photography, and illustrations. While we’re all sort of familiar with some of the more charismatic animals (such as the lion, and tiger), there’s an amazing variety of cats, in all shapes and sizes, in all climatic zones of the planet. There’s the tiny Sand Cat of Africa and the Jungle Cat from the Indian peninsula. Then there’s the elusive Snow Leopard of the Himalaya and the Jaguar of South America. Did you know that the Amur tigers of the Far East can take down bears? There are the more than 400 dynamic, and beautifully printed images in this book, from some of the top wildlife photographers in the world, including Frans Lanting and Thomas Mangelson. This is a true encyclopedia of wild cats, and a stunning accomplishment by Dr. Hunter. Each of these 38 animals is presented in an organized and descriptive manner, with range maps, skull illustrations, and physical specifications. The origin of each species is laid out in the taxonomy and phylogeny subsections, followed by its description, distribution and habitat, feeding ecology, social and spatial behavior, and reproduction and demography (including mortality and lifespan). The final section describes the threats to the species, and its status. The 39th species (not included in this book), is the only one, “...that does not require dedicated conservation action to ensure its survival for the next century.” That would be the common housecat, of which halfa-billion are kept as pets worldwide. The animals in this book are all perfectly adapted for the kill, primarily solitary hunters. Dr. Hunter is definitely the “Cat Man;” he has previously authored books on Cheetahs, Cats of Africa, and Carnivores of the World, and now he comes to us with Wild Cats of the World. And, he describes the challenges these magnificent animals face in the future for survival, their perilous status, and what people can do to help save them. Despite their great evolutionary success, the challenges facing felids in the modern world are profound. Only one, the ubiquitous domestic cat, does not require dedicated conservation action to ensure survival for the next century. The book also explores the current conservation issues facing wild cats, the increasingly perilous status of many species, and how they can be saved. — Patrick Cone

Parting Shot

Though most snorkelers at Virgin Islands National Park are focused on marine life, at times the pelicans present an intriguing perspective. Photo by Caroline Rogers