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diff --git a/places to go/11 of americas greatest national forests.txt b/places to go/11 of americas greatest national forests.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..fb80123 --- /dev/null +++ b/places to go/11 of americas greatest national forests.txt @@ -0,0 +1,199 @@ +--- +title: 11 of America’s greatest national forests +date: 2015-12-21T13:33:04Z +source: https://wilderness.org/11-america%E2%80%99s-greatest-national-forests +tags: trip, travco + +--- + +We talk a lot about national parks and wilderness areas, and with good reason. But never overlook our national forests. Not only do these places play a valuable role in ensuring a healthy ecosystem for humans and wildlife—they are some of the most spectacular, crowd-pleasing wildlands on earth. + +Under the U.S. Forest Service, the National Forest System now helps preserve hundreds of millions of acres, but we did not always have careful guidelines to help protect such places from harm. + +* * * + +_Photo: Tongass National Forest (Alaska). Credit: Joseph, flickr._ + +* * * + +The Forest Reserve Act of 1891 was signed into law by President Benjamin Harrison after years of exploitative logging had devasted the nation's once vast eastern forests. + +After two decades of debate, the act put in place the means to [protect wooded areas as "forest reserves][2]." The precursor of the U.S. Forest Service, called the Division of Forestry, had been founded in 1881 to monitor the overall health of forests in the United States, but this was the first time the federal government took an active role in making some forests off-limits for logging and other uses. + +In 1905, those reserves became the charge of the Bureau of Forestry, and eventually they were renamed national forests. + +Take a look at just a few of our incredible national forests, from New Hampshire to Alaska, and you will never again forget those "other" public lands. + +* * * + +## Tongass National Forest (Alaska) + +![][3] + +_Credit: Joseph, flickr._ + +At 16.5 million acres, Tongass National Forest is more than half as big as the entire state of North Carolina. And while the forest is best known for its [wide expanses of Sitka spruce, western hemlock and cedar][4], it is also geologically and climatically diverse enough to accommodate majestic glaciers and icefields. The trees themselves are remarkable for their size and longevity –some [up to 800 years old][5]. Over one-third of Tongass National Forest is designated as federal wilderness, containing habitat for a variety of wildlife including brown and black bears, mountain goats, black-tailed deer, wolverines, river otters, harbor seals and bald eagles. Bonus fact: [Scenes from the 1982 horror/sci-fi film The Thing][6] were filmed here + +Sadly, Tongass National Forest is one of America's most exploited forests, with decades of forestry clearcut scars to prove it. The Wilderness Society has worked with local [efforts to refocus logging][7] into second-growth stands have been well received and show the way to a more sustainable model of forestry in the Tongass. + +* * * + +## Gifford Pinchot National Forest (Washington) + +![][8] + +_Credit: JD Hascup, flickr._ + +Highlighted by the Mount St. Helens National Volcanic Monument, Gifford Pinchot National Forest is known for its unusual landscape, which includes [tunnels and caverns formed in eons-old cooling lava][9]. The 2.5-mile-long [Ape Cave is an especially popular tourist attraction][10], and a section of the Pacific Crest Trail makes the forest [a popular destination for hikers][11]. + +Gifford Pinchot National Forest's many rivers, lakes and streams contain a variety of fish like chinook salmon, coho salmon, steelhead trout, cutthroat trout and rainbow trout. Terrestrial species include elk, black bear, mountain goats, and bobcats. + +* * * + +## Coconino National Forest (Arizona) + +![][12] + +_Credit: Brienne Magee (USFS), flickr._ + +When you think "Arizona," your mind may conjure images of saguaro cacti and desert. And when you think "national forest," you may picture miles of evergreen-covered mountains. Coconino National Forest somewhat defies both sets of expectations, boasting landscape that [ranges from dramatic red rock formations to alpine tundra][13]. Wildlife in the area is similarly varied, including elk, javelinas, black bears, rattlesnakes and more. Unsurprisingly, Coconino National Forest is a popular spot for outdoor recreation including hiking, horseback riding, fishing and camping. + +Another unique feature of Coconino National Forest: A valuable [archaeological site atop the remains of an ancient Sinagua village at Elden Pueblo][14]. Items recovered at Elden Pueblo are thought to have originated as far away as Mexico and California, suggesting that a major trade outpost was nearby. + +* * * + +## Pisgah and Nantahala National Forests (North Carolina) + +![][15] + +_Credit: Jeff Moore, flickr._ + +The Pisgah and Nantahala national forests of western North Carolina may be best known for [their explosive displays of fall foliage][16]. Every year, the two forests, totalling some 1 million acres, carpet the Blue Ridge Mountains in reds, yellows and oranges. But even off-season, the old-growth stretches of oak, hemlock, tulip poplar, pine, sycamore, dogwood and beech beckon visitors in search of hiking, fishing and other outdoor recreation (together, [the Pisgah and Nantahala contain over 200 miles of the Appalachian Trail][17]). Six wilderness areas between the two forests attest that some relatively unspoiled land remains on the east coast. Black bears, deer, wild boar and other wildlife can be found throughout the region. + +* * * + +## White Mountain National Forest (New Hampshire) + +![][18] + +_Credit: Mattia Panciroli, flickr._ + +Spanning more than 800,000 acres, White Mountain National Forest features some of the most untamed and beautiful country in the Northeast, including the Presidential Mountain Range. + +Arguably the highlight of this region is 6,288-foot Mount Washington, a challenge for intrepid hikers that has long boasted the "[world's worst weather][19]" (indeed, [wind speeds in excess of 200 mph have been recorded here][20], and as much as four feet of snow has fallen in a single 24-hour period). + +Despite the rugged weather, White Mountain National Forest boasts lush wooded landscape too; maple, oak, hemlock, pine and birch dominate at lower elevations, with spruce and fir stands taking over the higher you get. Wildlife highlights in the area include moose, black bears and peregrine falcons. + +* * * + +## Bridger-Teton National Forest (Wyoming) + +![][21] + +_Credit: Mason Cummings._ + +Part of the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem—considered [one of the largest nearly intact temperate-zone ecosystems][22] on earth—the vast Bridger-Teton National Forest [contains an incredible 1.2 million acres of federally protected wilderness][23] straddling the Continental Divide. This majestic terrain is studded with glaciers, lush alpine meadows, limestone peaks and hundreds of miles of rivers and streams collectively protected as the [Wild and Scenic Snake River Headwaters][24]. The forest's big geological attraction is the [Gros Ventre Slide Geologic Area][25], a long, rubble-strewn scar left behind by an infamous 1925 landslide that blocked the Gros Ventre River and created five-mile-long Lower Slide Lake. + +Bridger-Teton National Forest's woodlands range from aspen, Douglas fir and lodgepole pine at lower elevations, to spruce-fir and whitebark pine in the more mountainous regions. Depending on the season, visitors may spot moose, bighorn sheep, grizzly bears, elk, bobcats, pikas and bald eagles. + +* * * + +## Superior National Forest (Minnesota) + +![][26] + +_Credit: Jim Liestman, flickr._ + +You might not think of the upper Midwest as a hotbed of wilderness, but Superior National Forest is one of the most beloved tracts of public land in the U.S., a hot-spot for kayaking, canoeing, hiking, fishing and skiing. The [Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness][27], carved by ancient glaciers along the border with Canada, is a 1 million-acre paradise of rugged cliffs and crags, gentle hills, canyon walls, rocky shores and sandy beaches, dotted with lakes of every conceivable size. Stands of pine, fir and spruce exemplify this deep green refuge. + +Superior National Forest harbors some truly special wildlife, including gray wolves—[Northern Minnesota is one of the species' last bastions][28] in the continental U.S.—moose, lynx and black bear. It is also a popular area for birding, with [hundreds of species reported in the area][29]. + +* * * + +## White River National Forest (Colorado) + +![][30] + +_Credit: Casey McCallister, flickr._ + +White River National Forest contains [eight wilderness areas][31], including the picturesque [Maroon Bells-Snowmass Wilderness][32], and [10 mountain peaks taller than 14,000 feet][33]. All of this makes it a huge draw for mountain climbers, photographers, campers, skiers and other outdoor recreation buffs. Additionally, this was where U.S. Forest Service official Arthur Carhart is said to have originated [the idea of federally designated wilderness][34]. + +White River National Forest is also [a renowned spot to go wildflower-watching in summer][35], when blue lupines and Colorado columbines contrast with yellow heartleaf arnica and tall groundsel. Every year, [wildflower festival events][36] are held in the nearby town of Crested Butte. + +* * * + +## Cibola National Forest (New Mexico) + +![][37] + +_Credit: Mason Cummings._ + +The [Cibola National Forest][38] is an expansive series of 'sky islands' covering 1.6 million acres spanning northern and central New Mexico, with elevations reaching 11,300 feet. The forest and surrounding grasslands contain four protected wilderness areas, habitat for species like elk, mule deer, black bears and bobcats, and a critical migration corridor for raptors and other wildlife through the Sandia and Manzano mountains. + +Unfortunately, Cibola National Forest is vulnerable to degradation because it has been operating under an outdated management plan. We are working with the U.S. Forest Service and local communities to help create a new plan that will restore wildlife habitat, enhance outdoor recreation and serve as a benchmark for other wildlands. + +* * * + +Sierra National Forest (California) + +![][39] + +_Credit: Vlad Butsky, flickr._ + +Stretching hundreds of miles through California and Nevada, the Sierra Nevada range is a wild American icon, featuring Yosemite and Sequoia National Parks, towering Mount Whitney and much more in its 12 million acres of federal public land. + +Sierra National Forest may be somewhat overlooked compared to those flashy cousins in the region, but that doesn't make it any less spectacular. Towering mountains, granite formations, sub-alpine meadows and crystal-clear lakes lend the area [its reputation as a much-needed refuge][40] from the commotion of nearby cities. Sections of both the John Muir Trail and the Pacific Crest trail run through the forest, making it perfect for hikers. + +* * * + +## Salmon-Challis National Forest (Idaho) + +![][41] + +_Credit: Mason Cummings._ + +Salmon-Challis National Forest contains most of the iconic [Frank Church-River of No Return Wilderness][42], the largest contiguous wilderness in the lower 48 states—nearly 2.4 million acres of rugged mountains, surging rivers and fir and pine forests. Other highlights include 12,500-foot [Borah Peak][43], Idaho's tallest mountain; the mighty Salmon River; and It is no surprise that the forest's roughly 2,616 miles of maintained trails are a coveted destination for outdoors lovers across the country (and beyond). + +[1]: http://wilderness.org/sites/default/files/Tongass-National-Forest-%28Alaska%29-Photo-Joseph%2C-flickr.jpg +[2]: http://www.fs.fed.us/documents/USFS_An_Overview_0106MJS.pdf +[3]: http://wilderness.org/sites/default/files/Tongass-National-Forest-%28Alaska%29-2-Photo-Joseph%2C-flickr.jpg +[4]: http://www.akforest.org/facts.htm +[5]: http://archive.audubonmagazine.org/features0309/giants.html +[6]: http://www.imdb.com/search/text?realm=title&field=locations&q=Juneau%20Alaska +[7]: http://wilderness.org/node/101927 +[8]: http://wilderness.org/sites/default/files/Gifford-Pinchot-National-Forest-%28Washington%29-2-Photo-JD-Hascup%2C-flickr.jpg +[9]: http://www.fs.usda.gov/detail/mountsthelens/about-forest/?cid=STELPRDB5142976 +[10]: http://www.ohranger.com/gifford-pinchot-natl-forest +[11]: http://www.fs.usda.gov/attmain/giffordpinchot/specialplaces +[12]: http://wilderness.org/sites/default/files/Coconino-National-Forest-%28Arizona%29-Photo-Brienne-Magee-%28USFS%29%2C-flickr.jpg +[13]: http://www.fs.usda.gov/coconino/ +[14]: http://www.fs.usda.gov/attmain/coconino/specialplaces +[15]: http://wilderness.org/sites/default/files/Nantahala-National-Forest-%28North-Carolina%29-Photo-Jeff-Moore%2C-flickr..jpg +[16]: http://www.fs.fed.us/blogs/scenic-drives-north-carolinas-national-forests-show-fall-foliage +[17]: http://www.fs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_DOCUMENTS/stelprdb5398485.pdf +[18]: http://wilderness.org/sites/default/files/White-Mountain-National-Forest-%28New-Hampshire%29-fall-autumn-foliage-Photo-Mattia-Panciroli%2C-flickr.jpg +[19]: http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2012-04-03/travel/sc-trav-0403-mount-washington-20120403_1_highest-temperature-worst-weather-three-major-storm +[20]: http://knowbefore.weatherbug.com/2015/01/21/mount-washington-home-worlds-worst-weather/ +[21]: http://wilderness.org/sites/default/files/Bridger-Wilderness-%28Wyoming%29-hiking-Photo-Mason-Cummings.jpg +[22]: http://www.nps.gov/yell/learn/nature/ecosystem.htm +[23]: http://www.fs.usda.gov/btnf +[24]: http://www.fs.usda.gov/detail/btnf/specialplaces/?cid=stelprdb5281115 +[25]: http://www.fs.usda.gov/recarea/btnf/recarea/?recid=71645 +[26]: http://wilderness.org/sites/default/files/Boundary-Waters-Canoe-Area-Wilderness-%28Minnesota%29-Photo-Jim-Liestman%2C-flickr.jpg +[27]: http://www.wilderness.net/NWPS/wildView?WID=70 +[28]: http://www.fs.usda.gov/detail/superior/about-forest/?cid=fsm91_049837 +[29]: http://www.fs.usda.gov/detail/superior/about-forest/?cid=fsm91_049587 +[30]: http://wilderness.org/sites/default/files/White-River-National-Forest-%28Colorado%29-tent-camping-Photo-Casey-McCallister%2C-flickr.jpg +[31]: http://www.fs.usda.gov/recarea/whiteriver/recarea/?recid=81135 +[32]: http://www.wilderness.net/NWPS/wildView?WID=344&tab=General +[33]: https://www.nationalforests.org/our-forests/find-a-forest/white-river-national-forest +[34]: http://www.recreation.gov/marketing.do?goto=acm/Explore_And_More/exploreArticles/WhiteRiverNationalForest.htm +[35]: https://wilderness.org/blog/12-wilderness-areas-enjoying-wildflowers +[36]: https://www.crestedbuttewildflowerfestival.com/ +[37]: http://wilderness.org/sites/default/files/Cibola-National-Forest-%28New-Mexico%29-Photo-Mason-Cummings..jpg +[38]: http://wilderness.org/cibola-national-forest +[39]: http://wilderness.org/sites/default/files/Sierra-National-Forest-%28California%29-Photo-Vlad-Butsky%2C-flickr..jpg +[40]: http://www.fs.usda.gov/attmain/sierra/specialplaces +[41]: http://wilderness.org/sites/default/files/Salmon-Challis-National-Forest-%28Idaho%29-hiking-family-kids-Photo-Mason-Cummings.jpg +[42]: http://www.wilderness.net/NWPS/wildView?WID=194 +[43]: http://www.idahosummits.com/borah_feature/borah.htm diff --git a/places to go/AK Aniakchak National Monument.txt b/places to go/AK Aniakchak National Monument.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..5630775 --- /dev/null +++ b/places to go/AK Aniakchak National Monument.txt @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +Where else can you raft to the ocean from the center of a volcano? Aniakchak consistently ranks among the least-visited National Park units—only 10 people traveled there in 2008. Access to the 3500-year old, 6-mile wide volcanic caldera is restricted to floatplanes, but those able to make the trip are treated to one of the wildest, most isolated corners of the planet. + +<http://www.backpacker.com/destinations-stories/the-16-best-non-park-national-parks/#bp=0/img3> diff --git a/places to go/AR Buffalo National River.txt b/places to go/AR Buffalo National River.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..51edc6d --- /dev/null +++ b/places to go/AR Buffalo National River.txt @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +The Buffalo River flows for 150 miles through the Ozark highlands, and 135 miles of it are protected by the National Park Service. The river is a paddler’s paradise, but those traveling by foot may tackle the 40-mile (one-way) Buffalo River Trail following the bluffs above the valley. + +<http://www.backpacker.com/destinations-stories/the-16-best-non-park-national-parks/#bp=0/img14> diff --git a/places to go/AZ Coronado National Memorial desert.txt b/places to go/AZ Coronado National Memorial desert.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6b32556 --- /dev/null +++ b/places to go/AZ Coronado National Memorial desert.txt @@ -0,0 +1,7 @@ + + +Coronado National Memorial, Arizona + +This park on the US-Mexico border commemorates the Francisco Vásquez de Coronado Expedition of 1540-1542, the first European exploration of the American southwest. While Coronado never found the gold he was searching for, visitors to the park bearing his name will discover treasure of a different sort. Several dayhiking trails criss-cross the scenic Huachuca Mountain, and the park contains the southern terminus of the 800-mile Arizona National Scenic Trail. + +<http://www.backpacker.com/destinations-stories/the-16-best-non-park-national-parks/#bp=0/img1> diff --git a/places to go/CA Amargosa River desert.txt b/places to go/CA Amargosa River desert.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..ebca53a --- /dev/null +++ b/places to go/CA Amargosa River desert.txt @@ -0,0 +1,11 @@ +https://www.google.com/maps/place/Amargosa+River,+Tecopa,+CA/@35.7935918,-116.2021589,15z/data=!4m2!3m1!1s0x80c66562ceaa3fd5:0xf03d941e2ecb9589 + +The next morning I awoke well before dawn at China Ranch Date Farm and started to hike downstream by the light of my headlamp. The desert silence was occasionally interrupted by chirping birds as the subtle glow of dawn slowly became more distinguishable. As the light grew stronger, the sporadic chirping progressed into a full-on chorus of songbirds. + +The Amargosa River is a rare perennial waterway—one of the only of its kind in the California desert. While much of the river flows underground, some parts surface in the Amargosa Canyon. The isolation of this rich habitat makes it a classic “bird trap” for migrating birds that wander off track during migration. + +At first, the conditions showed potential for an explosive sunrise, but a thick layer of high clouds extinguished the colors just as they began to unfold. The light was far less than ideal for photography, so I slowly hiked back upstream while soaking in the subtle beauties of this amazing landscape. + +Despite disappointing light, the Amargosa was my favorite stop of the trip. I could easily spend days exploring this verdant oasis in the middle of the desert. + +<http://wilderness.org/photographic-tour-through-californias-desert-treasures> diff --git a/places to go/CA Berryessa Snow Mountain.txt b/places to go/CA Berryessa Snow Mountain.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..af5e147 --- /dev/null +++ b/places to go/CA Berryessa Snow Mountain.txt @@ -0,0 +1,8 @@ +One of California’s lesser-known natural gems, the area known as Berryessa Snow Mountain was protected as a national monument by President Barack Obama in July 2015, the culmination of decades of hard work by The Wilderness Society, local communities and leaders throughout the state. +Flashback: Berryessa Snow Mountain protected as a national monument + +Berryessa Snow Mountain was a popular candidate for permanent protection for years, with local businesses, governing bodies, public meeting attendees and others backing the initiative. Rep. Mike Thompson (D-CA) and Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-CA) took up the cause as well. But despite major support, legislative progress was not forthcoming, so. The Wilderness Society and our members asked the White House to take action. + +Protected by President Obama in July 2015, the new monument stretches from the region around Lake Berryessa across remote sections of Cache Creek north to Snow Mountain. It is renowned locally for its outdoor recreation opportunities; abundant wildlife like tule elk, mountain lions and bald eagles; and habitat ranging from lush oak woodland to clear creeks and fields of wildflowers. Monument designation protects all this and raises the region’s profile as a tourism destination, potentially boosting the local economy by up to $50 million over five years. + +https://www.google.com/maps/place/Berryessa+Snow+Mountain+National+Monument/@38.8655468,-122.5381665,5944m/data=!3m1!1e3!4m2!3m1!1s0x80847a10a989dddb:0x1c2495f5f1213c99!6m1!1e1 diff --git a/places to go/CA Death Valley desert.txt b/places to go/CA Death Valley desert.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..e69de29 --- /dev/null +++ b/places to go/CA Death Valley desert.txt diff --git a/places to go/CA Devils Postpile National Monument.txt b/places to go/CA Devils Postpile National Monument.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..dfa98f6 --- /dev/null +++ b/places to go/CA Devils Postpile National Monument.txt @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +A towering wall of twisted basalt columns and a 100-foot tall waterfall are the highlights of Devil’s Postpile National Monument in the heart of the Sierra. The park also serves as an excellent jumping-off point for several area trails, including the John Muir Trail. + +<http://www.backpacker.com/destinations-stories/the-16-best-non-park-national-parks/#bp=0/img15> diff --git a/places to go/CA Panamint Valley desert.txt b/places to go/CA Panamint Valley desert.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..53d632a --- /dev/null +++ b/places to go/CA Panamint Valley desert.txt @@ -0,0 +1,9 @@ +https://www.google.com/maps/place/Panamint+Valley+Rd,+California/@36.2552558,-117.4249625,12z/data=!4m2!3m1!1s0x80c0c58aa19bc853:0x60125e691388c053 + +As Highway 198 rounds the north end of the Slate Range, the first glimpse of Panamint Valley is nothing short of astounding. The sheer vastness of the valley was nearly incomprehensible as I descended onto its open playa. + +From afar, the open valley floor appears monotonous, but I quickly noticed pockets of unique habitat with every passing mile. I arrived shortly before dusk, but stayed well past sunset to try and capture the stillness of the desert night. + +Time seemed to stand still as I stood in silence waiting for the stars to emerge. The silhouettes of surrounding mountains appeared so close, but the valley’s emptiness was playing tricks on my eyes. These mountains abruptly rise nearly 11,000 feet above the valley floor, but the wide-open playa does little to help convey the valley’s massive scale. + +<http://wilderness.org/photographic-tour-through-californias-desert-treasures> diff --git a/places to go/CA Silurian Valley desert.txt b/places to go/CA Silurian Valley desert.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..591d824 --- /dev/null +++ b/places to go/CA Silurian Valley desert.txt @@ -0,0 +1,11 @@ +https://www.google.com/maps/place/Silurian+Valley,+California+92364/@35.4535369,-116.2246038,24679m/data=!3m1!1e3!4m2!3m1!1s0x80c5c46823d13295:0xe1a95a1bf4e920be + +By late morning I finally pulled myself away from the canyon and followed the Amargosa’s intermittent flow to the south alongside Highway 197. As the river made a U-turn around the Amargosa Range and into Death Valley, I continued south into the beautiful and remote Silurian Valley. + +I pulled off the highway and headed up a dirt road toward the valley’s east rim for an elevated view toward the west. After several miles I began to get a sense of the valley’s enormous scale. It was humbling to think that well beyond the impossibly distant horizon lay even larger areas of protected desert. + +Silurian Valley provides a vital ecological connection between mountain ranges, and also connects Death Valley National Park with Mojave Preserve. I was right in the middle of a critical link between two desert sanctuaries—and I couldn’t see another soul in any direction. + +There was such depth to this pristine landscape; I couldn’t begin to imagine what it would have looked like covered in solar panels—and that almost happened. Last fall the Bureau of Land Management denied an application for a large-scale solar project in Silurian Valley. With any luck, that decision will help set a precedent for conservation of such wild gems. + +<http://wilderness.org/photographic-tour-through-californias-desert-treasures> diff --git a/places to go/CA Trona Pinnacles desert.txt b/places to go/CA Trona Pinnacles desert.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..ba1baf6 --- /dev/null +++ b/places to go/CA Trona Pinnacles desert.txt @@ -0,0 +1,9 @@ +https://www.google.com/maps/place/Trona+Pinnacles,+California/@35.6177676,-117.385619,6199m/data=!3m2!1e3!4b1!4m2!3m1!1s0x80c145f0b0d18109:0xa3fdb5c8562aba3f!6m1!1e1 + +The otherworldly landscape of Trona Pinnacles is like a scene straight out of a science fiction film. Hundreds of stone columns mysteriously rise far above this remote, open playa. + +Thousands of years ago, this part of the Mojave Desert was covered by a large lake. Over time, calcium carbonate, in a form known as a tufa, formed underwater pinnacles before the lake went dry. Now, hundreds of tufa stand above an open desert playa, some reaching 140 feet or more. + +I spent the afternoon exploring these bizarre formations before shooting sunset, where I was treated to the week’s most vibrant display of light. The pinnacles came to life as the sky lit up with color, and for a fleeting moment I felt like an interplanetary traveler. The area is best explored by sunset or sunrise, when the curious landscape features are accentuated by dramatic light. + +<http://wilderness.org/photographic-tour-through-californias-desert-treasures> diff --git a/places to go/CA eugene tssui’s fish house.txt b/places to go/CA eugene tssui’s fish house.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..7072988 --- /dev/null +++ b/places to go/CA eugene tssui’s fish house.txt @@ -0,0 +1,207 @@ +--- +title: How Quirky is Berkeley? Eugene Tssui’s Fish House, Part 1 +date: 2015-12-02T11:34:12Z +source: http://www.berkeleyside.com/2015/11/30/how-quirky-is-berkeley-eugene-tssuis-fish-house-part-1/ +tags: architecture, trip + +--- + +![2727 Mathews Street. Photo: John Storey][1] + +The "Fish House" at 2747 Mathews St. in Berkeley. Photo: John Storey + +The "Fish House" at 2747 Mathews St. in Berkeley, designed by Emeryville's Eugene Tssui, is the least-expected and probably the most-photographed architectural design in Berkeley. + +![2727 Mathews Street. Photo: John Storey][2] + +2747 Mathews St. Photo: John Storey + +![2727 Mathews Street. Photo: John Storey][3] + +2747 Mathews St. Photo: John Storey + +![2727 Mathews Street. Photo: Joe Reifer][4] + +2747 Mathews St. Photo: Joe Reifer + +The image above was photographed during the June 2008 full moon around midnight, with an exposure time of approximately 6 minutes. It takes the house's other-wordly element into a whole new other world. + +The exterior sparkles. + +![2727 Mathews Street. Photo: John Storey][5] + +2747 Mathews St. Photo: John Storey + +Crumbled abalone shell is mixed in with the stucco-ish exterior, providing the sparkle. + +![2727 Mathews Street. Photo: John Storey][6] + +2747 Mathews St. Photo: John Storey + +What look like flying buttresses — sort of — project from the rear of the house. They serve as slide escapes from the second story in the event of an evacuation. + +Tssui designed the home for his parents, who lived in it from 1995 until last year. It is on Mathews Street, just west of San Pablo Park. But for it, Mathews Street is largely a street without quirk. + +![A color-enhanced scanning electron micrograph of a tardigrade found in moss samples. Photo: New York Times][7] + +A color-enhanced scanning electron micrograph of a tardigrade found in moss samples. Photo: New York Times + +The house is designed based on the tardigrade, a segmented marine micro-animal. The tardigrade can survive extreme cold and extreme hot, extreme pressure or a vacuum, radiation doses, and can go without food or water for more than ten years. + +When Tssui's parents moved to Berkeley, they were concerned about earthquakes and wanted him to design a house in which they would be safe no matter what the Richter Scale said. Tssui consulted zoology and learned that the tardigrade is the most indestructible creature on the planet. True to his belief in biomimicry, he created a house based on the architecture of the lowly tardigrade. He believes that the Mathews Street house is safe from fire, earthquake, flood and pest. + +Several neighbors from the block of 1920s California bungalows strenuously objected to the house design; the design review process dragged out more than a year. Tssui credits then-mayor Loni Hancock with stepping in and putting an end to the debate in the name of freedom of thought and design. + +The house's proper name is _Ojo del Sol_ or _Tai Yang Yen_ – the Sun's Eye. The name alludes to the south-facing 15-foot oculus window, a common feature of Byzantine and Neoclassical architecture. The oculus here serves to light and warm the house. Tssui now uses the name given the house by the public, the Fish House, tardigrade or not. + +![Eugene Tssui. Photo: John Storey][8] + +Eugene Tssui. Photo: John Storey + +Tssui is a visionary architect. His degrees are from the University of Oregon and Cal, but he owes much of his architectural vision to three architects with whom he apprenticed: Victor Prus in Montreal, Bruce Goff in Tyler, Texas, and Frei Otto (tensile and membrane structures of glass and steel) in Germany. After Tssui's first semester at Columbia's School of Architecture, Dean of Architecture James Stewart Polshek suggested to Tssui that an apprenticeship might suit him better than Columbia. That was a good call. + +![Bavinger House, Norman, Oklahoma. Photo: Wikipedia][9] + +Bavinger House, Norman, Oklahoma. Photo: Wikipedia + +Tssui apprenticed with Goff, an extraordinarily creative and innovative architect from 1977 until 1982. Most of Goff's built projects were in Oklahoma. + +Like Goff, Tssui scorns rectilinear design. Tssui calls his design ethic-biologic, based on the architecture of living things. Biomimicry is another term that might describe Tssui's approach, finding sustainable solutions to human challenges by emulating nature's patterns and strategies. + +![Watsu Center at Harbin Hot Springs, Middletown, California. Photo courtesy of Eugene Tssui.][10] + +Watsu Center at Harbin Hot Springs, Middletown, California. Photo: courtesy Eugene Tssui + +Tssui's built projects include several in the East Bay, as well as the Watsu Center in Middletown, recently damaged by the Valley Fire. + +![Ultima Tower design. Photo courtesy of Eugene Tssui.][11] + +Ultima Tower design. Photo: courtesy Eugene Tssui + +![Gibralter Bridge design. Photo courtesy of Eugene Tssui.][12] + +Gibraltar Bridge design. Photo: courtesy Eugene Tssui + +Tssui thinks big, an unspoken advocate of the "go big or go home" school of thought. He has designed a submerged bridge with an island half way across to span the Straits of Gibraltar, as well as a two-mile-high tower to house 1,000,000 people. He has visited Tarifa, Spain and North Africa, talking up his bridge project, which draws on wave power and wind power. + +There is nothing about Tssui's upbringing in Minneapolis that would have predicted his trajectory. His parents were no-nonsense immigrants who left Mainland China as Mao's revolution swept Communists into power. The outward and physical manifestation of his inner self in high school was to play the prankster — Dennis the Menace constantly in trouble. That he would become a polymath nonpareil would not have been obvious at the time. + +I have never before today used the term "polymath," a person whose expertise spans a significant number of different subject areas. The polymath draws upon complex bodies of knowledge to solve specific problems. Eugene Tssui is a polymath. + +![Business Card][13] + +I actually came across the word before I saw his business card. I believed that I had thought of something he hadn't. Obviously I had not. The polymath beat me to it. I think Tssui makes most of the world's polymaths look lazy and shallow, but there is no way to prove or disprove this. + +![Courtesy of Eugene Tssui.][14] + +Photo: courtesy Eugene Tssui + +![Courtesy of Eugene Tssui.][15] + +Photo: courtesy Eugene Tssui + +Tssui believes in vigorous, challenging exercise. He studied Northern Praying Mantis, a style of Chinese martial arts. He is a boxer and gymnast of some renown. He eats every other day, and sparingly. What discipline! He sees it as a logical, if not obvious, way to maintain a healthy weight. + +![Courtesy of Eugene Tssui.][16] + +Photo: courtesy Eugene Tssui + +He is a concert pianist and flamenco guitarist. Piano was the instrument of his childhood. He keeps it up, with Chopin at the top of his favorite composer list. He is intrigued by the mathematics of music, but more drawn by the emotion, which he sees as central to human meaning, be it in music, architecture, or any facet of life. + +He composes, at times blending his life philosophy with his music, as in "Make What is Wrong, Right", played "with insistent, battle march feeling" in the five-flats challenging key of D♭major: "We will not be lured by comfort or ease / To make right the acts we know are wrong / And when challenge sends it clarion call / We will act, we will stand, we will fight." + +Tssui began Flamenco dancing in Montreal in 1970, and by 1972 was the principal dancer of the Minneapolis Flamenco Dance Troupe. University of Oregon professor David Tamarin introduced Tssui to flamenco guitar in 1978. Tssui is drawn to flamenco because it exudes pain and suffering and sadness. + +![Eugene Tssui, wearing a ring given him by a Mongolian shaman. Photo: John Storey][17] + +Eugene Tssui, wearing a ring given him by a Mongolian shaman. Photo: John Storey + +![Photo courtesy: Eugene Tssui.][18] + +Photo: courtesy Eugene Tssui + +Tssui has lived for long stretches in China. In recent years he has become fascinated with Mongolia. Mongolian culture and history inform Tssui in many ways, as do the life and writings of Genghis Kahn. His experiences with a Mongolian shaman have made him a more spiritual man, an aspect of life that he had not formerly explored. + +He has lectured at Cal, served as a research scholar at Harvard, taught at Ohio University and North Carolina State University and Harbin University and Peking University and South China University of Technology. He speaks fluent Mandarin. + +![Rolling buffet table designed by Eugene Tssui. Photo courtesy of Eugene Tssui.][19] + +Rolling buffet table designed by Eugene Tssui. Photo: courtesy Eugene Tssui + +He designs furniture. + +![Eugene Tssui. Photo: John Storey][20] + +Eugene Tssui. Photo: John Storey + +![Eugene Tssui. Photo: John Storey][21] + +Eugene Tssui. Photo: John Storey + +![Eugene Tssui. Photo: John Storey][22] + +Eugene Tssui. Photo: John Storey + +![Eugene Tssui. Photo: John Storey][23] + +Eugene Tssui. Photo: John Storey + +He designs clothes. The style draws on indigenous Mongolian designs and is highly functional. The sequins on the purple suit shown above, and in the photo of Tssui in front of the Fish House, are small solar panels which can be used to charge a mobile phone. + +What's next for our hometown polymath? + +![Courtesy of Eugene Tssui][24] + +Courtesy of Eugene Tssui + +![Courtesy of Eugene Tssui][25] + +Courtesy of Eugene Tssui + +![Courtesy of Eugene Tssui][26] + +Courtesy of Eugene Tssui + +![Courtesy of Eugene Tssui][27] + +Courtesy of Eugene Tssui + +He is designing a live/work space to be built in San Pablo. The biologic design is obvious, although the organism that is mimicked is less obvious. He is designing it such that the electricity used in the building will be generated by the user — bicycling or by arms; he will not install solar panels because he finds them toxic when constructed. He is designing it to be cooled and warmed by the earth, and it is aerodynamic for passive ventilation. And so on. Tssui describes himself as someone who asks questions that most people try to avoid. He takes the tough questions and looks for fascinating and universally applicable answers. It is, to say the very least, the product of a creative, answer-seeking polymath mind. + +In Part 2, I will visit the inside of the Fish House and explore the relationship between a creatively designed space and creativity experienced by those living and working in the house. + +_Tom Dalzell, a labor lawyer, created a website, [Quirky Berkeley,][28] to share all the whimsical objects he has captured with his iPhone. The site now has more than 8,600 photographs of quirky objects around town as well as posts where the 30-year resident muses on what it all means. _ + +**Editor's note**: Eugene Tssui formerly spelled his last name Tsui. + +**Want to keep up-to-date on all the food, drink and restaurant news in the East Bay? Subscribe to NOSH Weekly, the free weekly email packed with delicious news. [Simply sign up here.][29]** + +[1]: http://www.berkeleyside.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/Lead-720x490.jpg +[2]: http://www.berkeleyside.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/Quirky_062013-_00406-X3-copy-720x535.jpg +[3]: http://www.berkeleyside.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/Quirky_062013-_00423-X3-copy-720x486.jpg +[4]: http://www.berkeleyside.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/fishhouse_600w2-720x900.jpg +[5]: http://www.berkeleyside.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/Quirky_Berkeley_111115_1395-X3-720x449.jpg +[6]: http://www.berkeleyside.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/Quirky_Berkeley_111115_1380-X3-720x349.jpg +[7]: http://www.berkeleyside.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/08TARD1-master675-720x621.jpg +[8]: http://www.berkeleyside.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/Quirky_Fish_House0001-X2-720x608.jpg +[9]: http://www.berkeleyside.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/Bavinger-House-720x540.jpg +[10]: http://www.berkeleyside.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/Watsu-2-720x470.jpg +[11]: http://www.berkeleyside.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/Ultima_Tower-720x453.jpg +[12]: http://www.berkeleyside.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/Gibralter-720x380.jpg +[13]: http://www.berkeleyside.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/Business-Card.png +[14]: http://www.berkeleyside.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/Gymnastics.jpg +[15]: http://www.berkeleyside.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/Boxing.png +[16]: http://www.berkeleyside.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/Flamenco.jpg +[17]: http://www.berkeleyside.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/Shaman-ring.jpg +[18]: http://www.berkeleyside.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/Eagle.png +[19]: http://www.berkeleyside.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/Rolling-Buffet-720x474.jpg +[20]: http://www.berkeleyside.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/Quirky_BerkeleyEugene_Tssui_00003-X2.jpg +[21]: http://www.berkeleyside.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/Quirky_BerkeleyEugene_Tssui_00269-X2.jpg +[22]: http://www.berkeleyside.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/Quirky_BerkeleyEugene_Tssui_00206-X2.jpg +[23]: http://www.berkeleyside.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/Quirky_BerkeleyEugene_Tssui_00156-X3-720x486.jpg +[24]: http://www.berkeleyside.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/unnamed-720x540.png +[25]: http://www.berkeleyside.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/unnamed-3-720x540.png +[26]: http://www.berkeleyside.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/unnamed-1-720x540.png +[27]: http://www.berkeleyside.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/unnamed-2-720x540.png +[28]: http://quirkyberkeley.com/ +[29]: http://www.berkeleyside.com/e-news-signup/ diff --git a/places to go/CO Browns Canyon.txt b/places to go/CO Browns Canyon.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..5b25048 --- /dev/null +++ b/places to go/CO Browns Canyon.txt @@ -0,0 +1,7 @@ +Browns Canyon is an outdoor recreation hub along the Arkansas River, a mountainous expanse of granite canyons and whitewater rapids that is home to wildlife including black bears, bighorn sheep, elk and mountain lions. This is truly one of Colorado’s most treasured landscapes. + +The Wilderness Society worked for decades to get Browns Canyon the permanent protection it deserved, but it was not always easy. The cause enjoyed strong support across the state but repeatedly ran into congressional gridlock. When it was clear this would happen yet again, leaders in Colorado and The Wilderness Society members began to ask President Obama to protect Browns Canyon as a national monument using the Antiquities Act. A 2014 poll showed that 77 percent of Coloradans supported this course of action, and in December, 700 people packed into a public meeting on Browns Canyon’s future, with most attendees supporting monument designation. + +Finally, in July 2015, President Obama designated Browns Canyon as a national monument using the Antiquities Act. Browns Canyon’s new status helps safeguard the more than $55 million per year the area generates in economic activity for the local economy, as well as a wild iconic landscape that is simply invaluable. + +http://wilderness.org/all-new-monuments-you-helped-us-protect-2015 diff --git a/places to go/CO Colorado National Monument.txt b/places to go/CO Colorado National Monument.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..06ecda9 --- /dev/null +++ b/places to go/CO Colorado National Monument.txt @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +Local residents have long campaigned to have the bright red canyons and flat-topped mesas of Colorado National Monument elevated to National Park status, and new legislation introduced last year has renewed the debate. See what all the hype is about on the Monument Canyon Trail, which hits many of the park’s highlights. + +<http://www.backpacker.com/destinations-stories/the-16-best-non-park-national-parks/#bp=0/img13> diff --git a/places to go/ID Craters of the Moon National Monument.txt b/places to go/ID Craters of the Moon National Monument.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..891e326 --- /dev/null +++ b/places to go/ID Craters of the Moon National Monument.txt @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +The view that greeted the first human visitors to what is now southern Idaho was much different than what tourists to Craters of the Moon see today. For thousands of years prior to European settlement, huge volcanic eruptions regularly rocked the landscape. Dozens of cinder cones, enormous open rift cracks, miles of subterranean lava tubes, and 60 different lava flows—the youngest a mere 2,000 years old—are testament to the area’s violent geologic past. An overnight trip to Echo Crater via the Wilderness Trail is a favorite for backpackers. + +<http://www.backpacker.com/destinations-stories/the-16-best-non-park-national-parks/#bp=0/img11> diff --git a/places to go/IL Art Institute of Chicago.txt b/places to go/IL Art Institute of Chicago.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..dbc2248 --- /dev/null +++ b/places to go/IL Art Institute of Chicago.txt @@ -0,0 +1,9 @@ +https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Art_Institute_of_Chicago + +an encyclopedic art museum located in Chicago's Grant Park. It features a collection of Impressionist and Post-Impressionist art in its permanent collection. Its holdings also include American art, Old Masters, European and American decorative arts, Asian art, Islamic art, Ancient classical and Egyptian art, modern and contemporary art, and architecture and industrial and graphic design. In addition, it houses the Ryerson & Burnham Libraries. + +Tracing its history to a free art school and gallery founded in 1866, the museum is located at 111 South Michigan Avenue in the Chicago Landmark Historic Michigan Boulevard District. It is associated with the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and is overseen by Director and President Douglas Druick.[2] It is one of the most visited art museums in the world with about 1.5 million visitors annually (2013), and with one million square feet in eight buildings, it is the second-largest art museum in the United States, after the Metropolitan Museum of Art.[1][3] + +Today, the museum is most famous for its collections of Impressionist, Post-Impressionist, and American paintings. Highlights included in the Impressionist and Post-Impressionist collection include more than 30 paintings by Claude Monet including six of his Haystacks and a number of Water Lilies. Also in the collection are important works by Pierre-Auguste Renoir such as Two Sisters (On the Terrace), and Gustave Caillebotte's Paris Street; Rainy Day. Post-Impressionists include Paul Cézanne's The Basket of Apples, and Madame Cézanne in a Yellow Chair. At the Moulin Rouge by Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec is another highlight. The pointellist masterpiece, which also inspired a musical, Georges Seurat's A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte, is prominently displayed. Additionally, Henri Matisse's Bathers by a River, is an important example of his work. Highlights of non-French paintings of the Impressionist and Post-Impressionist collection include Vincent van Gogh's Bedroom in Arles and Self-portrait, 1887. + +Among the most important works of the American collection are Mary Cassatt's The Child's Bath, Grant Wood's American Gothic, and Edward Hopper's Nighthawks. The Child's Bath (1892), Cassatt's intimate portrayal, unusual for the time, was first exhibited in 1890s Paris and came into the collection in 1910. diff --git a/places to go/IL Pullman National Monument.txt b/places to go/IL Pullman National Monument.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..b8e29f0 --- /dev/null +++ b/places to go/IL Pullman National Monument.txt @@ -0,0 +1,6 @@ +Pullman National Monument (Illinois) + +Pullman National Monument, which comprises a neighborhood of the same name on Chicago’s South Side, commemorates several key moments in African American and labor history. Designed as a planned community for employees of the Pullman Palace Car Company, Pullman first became synonymous with the nascent labor movement in the 1890s, when federal troops clashed here with striking workers. Later, is was home to what is thought to have been the first-ever African-American labor union, the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters, which helped plant the seeds of the mid-20th century civil rights movement. +Flashback: New monuments salute overlooked American history + +In recent years, protecting Pullman to preserve its historic significance became a popular bipartisan cause, and in July 2015, President Obama protected it as a national monument—the first-ever National Park Service unit in the city and one of only a few in the state. diff --git a/places to go/KS Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve.txt b/places to go/KS Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..a84f90f --- /dev/null +++ b/places to go/KS Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve.txt @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +One of the nation’s newest NPS sites, this unique park preserves some of the last remaining tallgrass prairie in North America—and the bison that once roamed the area in the millions. Although backcountry camping is prohibited, dayhikers may still experience the park’s tranquility on over 40 miles of maintained trail. + +<http://www.backpacker.com/destinations-stories/the-16-best-non-park-national-parks/#bp=0/img7> diff --git a/places to go/MI Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore.txt b/places to go/MI Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..4b42911 --- /dev/null +++ b/places to go/MI Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore.txt @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +You don’t need an ocean for stunning beachside hiking. The North Country Trail runs for 42 visually stunning miles along the Lake Superior shoreline through Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore. + +<http://www.backpacker.com/destinations-stories/the-16-best-non-park-national-parks/#bp=0/img5> diff --git a/places to go/MI Rabbit Island.txt b/places to go/MI Rabbit Island.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..59111c4 --- /dev/null +++ b/places to go/MI Rabbit Island.txt @@ -0,0 +1,6 @@ +<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rabbit_Island_%28Michigan%29> + +Rabbit Island (also known as Traverse Island) is a 91-acre (37 ha) island in Lake Superior located 3.5 miles (5.6 km) east of Michigan’s Keweenaw Peninsula. The island is largely uninhabited and protected by a conservation easement which prevents future development. The island is home to the Rabbit Island Residency, which sponsors a number of artists to live on the island during the summer months.[1][2] + +[1]: http://rabbitisland.org/ +[2]: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/08/garden/an-island-for-one-with-room-to-share.html diff --git a/places to go/MN Grand Portage National Monument.txt b/places to go/MN Grand Portage National Monument.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..cd0c16b --- /dev/null +++ b/places to go/MN Grand Portage National Monument.txt @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +During the height of the fur trade, French Canadian voyageurs transported furs by canoe from the Canadian interior to commercial merchants in Montreal. The crux of the journey was an 8.5-mile portage connecting the lake country of southwest Ontario to Lake Superior, where loads were transferred to larger canoes for the trip across the Great Lakes. Relive history by hiking the Grand Portage Trail from Superior to historic Fort Charlotte. + +<http://www.backpacker.com/destinations-stories/the-16-best-non-park-national-parks/#bp=0/img10> diff --git a/places to go/MO Ozark National Scenic Riverways.txt b/places to go/MO Ozark National Scenic Riverways.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..1acd16c --- /dev/null +++ b/places to go/MO Ozark National Scenic Riverways.txt @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +Some of the nation’s largest, most picturesque springs may be found in the Ozark National Scenic Riverways, which protects the Current and Jacks Fork Rivers. Dozens of dayhiking trails dot the map, and over 12 miles of the Ozark Trail pass through the center of the park. + +<http://www.backpacker.com/destinations-stories/the-16-best-non-park-national-parks/#bp=0/img2> diff --git a/places to go/MT gardiner, mt at north entrance.txt b/places to go/MT gardiner, mt at north entrance.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..3040f06 --- /dev/null +++ b/places to go/MT gardiner, mt at north entrance.txt @@ -0,0 +1,84 @@ +--- +title: Gardiner, MT at North Entrance +date: 2015-07-23T01:55:30Z +source: http://www.cheaprvliving.com/blog/entrances-to-yellowstone-np-gardiner-mt-at-north-entrance/ +tags: trip, wyoming, camping + +--- + +![Our Gardiner, MT camp looking south. All the mountains in the picture are in Yellowstone NP. The town is in the valley to the right of us. ][1] + +**Our Gardiner, MT camp looking south. All the mountains in the picture are in Yellowstone NP. The town is in the valley to the right of us. Natural beauty, very little traffic, an abundance of wildlife and a great 4g signal made it one of my favorite camps. ** + +After three days of the nightmare of dealing with the crowds and traffic at Yellowstone, I needed a break! Next up on my agenda was to drive the Beartooth Scenic Byway from the northeast entrance into Yellowstone up to Red Lodge, Montana. I've heard all my life that this was the most beautiful and amazing drive in the whole country so I was really looking forward to it. I needed to spend a few days catching up on website work so I wanted to find a campsite along the way where I could get internet in camp. The most likely looking place was at Gardiner, MT which is at the north entrance into Yellowstone in the Gallatin NF. So I downloaded the MVUM for the Gallatin NF, and sure enough it listed lots of dispersed camping very near town. That's where I was going next! + +![The climb up Travertine Rd. to my campsite.][2] + +**The climb up Travetine Rd. to my campsite.** + +![Gardner Camp][3] + +**Gathering storm at my Gardiner Camp** + +![Rainbow at Gardiner camp.][4] + +**Rainbow at Gardiner camp.** + +After another drive through Yellowstone I arrived in the small but very nice town of Gardiner. Like nearly everything associated with the National Parks it is primarily a tourist trap, and like most northern states, they can't do much road work in the winter so they double-up in the summer. The main road into Yellowstone through Gardiner was all torn up so getting around was more difficult. It's a typical small-town tourist-trap, lots of tourist stuff with many restaurants and gas stations and one small grocery store. As is usual, it was overpriced but not as much as most. I was able to shop without paying too much more than national store prices. + +![You follow the Gardner River from Mammoth Hot Springs in YNP to the town of Gardiner. It's well worth th time to stop and explore the beautiful creek!][5] + +**You follow the Gardner River from Mammoth Hot Springs in YNP to the town of Gardiner. It's well worth the time to stop and explore the beautiful creek!** + +It also had a National Forest Ranger office so I stopped in. My experience in Rangers office is pretty spotty, when you ask them about camping they universally want to send you to a pay campground, but if you then ask about dispersed camping some are helpful and some are not. I get the impression a lot of these Rangers in the offices either don't drive around so they don't know the area, or they simply don't want to help you. I got lucky this time and she was very knowledgeable and helpful about where to camp. One question I ask now is _"Where can I get cell/data signal for my Smartphone?"_ Most Rangers will try to guess, but she knew for sure! So I headed up to the area she told me about. She was right, I got 4g signal the whole way and soon found a nice campsite to settle into for a few days. + +![This beautiful mountain dominated the skyline to the west of my camp at Gardiner, MT][6] + +**This beautiful mountain dominated the skyline to the west of my camp at Gardiner, MT. The town is in the valley below it.** + +It was a very nice camp with big mountains on both sides of me and a nice walk for Cody and I. There were no other campers and only occasional traffic on the road. Elk are everywhere in this area so we had elk very close to camp. It's a perfect base-camp to stay at and make day-trips into Yellowstone. It's only about 5 miles to Mammoth Spring and another 30 miles to the LaMarr Valley which is one of the best places for wildlife with tons of buffalo, elk, antelope and even its own wolf pack. It's also one of the prettiest drives in the park + +![Elk within 75 feet of our camp at Gardiner.][7] + +**Elk within 75 feet of our camp at Gardiner, MT.** + +One other thing we did while we were there was to drive just south of town slightly into Yellowstone and stop and walk along the Gardener River. It's a beautiful little river in a valley full of big trees. Cody loves splashing around in the water and I enjoyed the cool shade and the nice breeze that blows along it. A very pleasant few hours! + +![Looking north from the Gardner River. We were camped part way up the side of the mountain in the distance.][8] + +**Looking north from the Gardner River. We were camped part way up the side of the mountain in the distance.** + +One more thing for this post. The three entrances into Yellowstone from Montana are all in the Gallatin NF. So while I was in the Gallatin NF Rangers office in Gardiner I got a copy of the MVUM for each area. There is an abundance of dispersed camping in the Forest around each, and where you can dispersed camp is clearly marked on the maps. In fact I'm typing this in a dispersed campsite in the Gallatin NF literally looing down at West Yellowstone, MT just about a mile from Yellowstone NP which is at the West entrance. I used the MVUM I picked up at Gardiner to find it. The same thing with Cooke City, MT which is at the northeastern entrance into Yellowstone NP. + +![This is the MVUM of Gallatin NF with Gardiner in it. I've highlighted the road to my campsite. All the roads with dots alongside of them are open to dispersed camping, but the Ranger thought this one was most likely to have internet and not so steep to make finding a camp hard to find. She was right.][9] + +**This is the MVUM of Gallatin NF with Gardiner in it. I've highlighted the road to my campsite. All the roads with dots alongside of them are open to dispersed camping, but the Ranger thought this one was most likely to have internet and not so steep to make finding a camp hard to find. She was right.** + +![A map to the camp.][10] + +A map to the camp. + + + +I highly recommend Gardiner as a base camp to explore YNP! + +![Looking down at the town of Gardiner, MT][11] + +**Looking down at the town of Gardiner, MT** + +![Another shot of the Gardner River.][12] + +**Another shot of the Gardner River.** + +[1]: http://images.cheaprvliving.com/Gardiner-camp-best.jpg +[2]: http://images.cheaprvliving.com/Gardiner-clikmb-rainbow.jpg +[3]: http://images.cheaprvliving.com/galatin-camp-storm.jpg +[4]: http://images.cheaprvliving.com/gallatin-rainbow.jpg +[5]: http://images.cheaprvliving.com/galatin-river-high.jpg +[6]: http://images.cheaprvliving.com/gallatin-mntn-001.jpg +[7]: http://images.cheaprvliving.com/gallatin-camp-elk.jpg +[8]: http://images.cheaprvliving.com/Gallatin-river.jpg +[9]: http://images.cheaprvliving.com/Map-Gardiner-MVUM.jpg +[10]: http://images.cheaprvliving.com/Map-Gardiner-MT.jpg +[11]: http://images.cheaprvliving.com/Gardiner-town.jpg +[12]: http://images.cheaprvliving.com/galatin-rver-rocks.jpg diff --git a/places to go/MX Baja Whale Watching.txt b/places to go/MX Baja Whale Watching.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..5c2b268 --- /dev/null +++ b/places to go/MX Baja Whale Watching.txt @@ -0,0 +1,212 @@ +--- +title: 'Baja California - izaicinajums.com' + +Baja California {.entry-title} +--------------- + +<div class="post-content"> + +[Please scroll down for the English version] + +[](http://izaicinajums.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/blog-20160218-1026-DSC03451.jpg) + +[LV]\ + Otro reizi būt Meksikā ir pavisam citādāk. Baja gan nav “īstā” Meksika, +bet vienalga. Iekšēji vairs nav tā stresa, kas ir sensāciju alkstošo +mediju radīts un mūsos iestādīts. Jā, ir patīkami braukt cauri trakajai +pierobežas satiksmei un raudzīties uz apkārto notiekošo ar samērā +distancētu un atbrīvotu skatienu. Ir patīkami analizēt, kas un kā notiek +bez nepamatotām bailēm, kas mūsos ir ieliktas un kurām statistiski nav +pamata. + +Meksika ir interesanta valsts. Vai mums tā līdz galam patīk?! Grūti +teikt. Mēs noteikti gribētu izbraukāt to visu, lai varētu formulēt +pilnīgu viedokli. Nevis tādu, kas izdzirdot vārdu Meksika bailēs liek +kliegt un teikt, ka tur ir tikai vardarbība, narkotikas un līķi uz katra +stūra. Tā nav. Meksika ir pavisam citāda. To nevar raksturot divos +teikumos, ne paragrāfos. Tāpēc ir interesanti atgriezties un iepazīt to +arvien vairāk. + +[EN]\ + It’s very different to be in Mexico second time around. Baja is not +exactly “real” Mexico, but close enough. It was great not having that +internal stress, that is implanted in us by sensation hungry western +media. Yes, it was fun to drive through the crazy border town traffic, +look around and enjoy everything that is happening with care free state +of mind. It’s great to be able to analyze things happening around you +without a fear. Fear that have been “given” to us by western world, +without a sound arguments or statistical evidence. + +Mexico is interesting country. Do we really like it?! Hard to tell. We +sure know that we would want to explore more of it in order to have a +point of view about this country that is based on first hand experience. +Not one that is based on fears and associates word Mexico with drugs, +violence and dead bodies on every corner. That’s not what Mexico is. +It’s different. It’s hard to describe it in few sentences or paragraphs. +And because of that it’s quite interesting to come back and explore more +of it every time. + +[](http://izaicinajums.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/blog-20160218-1631-DSC09568.jpg) + +[](http://izaicinajums.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/blog-20160219-0901-DSC09584.jpg) + +[LV]\ + Kad devāmies ceļā iepriekšējā reizē mūsu lielākās problēmas bija +saistītas ar to, ka mums nav gana daudz privātās vietas iekš Astrīdas. +Tagad tas jautājums ir atrisināts, papildus tam mums ir arī ledusskapis +un iespēja gatavot iekšā. Nu kā pie buržujiem. :) + +[EN]\ + Last time when we were on road, our biggest problem was lack of private +space in the van. We have that problem no more. Additionally to that we +have fridge and can cook inside. Fancy! :) + +[](http://izaicinajums.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/blog-20160219-1659-DSC03476.jpg) + +[](http://izaicinajums.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/blog-20160219-1713-DSC03480.jpg) + +[](http://izaicinajums.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/blog-20160220-1459-DSC03482.jpg) + +[](http://izaicinajums.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/blog-20160220-1509-DSC09653.jpg) + +[](http://izaicinajums.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/blog-20160220-1518-DSC03514.jpg) + +[](http://izaicinajums.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/blog-20160220-1525-DSC03529.jpg) + +[](http://izaicinajums.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/blog-20160220-1725-DSC03543.jpg) + +[LV]\ + Baja ir pāris lietas, kas mums stāv prātā un ar ko tā mums asociējās – +fantastiski saulrieti un tumšas debesis. Otrais ir tāpēc, ka pussala ir +visnotaļ neapdzīvota, ja neskaita ziemeļu un dienvidu galus. Ir jāredz, +lai izjustu. ;) + +[EN]\ + Baja in our minds is associated with couple things – fantastic sunsets +and dark sky. Later is because peninsula is mostly inhabited in north +and south ends. One should see it, to feel and enjoy how beautiful those +two things are over here. + +[](http://izaicinajums.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/blog-20160220-1731-DSC09692.jpg) + +[](http://izaicinajums.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/blog-20160220-1733-DSC03550.jpg) + +[LV]\ + Iepriekšējo reiz mūsu ceļš uz dienvidiem veda gar krastu, šoreiz +nolēmām braukt pa daudz populārāko galveno lielceļu. Tas šķērso +iespaidīgus kaktusu un milzīgu akmeņu laukus. Patīkama iespēja atklāt +kaut ko jaunu, nemaz pat neplānojot to. + +[EN]\ + Year and a bit back our road south through Baja led via coastal route, +this time we decided to take more popular approach – main highway. It +goes through some incredible cacti and boulder fields. Really nice to +discover new things without even planning on doing that. + +[](http://izaicinajums.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/blog-20160221-0955-DSC03558.jpg) + +[](http://izaicinajums.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/blog-20160221-0956-DSC03564.jpg) + +[](http://izaicinajums.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/blog-20160221-1016-DSC03591.jpg) + +[](http://izaicinajums.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/blog-20160221-1017-DSC03592.jpg) + +[](http://izaicinajums.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/blog-20160221-1123-DSC03600.jpg) + +[](http://izaicinajums.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/blog-20160221-1125-DSC03606.jpg) + +[](http://izaicinajums.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/blog-20160221-1127-DSC09824.jpg) + +[](http://izaicinajums.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/blog-20160221-1129-DSC03611.jpg) + +[](http://izaicinajums.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/blog-20160221-1140-DSC03618.jpg) + +[](http://izaicinajums.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/blog-20160221-1146-DSC09848.jpg) + +[LV]\ + Sākotnēji var likties, ka Baja ir maziņa, tomēr galu galā brauciens no +viena gala līdz otram ir apmēram 1600km. Apdzīvoti galvenokārt ir abi +pussalas gali un pa vidu ir pat tukšais posms, kur apmēram 350km garā +ceļa gabalā nav neviena benzīntanka. Vietējie ir sapratuši, ka tā ir +iespēja piepelnīties, un to nevajag laist garām. ;) + +[EN]\ + Baja can appear rather small, but in reality its 1000mi/1600km from one +end to another. Mostly inhabited on the ends of it, there is even one +200mi/350km empty stretch without a gas station. Locals have figured it +out and are taking full advantage, why not!? ;) + +[](http://izaicinajums.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/blog-20160221-1330-DSC03634.jpg) + +[](http://izaicinajums.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/blog-20160222-1357-DSC09885.jpg) + +[](http://izaicinajums.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/blog-20160222-1657-DSC09894.jpg) + +[LV]\ + Lai gan sākotnēji neko tādu nebijām plānojuši, nonākot Guerrero Negro +(melanis karēvis) pilsētā viens no mūsu kempinga kaimiņiem ieminējās, ka +netālu esot cits, lielisks kempings, kurā no krasta varot vērot vaļus +un, ka šobrīd esot īstā sezona. Daudz nedomājot nolēmām, ka dosimies uz +turieni nākošajā dienā. + +Iebraucot kempingā, konstatējām, ka par vaļu trūkumu tiešām sūdzēties +nevar. To, ka kāds ņemas tuvāk vai tālāk no krasta varēja manīt katru +brīdi. Protams, sākotnēji nebijām plānojuši un pat ļoti domājuši par +iespēju kāpt laivā un doties tos apskatīt. Tiesa tas mainījās brīdī, kad +sapratām, ka šī ir unikāla iespēja, un to neizmantot būtu grēks. Sacīts +– darīts. Līdz tūrēm vajadzēja gan pagaidīt līdz nākošās dienas rītam, +tomēr tas pienāca ātri. + +Ņemot vērā, ka mūsu līdzšinējā pieredze vaļu vērošanā bija tieši 0, +nebija skaidrības par to kāds ir process. Bija tikai cerība, ka vaļi +šeit netiek trenkāti un izmantoti kā tīrā naudas mašīna. Mums par +prieku, tas tiešām nenotika. Vaļu bija liels daudzums un gids piebrauca +un nostājās to tuvumā. Daži neizrādīja nekādu interesi un vienkārši +aizpeldēja tālāk. Savukārt citi bija pat ļoti ieinteresēti. Tie peldēja +ap un zem laivas, nāca apskatīt un apošņāt tās dīvainās radības, kas ir +laivā un pat stūma savus mazuļus augšā, kā apskates objektu. + +Pusotra stunda palidoja vēja spārniem un paliks mums atmiņā kā lieliska +šī piedzīvojuma sastāvdaļa. ;) + +[EN]\ + We had no plan for an type of touristy things on our way down, but when +we reach Guerrero Negro guy who was parked next to us in campground told +about another campground. Campground that is located on the coast and +allows you to watch whales from campspot. Whales?! Cool! And it’s the +high season. Without thinking a lot we headed that way next day. + +As we arrived in campsite it was clear – there is lots of whales out in +the water. You could see at least one splashing around or coming up all +the time. Of course, initially we didn’t think about getting a boat, but +as we watched them more and more, we understood that this is a great +opportunity that shouldn’t be missed. However we had to wait until the +next morning as there was too much wind and it was late in a day +already. Nigh went by really fast… + +To us, all of it was totally new. We have never done whale watching, and +we were not sure what the process is going to be like. We just hopped +that they don’t harass whales in order to get money out of gringos. As +it turned out there was nothing like that. Our guide parked boat nearby +the whales – some of them didn’t care about us and just swam by. Some +however were very interested. They swam under and around the boat, came +to look at these weird creatures in the boat and even pushed their +offspring up for us to look at it. Very cool! + +Hour and half flew by in a heartbeat and this experience will stay in +our minds as one of the trips highlights. ;) + +[](http://izaicinajums.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/blog-20160223-0913-DSC03655.jpg) + +[](http://izaicinajums.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/blog-20160223-0933-DSC03691.jpg) + +[](http://izaicinajums.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/blog-20160223-0946-DSC09931.jpg) + +[](http://izaicinajums.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/blog-20160223-0952-DSC03731.jpg) + +[](http://izaicinajums.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/blog-20160223-1016-DSC03763.jpg) + +[](http://izaicinajums.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/blog-20160223-1036-DSC09977.jpg) + +[](http://izaicinajums.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/blog-20160223-1046-DSC03774.jpg) + diff --git a/places to go/MX Sayulita longboard fest may 4-7.txt b/places to go/MX Sayulita longboard fest may 4-7.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..1b90211 --- /dev/null +++ b/places to go/MX Sayulita longboard fest may 4-7.txt @@ -0,0 +1 @@ +http://www.korduroy.tv/2016/mexi-log-fest/ diff --git a/places to go/NM - festival of cranes.txt b/places to go/NM - festival of cranes.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..e908a2e --- /dev/null +++ b/places to go/NM - festival of cranes.txt @@ -0,0 +1,22 @@ +--- +title: Festival of the Cranes +date: 2017-06-04T11:34:12Z +source: https://www.socorronm.org/events/festival-cranes/ +tags: nature, trip + +--- + + +Date(s): +Tuesday November 14, 2017 - Sunday November 19, 2017 + +Time: +All Day + +Location: +Bosque del Apache + +The 28th Annual Festival of the Cranes is a celebration of the winter migration of the sandhill cranes to the Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge. Avid birders from around the world flock to the Refuge to view the spectacular exhibit of fowl. + +For peak viewing arrive at the Refuge thirty minutes before sunrise and witness the huge array of roosting birds set out for their day of foraging. Head back in the afternoon about thirty minutes before sunset to watch the birds return from their hard day of work. + diff --git a/places to go/NM Bandelier National Monument.txt b/places to go/NM Bandelier National Monument.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..4731034 --- /dev/null +++ b/places to go/NM Bandelier National Monument.txt @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +Human habitation in the canyons of Bandelier National Monument dates to over 11,000 years ago. Some of the most intact Pueblo ruins in the country may be found here, and many of the smaller sites may only be accessed via the park’s 70-mile long trail system. See the highlights on an overnight backpack trip through Capulin Canyon. + +<http://www.backpacker.com/destinations-stories/the-16-best-non-park-national-parks/#bp=0/img16> diff --git a/places to go/NM Giant Roadrunner in Las Cruses.txt b/places to go/NM Giant Roadrunner in Las Cruses.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..2e0b604 --- /dev/null +++ b/places to go/NM Giant Roadrunner in Las Cruses.txt @@ -0,0 +1 @@ +http://www.roadsideamerica.com/tip/1975 diff --git a/places to go/NM Magdalena Mountains water canyon road.txt b/places to go/NM Magdalena Mountains water canyon road.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..d5cff1e --- /dev/null +++ b/places to go/NM Magdalena Mountains water canyon road.txt @@ -0,0 +1,9 @@ +https://www.google.com/maps/search/Water+Canyon+Rd,+NM/@34.0253574,-107.1313968,101m/data=fshowm1lse3 + +My first stop got off to a rocky start, and a long day of traveling had taken its toll. After flying into El Paso I drove over 3 hours north to the Magdalena Mountains in west-central New Mexico, where I arrived shortly before sunset. The conditions seemed promising as I hastily drove as far and high as the dirt road would take me. Then I ran to the summit of South Baldy only to be greeted by a thick wall of fog that quickly consumed the entire range. + +I wasn’t able to take many photographs on the first evening, but the inclement weather gave me a chance to acquaint myself with the subtle beauty of the area without having to experience it all through my viewfinder. Dozens of well-established trails offer great opportunities for exploration as they spread throughout this isolated range’s widely varied habitat. + +The next morning my luck was much better. Dynamic patches of fog intermittently rolled over green ponderosa ridges to punctuate a colorful sunrise. Between windows of clouds I could see for what seemed like forever into New Mexico’s vast, open plains. Just as quickly as the sun came up, it was time for me to move on to my next location. + +source: http://wilderness.org/photographic-tour-through-some-new-mexico%E2%80%99s-unprotected-hidden-gems diff --git a/places to go/NM Organ Mountains.txt b/places to go/NM Organ Mountains.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..3e268c1 --- /dev/null +++ b/places to go/NM Organ Mountains.txt @@ -0,0 +1,8 @@ +https://www.google.com/maps/place/Organ+Mountains,+New+Mexico+88011/@32.325059,-106.5714401,6352m/data=!3m1!1e3!4m2!3m1!1s0x86de1ff37a7b806b:0x4b407fd7f53c4afd!6m1!1e1 + + + +In May 2014 the Organ Mountains were designated as a national monument, protecting this unique area for future generations. While traveling through Las Cruces, I decided to take a quick detour to shoot the sunset at these jagged peaks. This was one of the most photogenic areas I’ve had the privilege of shooting in quite some time. + + +source: http://wilderness.org/photographic-tour-through-some-new-mexico%E2%80%99s-unprotected-hidden-gems diff --git a/places to go/NM Otero Mesa desert.txt b/places to go/NM Otero Mesa desert.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..ca903bb --- /dev/null +++ b/places to go/NM Otero Mesa desert.txt @@ -0,0 +1,9 @@ +https://www.google.com/maps/place/Otero+Mesa,+New+Mexico/@32.4126447,-106.0224392,51599m/data=!3m1!1e3!4m2!3m1!1s0x86e0ddfb7f4f771b:0x30510d0c076b761 + +At first I thought open grasslands would be drab, but I couldn’t have been more wrong about Otero Mesa, an area we’re trying to protect near the Texas-New Mexico border. It was immediately clear to me that this area is truly wild. In a single day we saw more wildlife than I had seen all year: pronghorns, desert box turtles, four species of snakes (including a Western diamondback rattlesnake, pictured below), countless birds of prey (including the endangered aplomado falcon) and so much more. + +The remnants of Otero Mesa’s prehistoric cultures can still be seen today. The area’s salt deposits made it a major Native American hub for various tribes dating back 10,000 years. Standing at the foot of Alamo Mountain, it was easy to imagine myself in an ancient setting. The view stretched on forever in all directions, and it would have been an ideal spot to watch for game or encroaching enemies. I stood there with a sense of solitude that I never imagined I would find on flat, open grasslands. + +Not even the dreariest of lighting conditions could put a damper on my Otero Mesa experience. I was already sold on this magical location before the overcast day gave way to a picture-perfect rainbow and an explosive sunset. It was as if the mesa was showing off to prove that it is indeed worthy of being permanently protected. + +source: http://wilderness.org/photographic-tour-through-some-new-mexico%E2%80%99s-unprotected-hidden-gems diff --git a/places to go/NM San Mateo Mountains.txt b/places to go/NM San Mateo Mountains.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..9ab4759 --- /dev/null +++ b/places to go/NM San Mateo Mountains.txt @@ -0,0 +1,9 @@ +https://www.google.com/maps/place/San+Mateo+Mountains,+New+Mexico+87825/@33.7186029,-107.4681276,1575m/data=!3m1!1e3!4m2!3m1!1s0x8720f1969a81db9d:0x98e78a7282664fa3 + +After tumbling more than 30 miles up a jeep road and into the mountains, I arrived at the lookout station on the top of Mount Withington. I hadn’t seen a single other person all day, and the expansive 360 degree view added greatly to the sweet sense of solitude. It was that quintessential feeling that keeps me chasing wilderness time and time again. Sweeping grasslands stood between me and the Magdalenas, some 20 miles to the northwest, where I stood just a few hours before. + +There were some challenges in finding an unobstructed view beneath the summit since the ridgeline was so heavily wooded, but every opening I found in the piñon and juniper revealed subtle rolling contours that slowly shifted with the passing of the afternoon sun. Portions of the San Mateos are currently designated wilderness, but this vast mountain range still has large areas that warrant protection. + +Another 20 miles down the jeep road I began to descend out of the mountains. The transition zone between forest and grassland offered some of the best views and the most interesting vegetation. I could have easily spent several days exploring this area, but it was time to make the haul back to Las Cruces before heading out on the next adventure. + +source: http://wilderness.org/photographic-tour-through-some-new-mexico%E2%80%99s-unprotected-hidden-gems diff --git a/places to go/NV Basin and Range National Monument.txt b/places to go/NV Basin and Range National Monument.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..3b14848 --- /dev/null +++ b/places to go/NV Basin and Range National Monument.txt @@ -0,0 +1,5 @@ +President Obama officially designated Basin and Range National Monument in July 2015 to protect natural and cultural treasures as well as a wealth of outdoor recreation opportunities just a few hours’ drive from Las Vegas. + +And there was a lot to protect. The monument designation included two of the most pristine valleys in the broader, Great Basin region, which covers most of Nevada, as well as corridors connecting the surrounding mountain ranges. The area provides habitat for dozens of imperiled or exotic wildlife species, including greater sage-grouse, the rare pygmy rabbit, bighorn sheep, kit fox and a variety of bats. Plants in this vital ecosystem include ancient bristlecone and ponderosa pine and the White River catseye, a desert plant found only in Nevada. It should come as no surprise that Basin and Range is beloved by Nevadans and visitors alike who crave opportunities to hike, camp, hunt, bike and rock-climb on its rugged contours—or simply get away for some peace and quiet. + +https://www.google.com/maps/place/Basin+and+Range+National+Monument/@37.931624,-115.3837893,11980m/data=!3m1!1e3!4m2!3m1!1s0x80b772422bd4114f:0x6b8a7711daa01aa6!6m1!1e1 diff --git a/places to go/NV Stump Spring.txt b/places to go/NV Stump Spring.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..1494dc1 --- /dev/null +++ b/places to go/NV Stump Spring.txt @@ -0,0 +1,7 @@ +https://www.google.com/maps/place/Stump+Spring,+Nevada/@35.9835958,-115.8321037,3084m/data=!3m1!1e3!4m2!3m1!1s0x80c61a3c8f805115:0xda2c6052fbb7ee9f + +The first stop on my itinerary was Amargosa Canyon, just across the California border from Las Vegas. A series of minor travel delays quickly accumulated, and by the time I was finally leaving Vegas it was clear that I wouldn’t make it to my planned destination for sunset. Luckily, there was still just enough time for plan B—twilight photos at Stump Spring. + +Stump Spring is an area we're working to protect on the western border of Nevada. While it wasn't on my original itinerary, it seemed a suitable first stop as the gateway to the California desert. These areas are all interconnected—regardless of state or management boundaries—and that notion became abundantly clear with each new destination. + +<http://wilderness.org/photographic-tour-through-californias-desert-treasures> diff --git a/places to go/NationalParks-WhenToGoChart.jpg b/places to go/NationalParks-WhenToGoChart.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..e7cbe75 --- /dev/null +++ b/places to go/NationalParks-WhenToGoChart.jpg diff --git a/places to go/OR Owyhee Canyonlands.txt b/places to go/OR Owyhee Canyonlands.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..0aa0ff5 --- /dev/null +++ b/places to go/OR Owyhee Canyonlands.txt @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +http://wilderness.org/can-we-save-america%E2%80%99s-largest-parcel-wild-unprotected-public-land-lower-48 + +In southeast Oregon’s Owyhee Canyonlands, greater sage-grouse and bighorn sheep roam a remote landscape of red-rock canyons and untamed rivers. This is one of the wildest stretches of land in the lower 48 states—but it is increasingly threatened by intrusions like mining and oil and gas operations. diff --git a/places to go/TX Alibates Flint Quarries National Monument.txt b/places to go/TX Alibates Flint Quarries National Monument.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..3186187 --- /dev/null +++ b/places to go/TX Alibates Flint Quarries National Monument.txt @@ -0,0 +1,26 @@ +--- +title: Things To Do - Alibates Flint Quarries National Monument (U.S. National Park Service) +date: 2010-05-14T20:28:21Z +source: http://www.nps.gov/alfl/planyourvisit/things2do.htm +tags: camping, national_parks + +--- + +![corn beans][1] + +Native American demonstration garden with plants such as corn, beans, squash, and melons. + +NPS Photo + +Outside, you may visit the **[Alibates Interpretive Garden**][2]** or take a 10-minute self-guided hike in the ****[Mesquite Trail**][3]**, which winds around a small mesa adjacent to the garden. + +Other nearby areas of interest include **McBride Canyon** and ****[Mullinaw Trails** area][4]**, both accessible by turning onto Cas Johnson Road from Highway 136, then turning left at the large sign that says "McBride Canyon." (The Mullinaw area lies several miles beyond McBride Canyon and is accessible only by an unpaved and rough road that can be muddy after rain. **Proceed with extreme caution.**)To reach the Mullinaw Trails, stay on main dirt road and continue in southwesterly direction when road forks. + +Other things to do in the immediate area include driving a short distance from the contact station to **Bates Canyon**, site of an old Lake Meredith boat ramp. Here you can view a now-dry section of the lake bed and look for wildlife in the heavy undergrowth at the foot of the boat ramp. + +You also may take the paved road that goes past the Alibates parking lot. The two-mile road winds up and over several mesas, giving some interesting views of the landscape and the monument from a distance. You also may choose to turn on **Dolomite Point Road** (marked with a small wooden sign), and take a dirt road to see additional views of the area, including a "chimney" formation (dirt road will fork -- take left-hand fork). **CAUTION: Dolomite Point Road is unpaved, rough, and potentially muddy in damp weather. Proceed with extreme caution.** + +[1]: http://www.nps.gov/alfl/planyourvisit/images/corn-beans_1.jpg "corn beans" +[2]: http://www.nps.gov/alfl/planyourvisit/upload/alibates-gardens-2012.pdf +[3]: http://www.nps.gov/alfl/planyourvisit/upload/Mesquite-Trail-2012.pdf +[4]: http://www.nps.gov/alfl/planyourvisit/upload/Mullinaw-Trails-Brochure-2012.pdf diff --git a/places to go/TX Caprock Canyon.txt b/places to go/TX Caprock Canyon.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..ae29473 --- /dev/null +++ b/places to go/TX Caprock Canyon.txt @@ -0,0 +1 @@ +http://tpwd.texas.gov/state-parks/caprock-canyons diff --git a/places to go/Tx bolivar flats Galveston.txt b/places to go/Tx bolivar flats Galveston.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..e69de29 --- /dev/null +++ b/places to go/Tx bolivar flats Galveston.txt diff --git a/places to go/UT Bears Ears.txt b/places to go/UT Bears Ears.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..d1a586b --- /dev/null +++ b/places to go/UT Bears Ears.txt @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +The region of Utah known as “Bears Ears” is home to spectacular wild landscapes and more than 100,000 archaeological and historic sites, including Ice Age hunting camps, cliff dwellings, prehistoric villages and rock art panels of ancestral Puebloan peoples. The region is still vital to the ceremonial lives of Native Americans and it is a big draw for outdoors enthusiasts. Despite all this, oil and gas companies are pressing to explore the region, so efforts are ramping up to permanently protect Bears Ears. The region was one of six “Too Wild to Drill” spots highlighted in The Wilderness Society’s recent report. Learn more. + +https://www.google.com/maps/place/Bears+Ears,+Utah/@37.6300105,-109.8763863,3020m/data=!3m2!1e3!4b1!4m2!3m1!1s0x87379e6d40e01b2b:0x17b2b1e7dec4d106!6m1!1e1 diff --git a/places to go/UT Dinosaur National Monument.txt b/places to go/UT Dinosaur National Monument.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..61e8fc0 --- /dev/null +++ b/places to go/UT Dinosaur National Monument.txt @@ -0,0 +1 @@ +Rent jeep to get into Green Yampa junction diff --git a/places to go/UT route 12 the journey through time scenic byway.txt b/places to go/UT route 12 the journey through time scenic byway.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..fcc03b6 --- /dev/null +++ b/places to go/UT route 12 the journey through time scenic byway.txt @@ -0,0 +1,103 @@ +--- +title: The Journey Through Time Scenic ByWay +date: 2015-06-15T18:55:38Z +source: http://www.cheaprvliving.com/blog/visiting-bryce-canyon-np-through-route-12-the-journey-through-time-scenic-byway/ +tags: trip + +--- + +![One of many canyons carved out of the White Sandstone along Route 12.][1] + +**One of many canyons carved out of the White Sandstone along Route 12.** + +After a day in Capital Reef NP I moved on to Bryce NP via Route 12 south from the little town of Torrey, UT. It's officially know as the Journey Through Time Scenic Byway and it is a fantastic drive offering an amazing variety of different terrain! I believe it's one of the most extraordinary drives in the country. Even though it isn't classically beautiful, it is so unusual you could almost call it other-worldly. + +![Calf Creek recreation area.][2] + +**Calf Creek recreation area.** + +You travel from Capital Reef NP to Bryce Canyon NP and pass through two different National Forests and Grand Staircase Escalante National Monument ([**http://www.visitutah.com/places-to-go/most-visited-parks/grand-staircase-escalante ][3]**). You also pass through beautiful red rock country, and have numerous overlooks over vast distances of Capital Reef and further south over White Sandstone. Be warned though, at the Hogback Pass you are on one of the narrowest highways in the country and it isn't for the faint of heart. For more information on the Byway go here: ** <http://www.utah.com/byways/highway_12.htm>** + +The first thing you do is climb high into the Dixie National Forest over a 9400 foot pass where there was still snow on the ground and the Aspen trees were just starting to bud. As you probably noticed in the pictures from Capital Reef, the spring weather continued to be more bad than good and it was dark and dreary as I traversed the Dixie NF. Plus the trees were just starting to bloom so I don't have any pictures I think are any good from it, but it is a very pretty NF with plenty of dispersed camping. + +![One of many canyons along Route 12.][4] + +**One of many canyons along Route 12.** + +On the south side of the NF you drop down into a huge area of rolling White Sandstone with many deep, dramatic canyons cut through it. Very shortly you come to the Hogback where the road passes between two steep canyons. At it's narrowest point there is less than two feet from the edge of the pavement and a sharp drop-off into the canyon below. Fortunately, there are several paces to pull over and enjoy the awesome view. + +![The Hogback is a very narrow stretch of road with deep canyons on both sides just a few feet from the blacktop.][5] + +**The Hogback is a very narrow stretch of road with deep canyons on both sides just a few feet from the blacktop. I climbed up on top of the van to take this picture.** + +After you leave the Hogback you drop fairly steeply through numerous curves to Calf Creek Recreation Area. The whole drive is very pretty and Calf Creek is well worth stopping at and hiking. Years ago Homer and I hiked back to Calf Creek Falls and it was a great hike to a gorgeous waterfall and picnic area. I didn't have time to hike it this trip because I was just passing through, but I'm planning on hiking it later in the year. There is a campground there, but there is so much dispersed camping in the area I wouldn't even consider it. Just north of the Hogback you can drive down any one of the roads and camp. + +![The pictures don't do it justice so I walked up to the narrowest spot and took a picture of the both sides. This is the right side, you can see there is very little shoulder before it drops off very steeply.][6] + +**The pictures don't do it justice so I walked up to the narrowest spot and took a picture of the both sides. This is the right side, you can see there is very little shoulder before it drops off very steeply.** + +![The left side is just as steep and just as close to the road. It's not for the faint of heart!][7] + +**The left side is just as steep and just as close to the road. It's not for the faint of heart!** + +The next stunning spot is Head of Rocks Overlook which has a breathtaking view but is hard to photograph. Eventually you enter the Grand Escalante National Monument and it's headquarters at the town of Escalante, Utah. There are numerous Backcounty Byways in the area but the only one I've driven is Cottonwood Canyon which cuts south to 89 near Page, Az. It's an easy drive and well worth the time. Any car can drive it unless it rains and then nothing can move on it. + +![12-Overlook][8] + +**The road is hard to see, but it enters at the upper right edge, makes three "S" curves ,and leaves at the upper left edge.** + +From Escalante you continue on to Bryce Canyon NP which is at 8500 feet and in a very pretty forest so it's a very comfortable temperature in the summer, but cold in winter. I got there late in the day and hadn't been online for awhile so I took advantage of the good Verizon 4g signal and was online for a few hours. By then it was raining again so I headed out to find a campsite. I've camped here a few times before so I knew exactly where I wanted to camp along the East Fork Sevier Scenic Backway. **<http://www.brycecanyoncountry.com/east-fork-sevier-river-scenic-backway/>** + +![My camp in the woods above Byrce NP.][9] + +**My camp in the woods above Byrce NP. The Verizon tower was on that hill in the middle of the picture–I had an excellent 4g signal.** + +![The view toward Bryce from the top of the NF road.][10] + +**The view toward Bryce from the top of the NF road.** + +To get to my camp, when you leave Bryce NP you turn left (west) and drive just a few miles when you come to a turnoff to the left (south) which is clearly marked as the East Fork Sevier River. You'll know it's coming because just before it is an ATV rental and Wildlife Museum. The road goes south to a lake but I've never gone that far. You can actually disperse camp right on the river but they are in designated sites and probably crowded so I've never camped there. Instead I always go past the information signs and take the first Forest Road I come to to the left and climb high up into the Dixie National Forest. As long as the road is dry any car can take it but there are a limited number of campsites because the forest is thick. Once you get on top there are many more and you also get great Verizon 4g internet. + +![Bryce Canyon.][11] + +**Bryce Canyon.** + +The next day had poor weather again so I stayed in camp and caught up on the websites and the books I'm working on. It was so beautiful and I had great internet I was tempted to spend a week or two there, but I've got a lot of ground to cover this summer so I only spent two nights. The next morning I went into Bryce NP, took some pictures and headed west to 89 and then north towards the many mountains passes around Salt Lake City. + +![Bryce-tree-hanging][12] + +**Bryce Canyon is eroding a few feet every century and as it disappears it leaves the roots of the trees that grow on it's sides exposed as you can see in this tree.** + +Just another few more miles on your way west on Scenic Byway 12 you drive through Red Canyon which is also in the Dixie NF and it is a beautiful place to visit. I've hiked and taken pictures there before so I just drove through and snapped these few shots. It also has a campground but with all the great dispersed camping in the area, I see no reason to pay for camping. Red Canyon really adds to the trip to Bryce NP, which is something of a a "one-hit-wonder." The Canyon is truly beautiful, but once you've seen it, you've seen all it has. + +![The drive through Red Canyon.][13] + +**The drive through Red Canyon. The pictures don't do justice to how deeply red it actually is. ** + +So that's it for southern Utah on this trip, on my next post we'll start in on the mountain passes in the Wasatch and Uinta Ranges east of Salt Lake City. + +![The van in Red Canyon.][14] + +**The van in Red Canyon.** + + + +![A tunnel in Red Canyon.][15] + +**A tunnel in Red Canyon.** + +[1]: http://images.cheaprvliving.com/12-canyon-001.jpg +[2]: http://images.cheaprvliving.com/12-calf-creek.jpg +[3]: http://www.visitutah.com/places-to-go/most-visited-parks/grand-staircase-escalante +[4]: http://images.cheaprvliving.com/12-Canyon-wht-sndstn.jpg +[5]: http://images.cheaprvliving.com/12-hogback-best.jpg +[6]: http://images.cheaprvliving.com/12-hoback-right-best.jpg +[7]: http://images.cheaprvliving.com/12-hogback-left-side.jpg +[8]: http://images.cheaprvliving.com/12-Overlook.jpg +[9]: http://images.cheaprvliving.com/Bryce-camp.jpg +[10]: http://images.cheaprvliving.com/Bryce-glowing-red-rock-001.jpg +[11]: http://images.cheaprvliving.com/Bryce-wide-best.jpg +[12]: http://images.cheaprvliving.com/Bryce-tree-hanging.jpg +[13]: http://images.cheaprvliving.com/Bryce-rd-cnyn-best-use.jpg +[14]: http://images.cheaprvliving.com/Bryce-RC-van-use.jpg +[15]: http://images.cheaprvliving.com/Bryce-rd-cnyn-2.jpg diff --git a/places to go/WA Gifford Pinchot National Forest.txt b/places to go/WA Gifford Pinchot National Forest.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..91874ab --- /dev/null +++ b/places to go/WA Gifford Pinchot National Forest.txt @@ -0,0 +1,11 @@ + +Highlighted by the Mount St. Helens National Volcanic Monument, Gifford Pinchot National Forest is known for its unusual landscape, which includes [tunnels and caverns formed in eons-old cooling lava][9]. The 2.5-mile-long [Ape Cave is an especially popular tourist attraction][10], and a section of the Pacific Crest Trail makes the forest [a popular destination for hikers][11]. + +Gifford Pinchot National Forest's many rivers, lakes and streams contain a variety of fish like chinook salmon, coho salmon, steelhead trout, cutthroat trout and rainbow trout. Terrestrial species include elk, black bear, mountain goats, and bobcats. + +source: https://wilderness.org/11-america%E2%80%99s-greatest-national-forests + +[9]: http://www.fs.usda.gov/detail/mountsthelens/about-forest/?cid=STELPRDB5142976 +[10]: http://www.ohranger.com/gifford-pinchot-natl-forest +[11]: http://www.fs.usda.gov/attmain/giffordpinchot/specialplaces + diff --git a/places to go/WA san juan islands smugglers cove.txt b/places to go/WA san juan islands smugglers cove.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..8768d20 --- /dev/null +++ b/places to go/WA san juan islands smugglers cove.txt @@ -0,0 +1,13 @@ +--- +title: Bad Request +date: 2016-04-15T15:32:55Z +source: http://sanjuanislands.kulshan.com/Washington/San%20Juan%20County/Cypress%20Island/Outdoors/Smugglers%20Cove.htm +tags: trip + +--- + +## Bad Request + +* * * + +HTTP Error 400. The request is badly formed.
\ No newline at end of file diff --git a/places to go/WV into the quiet zone an american county living entirely off the grid.txt b/places to go/WV into the quiet zone an american county living entirely off the grid.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..9c37074 --- /dev/null +++ b/places to go/WV into the quiet zone an american county living entirely off the grid.txt @@ -0,0 +1,120 @@ +--- +title: An American county living entirely off the grid +date: 2015-12-02T14:46:01Z +source: http://www.huckmagazine.com/art-and-culture/photography-2/quiet-zone/ +tags: trip + +--- + +Forewarning from innkeeper Larry Garretson: "There are very few restaurants in Pocahontas County and they all close by 6pm, so make sure you eat tonight before entering the Quiet Zone." + +I opt for a graffiti-strewn wooden booth at High's diner in Monterey, Virginia. And while I wait for my early-bird burger and fries, I scroll through my iPhone and re-check my route; through the valleys of the Allegheny Mountains, over the stateline and deep into a secluded pocket of West Virginia. Thank the Lord, as they say, for Google Maps. + +On the densely forested Highway 250, the frontier spirit of the American Civil War springs to life. Pocahontas County, rooted as it is in family values and the wishes of God, once provided shelter for First Nation folk who had a healthy distrust of government. A hundred years on, the area's linear topography of steep ravines provides a new type of shelter, one free from any form of radio-frequency interference. + +![HuckOfflineFinal_EmileHolba-3][1] + +As a portrait and documentary photographer, I've been lucky to travel on assignment to some truly remote locations, where mobile reception is frustratingly expensive or slow. But with some persistence I always manage to get online. It feels vital, for some reason, to 'connect'. Curious of a life offline, I started seeking out a new kind of remote. A place free from society's latest addiction; a sanctuary of unconnected respite. Somewhere I could not use my phone. All investigations led to the National Radio Quiet Zone (NRQZ) in West Virginia, where I find myself without reception today. + +Covering a colossal 13,000 square miles, the NRQZ was established by the US Government in 1954 as a means of refining the new and exciting science of radio astronomy. Today, it is home to one of the world's most powerful monitoring stations: the National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NRAO) in Green Bank. Boasting a gigantic antenna – an area of 2.3 acres, rising 500 feet high – the Green Bank Telescope looks pretty sci fi. It is in fact the largest moveable object on Earth. And the precious data it receives allows astronomical research as far back as a few milliseconds after the Big Bang, to a period known as the Epic of Reionization, when the very first elements of life were formed. The energy released from this era has travelled over thirteen billions years, so monitoring it, as one might imagine, is something of a fragile business. + +![HuckOfflineFinal_EmileHolba-6][2] + +"This telescope has the sensitivity equivalent to a billionth of a billionth of a millionth of a watt," explains Mike Holstine, the manager at NRAO. "The energy given off by a single snowflake hitting the ground and anything man-made would overwhelm that signal." + +To protect the telescopes' sensitivity, the NRAO patrols the area: radio transmissions are restricted, Wi-Fi routers are a no-no, and microwaves may be confiscated if found. Even the most mundane wireless devices, like baby monitors, are considered contraband. That's right. No reception. No 4G. Put it this way: that phone in your pocket may as well be a rock. + +Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, email, cat memes, sepia-tinted snapshots of a stranger's lunch. Like a psychotic stream of consciousness, this bespoke slice of the internet whirrs away in our pockets – in our homes, cars and work spaces – every millisecond of every day. Thanks to 4G, we treat 'connectivity' as a vital utility, along with gas, water and electricity. But at some point it wears even the techiest among us down. Jaded by our growing obsession with 'engagement', incessant greed for status updates, and inexplicable interest in Kim and Kayne's brand-endorsed world, I started dreaming of a life free from the itch to scroll. It must be possible to escape, I thought, to fully disconnect, and still live and work within the framework of modern society. Why then do so few of us choose to do so? + +Inside the National Radio Quiet Zone, meanwhile, disconnection is a way of life. + +![HuckOfflineFinal_EmileHolba-2][3] + +"Banjos, moonshine, guns, bears and bluegrass – are any of those clichés true?" I'm probing Homer Hunter, a seventy-one-year-old bluegrass legend raised in Pocahontas County, about what life was like before the Green Bank Telescope was built. "All of them, if you think about it," says Homer. "We're loaded with bears down here." + +He picks up his guitar to play a song written by his brother about their minister dad: _"My daddy made his living in a dungeon made of coal / But he had a full-time job and that was saving souls."_ + +"We all lived a very righteous life," says Homer, explaining how his ex-con father "got saved" by a tent revival preacher. "[But my dad's] family never worshipped the Lord in any fashion. They cussed, raised hell, shot at each other, and made moonshine for the Sheriff of Boone County." + +![HuckOfflineFinal_EmileHolba-9][4] + +Homer lives in a humble but spacious homestead by the shore of the Greenbrier River, in an idyllic spot called Stoney Bottom. He whittles garden swing-chairs out of wood. "I've never really understood the telescopes," he says in a sing-song drawl. "I know they listen to sounds and I've taken that tour about fifty times. It's very scientific to me… But education is so important, because this world, this universe, is so vast." + +Despite not owning a mobile phone or having Internet at the property, Homer is well informed about politics, history, music – and he knows how to make a damn fine cherry pie. On his kitchen wall hangs a personal thank-you note: 'From, Barack and Michelle Obama'. It reads: 'Thank you for your leadership and support.' + +"That's my president and I'm very proud of it," says Homer. "We are so prejudiced in this country, still fighting the Civil War every day. I was born in the southern part of the state where blacks were treated bad. My family, my grandmother had slaves… I just felt like if we had a black president, it would show black youth that they had hope of doin' it themselves one day. But we still have those old clingers-on, you know?" + +![HuckOfflineFinal_EmileHolba-7][5] + +Homer's political stance may be at odds with the state's Republican majority, but there's one thing he and other locals agree upon. The lack of connectivity is a gift. A way to keep the ills of modern life from encroaching on unspoilt wilderness. + +"We'd hear a lot more noise, and it would hurt our economy so bad," says Homer, when I ask him what would happen if the Observatory were to close, as has been recently threatened. "[It brings visitors and employment] to a county that has just 8,000 people. If the Quiet Zone leaves – it would change our world." + +![HuckOfflineFinal_EmileHolba-8][6] + +Midnight on a pitch black night. Bobby leans across the front passenger seat of his pick-up truck, enveloped in a dense haze of cigarette smoke. "What the hell are you doing on my property," he hollers at me. Clocking the high-power rifle, menacingly placed against the dashboard, I reply with my best British 'innocent' accent. "I'm photographing the 1940s chromium petrol pumps," a response so left-field, all he can do is drive on bewildered. That was my first encounter with Bobby. + +Word spreads that an 'eccentric' English photographer is in the area, and my second meeting with Bobby is rather more civilised. A cattle farmer and owner of Trent's convenience store (selling fishing tackle, guns, Gatorade, washing line cord, propane gas, beer, breakfast cereal, plumbing supplies and artificial lamb's nipples, to name a few) Bobby, like Homer, sees no disadvantage in operating his business here. He organises his day well in advance, knowing that the community he supplies lives and works in the same unconnected space. Even his goods' suppliers have adapted, delivering shipments without calling ahead en route. Like Homer, he sees the Observatory as an asset. "Trent's is only a stone's throw from the GBT," Bobby says before drawing deeply on another cigarette. "If it weren't for it and the interstate [highway], I wouldn't be in business." + +But it's on a personal level that the lack of connectivity gathers meaning. The more I travel around the Quiet Zone, the more I find myself adapting to life without round-the-clock connection. Within days of losing signal, the subconscious need to lift my iPhone, swipe the screen and open apps – for no apparent reason – starts to fade. Days slow down. Anxieties disappear. That omnipresent sense of urgency that once weighed me down begins to lift. And yet, I feel more productive than ever. + +![HuckOfflineFinal_EmileHolba-0][7]Not everyone I meet was raised here. Some people seek out the Quiet Zone as if it's the last safe place on Earth. + +"I looked like a concentration camp victim," says former architect Jennifer Wood. "In a Wi-Fi place I'd feel sick to my stomach, I'd lose all energy, and have pins and needles. It would get really bad in the middle of the day when cell-phone usage was peaking. Then I'd go to the beach where there was no reception and within minutes my symptoms would be gone." + +Jennifer moved to the Quiet Zone after hearing about Diane Schou – Pocahontas County's most well-known "technological leper". + +"That's a term I came up with," says Diane, as we turn down the dirt track that leads to her home. "Our living conditions are, I suspect, like leprosy. We can't be where crowds are, we have to stay away from people, because most people are carrying cell phones and that harms us. It's not something we want, we desire, but at least we are able to survive." + +![HuckOfflineFinal_EmileHolba-5][8] + +Diane moved from Iowa after suffering from symptoms that started, she says, when a cell-phone tower went up near her home. "My vision changed, my skin got wrinkled, I thought I was getting older," she says. "Then I got a headache. It was like someone hit me with a sledgehammer, and as we approached home [and the tower] the headache would grow and grow and grow." + +Now that she's "in recovery", Diane has a few gadgets in her house: a food processor, a jar-opener, a warming drawer for food. "It's so remote and visitors forget to eat before they drive here," she says, "so it's nice to have something warm that I can serve." + +Jennifer, on the other hand, lives further off-grid. "I couldn't even go in Diane's house because, as you can see, she's recovered quite a bit; she has all those electrical gadgets," she says. "Eventually, I found my way down to a farm where there was no electricity at all. After two weeks of living there, I started gaining weight." + +![HuckOfflineFinal_EmileHolba-4][9] + +By Diane's estimation, she is among fifty-seven technological lepers; people who have moved here for respite from a toxic world. "To the scientists who know about this, it's 100 per cent real," says Burt, Diane's husband. "We've been able to prove that by grabbing hold of antennas. Those who are electrosensitive, the antennas will spike much more than those who are not. You're like a canary in a coal mine." + +Diane and Bruce are not alone in their convictions. But their pilgrimage, for many locals, is a contentious issue. "I'm happy that they're finding refuge here," says local news anchor Heather Niday. "I do worry that people may look at us like the place where crazies come." + +![HuckOfflineFinal_EmileHolba-10][10] + +But for people on Diane's wavelength, there is no other choice. "My father died, I went to his funeral. When my son got married, I did go to his wedding. But [I do not leave the Quiet Zone] for fun," says Diane, adding that church is the only place she really feels safe. "The problem for me with US cellular, is that this is sort of my prison. But it's a beautiful prison." + +Diane moves around her house and offers one last science lesson. "This can morph to sensitivities of other frequencies," she says. "And there are billions of other frequencies." + +I leave her home feeling inexplicably nauseous. + +After another phone-free morning photographing in and around the NRAO at Green Bank, I head back to Trent's to hang out at the store's cash desk and carpark. Trent's provides a social lighting rod for the strip of Highway 250 running through Bartow. Every walk of life frequents the store, from passing traffic visiting the Highland Scenic Highway and blue collar workers, to moms dropping in after the school run to gather the week's supplies. Trent's is alive with loud gossip and crude banter. + +Here is a location promoting all the hallmarks of capitalism that doubles as a community symposium. No one is communicating with anyone other than the people that are here right now. They're not on iMessage, email or WhatsApp. They're engaging, face to face. + +"We do have broadband at home," says one mom. "The difference is, the Internet doesn't follow me. When I go to watch my kid's soccer game, every parent on that field is watching their kid play soccer. Nobody is looking at their cell phone. You really don't see that struggle here where parents tell their kids to put their phones away, and the kid says, 'Do I have to?'" + +High up on The Horse Ridge photographing the surrounding landscape on my last day, I watch the majestic Green Bank Telescope turn 180 degrees on its axis nearly eighteen miles away – such is the enormity of the technological prowess displayed by the Zone's heart. Underneath a cloudless sky, I breathe in the crystal clear air and listen to nature's silence. I have witnessed similar commanding views before but never free from the interruption of a stray ringtone, or some Red Bull-inspired chancer hoovering their drone into my peripheral vision, or a group of needy tourists seeking validation of their memories on SnapChat or Instagram. In fact, for a region of rugged beauty, the Quiet Zone is remarkably tourist-free. Pocahontas County is easily accessed from Baltimore, D.C., Pittsburgh and Philadelphia. Could it be that the lack of connectivity puts people off? + +Visiting Mike Holstine for the last time at Green Bank, I comment on just how loud radio silence is. Laughing, Mike agrees. "The silence is quite nice – quite calming, quite rooting. It roots you back into the Earth." + +[**_****__Welcome to the Quiet Zone_][11], a five-part radio documentary, is available now on BBC Radio 4. ** + +**Find out more about [Emile Holba's work][12].** + +**This article originally appeared in [Huck 51 – The Adventure Issue][13]. Grab a copy in the [Huck Shop][13] or [subscribe today][14] to make sure you don't miss another issue.** + +[1]: http://huckcdn.lwlies.com/admin/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/HuckOfflineFinal_EmileHolba-3.jpg +[2]: http://huckcdn.lwlies.com/admin/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/HuckOfflineFinal_EmileHolba-6.jpg +[3]: http://huckcdn.lwlies.com/admin/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/HuckOfflineFinal_EmileHolba-2.jpg +[4]: http://huckcdn.lwlies.com/admin/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/HuckOfflineFinal_EmileHolba-9.jpg +[5]: http://huckcdn.lwlies.com/admin/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/HuckOfflineFinal_EmileHolba-7.jpg +[6]: http://huckcdn.lwlies.com/admin/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/HuckOfflineFinal_EmileHolba-8.jpg +[7]: http://huckcdn.lwlies.com/admin/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/HuckOfflineFinal_EmileHolba-0.jpg +[8]: http://huckcdn.lwlies.com/admin/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/HuckOfflineFinal_EmileHolba-5.jpg +[9]: http://huckcdn.lwlies.com/admin/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/HuckOfflineFinal_EmileHolba-4.jpg +[10]: http://huckcdn.lwlies.com/admin/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/HuckOfflineFinal_EmileHolba-10.jpg +[11]: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b05vpc4g +[12]: http://emileholba.co.uk/ +[13]: http://huckmagazine.bigcartel.com/product/huck-51-the-adventure-issue-pre-order +[14]: http://tcolondon.subscribeonline.co.uk/home/huck diff --git a/places to go/WY smiths forkgrey’s river road part ii.txt b/places to go/WY smiths forkgrey’s river road part ii.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..b9d7781 --- /dev/null +++ b/places to go/WY smiths forkgrey’s river road part ii.txt @@ -0,0 +1,101 @@ +--- +title: Cheap RV Living.com -Smiths Fork/Grey’s River Road: Part II +date: 2015-08-14T14:16:19Z +source: http://www.cheaprvliving.com/blog/smiths-forkgreys-river-road-part-ii/ +tags: trip, travco + +--- + +![As you start north on the Grey's River Road initially it's narrow, winding and a little bumpy. But it is spectacular!][1] + +**As you start north on the Grey's River Road initially it's narrow, winding and a little bumpy. But it is spectacular!** + +In my last post we were traveling the Smiths Fork/Grays River Loop and got as far as LaBarge Pass and the Tri-Basin divide where I turned north on Greys River Road. Once on the Grey's River Road you go over a slight pass and head down to Alpine. At the top of the pass the Grey's River is just barely a creek, much less a major river. As I followed the river I could actually watch it grow as the hundreds of little creeks flowed into it and by the end of the drive it was a mighty river! As you look at the photos you can watch it growing. + +![Here we've just started north on Grey's River.][2] + +**Here we've just started north on Grey's River. Road That's the Grey's River on the right of the road at the bottom of the hill–it starts as just a trickle!** + +The drive along the Grey's River road is gorgeous with beautiful mountain ranges on both sides. It's a very long drive and while it isn't beautiful the whole way, but overall it is well worth the time! + +![After just a few miles you are into hills and the creek has grown. You can see the road is slightly rough but anybody can drive it.][3] + +**After just a few miles you are into hills and the creek has grown. You can see the road is narrow but anybody can drive it.** + +The quality of the Smiths Fork Road had been very good, it was mostly two cars wide and in very good shape. At the very top it was a little bit rutted from the very recent snowmelt, but I'm sure in a few months traffic would smooth it out. For the most part you are easily driving 20-45 MPH depending on how curvy it is in an area. + +![The creek is growing into a river and is in a gorgeous area. ][4] + +**The creek is growing into a river and is in a gorgeous area.** + +![greys-top-tiny-creek][5] + +When I turned on to the Grey's River Road at the pass the quality of the road dropped dramatically. At first it is in a very narrow valley and the road is only one car width wide and you are driving 10 MPH. I came across an oncoming car and had to pull off the road and let him sneak past me. After a few miles it widens out but even then the road is fairly rocky with fist sized rocks and you are only driving 20 MPH. That lasts for about 15 miles and then all of a sudden the road becomes like a dirt super-highway. If you're willing to put up with the massive cloud of dust you're throwing up behind you, it's easy to comfortably drive 40-50 MPH from then on all the way to Alpine. Every so often it's wash-boarded but not very often. + +![Getting Bigger!][6] + +**Getting Bigger!** + +![It's turning into a monster!][7] + +**It's turning into a monster!** + +I highly recommend this trip for you as an extended camping spot, as long as you can do without internet. There is no cell phone or internet on it. All along both roads there are tons of spots where you can pull over and disperse camp, many right on creeks. I camped one night on the Smith's Fork and one night on the Grey's River and both times I was within 50 feet of a creek. A car can easily make the whole drive and I believe an RV could do the entire loop as well, but at its narrowest point (which doesn't last long) it would be very difficult if you came across another car headed the other way. One of you might need to back-up to a pullover. + +![This is very close to Alpine where it flows into the Snake River.and it's turned into a giant river. I'm on a hill way above it, it's huge!][8] + +**This is very close to Alpine where it flows into the Snake River. It's turned into a giant river. I'm on a hill far above it, it's huge!** + +The closer you get to Alpine the more campers there are. For probably the last 20 miles there are tents, trailers and 5th Wheels in most of the nicer campsites. But that doesn't mean you can't find a campsite close to Alpine. There are dozens of little roads that head off the main road into the valleys of the mountain ranges that parallel the road. If you drive up any of them you will find many more campsites. + +![At lunchtime we headed up Deadman's Mine Road. The mine is up on the side of that mountain.][9] + +**At lunchtime we headed up Deadman's Mine Road. The mine is up on the side of that mountain. It's at higher elevation so the snow just finished melting off. You can see some pretty good ruts in the road.** + +![The higher we got the rougher the road got, here you can see it still had water running down the road. We ate lunch just another 100 yards up the road.][10] + +**The higher we got the rougher the road got. Here you can see it still had water running down the road. We ate lunch just another 100 yards up the road in the shade of a big tree and Cody got to run around and wade in the water.** + +I only drove up one of them at mid-day because I wanted to find a spot to pull over and eat lunch. There were four reasons I drove up the Deadman Mine Road: + +* It was getting hot and I wanted to find shade. +* I didn't want to eat lunch near the main road because traffic moves fast on it and I would be worried about Cody running free and possibly getting run over. +* I also wanted to get far away from the dust of the main road—who wants to eat lunch and be covered with dust!? +* It also looked like they would be beautiful valleys so I wanted to see if I could get some photos. + +![This is another one of the many roads leading off of Grey's River Road into a distant valley. You could easily spend the summer exploring them all.][11] + +**This is another one of the many roads leading off of Grey's River Road into a distant valley. You could easily spend the summer exploring them all.** + +The drive up towards Deadman Mine exceeded all my expectations! It was a beautiful drive along a creek surrounded by tall and beautiful mountains. The road was rutted from run-off but it wasn't anything the van couldn't handle—however, I wouldn't try to take a car or RV up it. I came to a perfect place for lunch, parked in the shade and had lunch. Cody and I needed to stretch so we walked up the road for a ways to stretch and I took some photos. + +![I probably have 100 pictures of Cody in the creeks on this trip!][12] + +**I probably have 100 pictures of Cody in the creeks on this trip!** + +Like everywhere else we had been on the drive, we were parked and walked along a pretty creek. Cody was in heaven on this drive because there was an abundance of squirrels to chase and whenever he got hot there was a creek for him to walk around in and cool off. There was also an abundance of deer on the trip, so many they are actually a risk. Numerous times they crossed the road right in front of me and a few times I was lucky to get stopped to avoid hitting them. + +![The closer I got to Alpine the more campers there were. This 5th Wheel was typical of the many campsites along the road. If you want to camp there it's easy to be within 10 miles of Alpone and you can run in there for internet access and supplies .][13] + +**The closer I got to Alpine the more campers there were. This 5th Wheel was typical of the many campsites along the road. If you want to camp there it's easy to be within 10 miles of Alpine and you can run in there for internet access and supplies. The river is just on the other side of the trees, and it has very good fishing.** + +Overall I have to say this is a magnificent drive that I highly recommend to everyone, especially in late June when the wildflowers are in bloom. The longer you can stay the more you'll love it! The main road is great and worth the trip but when you add the dozens of side-trips you can make up into the many mountain valleys, it becomes truly remarkable. + +![It doesn't get any better than this!][14] + +**It doesn't get any better than this!** + +[1]: http://images.cheaprvliving.com/greys-road-topnice.jpg +[2]: http://images.cheaprvliving.com/greys-top-wilflowers-001.jpg +[3]: http://images.cheaprvliving.com/greys-tiny-rd-tiny-creek.jpg +[4]: http://images.cheaprvliving.com/greys-S-curve.jpg +[5]: http://images.cheaprvliving.com/greys-top-tiny-creek.jpg +[6]: http://images.cheaprvliving.com/greys-very-ncie-001.jpg +[7]: http://images.cheaprvliving.com/greys-wide-river.jpg +[8]: http://images.cheaprvliving.com/grey-whitewater.jpg +[9]: http://images.cheaprvliving.com/greys-top-pass-narrow.jpg +[10]: http://images.cheaprvliving.com/greys-deadman-creek-003.jpg +[11]: http://images.cheaprvliving.com/greys-valley-road.jpg +[12]: http://images.cheaprvliving.com/greys-cody-water.jpg +[13]: http://images.cheaprvliving.com/greys-5th-wheel.jpg +[14]: http://images.cheaprvliving.com/greys-BEST-VAN-mntn-looming-002.jpg diff --git a/places to go/dakotas-jake.txt b/places to go/dakotas-jake.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..a30debb --- /dev/null +++ b/places to go/dakotas-jake.txt @@ -0,0 +1,29 @@ + + + +> that. Mid state on I90 is Chamberlain SD, which is an oasis in the +> middle of farm/ranch-land along the river. This would also be a good +> place to establish residency, small town but they have a few mailing +> address companies for RV'ers locally and a few hotels. Black hills +> has a ton of forest land for camping too, some of the driving has 7-8% +> grades, not sure how well your bus handles, but it could be a +> challenge. +> +> +> Teddy Roosevelt National Park is just 1.5 hours west of Bismarck. the +> south unit has a TON of wildlife the kids would enjoy. Both north and +> south units have plenty of back-country hiking and both have national +> grassland surrounding them for free camping. The campgrounds in the +> park run about $20 a night, depending on if you want electric. Near +> the South unit is Medora, very touristy, but it has the legendary +> musical which may be fun for a evening. +> +> +> Either Teddy Roosevelt or Black Hills are a good gateway to the +> northern mountain National parks/forests. The most famous being +> Yellowstone/Grand Teton. The GF and I just got back from a week +> there. Yellowstone is a clusterfuck of tourism, but is the only place +> with the thermal activity, which is worth a quick visit and the +> traffic jams. Otherwise, I'd stay in the surrounding national +> forests, or Grand Teton if you want luxurious (ie showers, laundry +> mats, stores, ect) campgrounds. Teton is the better place for hiking diff --git a/places to go/el charco del ingenio -landeta park.txt b/places to go/el charco del ingenio -landeta park.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..91ad8fd --- /dev/null +++ b/places to go/el charco del ingenio -landeta park.txt @@ -0,0 +1,20 @@ +--- +title: El Charco del Ingenio -LANDETA PARK +date: 2016-05-12T23:52:44Z +source: http://elcharco.org.mx/Ingles/parque.html +tags: mexico, trip + +--- + + | Parque Landeta covers a little more than 35 hectares to the east of the Botanical Garden, on both sides of the historical Las Colonias Reservoir. The land belongs to the municipality but was not used for any particular purpose until 1993, when it was granted to the Charco del Ingenio in order to create and develop an ecological and recreational park, much needed by the city of San Miguel de Allende. Since 2005, the park has been integrated into the [Ecological Preservation Zone][1] of the Charco del Ingenio, created by a municipal accord, in order to better protect its dry scrubland and wetland ecosystems. | | + + | During the 15 years of managing the Park, the Botanical Garden built a basic infrastructure: fences, gates, signs, plazas, picnic areas, roads for vehicles and paths for hikers. We have likewise carried out the work of clearing, conservation of soils, improving of the condition of the vegetation and protection of plant and animal wildlife. Several thousand trees have been planted over the years, and the native plants of the area have recovered surprisingly well. The constant vigilance within the park has made it safe for users, inhibiting vandalism and the proliferation fires, which are so devastating for the ecosystem. The Municipal Plant Nursery is also located within the park, as well as a plant for the treatment of waste-water through artificial wetland technology (in construction). + +Historically, the park has been a place that local people use for walks and picnics, especially in the meadows and along the banks of the Las Colonias Reservoir. In recent years, the area has become a community-oriented space, being the site of a large popular celebration that takes place every year at the beginning of July: the Fiesta de la Santa Cruz (Festival of the Holy Cross) of El Charco del Ingenio. + +Diverse environmental education [_activities][2]_ take place in Parque Landeta, carried out by El Charco del Ingenio nonprofit organization and by _PEASMA_ (Environmental Education Program of San Miguel de Allende), particularly on special days such as Earth Day (April 22) and World Environment Day (June 5). + + | | + +[1]: zona.html +[2]: actividades.html diff --git a/places to go/el cielo biosphere - wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.txt b/places to go/el cielo biosphere - wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..7a4c50f --- /dev/null +++ b/places to go/el cielo biosphere - wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.txt @@ -0,0 +1,182 @@ +--- +title: El Cielo Biosphere - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia +date: 2016-05-12T19:56:27Z +source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/El_Cielo_Biosphere +tags: trip, mexico, nature + +--- + +The **El Cielo Biosphere** (_Reserva de la Biosfera El Cielo_ in Spanish) is located in the southern part of the [Mexican][1] state of [Tamaulipas][2]. The biosphere protects the northernmost extension of tropical forest and [cloud forest][3] in Mexico. It has an area of 144,530 hectares (357,100 acres) (558 square miles) made up mostly of steep mountains rising from about 200 metres (660 ft) to a maximum altitude of more than 2,300 metres (7,500 ft).[1] + +The state of Tamaulipas created the biosphere in 1985. In 1987 it was recognized by [UNESCO][4]'s [Man and the Biosphere Programme][5].[2] + +![][6] + +A map of El Cielo Biosphere Reserve in Tamaulipas state, Mexico. + +## History[[edit][7]] + +The El Cielo area attracted little attention until the 1930s. In 1935, A Canadian farmer and horticulturalist named John William Francis (Frank, Francisco, or Pancho) Harrison established a homestead he named Rancho El Cielo at 1,140 metres (3,740 ft) elevation in the cloud forest. Extensive logging and logging roads penetrated the area in the 1950s. Enthusiastic birdwatchers found their way to Harrison's small ranch and in 1965, to protect the ecosystem, Harrison transferred his land to a non-profit corporation in cooperation with [Texas Southmost College][8] and the [Gorgas Science Foundation][9], In 1966, Harrison was murdered in a land dispute with local farmers.[3] + +Harrison's farm is now the El Cielo Biological Research Center. In 1983, the Gorgas Science Foundation established Rancho El Cielito by purchasing land along the Sabinas River, just outside the Biosphere, to preserve part of a riparian ecosystem.[4] + +## Geography[[edit][10]] + +The 144,530 hectares (357,100 acres) biosphere has two core areas in which most human travel and exploitation are prohibited. One of 7,844 hectares (19,380 acres) protects tropical forests; the larger core area of 28,674 hectares (70,850 acres) includes a cross section of the altitudes and climates of the biosphere, especially the cloud forest. The remainder of the biosphere is a buffer zone in which human activities, including limited logging, is permitted. Several communities within the biosphere offer facilities for visitors and are reachable by road.[5] An ecological interpretive center is reached by paved road a few miles west of the town of [Gomez Farias][11]. The interpretive center, located at an elevation of 360 metres (1,180 ft) offers good views of the tropical forest and facilities for visitors.[6] + +The biosphere occupies portions of four Mexican municipalities in the state of Tamaulipas: [Jaumave][12], [Llera de Canales][13]. Gómez Farías, and [Ocampo][14]. Within the biosphere are 26 [ejidos][15] (hamlets with communal land) and about 8,000 hectares (20,000 acres) of agricultural land used mostly to cultivate corn, beans, and rice.[7] The principal access is a road, initially paved, from the town of Gomez Farias into the interior and higher elevations of the biosphere. The community of Alta Cima (also known as Altas Cimas), at an elevation of 910 metres (2,990 ft) has modest lodging and restaurants for visitors. Camping is allowed. + +The highest point in the biosphere is 7,719 feet (2,353 m) located at 23 14N, 99 30W.[8] The lowest elevations are about 200 metres (660 ft) at the eastern, northern, and southern borders of the biosphere. The biosphere is characterized by steep, north-south trending mountain ranges, eastern extensions of the [Sierra Madre Oriental][16], made up of [limestone][17]. Typical of [karst][18] topography, caves, sinkholes, and rock outcrops are common.[9] + +![][19] + +Several distinct vegetation types are found in the biosphere. Vegetation in the drier northern and western portions of the biosphere up to an elevation of 1,600 metres (5,200 ft) consists of desert and semi-desert shrublands, the montane [Tamaulipan matorral][20] and the lowland [Tamaulipan mezquital][21]. Shrubs and small trees generally do not exceed 5 metres (16 ft) in height except in riparian locations. Annual precipitation in the shrublands is less than 1,000 millimetres (39 in).[10] + +In the eastern part of the biosphere, sub-tropical semi-deciduous forests ([Veracruz moist forests][22]) are found at elevations of from 200 metres (660 ft) and 800 metres (2,600 ft) above sea level. The closed canopy forests averages about 20 metres (66 ft) in height. Annual precipitation of this zone is usually from 1,100 millimetres (43 in) to more than 1,800 millimetres (71 in).[11] + +The principal reason for the establishment of the Biosphere was the prevalence of [Cloud forests][3], distinguished by heavy precipitation, foggy conditions, and abundant mosses and fungi, at elevations of 800 metres (2,600 ft) to 1,400 metres (4,600 ft). The El Cielo cloud forests receive precipitation of about 2,500 millimetres (98 in) annually. The closed canopy forests reach a height of about 30 metres (98 ft). + +Oak forests, ([Sierra Madre Oriental pine-oak forests][23]), mixed oak-pine forest, and pine forests are found at elevations of 700 metres (2,300 ft) to the top of highest summits in the biosphere. These forested highland areas are drier than the cloud forests with an average precipitation of 850 millimetres (33 in) annually.[12][13] + +All of the vegetation types have a wet season from May to October and a dry season from November to April. More than 1,000 species of vegetation have been recorded from the cloud forests consisting of 56 percent tropical species, 20 percent temperate, 19 percent cosmopolitan, and 5 percent other. Included among the vegetation are species associated with the temperate climate of the eastern [United States][24] such as [maple][25] (_Acer skutchii_), [hickory][26] ([_Carya ovata][27]_), [hornbeam][28] ([_Carpinus caroliniana][29]_), and [redbud][30] ([_Cercis canadensis][31]_).[14] + +A botanical garden and [arboretum][32] is located in Alta Cima at an elevation of 800 metres (2,600 ft).[15] + +Six species of cats, none abundant, are found in the biosphere: [jaguar][33], [mountain lion][34], [ocelot][35], [margay][36], [jaguarundi][37], and [bobcat][38]. A small population of [black bears][39] is present. + +At least 255 species of birds are resident in the biosphere preserve and more than 175 migratory species have been recorded. Both birds and mammals are a mixture of temperate and tropical species.[16] + +## Climate[[edit][40]] + +The climate of Gomez Farias at the eastern entrance to the park is typical of the lower and wetter elevations of the biosphere. Higher elevations are substantially cooler and precipitation declines rapidly on the western slopes of the mountains. The town of [Jaumave, Tamaulipas][12] at the northwestern entrance to the biosphere receives only 17.9 inches (450 mm) of precipitation annually and has a semi-arid, near-desert climate. Freezing temperatures are rare at the lower elevations of El Cielo, but common in winter at elevations of more than 1,000 metres (3,300 ft) + +| ----- | +| Climate data for Gomez Farias, Tamaulipas. 23 03 N, 99 09W. Elevation: 327 metres (1,073 ft) | +| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year | +| Average high °C (°F) | 22.5 +(72.5) | 24.7 +(76.5) | 28.3 +(82.9) | 30.9 +(87.6) | 32.2 +(90) | 32.2 +(90) | 31.7 +(89.1) | 32.3 +(90.1) | 30.8 +(87.4) | 28.7 +(83.7) | 25.9 +(78.6) | 22.9 +(73.2) | 28.6 +(83.5) | +| Daily mean °C (°F) | 17.3 +(63.1) | 19.1 +(66.4) | 22.3 +(72.1) | 24.9 +(76.8) | 26.7 +(80.1) | 27.0 +(80.6) | 26.8 +(80.2) | 27.1 +(80.8) | 26.0 +(78.8) | 23.9 +(75) | 20.9 +(69.6) | 18.9 +(66) | 23.3 +(73.9) | +| Average low °C (°F) | 12.2 +(54) | 13.4 +(56.1) | 16.4 +(61.5) | 18.9 +(66) | 21.3 +(70.3) | 21.9 +(71.4) | 21.8 +(71.2) | 21.9 +(71.4) | 21.2 +(70.2) | 19.0 +(66.2) | 16.0 +(60.8) | 13.1 +(55.6) | 16.1 +(61) | +| Average [precipitation][41] mm (inches) | 31 +(1.22) | 30 +(1.18) | 47 +(1.85) | 77 +(3.03) | 172 +(6.77) | 323 +(12.72) | 365 +(14.37) | 270 +(10.63) | 289 +(11.38) | 153 +(6.02) | 50 +(1.97) | 39 +(1.54) | 1,847 +(72.72) | +| Source: Weatherbase: Gomez Farias, Tamaulipas.[17] | | | | | | | | | | | | | | + +## References[[edit][42]] + +1. **^** _Comision Nacional para el Conocimiento y Uso de la Biodiversidad_, <http://www2.inecc.gob.mx/publicaciones/libros/2/cielo.html>, accessed 18 Dec 2014 +2. **^** "Gomez Farias Region and El Cielo Biosphere Reserve", <http://www.botany.si.edu/projects/cpd/ma/ma9.htm>, accessed 18 Dec 2014 +3. **^** Webster, Fred and Marie S. _The Road to El Cielo_, Austin: University of Texas Press, 2001, pp. 113-118; "Gomez Farias Region and El Cielo Biosphere Reserve", <http://www.botany.si.edu/projects/cpd/ma/ma9.htm>, accessed 18 Dec 2014 +4. **^** "Rancho El Cielo and Rancho El Cielito", Gorgas Science Foundation <http://www.gsfinc.org/focus/mexico>, accessed 23 Dec 2014 +5. **^** Sosa Florescano, Alejandra, "El Cielo: A Reserve Teeming with Life" <http://www.revistascisan.unam.mx/Voices/pdfs/6822.pdf>, accessed 18 Dec 2014 +6. **^** Google Earth +7. **^** _Comision Nacional para el Conocimiento y Uso de la Biodiversidad_, <http://www2.inecc.gob.mx/publicaciones/libros/2/cielo.html>, accessed 18 Dec 2014 +8. **^** Google Earth +9. **^** "Gomez Farias Region and El Cielo Biosphere Reserve", <http://www.botany.si.edu/projects/cpd/ma/ma9.htm>, accessed 18 Dec 2014 +10. **^** "Tamaulipan Matorral" <http://www.worldwildlife.org/ecoregions/na1311>, accessed 18 Dec 2014 +11. **^** "Veracruz Moist Forests" <http://www.worldwildlife.org/ecoregions/nt0176>, accessed 18 Dec 2014 +12. **^** _Comision Nacional para el Conocimiento y Uso de la Biodiversidad_, <http://www2.inecc.gob.mx/publicaciones/libros/2/cielo.html>, accessed 18 Dec 2014 +13. **^** Downey, Patricia J.; Hellgren, Eric C.; Caso, Arturo; Carvajal, Sasha; Frangioso, Kerri (2007). "Hair Snares for Noninvasive Sampling of Felids in North America: Do Gray Foxes Affect Success?". _Journal of Wildlife Management_ **71** (6): 2090–2094. [doi][43]:[10.2193/2006-500][44]. +14. **^** "Gomez Farias Region and El Cielo Biosphere Reserve", <http://www.botany.si.edu/projects/cpd/ma/ma9.htm>, accessed 18 Dec 2014 +15. **^** "Botanical Gardens Conservation International" [http://www.bgci.org/garden.php?id=3594&ftrCountry=MX&ftrKeyword=&ftrBGCImem=&ftrIAReg=][45], accessed 22 Dec 2014 +16. **^** _Comision Nacional para el Conocimiento y Uso de la Biodiversidad_, <http://www2.inecc.gob.mx/publicaciones/libros/2/cielo.html>, accessed 18 Dec 2014 +17. **^** [http://www.weatherbase.com/weather/weather.php3?s=928136&cityname=G%F3mez-Far%EDas-Tamaulipas-Mexico&units=metric][46] , accessed 18 December 2014 + +![][47] + +[1]: /wiki/Mexico "Mexico" +[2]: /wiki/Tamaulipas "Tamaulipas" +[3]: /wiki/Cloud_forest "Cloud forest" +[4]: /wiki/UNESCO "UNESCO" +[5]: /wiki/Man_and_the_Biosphere_Programme "Man and the Biosphere Programme" +[6]: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/71/El_cielo_biosphere_map.jpg/300px-El_cielo_biosphere_map.jpg +[7]: /w/index.php?title=El_Cielo_Biosphere&action=edit§ion=1 "Edit section: History" +[8]: /wiki/Texas_Southmost_College "Texas Southmost College" +[9]: /wiki/Gorgas_Science_Foundation "Gorgas Science Foundation" +[10]: /w/index.php?title=El_Cielo_Biosphere&action=edit§ion=2 "Edit section: Geography" +[11]: /wiki/G%C3%B3mez_Far%C3%ADas,_Tamaulipas "Gómez Farías, Tamaulipas" +[12]: /wiki/Jaumave,_Tamaulipas "Jaumave, Tamaulipas" +[13]: /w/index.php?title=Llera,_Tamaulipas&action=edit&redlink=1 "Llera, Tamaulipas (page does not exist)" +[14]: /wiki/Ocampo,_Tamaulipas "Ocampo, Tamaulipas" +[15]: /wiki/Ejido "Ejido" +[16]: /wiki/Sierra_Madre_Oriental "Sierra Madre Oriental" +[17]: /wiki/Limestone "Limestone" +[18]: /wiki/Karst "Karst" +[19]: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/c2/Asclepias_curassavica_crop.jpg/250px-Asclepias_curassavica_crop.jpg +[20]: /wiki/Tamaulipan_matorral "Tamaulipan matorral" +[21]: /wiki/Tamaulipan_mezquital "Tamaulipan mezquital" +[22]: /wiki/Veracruz_moist_forests "Veracruz moist forests" +[23]: /wiki/Sierra_Madre_Oriental_pine-oak_forests "Sierra Madre Oriental pine-oak forests" +[24]: /wiki/United_States "United States" +[25]: /wiki/Maple "Maple" +[26]: /wiki/Hickory "Hickory" +[27]: /wiki/Carya_ovata "Carya ovata" +[28]: /wiki/Hornbeam "Hornbeam" +[29]: /wiki/Carpinus_caroliniana "Carpinus caroliniana" +[30]: /wiki/Redbud "Redbud" +[31]: /wiki/Cercis_canadensis "Cercis canadensis" +[32]: /wiki/Arboretum "Arboretum" +[33]: /wiki/Jaguar "Jaguar" +[34]: /wiki/Mountain_lion "Mountain lion" +[35]: /wiki/Ocelot "Ocelot" +[36]: /wiki/Margay "Margay" +[37]: /wiki/Jaguarundi "Jaguarundi" +[38]: /wiki/Bobcat "Bobcat" +[39]: /wiki/American_black_bear "American black bear" +[40]: /w/index.php?title=El_Cielo_Biosphere&action=edit§ion=5 "Edit section: Climate" +[41]: /wiki/Precipitation "Precipitation" +[42]: /w/index.php?title=El_Cielo_Biosphere&action=edit§ion=6 "Edit section: References" +[43]: /wiki/Digital_object_identifier "Digital object identifier" +[44]: //dx.doi.org/10.2193%2F2006-500 +[45]: http://www.bgci.org/garden.php?id=3594&ftrCountry=MX&ftrKeyword=&ftrBGCImem=&ftrIAReg= +[46]: http://www.weatherbase.com/weather/weather.php3?s=928136&cityname=G%F3mez-Far%EDas-Tamaulipas-Mexico&units=metric +[47]: //en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:CentralAutoLogin/start?type=1x1 "" diff --git a/places to go/florida.txt b/places to go/florida.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..d13fe87 --- /dev/null +++ b/places to go/florida.txt @@ -0,0 +1,20 @@ +* primitve camping on Florida water management land: https://floridadep.gov/water-policy/water-policy/content/water-management-districts + - interactive map of regions: https://www.nwfwater.com/Lands/Interactive-Google-Map + +florida state forests: http://www.freshfromflorida.com/Divisions-Offices/Florida-Forest-Service/Our-Forests/State-Forests/Pine-Log-State-Forest + +Sopchoppy city park camping: http://www.sopchoppy.org/parksfacilities.html Myron B. Hodge City Park + +More city parks with camping: https://www.allstays.com/Campgrounds/Florida-county-campgrounds-map.htm + +Grassy point bayside https://freecampsites.net/#!7545&query=sitedetails (east of Pensacola) + + Free beach camping. Located in Escribano Point WMA on East Bay near Pensacola FL and south of Milton FL. GPS 30.516525,-87.007312 Ajacent to Eglin AFB and Whiting OLF. Take SR#87 south from I-10 to Choctaw Field Road. Turn west and proceed for about 4 miles and turn north on the dirt road just before the gated entrance to the military field. Nice dirt road (40mph) for about 4 miles leading to the campsites. + + All campers must obtain a free permit/site reservation using online reservation system or by calling the Northwest Regional Office at (850)265-3676 during regular business hours only (Mon-Fri, 7am-4pm CST). The permit must be displayed at the campsite at all times. + + Porta-potie, fire ring and picnic tables at each of the 7 sites. The sites are all within 50 ft of the bay and shaded by huge oaks. The entire campground has a huge view of the water. The water is relatively shallow out to 75ft or so. Larger boats would have to be anchored out. The site is owned and operated by "Florida Water Management". Nice enough for nice RVs but also good for tent campers too. Several other free campsites on maplink. + + More Camping in the area: https://maps.google.com/maps/ms?msid=202425479903505246149.00048d674fb5ad46cb5f8&msa=0 + +Apalachicola Battery park: https://www.campendium.com/battery-park diff --git a/places to go/hayduke trail journal - 2013.txt b/places to go/hayduke trail journal - 2013.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..d4b236a --- /dev/null +++ b/places to go/hayduke trail journal - 2013.txt @@ -0,0 +1,72 @@ +--- +title: Hayduke Trail Journal - 2013 +date: 2016-01-22T16:43:02Z +source: http://www.postholer.com/journal/Hayduke-Trail/2013/buck30/2013-03-05/Dreaming-of-the-Hayduke/35477 +tags: todo, trip + +--- + + +| ----- | +| + +![rss][1] + +Entry 1 of 88 +First :: Previous :: [Next][2] :: [Last][3] | | + +**View/Sign my [Guestbook][4]** + +**Brian (Buck-30)** +Begins: Mar 19, 2013 +Direction: Westbound + +**Daily Summary** +Date: Tue, Mar 5th, 2013 +Start: San Diego +End: San Diego +Daily Distance: 0 + +**Journal Stats** +Entry Visits: 3,033 +Journal Visits: 28,915 +Guestbook Views: 992 +Guestbook Entrys: 27 + +**Hayduke Trail Map** + +I've been waiting a long time to hike this one. + +Longer than any other hike I think. I kind of just fell into thru-hiking back in 2002 not really knowing it would become addicting and a lifestyle. I basically went from hike to hike to hike and on and on. I didn't even know what the PCT was until almost the end of the AT. I barely knew what the CDT was until the end of the PCT. After the CDT I found other trails to hike like the Arizona Trail or Pacific Northwest Trail or Te Araroa (the New Zealand one) but I never really had any time to dream about a trail. I just did them. + +The Hayduke has been a dream. Primarily because it's the only time I've actually been waiting to hike with someone else. I've hiked other long trails with friends but never out of necessity. Always just for fun. The Hayduke is just so damn remote and tricky that it seemed like a good idea to hike with someone else. So I've been biding my time until someone else is (a) just as crazy, and (b) has the time. Rich, aka Skittles is both (a) and (b). We don't really know each other that well but we've both hiked a ton of miles and both have the time to do it so we're doing it. + +So, the real question is why do I want to do the Hayduke so badly? It may only be 800 miles but I think it will be the greatest trail I've ever hiked. Utah is by far the most underrated state in the US. I've visited all of the national parks and done bits of hiking but connecting all 5 national parks in Utah, the Grand Canyon and the massive Grand Staircase Escalante monument is going to be freakin' amazing. Plus this is the introduction to the Hayduke's route description..... + +Warning! + +Because of the extremely challenging and dangerous nature of this route, you must be a very experienced +desert backpacker in peak physical condition before attempting any section of the Hayduke Trail! +Thru-hikers beware! The Hayduke Trail traverses intensely rugged terrain, is largely off-trail, is not signed +and ranges in elevation from 1,800 feet in the Grand Canyon to 11,419 atop Mt. Ellen's South Summit! + +I mean, who wouldn't want to hike this tral after reading that? It doesn't get any more fun that that. + +Entry 1 of 88 +First :: Previous :: [Next][2] :: [Last][3] + +![Journal Photo][5] + +The Hayduke Trail is an extremely challenging, 800-mile backcountry route through some of the most rugged and breathtaking landscapes on earth. Located entirely on public land, the trail links six of the National Parks on the Colorado Plateau in Southern Utah and Northern Arizona with the lesser known, but equally splendid, lands in between them. Encompassed in the route are Arches, Canyonlands, Capitol Reef, Bryce Canyon, Grand Canyon and Zion National Parks as well as Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument, Glen Canyon National Recreation Area and numerous National Forests, BLM Districts, Primitive Areas, Wilderness Areas and Wilderness Study Areas. The Hayduke Trail is not intended to be the easiest or most direct route through this incredibly varied terrain, but is rather meant to showcase the stunning Redrock Wilderness of the American Southwest. + +Photos at + +http://s1250.beta.photobucket.com/user/tanzmbr/library/ (click on "show albums and stories" on left hand side) + + + +[1]: http://www.postholer.com/journal/pageImages/feed24.gif +[2]: /journal/viewJournal.php?entry_id=35526 +[3]: /journal/viewJournal.php?entry_id=40949 +[4]: /journal/guestbook.php?event_id=1623&entry_id=35477 +[5]: http://www.postholer.com/journal/images/1054/1623-P7080115.JPG diff --git a/places to go/illinois.txt b/places to go/illinois.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..bdbea12 --- /dev/null +++ b/places to go/illinois.txt @@ -0,0 +1,29 @@ +From Smithsonian guide to natural america, Midwest + + + +# Southern Illinois (South of St Louis) + +## Bell Smith recreation area (sandstone, a system of spring fed creeks has carved canyons through the sandstone) + - near Eddyville, + - freecampsites.net: Red Bud Campground - Shawnee National Forest This is a PAY campground. ($12 or less) + - url: https://freecampsites.net/#!3940&query=sitedetails + - forest service: https://www.fs.usda.gov/recarea/shawnee/recarea/?recid=13020 + +## Garden of the Gods (sand stone rock formations, good trails, can be hot) + http://www.shawneeforest.com/GardenoftheGods + - Pharaoh Campground - 12 campsites drinking water, toilets. $10 + - The nearest town is a good 20 minutes away, but the short drive is well worth the trip. + + + +# Central Illinois (North of St Louis, south of Chicago) + +## Funks grove (one the last old growth forests in Illinois, call nearby moraine view recreation area about visiting) + Stubblefield Woodlots Nature Preserve + Google Maps: https://www.google.com/maps/place/Stubblefield+Woodlots+Nature+Preserve/@40.356848,-89.1255788,15z/data=!4m13!1m7!3m6!1s0x880b14ea67a2ce9d:0x753b39328f5701c!2sFunks+Grove,+Illinois+61754,+EE.+UU.!3b1!8m2!3d40.363649!4d-89.114528!3m4!1s0x880b14bf78d2fcf9:0x568a63b38dd8f48c!8m2!3d40.3679724!4d-89.1122237 + Campground: https://www.dnr.illinois.gov/Parks/Pages/MoraineView.aspx + - Freecampsites lists Catfish Bay camp area in moraine view recreation area, says + - Location has approximately 25-30 primative campsites at $6/night with overnight drop boxes distributed between two locations (Catfish Bay & Tall Timbers). The sites are highly wooded but easily accessed on dirt/gravel trails. Amenities include outhouses and running water. There is fishing in Dawson Lake (w/in the park). Horeseback riding is offered by Double L. There are also several RV sites of which I have yet to investigate. + + diff --git a/places to go/louisiana.txt b/places to go/louisiana.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..38cf923 --- /dev/null +++ b/places to go/louisiana.txt @@ -0,0 +1,20 @@ +* Holly Beach. + - Free camping on the beach: https://freecampsites.net/#!37979&query=sitedetails + - possible dump station: Lagneaux's RV Park, 2339 Gulf Beach Highway, Holly Beach, LA, 70631, (337) 569-2242 + +* Rutherford Beach + - Undeveloped (2-3 w/e houses) no lights but the moon. You can count oil rigs to the horizon at night. No highway noise. Occasional patrol car...once a day? Beach condition depends on recent weather- fair to pristine..lots of shells. Looks deserted 'cept for porta potty. 'Beach Monitoring Program' for water advisories. Not easy to find on the map but regular street sign off 8...the follow until you can't. Nearest store about 5 miles. Be aware that beach conditions can change. Driving in sand may require special equipment and techniques. If in doubt of your skill and equipment, stay on hardpacked surfaces. Be aware of the tides! Don't be parked anywhere near the high tide line. Exceptionally high tides happen. https://freecampsites.net/#!26071&query=sitedetails + - Beware soft sand apparently https://www.campendium.com/rutherford-beach + +* Avery Island - Tabasco tour, wildlife refuge https://en.wikivoyage.org/wiki/Avery_Island + +* Acadiana Park Campground Lafayette LA - call for availability (337) 291-8388 https://goo.gl/maps/hMr1bk55oi72 + +* Grand Isle - Way out there, https://www.crt.state.la.us/louisiana-state-parks/parks/grand-isle-state-park/index + +New Orleans: +backstreet museum +singing tree oak with windchimes (city park - https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/the-singing-oak) +7 vouduan gates throughout the city +leper colony + diff --git a/places to go/mexico-san-miguel-camping.txt b/places to go/mexico-san-miguel-camping.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..7a8d8af --- /dev/null +++ b/places to go/mexico-san-miguel-camping.txt @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +From bumfuzzle blog http://www.bumfuzzle.com/2015/05/22/reconsidering-san-miguel/ + +"Really enjoying reading about your family’s adventures y travels in Mexico. LOVE the photos of las ninos! If you return to SMA, checkout the Botanical Gardens ,just a bus ride up the hill.Mario usually lets familys with RV’s park and stay there for a small fee. Beautiful views of SMA , georgous sunsets, peaceful ,y an amazing place for los ninos to play y run free…" diff --git a/places to go/mexico.txt b/places to go/mexico.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6e2892f --- /dev/null +++ b/places to go/mexico.txt @@ -0,0 +1,5 @@ +Yucatan + - Valladolid + +West Coast + - Patzacaro diff --git a/places to go/san-miguel.txt b/places to go/san-miguel.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..0743b35 --- /dev/null +++ b/places to go/san-miguel.txt @@ -0,0 +1,43 @@ +is country would be excellent — it has an array of everything — but it has been rendered “unlivable” with all of its rules and regulations, legal protections, background checks, insurances, and fees, fees, fees. You can’t live free here — you can’t even go to a f’cking doctor here without indenturing yourself to an employer — and for those who have seen the view from the outside it’s difficult to live here at all. + +I like the country that I grew up in. It’s still the big show in the world. There are just so many stories here. I travel around the USA salivating about what I could do if I could only work out a way to stay. But I have to rein myself in. I know that I can’t work like I do and stay here too. + + + +--- + + + +Like most of its central highlands neighbors, San Miguel de Allende sits at a high elevation – over 6,200 feet – on the Central Mexican Plateau, which is a large arid-to-semi-arid plateau that occupies much of northern and central Mexico. It is located on the far eastern side of the state of Guanajuato, about 60 miles from the state’s capital, Guanajuato, and is about 170 miles northwest of Mexico City. + +A series of low mountains, the Sierra Central, surround San Miguel and are part of the Sierra Madre Occidental. The San Miguel area also extends over the Sierras Volcanicas and the Cuencas Lacustres del Sur, with most of the territory over the latter. The entire city is located within the national Trans-Mexican Volcanic Belt. + +The main river in the area is the Laja, which crosses from north to south before emptying into the Lerma River in the city of Salamanca. In addition to the river, there are four principal arroyos – steep-sided gullies cut by running water – that pass by San Miguel: La Canadita, El Atascadero, Las Cachinches and El Obraje. El Obraje receives most of the area’s runoff during the rainy season and feeds the Las Colonias and El Obraje dams. The most important dam in the area is the Ignacio Allende dam, located in the west of the city. + +San Miguel also has fresh water, thermal and alkaline springs, many of which are used as ecotourist attractions, such as the El Chorro, Montecillo, El Cortijo, Cieneguita, Atotonilco and Taboada spas. Ecosystems include shrublands, forests of oak, and areas where nopal cactus and/or grass dominate. Nearby Coyote Canyon is a popular hiking and recreation area. + +source: https://www.expatsinmexico.com/san-miguel-de-allende-geography/ + +--- +Worth a read: + +https://www.smithsonianmag.com/travel/under-the-spell-of-san-miguel-de-allende-71084706/#OMGgJ5sROWhoxbbv.99 + +--- + +San Miguel has always offered amazing outdoors. From hiking in the cactus preserve, to horse back riding, to just doing errands on foot on a city thats realistically on a 20 percent grade (There are plenty of streets where the sidewalks are steps) There is an abundance of sunshine, expansive countryside, and like any good desert, hot springs! Every year that I've gone back as a cyclist, I have been able to spin my legs on some form of bicycle. But it wasn’t till this year that I was truly able to get out and fully enjoy the countryside. And while I’m happy to share some pointers to help get you rolling in San Miguel, I do think would apply to places beyond. Our limited vacation time and budget meant we weren’t traveling with our bikes. We had planned for time in Mexico City, and buses for travel within Mexico. Being both budget and multi modal meant renting was the best option for us once we arrive in San Miguel. + +La Gruta Spa -- hotsprings 10km outside san miguel +Sanctuary of Atotonilco -- church not far from san miguel +The Sanctuary of Atotonilco (Spanish: Santuario de Jesús Nazareno de Atotonilco [atotoˈnilko]) is a church complex and a World Heritage Site, designated along with nearby San Miguel de Allende, Guanajuato, Mexico. The complex was built in the 18th century by Father Luis Felipe Neri de Alfaro, who, according to tradition, was called upon by a vision of Jesus with a crown of thorns on his head and carrying a cross. The main feature of the complex is the rich Mexican Baroque mural work that adorns the main nave and chapels. This was chiefly the work of Antonio Martínez de Pocasangre over a period of thirty years. The mural work has led the complex to be dubbed the "Sistine Chapel of Mexico."[1] The complex remains a place of worship and penance to this day, attracting as many as 5,000 visitors every week. +https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sanctuary_of_Atotonilco + +--- + +expensive, but maybe worth it: + +http://www.hikingsanmiguel.com/yourguide.html + +--- + +https://wikitravel.org/en/San_Miguel_de_Allende diff --git a/places to go/summer18.txt b/places to go/summer18.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..97d9957 --- /dev/null +++ b/places to go/summer18.txt @@ -0,0 +1,69 @@ +## Minnesota + +You might not think of the upper Midwest as a hotbed of wilderness, but Superior National Forest is one of the most beloved tracts of public land in the U.S., a hot-spot for kayaking, canoeing, hiking, fishing and skiing. The [Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness][27], carved by ancient glaciers along the border with Canada, is a 1 million-acre paradise of rugged cliffs and crags, gentle hills, canyon walls, rocky shores and sandy beaches, dotted with lakes of every conceivable size. Stands of pine, fir and spruce exemplify this deep green refuge. + +Superior National Forest harbors some truly special wildlife, including gray wolves—[Northern Minnesota is one of the species' last bastions][28] in the continental U.S.—moose, lynx and black bear. It is also a popular area for birding, with [hundreds of species reported in the area][29]. + + +[27]: http://www.wilderness.net/NWPS/wildView?WID=70 +[28]: http://www.fs.usda.gov/detail/superior/about-forest/?cid=fsm91_049837 +[29]: http://www.fs.usda.gov/detail/superior/about-forest/?cid=fsm91_049587 + +--- + +### Sunrise Coast Birding Trail + +Michigan's Sunrise Coast from the AuSable River to the Mackinac Bridge. http://www.us23heritageroute.org/sunrise_birding.asp?ait=jv&jid=79 + +--- + +During the height of the fur trade, French Canadian voyageurs transported furs by canoe from the Canadian interior to commercial merchants in Montreal. The crux of the journey was an 8.5-mile portage connecting the lake country of southwest Ontario to Lake Superior, where loads were transferred to larger canoes for the trip across the Great Lakes. Relive history by hiking the Grand Portage Trail from Superior to historic Fort Charlotte. + +<http://www.backpacker.com/destinations-stories/the-16-best-non-park-national-parks/#bp=0/img10> + +## Wisconsin + +The Horicon Marsh + +The largest freshwater cattail marsh isn't in Florida or Louisiana, it's actually in Wisconsin. The Horicon Marsh is an important habitat for redheaded ducks, Canadian geese and great blue herons. Over 268 different species of birds have been sighted in the area. Source: [Adkotin][9] + +The marshland remained unchanged until the arrival of European settlers, who modified it through draining and hunting. However, after it was deemed a wildlife refuge in 1927, water levels returned and it's once again wild. Source: [Birding is Fun][10] + +### Apostle Islands National Lakeshore Wisconsin (Madeline Island) + +https://www.nps.gov/apis/index.htm + + +## Michigan + +You don’t need an ocean for stunning beachside hiking. The North Country Trail runs for 42 visually stunning miles along the Lake Superior shoreline through Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore. + +<http://www.backpacker.com/destinations-stories/the-16-best-non-park-national-parks/#bp=0/img5> + +--- + + +<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rabbit_Island_%28Michigan%29> + +Rabbit Island (also known as Traverse Island) is a 91-acre (37 ha) island in Lake Superior located 3.5 miles (5.6 km) east of Michigan’s Keweenaw Peninsula. The island is largely uninhabited and protected by a conservation easement which prevents future development. The island is home to the Rabbit Island Residency, which sponsors a number of artists to live on the island during the summer months.[1][2] + +[1]: http://rabbitisland.org/ +[2]: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/08/garden/an-island-for-one-with-room-to-share.html + + +## Ohio + +Hocking Hills State Park + +Picturesque waterfalls and rocky outcroppings aren't normally associated with Ohio, but they're definitely there. Hocking Hills State Park houses unique geographical features. Source: [Business Insider][7] + +Formed by glacial torrents, the park's rock formations also include deep gorges, a rock shelter and a "devil's bathtub," which is a cool way to describe a creepy hole with water in it. Source: [Bourbon Ridge Retreat][8] + + +## Kansas + +One of the nation’s newest NPS sites, this unique park preserves some of the last remaining tallgrass prairie in North America—and the bison that once roamed the area in the millions. Although backcountry camping is prohibited, dayhikers may still experience the park’s tranquility on over 40 miles of maintained trail. + +<http://www.backpacker.com/destinations-stories/the-16-best-non-park-national-parks/#bp=0/img7> + + diff --git a/places to go/the hidden wonders of the united states you need to visit.txt b/places to go/the hidden wonders of the united states you need to visit.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..e684ac0 --- /dev/null +++ b/places to go/the hidden wonders of the united states you need to visit.txt @@ -0,0 +1,151 @@ +--- +title: The Hidden Wonders Of The United States You Need To Visit +date: 2015-04-12T02:25:08Z +source: http://all-that-is-interesting.com/hidden-wonders#23 +tags: luxagraf, travel + +--- + +The Black Hills + +![Black Hills American Wonders][1] + +Native Americans have inhabited the Black Hills of South Dakota since at least 7000 BC. The hills were the site of gold mining and as you might guess, numerous battles between the government and Native Americans. Today, they are an annual gathering place for over 550,000 bikers. Source: [Matador Network][2] + +The Black Hills + +The Black Hills landscape is incredibly complex as well, featuring craggy rocks, grasslands and wet valleys. The environment is home to a wide array of animals, including buffalo, mountain lions and Bighorn Sheep. Source: [Matador Network][2] + +Bombay Hook National Wildlife Refuge + +Migratory birds have a friend in Delaware at the Bombay Hook National Wildlife Refuge. Established in 1937, the 15,978-acre tidal marsh is one of the largest and most pristine expanses in the Mid-Atlantic region. Source: [Stephen L Tabone Nature Photography][3] + +Bombay Hook National Wildlife Refuge + +As high-quality habitats along the Atlantic Flyaway disappear, Bombay Hook has become increasingly important as a stop for migratory birds that travel north to their breeding grounds. Source: [Stephen L Tabone Nature Photography][3] + +Carlsbad Caverns + +Tucked in the Guadalupe Mountains of New Mexico is Carlsbad Caverns National Park, where caverns are king. The park contains 119 limestone caves that were carved out by sulfuric acid. Source: [Matador Network][2] + +Carlsbad Caverns + +The caverns were once a part of a primordial sea that existed 250 million years ago. Bones from ice age animals like giant sloths, lions and camels have been found around the entrances to the caves. Source: [Weird World Facts][4] + +Death Valley + +Though Death Valley is the driest and hottest area in North America, it actually sits over one of the world's largest aquifers. The valley's oldest rocks are over 1.7 billion years old. Source: [Matador Network][2] + +Death Valley + +Death Valley is also known for Racetrack Playa, where rocks seem to move without any intervention from humans or animals. Scientists recently discovered that the rocks don't use magic to move, but rather slide across thin sheets of ice that are pushed by wind whipping through the valley. Source: [Matador Network][2] + +Dinosaur Valley State Park + +Just outside of Fort Worth, Texas is a place where you can actually walk in the footsteps of dinosaurs. Dinosaur Valley State Park actually has fossilized dino prints along the Paluxy River that runs through the park. Source: [Dinosaur Valley State Park][5] + +Dinosaur Valley State Park + +Hiking trails take you back through time on rugged and steep pathways, but at least you're not running from a Tyrannosaurus Rex. Source: [Dinosaur Valley State Park][6] + +\ocking Hills State Park + +Picturesque waterfalls and rocky outcroppings aren't normally associated with Ohio, but they're definitely there. Hocking Hills State Park houses unique geographical features. Source: [Business Insider][7] + +Hocking Hills State Park + +Formed by glacial torrents, the park's rock formations also include deep gorges, a rock shelter and a "devil's bathtub," which is a cool way to describe a creepy hole with water in it. Source: [Bourbon Ridge Retreat][8] + +The Horicon Marsh + +The largest freshwater cattail marsh isn't in Florida or Louisiana, it's actually in Wisconsin. The Horicon Marsh is an important habitat for redheaded ducks, Canadian geese and great blue herons. Over 268 different species of birds have been sighted in the area. Source: [Adkotin][9] + +The Horicon Marsh + +The marshland remained unchanged until the arrival of European settlers, who modified it through draining and hunting. However, after it was deemed a wildlife refuge in 1927, water levels returned and it's once again wild. Source: [Birding is Fun][10] + +Craighead Caverns + +The United States' largest non-subglacial underground lake is located outside of the small town of Sweetwater, Tennessee. The lake is part of an extensive cave system called Craighead Caverns. Source: [Travel Mindset][11] + +Craighead Caverns + +Explorers have mapped 13 acres of water and discovered more cavernous rooms beneath the lake. The Lost Sea is marked by "cave flowers," a rare phenomena that worked to have lake named as a National Landmark. Source: [Lake Scientist][12] + +The Monument Rocks + +These beautiful rock formations aren't in the desert of Arizona, but rather in Kansas, in the middle of grassland. Oh, and they're made out of chalk. Source: [Tourist Destinations][13] + +The Monument Rocks + +The Monument Rocks also have the accolades of being named the first national natural landmark by the Department of the Interior. They rise up 70 feet and are estimated to have been formed 80 million years ago. The formations are important shelters for birds, particularly the American kestrel who hunts across the prairie. Source: [Nature's Arches and Bridges][14] + +Mount Desert Island + +Mount Desert Island looms over the water like a mountain, which is how it got its name. The island only has 10,000 year round residents, but visitors come to see Acadia National Park, which is located on the island. Source: [Matador Network][2] + +Acadia National Park + +The island dates back 550 million years ago when it was just a sea-floor mud deposit, created by volcanic ash. Eventually, the island rose and glaciers eroded its landscape, as visible in the extremely rocky landscape. Source: [Matador Network][2] + +Northern Lights, Alaska + +Alaska is one of the best spots on the planet to see the Northern Lights or the Aurora Borealis. Caused by solar winds, the aurora looks like a rainbow doing yoga as it moves across the sky. Source: [National Geographic][15] + +Northern Lights, Alaska + +The Northern Lights are best observed in the winter when it's darkest in Alaska. The displays take place 60 to 70 miles above the Earth, higher than a plane flies. Source: [National Geographic][16] + +The Okefenokee Swamp + +The Okefenokee Swamp covers 700 square miles in southeastern Georgia and northern Florida. The name comes from the Hitchiti Creek language meaning "Waters Shaking." Source: [Luxagraf][17] + +The Okefenokee Swamp + +The shaking waters could come from the sound of the male alligator as it bellows throughout the swamp. Be prepared for awesome paddling treks through 120 miles of swamp trail, just don't fall in. Source: [Luxagraf][17] + +Painted Hills, Oregon + +One of Oregon's 7 natural wonders are the painted hills near the town of Mitchell. Millions of years of history are exposed in the layered hills of the area like geological water painting. Source: [Love These Pics][18] + +Painted Hills, Oregon + +Many ancient fossils have been discovered in the area, including early horses, camels and rhinos. The red coloring of the formations is due to laterite that was created by floodplain deposits. Source: [Love These Pics][18] + +Palouse Falls + +Washington's Palouse Falls consists of upper falls at a drop of about 20 feet, which lead to the main drop and lower falls around 180 feet high. Rock benches, plunge pools and potholes have imprinted the surrounding landscape. Source: [Matador Network][2] + +Palouse Falls + +Kayaker Tyler Bradt ran the falls setting an unofficial world record for highest waterfall run. Lacking that kind of bravery, most of us just enjoy the pristine beauty of the locale. Source: [Reddit][19] + +Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore + +Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore runs nearly 40 rocky and sandy miles along the Lake Superior shoreline in Michigan. The colorful cliffs have been naturally sculpted into caves, peaks and arches. Source: [Random Space][20] + +Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore + +The colors of the painted rocks come from the large amount of minerals in them. The area contains most of Michigan's waterfalls and makes for great recreational activity or even video production. In 2010, Kid Rock filmed the video for his song Born Free at the lakeshore. If he knows about it, you should too! Source: [Random Space][21] + +[1]: http://all-that-is-interesting.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/hidden_wonders_black_hills.jpg +[2]: http://matadornetwork.com/ +[3]: http://stevetaboneblog.com/page/13/ +[4]: http://www.weirdworldfacts.com/ +[5]: http://tpwd.texas.gov/ +[6]: http://tpwd.texas.gov/state-parks/dinosaur-valley +[7]: http://www.businessinsider.com/ +[8]: http://bourbonridgeretreat.com/ +[9]: https://adkotin.wordpress.com/ +[10]: http://www.birdingisfun.com/ +[11]: http://www.travelmindset.com +[12]: http://www.lakescientist.com/ +[13]: http://www.tourist-destinations.com/ +[14]: http://arches.marbleart.us/ +[15]: http://environment.nationalgeographic.com/ +[16]: http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/ngm/photo-contest/2011/entries/80665/view/ +[17]: https://luxagraf.net/ +[18]: http://www.lovethesepics.com/ +[19]: http://www.reddit.com/ +[20]: http://www-personal.umich.edu +[21]: http://www-personal.umich.edu/ diff --git a/places to go/the wave organ.txt b/places to go/the wave organ.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..7ee51d1 --- /dev/null +++ b/places to go/the wave organ.txt @@ -0,0 +1,30 @@ +--- +title: The Wave Organ | Exploratorium +date: 2007-04-30T15:02:32Z +source: http://www.exploratorium.edu/visit/wave_organ.html +tags: music, sound, science + +--- + +### Peter Richards and George Gonzalez +Exploratorium artists in residence, 1986 + +The Wave Organ is a wave-activated acoustic sculpture located on a jetty in the San Francisco Bay. The concept was developed by Peter Richards and was installed in collaboration with sculptor and master stone mason George Gonzales. Inspiration for the piece came from artist Bill Fontana's recordings made of sounds emanating from a vent pipe of a floating concrete dock in Sydney, Australia. + +In 1980, Richards (a Senior Artist at the Exploratorium for many years) received a planning grant from the National Endowment for the Arts that enabled him to conduct an extensive period of investigation into the physicality of the Wave Organ phenomenon. + +A prototype, built at the same location, was presented as part of the New Music '81 Festival. Though very rudimentary in nature, it generated enthusiasm and support for a permanent work. Permit acquisition and fundraising efforts by Frank Oppenheimer, Founding Director of the Exploratorium, began soon after, but actual construction did not start until September 1985, seven months after Oppenheimer's death. The Wave Organ was completed in May 1986 and was dedicated in June to the memory of Frank Oppenheimer. + +The Wave Organ is located on a jetty that forms the small Boat Harbor in the Marina district of San Francisco. The jetty itself was constructed with material taken from a demolished cemetery, providing a wonderful assortment of carved granite and marble, which was used in the construction of this piece. The installation includes 25 organ pipes made of PVC and concrete located at various elevations within the site, allowing for the rise and fall of the tides. Sound is created by the impact of waves against the pipe ends and the subsequent movement of the water in and out of the pipes. The sound heard at the site is subtle, requiring visitors to become sensitized to its music, and at the same time to the music of the environment. The Wave Organ sounds best at high tide. [Check the tides][1]. + +[RoadTripAmerica visits the Wave Organ ][2] + +[Audio Slideshow][3] + +Peter Richards shares his inspiration for creating this piece and explores its function as a theater in which many different kinds of human experiences unfold. + +[Watch Audio Slideshow][3]. + +[1]: http://tidesandcurrents.noaa.gov/get_predictions.shtml?stn=1813+San+Francisco&year=2010 +[2]: http://roadtripamerica.com/places/waveorg.htm +[3]: http://www.exploratorium.edu/tv/index.php?project=99&program=1110 |
