Park 1: The Big Hole

My first memorable experience with a National Park was in 1993. I was in 6th grade, skinny, moody, and not too jazzed about riding in a car for 4 hours to see, as my sister and I put it, "a big hole in the ground." Driving through the northern deserts of Arizona from Las Vegas, I was pretty taken aback with the starkness of my surroundings. It was the desert, yes, but not how I'd pictured it in my mind. I imagined "Lawrence of Arabia",  riding camels, searching for an oasis in the distance. The desert to a girl from Alabama looked like the Sahara. Not this shitload of rock and scrub. Oh, yeah, and a really big dam.

But once we reached the "hole in the ground" I was thrilled. It was so much bigger than I could have imagined. And there were donkeys! Giving rides! (Yes, this grabbed my attention pretty quickly.) Our family did the typical touristy things. We took pictures at specified lookouts, we used those ridiculous quarter-operated binoculars and we hit up all the gift shops. Finally, in keds and probably carrying no water, we ventured down into the "giant hole". Behind the donkeys no less. 

I'd say we hiked about 2 miles before my sister and I started complaining about how hot it was, how much donkey shit smelled and my parents realized that what you hike down, you have to hike back up. We turned around and that was that.

Jump ahead to 2006. I had not been on a hiking vacation since the Grand Canyon. I guess I really hadn't had much of an interest in anything that involved too much exertion or effort. My parents, however, had started hiking with a travel group called The World Outdoors. They had done some pretty amazing hikes out west and in Alaska and Canada. And they were hooked. And after taking me to Sedona, AZ that summer to do some hiking, I was hooked too.

So begins this little "project" of mine. I've had the opportunity in the last few years to go on some AMAZING hikes in some pretty spectacular places across the country. For a long time, I used to think that the only vacations worth taking were in Europe or Asia... definitely oversees. But, I've come to realize there is so much of this country I want to see. The U.S. is BIG and full of breathtaking landscapes. One thing our forefathers did right was to put aside these places and designate them as National Parks; for everyone to visit and enjoy.

I plan to see them all. All 58.

I have a handful under my belt, but many more to go....

So enjoy this little blog of mine! And go hiking!