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Arthur Digbee wrote:It's within a day's drive of my home in the Midwest.

Arthur Digbee wrote:it's a national park unit, but it doesn't have "national park" in its name.

Arthur Digbee wrote:It's actually in a pretty populated area, near a large city.

Beats me.

But I did spend three days in Theodore Roosevelt NP over 4th of July weekend last year and never saw another person, other than the 3 other people in my group. Covered a lot of miles, too, on horseback.

jdzaharia wrote:

Arthur Digbee wrote:It's within a day's drive of my home in the Midwest.

Arthur Digbee wrote:it's a national park unit, but it doesn't have "national park" in its name.

Arthur Digbee wrote:It's actually in a pretty populated area, near a large city.

Beats me.

And the answer is . . . Ozark National Scenic Riverways, Missouri. I was on the Ozark Trail in the Current River section and never saw a soul. The area also has a lot of unmarked side trails and ATV tracks (probably for hunters), which I'd use if I found any crowds on the main trail.

jdzaharia wrote:But I did spend three days in Theodore Roosevelt NP over 4th of July weekend last year and never saw another person, other than the 3 other people in my group. Covered a lot of miles, too, on horseback.

Where? Maah-daah-hey?

I'm guessing it was pretty hot over the 4th. What did you do for water? That's what slowed us down in May.

Arthur Digbee wrote:And the answer is . . . Ozark National Scenic Riverways, Missouri. I was on the Ozark Trail in the Current River section and never saw a soul.

Awesome.

Arthur Digbee wrote:Where? Maah-daah-hey?

I'm guessing it was pretty hot over the 4th. What did you do for water? That's what slowed us down in May.

No. Eastern end of the south unit. Highs were near 80F for two days and around 70F the other day, so it was nice. Water becomes a real problem out there. There are springs/flowing wells in a few places along the east rim of the canyon, and since we were on horseback, we could carry a lot of water.

Great photos! I envy you.
Diggler, did you get that close??

I haven't been there myself, it's on the wish list, which I try to tick off one by one. My husband lived in Africa as a child, so he had already been on all those places several times, but now it's getting closer for me.

To me, Yosemite is an exotic place, but it wasn't crowded when I was there. Death Valley was even more so. That's a strange place.
I was in both the Great Barrier Reef and in Death Valley within a year, I'd call those two the opposites of one another. Extremes of the world.

I saw you did, Fletch.

Maasin Forest Park, Southern Leyte, Philippines :

Sierra Ledge Rat wrote:I did a safari through Amboseli ..
Kilimanjaro is out there in the clouds (sp corrected)

Kilimanjaro from Amboseli sans clouds

Lolli wrote:Great photos! I envy you.
Diggler, did you get that close??

I haven't been there myself, it's on the wish list, which I try to tick off one by one. My husband lived in Africa as a child, so he had already been on all those places several times, but now it's getting closer for me.

That wasn't my photo, just one I dug up on the 'net. With our guides, we did get that close, though- the silverback slid down this huge tree like a fire pole! Fascinating to see our cousins in the jungle. That place is just so... ancient. Uganda itself is a beautiful country, too. Kampala & Jinja (sp?) are both nice places. Don't know if it's still possible (when I left, there was talk of damming it ), but between Kampala (jumping point to Bwindi) & Nairobi, it was possible 5 years ago to go whitewater rafting on the Nile- also unforgettable.

Did anyone else hear about the Grand Teton land being sold?

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100704/ap_ ... n_for_sale

This is just the start of further development in the park for monetary reasons. By selling land in one national park, more land will be sold in every other. And they're proposing a ski area, which always bring in customers in an area like this. I think it's a bad move.

patb

Patrick B wrote:Did anyone else hear about the Grand Teton land being sold?

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100704/ap_ ... n_for_sale

This is just the start of further development in the park for monetary reasons. By selling land in one national park, more land will be sold in every other. And they're proposing a ski area, which always bring in customers in an area like this. I think it's a bad move.

patb

I read where they mentioned a "ski lodge". I never heard anything about a ski area, at least not having anything to do with the land that is for sale. I'm pretty sure it is not very close to the mountains, somewhere close to the airport. (I could be wrong, but that's what I heard when I was in Jackson Hole two weeks ago.) Also, keep in mind that the land is not national park land. It is an in-holding.

I have been to

Acadia
Arches
Badlands
Canyonland
Everglades
Glacier Bay
Grand Canyon
Grand Teton
Great Smoky Mountains
Guadalupe Mountains
Haleakala
Olympic
Rocky Mountain
Shenandoah
Yellowstone

So far my favorite is
1. Grand Teton
2. Rocky Mountain
3. Arches

I see all this talk of Congaree. I've spent my entire life living anywhere between 30 minutes and 2 hours from Congaree, and have never once been there.

By the way, the area in Columbia with all the bars is called 5 points. Spent 4 good years there in college.

You guys are LATE; you missed all the excitement earlier in the
thread!

Is Disneyland a National Park ???