SummitPost.org

drjohnso1182 wrote:

Alpinist wrote:

grabbs146 wrote:going to rmnp in sept. for a week hoping to get longs and twin sisters. no other plans for anything else. I can't wait!!

You're going to climb Longs in summer? Why don't you man up and try it this winter with me?

SP Midwest gathering in RMNP in winter?

outofstep80 wrote:

drjohnso1182 wrote:

Alpinist wrote:

grabbs146 wrote:going to rmnp in sept. for a week hoping to get longs and twin sisters. no other plans for anything else. I can't wait!!

You're going to climb Longs in summer? Why don't you man up and try it this winter with me?

SP Midwest gathering in RMNP in winter?

I'm in.

dwhike wrote:

MarkDidier wrote:Leaving for Colorado this afternoon.. spending a week again this year in the Maroon Bells-Snowmass Wilderness.

Do you hear the deafening silence of all the midwesterners left behind that hate you right now?

xDoogiex wrote:What's new in the Midwest? Nothing! Except the first forum post in 12 days!!

It's official (sort of): A little-known state park in far northeastern Minnesota is the most popular in the country.

Bear Head Lake State Park was named America's Favorite Park Thursday, handily outpolling every other state and national park in the nation.

In an Internet poll sponsored by the National Park Foundation and Coca-Cola, the park received more than a quarter of the 5.7 million votes cast.

It received 1,690,184 votes, compared to the runner up, Great Smoky Mountains National Park, which got just over 1 million.

Park manager Jen Westlund said she was "completely flabbergasted" by the win.

The park's outsized online popularity can be attributed to its resident bears, particularly Lily and her cub, Hope, who became Internet stars earlier this year via a webcam that recorded Hope's birth.

The North American Bear Center in Ely made the bears famous and was back in the news this week after another one of its research bears was killed by a hunter.

Westlund said she "attribute[s] the win to the social media -- Facebook and the Internet. Some people voted hour after hour."

The designation as the nation's favorite park will net the Department of National Resources $100,000.

Westlund said the money will be used to build a three-season trail center, an amenity that had been on the books for years but never pursued because of a lack of money.

"At a time when many parks are facing difficult budget decisions, this is quite an opportunity for us," she said.

The 4,300-acre park is a pretty, if obscure, park between Ely and Tower with stately pines and a lake for paddling, fishing and swimming, plus hiking, cross-country skiing and snowmobile trails.

drjohnso1182 wrote:

outofstep80 wrote:

drjohnso1182 wrote:

Alpinist wrote:

grabbs146 wrote:going to rmnp in sept. for a week hoping to get longs and twin sisters. no other plans for anything else. I can't wait!!

You're going to climb Longs in summer? Why don't you man up and try it this winter with me?

SP Midwest gathering in RMNP in winter?

I'm in.

Did you make it out there earlier this month?

outofstep80 wrote:Yeah Doug, Longs is really starting to kill my success rate Next trip won't be for 2 years, next year will not be good for climbing.

drjohnso1182 wrote:

outofstep80 wrote:Yeah Doug, Longs is really starting to kill my success rate Next trip won't be for 2 years, next year will not be good for climbing.

I know you're busy next summer, but if you can find a free three-day weekend, and we drive overnight, and we climb fast...

peladoboton wrote:you guys need one of those depressurized sleep tents...

....I will be making some of those 3-day weekend runs to Denver in May and June...great time for Keiners if anyone is interested.