• Hi, I am the owner and main administrator of Styleforum. If you find the forum useful and fun, please help support it by buying through the posted links on the forum. Our main, very popular sales thread, where the latest and best sales are listed, are posted HERE

    Purchases made through some of our links earns a commission for the forum and allows us to do the work of maintaining and improving it. Finally, thanks for being a part of this community. We realize that there are many choices today on the internet, and we have all of you to thank for making Styleforum the foremost destination for discussions of menswear.
  • This site contains affiliate links for which Styleforum may be compensated.
  • We would like to welcome House of Huntington as an official Affiliate Vendor. Shop past season Drake's, Nigel Cabourn, Private White V.C. and other menswear luxury brands at exceptional prices below retail. Please visit the Houise of Huntington thread and welcome them to the forum.

  • STYLE. COMMUNITY. GREAT CLOTHING.

    Bored of counting likes on social networks? At Styleforum, you’ll find rousing discussions that go beyond strings of emojis.

    Click Here to join Styleforum's thousands of style enthusiasts today!

    Styleforum is supported in part by commission earning affiliate links sitewide. Please support us by using them. You may learn more here.

National Park visits

LawrenceMD

Distinguished Member
Joined
Jul 6, 2009
Messages
7,054
Reaction score
1,833
I just got back from a long Maine trip that included a whole week in a sailboat. Acadia in May (where there are few crowds) is amazing. The 20 mile scenic route on a bike (during the middle of the week in May with little to no car traffic) is one of the best bike rides I've ever done. I did two loops. if you're into parks and laid out hiking acadia actually takes a couple to three days to really enjoy. they even have some scary assed cliffside trails that are easy but almost too scary just to walk on, plus there's a small clean beach [with a surprising amount of eye candy], when I was there even the park ranger was a Blonde blue eyed hottie probably in her early 20's all three days I was visiting. I went in late march/early april in 2009 and almost died slipping on a snowy/icy cliffside trail in acadia. I'm so glad I went in late May this year. But Acadia (and maine in general) in June-august is a hell hole. The park and maine in general is still beautiful and awe inspiring, but the crowds (for anything from lobstershacks to whale watching) just make it unbearable sometimes. I've been to the grand canyon in peak season and it can still handle (kudos to the people involved with infrastructure there) the crowds, traffic, and congestion. EDIT: here's the beach: (random interwebs pic)
SandBeach.JPG
here's some pics i took:
5809257288_f358aea241_z.jpg
5808694479_3d017d45b0_z.jpg
5809257714_a6fee6272b_z.jpg
5808694739_fe16c8bc60_z.jpg
5809257946_dff312fbe9_z.jpg
 

imatlas

Saucy White Boy
Joined
May 27, 2008
Messages
24,694
Reaction score
28,397
^ Jealous. I miss visiting Maine, and I've always wanted to visit Acadia.
 

mm84321

Distinguished Member
Joined
Aug 2, 2009
Messages
2,762
Reaction score
7
Some snaps from my trip to Big Bend: Chihuahuan Desert
Drkpdl.jpg
Rio Grande at sunrise.
1ULwSl.jpg
Santa Elena Canyon
tBwFNl.jpg
Emory Peak: Highest point of elevation in the park at 7,875 ft.
OfTlGl.jpg
 

imatlas

Saucy White Boy
Joined
May 27, 2008
Messages
24,694
Reaction score
28,397
^ Nice.

I had no idea there were mountains there, I've always thought of it as the Rio Grande park.
 

mm84321

Distinguished Member
Joined
Aug 2, 2009
Messages
2,762
Reaction score
7
Originally Posted by imatlas
^ Nice.

I had no idea there were mountains there, I've always thought of it as the Rio Grande park.


There are tons of mountains in the Basin. I stayed there for the first four days, then moved down to Rio Grande Village--that's more desert land. Then, my last few days were spent at the Cottonwood campground, which actually had green grass and trees! Nice change of pace from the monotony of desert sand.
 

mm84321

Distinguished Member
Joined
Aug 2, 2009
Messages
2,762
Reaction score
7
You also might consider St. John:
XvhRsl.jpg
XTPZhl.jpg
(Yes. Those are my toes in both pictures)
 

lawyerdad

Lying Dog-faced Pony Soldier
Joined
Mar 10, 2006
Messages
27,006
Reaction score
17,139
in california, all of the laudatory comments about osemite are well-deserved. but I want to represent for Deat Valley as well. It's beautiful in a stark (or, in the spring, fairly lush) way, and the vastness of the spaces is amazing. and I have found that if you're willing to hike more than 15 minutes from a trailhead, you can go for hours without seeing another person. (If you're a misanthrope like me, that's a good thing.) it's also quiet in a way few places are anymore. when i get home tonight I'l try to post some pictures I took there a few months ago.
 

mordecai

Immoderator
Joined
Jul 9, 2008
Messages
11,274
Reaction score
780
Yes, Death Valley is incredible. I've also experienced that ear filling silence in parts of Joshua Tree, though JT isn't nearly as interesting of a visit.
 

Dakota rube

Stylish Dinosaur
Joined
Jan 14, 2005
Messages
13,306
Reaction score
237
While not a National Park, I'd suggest the Boundary Waters Canoe Area in Minnesota. Remarkable wilderness; most of the 1,000,000 acres are closed to motorized traffic. No cans or bottles allowed, pack out what you bring in.
BWCA1.jpg
Voyageurs National Park is a short jaunt further west.
 

Manton

RINO
Joined
Apr 20, 2002
Messages
41,314
Reaction score
2,879
The redwood park in the far north of California is worth a visit. Uncrowded.
 

lawyerdad

Lying Dog-faced Pony Soldier
Joined
Mar 10, 2006
Messages
27,006
Reaction score
17,139
DV (the surface I'm standing on in the next-to-last photo is not sand, but salt in the Badwater area of the park) Zabriskie Point, probably the most famous vista in the park
wsF2wl.jpg
Golden Canyon
sWEWEl.jpg
Golden Canyon (right below Zabriskie)
6GIXll.jpg
shifting sand dunes between Stovepipe Wells and Furnace Creek
u5dkdl.jpg
u5dkds.jpg
Dante's Peak
iGvATl.jpg
Natural Bridge hike, basically the entrance to one side of Golden Canyon
6w9UYl.jpg
Badlands salt flats
xMfPLl.jpg
sunset over Mosaic Canyon
IZADhl.jpg
 

yerfdog

Distinguished Member
Joined
Sep 23, 2006
Messages
1,320
Reaction score
2
Originally Posted by imatlas
Yes. Especially this year, when the melt finally gets under way for real!

Yeah. I went last year in June just about a year ago, and the waterfalls were really steaming then, so I'm thinking this year they'll be even better even later into the summer.
 

mm84321

Distinguished Member
Joined
Aug 2, 2009
Messages
2,762
Reaction score
7
Looks amazing, lawyerdad. I'd love to go there next Winter.
 

lawyerdad

Lying Dog-faced Pony Soldier
Joined
Mar 10, 2006
Messages
27,006
Reaction score
17,139
Originally Posted by Dakota rube
While not a National Park, I'd suggest the Boundary Waters Canoe Area in Minnesota. Remarkable wilderness; most of the 1,000,000 acres are closed to motorized traffic. No cans or bottles allowed, pack out what you bring in.

. . .

Voyageurs National Park is a short jaunt further west.


Nice, Rube.
 

Featured Sponsor

How important is full vs half canvas to you for heavier sport jackets?

  • Definitely full canvas only

    Votes: 55 35.5%
  • Half canvas is fine

    Votes: 60 38.7%
  • Really don't care

    Votes: 17 11.0%
  • Depends on fabric

    Votes: 27 17.4%
  • Depends on price

    Votes: 28 18.1%

Forum statistics

Threads
505,160
Messages
10,578,978
Members
223,882
Latest member
anykadaimeni
Top