National Park Week

As National Park Week 2024 comes to a close, I am proud to say that I have seen more national parks in the last six months than the entire rest of my life combined. While I might come close to even if you include other NPS units, it's been a whirlwind of new places, great outdoors, enrichment, and enchantment. In order of visits:

• Cuyahoga Valley, Ohio
• Mammoth Cave, Kentucky
• Hot Springs, Arkansas
• Guadalupe Mountains, Texas
• Carlsbad Caverns, New Mexico
• White Sands, New Mexico
• Saguaro, Arizona
• Joshua Tree, California
• Kings Canyon, California
• Sequoia, California
• Yosemite, California
• Death Valley, California & Nevada
• Bryce Canyon, Utah
• Zion, Utah
• Wind Cave, South Dakota
• Badlands, South Dakota

Superlatives:

Best with a dog: White Sands

We had such a great time here running all around the dunes and trying desperately to follow trail markers in a shifting landscape. The sledding was worth the effort.

Most underrated: Kings Canyon

I probably shouldn't even talk about this park so that people just keep ignoring it to visit adjacent Sequoia instead; but I have never blurted out "holy f**k" more times in a single day than I did coming around bends or peering out overlooks in this park. It was an amazing place to wake up on New Year's Day and I learned a ton about conifers that I hadn't even really thought about before.

Most like the pictures: Yosemite

Not including the drive-in to Yosemite Valley, I was only in the park for a couple of hours; most of which was spent trying to figure out where I was going. But, nothing prepared me for how truly marvelous it was to come in through the tunnel and look out over the valley. It was like living a moment inside of an Ansel Adams portrait.

Surprisingly diverse: Death Valley

Okay, so not diverse plant or animal life (though the pupfish were thrilling); but the geology blew me away. I loved seeing how different structures rose and fell, the colors of the rocks, and the fields of crystalized minerals. Every landscape was stunning in its own way, and I left feeling like I was finally an adventurer.

Best phone service: Cuyahoga Valley

I feel bad for this park. In my limited experience, it is the epitome of Ohio-ness. HOWEVER, it was by far the easiest park to teach from regarding connectivity and I felt super safe (even when I got lost on a hike) because I could always just call for help if necessary.

Best entrance: Carlsbad Caverns

You should 100% go in the cave if you are already out there, but the entrance road is worth a visit all by itself. Not enough words to describe the sweeping desert landscape framed by rock fomations.

My students have been working on a collaborative project for the last few classes and I spent most of this evening building out the next assignment for my physical science kiddos: designing an electrical system, powered by non-emiting renewable energy, for a campground in a national park. It took me hours to get the details needed for each power source to help them calculate cost-efficiency and environmental impacts of generating electricity off-grid. This coming week, they'll work with life science students making food webs and Earth science students tracing watersheds to put together  comprehensive guides to visiting three of our national parks. My favorite part about it: after all the field trips to parks this year, the kids are really showing up for this project and getting invested. Love it.

To see what other kinds of shenanigans visiting National Parks brings, keep coming back.