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*** Official National Parks Thread ***

casa_mugrienta

casa_mugrienta

Duke status
Apr 13, 2008
43,668
18,174
113
Petak Island
afoaf said:
did you know that Recreation.gov is not actually a government-run website

instead it is run by a private entity that takes a cut off the top and which does not contribute
proceeds back in to the localities which it acts as the online registration system of record

let that sink in for a minute
Click to expand...
Yes, crazy isn't it?

Refer to my previous bitchfest regarding recreation.gov and all the "FULL" campgrounds with a shitload of unoccupied campsites that sit unavailable.

Not to mention the inability to reserve sites within a few days notice.

It seems like an overall indication of lack of thought/mismanagement.

But I'm getting the feeling this it's part of a general push to make the parks accessible only for the well-heeled in the long term.
 
casa_mugrienta

casa_mugrienta

Duke status
Apr 13, 2008
43,668
18,174
113
Petak Island
I was able to get a ticket for my 4th/final day here.

It took me 4 days of attempts to get a ticket.

I would advise "practicing" scrambling for a ticket with the website a few weeks prior to a trip so you can get a feel of the best method of attempting to beat the larger groups and bots.

There are people scalping tickets on Craigslist, I would not advise going this route as I heard they sometimes match your ID with the name on the ticket.

If you're planning on coming this summer I would advise not hyping the park to young kids, could be very disappointing (not to mention all the money and time down the drain).
 
One-Off

One-Off

Tom Curren status
Jul 28, 2005
14,233
10,432
113
33.8N - 118.4W
One-Off

One-Off

Tom Curren status
Jul 28, 2005
14,233
10,432
113
33.8N - 118.4W
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One-Off

One-Off

Tom Curren status
Jul 28, 2005
14,233
10,432
113
33.8N - 118.4W
Anybody interested in giving back?

We've been volunteering in the habitat restoration project in the Santa Monica Mountains. Right now it's focused on the Paramount Ranch area burned in the Woolsey Fire. Last week it was planting willow and oaks in a burned out gully near the creek. Pretty satisfying if only a drop in the bucket of what needs to be done. YOu can come back in a few years to see the willows...and in 35 to see the mature oaks.

www.nps.gov

Habitat Restoration in the Santa Monica Mountains - Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area (U.S. National Park Service)

www.nps.gov www.nps.gov

ps any rangers on this bb?
 
R

r32

Administrator
Staff member
Apr 1, 2005
18,111
9,830
113
Cambria
In Yosemite today and hung out for the Firefall. It's become so popular, they shut down a ton of parking spots and entire lane of the exit part of the loop in the Valley, between the store and 41 exit to Fresno.

If you want to see Firefall from the best spot, you have to get there abound 3-4 hours before it happens. Parking super limited so be prepared to drive around the entire Valley several times. Even then I think 100's of cars never did find spots and just left. The line of cars driving by was non-stop for hours. Could not believe the mass of people that showed up. I did a head count at one point and lost track around 250. But that was 2 hours before it happened. By sunset, the crowd had more than doubled, so I'd say about 750-1000 people jammed into one area on both sides of the road.

Everyone was really chill and vibe was great. One lady yelled out 'itsssss happppening!!!' and everyone busted out laughing. It was hilarious. Then at the end people were clapping (for mother nature?) as they enjoyed the light show. The vibe was amazing. I thought, "so this is what if feels like when everyone is happy and getting along." It was really cool.

About an hour before sunset, a Japanese guy showed up, walked around our group about 5x looking for the right spot to take pics and decided to set up his little tripod and phone camera right in front of me and a bunch of others. We were all sitting down so EVERYONE had a fantastic view. Nobody said anything so I got up and told the guy to sit down when it starts. He did not speak english, so I pointed at him and then pointed at the ground. He got the picture and moved. Everyone thanked me for handling that biz. :roflmao:

Roads were dry all the way up, except a few shady spots that had small patches of ice.

Pics from my iphone

1644737967370.png

1644738061811.png

1644738096438.png
 
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Chocki

Chocki

Phil Edwards status
Feb 18, 2007
6,554
7,109
113
Planet Earth
r32 said:
In Yosemite today and hung out for the Firefall. It's become so popular, they shut down a ton of parking spots and entire lane of the exit part of the loop in the Valley, between the store and 41 exit to Fresno.

If you want to see Firefall from the best spot, you have to get there abound 3-4 hours before it happens. Parking super limited so be prepared to drive around the entire Valley several times. Even then I think 100's of cars never did find spots and just left. The line of cars driving by was non-stop for hours. Could not believe the mass of people that showed up. I did a head count at one point and lost track around 250. But that was 2 hours before it happened. By sunset, the crowd had more than doubled, so I'd say about 750-1000 people jammed into one area on both sides of the road.

Everyone was really chill and vibe was great. One lady yelled out 'itsssss happppening!!!' and everyone busted out laughing. It was hilarious. Then at the end people were clapping (for mother nature?) as they enjoyed the light show. The vibe was amazing. I thought, "so this is what if feels like when everyone is happy and getting along." It was really cool.

About an hour before sunset, a Japanese guy showed up, walked around our group about 5x looking for the right spot to take pics and decided to set up his little tripod and phone camera right in front of me and a bunch of others. We were all sitting down so EVERYONE had a fantastic view. Nobody said anything so I got up and told the guy to sit down when it starts. He did not speak english, so I pointed at him and then pointed at the ground. He got the picture and moved. Everyone thanked me for handling that biz. :roflmao:

Roads were dry all the way up, except a few shady spots that had small patches of ice.

Pics from my iphone

View attachment 124113

View attachment 124114

View attachment 124115
Click to expand...
1644783588933.gif
 
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Reactions: r32
stringcheese

stringcheese

Miki Dora status
Jun 21, 2017
4,020
3,825
113
At the suggestion of the erBB (quadfin specifically) my National parks journey begins. Starting with the newest, and smallest, Pinnacles.
Parked on the west entrance at chaparral and made my way up to the top for a decent view. Passing down across a reservoir through some fallen rock caves, over the to east entrance and back north around the hills and through a different, short, dark, steep cave returning west. Started at 2 and with sunset just before 6 I had to run about half of the 15ish miles to see everything. Good starting adventure, not much of a national park. Signs about preparation are greatly over stated, bathrooms and water fountains are available at multiple locations and you'd have to be mildly crippled to find any of it "strenuous". Still had a great time. Somewhere more impressive next...more caves, maybe.





20220217_173434.jpg20220217_171000.jpg
 
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One-Off

One-Off

Tom Curren status
Jul 28, 2005
14,233
10,432
113
33.8N - 118.4W
stringcheese said:
At the suggestion of the erBB (quadfin specifically) my National parks journey begins. Starting with the newest, and smallest, Pinnacles.
Parked on the west entrance at chaparral and made my way up to the top for a decent view. Passing down across a reservoir through some fallen rock caves, over the to east entrance and back north around the hills and through a different, short, dark, steep cave returning west. Started at 2 and with sunset just before 6 I had to run about half of the 15ish miles to see everything. Good starting adventure, not much of a national park. Signs about preparation are greatly over stated, bathrooms and water fountains are available at multiple locations and you'd have to be mildly crippled to find any of it "strenuous". Still had a great time. Somewhere more impressive next...more caves, maybe.





View attachment 124521View attachment 124522
Click to expand...
We went there a few years ago in December. We were not prepared for how cold it got . ALL our liquids froze solid overnight and all the camp faucets were frozen. No liquids until noon. We learned from that and had water in a steel bucket that we could melt every day after that.
 
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stringcheese

stringcheese

Miki Dora status
Jun 21, 2017
4,020
3,825
113
One-Off said:
We went there a few years ago in December. We were not prepared for how cold it got . ALL our liquids froze solid overnight and all the camp faucets were frozen. No liquids until noon. We learned from that and had water in a steel bucket that we could melt every day after that.
Click to expand...
Wow, gnarly! I'm a weather god (it's a secret, don't tell anyone, they'll start inviting me places and I suck at meetings) and anywhere I go, any time of year, it becomes board shorts and t shirt weather, so I've never had to deal with anything like that. Did you consider going to that reservoir? Seems like it would take a lot to freeze that.
 
One-Off

One-Off

Tom Curren status
Jul 28, 2005
14,233
10,432
113
33.8N - 118.4W
stringcheese said:
Wow, gnarly! I'm a weather god (it's a secret, don't tell anyone, they'll start inviting me places and I suck at meetings) and anywhere I go, any time of year, it becomes board shorts and t shirt weather, so I've never had to deal with anything like that. Did you consider going to that reservoir? Seems like it would take a lot to freeze that.
Click to expand...
The funny thing is I have this obsession with getting ice as soon as we get to a campground. Ice cold beer is heaven after a hike. So as soon as we got there I immediately went to the camp store to get ice. Little did I know how ridiculous that was. I don't know why I didn't investigate the weather.

We have the weather luck in Mendocino and Humboldt. It's always sunny when we're there. And locals tell us we just missed months of fog.
 
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stringcheese

stringcheese

Miki Dora status
Jun 21, 2017
4,020
3,825
113
Funny imagining the people working in the camp store thinking "this guy... buying ice. Oh, he's gonna get ice alright"
 
Random Guy

Random Guy

Duke status
Jan 16, 2002
32,158
6,344
113
r32 said:
In Yosemite today and hung out for the Firefall. It's become so popular, they shut down a ton of parking spots and entire lane of the exit part of the loop in the Valley, between the store and 41 exit to Fresno.

If you want to see Firefall from the best spot, you have to get there abound 3-4 hours before it happens. Parking super limited so be prepared to drive around the entire Valley several times. Even then I think 100's of cars never did find spots and just left. The line of cars driving by was non-stop for hours. Could not believe the mass of people that showed up. I did a head count at one point and lost track around 250. But that was 2 hours before it happened. By sunset, the crowd had more than doubled, so I'd say about 750-1000 people jammed into one area on both sides of the road.

Everyone was really chill and vibe was great. One lady yelled out 'itsssss happppening!!!' and everyone busted out laughing. It was hilarious. Then at the end people were clapping (for mother nature?) as they enjoyed the light show. The vibe was amazing. I thought, "so this is what if feels like when everyone is happy and getting along." It was really cool.

About an hour before sunset, a Japanese guy showed up, walked around our group about 5x looking for the right spot to take pics and decided to set up his little tripod and phone camera right in front of me and a bunch of others. We were all sitting down so EVERYONE had a fantastic view. Nobody said anything so I got up and told the guy to sit down when it starts. He did not speak english, so I pointed at him and then pointed at the ground. He got the picture and moved. Everyone thanked me for handling that biz. :roflmao:

Roads were dry all the way up, except a few shady spots that had small patches of ice.

Pics from my iphone

View attachment 124113

View attachment 124114

View attachment 124115
Click to expand...
That looks and sounds so cool
its hard to imagine any state park more awesome than Yosemite
 
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