NATIONAL PARK HOPPING
National parks are official land in the United States, claimed by the federal government. They contain natural resources, history, and recreation. How awesome would it be to see all 63 of them?! I’ve only seen 12… so I have a lot of work to do. Here’s a photo dump (+ memories) of my top 5 favorites!
Mount Rainier National Park, Washington
“If you could only do 1 hike at Mount Rainier National Park, it has to be the Skyline Trail.” Whoever said this was right. Hiking for 2.25 hours to 7,100 elevation was a breathtaking experience. It was like all 4 seasons were encapsulated in 1 day. We saw summer through the beautiful waterfalls, fall through the evergreen trees, winter through the snowcaps (even in August!), and spring through the flowery meadows.
2. White Sands National Park, New Mexico
We couldn’t believe a place like this existed! This wasn’t your average desert. It had the whitest of white sands and the brightest of bright sunsets. It wasn’t even blazing hot on a March afternoon. We played a lot as we rolled down the dunes and double dutched.
3. Sequoia National Park, California
Old friends reunited after 6 years! We drove under the Tunnel Log and hiked up Moro Rock Trail. It was an easy, 1-hour hike with an elevation gain of 1,000 feet. It had steep staircases, boulders to sit on, and many beautiful views. We watched the sunset, set up our blankets, and stargazed until 10:00pm. We saw so many shooting stars!
4. Olympic National Park, Washington
Mount Storm King was the most challenging hike of my life. It was a 4,534-feet mountain that we thought was going to be a 2,000-feet mountain. We walked on the edge of cliffs, belayed on thin ropes, slipped on some rocks, drew blood, and more. There were actually times we were so scared, we trembled. But we conquered our fears and were so proud!
5. Zion National Park, Utah
We started our hike in The Narrows (the one in the water) at 3:00pm during a flash flood (oops). We should’ve started earlier, as it takes about 6 hours to get to the coolest parts. We probably shouldn’t have hiked during a flash flood… but we have no regrets!
The orange water was rising to our necks and my camera got dunked. We were pretty much running away from the flood and running towards the daylight. Again, we have no regrets because now, we have funny memories!
Can’t travel out of the country? That’s fine. Go to the national parks and it’ll almost look like you’re traveling out of the country! Thank you for viewing my top 5/12 favorites!
