National Parks

Huge fan of the National Parks. I've been to a few listed and one that I haven't seen mentioned which is worth seeing was Denali. Such an amazing experience. I actually rented a cheap hard tail and rode deeper into the park than the buses went (~35 miles) and saw a ton of wildlife and epic views.
 
Heading to Arcadia at the end of August and staying in Bar Harbor. Plan is to do hikes and whale watching. Wife and daughter have no desire to see sunrise on pyramid mountain so that we’ll skip.
 
Gene said:
Heading to Arcadia at the end of August and staying in Bar Harbor. Plan is to do hikes and whale watching. Wife and daughter have no desire to see sunrise on pyramid mountain so that we’ll skip.
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I recommend breakfast at 2 Cats Restaurant

This site gives you information on cruise ships coming into port. So you can avoid crowds.

PortCall.com

maine.portcall.com maine.portcall.com
 
JDurk said:
bear spray included with the rental?
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Haha, no, I bought it at a sporting goods store when I hit town as it was recommended to carry on the ride. But when I went to board the bus, the driver wouldn't let me on with it and I had a minor moment of panic thinking I was about to throw away the stupid can I just bought specifically for this ride and then he told me to tie it onto the bike. Phew.

I did actually spot a grizzly during that ride. It was eating something on the other side of a valley and never moved from where it was as I rode past. But being out there alone, knowing there was something that could potentially pursue and eat me, gave me a chilling close to nature feeling.
 
Gene said:
Thanks!
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When we were up on Cadillac Mountain during our 7:30am entry, looking down to Bar Harbor, we could see this. We did still go into town for breakfast at 2 Cats and walked along the waterfront, but it was getting crowded as more passengers were shuttled in from the ship.
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Spent family vacation in Colorado this year. Not only are the national parks great so are the city parks. Garden of the Gods in Colorado Springs and Red Rocks are both amazing free city parks.

We went to Rocky Mountain National Park and saw much wildlife. One frustrating parts was the reservation system; we attempted to enter the park on west side at 10am; and had a reservation for bear creek on the east side at 2pm. We were told by ranger that we would not be able to enter park until an hour before the reservation and it would take an hour to just drive from west entrance to bear creek on East side. I nearly lost my shit after hearing that. Anyway it worked out fine but was very frustrating at the time.

We also drove to Great Sand Dunes NP, this was a long day in the car, and the park is located in the middle of nowhere. However it was well worth the drive, as the landscape at the park is otherworldly
 

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BCurry said:
Spent family vacation in Colorado this year. Not only are the national parks great so are the city parks. Garden of the Gods in Colorado Springs and Red Rocks are both amazing free city parks.

We went to Rocky Mountain National Park and saw much wildlife. One frustrating parts was the reservation system; we attempted to enter the park on west side at 10am; and had a reservation for bear creek on the east side at 2pm. We were told by ranger that we would not be able to enter park until an hour before the reservation and it would take an hour to just drive from west entrance to bear creek on East side. I nearly lost my shit after hearing that. Anyway it worked out fine but was very frustrating at the time.

We also drove to Great Sand Dunes NP, this was a long day in the car, and the park is located in the middle of nowhere. However it was well worth the drive, as the landscape at the park is otherworldly
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I can second the GoG, Pikes Peak, and Red Rocks in Colorado.

I added this stamp last week to my National Park Passport.

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Question for the group who hike on regular basis do you use something along the lines of Garmin Mapgps handheld device while hiking or just the gps on the phone? I have started hiking and plan to do more hiking so was wondering if it’s worth it to have something like the garmin device especially with sos funtiinality?
 
dvaidya said:
Question for the group who hike on regular basis do you use something along the lines of Garmin Mapgps handheld device while hiking or just the gps on the phone? I have started hiking and plan to do more hiking so was wondering if it’s worth it to have something like the garmin device especially with sos funtiinality?
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so it depends. i have thought we should get something along those lines... especially hiking in pisgah where there's like zero cell reception.

basically, if i hike a new trail or a new route, i'll download the route on my phone. I have a couple of different apps (like trailforks and alltrails) that will get me back to the right trail if i somehow get off my route. back up battery for the phone too. And if i go solo, i always tell steve where i'm going, which direction i'm taking the route and how long it should take (same with biking) so that if i'm gone too long, they know where to look for me. some trails are just so well traveled that you'll just constantly see people. but there have been times where i'm out by myself for like two hours and i feel like i should probably have an SOS type deal just in case.
 
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