As it sits, today is the third day in May, 2021. No special holiday commemorates today, nothing but a number on a calendar, nothing noteworthy about today just a rainy Monday in spring and yet I feel like this will be a Monday worth remembering. A day that will register in my mind as the spark that lit the tinder, the cog that spun the engine over and fired it up, the first domino to fall and so on and so forth. Today I have decided that, especially considering some things in retrospect, this will be the year of the National Park. The year of public monuments and public land, the year of getting out there and visiting places I feel we as a country and people take for granted. Everyone loves to travel, see the world go backpacking and what not but I feel like so many people especially of my generation see the grandiose vacations of Instagram influencers and decide; “Hey I want that! I’m going to move to Bali!” Or “I need desperately to bike pack through Kyrgyzstan!” We don’t even try to visit the wealth of beauty in our own back yards. So I am declaring this the year of the National Park (Monument, Grassland, Forest etc)
I’ve already begun the process, I went to Rocky Mountain National Park for my birthday, then a few weeks back visited the Rio Grande Gorge Bridge in Taos, New Mexico in the Rio Grande Del Norte National Monument, this past weekend I went to Canyonlands National Park and Arches National Park before visiting Colorado National Monument. This is the year. No more saying well maybe next year it’s time to get out there and go visit our public lands. If the pandemic has taught me one thing it’s to not take for granted going outside and enjoying the sights and sounds. So now that I’m vaccinated and things are opening up I’m going to get out there and get after it. It’s our land after all, I know that seems like an old cliché but it is literally owned by the people of the United States. Our taxes pay for its maintenance, our votes insure the people in charge care for it. If we don’t go out and use it, go out and see it we will inevitably let it fall by the wayside.
Our National Parks are always fantastic places full of beauty and grandeur and it’s all accessible. Some people may not find that part appealing, they may feel like too many people is distracting but here’s the thing, it’s not about how many people are around you it’s about how you can center yourself and focus on the now. Live in the moment and enjoy the views it doesn’t matter if there are ten people or ten thousand people you can tune them out, it just takes a little effort and you’re suddenly sitting there staring off at the majestic vista or incredible rock formation or watching the column of water and steam spew forth, all by your lonesome. These places are incredible, let their energy flow into you and push out the negative. As I sat perched on a cliff staring off at the deepest widest canyon I’ve ever seen in my life (Grand Canyon is next on the list) I realized I didn’t care how many people were around or what they were doing.
I didn’t even care how many people were on the trail to the Delicate Arch, or how many people sat there staring as we did. Nor did I care that there was a man in the photo taken of me in the archway. That massive rock arch was incredible, awe inspiring, mind bending. I’ve seen a million pictures and still I had no idea it was as big as it was or as stunning. Everything about that hike was incredible too, a beautiful sandstone desert with gorgeous snow capped peaks in the distance and wonderful rock formations all around. It was easy to be at peace even as the balls of my feet were bubbling up from wearing flip flops.
And then there was Colorado National Monument, how to describe this exquisite majestic place, a sandstone canyon of red and brown, trees and scrubs it was almost reminiscent of Sedona, Arizona. Gigantic rock formations, from the coke ovens (big dome like monoliths all in a row) to Independence Monument a 450 foot tall monolith in the middle of three sandstone peninsulas imposing I’m sure from down below but from rim rock drive, the road through the canyon up above, it was incredible. It just kept going too, the road takes you on a 23 mile drive above an absolutely stunning canyon with views for miles not only down in but also out to the western slope and Grand Mesa.
So here’s my plan, I am putting it in writing so I can be held accountable, I aim to hit as many pieces of public land and parks as possible this year. At the end of this month over Memorial Day weekend I will be traveling to the Grand Canyon intent on seeing the north rim as well as Monument Valley on the way down, and Bryce Canyon and potentially even Capitol Reef on the way back. Then in June I plan on visiting Badlands National Park, Wind Cave National Park, Mount Rushmore National Memorial and Devils Tower National Monument, Mesa Verde National Park and Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park. In July I’m going to Theodore Roosevelt National Park, then in September I’m hitting the road and heading west on a mission to see places I’ve never been and some I have but in my sights are Great Basin National Park, Muir Woods National Monument, Redwood National Park, Mt St Helens National Volcanic Monument, Mt Rainier National Park, Glacier National Park, Yellowstone National Park and Grand Teton National Park. I will be visiting any and every state park, national forest and piece of public land I can on the way. This is a trip that will quite possibly fundamentally change me as a person, seeing so much and exploring like that could unlock a hidden piece of my psyche as of yet untapped that could leave me driven insane from wanting more. I could be ruined from a need to never settle in any place. Stuck roaming the country taking in the sights.
I’m all for it.
Bring it on.
The Wandering Toto
– 2021
The Wandering Toto 