I am in love with the National Parks! The ones I've been to and even the ones I haven't. My goal in life is to go to as many as possible while I am physically capable. As much as I travel and get out as much as I can, you'd be surprised at how many (official) National Parks I've been to. Out of the sixty-three National Parks, I have been to two and counting! Though it may not be much for now, there's a lot of exploring in the future. The two National Parks that I've been to, in order, is: Yosemite and Death Valley. I have been to many other great named parks but that's for another time.
I think Yosemite will forever hold the #1 spot on my list for National Parks. It's the one park that's always been on my list, on the background on my computers and in the climbing documentaries I watched. Seeing the park in real life solidified my love for Yosemite. The great granite walls that are surrounding you are beyond astonishing up close and personal. There are so many trails to hike on and so many viewpoints to take your breath away. Everytime I go there is always a new path less traveled. Another reason I love Yosemite is because I have been there five times now that I am getting super comfortable with the area. This park 1000% is my happy place.
The next park that I went to was Death Valley with my dad in 2022. I didn't really know what to expect after going to a huge national park like Yosemite. Naturally, I did a bunch of research on Death Valley and saw so many different things the park had to offer. Unlike before, there's not really any accommodations besides some motels, tiny convenient stores and the nations most expensive gas (at the time it was in the $8 range), everything else was pretty much wide open. The views and textures that I saw on the landscape was like nothing before; sharp and smooth at the same time, rainbows of colors, and mind blowing mini ecosystems. When we were there we got rained on, where it hardly rains and holds the hottest temperature recorded for the US: 134 degrees fahrenheit. To our surprise there was a waterfall in Death Valley that we totally had to check out and it was worth it! Take my word: do it!
Since I am currently living in the West Coast, there are amazing parks here that I can drive to! Eventually I will move back to the Midwest but before I do I need to check a lot more than two off my list. This year I have two more parks planned already! I will definitely make a post about each of the parks. What park have you been dreaming about?
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