Expedition National Parks – Details, episodes & analysis

Almost 70 miles  west of Key West lies the remote Dry Tortugas National Park. This 100-square mile park is mostly open water with seven small islands.  Accessible only by boat or seaplane, the park is known the world over as the home of magnificent Fort Jefferson and for its picturesque blue waters, superlative coral reefs and marine life, and the vast assortment of bird life that frequents the area.

Dry Tortugas National Park is a bucket list adventure for many of the visitors who make it there.  We camped for two nights and would highly recommend it but take any opportunity you have to visit what you can. Learn more about our experience as well as that of other campers.

Just steps away from the disembarkation point of the ferry is Fort Jefferson, part of the third system of U.S. coastal defense.  Fort Jefferson is the largest brick masonry structure in the United States and is composed of 16 million bricks.  Hollywood, the energetic and expert tour guide from Yankee Freedom, shares a great deal of knowledge about the history and importance of the fort and the area.

Information/Booking re: Camping in Dry Tortugas National Park:

https://www.drytortugas.com/key-west-camping/

Outdoor Organization Feature:

Venture Out Project: https://linktr.ee/theventureoutproject

This month we are sharing the work of the Venture Out Project as part of our community effort to showcase organizations who are working towards social justice and more inclusive public lands.  Established in 2014 by Perry Cohen, the Venture Out Project was one of the first guiding companies run by and for queer and transgender people.  Their mission is to provide a safe and fun space for queer, trans, and LGBTQ+ people to experience the outdoors as well as providing education and support that helps schools and organizations affirm their LGBTQ+ members. This is further underscored by their commitment to environmental stewardship, social justice, diversity, and inclusion.

Linda Mohammad, better known as @thebucketlisttraveler on social media, is originally from Malaysia.  She moved to the U.S. to study in Colorado, then to Texas for her first job and has been living in California since 2012 where she works as an engineer.  A few day trips to NPS sites in California led to her bucket list ambition of visiting all National Parks, which she accomplished in 2019.  In honor of Asian American Native Hawaiian Pacific Islander Heritage Month (AANHPIHM), we organized a special session on Clubhouse in the National Parks and WH Sites club. This episode features excerpts of the conversation that focus on her own roots in Asia as well as the importance of diversity and inclusion, the powerful educational role of the cultural and historical NPS sites, and the importance of volunteer work.

Special thanks to @nationalparkpatchlady for her insightful questions.

Follow @thebucketlisttraveler on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thebucketlisttraveler/

Learn more and support the Channel Islands Park Foundation: https://www.ciparkfoundation.org/

Outdoor Organization Feature:

Get Out Stay Out/Vamos Afuera is committed to increasing diversity and representation for people of color, especially indigenous youth, within the outdoor industry by ensuring they have opportunities to run, play, and discover themselves in the natural world.  Follow Get Out Stay Out on Instagram (@getout.stayout).  Please consider a donation to support their work - 100 percent of your donation will go to youth excursions: check out their website at vamosafuera.org.

While we are not particular fans of winter, a friend told us that visiting Yellowstone in winter was like being in a snow globe.  After hearing that, we knew we had to visit.  And while we expected to be disappointed as our expectations were so high, the trip was absolutely magical.  It was a trip of firsts for us, including traveling on the Snowcoach that our friend likened to a “people mover out of Star Wars.”  We cross country skied around the Geyser Basin and the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone, as well as Lone Star Geyser.  We were afraid of the cold but it wasn’t a problem at all.  We even met a young man who hiked and camped from Mammoth Hot Springs all the way to Old Faithful; we share the conversation in the episode.  There are Ranger programs and multiple Junior Ranger programs--including a special winter one--and Ranger Rebecca gave us a master class in geology.  This trip was truly a unique experience that we will never forget, and can only recommend our listeners to consider a winter visit in the future.  For you will never find a place as beautiful, magical, and peaceful.

Highlights:

4:32 Canyon Visitor Education Center Rangers
7:27 Mammoth Springs Visitor Center Ranger
10:41 Will explains his winter camping experience
16:27 Outdoor Organization feature
17:25 Ranger Rebecca on Yellowstone’s Winter Junior Ranger program
19:36  Ranger Rebecca on Yellowstone’s unique geologic and therman features
34:07 Increase in Chinese tourism to Yellowstone
41:03  Final reflections

For more information on Youth Opportunities Program:  bit.ly/YOPNov2020.  To donate, bit.ly/YOPDonate.

More information on

Wolf Restoration in Yellowstone National Park:

bit.ly/NPSWolf

Wolves and Rick McIntyre:

https://www.yellowstonepark.com/things-to-do/wolf-reintroduction-changes-ecosystem

https://www.yellowstone.org/rick-mcintyres-notes-from-the-field/

We are big fans of trains and the previous episode focused on the Trails and Rails program, which we were able to experience on a 2017 trip on the Southwest Chief.  In 2020, we took two other long-distance trains: the Sunset Limited in January and the California Zephyr in March.  Amtrak has 30 train routes throughout the United States which cover 500 destinations in 46 states, offering some of the most beautiful scenery in the country.  Train travel has been likened to a “land cruise” and we definitely considered the train trips part of the vacation, exemplifying the adage that it is not about the destination but the journey.  We appreciated the opportunity to not only learn about the history and geology of the U.S. but also to get to know our fellow passengers and Amtrak staff. While Covid-19 has altered operations significantly, we encourage our listeners to consider a long-distance train ride in the future.

For more information on Youth Opportunities Program:  bit.ly/YOPNov2020.  To donate, bit.ly/YOPDonate.

And to learn more about Amtrak’s routes, including the California Zephyr and Southwest Limited: bit.ly/Amtrakld

October 2020 marks the twentieth anniversary of the Trials & Rails program, a partnership between Amtrak, the National Park Service (NPS) and the Department of Recreation, Park and Tourism Sciences at Texas A&M University.  Building on a rich relationship and traditions , Trails and Rails NPS volunteers on select trains share stories about parks and other places of interest along with the route.  They help travelers make connections between what they are seeing out the window to American history and culture.  The highlight of the episode is an interview with Jim , the original creator of the program who still heads the NPS involvement in the program.  He describes the history of the program, the challenges posed by Covid-19 which have temporarily halted the program, and how they are reimagining the program for the 2021 season. We were fortunate to be passengers on a Trails and Rails Amtrak journey in 2017 so we know first-hand the positive impact of the program.

Check out videos from three of the Trails and Rails programs across the United States that were created to celebrate the anniversary: bit.ly/TandRvideo or linktr.ee/expeditionnationalparks 

Audio excerpts and Trails and Rails logo courtesy of the National Park Service

The second and final part of our series on the  Summer Work Travel (SWT) program (bit.ly/SWTJ1) features Narmin and Javanshir from Azerbaijan and Adrian from Slovakia.  All three were participants in the SWT which aims to allow foreign students  "to share their culture and ideas with people of the United States through temporary work and travel opportunities."  These students are issued J-1 visas and the program has a long history and is one of many people-to-people diplomacy programs which aim to promote mutual understanding.  Javanshir enjoyed his first summer as a SWT participant so much that he convinced his sister and another friend to join the following summer (2019) when all three worked at the Jordan Pond House in Acadia National Park.  Javanshir even baked some of the famous Jordan Pond House popovers!  Adrian did not work at a national park but visited several NPS sites, including Zion National Park, Yellowstone National Park, Yosemite National Park, and Glacier National Park) during the travel portion of his experience in 2019.

Chamizal National Memorial is one of the most unique NPS sites.  It is many things in one: an urban park, a performing arts center, and part of a cross-border park.  Most of all it is a testament to the importance of diplomacy and a physical reminder of the peaceful settlement of a 100-year boundary dispute between the United States and Mexico.  Congress established the memorial in 1966 to commemorate the successful diplomatic conclusion of the Chamizal issue and to celebrate cross-cultural friendship and goodwill. As the park’s website says, “We celebrate the cultures of the borderlands to promote the same mutual respect that helped to diplomatically resolve an international disagreement.” The name of this episode derives from the sections of the site’s Junior Ranger program.

The Summer Work Travel program (bit.ly/SWTJ1) is one of several J-1 Exchange Visitor programs overseen by the U.S. Department of State.  The Summer Work Travel program “provides foreign students with an opportunity to live and work in the United States during their summer vacation from college or university to experience and to be exposed to the people and way of life in the United States.”  This week, Goksu, a fine arts university student from Ephesus, Turkey talks to us about her experiences over the three years she has done the program. She started in Newport, Rhode Island as a tour guide at The Breakers Mansion.  She spent the 2018 and 2019 seasons as a server at Many Glacier Hotel in Glacier National Park.

It wasn’t until we visited Pecos National Historical Park that we realized the great breadth of history represented: prehistoric ruins to the establishment of Pecos Pueblo to colonization and missionaries, which culminated in the Pueblo Revolt of 1860.  The revolt’s success stands out as the only time European colonizers were expelled by Native Americans. The Spanish reconquered the area 12 years later.  The Santa Fe Trail passed right by and of course there was a major Civil War Battle.  Ranger Eric explains why this area is so important both culturally and historically.

In a wide-ranging discussion, Ranger Matt of Monocacy National Battlefield highlights the importance of not just the Battle of Monocacy but also of history and the long-term impacts of the Civil War.  He describes the free audio tour available to visitors and discusses the impact of the National Park Service, its protection of battlefields, as well as some of his own personal favorite national park sites.