I am officially 2-months into the 6+ month journey. I’ve successfully completed living one-month in Denver, Colorado and another month in Saint George, Utah. I’ve visited the Mighty 5 National Parks of Utah, seen moose, swam in hot springs, hiked mountains and glaciers, and have shaken that languishing feeling of 2020.
Facts:
· I’ve driven 5,982 miles along this circuitous journey
· I’ve spent 10 nights camping in roof-top tent of the Subaru
· I’ve successfully completed 4 MBA Classes – with a 4.0 GPA
· I’ve visited 7 National Parks with plans to visit at least 2 more in August
· I’ve spent $881 in gasoline
· I’ve driven approximately 84 hours (with half done by my friend Alex)
· I’ve eaten out at least 56 times spending around $738 – (yikes!)
· I’ve written 12 articles now to 163 regular Subscribers and a total of 4,282 views on this blog Professionally Wandering
· I’ve 3 confirmed locations – June in Denver, July in Utah, August in San Francisco – and then dreamed of 5 additional (unconfirmed) locations with September in Los Angeles, October in Sedona, AZ, November in New Mexico and/or Texas, and finally December in Arkansas.
Opinion:
After reading several articles about “Loving our National Parks to death,” I was pleasantly surprised at the manageable numbers I’ve witnessed at the parks. I envisioned body-to-body people and un-ending lines onto hikes, but these parks were considerably manageable. Perhaps after witnessing the craziness of the most visited park in the US, Smokey Mountain National Park, then nothing can come close to comparing to the crowds to these more isolated locations.
For example, I spent the July 16-18 weekend at Bryce National Park. I had no advanced camping plans; however, despite being a Friday in July, the park ranger indicated they had around 50 of the 200 available camping spots unreserved and available. I also didn’t think Arches National Park was unbearable although we did have to wait about 10 minutes to find a parking spot at Delicate Arch, which is the most popular hike in the park. Perhaps the extreme weather with wildfires and dramatic flash floods, or perhaps the fleet shortage of rental vehicles, are keeping some visitors away.
The one exception to the crowds being excessive would be Zion National Park. Despite having two great hikes – the Narrows and Angels Landing – I struggled to fully enjoy this park due to the surges of tourists. In fact, Zion and 4 other parks hit record visitors. Zion had 675,799 visitors in June, and this surpassed the park’s previous busiest month by 7% of 629,802 in July 2019. Also, Sequoia National Park packed (masked) people body-to-body in shuttles — it did seem a little counterintuitive given the government pandemic protocols.
To navigate the Summer crowds, I strongly recommend arriving before 8 AM or late in the afternoon. Also, be aware of the timed-entry reservations required at Yosemite, Rocky Mountain, and other parks this Summer.
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Fact: Your presence is missed!
Opinion: You are crushing it! (maybe that's a fact too!)