Go Climb A Glacier

September 13th, 2011 by Amy Gonsalves Leave a reply »

My family seemed to vacation only at national parks when I was a kid.  I swear we were always driving to one park or another.  (At least for a squirmy kid like me, it felt like that: drive, drive, drive, set up the tent, deal with bugs, spend an hour with the camp stove, deal with bugs, go up a hill, go faster down the hill, deal with bugs, repeat.)

My favorite national park tee shirt said “GO CLIMB A GLACIER”.  I wasn’t old enough to come up with other words the shirt alluded to, but I got the gist and loved the fact my parents let me wear it anyway.

Sometimes, it really is all about the tee shirt.

But OTHER times, it’s about the National Parks!

The Journal of Forestry came out with a great set of facts on National Parks. They say that each year more than 170 million people visit national forests for recreation. And the physical activity associated with these visits burns 290 billion food calories. That equals enough french fries laid end to end to reach the Moon and back – twice.

How awesome is that?!

They looked also at what people do when they visit a National Park.  They said that hiking, walking, downhill skiing, fishing, relaxing, camping, and driving for pleasure are among the primary activities accounting for about two-thirds (68 percent) of all visits to the national forests.

What else is there to do at a national park?

Oh.  S’mores.  Of course!  I forgot.  (How could I forget S’MORES?!)

I love the fact I lived in a national park for three summers when I worked at Bearskin Meadow CampThat’s the kind of experience you just never get out of your bones or blood.  (Nor should you.)

The whole topic makes me want to visit a national park as soon as I can.  Maybe I’ll even climb a glacier when I’m there!

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