We visited a number of National Parks this year, and as always I’ve thoroughly enjoyed them. I don’t go enough, quite honestly. Death Valley lived up to its name, not in heat but in wind and starkness. My secret wish is to time it such that when the lake there temporarily fills with water, I’ll be able to sneak up and kayak on it.
I went with some business colleagues to the NP in the U.S. Virgin Islands; it is a definite respite from the near-third world towns and communities that dot most of the island chain, although as you can imagine the heat and humidity will be relentless (a small point we forgot to tell our mechanic, who had murder on his mind the last few miles of the hike). Sequoia was good, although heavily ravaged by the fires of recent years, quite sad, especially when considering the giant trees that took literally forever to grow to their enormous heights. Kings Canyon: who knew it was deeper than the Grand Canyon; quite the spectacle.
I also went to the Nationalpark Sächsische Schweiz (Saxon Switzerland, or colloquially Little Switzerland) in Germany, along the Czech border, and the Biosphärenreservat Spreewald just outside of Berlin. Did a kayaking trip in the latter, which turned into a navigational nail biter for awhile.
I consider National Parks a refuge for myself, and one of the few pristine places one can escape to, to return to the beauty of the flora and fauna that simply just is. It feels like a mental reset for me, and a little bit of escapism from the more…tedious…elements of everyday life. Once you get beyond the first few miles of photo-snapping tourists.