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– Carl Bidleman

Today’s photo of McClure Meadow in Kings Canyon National Park comes from Tom Hilton. I think I’d rather be sittin’ right there today.

We’ll have our Kings Canyon videos online soon. In the meantime, watch our videos of nearby Sequoia National Park:

Sequoia’s Most Famous Treasures

Sequoia’s Wilderness Wonders

Sequoia’s Little Surprises

Photo by marmion

– Doug McConnell

My father was raised on a homestead in northwestern Montana. His family moved to a piece of land near Flathead Lake in 1910. My dad long remembered the family’s journey to the homestead from Fairbury, Nebraska. They traveled by train and covered wagon, dodged a diphtheria outbreak in Billings and celebrated his fourth birthday around a campfire. His cake was a baked potato with a candle. The world was different then.

By the time I was born, my family was ensconced in California but we made frequent trips back to Montana. We often drove out of our way to visit the Tetons and Yellowstone and my love affair with mountains and the mysteries of wild places was sealed forever. When I can’t be in Montana, Wyoming and the Yellowstone region personally, I can go there virtually by watching our videos here on OpenRoad.TV: Grand Teton National Park.

Our national park system started with Yellowstone in 1872. The concept of protecting important, natural and historic places is one of this country’s finest creations and global exports. We have a fair number of parks and preserves in the West for you to check out by clicking on the category link to right of this blog. Happy travels.

— Jim Wirth

One of our OpenRoad.TV contributors, Rick Deutsch, lives the Carpe Diem attitude. Rick has hiked Yosemite’s Half Dome over 20 times, and has written a great book on the subject called One Best Hike: Yosemite’s Half Dome. Rick also provides valuable up-to-date information about Yosemite at his website and blog. If you have any plans on visiting Yosemite Valley and scaling this iconic rock any time soon, I encourage you to check out what Rick has to say.