#17 The United States had a
fantastic National Park System.
#18 So do many
other countries. Don't miss out just because you aren't in America.
#19 Take a
random hike. You might just end up on
top of a mountain.
#20 It is
possible to see too many waterfalls in your life. But, that doesn’t have to mean you don’t want
to see any more.
#21 It’s
totally alright to be a tourist.
Let's talk about National Parks. The
first national park was installed by Ulysses S. Grant on March 1, 1872. The park? Yellowstone. (Btw, this
should please all you 'muricans out there: the National Park System was developed
in America.). Today, the U.S. has 58
national parks, and 401 national parks, preservations, forests, monuments, and
battlefields. Each park has its own
unique features, and no park is the same.
It’s such a fantastic system with
something to offer virtually everyone.
 |
| Here I am climbing around the sandstone in Saxon Switzerland National Park last weekend. |
Every year, thousands of people come
to America to visit national parks. When you are inside one of these
National Parks, you will meet people from all over the world. I have discussed
photography with an Indian in Glacier NP, met a European teenager who is fluent
in 7 languages in Bryce Canyon NP, and marveled at geysers with Asians in Yellowstone
NP. Some of these people haven't even explored the national parks in
their own country. Let me tell you something, and I don't want this to be
a secret: they're missing out; there are
hundreds of fantastic national parks
that aren't in America.
Yes, that's right -- the United
States is not the only country with national parks. Actually, it's not even the
only country with awesome national parks. I've explored a few that are
just as good as the ones in the states. In Masaya Volcano National Park,
in Nicaragua, I hiked on volcanoes, and peered into the sulfur-filled interior
of an active one. Last summer, I came face-to-face with sheep in Dartmoor National
Park in England.
Just this past weekend, I climbed a
mountain, and crawled among huge, natural, sandstone structures in Saxon
Switzerland (not in Switzerland) National Park in Germany. Before I went,
I had several people tell me that the national parks here wouldn't be as good
as the ones in America. I also heard things, like, "All the 'hiking'
trails there are paved," and, "It will be nothing like you're used
to, here." Guess what, every single one of those people were wrong.
 |
| Here you can see the town of Bad Schanadu (left) and Krippen (right). |
I only really noticed one big
difference between American and European national parks. In an American
national park, you will only find a handful of buildings: there will be one
lodge (maybe two), anywhere from 1 to
about 5 information centers (depending on the size of the park), a few ranger
houses (but, these will be difficult to spot because they are usually somewhat
hidden), possibly some camping cabins, and some restrooms (scattered about). A
European national park contains entire towns, although this is really only
because the towns existed before the national parks, and there were too many
towns to avoid them all. But, to protect the landscape, there are now very
strict building regulations within the national parks. Other than that,
they are very similar. I have encountered wide, paved footpaths in American
national parks, and I have encountered thin, dirt footpaths in other countries'
national parks. So, wherever you are, make sure to look into visiting a
national park. You won't be disappointed.
 |
| This is the Kirnitzschtalbahn, the historical tram that I rode. |
While you’re
out and about in a national park, be sure to do some exploring. It’s perfectly alright to take hikes that you
know will end at such-and-such landmark (after all, you have to do that if you
want to see something in particular!).
But, make sure you do something random, too. Hike
that trail. Which trail? That one!
No, that one over their! No, wait, that
one. It really doesn’t matter. Just pick one and find out where it goes
(make sure you have plenty of water, and some snacks with you!).
While in
Bad Schandau this past weekend, I took a historical tram (on a path that was
over 100 years old) to see some waterfall that I had found in one of my
pamphlets…
 |
| The slightly disappointing -- mostly because it was man-made -- Lichtenhainer Wasserfall. |
… and tangent; GO!:
My father
has always had a fondness for taking pictures of water falls. I would be hard pressed to remember a
vacation (or even a weekend trip) to the great outdoors that didn’t involve
some sort of hike to a waterfall. We’ve
even taken multiple trips with the main purpose of seeing, and photographing,
waterfalls. It gets annoying to hike
somewhere, sit there for hours while dad takes the perfect photo, and then hike
back. It can get even more annoying when
that somewhere is the 75th waterfall you have witnessed in your life
(That really isn’t an exaggeration.
There may have been more.) I
thought I would never elect to go see a waterfall on my own. And, yet, that’s exactly what I found myself
doing this past Saturday. I found some
waterfall in my pamphlet, realized it wasn’t too far from me, and thought, ‘I
have to go see that!’ Like father, like
daughter, I suppose.
 |
| the Kuhstall |
When I
arrived at the waterfall, however, I discovered that it was a small, man-made
waterfall that really wasn’t much more than a trickle compared to some others
that I have seen. And, yet, there were
tons of people crowded around snapping pictures. They all seemed to think it was
fantastic. And that’s when it hit me: I’ve seen too many waterfalls. I’m no longer impressed by measly man-made trickles. And, yet, I had wanted to go there. I had been excited to see yet another
waterfall. Strange.
… and back
to hiking anecdote; GO!
 |
| the way to the top of the Kuhstall |
After my
slight disappointment about the waterfall (alright, there wasn’t TOO much disappointment,
but I had still been hoping for a hike), I decided to, well, take a hike. However, I didn’t really know too much about
where I was or what would be a good hike in the area. I just knew that my pamphlet said all the
tram stops along this stretch offered good trails. So, I picked one. I didn’t know where it would take or how long
it would be, but I chose it anyway, and good things happened. I ended up on top of a mountain, at some
landmark called the Kuhstall, or “cow
shed.” Interestingly enough, I had seen
this hike in my pamphlet and ruled it out without really reading it thinking
that it would lead to an old barn once used to hold cows. I was pleasantly surprised to find an
impressive sandstone arch. What a
great hike. Good things can happen when
you take a gamble. After all, I
accidently hiked a mountain (well, it wasn’t too accidental; about half-way up
I became suspicious that it might lead me to some interesting lookout (after
all, there were a lot of other people on the trail); but, at the beginning I
had no clue!).
Lastly, I
want to talk about “being a tourist,” and this goes beyond national parks. In this sense, by “being a tourist,” I mean
seeing all those touristy things that people tell you are overrated. For example, tons of people will tell you
that the Eiffel tower is overrated. Chances
are these people have been there several times before and have seen it several
times (it’s not hard to miss), and are ready to move on to doing other,
less-touristy things. Or, they really dislike
commercialization (who doesn’t?), But,
there is a reason that so many people visit it every year – it has something to
offer.
 |
| the Bastei Bridge Yes, I walked across it! |
It’s
perfectly alright to go see these often over-populated or over-commercialized
things. Another example would be Old
Faithful in Yellowstone national park.
You want to see it once, perhaps a few times, and then you are finished
and ready to explore everything else the park has to offer. It was the same with the Bastei Bridge in Saxon
Switzerland NP this past weekend. I
really wanted to see it; everyone else really wanted to see it; it was a totally touristy thing to do, and
it was still really cool. (Although,
I do with that I had a car and was able to go in the morning to avoid all the
people. But, you can only do so much).
 |
| the view from the top of the Kuhstall |
So, with
that I will leave you. If you’re an
American, and this post has peaked your interest, take a look at www.nps.gov and find a park near you. Parks make great, affordable travel
destinations. There is camping available
in all of the parks, and if you aren’t into camping, there are hotels near the
parks, too. Admission is pretty cheap
especially when you compare it to the cost of a ticket to an amusement park,
and pizza shops and grocery stores selling sandwich-making materials make for
cheap meals. If you don’t want cheap,
there are lodges and fancy restaurants around many of the parks, too!
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