President Barack Obama took a few days to go on a working vacation this week and, to help celebrate the 100th anniverrsary of the National Park Service, the first family visited Yosemite National Park, one of the nation’s most popular national parks. In a brief speech on Saturday at Sentinel Bridge with the 2,425 feet…
The Big Picture – By Glynn Wilson – MOBILE, Ala. — The national press is making fun of my native state of Alabama, again. How should I react? Jump on the funny bandwagon and agree? Or attack the national press and defend “my people?” Let’s look at the facts, first, before we take a stand…
A leaf, a flower, a stone – the simple beauty of nature filled John Muir with joy. Born April 21, 1838, Muir has become America’s most famous naturalist and conservationist. He shared his love of the outdoors through writing and inspired people to protect our country’s wild places like Yosemite, Grand Canyon and Sequoia and…
Private Company Sues Park Service for $50 Million Claiming Ownership of Park Names, Including Yosemite – By Glynn Wilson – A private contractor running many of the operations in America’s national parks is now suing the federal government claiming it owns the intellectual property rights of famous names like Yosemite National Park, along with the…
Secret Vistas – By Glynn Wilson – WASHINGTON, D.C. – My eyes and my soul are drawn to one event in nature more than any other. Autumn color. I could play the innocent and talk about this natural beauty like describing playing in mud puddles as a youth and wax eloquent about the uniqueness of…
By Glynn Wilson – WASHINGTON, D.C. – After spending much of the spring and summer in Shenandoah National Park, I pulled into the nation’s capital on Thursday and camped in a friend’s driveway near the Potomac River for the night — only to wake up Friday morning and see a misleading ad campaign on NBC’s…
By Glynn Wilson – HOGBACK MOUNTAIN, Va. – It’s officially summer now in the Shenandoah National Park, although you wouldn’t know it from the cool nighttime temperatures in the mountains, compared to the rest of the South. But it’s true. The summer solstice occurred Sunday, the longest day of the year. For a few weeks…
Secret Vistas by Glynn Wilson PATAPSCO VALLEY STATE PARK, Md. — America is rich in secret vistas — little-known places that touch the heart and stir the spirit. Like quiet Gulf of Mexico beaches in the off season. Deserted Appalachian hiking trails and glistening streams thick with trout. Hidden forests with trees dating back to…
WASHINGTON, D.C. – If you’ve been sitting around the house waiting on spring and thinking about getting outdoors to camp and hike or just sit by the fire under the trees and listen to the birds sing, this is a good week to do it. It’s National Park Week, and camping is “fee free” from…
Secret Vistas – By Glynn Wilson – ELLICOTT CITY, Md. — It is almost too cold here to type. It was spring in Mobile, Alabama, last week when I had to pull out and head north for the season in the area around Washington, D.C. Upon arrival in Patapsco Valley State Park, which you may…
The Big Picture – By Glynn Wilson – MARION, Va. – We made the drive down U.S. Highway 81 out of Maryland and into Virginia on Monday on our first migration south for the winter in the camper van, making it to a familiar spot along Hungry Mother Creek, one of those many babbling brooks…
Could a Massive Climate Shift Really Happen? – The Big Picture – By Glynn Wilson – LURAY, Va. — It’s been so cold the past couple of days that I’ve felt like a character in the movie “The Day After Tomorrow.” I woke up just before dawn this morning and the iPhone weather said it…
Secret Vistas – By Glynn Wilson – BALDFACE ROCK OVERLOOK, Va. – It is election day all across America and the big question is whether the Republicans will take over control of the U.S. Senate. But since I am not now living and working in Louisiana, North Carolina, Georgia, Kentucky, Arkansas or one of the…
Secret Vistas – A Photo Essay – By Glynn Wilson – SOMEWHERE IN THE MOUNTAINS, Va. — We continued our journey on Wednesday by leaving the Shenandoah National Park and coming out at the little town of Elkton. We headed back north to continue the loop around Washington, D.C. and found a beautiful private campground…
SECRET VISTAS – By Glynn Wilson – BIG MEADOWS CAMPGROUND, Va. — We pulled into this largest campground in the Shenandoah National Park on Sunday afternoon late, and without knowing it, picked a campsite right on the Appalachian Trail. The view Monday morning at dawn was stunning, and we found out from hikers it was…
“I’m so glad I live in a world where there are Octobers.” – L. M. Montgomery, Anne of Green Gables – Secret Vistas – By Glynn Wilson – As of September 29, the Virginia Department of Forestry was still reporting that while the calendar may say it’s fall, Virginia’s forests are still mostly green. “Nature’s…
