By Glynn Wilson – SHENANDOAH NATIONAL PARK, Va. — How do you tell the difference between a black bear and a grizzly? Don’t try this at home or in a national park. Sneak up on the bear and kick it in the rump, then run and climb a tree. If the bear climbs up the…
By Glynn Wilson – SHENANDOAH, Va. — It’s a bit early for a year in review story, but for me, it’s been one hell of a year. A humbling year. I’ve long known that we are all just like tiny grains of sand in the long run of history, here on this special beach of…
By Glynn Wilson – WASHINGTON, D.C. – As we broke camp on Sunday feeling victorious about the declaration of Joe Biden as president-elect and drove south on the Baltimore-Washington Parkway into the city, my mind began to wander back to the biggest story of them all, the raging coronavirus. While the Trump administration’s total failure…
Secret Vistas – By Glynn Wilson – SHENANDOAH NATIONAL PARK, Va. — Well, truth be told, it’s not exactly a secret. This is one of the well known national parks, one of two Crown Jewels of the East along with the Great Smoky Mountains National Park in Tennessee. Yet it always feels like an amazing…
By Glynn Wilson – YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK, Wyo. – The snow was coming down pretty hard October 5 when we pulled into the Old Faithful Geyser compound, grand central station in the world’s first national park. That’s where private concessionaires Delaware North and Xantara operate the Old Faithful Inn and Lodge, a general store and…
By Glynn Wilson – Reading the national press coverage on the 100th anniversary of the National Park Service, even listening to the reporting on National Public Radio, you would think the biggest problem the parks face is a lack of visitors. The entire story is framed as if the parks were just another capitalist tourist…
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…
The Big Picture – By Glynn Wilson – SHENANDOAH NATIONAL PARK, Va. – It’s cool in the mountains this Sunday morning at first light. The birds are singing and the does and fawns are starting to move around. A few drops of water are still dripping down on the canopy from the trees, remnants of…
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 – Who knew Herbert Hoover was such a great guy? About the only thing most Americans know about former President Hoover is that he was in office when the stock market crashed in 1929, leading to the worst Great Depression in U.S. history. He was defeated when seeking reelection…
Photos by Jane Cappe – There’s an ancient Native American legend of dubious history about a Great Spirit which allegedly made the world and gathered the morning stars together on the shores of a quiet, silver lake bordered with blue mountains, the most beautiful place on Earth. Hovering above the quiet waters and lighting the…
“Oh-skan-ohn-doh in Oneida.” – Secret Vistas – By Glynn Wilson – BIG MEADOWS, Va. – Finally. It’s 1:47 on a Sunday afternoon. Me and my loyal dog Jefferson are taking a break in the camper van, aided by a little afternoon air conditioning — and an April shower on the mountain in May. It’s been…
By Glynn Wilson – BIG MEADOWS, Va. — It started out Sunday afternoon Memorial weekend as a trip to the lodge for a few minutes of WiFi. On the way back to the campground, however, it became a “Bear Jam,” the term on the mountain for a traffic jam caused by a bear sighting. In…
The Big Picture – By Glynn Wilson – SHENANDOAH NATIONAL PARK, Virg. — It’s an incredible feeling sitting here at 3,500 feet above sea level on the hill looking out over the Big Meadows campground, watching a spring shower roll through the mountains. I can’t think of a spot east of the Mississippi where I…
Watch the Video – By Glynn Wilson – LEWIS MOUNTAIN, Va. – When the National Park Service was established in 1935 and the U.S. Department of the Interior along with President Franklin Roosevelt’s Civilian Conservation Corps began building roads, retaining walls, campgrounds and trails to get ready for visitors, there was an interest on the…
