I‘m trying-out the UMapper Plugin on the Glacier National Park post today, but I’m not sure if I’m going to keep using it, or not. It’s always a coin-toss on whether a new plugin will break your Blog’s validation and, sure enough, I’ve now got 31 XHTML 1.0 Transitional errors – grrrrrrrr.
Places to Camp Before the Kids Grow Up – Glacier National Park
Glacier National Park, Lake McDonald (PDPhoto.Org)
Glacier National Park might just be one of the last, bona-fide, real-deal wilderness areas in the United States – although the park doesn’t really end at the border. Waterton-Glacier International Peace Park, comprised of Glacier National Park on the U.S. side and Waterton Lakes National Park on the Canadian side, was established by the two countries in 1932.
At first glance, Glacier National Park might seem like a strange recommendation for families. This place is rugged – real rugged. At 1,600 square miles it’s a bit bigger than Yosemite, but there’s only one road in the entire park and it’s only 50 miles long.
Family Camping – Skip the Campground
Dispersed camping is a great way to avoid the potential pitfalls of campgrounds (photo courtesy of PDPhoto.Org)
One of the great joys of camping is getting away from it all and spending some quality time with your family. That’s hard to do, though, when the guy in the next campsite is running a generator all night, or having the equivalent of a frat party next door.
When you really want to ensure a peaceful and serene camping experience, dispersed camping is the way to go. The US Forest Service and BLM generally allow camping anywhere on undeveloped public lands, with a few provisions:
Economic Fallout Coming to a Campground near You
A weak economy and high fuel prices is pressuring the budgets of many state and federal parks
Lost in the seemingly endless analysis of the daily stock market gyrations and an economy in, or soon to be in, recession is the lingering impact of high fuel costs on the nation’s state and federal parks.
Glacier National Park and Yellowstone National Park both saw slumps in the number of visitors this year. State parks are also under pressure. Although visitor numbers at most state parks has been strong, funding is under pressure due to a reduction in state tax revenues due to depressed real estate valuations.
Camping – Take Plenty of Water
Having enough water is an important consideration for family camping
A topic that came up recently, among a few of us that tend to camp in places that don’t have conveniences like toilets and water, was the different ways we all carry enough water. I thought I’d share some of those ideas with you and hopefully see what some other people are doing, too.
One thing to keep in mind, if you are just starting out on this family camping adventure, is that you are going to need a lot of water. Kids get dirty (one of the reasons they love camping!), which leads to lots of washing, and everybody should be hydrating a bit more than usual – even in cold weather.
Another important consideration is the collection of dirty water. With a hat-tip to Adam Shake at Twilight Earth (a great resource on environmental issues – check it out!), you can’t just dump your dirty, soapy water in the woods. It needs to be collected in another water container for proper disposal in either a restroom facility or a site within the campground specifically for “gray water” disposal.