My July Calendar Takes Me To Guadalupe Mountains National Park In Texas & Yosemite

This year's wall calendar's theme is America's National Parks. I have been to many of America's National Parks, but not to the one for July, which I first saw this morning after flipping the calendar to the new month.

Guadalupe Mountains National Park.

I have driven by this National Park a time or two, but have never entered the park.

Texas only has two National Parks, Guadalupe Mountains National Park and Big Bend National Park.

I have visited neither. Would like to experience Big Bend National Park. Guadalupe Mountains, not so much.

June's National Park was Yosemite National Park, in California. Seeing Yosemite on my wall every day last month had me regularly lamenting whether or not I would ever see Yosemite again during the years I have remaining on the planet.

My first time to Yosemite National Park was an October day way back in the 1970s. I was not impressed. The foliage had all gone brown. The waterfalls all dried up. The visit only lasted a couple hours.

And then, back in May of 1993, myself and three friends rented a Cadillac to drive on a long road trip, the highlight of which was staying a few days at Camp Curry in Yosemite National Park.

The second day in Yosemite was May 20, 1993. How do I know the date so precisely? Well, on that second day in Yosemite we went to the restaurant/bar/outdoor patio area of Camp Curry. The bar zone was packed full, due to people watching the series finale of the Cheers sit-com on that date in May of 1993.

We arrived at Yosemite, the night before, after dark. Got checked in, warned about bears, given wool blankets due to the cold temperature. All night long I heard a strange roaring noise. In the morning I opened the tent cabin door to see a big waterfall a short distance away, falling water in copious amounts.

That was to be the first of many waterfalls falling a lot of water, including the iconic Yosemite Falls. Some of the waterfalls you could not get too close to due to the volume of water creating such a thick spray of water.

We did a lot of hiking those few days in Yosemite. I would love to go back there, one more time. Also, to Bryce Canyon, Zion Canyon, Arches, Canyonlands, Grand Canyon and Yellowstone National Parks...

July's Wall Calendar Takes Me Back To Yosemite

The month of June flew by in a quick blur. This morning I flipped my National Parks wall calendar to the new month of July and quickly recognized which National Park I was looking at.

Yosemite.

I do not know if that is El Capitan or Half Dome being the primary feature in the Yosemite photo. Or maybe some other Yosemite big rock. 

The first time I visited Yosemite I was not much impressed. It was an early October visit. The waterfalls were dried up, the foliage was brown. Yosemite did not seem to rise to the scenic level of other National Parks I had visited.

And then in the early 1990s I returned to Yosemite. A late Spring visit.

We arrived after dark. Saw lights flickering on the side of El Capitan. Rock climbers secured to the side of the cliff. We checked in at Camp Curry, got our key to the tent cabin we'd reserved for a three night stay.

At check-in you are given wool blankets. The beds in the tent cabin were cots. We were warned to beware of visiting bears. The tent cabin campground was noisy, with a weird constant roaring sound.

The next morning, at dawn's early light, I opened the tent cabin door and quickly realized what the source of the weird constant roaring sound was.

A waterfall falling a short distance from Camp Curry.

That was to be the first of many waterfalls seen during the course of that three day stay in Yosemite.

And, by the end of that three day stay in Yosemite, that National Park had become one of my favorites.

I returned to Yosemite a couple years later, in October of 1994, the tail end of a long roadtrip that started with four days of houseboating on Lake Powell, then Monument Valley, the North Rim of Grand Canyon, Zion National Park and Death Valley, plus other locations I am not remembering right now, like Mexican Hat's San Juan Inn, which I am now remembering.

I do not sneak a peak to see which National Park my wall calendar is taking me to next. My favorites are Bryce Canyon, Zion and Arches National Parks. All in Utah.

I Did Not Suffer Heatstroke Today Thinking About Hiking In Yosemite Or General Tarrant's Eminent Domain Abuse At Village Creek

Yes, I know I sort of clearly indicated I was going to stay out of the Texas sun today and thus avoid any minor heatstroke incidents.

But, I was feeling the need to be outside after spending hours inside working on webpages and blogs.

Including a blogging on my Durango Roadtripping Blog that made me want to return to Yosemite National Park and hike to the Glacier Point viewpoint of Half Dome, Yosemite, Vernal and Nevada Falls and the rest of the panoramic view of the Yosemite Valley from up high.

The highest I have ever been up the Yosemite Valley walls of granite is half way up to the top of Yosemite Falls. My co-hikers lacked the stamina to go any further. That and they were hungry.

Today I did not do anything in the Texas Heat as strenuous as hiking in the Yosemite Valley. In the ongoing process of taking America away from the Natives who had lived there for thousands of years, at one point Indians sought refuge in the Yosemite Valley.

Indians wish they had refuge in the place I walked today, that being, again, Village Creek Natural Historic Area, it being the site, long ago, of one of the biggest Indian Villages in America, an agricultural center growing corn and squash and other goodies, until, like I've said before, Texans came along, in what became Tarrant County, using a somewhat primitive form of eminent domain abuse to take their land away from its rightful owners.

One of the Texans who used the primitive form of eminent domain abuse, to remove (or kill) the Village Creek Indians, was named Edward H. Tarrant. He was a General. Due to his successful use of primitive eminent domain abuse, Tarrant County was named after him. Tarrant County continues to honor the memory of General Tarrant by repeatedly securing its reputation as the Eminent Domain Abuse Capital of the Free World.

Changing the subject from eminent domain abusers to my HEAT woes.

I did not overheat today, even though it was 94 when I left my abode, with a Real Feel Heat Index of 98.

In the Village Creek Bayou, today, I saw a bird colored in a very nice shade of blue. Is it a blue heron?

The Village Creek Bayou appears to be quickly drying up. Parts of it are now mud. What becomes of the snakes, turtles, fish and birds if the bayou turns totally to mud?

Well, I am totally headache-free and heading towards downtown Fort Worth in a few minutes to find the Center of Paradise and the Paws of a Cat. Wish me luck in this very risky endeavor.

I hope I don't overheat.

The Top Ten Places I Want To Escape To

Washington Mutual's Problem Resolution Center called and left a message. I called back. And left a message. I've no clue as to which of the Washington Mutual Problem's the caller was seeking to resolve. Right now I don't care.

Instead I'm in the mood to muse as to where I'd like to go to escape here, someplace fun that I've already been to and know is fun. I'm not in the mood for anything new right now. Though I am taking the TRE train to Dallas tomorrow morning. I live on the edge.

So, where do I want to go if I could right now? I'll try and think of the Top Ten. That should occupy 10 more minutes of waiting for Sarah Palin to have her meltdown.

In no particular order.

Bryce Canyon National Park. I love everything about this place. It's otherworldly scenery. It's great hikes. Ruby's Inn. I spent an Easter weekend at Bryce Canyon a few years ago. It was in late Spring. There was still snow at Bryce. It's at a high elevation, as in over 9000 feet above sea level at the highest.

Grand Canyon National Park. I've been there several times. Have stayed overnight twice. Once at the South Rim. Camping. I hate camping. And the most recent time, at the North Rim, staying in log cabins. A blizzard roared in overnight leaving us snowbound til snowplows from Utah could rescue us. I've only hiked down into the Grand Canyon once. It's a real good thing.

Arches National Park and Moab. Well, also Canyonlands National Park. Moab is your base town and in all directions there is good stuff to do. Like the photo at the top, that's me biking the Slick Rock Trail by Moab. That's a group hike in Arches NP, called The Fiery Furnace, on the left. You have to pay a fee and it has to be ranger led. You can get lost in there.

Yosemite National Park. The first time I saw this place was in fall. I was not all that thrilled. Then sometime in the 90s we rented a big ol' Cadillac, 3 other guys and me, and went on a road trip, ending up in Yosemite at Curry Village. It was spring, the waterfalls were out of control. I loved it.

Disneyland & California. I've not been to Disneyland since 1994, not since they've added Disney California. I've loved Disneyland ever since I was 13 and got taken there on what was to be my next to the last family vacation. We loved Disneyland so much we went again the next year. I was 14. I never went on a family vacation again. 7 years later I was in California on my own, staying at San Clemente State Park. And remembering back 7 years prior. That seems like such a short time now, but then it seemed like so much had changed. Over the following years I've lost count of the number of road trips to California and Disneyland. I guess the last one was in 2000. But I didn't get to go to Disneyland. Yuma instead. To spend Christmas with my mom and dad. It was real tempting when you saw road signs saying it was only 120 miles to Anaheim to take a right and skip Yuma. But I'm not one to ignore my mom and dad. Even though, apparently, they and others think I do. (That's called slipping in an Easter Egg to see if anyone reads this drivel)

Lake Powell. You need to, at least once in your short life, go to Lake Powell. You don't need to rent a houseboat to have Lake Powell reveal its charms. But a houseboat helps. Good housemates on the houseboat are important also. I've houseboated Lake Powell twice, both times in the 1990s. The water is warm and clear. The scenery is among the best on the planet. Which is why you'll be sharing the lake with so many darn foreigners.

Las Vegas. Any longer than 4 days and Vegas wears out its welcome. But I always have fun there. It can be exhausting. It's not the gambling that attracts me, it's the way over the top over stimulating nature of the whole place. I've only been to Vegas once since I moved to Texas. That was on a roadtrip back to Texas after spending a week or two in Washington. Those trips back were so much more pleasant than the more recent ones. Why? I do not know. That's Nephew Joey and me riding the roller coaster at the New York New York casino when I took Joey and his brother to Vegas the summer before I moved to Texas.

Taos, New Mexico. There was nothing I did not like about Taos. I love the southwest adobe style. The great places to eat. How fun it was to ride my bike around Taos and discover interesting things, like the grave of Kit Carson. And the Taos Pueblo. Even the Taos McDonald's is special.

Yellowstone National Park. I've not been to Yellowstone since the fall before wildfires burned most of the park. Yellowstone is one place I don't mind camping. Hiking over all the boardwalks to see the bubbling water and exploding geysers, loved it when I was a kid, loved it when I wasn't a kid. Yellowstone has been a fond memory ever since my little brother and me were awakened by our mom screaming, standing on top of the picnic table, because a bear was running through camp.

Bears remind me of Stehekin. I've only been there once but everything about it was perfect. A long boat ride up Lake Chelan, staying in the National Park Lodge. Stehekin is in the North Cascades National Park zone of Washington. We brought bikes and pedaled daily up to one of the best bakeries ever, the Stehekin Pastry Company. For dinner each night we'd take a long bus ride up the valley to the Stehekin Valley Ranch where the Courtneys would make a real good dinner for us and a lot of other people.

Stehekin is related to another place I'd like to escape to right about now. That being hiking deep into the North Cascades. The trails are good. What you see when you get to the end of the trail is amazing. Some summers I would go on a hike up in Cascades several times a month, til the snows returned in October. It always amazed me, when I lived up there, how many northwesterners had never experienced the sea of peaks, that being the seemingly endless sea of mountain peaks that extends north and south, with things like Mount Rainier sticking up higher.

I've gone up to 10 places I wish I could escape to right now and I left out Zion National Park. It should be in the Top Ten too. I don't remember ever being so surprised by a place as I was by Zion the first time I saw it. The tunnel into the canyon remains one of the finest moments of my pretty much un-momentous life.