I have fond childhood memories of visiting many of the national parks in the west with my family. From 1971 to 1977, we visited Yosemite, Lassen, Redwood, Sequoia, King’s Canyon, Crater Lake, Mt. Rainier, Olympic, Glacier, Yellowstone, Grand Teton, Grand Canyon, Brice, Zion, and Mesa Verde.
We first visited Yosemite in 1971, when I was nine years old. It was spectacular! This was the first time I saw mountains covered in snow. We stayed in Yosemite Valley, home to Yosemite Falls, the tallest waterfall in the United States, as well as Half Dome and El Capitan. We did several hikes. I’ve been back to Yosemite a dozen times since then.
Another national park that we frequently visited was Glacier. We took a road trip there every summer from 1973 to 1975. We stayed at the Many Glacier Hotel, the largest in a chain of seven hotels in Glacier and Waterton, the extension of Glacier into Alberta, Canada. The restaurant staff at Many Glacier played music every night after dinner, as well as a musical every summer.
Another one of my favorite national parks is the Grand Canyon. One day we covered half of the canyon on mules. The Grand Canyon is also close to Utah’s Brice and Zion canyons, two other spectacular canyons.
Perhaps my favorite national park is Yellowstone. We visited there in the summer of ’75, I think. Unfortunately this was the only time I was there. I remember Old Faithful, which erupts roughly every hour, as well as several other geysers. I also remember the wide variety of wildlife, including deer, moose, elk, and bear.