CAMPING EAST – By Glynn Wilson – CATOCTIN MOUNTAIN, Md. — It’s only the first official week of summer and it’s already peaking out at 91 degrees, according to the official forecast in the nation’s capital today. But here, in the campground in the shade, it’s only 83 degrees, according to the New American Journal…
Secret Vistas – By Glynn Wilson – SHENANDOAH NATIONAL PARK, Va. — The American west is on fire again with wildfires burning in 11 states. Temperatures are setting records with highs in the 120 degree range. A heat dome hovers over the region, and the devastating drought continues unabated. New Orleans and the states along…
Secret Vistas – By Glynn Wilson – Abandoning the cities and suburbs for a camper van or other type of Recreational Vehicle in nature is becoming a reality for hundreds of thousands of people, and not just because of the coronavirus pandemic, the changing climate and economy and the movie Nomadland. It doesn’t have to…
“I wanted to live deep and suck out all the marrow of life…” – Henry David Thoreau Secret Vistas – By Glynn Wilson – CATOCTIN MOUNTAIN, Md. — Thousands of Americans are waking up to the advantages of traveling and immersing themselves in nature and even living full time in Recreational Vehicles, making the transition…
Staff Report – Fewer cars and more walking, less coal power and more wind turbines and solar panels, and fewer farting cows and more Impossible Burgers — the Most Sustainable Cities in the U.S. are leading the way in efforts to save the planet. Some cities, though, are belching smoke, throwing away recyclables, and dragging…
Staff Report – The U.S. Department of the Interior announced that National Park Week – an annual weeklong celebration of America’s national parks – will run from April 17 to April 25, a time when the federal government urges the public owners of the parks to explore the vast network of sacred sites, historical landmarks…
Staff Report – As the nation continues to commemorate Black History Month, the National Park Service has added 11 new places to its growing system of sites and programs that chronicle the African American Civil Rights Movement. In the continuing struggle for racial equality, as told through a collection of powerful historical resources that commemorate,…
The Big Picture -Â By Glynn Wilson -Â GREAT SMOKY MOUNTAINS NATIONAL PARK, Tenn. — Are you suffering from cabin fever from the COVID winter? Take a drive in nature in a park near you. When the forecast showed sunny weather and a high of 54 for Sunday, Feb. 21, I just had to get…
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…
Secret Vistas – By Brooks Boliek – FROSTBURG, Md. — I have nothing against Charles Mason or Jeremiah Dixon. As a matter of fact, I admire and esteem both men for their scientific contributions and service. Mason and Dixon were both scientists who were asked to resolve a land dispute between Thomas Penn and Fredrick…
“Better is the poor man walking in his simplicity, than the rich in crooked ways.” – Solomon, Proverbs Secret Vistas – By Glynn Wilson – CAMP DAVID, Md. — A serene fog hangs thick in the trees here on Thursday morning, muting the Autumn colors and making the forest seem still and quiet. The weather…
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…
Secret Vistas – By Glynn Wilson – Back in the late 20th century, when the written word and truth still seemed to matter, I was hanging out in the Great Smoky Mountains and came up with a cool title for a travel-nature column for The Southerner magazine, something I still use from time to time…
Secret Vistas – By Glynn Wilson – LOFT MOUNTAIN, SHENANDOAH NATIONAL PARK, Va. (Sunday, July 12, 2020) — In this summer of our discontent, with the coronavirus still spreading into every corner of the world and the economy teetering on the brink of collapse, it is hard to totally escape the anxiety and stress of…
The Big Picture – By Glynn Wilson – BLUE RIDGE MOUNTAINS, N.C. — We don’t have much time. It’s addicting in our newly evolved human condition to stay focused on the fast breaking news of the moment, the sensational clickbait. From day to day, we bounce back and forth from one crisis story to another.…
By Glynn Wilson – LOOKOUT MOUNTAIN, Ala. — For nearly half a century, Dekalb County in the mountainous northeastern region of Alabama along the Georgia line really was the sock capital of the world. It wasn’t just a slogan like some places have, where the chamber of commerce makes something up and struggles to make…
By Glynn Wilson – PENSACOLA, Fla. — If you are feeling cooped up or claustrophobic and locked up in your suburban home glued to the bad news on cable television about coronavirus, you may want to consider another way to get away from other people: Visit a national park during this time of national crisis.…
U.S. Senator Doug Jones, the Democrat from Birmingham, Alabama, Urges People to Be Concerned and Prepare, but Not Panic – By Glynn Wilson – PENSACOLA, Fla. — The Spring Break travel and tourism season is just now getting into full swing along the Gulf Coast, just in time for what could be the worst human…
By Glynn Wilson – The National Park Service will host special events and provide free entrance to all national parks this year in honor of the Birthday of Martin Luther King, Jr. on Monday, January 20. The Birthday of Martin Luther King, Jr. is an official day of service in remembrance of the man whose…
Secret Vistas – By Glynn Wilson – WASHINGTON, D.C. – It’s hot as hell could be inside the Beltway again, with a projected high on Sunday of 96 degrees and a low of only 75 tonight, a harbinger of the future for cities along the Eastern Seaboard. As I hit the button to publish this…
