Travel

Instagram: National Parks

By on Saturday, February 22, 2020

With the weather still a bit dicey (and icy!), I’m starting to suffer from cabin fever.  It seems like I’ve been cooped up inside forever and I’m dying to get out into the wide world again.  For now though, I’ll have to satisfy myself with living vicariously through others posts on Instagram.

Check out these incredible National Park accounts that showcase the natural beauty available here in the United States.

National Parks Service

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“In life, it’s not where you go, it’s who you travel with.” – Charles Schulz⁣ ⁣⁣ ⁣ Whale, whale, whale. The humpback whale is a member of the Balaenopteridae family of baleen whales. Whales in this group feed by straining prey through baleen plates lining the roof of their mouths. Male humpbacks reach an average of 46 feet and 25 tons, females an average of 49 feet and 35 tons. The humpback has a distinctive body shape and unusually long pectoral fins (flippers), which are nearly one-third of their total body length. The dorsal fin shape varies, but is often a small triangular nubbin with a step or hump most noticeable when the whale arches its back to dive and from which it derives its common name.⁣⁣ ⁣⁣ Image: Two Humpback whale tails just above the water at Kenai Fjords National Park, Alaska. NPS/Kay White⁣⁣ ⁣⁣ #FindYourPark #nationalparkservice #whaletail #alaska #valentines #friendship

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National Parks Guide

National Park Paws

Capitol Reef National Park

Glacier National Park

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Think of a person you lost track of. Someone you got to know who later slipped out of your life. You no longer know where they are or what they’re doing. Will you ever cross paths again?⠀ ⠀ Perhaps this is how scientists studying northern hawk owls in Montana feel. ⠀ ⠀ “They’re a pretty tough thing to study,” says Matt Larson, author of a 2019 paper about hawk owls in Montana. Out of 72 northern hawk owls banded for this study over 22 years, only one was ever seen again.⠀ ⠀ Northern hawk owls are permanent residents of Canada and Alaska, but can show up elsewhere, like an old friend you haven’t heard from in years. They occasionally venture outside their range to far-northern parts of the lower 48, like Glacier National Park.⠀ ⠀ If you want to find a long-lost hawk owl, try a recently burned forest. Snags from burned trees are perfect for nests, and open habitat cleared by fire makes it easier for a daytime hunter to spot prey.⠀ For a researcher who’s spent years searching for these owls, finding a previously banded owl can be a thrilling reunion.⠀ ⠀ The day of their sole recapture, researchers had already spent several days casing out a tree where a pair of owls was spotted. They assembled a net, using a mouse on a sort of tightrope set up behind the net as a lure. Larson and his teammates held their breath as the male of the pair swooped down towards the mouse and flew straight into the net.⠀ ⠀ Owl in hand, they realized this bird had been banded as a nestling six years prior, only a mile away. “To find one that was banded where it had started its life—that was pretty cool,” remembers Larson. This would end up being the only documented recapture of a northern hawk owl returning to where it was born.⠀ ⠀ “I think owls will continue to remain mysterious," he continues. "There’s just something intriguing about them, something humans are drawn to. If you’ve seen an owl, you have an owl story.”⠀ ⠀ Source: The Northern Hawk Owl in Montana: A Summary of Breeding Biology, Diet, Habitat Association, and Records (1994–2015). Matt D. Larson, Jessica C. Larson, Denver W. Holt, Steve Gniadek & Adam Eckert, Journal of Raptor Research Feb 2019 Vol. 53, No. 1: 66-7

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Grand Canyon National Park

Joshua Tree National Park

Great Smoky Mountains National Park

Everglades National Park

Denali National Park

Saguaro National Park

Devil’s Tower National Monument

Death Valley National Park

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Ridin' on a horse, ha 🎵 You can whip your Porsche 🎶 I been in the valley 🎵 You ain't been up off that porch, now 🎶 Looking for some news ways to get up off your porch and explore the Valley? Over the next few weeks we’ll share some of the lesser known ways people are enjoying their time in the park. Though horseback riding has a long history in the park, today most us explore in our horseless carriages. But few experiences can reconnect you to nature better than on a horse in a National Park. This photo from @furnacecreekstables just feels right. If bringing your own stock animals to the park, be sure to read our website page with important information on Horse & Stock Use. #getoutside #horsebackriding #recreation

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Olympic National Park

Zion National Park

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"Every block of stone has a statue inside it and it is the task of the sculptor to discover it." -Michelangelo Water is a master sculptor and its masterpiece is never finished. The sculpture that is Zion National Park is always being worked on by the natural forces that have shaped it. People come from all over to world to appreciate that process and imagine the time involved. Zion is a work of art. The natural beauty of a national park needs no additions. Please do your best to Leave No Trace while you are visiting. Personal artwork, like graffiti or rock stacks, has no place here. This space is shared with all people today, and into the future. We all share the responsibility to pass it on, unimpaired. NPS Photo / Brian Whitehead #zionnationalpark

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Yellowstone National Park

Bryce Canyon National Park

Haleakala National Park

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The Pīpīwai Trail is among the most famous hikes in Haleakalā National Park. Located in our coastal, Kīpahulu district (near Hāna), the trail climbs 800 feet in elevation over 2 miles of slippery jungle terrain up to a breathtaking waterfall. Though some parts of the trail have nice boardwalk, much of it is muddy and rocky. Bring closed toed shoes with good ankle support. Much of the vegetation you will see along the trail, like the African tulip trees, the strawberry guava trees, and the bamboo pictured here, are non-native and invasive plants. But some hardy native plants still remain! Ask a ranger to point out māmaki, pepeiao, or ka'e'e! Mahalo to Eva Seelye @evangelea for sharing this beautiful photo of her hike up the Pīpīwai! #HappyTrails #FindYourPark #EncuentraTuParque #NationalParkService Photo: Eva Seelye BB

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Acadia National Park

Yosemite National Park

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