Visiting the US National Parks, Hiking

One of the activities common to many of the Parks is hiking – from an easy couple of miles on level ground to whatever challenge you feel up to. We love to hike and find it is one of the best ways to see the Park, observe the wildlife and to get away from the crowds. It never ceases to surprise me that you can leave an area that is thronged with people, walk for a mile and suddenly find you have the place to yourself.

Ready to hit the trail, Wyoming

If you are not an experienced walker but think you might like to hike some of the trails in the park you are going to visit we have put together some general advice. This applies to day hiking only – i.e. walking a trail that allows you to return on the same day, as opposed to backpacking or wilderness hiking that involves leaving marked trails and / or staying out overnight. I am not, and never have been a wilderness hiker. In my particular world all great hikes end with a cold beer, a proper shower and a comfy bed (and yes I know I am missing out on some fabulous experiences before you send me an e-mail, I’ll be in the pool or in the bar instead). If you do intend to go wilderness or back country hiking, i.e. off marked paths and/or requiring overnight stops you will require a permit from the Park authorities. Visit www.nps.gov. for further information.

Random Americana

Trainers are known as sneakers or tennis shoes if you are in the US. Trainers are apparently training pants of the kind used by toddlers during potty training. This caused much confusion when I was working in the US and one of the attendees for a meeting in London came and asked me to explain the dress code – you can imagine she was quite surprised to be informed it would not be appropriate for her to wear trainers!