At the end of the continent is a wild coast called Glacier Bay. The bay is a large Y shaped fjord. Mountain ranges rise to 15,000 feet. There are 10 tidewater glaciers, coastal beaches, fjords, and protected coves encompassing this breathtaking wonder.

There's such a diversity of life existing here, that it's hard to believe that only 200 years ago, all of this was capped under nearly a mile of glacial ice. A century later, it has retreated 65 miles, leaving a landscape that is changing everyday.

Grand Canyon

Carved by the Colorado River, is a gorge known as the Grand Canyon. Jokingly called by us Arizonans as the “12 second tour” (due to the accidental falls by tourists), this canyon took more than six million years to be created.

It is more than a mile deep, and 277 miles long. The canyon developed in two different direction. It first started from the west, and then from the east. The two then converged forming a canyon rich in color. So when traveling here, pay attention, and watch your step.

Sedona

Snoopy Rock

It is known for its red sandstone, and unusual formations. The city was named after the city's first postmaster's wife, Sedona Miller Schnebly. To us Arizonans, it is known as Red Rock Country.

Cathedral Rock

The type of reddish-orange layering of rock in Sedona, is found only in this vicinity. It has monoliths known as Coffeepot, Snoopy, Cathedral Rock, and Thunder Mountain.

Redwood National Park

So much diversity exists at the Redwood National and State Parks. It contains some of the most amazing forests in the world. The trees are the tallest living organisms than anywhere in the world, with trees growing as tall as 350 feet. Some of the redwoods that grow here take 400 years to mature, with some even being as old as 2,000 years.

Once upon a time the majestic redwoods began to fall victim to the lumbering trade. But eventually they became protected under the Save-the-Redwoods-League. The park is now part of the World Heritage Site as a testament to the slow growth of these beautiful trees, and as a reminder at how we need to be responsible in protecting them.

Crater Lake

Located in Oregon, Crater Lake is the deepest lake in the United States. It was created with the collapse of a volcano. It is nearly 2,000 feet deep, and is the seventh deepest lake in the world. The Lake was created when Mount Mazama exploded caving in on itself. Eventually over time, melting ice and rainwater would fill the crater creating what is seen today. The original volcano no longer exists, but a new one is taking shape. It is known as Wizard Island, and the mound is slowly developing into a new volcanic state.

Bryce Canyon National Park

Unlike the Grand Canyon, Bryce Canyon is comprised of about a dozen smaller eroded ravines. The erosion has created thousands of bizarre and unusual rock formations, ranging in a vast array of beautiful colors.

The park is named after Ebenezer Bryce a Mormon farmer, who established the region in the 1920's. The rock shapes were created by water erosion (rain and melting snow). The fragile shapes are known as hoodoos.

Yellowstone National Park

Located in Wyoming, Yellowstone became a national park in 1872. Known for its geothermal fissures, and the world famous Old Faithful, this park was the first of its kind. Yellowstone spans an area of almost 3,500 square miles.

Yellowstone Lake is centered over Yellowstone Caldera, one of the largest super volcanoes on the continent. The caldera is still an active volcano, and has erupted on many occasions over the last two million years.

Yosemite National Park, California

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John Muir, one of America's original naturalists supposedly took President Theodore Roosevelt camping in Yosemite to convince the president that our country needed to have designated National Parks. President “Teddy” Roosevelt was so awe struck by his experience camping in Yosemite that he set up the National Parks Service to preserve vast pieces of our country's wild and beautiful territory. Yosemite has deep valleys and waterfalls that are truly magnificent. Yosemite is one of our nation's most regal parks and over 3 million visitors from all over the world come to reign in her glory.

This is an example of just one waterfall within Yosemite National Park.

Half Dome, Yosemite National Park

Denali National Park, Alaska

Denali National Park is home to Mt. McKinley, the tallest mountain in the United States.

The park itself is about 200 miles south of the Artic Circle. The park wildlife includes Dall (big horn) sheep, grizzly bears, gray wolves and moose. This area is a place where the tectonic plates of the earth continually are in motion and thus earthquakes are a part of the territory. The Alaskan Range actually rises 3 centimeters a year, due to this constant force. In the winter, the temperature in this region can drop to 95 degrees below zero.

 

Bryce Canyon National Park, Utah

Bryce Canyon National Park is known for its red rock formations and unusual landscape.

These rock formations are called “hoodoos” and they were craved by melting snow. This sculpting of the rocks took thousands and thousands of years. The entire park has been created by the elements of wind and rain, giving it a memorable terrain. Inside the park at 9,000 feet above sea level, there are 1,500 year old pine trees.

Crater Lake National Park, Oregon

 

Crater Lake National Park was created when a volcano literally blew its top over 7,000 years ago. Actually the blast was 42 times the explosion of the Mt. St. Helen's in 1980. . Half-a-million visitors descend on this park every year to see this amazing crater and lake. Crater Lake is surrounded by lush evergreen trees and scenic hills, which make it a very popular travel stop. The lake itself may be surrounded by freezing weather, but it only froze once back in 1949. The area typically receives about 44 feet of snow a year. Crater Lake is the 7th deepest lake in the world with a depth of almost 1,300 feet.

Rocky Mountains, Colorado

 

It's no wonder that John Denver wrote a song called “Rocky Mountain High” about these amazing mountains. Over 2 million people visit this inspirational place every year.

The Rocky Mountains offer the visitor a glimpse of the ancient erosion that formed these peaks. The valleys were created by glaciations back in the Cenozoic Era. Animals that call this area home are elk, deer, big horn sheep, coyote, cougars and black bears. The Rocky Mountains are home to much natural beauty and pristine lakes.

Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming

When we think of Yellowstone National Park we all think of the geothermal geyser “Old Faithful.” “Old Faithful” is one of many geothermal geysers in the area. Yellowstone National Park is literally a “hotbed” of geothermal activity and is the location of a “super volcano.” This “super volcano” is called “Yellowstone Caldera” and is still considered to be an active volcano. The geothermal activity is fueled by the active volcanism in this part of the world. Interestingly enough, “Old Faithful” has a sister geothermal geyser that is located in Napa Valley, California.

One of the largest highly elevated lakes is also in Yellowstone Park. Most of the land of Yellowstone is located in the state of Wyoming. Although a small amount of the park drifts into Idaho and Montana,

As you can imagine this region of the world experiences hundreds of small earthquakes every year.

Haleakala Crater and National Park, Hawaii

 

Haleakala sunrise

Haleakala, Maui, Hawaii in Hawaiian means “House of the Sun.” It is 10,000 feet above sea level on the island of Maui. The mountain is actually a dormant volcano and astronauts practiced their lunar landing in the barren crater. There is sometimes snow at the top of this volcano. So you could ski in the morning and surf in the afternoon, that's Haleakala. The volcano is popular with tourists and well-known for its spectacular views at sunrise. Tourists and natives alike rent bikes and take the downhill ride of their life to the bottom of Haleakala.

 

Downhill on a bike from 10,000 feet above sea level is a rush!

Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Tennessee

 

The Great Smoky Mountains in Tennessee has a larger collection of tree species than Northern Europe. The Smoky Mountains represent the culture and ways of the diverse life of South Appalachian of the past. President Franklin D. Roosevelt dedicated the park way back in 1940 and it was problematic as there were many farmers that lived in the designated park region. It was an emotional loss for many of the people who were forced to relocate, although some were allowed a lease that would extent through their lifetime. The park has a bear population of about 1,500.

 

Shenandoah National Park, Virginia

 

It is hard to imagine but the Shenandoah National Park is only 70 miles away from Washington, D.C., our country's capital. This park is part of Virginia's Blue Ridge Mountains. The area has become a popular tourist destination that allows the urbanites to stay in cozy inns and pastoral settings, although wilderness does account for 40% of the park. Shenandoah National Park is full of woodland forests, wildlife and waterfalls.

 

Glacier National Park, Montana

 

Glacier National Park is called “Shining Mountains” to the Native tribes of the region.

The park is aptly named for the rugged terrain that was craved by glaciers millions of years ago. One winter night in 2005, the park was pounded by 8 feet of snow! Just a few days ago, it was announced that due to the volume of snow, a major new road won't be opened in that part of Montana until at least July 4th. Avalanches are creating havoc in the area and delaying the long awaited highway and it is summer!

 

Arches National Park, Utah

 

Arches National Park is home to over 2,000 sandstones arches that have been craved by the wind and the weather for millions of years. The unusual textures and colors make the park very unique and vibrant in some areas. The summer temperatures are over 100 degrees. The winter temperatures are often around 32 degrees Fahrenheit.

Redwood National Park

 

Just two hours south of Oregon, hugging the rugged California coast is where you will find the Redwood National Park. The Redwood National park is home to ancient trees which reach heights of 367 feet into the sky. The base of the trees can be as wide as 22 feet. You will not find these extraordinary trees anywhere else in the world.

These trees are about 20 million years old and began with a tiny seed. The damp environment and cool, foggy weather along the Pacific Ocean are the perfect living conditions for this rainforest of fascinating trees.

 

Our National Parks keep the wilderness of our country open and free. Long may they protect the beauty of our natural and most precious spaces!

Tucked into the state's southeastern corner, Pine Bluffs - known simply as “Pine” to its residents - has been a well-kept secret. But this picturesque town, founded when the Union Pacific Railroad extended its line there in 1865, has a fascinating tale to tell.

Pine is readily accessible. From the Omaha area, go west on I- 80, part of the interstate highway system created by President Eisenhower in the 1950s. From Denver, take I-25 north to Cheyenne, and then I-80 east. Here, the vast high plains take over. Treeless rolling hills are covered by 15,000 acre cattle, sheep and horse ranches, and farms of 6,000 acres or more yielding wheat, pinto beans and hay. In stark contrast to the mountainous western part of the state, the eastern prairie possesses a distinct beauty all its own.

Area history is displayed in Pine at no less than three sites; the High Plains Archaeology Museum, at 211 Elm Street, the Windows on the Past Interpretive Site, at 1001 Muddy Creek Drive, just off State Route 30, and the Texas Trail Museum, at 201 W. 3rd Street.

Because there's much to see and do, you might consider arriving the evening before. Reasonably priced accommodations are available at the clean and comfortable Gator's Travelyn Motel, at 515 W. 7th Street, only two blocks off the Interstate at Exit 401. After checking in, sample great food at the Rock Ranch Grille just around the corner on Parsons Street, while listening to stories of the Union Pacific Rail line that runs past the town a few hundred yards north.

Next morning, eat a hearty breakfast at any of three eateries; Uncle Fred's, The Wild Horse, or A&W, all close by on Parsons Street. The coffee is fresh, the portions generous, and the locals so friendly you'll feel like you've known them all your life. Leonard Anderson, Pine's Mayor, obviously proud of this town and its people, says: “Visitors remark that our town reminds them of a park, with the pride that people take in their (homes and) yards and our wide paved streets with curb and gutter.”

After breakfast, it's only a short drive out Route 30 to Muddy Creek Road, location of the Windows on the Past Archaeology dig. Once inside, walk onto the deck and converse with excavators at work during the summer months. Objects dating back 9,000 plus years to a prehistoric time when early American cultures thrived in the Pine Bluffs area have been unearthed in the dig. Paleo-Indian artifacts such as arrowheads, spearheads and scraping tools have been found here.

Nearby, Lodgepole Creek, famous for archaeological sites along its banks, once wended its curving way north and east through the Lodgepole Valley and across the plains. Here and in the bluffs south of town, much has been learned about tribes that gathered to hunt Bison ? at one time as many as the sands of the river bottom ? or camped briefly to rest in this welcoming spot before continuing their migration. Gaze at the bluff's tree-studded walls and imagine Indian camps set in the creek's wooded bends; dozens of white teepees assembled a few yards apart, columns of blue smoke lazily rising from cooking fires, while children played and red men met in groups nearby to plan the next day's hunt.

Over 300 teepee rings have been found on the bluffs. At the dig, there's an exhibit displaying both ceremonial and other stone circle sites discovered in these encampments. At the High Plains Archeology Museum on Elm, one can get a deeper understanding of the artifacts found at the Interpretive dig. On display here are historic and prehistoric items gathered throughout the area by archaeologists from the University of Wyoming, dating from the early 20th Century and going back 9,800 years. There's also an exhibit of artifacts from abandoned Fort Howard, a former training base for U.S. Cavalry in the late 1800s, thought to be the first army “boot camp” in America. Shell casings, bullets, cavalry belt buckles and boots, along with historic photographs from that era, can be examined.

Where to next? The Texas Trail Museum, housed in the old power plant, which preserves the town's history as the place where vast herds of longhorns driven from far-off Texas were loaded aboard rail cars and shipped to Eastern markets seventeen hundred miles away. Then as now, beef and hides meant money, and a cattleman with 20,000 head held a fortune in his hands. On the museum's lawn, a marker erected in August 1948 says it well: “Over this trail from distant Texas, passed the greatest migration of men and cattle in the history of America.”

Browse the museum's collection of Indian artifacts, quilts, and an assortment of barbed wire fencing dating back to the 1800s, chronicling the types of wire farmers and ranchers used to fence their land. Also on display are antique cameras and old saddles employed by real people in a prior time.

Also found here are two diesel-fired engines, which supplied Pine with electricity during the 1950s, the first schoolhouse in eastern Laramie County, opened in 1879, a Union Pacific Railroad caboose, a replica of a doctor's office, and a decommissioned Catholic Church, built in 1908. The museum is open Monday through Saturday from 11:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. from Memorial Day to Labor Day.

If you're in town on a Friday during the summer, plan to spend the evening at the local rodeo on Beech Street, watching bronco and bull riding, roping, and barrel racing competitions by the best Wyoming cowboys and cowgirls the area has to offer.

Finally, prior to departing, visit the statue of Our Lady of Peace on Route 30, a stones throw from the Nebraska border. The dream of a Wyoming couple, Marjorie and Ted Trefren, of Cheyenne, this beautiful Marian statue of white marble by sculptor Robert Fida, stands 30 feet high and weighs 180 tons. The largest sculpture in Wyoming, it's clearly visible from I-80, providing a pleasant place for truckers and other travelers to stop and rest, or offer a prayer before continuing their trek.

Whether entering or leaving Wyoming, if you're looking for an interesting diversion, visit Pine Bluffs and experience a unique blend of Wyoming helpfulness and high plains history in a land filled with legends of cowboys and cattle drives, Indian encampments and homesteaders' lifestyles.

Come, relax, recharge and recapture the spirit of the old west for a day or two, in charming Pine Bluffs. Anthony Joseph Sacco, Sr., holds degrees from Loyola College and the University of Maryland Law School. He is a freelance writer, author, and investigator who lives and works in Pine Bluffs, WY.