16 Entrance-Fee-Free Days In The National Parks In 2016

The 16 entrance fee-free days for 2016, the National Park Service's centennial year, are:

 * January 18 – Martin Luther King, Jr. Day
 * April 16 through 24 – National Park Week
 * August 25 through 28 – National Park Service Birthday (and following weekend)
 * September 24 – National Public Lands Day
 * November 11 – Veterans Day

 “Fee-free days provide an extra incentive to visit a national park, especially during next year’s centennial celebration,” said National Park Service Director Jon B. Jarvis. “We added extra fee-free days so that everyone has a chance to join the party. With locations in every state, finding a national park is easy. The hard part might be deciding which ones to visit.”

America The Beautiful - The National Parks and Federal Recreational Lands Pass http://ow.ly/VOzuk

Find A Park http://ow.ly/VObBJ

A Day on the Mt. Washington Cog Railway #MtWashington #GetOutside #SeeAmerica #DavePeatfield

August 15, 2015 10:25am

The average temperature on the summit is 26.5 degrees Fahrenheit (-3 C), winds average 35.3 miles per hour (56.8 kmh). The summit gets about 42 feet of snow per year, and typically sees snowfall every month of the year -- though it melts quickly in the summer.

In April 1934, the observatory recorded a 231-mile-per-hour (372 kmh) wind that remains a world record for a land-based weather station. Some of the observatory buildings are secured to the summit with chains to keep them from blowing away. Temperatures atop the mountain can drop as low as -47 degrees Fahrenheit (-44 C)

On the clearest days, observers can see as far as Mount Marcy in New York State, 134 miles to the west.

Just The Facts....
1.The Mount Washington Cog Railway was the first mountain climbing cog railway in the world.
2.The Mount Washington Cog Railway was created and designed by Sylvester Marsh of Campton, New Hampshire.
3. The first locomotive, Old Peppersass, so named because it resembled an old pepper sauce bottle, reached the summit of Mount Washington on July 3, 1869. Today it is on display at the base station.
4. Jacob's Ladder is the steepest section of the Cog's trestle, with a 37% grade. This means that there is an elevation difference of 13 feet between passengers in the front and back of the coach!
5. Each trip to the summit on the Cog Railway uses 1 ton of coal, and 1,000 gallons of water.
6. The Mount Washington Cog Railway was named a National Historic Engineering Landmark on June 26, 1976.
7. Mount Washington is the highest summit in the northeastern part of the U.S. - elevation 6,288-feet.
8. Darby Field of Exeter, New Hampshire, was the first man known to have reached the mighty summit of Mount Washington in 1642. Indian legend stated that the summit was home to the Great Spirit and death would come to any human who ascended the peak.
9. The oldest building on the summit is the Tip Top House, built in 1853.
10. The Lake of the Clouds is said to be the highest body of water in the eastern part of the United States.
11. The average annual snowfall on the summit of Mount Washington is 177 inches.
12. A continental ice sheet once covered Mount Washington, and there is permanently frozen ground just beneath the summit.
13. The lowest recorded temperature at the summit was -49 degrees Fahrenheit; the highest was +74 degrees. The temperature on the summit falls below zero more than 65 days a year.
14. The average annual wind velocity at the summit is 37 mph. The highest wind velocity ever recorded in the world was at the summit of Mount Washington in April 1934 - at 231 mph!  
(Source: The Mount Washington Cog Railway http://ow.ly/VO0mU)

Busy Day at the summit today it was "Race to the Top Bike Challenge" Road Race Day today.  
The oldest building on the summit is the Tip Top House, built in 1853

The Mount Washington Observatory has been staffed continuously since 1932, with the exception of a brief evacuation in February 2004 due to a fire.

Going Up! 

Thanks for visiting!

Sunset Crater Volcano National Monument, Flagstaff #AZ #GetOutside #SeeAmerica

Sunset Crater Volcano National Monument

Sunset Crater Volcano! Roughly 930 years ago, the eruption of this volcano reshaped the surrounding landscape, forever changing the lives of people, plants and animals. Hike the trail through the lava flow and cinders and you’ll likely discover colorful, ruggedly dramatic geological features coexisting with twisted Ponderosa Pines and an amazing array of wildlife.

Most visitors drive through the 34 mile scenic loop that winds from Highway 89 through Sunset Crater Volcano and Wupatki National Monuments. The scenic loop leads you from the high Ponderosa Pine forests of Sunset Crater, down nearly 2,000 feet in elevation to the red rocks and painted desert vistas of Wupatki.

What happens when the earth cracks open beneath you, spewing hot cinders and poisonous gases high into the air? Just 1,000 years ago, that happened at Sunset Crater Volcano. At first, it must have been terrifying. Plants burned, and people and wildlife fled. But as ten centuries have passed, life has slowly returned, beautiful and strong.

Here you can learn what rangers, scientists, and visitors like you have discovered through the preservation of Sunset Crater Volcano.

The Bonito Lava Flow is one of several flows that streamed out from the base of Sunset Crater Volcano about 930 years ago. The 1200° C (2200° Fahrenheit) liquid formed a river of black lava that inundated over four and a half square kilometers (almost two square miles) of the landscape before it cooled and solidified.