The Yellowstone Park Foundation is holding its second annual photo contest, and the deadline for entering has  been extended an additional month.  This is a fundraiser, so there is a $25 fee to enter up to 20 photos, but it goes to a good cause and there are several categories with prizes up to $5000.  So if you are a shutterbug who loves the National Parks, you might want to check it out on their website here.

And for a little inspiration, here are a few of our favorite Yellowstone photos.

​Although Zion National Park offers stunningly deep canyons, famous peaks and terrific hiking, canyoning and climbing, my favorite moment came one evening after dark.  It is probably my favorite because it was totally unexpected.  I like to be surprised.  I like a moment when my breath is taken away by unexpexted beauty.  When that happens, it feels like a special gift.  When it occurs in nature it feels like I am blessed beyond measure to be in the right place at the right time to take in a sight that will never be repeated in exactly the same way.  In Zion I had one of those once-in-a-lifetime gift experiences when we came out of the lodge after the evening ranger led program.  It was late, the baby had fallen asleep on my lap and I was just expecting to head to the car, get all the kids buckled in and head back to the campground.  As we exited the lodge and walked across the big lawn towards our car we happened to look up.  Directly across from the lodge the full moon’s glowing light was reflecting off the sheer cliff walls that make up the peaks of The Court of the Patriarchs.  They seemed to be the face of the moon dropped in our laps.  They rose dramatically into the black night sky that is only found so far from cities.  We all stood mesmerized on the lawn that dark fall night and just drank it in.  Somehow the dark of the night and the light of the moon had transformed the peaks that seemed so rooted, so grounded each day, into something ethereal.  I don’t know how long we stood there but I remember I never wanted to leave.  We tried to capture the majesty with our camera but all attempts failed.  Sometimes you just have to be there.  I guess that is why we go to national parks, why we take our kids.  Photos in books and online, videos and movies-none of those can compare to being there.  

 As you may have seen on our facebook page, we have just finished reserving our campsites for an epic trip to see many of California's amazing National Parks (Yosemite, Kings Canyon, Sequoia, Pinnacles and Lassen).  Although it may seem hard to believe, now is the time to start planning that family trip to your national park of choice.  Many of the sites are available 6 months in advance from www.recreation.gov and they are filling up fast.  Already we had difficulty reserving 6 nights in Yosemite in a row!  Other big parks like Yellowstone and Zion fill up equally early.

Last year we spent a bunch of time exploring Glacier National Park since it is in our backyard.  We checked out many of the regions scattered around the park but were also unable to see some due to fires and bear activity.  We are looking forward to spending time exploring them this coming summer.  Although most of the campgrounds at Glacier are first come, first served (and tend to fill by 8 am in the summer), some are by reservation.  Previously you could reserve sites on recreation.gov in the St. Mary's and the Apgar campgrounds.  Starting on Wednesday the 3rd, the national park service will be releasing sites on recreation.gov for 41 of the 103 sites in the Many Glacier campground.

We hope that you find inspiration here at our4outdoors or elsewhere to start planning your 2016 family adventure to one of your national parks!  Don't forget, now is the time to start planning so go get those campsites reserved!  If you are planning a trip to Yellowstone, Zion, Arches, Canyonlands, Capitol Reef, Bryce Canyon or the north rim of the Grand Canyon then you might also like to check out our guidebooks on those parks.  You can learn more at www.nationalparkswithkids.com.

We made a number of trips to Glacier this summer, and we tried to fit in as many hikes as we could.  Unfortunately it was also a very busy fire season this year, and we had to change plans due to some of the fire activity - and some bear activity!  We had some of our camping reservations cancelled due to a bear in the area.  Anyway, we persevered and had some really great times on the trails, with more to come next summer.  But below are some photo highlights from this past summer.