Inspiration for your 2013 Family Vacation
January 02, 2013
Michael Lanza is the author of Before They're Gone: A Family's Year-Long Quest to Explore America's Most Endangered National Parks. He is a veteran freelance outdoors writer and photographer. He is the northwest editor of Backpacker magazine, where his articles about the impacts of climate change on Montana's Glacier National Park and other wild lands helped Backpacker win a National Magazine Award. He runs the website TheBigOutside, where this post originally appeared.
Today's post might provide a little inspiration for your 2013 vacation, much as editor Alexis Rizzuto received for her outdoor adventures.
At this time of year, I start pulling out maps and guidebooks and poring over my lengthy—and always growing—list of outdoor trips I want to take. (My document slugged “Trip Ideas” is now 11,855 words long.) There are two reasons: First, to make those big dream trips happen, you have to think, plan, and dream months in advance. Plus, the planning is almost as much fun as taking the trip.
Here are my 10 favorite family adventures at The Big Outside (another list that will keep growing and evolving), to help give you some ideas and inspiration for 2013. All have a story and photo gallery, and most also have a video. In a couple of weeks, I’ll share my list of 10 all-time favorite adventures at The Big Outside, domestic and international, that are not necessarily for families—although there are definitely trips that could be on either list (and there’s no overlap between the two lists).
Here’s wishing you an adventurous 2013.
Campsite below Zoroaster Temple, along the Tonto Trail in the Grand Canyon.
1. Dropping Into the Grand Canyon: A Four-Day Hike From Grandview Point to the South Kaibab Trail
Kayaking the mangrove tunnels on the East River.
2. Like No Other Place: Paddling the Everglades
Skiing the Biscuit Basin Trail through the Upper Geyser Basin in Yellowstone.
3. Cross-Country Skiing Yellowstone
Backpacking near Strawberry Point on Washington’s Southern Olympic Coast.
4. The Wildest Shore: Backpacking the Southern Olympic Coast
View from the John Muir Trail of Half Dome, Liberty Cap, and Nevada Fall.
5. The Magic of Hiking to Yosemite’s Waterfalls
Floating the Green River through Stillwater Canyon in Utah’s Canyonlands National Park.
6. Still Waters Run Deep: Tackling America’s Best Multi-Day Float Trip on the Green River
Hiking the Gunsight Pass Trail in Glacier National Park, Montana.
7. Jagged Peaks, Mountain Lakes, and Wild Goats: A 3-Day Hike on Glacier’s Gunsight Pass Trail
Backpacking the West Rim Trail in Zion National Park, Utah.
8. Pilgrimage Across Zion: Traversing a Land of Otherworldly Scenery
In Spring Canyon, Capitol Reef National Park, Utah
9. Plunging Into Solitude: Dayhiking, Slot Canyoneering, and Backpacking in Capitol Reef
The Banner Ridge yurt in Idaho’s Boise National Forest.