Spring is normally quiet at national park conservancies, the nonprofit groups that raise money and recruit volunteers for the U.S. National Parks. In March and April, staffers at these charity organizations finalize fundraising campaigns in advance of the busy summer months.

But this spring has been exceptionally busy at the Shenandoah National Park Trust, which raises money for Virginia鈥檚 Shenandoah National Park. The office is abuzz with ringing phones and pinging email notifications, Jessica Cocciolone, the executive director, told 国产吃瓜黑料. 鈥淲e鈥檝e had more than 150 inquiries about volunteering in just the past two months,鈥� Cocciolone said. That鈥檚 more than triple the total number of inquiries the group received in 2024.

It鈥檚 a similar story with the Friends of Acadia, the nonprofit attached to Maine鈥檚 Acadia National Park. When I exchanged emails with Perrin Doninger, the group鈥檚 vice president of marketing, the group was making final preparations for its Earth Day Roadside Cleanup on April 26.

Friends of Acadia had already reached its capacity of 350 volunteers, Doninger told me. 鈥淲e’re seeing a tremendous amount of support for Acadia National Park from our members and volunteers right now,鈥� she said in an email.

This is , or the rest of America鈥檚 63 national parks and 433 National Park Service-managed sites. Starting in February, the Federal government fired 1,000 NPS workers and persuaded 750 to take buyouts. Since then, the听 government has issued a flurry of unprecedented orders that range from requiring parks to giving the power to 鈥渆ffectuate the consolidation, unification and optimization of administrative functions鈥� within the NPS.

As the NPS has been shaken up, the nonprofits associated with individual National Parks have seen a major uptick in volunteers and cash donations. 国产吃瓜黑料 reached out to some of the most prominent NPS nonprofits, and heard a similar story.

鈥淲e’re seeing is a lot of interest among our supporters and our members in finding ways they can express their care for the park,鈥� said Elizabeht Silkes, chief operating officer for the Grand Canyon Conservancy (GCC). The organization launched a new fundraising campaign on April 24 called Stand Together for Grand Canyon.

The includes information on how to connect with elected representatives to speak up for national parks, as well as links to sign up to volunteer and to donate money. Silkes said the GCC is still auditing their donations from the first quarter of 2025, but she anticipates an increase from 2024.

While the NPS is funded by the federal government, nonprofits like the Grand Canyon Conservancy pay for a wide array of programs, from trail maintenance, to educational classes for kids, to seasonal staff inside of the park. Each conservancy has its own strategy for investing funds and manpower.

At Grand Canyon National Park, the GCC operates six park stores next to visitor centers, and also completes annual building maintenance at two historic buildings: the Kolb Studio and Verkamp Residences.

The GCC also provides funding and volunteers for the Grand Canyon’s Preventative Search and Rescue teams, which educate visitors on how to stay safe on the trails.

Silkes said the funds garnered from the 2025 campaign campaign will go directly toward ensuring 鈥渢he stability of the park.鈥� She doesn鈥檛 have details about how the funds will be spent, but said that in times of financial uncertainty, NPS programs around scientific research, climate research, and conservation are put under threat. Partnership initiatives with the Grand Canyon鈥檚 eleven associated tribes are also jeopardized, she added.

Rocky Mountain Conservancy (RMC), the nonprofit for Colorado’s Rocky Mountain National Park, has a 鈥渉ealthy best-use fund,鈥� according to Kaci Yoh, Communications Manager, that鈥檚 designed to help its partner park pivot in times of, say, shifting priorities in the White House. But with so many changes happening so fast, the RMC received guidance from Rocky Mountain National Park about how to spend those funds in 2025.

Like the GCC, Yoh has seen a surge of calls and emails from people looking to volunteer, particularly offering to help fill in where Rocky Mountain Park has lost staff.

Yoh said that volunteers cannot overcome the park’s need for full-time staff. 鈥淧ark staff are necessary to fulfill the roles that they have because they’re highly trained and vetted for their particular position,鈥� said Yoh.

Or as Cocciolone at Shenandoah put it, 鈥淭he challenge isn鈥檛 interest鈥攊t鈥檚 capacity. As park staff numbers go down, there鈥檚 less ability to train, manage, and support volunteers.鈥�

The Shenandoah Trust has, in the past, helped the park during government shutdowns, providing portable restrooms and volunteer support, Cocciolone said. During normal years, the Shenandoah Trust supplies campground hosts, volunteers to remove invasive species, and trail crews, among other positions.

“Historically, philanthropic support has not replaced federal funding or paid for permanent government roles,” Cocciolone said. “Our role is to provide additive support that enhances what the federal budget enables, not to supplant it.”

But the staff cuts within the NPS have forced some conservancy leaders to rethink this approach. Shenandoah National Park Trust is considering expanding its role to fund permanent park positions. 鈥淲e firmly believe it鈥檚 the federal government鈥檚 job to operate and steward these parks in line with the NPS mission,鈥� Cocciolone said. 鈥淏ut we also know these are unprecedented times, and we鈥檙e being asked to do more.鈥�

Cassius M. Cash, President and CEO of Yosemite Conservancy, echoed that sentiment .听鈥淚f park leadership needs new solutions to keep visitor services running, how can we be creative in our approach while remaining true to our own mission?鈥� Cash wrote.

Cash also stated that while the Yosemite Conservancy is a nonpartisan organization, the group would work closely with 鈥減artners and stakeholders who understand the importance of protecting national parks in times of transition.鈥�

Cocciolone concurred. 鈥淲e鈥檙e also leaning more into advocacy鈥攈elping educate donors, policymakers, and our community about what these cuts really mean on the ground,鈥� she said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 not just about what gets funded, but what gets lost if we don鈥檛 act.鈥�

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Last winter, now 17-year-old Isobel Chi found herself on Washington鈥檚 Sasse Mountain with a group of fellow high schoolers and a handful of adult leaders. The early February hike was a regular outing for the Seattle-based Mountaineers 国产吃瓜黑料 Club (or MAC, pronounced as one word), a youth program designed to provide outdoor recreation opportunities for 14- to 18-year-old Seattleites. Every teen on the hike had practiced using traction devices and ice axes, and they鈥檇 put their skills to the test on a snowy ridgeline traverse between Sasse and Howson Peak. Off-trail, traveling 鈥渟traight uphill,鈥� Chi felt herself approaching her limit. Then, nearing the top, the group . To Chi, it looked unstable, and alarm bells went off in her head. Most of the group seemed unconcerned, but sharing Chi鈥檚 apprehension, one of the student leaders spoke up.

鈥淪he said, 鈥業 don鈥檛 think this is the best idea, I don鈥檛 feel safe doing this. And then we turned around and I thought that was really impressive,鈥� says Chi.

Chi learned a few important lessons that day about trusting her intuition, speaking up in a group setting, and that it鈥檚 OK to turn around short of an objective. Even for adult adventurers, that type of knowledge is often hard-won over the course of many seasons鈥攁nd sometimes close calls鈥攊n the mountains. But Chi and her peers in MAC are getting a head start.

Today, Chi, who has been involved with MAC since she was in eighth grade, is herself one of six student leaders elected by their peers. The program consists of monthly meetings and a jam-packed calendar of weekly trips and workshops, including hiking and backpacking, rock climbing and rope skills, wilderness first aid, navigation, skiing, and technical mountaineering including snow and glacier travel skills.

MAC鈥檚 youth leaders are supported by adult volunteers and a small staff; but it鈥檚 the kids who run pre-trip meetings, organize groups of students, help teach skills, cook meals, and facilitate in-the-field experiences. While some of the student participants have grown up going outside with their families, for many of them, MAC is a first foray into the outdoors.

Caroline Sherley, 18, serves alongside Chi on MAC鈥檚 leadership team to help organize trips and monthly meetings, teach skills, and wrangle gear and food for outings.

鈥淭he program is about learning climbing and outdoor stuff, of course, but it鈥檚 also kind of taking you through a complete progression of 鈥業鈥檓 learning this skill, I鈥檓 relearning it and refining it, and then I鈥檓 teaching it,鈥欌�� said Sherley. 鈥淚t鈥檚 nice for learning skills about being outdoors, it鈥檚 nice for getting off your phone, it鈥檚 nice for being outside with great people, and it鈥檚 also nice for building your confidence.鈥�

MAC鈥檚 program calendar reads like any adult : Mt. Shuksan, Mt. Baker, Eldorado, Forbidden Peak, a 10-day excursion to Squamish, British Columbia, and more. While youth programs across the country get kids into nature, MAC is unique: The curriculum provides teens with big-mountain skills like crevasse rescue and snow camping, and, more importantly, hands them the reins as often as possible.

鈥淥ne of the biggest things that I think that leadership really does is they really set , both on trips and also just through intention at leadership meetings,鈥� says Emile Blouin, a volunteer for MAC who has spent a decade working with kids and teens as a teacher and tutor. 鈥淭here鈥檚 been really a push to create more space for the youth leadership to really be the ones that are driving everything.鈥�

While summiting some of the nation鈥檚 most challenging and scenic peaks is enough to incite jealousy in any adult hiker, it鈥檚 the soft skills that resonate the most with MAC students.

鈥淭his year especially I鈥檝e been learning how to put myself in uncomfortable situations鈥攏ot just physically, but like if you need to tell somebody that they鈥檙e doing something wrong, now that I鈥檓 in more of a leadership position,鈥� said Chi. 鈥淚 don鈥檛 like doing that, but it鈥檚 important and it is beneficial to everybody involved, so I鈥檝e been working on that.鈥�

For her part, Sherley鈥檚 learned to embrace what鈥檚 familiar to any longtime backpacker: type two fun. On a recent climbing trip in central Washington, Sherley found herself camped out in a raging rainstorm that forced her to move her tent in the middle of the night.

鈥淭he next morning we were making pancakes and kind of miserable and just very wet and cold, and we were still laughing and having a really good time,鈥� she said.听 鈥淸I鈥檝e learned to find] ways to be happy in less than desirable conditions,鈥� she said.

Backpackers know that the resilience and empowerment found on the trail can serve a person well in all aspects of life. Blouin agrees that the skills learned in MAC will set kids up for success in future chapters. He said that he鈥檚 been especially impressed watching student leaders interact with adult volunteers and parents and handle interpersonal conflicts with maturity and poise.

鈥淎s somebody who works with youth a lot, you don鈥檛 see that happening. You don鈥檛 see youth in leader positions being able to go to an adult and say 鈥� 鈥榯his needs to be managed in this way,鈥欌�� he said. 鈥淭here is a level of empowerment that allows these youth to actually hold space and feel 鈥� that they have the knowledge that they need to be able to speak up in those ways.鈥�

As she wraps up her senior year of high school, it鈥檚 Sherley鈥檚 last year in MAC. Over the past three years, she鈥檚 learned how to manage a rope, how to plan camp meals for a group, and the basics of multi-pitch climbing. But Sherley has learned something more personal, too: spending time outside will always be a big part of the rest of her life. 鈥淚 know that this is where I鈥檓 really happy,鈥� she said.

To learn more about the Mountaineers 国产吃瓜黑料 Club, contact Hank Stein, Teen Clubs Coordinator for the Mountaineers.

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Great Smoky Mountains National Park (GSMNP) had more than 12 million visitors in 2024, or about 34,000 guests every day. That makes the 522,427-acre swath of mountains, streams, and historic farmland the most popular national park in the country鈥攂y far. The next-most-visited national park is Zion, with 4.95 million visitors last year, followed by the Grand Canyon at 4.92 million.

GSMNP is consistently the top park for visitation partly because of its location in southwestern North Carolina and southeastern Tennessee; it鈥檚 within 800 miles of 60 percent of America鈥檚 population.

And also because it鈥檚 beautiful. The forest is lush and green, blanketing the park鈥檚 6,000-foot peaks and obscuring streams, waterfalls, and outcroppings. There are meadows full of elk and rivers stacked with trout, steep slopes, and placid lakes. GSMNP encapsulates the best the Southern Appalachians have to offer.

So, yes, people show up. On my recent trip to GSMNP, I sat for a solid hour in bumper-to-bumper traffic on the Foothills Parkway, a scenic two-lane road that cruises the western border of the park. It sucked. But once I got inside the park, I was able to ditch the crowds and hike to a high elevation bald where I had a view of some of the prettiest damn mountains in the United States.

鈥淕iven the massive crowds, it could be tempting just to avoid the park altogether,鈥� says Steven Reinhold, a photographer and owner of , which works in and around GSMNP. 鈥淏ut you鈥檇 miss out on what is arguably the most beautiful and biodiverse landscape in the country.鈥�

The park, he notes, spans from 1,000 to over 6,600 feet in elevation, supporting a variety of different microclimates and ecosystems that range from Southern Appalachian hardwood to Canadian spruce-fir forests, within a few miles of each other.

鈥淭he cultural history is diverse, too,鈥� he says, 鈥渇rom the stories and traditions of the Cherokee People听to the preserved farms and homesteads of its early European settlers.鈥�

Keep in mind that if you do plan to visit this spring or summer, Western North Carolina is still recovering from Hurricane Helene. While Great Smoky Mountains National Park was largely spared by the brunt of that storm, it鈥檚 possible that some roads or trails could be closed for rehabilitation. Be sure to check the status of the park and active closures .

Living in nearby Asheville, North Carolina, I鈥檝e had a lot of adventures inside GSMNP. Sure, I鈥檝e waited for parking spots, but I鈥檝e also hunted for salamanders with my children, gotten lost off trail (twice), pedaled my bike across the entire park, run into black bears, jumped off waterfalls, climbed historic lookout towers, and paddled pristine lakes. The park might be crowded, but that鈥檚 only because it鈥檚 awesome.

Here are six reasons why I think Great Smoky Mountains National Park is still worth visiting.

1. The Foliage Is Incredible

Come fall, the hardwood trees that blanket almost every inch of Great Smoky Mountains National Park听transform into a riot of red, orange, yellow, and gold from mid-September to early November. The timing for peak foliage depends on the elevation: the higher the trees, the earlier they turn. To see the most color overall, shoot for mid-October.

Cruising Newfound Gap Road, a 31-mile highway that crosses the heart of the park, will deliver non-stop color to the windows of your car. It鈥檚 such a pretty drive, you probably won鈥檛 even mind the crowds. If you want color with less traffic, head to the eastern border of the park, where the Blue Ridge Parkway ends and the begins.

The first portion of the road is paved and has overlooks similar to what you鈥檒l find on the parkway, with views of the valley below and ridges on the horizon. After nine miles, the pavement turns into one-lane, gravel Heintooga Round Bottom Road, which drops for 14 winding miles into the depths of the park. It鈥檚 a slow, one-way trek that puts you in the thick of the golden forest of autumn, passing creeks and small falls before forming a partial loop and arriving in the town of Cherokee, a vibrant gateway community within the 56,600-acre Qualla Boundary, the cultural hub of the Eastern Band of Cherokee.

2. Explore Car-Free Biking听

I鈥檝e ridden my bike across the park on Newfound Gap Road, which was beautiful but harrowing, as the car traffic on that highway is nonstop and the drivers seem unaccustomed to sharing the road with cyclists. Fortunately, park management has acknowledged us two-wheelers by creating inside the popular Cades Cove throughout the busy summer months.

Every Wednesday, from May 7 to September 24, the 11-mile loop through Cades Cove is closed to cars so walkers and cyclists can have the valley to themselves. This makes an easy, family-friendly pedal that delivers pastoral views and opportunities to check out historic structures such as cabins, churches, and school buildings. Among the plentiful hiking opportunities, is a five-mile out-and-back that follows a stream culminating at the 20-foot Abrams Falls.

3. You Can See鈥攁nd Hear鈥攖he Elk Rut听

Elk were extirpated from North Carolina back in the late 1700s, but the National Park Service the species to GSMNP in 2001, bringing 25 into the park from Kentucky. Almost 25 years later, the elk population is thriving, with numbers reaching almost 250, according to the .

And they鈥檙e huge. The bull elk in the park weigh an average of 600 to 700 pounds and can stand five feet tall at the shoulder. When my children were about seven, my wife and I took them to see the elk before Christmas, and they were convinced the animals were reindeer.

Fall is the best time to see herds, as it鈥檚 their mating season, known as the rut, when males bugle and spar for the attention of females. Cataloochee Valley, in the southeastern corner of the park, typically has the largest concentration of the animals, and the big meadow off Cove Creek Road is a good spot to watch and listen for the calls.

I鈥檝e seen the animals throughout the Smokies, from the pastoral Cades Cove on the western side to the high elevations of Balsam Mountain on the eastern edge. The elk are magnificent, but keep your distance and stay quiet so as to not disturb them.

4. The Fireflies Put On a Spectacular Show

Fireflies are a delight throughout summer in the Southern Appalachians and beyond, but a species of found inside the park puts on a choreographed light show every June. The bioluminescent beetles flash in unison, five to eight times in a row, pause for several seconds, then kick in again.

The prime time to catch the show is usually early June. You鈥檒l have to register in the ($1 fee) for a chance to see the splendor. It鈥檚 not easy to get a ticket鈥�20,000 people entered the lottery for just 1,240 vehicle passes in 2024鈥攂ut you can鈥檛 win if you don鈥檛 play. Or, you can book a guided backpacking trip with , which covers roughly 13 miles of moderate terrain in the Elkmont area of the park over two days, taking in waterfalls and wildflowers during the day and synchronous fireflies at night ($1,970 for two people).

And the fireflies are just the beginning. The Smokies comprise the most biodiverse unit in the entire national park system, with over 19,000 species of bugs, plants, and animals. The Flamed Tigersnail, which can be found inside the park, emits a bioluminescent orange mucus when it鈥檚 feeling threatened. Meanwhile, the hellbender salamander can reach 29 inches long. And did you hear the elk?

5. Winter Is a Great Time to Visit听

While I鈥檝e met people at Newfound Gap who have driven up from Florida in January so their kids can see snow for the first time, by and large visitation drops significantly in winter, and it鈥檚 a great time to explore the park. The trees don鈥檛 have leaves, which might sound like a bummer, but their absence reveals long-range views from trails that are usually socked in by the canopy.

Moreover, in my opinion, the best reason to visit GSMNP in the winter is the cross-country skiing; some of the park鈥檚 highest roads go unplowed during heavy snowstorms, turning them into XC playgrounds for the hardy. The seven-mile Clingmans Dome Road leads to the highest point in the park, formerly called Clingmans Dome and newly renamed Kuwohi in honor of the Cherokee people who consider the lofty peak sacred. Kuwohi, which collects the lion鈥檚 share of powder, is unplowed all season. Check before going鈥擧ighway 441, aka Newfound Gap Road, is often closed for plowing, preventing access to Kuwohi during the early part of storms. When the Newfound Gap Road opens, you can ski on Clingmans Dome Road and into Kuwohi.

I also like to watch , the innkeeper鈥檚 blog for the backcountry LeConte Lodge, which sits a mile high in elevation, for storm forecasts and snow totals.

6. Yes, You Can Avoid the Crowds. Here鈥檚 how.听

According to the most recent from the park service, Cades Cove is the most frequented spot in the park, with almost half of all peoplee planning to spend time in that area. Kuwohi, in the center of the park, and the on the western edge of the park, also get a lot of traffic, while half of all people also plan to hit the gateway towns of Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge, according to the same study.

What am I getting at? GSMNP might attract 12 million bodies, but most of them are going to the same places. They hit Gatlinburg, visit Cades Cove, and drive a piece of Newfound Gap Road to see Kuwohi.

That makes it pretty easy to avoid the crowds if you know what you鈥檙e doing. I鈥檝e spent entire days inside GSMNP feeling like I had the place to myself.

鈥淭here鈥檚 not even available parking at popular spots like Cades Cove and Clingmans Dome in the summer and fall,鈥� says Steve Dunkin, the president of Smoky Mountains Hiking Club, who also volunteers for the park inside Cades Cove. 鈥淚nstead, visit the North Carolina side of the park, or the Cosby and Big Creek areas on the north end of the park, all of which see far less traffic.鈥�

I like hiking to Andrews Bald on the , a 3.6-mile out-and-back that starts on the popular Clingmans Dome Road, but quickly leaves the crowds behind. Most people tend to stick to the nature trails and scenic walk up the concrete lookout tower, known as Clingmans Dome Tower, at the top of the mountain. You鈥檒l pass through a high-elevation spruce/fir forest before hitting the bald, a grassy area with views deep into the park.

Or you can do something hard. The majority of visitors stick to short trails close to trailheads. I recently hiked to the top of Mount Cammerer, a craggy sub-5,000-foot peak in the northern corner of the park with an incredible view from a historic lookout tower. I had the entire mountaintop to myself. Why? Because getting there required a . And it was totally worth it. The view was stellar, taking in the Pigeon River Gorge below. The Cammerer tower is unique in the Southern Appalachians, as it was modeled after the live-in fire towers more common in the Western U.S.

You could also check out Fontana Lake, a 10,000-acre reservoir on the southwestern edge of the park, which offers lonely coves for paddling (look for rope swings!) and harbors isolated trails. I like the 3.5-mile piece of the that starts next to the Fontana Dam and climbs steeply to Shuckstack Fire Tower, where you鈥檒l find a broad view of the lake, Smokies, and neighboring Nantahala National Forest.

Looking to camp? Try the under-valued , a 43-site facility sitting at 5,300 feet in elevation between the towns of Cherokee and Maggie Valley that has availability long after the uber-popular Cataloochee Campground fills up ($30 per night, make reservations up to six months in advance). I just checked and found sites for this upcoming weekend.

And if you have your heart set on hitting Kuwohi or Cades Cove, you can still do it without the crowds. 鈥淕o midweek, or time your visit for sunrise,鈥� says the area guide Steven Reinhold. 鈥淗it the park early and you鈥檒l be done with your adventure before most visitors ever reach the trailhead.鈥�

Graham Averill is 国产吃瓜黑料 magazine鈥檚 national parks columnist. He鈥檚 been visiting Great Smoky Mountains National Park since he was a kid, and writing this article reminded him how much he loves that landscape.

The post This Is the Most Crowded National Park in the Country. You Should Still Go. appeared first on 国产吃瓜黑料 Online.

A vast grassland in central Montana might seem like an odd place to go snorkeling. Comprising nearly 463,000 acres of private and leased public land centered on the , the reserve is decidedly un-tropical, a rolling shortgrass prairie that stretches out to the horizon, punctuated by smatterings of trees and rocky buttes. Unless you鈥檙e planning on jumping into the Missouri River, or you have the bad luck to be out when the snowmelt and spring rains turn the ground into gumbo-like mud, you鈥檙e unlikely to get wet. But to go 鈥渓and snorkeling鈥� on this largely trailless backcountry, you don鈥檛 need fins, a mask, or even water鈥攋ust a willingness to rethink what a hike looks like.

The term 鈥溾�� may be unfamiliar. But the idea, as described by Clyde Aspevig and Carol Guzman, the Montana-based artists and longtime American Prairie volunteers who came up with it, is simple: Just wander through nature with no destination, paying close attention to the plants, animals, and natural features around you, like a snorkeler floating through the shallows of a coral reef. While every hiker has land snorkeled at some point in their life, it鈥檚 something many of us become less and less willing to dedicate our time to as we become more focused on making miles and reaching summits, says Anna Schale, American Prairie鈥檚 public access manager.

鈥淜ids are really good at land snorkeling,鈥� Schale says. 鈥淎ny kid that sees a dandelion that has the white puff, they go straight to it, pick it up, and blow on it. I think somehow as adults, we really lose touch with looking at where our feet are moving.鈥�

If you want to recapture that mindfulness and joy in the details of nature, Schale believes that the American Prairie is an ideal place to start your land snorkeling journey. Founded in 2001, the American Prairie Foundation aims to create a wildlife conservation preserve that they hope will eventually cover more than 3 million contiguous acres of never-plowed mixed grass prairie. Counting the adjacent Russell National Wildlife Refuge and , they鈥檙e nearly halfway there, with about 1.3 million acres of both private land and public land managed under grazing leases, where the foundation has reintroduced free-ranging herds of bison. Both the privately-owned and leased sections of the prairie are open to the public, including hikers, cyclists, horseback riders, and hunters. Wildlife abounds, including ungulates like deer and pronghorn, American porcupines, and prairie birds like sharp-tailed grouse and western meadowlarks.

Schale鈥檚 tips for beginner land snorkelers: Plan your day by time, rather than distance. Shift your mindset away from objectives. Instead, let your interest and the natural features of the land guide your walk.

鈥淭here are so many flowers that bloom close to the ground, grasses that are unique and different,鈥� she says. 鈥淓ven to the untrained eye, there鈥檚 just a lot to see in the variations of dirt鈥攚here it鈥檚 really crackly or maybe it鈥檚 different-colored. We have horned toads, woodhouse toads, and several kinds of bugs and beetles.鈥� Dry creekbeds, she notes, can make for natural walking paths.

American Prairie is one of the most remote landscapes in the lower 48, with some sections located hours from pavement. Schale notes that it鈥檚 important to come prepared, even if you鈥檙e just planning on an aimless walk. Besides packing essential gear and bringing maps and appropriate layers鈥攖emperatures can vary from -40 掳F to more than 100 掳F throughout the year鈥攊t鈥檚 important to note that road conditions can be difficult, especially when rain and snow turns the dirt into 鈥減rairie gumbo鈥� that can trap tires. Drive a high-clearance, four-wheel-drive vehicle, and check the weather forecast before you leave. With a few exceptions, most of the camping on the prairie is dry, so campers need to carry their water in with them.

Where to Go Land Snorkeling

Visitors to American Prairie can dispersed-camp almost anywhere they want, but Schale recommends that first-timers start at Antelope Creek Campground, a developed campsite just off US 191 featuring cabins ($73), camping ($20 for a tent spot; ), and a bathhouse, as well as potable water. Nearby attractions include a prairie dog town, wetlands, and a 2-mile interpretative trail鈥攐ne of the few dedicated hiking paths on the preserve. For those ready to venture further, she recommends Buffalo Camp on the reserve鈥檚 Sun Prairie Unit. Like Antelope Camp, it has access to water and electric hookups meant for campers or small RVs; unlike that campground, it鈥檚 more than 50 miles from the nearest paved road, making it ideal for spotting the reserve鈥檚 bison herd and stargazing under its dark skies.

For a different perspective on the prairie, head to the reserve鈥檚 PN Unit at the junction of the Missouri and Judith Rivers, which features the steeper topography of the Missouri Breaks and a more forested vibe. Hikers there can spot wading birds like great blue herons and American avocets, find shells on the riverbanks, and wander the thick cottonwood galleries on their shores.

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In college, I brought guys into the forest at night because it was a place where I was less scared than they were. As a woman, dating鈥攐r even just being alone with a man鈥攆elt vulnerable. I wanted to flip the script.

I remember the second time in particular, with a man I really liked. We were a mile deep in the campus arboretum, following a trail through faint moonshadows and then, as the trees grew thicker, into a tunnel of black. My flashlight was dim. He held my arm as I led the way.

Something rustled in the dark to our right.

The man jumped a little, chuckled once, and grabbed my arm with his other hand. He squeezed.

鈥淵ou nervous,鈥� I said.

I sensed, rather than saw, his nod.

鈥淲hat are you scared of?鈥�

鈥淲hat was that?鈥� he said. He meant the rustle. Probably a mouse, I thought, but I didn鈥檛 answer. I imagined what he鈥檇 do if I said the flashlight had burned out. He wouldn鈥檛 panic, at least not outwardly, but his breath would quicken. He鈥檇 stay close; he鈥檇 squeeze my arm tighter. He鈥檇 trust me to lead the way out.

Still in blackness, I stepped back so we weren鈥檛 touching. He didn鈥檛 move. I thought about reaching back toward him, but instead I waited. Counted. One breath. Five, ten. When he still hadn鈥檛 moved or spoken, I stepped back toward him. Took one of his hands, then the other, and rose to my toes for a kiss.

鈥淭hat would never have occurred to me,鈥� he said later, back inside. 鈥淕oing into the woods at night. I just never think of it as an option. I don鈥檛 know how you weren鈥檛 nervous.鈥�

The secret was that I鈥檇 been nervous, too. But unlike him, I was used to it.

As a kid, I dreaded getting home at night because I hated walking in darkness from the car to the front door. I鈥檇 run past the roses and thuja trees by the driveway鈥攆earing that at any moment, hands would reach from the thickets and grab me tight鈥攁nd I didn鈥檛 calm down until I鈥檇 reached the bright artificial light of the entry. In the daytime, I loved being outside; I made passageways in the bushes, and tossed seeds to lure squirrels close. But at night, the yard turned into something different. It became a place I didn鈥檛 understand.

By my late teens, I spent most of my free time outside, bushwhacking through mountainsides and forests with a backpack and a map. I felt that my fear of the woods at night鈥攖hough common, normal鈥攚as one of the last barriers between myself and the wild life I wanted. But the dark wasn鈥檛 dangerous, I told myself. It was just scary. And fear, I hoped, could be fixed. It was with that intention that I tried solo backpacking at 18, laying my sleeping bag on the moss at the edge of a mountain lake called Sick Water, where I planned to spend two days. But I panicked the first night鈥搇ying frozen, eyes open in blackness, barely able to breathe鈥揳nd then hiked five miles home at three in the morning. I climbed into my own bed as the sun was rising, weak with relief.

Later that year, I tried again. It was winter. I skied uphill to the same lake, which was smooth and white, and found an open creek at the edge, barely a foot across and bounded with deep banks. I drank the water by cupping it in my bare hands, though the cold hurt my skin, and then I built a fire for warmth. I鈥檇 brought a book of poems鈥擯rufrock, I think鈥攖o read for distraction, but I never opened the book at all. I didn鈥檛 need it. For some reason, that time I wasn鈥檛 afraid.

In retrospect, I think the cold helped my nerves. Winter鈥檚 always been my comfort. The world quiets; animals sleep. And the snow doesn鈥檛 lie. At times, lying in the darkness, I imagined creatures creeping toward me. But when the sun rose again, I saw from the untouched snow that they had not.

By the way, there was nothing sick about Sick Water. I don鈥檛 know how the lake got its name. It was good fishing, so maybe that鈥檚 why. Some fisherman tried to scare folks away and claim the whole lake for his own.

My husband and I live deep in the Wisconsin woods; we take all our city friends outdoors. It鈥檚 a running joke that we can teach them dogsledding, kayaking, fishing, skiing鈥攁nd when we bring them back to the cabin late, by headlamp, and they鈥檒l say, 鈥淚 didn鈥檛 know I could do that.鈥�

And we say, 鈥淒ogsledding?鈥�

And they say, 鈥淣o, being in the forest at night.鈥�

Why is this fear so universal? I looked up science, studies. I wanted to tell you facts about what we鈥檙e afraid might happen, and how to push through. But I found almost no research at all. Only stories. Fairy tales, myths, legends, warnings. Don鈥檛 go in the woods at night, characters tell each other, or else. Or else what? In the forest, power shifts. We鈥檙e not in charge anymore. We have to face the fact that we never were.

Stories don鈥檛 create our fears; they reflect them back to us, shimmering with layers of unease. One reason humans are scared of the dark woods, wrote scholar Dr. Elizabeth Parker, who studies ecogothic literature, is because we fear nature鈥檚 appetite, even when it pales before our own. In the forest, 鈥渨e fear being eaten: be it by literal predators such as wolves and bears, or by the many monsters that we imagine within it.鈥�

In the dark, in the trees, anything can creep toward you.

You won鈥檛 see it coming.

It will open wide its mouth.

It might consume you, or might just stand there watching.

We鈥檙e scared of the dark woods, Dr. Parker writes, because they hold a secret we鈥檙e not sure we want to know.

Over the years, I have, in fact, been approached by animals at night. One time, alone in a lean-to of sticks in Florida, something huge blackened the night nearby. I imagined it might attack me. I saw from its tracks in the morning that it had been a cow.

In South Africa, I was surrounded by a pack of hyenas for several nights in a row. They circled, barking and grunting, for hours on end. I had no weapons, but I built my fire high. They didn鈥檛 dare enter the light.

Hyenas eat people. Big cats do, too. Some bears. Sharks, I guess, with all those teeth. But the fear of being consumed isn鈥檛 just a fear of dying. It鈥檚 a fear of recalling that you鈥檙e an animal, too, with warm soft flesh like the rest of them. We鈥檙e not afraid of the woods at night because we don鈥檛 belong there. We鈥檙e afraid of them because we do.

It takes practice, time, to accept that. After my stay at Sick Water, I didn鈥檛 spend a night alone outside for several years; I鈥檇 just needed to know that I could. But when I finally did venture out again, it was for weeks straight. I was visiting a Norwegian village, and needed somewhere to stay, so I set up camp in a grove of sparse birch, a few minutes鈥� walk from the nearest road. Each night I lay on my back in my sleeping bag, watching heart-shaped leaves flicker against the sky. That was the Arctic, in summer, so the sun never set. Darkness only came when I closed my eyes.

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Sure, snowy trails are beautiful in the winter, but months of barren, black-and-white scenery have us dreaming of color. This time of year is synonymous with budding flowers, but peak blooms vary throughout the country. Where should you start 鈥� and most importantly, when? We dug through the archives to find our favorite wildflower hikes plus current information on when you should expect to see the bulbs at their most chromatic. 鈥� Emma Veidt, Associate Editor

Featured Hike: Porters Creek Trail, Great Smoky Mountains National Park, TN

Now is the best time to see wildflowers in the Smokies at their peak bloom. These flowers鈥攄elicate, white trillium and fringed phacelia鈥攁re much more gentle on the eyes than the showy posies out West. That doesn鈥檛 mean they aren鈥檛 impactful. When you reach tree cover on the Porters Creek Trail, look down. From the forest floor, they make a beautiful contrast against the hunter green old-growth forest.

Featured Hike: Dog Mountain, Columbia River Gorge, WA

With over 3,000 feet of vert in less than 3.5 miles, this hike up Dog Mountain is a steep one, but luckily you鈥檒l have to take it slow to see all the blooms. You鈥檒l climb to the top of a meadow and look down over panoramic views of bright wildflowers, the Columbia River Gorge, and off in the distance, Mt. Hood. When the balsamroot peaks (which tends to be early to mid May), the hills are blanketed in golden yellow. Bonus buds that time of year include lupine, Indian paintbrush, and chocolate lily.

Featured Hike: Alpine Pond Nature Trail, Cedar Breaks National Monument, UT

This 2-mile hike between colorful corridors of columbine, desert globemallow, mariposa lilies, and more gives you the most bang for your buck this wildflower season. Plus, Cedar Breaks National Monument has such a diverse biome that you don鈥檛 only get fields of wildflowers, you also get views of the badlands, ancient volcanic deposits, and mixed spruce, fir, and aspen forests. Catch the florals at their brightest between late June and early July 鈥� or join the festivities during this year鈥檚 20th annual Cedar Breaks Wildflower Festival, dates TBD.

Featured Hike: Scenic Overlook to Davis Trail, Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve, KS

The Sunflower State lives up to its name in Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve. The preserve, an 11,000-acre oasis of never-plowed prairie, is home to poppy mallow, wild bergamot, narrow-leaf bluets, and wild sunflowers. The Scenic Overlook to Davis Trail is the best place to see it all. Plan your trip for early July through late August for peak bloom.

Featured Hike: Four Lakes Loop, Trinity Alps Wilderness, CA

If your spring and summer are already booked, you still have a chance to see high-altitude blooms come September. On the Four Lakes Loop, catch white Solomon鈥檚 seal, pink monkeyflower, and bright purple and blue fringed gentian. The loop itself is only 5.2 miles long (although tough, with 2,500 feet of gain), but you won鈥檛 want the show to stop there. You can turn the loop into an 18.4-mile-long lollipop backpacking trail by tacking on the Long Canyon Trail from the Long Canyon Trailhead.

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Depending on the conditions you encounter on a multi-day hike, medication storage can require quite a bit of forethought. A medication鈥檚 potency can be affected by temperature, sunlight, moisture, and humidity. So, what exactly is the best way to pack your meds to protect them from the elements for days, or even weeks, on end?

We鈥檝e chatted with three pharmacists鈥攚ho are outdoor enthusiasts鈥攖o give you their most helpful tips. They also offer advice on ensuring you can properly store the medications so that you can traverse the wilderness with peace of mind. Here鈥檚 what they had to say.

Schedule a 鈥淰acation Override鈥� with Your Doctor to Get More Doses in Advance

If your current batch of medication refills is going to run out while you are in the middle of your trip, and you anticipate that it will be difficult to get a pharmacy refill in the area you鈥檒l be in, organize a “vacation override” beforehand.

A vacation override allows you to get earlier fills of your prescription, so you have what you need on your trip. Speak with your doctor and pharmacist about your plans to fill your prescription early, says Adam James, a pharmacist and manager of immunization and clinical programs at Rite Aid. They will work with you to request the vacation override from your insurance provider. Your insurance coverage for the refill differs depending on the plan you are on.

Of course, if you鈥檙e only going to be away for a couple of days and you happen to have a surplus of medications handy, go ahead and pack those extra doses. Stashing away some extra medication will also save you if you have to extend your trip, says James. Plus, if you happen to drop a pill in a river or between rocks, you鈥檒l be covered.

Ask Your Pharmacist to Fill Your Prescription at a Pharmacy Near Your Destination

An alternative to a vacation override is 鈥渉aving your pharmacy transfer your prescription and history information to a local pharmacy in the area close to where you plan to be, says , a clinical pharmacy manager at the University of Utah Health. It can be an independent pharmacy or pharmacy chain.鈥� If you know that you鈥檙e headed to a relative鈥檚 or friend鈥檚 house, you can also mail the medication there, provided you use a tracked mail service, and the person receiving it knows how to store the medication properly, says James.

Just keep in mind, you cannot ship medication internationally, says , a clinical pharmacist at Gourlay鈥檚 Pharmacy in Alberta, Canada.

It鈥檚 a good idea to have a copy of your recent prescriptions from your physician, up-to-date lab results, and medical history with you when you鈥檙e on a multi-day hike, says Eshenko. It can be printed or stored on an electronic device like a phone. Not only does it aid the process of getting a refill at a pharmacy that is unknown to you, but it also helps in the event that 鈥渁n emergency responder would need to give you some kind of medical attention or rescue you in an emergency situation,鈥� says James. 鈥淓mergency responders are trained to look for that type of information, whether it be in your backpack or on your electronic device,鈥� he says.

4 Ways to Store Medications Safely in Your Backpack

Here are four pharmacist-approved ways to pack your medications safely before your next hike.

1. Protect Pills and Tablets From Moisture and Sunlight

Exposing your medication to moisture (like humid conditions) can cause a decrease in your medication potency or, in some cases, make it toxic, says James.听The same goes for ultraviolet light rays听from the sun.

To protect your medication, if it comes in its manufacturer鈥檚 bottle, simply keep it stored in there, James shares.听But if听it’s been dispensed into plastic prescription vials, transfer the medication to a pill box that is specially designed for outdoor activities, he says.

Look for pill boxes that are waterproof, airtight, made of metal or anodized aluminum, and do not simply snap shut but have the added security of a locking clip鈥攍ike . Unlike plastic prescription vials or generic plastic pillboxes, these specialty pillboxes are unlikely to crack or pop open and spill their contents out.

If you鈥檙e going to be in a humid environment, Eshenko suggests asking the pharmacist if the medication is originally packed with , packets of silica gel that absorb moisture, in its stock bottle. If it is, request for desiccants to be included in your repackaged medication.

Terry also suggests placing your medication bottles or pill boxes inside a . 鈥淚f you drop it accidentally in a lake, it floats so you can easily retrieve it,鈥� she says. Neoprene fabric is also , so you won鈥檛 need to worry about your meds getting soaked. As a bonus tip: it鈥檚 still probably a good idea to toss your pills in a plastic storage bag to be extra safe.

2. Account for Temperature

Temperature is another thing that can . When a medication label directs you to store it at room temperature, James says the ideal storage temperature range is 68 to 77 degrees Fahrenheit, though it can generally be stored between 59 and 84 degrees Fahrenheit.

To shield your medication from heat, always store it deep in the center of your pack, says Terry. In very cold climates, where temperatures plummet below freezing at nightfall, Terry advises keeping your medication in the inside pocket of your jacket. This helps prevent the medication from freezing while also keeping it from being exposed to direct body heat.

If you have a medication that must be refrigerated at 36 to 46 degrees Fahrenheit, the first thing to do is to ask your pharmacist if there鈥檚 any leeway to this rule. 鈥淪ome medications that are normally kept cold can be kept out at room temperature, whether it be for a few hours, a few days, or even up to a month. It鈥檚 important for people to ask their pharmacist so that they’re able to get that information and plan accordingly for their hikes,鈥� says James.

Should the pharmacist advise keeping your medication or injections cold while hiking, you could try this trick that Terry has seen work. Create an “ice well”听in an insulated water bottle to store the medication by freezing water around a cylinder-shaped object and removing it to leave a hole. Alternatively, use an insulated cooler bag with ice blocks or packs.

3. Protect Brittle Medications

Something else to keep in mind when hiking is that your tablets are likely to be bouncing around in their containers. They could break into pieces or disintegrate into powder, especially if they鈥檙e the fragile kind, Terry says.

When the time comes for you to take a dose, there鈥檚 a chance that you won鈥檛 be consuming the full, accurate dosage if you鈥檙e ingesting pill fragments or pills with broken surfaces. Because of this, she suggests packing your medications within gauze pads in the bottles or pill boxes. She prefers gauze pads over cotton balls because you can always repurpose them to treat a cut or graze.

4. Use a Pill Box to Prevent Medication Mix-Ups

According to Terry, it鈥檚 important to 鈥渉ave the description of the tablet or the capsule, of what it looks like, what the medication is, and how you’re supposed to take it, and have that affixed to either the top or the inside cover of the pillbox.鈥�

This way, you can differentiate between your pills and easily remember what your听dosing schedule is.

Want more of听国产吃瓜黑料鈥檚 Health stories?听.

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While hiking a snowy mesa in Flagstaff, Arizona, I noticed my dog was limping. Every few steps, she鈥檇 tuck up her back paw and hop on three legs. We stopped, and I knelt to inspect. There, piercing her paw pad, was a long cactus spine. Gently, I held her paw and pulled it straight out. I hadn鈥檛 noticed the hazard when she wandered off trail because the ground was freshly dusted with snow.

Since then, I鈥檝e been more cautious about the . Hiding among the lush wildflowers and greenery that coax us outside every season are plants, weeds, and organic materials that can be harmful or toxic to our furry companions. I spoke to Dr. Gary Richter, a veterinarian at in Oakland, California, for his expert advice on identifying hazardous vegetation, staying alert to potential dangers, and hiking safely with our dogs.

Firstly, he says, hazardous plants in one hiking area are going to differ from the next. It鈥檚 best to know what grows in your area that could cause harm to your dog before you head out.

鈥淵ou can just look it up online,鈥� he says. 鈥淚t鈥檒l tell you what鈥檚 in the area and show you pictures so you know exactly what to look for.鈥� The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals鈥� and are good points of reference.

In the Bay Area where Richter lives, , , and are a few common plants that are dangerous for dogs. Meanwhile, in the desert, numerous cacti varieties grow abundantly alongside trails, as I discovered.

In other cases, a plant might not be inherently toxic to a dog, but its blooms or droppings could be. The walnuts from black walnut trees are a prime example: Their husks and nuts can grow an invisible potent mold that causes tremors and seizures in canines if ingested. Additionally, mushrooms, while not plants, also have organic compounds that can lead to serious trouble.

In some cases, your dog won鈥檛 react to a plant, but can transfer an allergen to you, like in听 the case of Even after a bath, a dog can carry the plants鈥� oils on their fur, which then transfers to your exposed skin once you pet them, and suddenly you have an itchy rash.

Richter says that knowing your dog鈥檚 temperament will help you assess what kind of monitoring they need on the trail. Some dogs will eat anything in front of them, while others are more discerning. If your dog is a notorious muncher, Richter recommends a basket muzzle, which allows them to drink water and pant but keeps them from ingesting anything that might be dangerous.

鈥淣ow you can let your dog have fun and be a dog and you don鈥檛 have to worry about those sorts of issues,鈥� Richter says.

Keeping your dog on leash and on the trail will also limit their run-ins with nasty plants and dangerous snacks, he adds.

It鈥檚 likely that you know your dog鈥檚 limits better than they do. Richter says, 鈥淭hey act like they鈥檙e fine when they鈥檙e running around excited and then suddenly when they stop, then they hurt.鈥�

If your dog eats something toxic on the trail, they may exhibit vomiting, diarrhea, drooling, increased thirst, loss of appetite, lethargy, confusion, heavy breathing, and pale gums.

Should your dog rub up against something toxic, look out for biting, licking, and guarding the area, such as their paws, bellies, undersides, and tails. Violent sneezing or head banging could indicate a foreign material in their nose. Head shaking and scratching could mean something got into their ears. Squinting might signal foreign matter in their eyes.

If you suspect your dog may have ingested or had contact with a harmful plant, contact your vet.

鈥淎 lot of that is hopefully fairly intuitive and obvious,鈥� he says. 鈥淚t should be. If your dog is doing stuff they don鈥檛 normally do, then pay attention because there鈥檚 probably a reason.鈥�

Aside from your veterinarian, the ASPCA Animal Poison Control Center (APCC) is a resource for any animal poison-related emergency, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. If you think your pet may have ingested a potentially poisonous substance, call (888) 426-4435.

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The Forrest Fenn treasure hunt is back on, and if you want to find the loot, you’re going to have to binge-watch Netflix.

That’s the big takeaway from Netflix鈥檚 three-part docuseries Gold & Greed: The Hunt for Fenn’s Treasure,听which went live on Thursday, March 27. The series chronicles the decade-long hunt to find the chest that Fenn buried in the western United States鈥攁nd the lives of the people who became swept up in the frenzy to find it. Over the three 50-minute episodes, the series dives into the good, the bad, and the ugly moments of the Fenn hunt, including the that occurred during it.

(Spoilers ahead)听But the series’ headline-grabbing moment comes in Gold & Greed’s final few minutes. One of the treasure hunters profiled in the series, a software engineer named Justin Posey, reveals that he purchased some of the 476 items from the Fenn treasure after it went up for auction in 2022. And now, he’s put the goodies鈥攁long with additional gold, rubies, and even a meteorite鈥攊n a chest and buried it somewhere out there. To find the trove, you must decipher clues that are hidden in the three-part series.

“I managed to sneak in some hints during the filming of this series鈥攏o one knows what the hints are besides me, not even the producers,” Posey says in the series’ final scene. “So it’s worth your time to watch and listen closely.”

To be honest, the revelation helps explain some of Posey’s curious quirks throughout the docuseries. He drives a truck that’s wrapped in a topographic map, he sits for interviews in front of computer screens showing mountains, creeks, and lakes, and he lives in a house filled with strange artifacts from his own collection.

“Most of my family and friends would categorize me as eccentric,” Posey says in episode one.

So yeah, anyone who wants to find Fenn’s鈥攅r Posey’s鈥攖reasure is going to have to watch Gold & Greed again and again, until they have committed the entire program to memory.

I suppose that’s one way to market a documentary film.

Is听Gold & Greed Worth Watching?

You bet. Aside from serving as a launchpad for Posey’s new treasure hunt, Gold & Greed does an adequate job of capturing the fervor (or, dare I say, psychosis) that prompted thousands of people to tromp into the wilderness searching for Fenn’s riches. 国产吃瓜黑料 covered the Fenn treasure hunt between 2015 and 2023 with a series of longform features, news stories, analytical stories, and podcast episodes. But for anyone who isn’t familiar with the ordeal, Gold & Greed听serves as an ideal explainer.

The opening episode devotes substantial time to profiling Fenn, the retired pilot and art dealer from Santa Fe, New Mexico, and to understanding why he launched the hunt back in 2010.

Fenn, who died in 2020 at age 90, famously kicked off the hunt with a poem he included in his memoir, titled听Thrill of the Chase.听The poem included extremely vague clues (Begin it where warm waters halt, and take it in the canyon down, not far, but too far to walk, put in below the home of Brown) about the location of the treasure, and these confusing directions were open to extreme interpretation.

Gold & Greed strongest contribution to the trove of Forrest Fenn coverage is showing how people become convinced that their interpretation of the poem is the right one.

One group, a family of self-proclaimed Wyoming rednecks named the Hurst family, believes that clues describe topography in the backwoods near their trailer. Over the course of a decade, the Hursts embark on one Sisyphean mission after another, and at one point spend two years attempting to excavate a massive boulder because they think the treasure chest is underneath it.

Another hunter, a California airline pilot named Lou Boyer, goes on one extreme Internet deep-dive after another until he’s convinced that the treasure is buried on a swath of private property along the Colorado-New Mexico border. Boyer takes his family on various vacations to the area, but is repeatedly thwarted by closed gates, flat tires, and other calamities.

Cynthia Meachum, a retiree, believes the key to finding the treasure is building a personal relationship with Fenn himself, and over the years she soaks up clues from Fenn that convince her it’s buried in Yellowstone National Park.

And then there’s Posey, who approaches the hunt with an analytical fanaticism that is equally impressive and concerning. He builds his own facial recognition software to analyze Fenn’s television interviews, hoping to decipher clues from the 85-year-old man’s mannerisms. He also trains his dog to sniff out buried gold and bronze.

Like Meachum, Posey becomes convinced that the treasure is somewhere in Yellowstone, and during one trip he searches the exact area where the box was eventually discovered in 2020 by a medical student named Jack Steuf.

As I watched听Gold & Greed,听I often thought about my teenaged fascination with playing Pink Floyd’s Dark Side of the Moon while watching听The Wizard of Oz听and watching the music create a perfect soundtrack for the film. It took me years to realize that this dynamic was simply caused by my brain instinctively making connections between the film and the album. Well, that and the pot smoke.

This psychological quirk, likely the remnant of some evolutionary trait, adds fuel to the hunters searching for Fenn’s treasure. They see patterns everywhere, and don’t require a bong rip to drop what they’re doing and hike off into the woods.听But there are also very human dynamics propelling them. 听Posey’s brother, who also hunts the treasure, dies by suicide, and the tragedy convinces Posey that he must locate it. The Hurst family seeks the gold as a way to escape poverty and provide a better life for their disabled sister.

And all of the groups admit that the spirit of outdoor adventure is also driving them to walk into the backcountry searching for gold. Despite the rather unseemly elements of the Fenn hunt鈥攎ore than a few weirdos stalked Fenn and his family, and one even broke into his house鈥�Gold & Greed argues that this spirit of outdoor exploration made the ordeal worth it. Whether or not you believe this conclusion is entirely up to you.

What Gold & Greed鈥檚 Director Has to Say

I recently had the pleasure of interviewing听Gold & Greed’s听director and executive producer, Jared McGilliard, who gave me the backstory on how the film came together.

OUTSIDE: Did you have any misgivings about having the documentary also serve as the launchpad for Justin Posey’s new treasure hunt?

McGilliard: Justin announcing that he’s hid a treasure in this series might be the first page of his new treasure hunt, but in my mind, it’s also the final page of his story searching for Forrest Fenn’s treasure. My focus was telling Justin’s story intimately and truthfully from beginning to end. To not include his new treasure hunt at the end of this series would have been not fully embracing the true arc of his story…and the impact Forrest and his treasure had on Justin’s life.

You chose four different groups of Fenn hunters to profile. What led you to each one?

The common ingredient was that they were all deeply obsessed. They had searched for years, and they all had highs and lows within their experiences. With all of them, they had this first chapter where they go out there, and over time they get deeper into it, and the hunt takes on more meaning鈥�I’m going to solve the poem.听I didn’t want to tell surface-level stories, I wanted to find stories where there were stakes and high ranges of emotion. Tragedy, beauty, adventure. I was also looking for a broad range of socioeconomic points of view, so I could show what finding the treasure really meant to them. And finally I wanted people with different strategies. Since this is Netflix it has to be a fun ride. You want the audience to grasp onto different subjects and root for them.

What did you learn about the human condition from following these groups?

One thing that’s top of mind is that we all create our different versions of truth, and that trumps everything else. People had these ideas about the poem that oh, this can’t be just a coincidence, even though the poem is so vague that it could literally fit anywhere. I could walk out of my own backdoor and find connections in the woods behind my house. The wonderful thing is that people made these amazing memories, but letting go of the thing was nearly impossible.

I have to imagine that other filmmakers were chasing this project. How did you get it?

I would say relationships helped me. I spent a year creating deep relationships with these subjects. So, when the Fenn family got in touch with us, and I flew to Santa Fe, they wanted to know what about the story was important to me, and I could tell them. I can tell a story that is not disposable, and one that the general audience will understand. I have that level of trust and depth with the subjects, and I can handle the story with care. I know that when were pitching our film there were other companies pitching it too. But we had invested in these subjects.

What do you hope the audience learns from the film?

We often just think about the outcome: whether it’s a win or a loss. I got the treasure or I didn’t. But these people have so many wins and losses throughout their journey, and it brings them together. The Hurst family alone鈥攖he wife almost leaves the family because of this. They mortgage their house, and when they get to the end and don’t find the treasure, they say it saved their lives because it gave them purpose. Cynthia Meechum has no regrets. Each one of these people went out there, and none of them came back holding a box of treasure, but their lives were changed for the better. When I think about why Forrest did this, it was so people would dream and have adventures and find a new side of themselves.

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Four years before I was born, in the summer of 1984, my parents hiked to the fire lookout on Yellowstone鈥檚 10,210-foot Mount Washburn and wrote their names in the lime-green federal supply service logbook stored inside. They were newly engaged. She was a 22-year-old nursing student from rural Minnesota who鈥檇 left behind the cornfields for a summer job folding sheets and working reception at the park鈥檚 Canyon Lodge; he was a 24-year-old ski patroller who spent off-seasons pumping gas at the Yellowstone Park Service Station (YPSS) at Canyon Village. Taking advantage of the long daylight of the Wyoming summer, they dashed out of work and hiked the six-mile trail from Chittenden Road, reaching the two-story, panoramic lookout with just enough time to get back to the car before dark.

8/14/84

Amy Peltier, Litchfield MN

Note to Steve Brown鈥擨鈥檒l meet you here Aug 25, 2018

I love you! 鈥擜my

Steve Brown, Sandpoint, Idaho (also Canyon YPSS) Wow what a surprise to meet my fianc茅 on this obscure mountain outpost. Thanks for showing up, Amy. P.S. Try not to eat so many flowers on the way down.

My dad doesn鈥檛 remember the flower joke. My mom doesn鈥檛 remember why she picked 2018. August 25 was the day summer park employees celebrated 鈥淐hristmas,鈥� with extravagant holiday decorations and gifts鈥攁 way to wind down the season together. This explains the many Merry Christmas messages written in the same register ten days later, including another from my mom after she鈥檇 hiked up the mountain again with two of her summer friends.

8/24/84 Never thought I鈥檇 come up here with 2 easterners. Love ya Foz and Sheila. See you up here next year, Christmas Eve.

Amy Peltier

Litchfield, Minnesota

Canyon Employee0

My parents met at the employee bar in the basement of Canyon Lodge. She was with friends, and he bought her a beer. It was only a matter of weeks before my dad called his sister to tell her he鈥檇 met the woman he was going to marry. His grandmother helped him buy a ring.

Over the two summers they worked in the park, my parents went adventuring. They drove my dad鈥檚 1970 green Chevy truck down a nearly impassable road deep into the Beartooths and hiked to Grasshopper Glacier鈥攏amed for the thousands of extinct insects found frozen in its ice. They paddled a Huck Finn鈥搒tyle log raft around an alpine lake in the Wind River Range. Sometimes they just walked the loop of boardwalks around the park鈥檚 Norris Geyser basin after work, or along the rim of the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone River to the Artist Point overlook. After my mom went back to school in Minnesota, they wrote hundreds of letters. When she graduated, my dad took the bus out to marry her.

I know what they wrote on Washburn because after a lightning strike burned one of Yellowstone鈥檚 historic fire lookouts to the ground, my mom texted our family鈥檚 group thread, frantic that the summit books might have burned, too. And so I went to look for them. I started thinking about how my family, and so many like ours, had left little fragments of themselves in notebooks and ammo cans on top of mountains. The spontaneous messages drafted in a surge of summit exhilaration, or love or loneliness, or in memory of someone who wasn鈥檛 there. Or simply in wonder at the supplicatory beauty of this blue-green earth.

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