After decades of roaming the West, I took the plunge last summer: I bought a camper. There have been countless times when I’ve arrived at my camp to be faced with putting up my tent in the pouring rain, howling wind, or extreme cold. More than a few times I ended up sleeping in the back of a car not nearly meant for that. Once in Arches National Park, around New Years, we had set up the tent, eaten dinner, read for an hour and it was still only 7 p.m. That meant we would be in our sleeping bags at least for the next 12 hours in the biting cold. You can only sleep so long, after all.

Spring’s rains portend summer weather. Long, comfortable days in the sun are upon us. But what are your plans; where in the National Park System will you go? Will you go in search of paleontological relics or active volcanoes; long trails or quiet lakes? Or, will you just sit on the beach and fly a kite? The park system can handle every dream, and more, as we point out.

What do search-and-rescue crews do when they need a meal or shut-eye? Thanks to funding from Washington’s National Park Fund, a newly refurbished cabin is on the way.

In 2017, the Friends of Saguaro National Park Board of Directors approved funding for the first-ever inventory of important natural and cultural resources in the high-elevation (7,000’-8,700’) wilderness area of the Rincon Mountains. The survey crew of park technicians and NextGen Rangers were stationed at Manning Camp and completed this vital survey of 1,500 acres, focusing on five resources; water, invasive plants, forest health, cultural and wilderness.