Two recent bear incidents in national parks in Alaska should send a message to all visitors that they have to be particularly vigilant when traveling in bear country.

It's a rare occasion when a lodge is built somewhere in the National Park System. As a result, even though the John Muir Lodge in Kings Canyon National Park was built in the late 1990s, it's still considered one of the newer lodges in the park system. That said, don't expect a four-star accommodation.

Talk regional cuisines and when the region that pops up is the Southwest you know the talk is going to get spicy: Chipotle peppers with their rich, smoky flavor, habaneros with their bite, and potentially potent chile rellenos. But Southwestern cuisine is more diverse than its bite might indicate. You can discover that during a meal in the Metate Room at Mesa Verde National Park, where the menu is built around bison, elk, turkey and quail, as well as squash, black beans, and tortillas.

Wyoming's Snake River carves both lazy oxbows and braided channels with swift currents through Grand Teton National Park. It's a great float, but as a 71-year-old Indiana woman discovered the hard way, you have to make sure you hit your takeout point before the current pushes you downstream. She didn't and ended up spending a cool night on a sandbar in the river.