With snowstorms beginning to rake the Rockies, the rangers at Rocky Mountain National Park are ready to lead you on a snowshoe jaunt in the park.

The John Muir tree is in serious trouble. The giant sequoia towers 80 feet over the landscape, but its vibe is scrawny — a scarred trunk beneath a skimpy top half, where sparse branches wear scraggly foliage. Gone is the bushy canopy seen in its historic photos. Needles are entirely brown, not a good look for an evergreen’s mantle.

Should international visitors be charged more than U.S. residents to enter the National Park System?

On a shoulder season road trip through the Kootenay Rockies region of British Columbia, I whirled through Glacier National Park and Yoho National Park in that awkward down time between fall and winter. But while there was just enough snow to make hiking treacherous, and not enough snow to do winter sports or take comfort in the knowledge that the grizzlies were hibernating, I was still able to explore with my camera in hand.