With 800 miles of trails in Great Smoky Mountains National Park, just keeping up with normal wear and tear in the heavily visited park is a challenge for park employees and volunteers. That job became much more difficult when an F4 tornado ripped a 17-mile-long swath through the park and adjacent areas back in 2011, toppling thousands of trees.

Of course I wanted to go to the Sun in Glacier National Park - the very idea of capturing everything between earth and sky, with my camera and lens, filled me with the same visions that I experienced as a child, when walking into a candy store to choose just one piece of chocolate. I wanted them all.

If you were a contestant on one of several TV shows that test your knowledge of famous historical events, how would you fare if the question involved the driving of the "golden spike" to mark the completion of the transcontinental railroad? If you happened to miss a key fact or two, you'd be in good company, and the staff at Golden Spike National Historic Site has to contend with some long-established traditions that don't quite "hit the nail on the head."

As shoulder seasons in Yosemite National Park continue to grow, does the National Park Service have a good plan for preserving the Merced River as it flows through the park's iconic valley?