As our kayaks bob on the currents of Fingers Bay, a multi-fingered bight in Glacier Bay, we listen for the tell-tale streaming whoosh of a humpback whale's spout. We had seen the wispy spray moments earlier as we neared the mouth of the small bay and watched as the whale circled, its occasional spouting marking its progress.

Smoky conditions in Glacier National Park in northern Montana have prompted the concessionaire to close the Lake McDonald Lodge a month early due to air quality concerns.

With the unofficial end to the summer approaching this weekend, Sequoia and Kings Canyon national parks officials are advising that visitation this Labor Day weekend likely will be high.

National Park Service researchers have added two mountain lion kittens to a long-running study of the species in and around the Santa Monica Mountains. The siblings, a female and male named P-59 and P-60, were found by National Park Service and California Department of Fish and Wildlife biologists earlier this month in the central portion of the range.