An astronaut aboard the space shuttle Endeavour is carrying with him a Zion National Park commemorative coin, an expression, perhaps, that the park's red-rock landscape is other worldly.

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Anyone who has ever been part of a school field trip knows that such events can be a fun…or frantic experience. The folks at Gettysburg National Military Park have prepared a kit to help anyone planning such expeditions to that park to have the "Best Field Trip Ever!"

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Not all proposed wilderness areas are always pristine. Some have waning vestiges of an early day. In Dinosaur National Monument, for instance, there long have been some falling down structures in an area along the Green River that has been recommended for wilderness designation. It took a while, but crews from the monument were able to remove all the facilities from the setting.

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In one of the "Iron man," or perhaps "Iron dog," events of sled-dog racing, the 1,000-mile Yukon Quest race is under way, with 24 teams mushing from Fairbanks, Alaska, to Whitehorse in the Canadian Yukon. The trail follows historic Gold Rush and Mail Delivery routes from the turn of the 20th Century, and passes through part of Yukon-Charley Rivers National Preserve.

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Paul Davis sent me this photo proving that you don’t have to drive way out in the country to see Half Dome from the Central Valley, in fact, he took this shot at Highway 99 and Fulkerth Road in Turlock, California. If you click the photo you’ll see a larger (not as large as the one Paul sent me though) image.

Awesome stuff, Paul. Thanks for sending that in. I’ll be posting the other photos you sent as upcoming Photo of the Day. They’re absolutely beautiful. The rest of you will just have to wait to see the other photos Paul sent me. Stick around, you’ll love’em.

We haven’t done a Photo of the Day in a while so what better way to return from hiatus than with this awesome shot from Chuck Cagara of MagicalLightPhotography.com.

Chuck said: I was lucky to be in the park from Jan. 18 – Jan. 24th. We tell friends, “We had falling trees, power outages, limited cell/tv/internet access, food running low and inconveniences of every description. Well, it could have been worse – we could have been at home instead!”

The “normal” view from this position at Tunnel View usually includes El Capitan on the left, making for a fairly static depiction. Here I wanted to emphasize the sweeping grandeur of the place by aiming for a more dynamic, sweeping flow of the scene.

Thanks for sending in your photo and story Chuck. To see more of Chuck’s great photos check out MagicalLightPhotography.com

Continuing our Share Your Yosemite series, Kevin sent us this email of his yosemite.

My first trip to Yosemite was when I was in my early teens with a group of 4-5 families from our neighborhood. I grew up at the beach in Southern California, so my dad’s attitude tended to be why vacation when you live in paradise. So, my brother and I jumped at the chance when one of our neighbors invited us to go to Yosemite with them. We made the trip for five years in a row. My fondest memory is just being in a great mood the entire week long vacation. We hiked the Mist Trail, Half Dome, around Mirror Lake, drove to Tuolumne Meadows and Glacier point, sat on lawn chairs in the Merced River and just explored. A group of ten beach bums on the loose. It was a great time and a great memory.

This April, my 82 year old Dad will be visiting from Austria where he now lives. On his list to do while in town – a hike in Yosemite. I can’t wait…

Thanks for sending in your story, Kevin. If you’d like to share your Yosemite send us an email. You can send your Yosemite stories and photos to share@yosemiteblog.com.

© Lauren Himiak

Looking for a road trip? Shenandoah National Park is offering a package for bikers looking to take in the sights of Skyline Drive and relax at Shenandoah's Skyland Resort or Big Meadows Lodge.

The motorcycle-themed "Ride and Relax" package includes a one night stay at Skyland Resort or Big Meadows Lodge, warm breakfast for two, and two honorary "I Drove Skyline Drive" patches. Prices start at $131 for double occupancy when booked Sunday through Thursday and $159 on weekends. The package is valid through November 2010 and can be booked online or by calling 866-773-5024. Promo code: BIKERPCK.

Biker's Road Trip originally appeared on About.com National & State Parks on Monday, February 8th, 2010 at 22:12:19.

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