Now that I see it all in front of me...THIS IS INSANE. There is something to be said about the scale of this quest and also of the importance of being constantly aware that the destinations are a distant second to the journey and adventure experienced through them. The Walkabout will be a previously untapped experience that will carve through the vast and ever-changing landscape of this country, allowing me the luxury and hardship of living and traversing throughout every climate and terrain imaginable.
Through the old sage forests of the Shenandoah, the tropical waters of Biscayne, the meandering river canyons of Big bend, the swampy marshes of the Everglades, the dastardliness (just wanted to say that) of the Badlands, the history within Mesa Verde, the crafted monumental leftovers of Arches, the unearthly depths of the Grand Canyon, the barrenness of Death Valley, the living giants of the Redwoods, the majesty and pioneering significance of Yosemite, the towering peaks of Denali and Ranier, the iceways of Kenai Fjords, the scattered islands of Voyageurs, and the loneliness of the Gates of the Arctic.
The Kodiak's all-terrain, "Trail Rated" gusto will be put to the test during every one of the bazillion miles ahead of it's grill.
HARK! Feast your eyes on the path that lay ahead! Although being more precisely calculated for my own planning purposes, below is only a rudimentary outline of the expected seasons I anticipate being in as I arrive in each National Park. Keep in mind, that this is a flexible plan and that huge degrees of travel improvisation are available, which affords me the opportunity to increase or decrease the amount of time spent at each park. The tentative dates were loosely based on certain criteria:
1) To be in Alaska during prime Aurora season (Check)
2) To be near Ontario, Canada during early July for a family reunion (Check)
3) To depart on The Walkabout on a date of prior significance (Check)
When I pushed the ETD back towards my birthday and reversed the course's original bearings, everything fell perfectly into place. I want to assure everyone that spontaneity is in no way being spared during this journey. However, in a undertaking of this magnitude, neglecting to plan ahead certain things will ultimately lead to missed opportunities and potentially irreversible mistakes...trivial and severe.
One last thing, with tentative dates conceived, please look forward to a future post regarding a breakdown of the estimated expenses ("lodging," gas, food, unexpected/replacement gear, additional transportation costs, etc) for this trip...again here is where planning ahead is crucially important. Better to find out now and save for what a ferry ride to Alaska will cost than be surprised with the bill a whole country away from home and no job.
Man I really tend to ramble. Especially since all I really wanted to do was show the seasonal breakdown of where I will be...when. Anywhoo....
LET THE GREAT EXPERIMENT BEGIN!
-Tobias Funke, '03
SUMMER
Shenandoah
Mammoth Cave
Great Smoky Mountains
Congaree
Biscayne
Everglade
Dry Tortugas
Hot Spring
Isle Royale
Cuyahoga Valley
Acadia
FALL
Big Bend
Guadalupe Mountain
Carlsbad Caverns
Saguaro
Petrified Forest
Mesa Verde
Great Sand Dunes
Black Canyon of the Gunnison
Rocky Mountain
Arches
Canyonlands
Capitol Reef
Great Basin
WINTER
Zion
Bryce Canyon
Grand Canyon
Joshua Tree
Channel Islands
Death Valley
Sequoia
Kings Canyon
Yosemite
Lassen Volcanic
Redwood
Crater Lake
Mount Ranier
Olympic
Glacier Bay
SPRING
Wrangell-St. Elias
Denali
Gates of the Arctic
Kobuk Valley
Lake Clark
Katmai
Kenai Fjords
North Cascades
Glacier
Yellowstone
Grand Teton
Wind Cave
Badlands
Theodore Roosevelt
Voyageurs
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