The five deadliest national parks in the U.S. are: number five, Sequoia and Kings Canyon (4.4 deaths per million visitors); number four, Redwood (4.7); three, Big Bend (5.8); two, Virgin Islands (6.0); and one, Denali (9.8). CNN says Virunga National Park, in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, is the world’s most dangerous, as rangers often engage in firefights with poachers hunting mountain gorillas and elephants.
Krista Diamond is a freelance writer and desert aficionado living in Nevada. Her work has been featured in the New York Times, Eater, and Thrillist, among other places. This story first appeared on Longreads. @kristadiamond, kristamariediamond.com
The Grand Canyon is a good place to find awe, and new research shows it might be a fundamental human emotion—and one that’s exceptionally good for us. Awe slows your heart rate, improves your gut health, and helps you breathe deeper. “Gravitating toward the unexpected can set us up to experience awe,” says one Berkeley psychologist. Awe. Some.
Nick Paumgarten is a staff writer at The New Yorker. @nickpaumgarten
Doris Mitsch is a Bay Area-based photographer. Her work has appeared in Tricycle and Creative Quarterly, among other outlets. @dorismitsch, dorismitsch.com
Devastating fire seasons in 2020 and 2021 killed between thirteen and nineteen percent of giant sequoias in the Sierra. More are expected to die in the next few years from damage suffered in the fires. Yet the National Park Service estimates as many as sixty thousand giant sequoias remain in the Sierra, with countless saplings pushing their way skyward throughout the mountain range. More at nps.gov/seki
A writer, photographer, and occasional whitewater guide, Tyler Williams lives in Flagstaff, Arizona. His books include Paddling Arizona and Whitewater Classics. funhogpress.com/staff/tyler
Muñoz was twenty years old in 1957 when he was among the first known surfers to ride big winter surf at Oahu’s Waimea. Nobody knew if waves that big were survivable at the time. “He was in love with the mad ecstasy of the whole idea,” said a fellow surfer. “I was young and brave,” said Muñoz. “I was just in another state of mind that day at Waimea.” Muñoz was inducted into the Surfing Hall of Fame in 2006. His memoir, No Bad Waves, was published in 2011.
Craig Childs, author and desert wanderer, is a contributing editor to Adventure Journal. His most recent book is Tracing Time: Seasons of Rock Art on the Colorado Plateau. houseofrain.com
There are many ways to carry a bike up a steep hill. There’s the classic “push,” with one hand on the saddle, another on the bars, facing downward and cursing. Then the “over one shoulder” carry, like a kid carrying a backpack that’s too heavy, freeing up a hand for shaking at the hill in anger. Then the macho “over both shoulders” carry, bike perched across the shoulder blades like a squat bar, face skyward, begging for mercy.
Steve “Doom” Fassbinder is a former mountain bike racer based in Colorado who guides bikepacking trips pretty much everywhere. @republicofdoom, fourcornersguides.com
Tom Hornbein’s book Everest: The West Ridge was named by the American Alpine Club as one of the best climbing books ever written. It was republished by Mountaineers Books as a special fiftieth-anniversary edition in 2013. Willi Unsoeld’s wife Jolene published a memoir in 2016, Wild Adventures We Have Known: My Life With Willi Unsoeld (Top of the World Books).
Kelly Cordes is a climber and writer living in Colorado. His last feature in Adventure Journal was “The Taliban’s Avalanche Forecaster” in AJ26. kellycordes.com, @kcordes
Now you’re wondering: How often do cyclists run into bears? Deer? Moose? Unfortunately, those stats aren’t cataloged. But we can tell you, according to Cycling UK, the first thing to do if you hit an animal is to check yourself for injuries, then check the animal, so long as it won’t kill you if you try. They advise against “corralling a cow,” so safe to say, if you hit a bear, leave it be. Progressive Insurance, by the way, points out your bike will be covered by a homeowner’s or renter’s policy. So there’s that.
Brandon Bruce is a cyclist based in Knoxville, Tennessee. brandonbruce.com
Although fascinated by caves and all their variations, Robbie Shone is compelled to seek the little known and lesser traveled. Checking off the deepest and longest caves just to take pictures is nowhere near as appealing as venturing into the blank spots on the map. Instead, he’s drawn to caves where “there’s an element of mystery and humans might never go into them because they’re so remote.”
Shone’s work has appeared in National Geographic and in films including IMAX: Ancient Caves and BBC Earth—The Power of the Planet. @shonephoto, shonephotography.com
Obstruction Island was named by Charles Wilkes of the United States Exploring Expedition in the 1840s, when he thought the island was in the way of big ships trying to get to and from Orcas Island. Today, the island is a kayaker’s paradise, where seabirds, seals, and occasionally, yes, orcas, are easily visible. More at obstructionisland.org
Joshua Yap created the menus at two of our favorite California restaurants. Veg’d, in Newport Beach, is fast vegan—the breakfast burrito is the best we’ve ever had, full stop. getvegd.com. In San Francisco, BAIA offers Italian-inspired comfort food, all plant-based and all amazing. baiasf.com
You might have noticed the big beautiful pan chef Yap used when preparing the stir fry. That’s a Lodge carbon steel pan, which we use exclusively when camping (as opposed to cast iron). You can find our review of that pan and other camp goodies on our YouTube channel, youtube.com/@adventure-journal.
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