Joshua Tree

Crowds, grid locked traffic, garbage cans overflowing, cramped, cornered-in camp sites miles from nature you've come to explore... If just reading this makes you queasy then you might try off-season camping. Properly prepared, the off season camper can often find the break from civilization so elusive during the high season. At destinations like Joshua Tree National Park, in the Mojave Desert, not only is this the entire park seemingly at your personal disposal, but the mild winter/spring temperatures actually make visiting off-season a must, when life has yet to feel the punishment of the summer sun. Plus, you can get some great rock climbing in!

Yosemite Bears

"Hey Boo Boo....let's go find some more pickanick baskets!" - Yogi Bear. We have always had a special fascination with bears, from Yogi's antics in Jellystone, Paddington in his MacIntosh jacket, to Winnie-the-Pooh, and his comicly tragic quest for honey. But in the real world, what happens when man and bear increasingly share the same space in the wilderness? Are we informed on how our presence in places like Yosemite National Park impacts the bear and his habitat?

David Bolling looks at a predicament facing National Parks and wilderness campers alike.