Conor Knighton

Loved this book. Definitely on my top non-fiction of all time list. In the aftermath of a heartbreak, CBS correspondent Conor Knighton has the crazy idea that, just maybe, what he wants to do next is visit every national park within a year. What follows is over 50 episodes that are by turns inspiring, educational, funny, sobering, healing, and eye-opening.

I actually loved that this wasn't a deep dive into every park, it was more of a fly-over but with moments of insight and carefully selected (but not overwhelming) details. Honestly, this makes it a very appealing read for anyone who struggles with distraction while reading. Before one's attention has time to wander, we're on to the next park.

He organizes his narratives by themes, such as Mystery, Sound, Borders, Home, and Sunset. Tying seemingly unrelated parks together this way made for fascinating reading. For instance, who would ever talk about Cuyahoga Valley, just outside Cleveland, in the same breath as Gates of the Arctic? And yet it works.

And so many of the parks were ones I really had no reference point for. So it was the best kind of "I'm really learning something" reading experience, kind of like when you're a little kid learning about the seven wonders of the world for the first time. It recaptures that feeling.

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A few quotes:
Canyonlands is a name that seems more suited to a video game than to a national park, and its four separate districts sound like realms to be conquered: Island in the Sky, The Needles, Rivers, The Maze. I assumed that if you somehow made it through the mysterious challenges of all four, an old knight would appear to offer you a chance to drink from the Holy Grail.
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I definitely missed companionship, and I knew I wanted it again one day, but I wasn’t in a rush.
“It just doesn’t feel right,” I said. “I don’t know how to describe it. I guess it’s kind of like the subtle difference between a state park and a national park. State parks are great, right? But once you know places like Yosemite are out there, then it’s hard not to want something that feels like that. I want a relationship that feels like a national park.”
Efrain was quiet for a moment.
“Please tell me you’ve never said that out loud before,” he said. “That is the nerdiest damn thing I’ve ever heard. I think you’ve been spending too much time in the woods, dude.”
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I do not think it is a coincidence that the two men responsible for two of our earliest and most stunning national parks both came from a state renowned for its scenic sameness...
As I traveled from park to park, I noticed that, more times than not, the urge to protect the land from future development has come from an outsider. Mills’s idol John Muir grew up in Scotland, where shipbuilding and sheep farming had left the landscape largely treeless. Imagine, then, how impressive the redwoods must have been for a guy who had barely seen a mighty oak. The highest mountain in all of Scotland is just half the height of Half Dome. Yosemite shocked Muir.
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“I tell you what,” one of them said. “I’m glad I haven’t thought about politics for a week. Who even knows what crazy crap is happening now. It’s pretty great being cut off from the outside world.”
I looked out at the lake, its clear water softly splashing against the dock. To our left, thousands and thousands of thick trees hugged the coast, a spectacular green wall of wilderness marking the edge of the island.
“I think we’re in the outside world,” I said. “Everyone else is just cut off from this.”
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Amazing, right?

Oh...erm... if you're squeamish, maybe skip the part about the bears.

But I recommend this book to everyone.… (mais)