I really would like to visit there some time, and definitely would have to go in the winter. I’ve seen such beautiful photographs from the park. Joshua Tree is also calling me.
I have only driven through the Death Valley area, and it was in the summer. It made me very nervous; it was back in the early 90s and in some stretches it felt like if you broke down it could be a long time in the hot sun before you’d get help. Even with jugs of water in the vehicle I felt very vulnerable.
I think it’s probably quite different these days, both in terms of traffic and cell phones and GPS devices (which honestly I think everyone should carry everywhere in the backcountry) but I’m biased because of that memory, and also I’m from a temperate rainforest. I shrivel up like a banana slug when I leave my moist environment for too long.
We once read the book about deaths in Yellowstone NP. They were almost all from walking off trail and falling into a hidden hot spring and boiling to death.
We once got stuck in a traffic jam there (Hayden Valley) and after an hour or so drove by a car that had flipped over and caught fire.
And we’ve heard of deaths from touching/approaching wildlife (usually bison).
There are lots of canyons (including a Grand Canyon of Yellowstone, with a big waterfall) and a 10,000+ foot mountain with roads if you’re looking for danger potential.
We think there are micro earthquakes that register on seismographs but aren’t generally noticeable to people.
We came across a Grizzly Bear once while we were on a hike there and once a Black Bear. They didn’t mind us, and we kept moving. We had bear spray.
It is not against the forum guidelines to acknowledge current events and how they might affect visitors to an area.
Whether your perspective agrees with mftsap’s post is what could be considered political and if you read it as political than that says more about you than him.
Human rights should not be a political issue.
No different than someone wanting to visit Ethiopia to see some of the cool endemics there but realizing that now is not the best time due to an ongoing civil war.
So if you agree with his post you’re fine and dandy and non-political, but if you disagree you’re being political?
I don’t necessarily have a problem with mftsap expressing his opinion on that subject (although I happen to disagree with it for the most part), as it is at least somewhat relevant to the discussion. But there was a definite political undertone there, and I don’t think it’s fair to pull the “you’re the problem” card on people who are uncomfortable with that
This thread seems to have reached a good conclusion about the OP’s original question, and the discussion has gone off topic to political topics, so I’ve closed.