The real stories behind the scenery of America's national parks For twelve years, Andrea Lankford lived in the biggest, most impressive national parks in the world, working a job she loved. She chaperoned baby sea turtles on their journey to sea. She pursued bad guys on her galloping patrol horse. She jumped into rescue helicopters bound for the heart of the Grand Canyon. She won arguments with bears. She slept with a few too many rattlesnakes. Hell yeah, it was the best job in the world Fortunately, Andrea survived it. In this graphic and yet surprisingly funny account of her and others' extraordinary careers, Lankford unveils a world in which park rangers struggle to maintain their idealism in the face of death, disillusionment, and the loss of a comrade killed while holding that thin green line between protecting the park from the people, the people from the park, and the people from each other. Ranger Confidential is the story behind the scenery of the nation's crown jewels--Yosemite, Grand Canyon, Yellowstone, Great Smokies, Denali. In these iconic landscapes, where nature and humanity constantly collide, scenery can be as cruel as it is redemptive.

Tales behind the trails of America's national parks, thoroughly investigated and combining the popularity of ghost stories with the traditional aspects of a hiking guide. Readers will meet the chupacabra that roams the swamps inside Big Thicket National Preserve, Death Valley's moving rock and the disembodied legs that run around the Mammoth Cave Visitor Centre. A fright factor rating is listed for each hike, along with information on trailhead access, maps and difficulty levels.