A Climactic Opening – The New York Times

Today is something of a curtain raiser for the U.S. National Parks system, ushering in its busiest season.

Last year, nearly 312 million people visited the parks, hiking across the Grand Canyon, posting Instagram stories from Joshua Tree and waiting for Old Faithful by Yellowstone’s rainbow pools. (Reminder: Don’t touch the bison calves!) On Memorial Day last year, so many people headed to the sites that many of their parking lots were full by midmorning.

At Bryce Canyon National Park in…