Brittany Shirley

My favorite National Park is Yosemite. I would go back in a heartbeat to experience even more than I did the first time. As for new parks, I’d love to visit North Cascades National Park! Backpacking in this underrated park is a big bucket list item. My favorite part of backpacking is the mental and physical challenge of new routes and escaping to areas with minimal impact from people.

My favorite experience was hiking from Mono Meadow to Half Dome with my dad in 2023. I promised him years ago that we would make it up Half Dome together and when I won the lottery I was so excited to make that dream a reality for him. It was a challenging and extremely rewarding 5 days in the backcountry of Yosemite. Reaching the top of Half Dome and turning around to high five my dad was a rush that I strive to have again. The pizza and beer in the Valley afterwards was an extra reward!

I would definitely get a satellite communicator/messenger for more safety on my trips. I’d also plan a long road trip to all the National Parks in Washington, Oregon and Northern California. I want to keep checking parks off my list! The $10,000 would be more than enough to explore those places, so I’d use the rest to plan shorter trips to other National Parks with my dad. He’s my adventure buddy!