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PHOTOS: Touring The National Parks ... All 59 Of Them

Nabors and Kemp rafted the Colorado River to check the Grand Canyon — park #22 — off their list. Here, Darius Nabors tries out a mid-river headstand.
Eva Cappozola Courtesy Darius Nabors
Nabors and Kemp rafted the Colorado River to check the Grand Canyon — park #22 — off their list. Here, Darius Nabors tries out a mid-river headstand.

Trevor Kemp at Crater Lake, park #19.
Courtesy Darius Nabors
Trevor Kemp at Crater Lake, park #19.

Olympic National Park in Washington state was park #16.
Courtesy Trevor Kemp
Olympic National Park in Washington state was park #16.

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Isle Royale National Park, in Michigan, was an early stop: Park #2.
Courtesy Trevor Kemp
Isle Royale National Park, in Michigan, was an early stop: Park #2.

Trevor Kemp in Katmai National Park (park #8 for the duo).
Courtesy of Darius Nabors
Trevor Kemp in Katmai National Park (park #8 for the duo).

Another view of Olympic.
Courtesy Trevor Kemp
Another view of Olympic.

Olympic National Park was park #16 for Kemp and Nabors.
Courtesy Trevor Kemp
Olympic National Park was park #16 for Kemp and Nabors.

Darius Nabors celebrates during a visit to Yosemite (park #21).
Courtesy Darius Nabors
Darius Nabors celebrates during a visit to Yosemite (park #21).

This summer, the National Park Service turns 100. It's safe to say that lots of Americans will be celebrating by visiting a national park.

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But two friends — Darius Nabors and Trevor Kemp — are marking the occasion by visiting all of them.

That's 59 parks, from Joshua Tree to Shenandoah, and from remote Alaskan wilderness to Virgin Island beaches. And Nabors and Kemp are crossing them off the list in 59 weeks.

They quit their jobs to make the journey, which is partially crowd-funded, and are documenting the process on their website, 59in59.com.

Justin Regan, of member station KNAU in Arizona, caught up with the two by telephone and asked them ... what is it about the national parks?

"I think the National Parks are just a time capsule in a way that you can hand down to your children and your grandchildren," Kemp said. "You'll be able to say 'this is exactly the same way as I saw it' — as long as we can protect it and keep it in that pristine condition."

You can hear the full interview over at KNAU, and follow their trip on their blog.

Copyright 2016 NPR. To see more, visit http://www.npr.org/.