On Wednesday, November 2, the National Park Service will hold the first of four meetings on the Blue Ridge Parkway’s first-ever general management plan (GMP) in Asheville, North Carolina. This important document, the first in its 75 year history, will guide resource management at the park for the next twenty years. When the Blue Ridge Parkway was established in 1935, it...
Learn MoreA group of volunteers has blazed the way for hikers and bikers to enjoy the burst of autumn colors in the Iller Creek Conservation Area. The Washington Trails Association has worked for three years with other local groups to maintain, rebuild and reroute trails in the popular Valley natural area secured by the Spokane County Conservation Futures Program. A major effort...
Learn MoreOver at Two Heel Drive, Tom Mangan has chose the five finalists for his Extreme Hiking Tale Contest. Tom says extreme hiking stories inevitably boil down to: at which point did you decide to turn back? At the first sign of trouble — when it made sense — or after a string of mishaps left you scared, cold, wounded or in some other condition of extremity? There’s a poll box...
Learn MoreEnvironmentalists suggest a massive tree that fell over at California’s Sequoia National Forest should be left where it is. The U.S. Forest Service is trying to decide what to do with the centuries-old sequoia that keeled over about a month ago along the forest’s Trail of 100 Giants. While the rangers mull over their options, the executive director of Sequoia...
Learn MoreWater consumption while hiking is often stressed but food is not mentioned nearly as often. The National Park Service advises hikers to eat and drink more than normal when hiking. This includes eating before, during and after a hike. Just as hikers are supposed to drink before they are thirsty, they should also eat before they are hungry. The National Park Service says...
Learn MoreThe Great Eastern Trail Association, working with American Hiking Society and local trail partners are creating America’s newest long distance hiking trail. This path is 1800 miles long and crosses nine states. The Great Eastern Trail (GET) provides a premier hiking experience on a series of existing trails that are being linked to each other into a long-distance...
Learn MoreImagine our National Parks full of kids connected, engaged and participating in a variety of activities that contribute to and encourage overall health… their health and the health of our world. A team effort of the Blue Ridge Parkway, the Blue Ridge Parkway Foundation and the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Foundation of North Carolina, the Kids in Parks program offers...
Learn MoreGreat Smoky Mountains National Park announced the approval of a Finding of No Significant Impact (FONSI) of the Environmental Assessment (EA) on a proposed plan for managing a permanent herd of elk in the Park. The approved plan, signed on October 20, 2011, culminates a 10-year effort to reestablish elk to their native range. In June 2010, the Park published the EA...
Learn MoreTWENTY feet away from the dogs and children playing on the grass, deep inside a Central Park thicket, the city almost disappears. A street lamp shines through the leafy canopy, and runners and cyclists race past, oblivious to a lean man huddled beneath the trees holding fire in his hands — a fire he created using a wooden bow drill. Since childhood the man has been...
Learn MoreHiking in Israel is a whole different experience. The key to hiking in Israel is by knowing it’s in-depth history. The best place to start before you set out on a hike in any part of Israel is in the pages of the Bible. Whether you are a Jew or Christian, religious or atheist just does not matter, as the key is in the stories. The authors of the Bible were master story...
Learn MoreThe 24-hour BioBlitz in Arizona’s Saguaro National Park added more than 400 species to park lists, including 190 species of invertebrates and 205 species of fungi previously unknown to the park, the National Geographic Society said in a news announcement. At least one species of bryophyte is new to the park and potentially new to science, Geographic added in a release....
Learn MoreGeneral Mills brand Nature Valley has embarked on an ambitious initiative called Trail View to bring the parks experience to the indoors and outdoors-oriented alike. “Nature is something you have to get close to in order to be moved by it,” says Scott Baldwin, Senior Marketing Manager at Nature Valley. “It’s easy to just show a picture of nature, but people want to have...
Learn MoreThe Town of Purcellville Parks and Recreation Department is pleased to announce the opening of a new hiking trail through the Suzanne Kane Nature Preserve connecting 21st Street and Hatcher Avenue. The trail will be dedicated with a ribbon cutting on Sunday, October 30, 2011 at 1:30pm at the Hatcher Avenue trail entrance. The trail was envisioned by the Purcellville...
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Chimney Rock State Park is one of the newest in North Carolina. The state acquired the land from private ownership in 2005, and the Carolina Mountain Land Conservancy continues to obtain additional parcels in the Hickory Nut Gorge to eventually expand the state park. The Rumbling Bald section of the park is separate from the more famous namesake, Chimney Rock. Because...
Learn MoreZoar Valley in the Southern Tier of the Adirondacks is a study in contrasts. Like a pendulum swinging wildly between breathtaking beauty and life threatening danger, Zoar can be a perfect example of how a peaceful day in nature can turn into a traumatic, sometimes fatal experience. The valley is incredibly beautiful, with Cattaraugus Creek winding through 400 foot...
Learn MoreNot rain, nor cold, nor wind, nor injuries will keep the Fortunate Sons from attaining their goal. A group of 18 Marines are three weeks into a 42-week hike that will take them from Clingman’s Dome in the Great Smoky Mountains to Jockey’s Ridge State Park in the Outer Banks along the Mountains to Sea Trail to benefit the Semper Fi Fund. These Marines are participating as...
Learn MoreThere has been a lot of work on hiking and biking trails adjacent to the 10,600-acre Summit Bechtel Family National Scout Reserve in West Virginia this year. The Summit will be home to the national Scout jamboree starting in 2013 and the 2019 World Scout Jamboree. It also will become the Boy Scouts’ fourth high-adventure base — and, likely, its most-visited, given its...
Learn MoreA few years ago, the University of Tennessee and the U.S. Forest Service surveyed public opinion about recreational uses of the Cherokee National Forest. Their research found the most popular recreational uses of the forest are driving for pleasure, viewing and photographing wildlife, fish or scenery, picnicking, day hiking and visiting primitive areas. Strong support...
Learn MoreAugie Buchheit travels light. In fact, he carries everything he needs to survive in his 22-pound backpack. As a “ridgerunner” employed by the Potomac Appalachian Trail Club, he is in charge of hiking 112 miles of trail through Shenandoah National Park from May to September. While the park’s traditional rangers serve as law enforcement or nature “interpreters,” Augie...
Learn MoreThe Triple Crown. Few outside of serious hikers have ever heard of it. Fewer still have ever done it. The Triple Crown consists of the three major long-distance hiking trails in the United States: the 2,100-mile Appalachian Trail, the 3,100-mile Continental Divide Trail and the 2,600-mile Pacific Crest Trail. Thirty-one-year-old Sage Mirrim Clegg-Haman didn’t start...
Learn MoreSo many granola bars, so little time. With all these oat-enriched snacks on the market, what makes for a good granola bar for spending a day hiking the trails – with backpack on back? Sure, we want our granola bar to pack a nutritious punch of energy and hold a hunger between meals; but what are the healthiest choices? A few things to look for when laying down some...
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I am Jeff Clark, founder of Internet Brothers, producer of this blog, and passionate about hiking. My regular hiking companions have designated me the lead hiker, so I suppose that makes me the slowest Meanderthal. I live in Western NC near the Blue Ridge and Great Smoky Mountains. Pisgah and Nantahala National Forests are just out my door, so the content will focus on these areas, but let me know what you would like to see on the site. 
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