Growing numbers of hikers on the Pacific Crest Trail, the Mexico-to-Canada route made increasingly popular by the movie “Wild,” have led officials to take steps to alleviate traffic. The Pacific Crest Trail Association announced on February 4, 2015 a new permitting system that will limit to 50 the number of long-distance hikers heading north each day from San Diego County. An online application process will allow hikers to schedule start dates and view projected hiker density on any given day. The PCTA’s Jack Haskel says the...
read moreThere is no day wasted on an African trek; you can chose from a variety of rugged barren mountains, thick indigenous forests with pristine falls to show off their rain-making ability, fiercely jagged canyons, deep eroded cliffs giving way to valleys and escarpments and vast stretches of lose dessert sands and giant dunes. Whichever is your choice, trekking in Africa calls for distinctive preparation and a thorough briefing of what to expect in terms of terrain, altitude and weather conditions. While some trekking companies have adapted a...
read moreA group of Cub Scouts on a hiking trip in California ended up on a nudist beach. Parents are outraged after the nature hike exposed a group of 4th graders to dozens of nude people on Black’s Beach in San Diego. The hike, which included a parents group, ended up having to walk through the entire beach. One couple couldn’t believe that the pack master knowingly walked the kids through the area and filed a complaint against the Boy Scouts. “When I got up there I said, ‘Hey what are you doing? We’re in the middle of...
read moreThe North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission has publicly denounced the red wolf reintroduction in coastal counties, calling for the red wolves to be rounded up — despite being the only wild population of red wolves on the planet. Last week, the Commission adopted two resolutions: one requesting that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service end the red wolf reintroduction, and the second asking the agency to capture and remove all the wolves and their offspring that have ended up on private land. The Southern Environmental Law Center, which...
read moreThe Experience Your Smokies program is looking for applicants who want to get an insider’s look at park operations while getting some exploration into their lives as well. Participants will attend five full-day sessions in locations throughout the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. They’ll accompany park employees in activites ranging from wetland restoration to fish surveys to trail work. “If you have ever wanted to be a park ranger or get a behind the scenes look at what goes on in Great Smoky Mountains National Park, this is your...
read moreKirkland Ranch in south Napa County, California has a ridge with sweeping views of vineyards, wetlands, San Pablo Bay and beyond, which the local park district wants the public to experience. “I think that would certainly be a draw for a lot of people,” Napa County Regional Park and Open Space District General Manager John Woodbury said. The district recently released its “to-do” list for 2015. If all goes as planned, it will buy hundreds of acres of land and build new trails allowing the public to see parts of Napa County presently...
read moreFor solitude and sunshine, try winter hiking on the west rim of the Río Grande. A variety of trails follow the edge of the gorge and lead to dramatic overlooks with views down to the river and up to the snow covered mountains. These hikes can be found in the Orilla Verde (Green Ribbon) portion of the Rio Grande del Norte National Monument, south and west of Taos, New Mexico. The Petaca Point Trail is one of these hikes. A lightly traveled trail, it begins at the south end of the West Rim Road. The trailhead is located just before the road...
read moreFebruary has arrived, and we all know what that means: it’s time to start making plans for Valentine’s Day! But let’s face it, chocolate and dinner are so overdone, so why not try something new this year? America’s National Parks have come up with some unique ways of celebrating your love for your significant other this Valentine’s Day. And even better is that February 14 falls on a free park admission day this year, so you can visit those parks without having to pull out your wallet. There’s probably...
read moreThe Air Force Academy is keeping mum when it comes to a “buddy system” rule that bars solo hiking, running and mountain biking on academy trails and open spaces. Two days after releasing a statement attributing the new rule to on-campus attacks, the academy says it won’t provide more details. A spokesman refused to divulge where and when the attacks occurred, what happened or whether anyone was injured. “It’s under investigation,” academy spokesman Meade Warthen said. Anyone using academy trails and open...
read moreNew Zealand takes hiking—or “tramping,” as the Kiwis call it—very seriously. The country has nine designated “Great Walks,” ranging from 20 to 48 miles, which pass through some of its most scenic areas and are managed by the Department of Conservation (DOC). The DOC also maintains more than 8,700 miles of trails and a network of more than 950 basic accommodations for trampers to spend the night. The Routeburn Track, which passes through both Fiordland and Mount Aspiring national parks in the country’s Southern Alps, offers a little bit of...
read moreAfter finishing the fastest thru-hike ever of the Appalachian Trail in 2011 Jennifer Pharr Davis was ready to slow down. Having completed the then-2,180-mile trail from Maine to Georgia in 46 days, 11 hours and 20 minutes, Davis looked forward to settling down at home in Asheville with her husband, Brew, and starting a family. Their daughter, Charley, was born about 15 months later. “After the AT record, I wanted to evolve into more sustainable hiking, day hikes and shorter overnights we could do with Charley,” she said. Davis also had a...
read moreThe Mason-Dixon Trail section receiving NRT recognition is a 30 mile-long hiking path, following the western slopes of the Susquehanna River Gorge between Wrightsville and Norman Wood Bridge (at PA Rt. 372). This blue blazed hiking trail rolls along river hillsides and drops into deep ravines while crossing a number of tributaries to the Susquehanna River. Along the way are an abundance of wild flowers, ferns, broad leafs and evergreens. Rock formations, stream crossings and scenic overlooks add to the beautiful setting of the mile wide...
read moreCarbon accumulation levels in the southeastern U.S. may be slowing due to forest dynamics and land use changes, according to findings of U.S. Forest Service researchers published in the journal Scientific Reports in January. The study is the first to isolate the impacts of forest disturbances, such as fire, disease, and cutting, as well as the impacts of land use change using permanent monitoring locations across the Southeast, making it one of the most thorough carbon studies completed. Researchers show that future carbon accumulation rates...
read moreAfter more than a decade of hydropower relicensing negotiations and years more of permitting and construction, Duke Energy is finishing a slate of river accesses that will make the Tuckasegee one of the most accessible rivers in the Southeast. At the same time, a collective effort to create an interactive map showing where and how to recreate on Western North Carolina waterways — using a tool called Smoky Mountain Blueways — is wrapping up, further boosting WNC’s future as a Mecca for outdoors lovers of all skill levels. Before Duke’s...
read moreTell someone from the Willamette Valley that you’re headed to Golden and Silver Falls State Park, and there’s a good chance you’ll get a blank stare in response. “Um… you mean Silver Falls State Park, right?” Actually, no. Although it shares a strikingly similar name with the largest and one of most popular parks in Oregon, Golden and Silver Falls is its own unique place. Tucked deep in the Coast Range east of Coos Bay, this state park is smaller and attracts a fraction of the crowds compared with its famous counterpart. But when it comes to...
read moreAfter four decades of backpacking and climbing in Wyoming’s Wind River Range, 75-year-old Joe Kelsey is living proof that, while time may stop for no one, it might just slow down for hikers. Kelsey is the keeper of records for these remote mountains. A climber and backcountry explorer by craft and a writer by temperament, Kelsey has been meticulously cataloging information about the Winds from alpinists, backpackers, fishermen, cowboys, and horsepackers for 40 years—often fact-checking it on the ground himself. Kelsey’s third edition of...
read moreLast year, a 44-year-old walked out of her life in the UK and on to the plains and mountains of America. In doing so, Olive McGloin, from Dublin, Ireland, became the first woman in the world to walk the Pacific Crest Trail, from the borders of Mexico to Canada and back again, non-stop. They call it the YoYo when you attempt the return trip in one go – and the test it presents is hard to imagine. With her husband, Darrell Johnson, she left the starting point at El Cajon, near Campo California, on April 25th, 2014, taking the first of tens of...
read moreAn historic homesteader’s cabin at Grand Teton National Park that had been vandalized by someone armed with cans of spray paint has had the image removed, though more work needs to be done to restore the weathered patina nearly 100 years of exposure had created. Park officials say that back in September a black and blue spray-painted depiction of a devilish creature wearing a crown was discovered by a park visitor on the inside wall of the Luther Taylor homestead cabin. The cabin is located along the Gros Ventre Road between Kelly Warm...
read moreHiking is a year round activity in Colorado, but sometimes the drastic changes in the weather can have some negative impacts on the trails. “That quick thaw of the snow creates havoc on the trail, you get all the mud and you get individuals that choose to walk or run through it,” Steve Hitchcock, Founder of Upadowna. Walking through the mud can cause ruts where water can build up and cause damaging erosion to the topsoil. “And a lot of these plants in the high desert need a lot of that nutrient rich top surface level, when that’s...
read moreA new hiking and bicycling trail stretching hundreds of miles through Michigan will officially be called Michigan’s Iron Belle Trail, officials have announced. The trail will run from Belle Isle Park in Detroit to Ironwood in the western Upper Peninsula along the border with Wisconsin. Michigan Department of Natural Resources Director Keith Creagh said in a statement the name “effectively captures the beauty and strength of our state’s exceptional natural and cultural resources.” Portions already are open in...
read moreOne hundred years ago today, President Woodrow Wilson signed legislation that created Rocky Mountain National Park, which promoters called “America’s Switzerland,” a massive parcel of pristine wilderness that now includes more than 260,000 acres of panoramic vistas and alpine majesty. It’s one of the most popular attractions in Colorado, receiving its highest annual visitation ever in 2014, with more than 3.4 million guests. Preserving this land, which includes 60 mountains taller than 12,000 feet, seems like a...
read moreA proposal to transform an abandoned Missouri rail corridor into a 145-mile, cross-state biking and hiking trail is drawing praise from outdoor enthusiasts and concerns from some landowners. If converted, the Missouri Rock Island Trail would stretch from Windsor in the western part of the state to the Franklin County town of Beaufort in the east while twice crossing the 236-mile Katy Trail, which is also a state park. The proposed plan would not do away with the railway itself. Instead, it calls for the corridor to be...
read moreWASHINGTON, DC – President Obama’s Administration moved to protect the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska, widely considered one of the most spectacular and remote areas in the world. The Department of the Interior is releasing a conservation plan for the Refuge that for the first time recommends additional protections, and President Obama announced he will make an official recommendation to Congress to designate core areas of the refuge – including its Coastal Plain – as wilderness, the highest level of protection available to public...
read morePenny Studt hasn’t seen her Eco-Literacy English students at Union High School since before Christmas, but for the last three weeks she has been giving them assignments, grading their work and commenting on their class discussions. She’s doing all of these things, not from a satellite classroom or even an office somewhere, but from stops along the Appalachian Trail, a 2,180-mile continuous footpath from Springer Mountain, Ga., to Mount Katahdin in Maine. Studt is in the midst of hiking “the AT” with her husband, Mike, and their dog, a...
read moreThe North Carolina Division of Parks and Recreation and the Friends of the Mountains-to-Sea Trail (FMST) are pleased to jointly announce the naming of the Coastal Crescent Trail as an additional option for hikers seeking to walk across North Carolina. The Coastal Crescent Trail will serve as an option in eastern North Carolina until the Mountains-to-Sea State Trail (MST) is completed along the planned route, which connects Smithfield, Goldsboro, Kinston and New Bern, following the path of the Neuse River. The newly named trail provides a...
read moreThe Appalachian Trail Conservancy says a record amount of funds were generated from sales of the Virginia Appalachian Trail (A.T.) specialty license plate in 2014. Those funds have been applied to the protection and stewardship of the Trail in Virginia. The Conservancy says $45,000 was generated and will enabled the it to fund projects including open area management in Shenandoah National Park, Trail construction projects with the Konnarock Trail Crew program, outreach to young people throughout the state, and the Mount Rogers Appalachian...
read moreIt won’t happen overnight, but the National Park Service is starting the process to integrate Valles Caldera National Preserve in New Mexico into the National Park System. The national preserve was moved to the National Park Service from the U.S. Forest Service when President Obama signed into law the massive Defense authorization bill passed by Congress in late December. But that was all on paper. Now the Park Service needs to begin the process of staffing the preserve and generating a management plan. Located in the Jemez Mountains of...
read moreGreat Smoky Mountains National Park geographic information system specialists and scientists in collaboration with scientists from Tennessee, North Carolina, and the United States Geological Survey (USGS), have completed a three-year stream mapping project. Park scientists used a combination of aircraft-mounted scanners and a Global Positioning System verification systems to re-inventory streams throughout the park. Using this modern mapping technology, scientists determined the park contains 2,900 miles of streams. Of these, 1,073 miles of...
read moreDo you have what it takes to complete the Dirty Dozen Wilderness Hike Challenge? Presented by The Wilderness Society and Blue Ridge Outdoors Magazine, this challenge is a great way to celebrate the 50th anniversary of The Wilderness Act, discover new places or revisit favorites, and have the chance to win prizes. 2014-2015 marks the 50th anniversary of The Wilderness Act, the legislation that established the National Wilderness Preservation System and set aside an initial 9.1 million acres of wildlands. Congress, through this Act, recognized...
read more“‘Every second, new colours,” said the guide, Dharme, as the sky turned from crimson to gold. As the sun rose, the landscape below took shape – distant peaks soared above valleys which dipped beneath a canopy of mist. Waterfalls plunged, white stupas peeked out from the jungle, and coloured flags were illuminated in the early light. It was 6am on the summit of Sri Lanka’s sacred mountain, the conical Adam’s Peak (or Sri Pada as it’s known locally), which has been venerated since antiquity for a...
read moreThe agony and angst endured by those who hike for months over the rugged National Scenic Trails are painfully palpable. But they, and the millions of hikers who self-impose these hiking challenges, really have it easy. Think how hard it would be to hike all those miles without trail markers, or without a trail. That’s where the real trail angels come in – those selfless, volunteer laborers, many of retirement age, who hack, hoe, dig, shovel, sweat and bleed to create the trails we hike and love, such as the 3,000-mile Pacific...
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I am Jeff Clark, founder of Internet Brothers, producer of this blog, and passionate about hiking. 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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