News

Annual “Trek To The Tree” At Kings Canyon National Park Coming December 14

Posted by on Nov 22, 2014 @ 8:39 am in Hiking News | 0 comments

With year’s end quickly approaching, don’t let it pass by without making the annual “Trek to the Tree” at Kings Canyon National Park to watch as rangers lay a wreath at the bottom of the Nation’s Christmas Tree. This year’s trek is the 89th annual. It will be held on December 14 from 2:30 p.m.-3:30 p.m. Sponsored by the Sanger District Chamber of Commerce in cooperation with the National Park Service, the event will include the Jubilation Singers, Sanger High School Choir, Fresno Tuba Christmas Ensemble,...

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OpenStreetMap in the Great Smoky Mountains

Posted by on Nov 19, 2014 @ 4:12 pm in Hiking News | 0 comments

OpenStreetMap in the Great Smoky Mountains

With an average of ten million visitors each year, Great Smoky Mountains National Park experiences many visitors who get lost in the park because of inaccurate Location-Based Services (LBS) or outdated maps. Park-issued maps are available at visitor centers, but many visitors rely on navigation assistance from their mobile phones or other GPS devices. This is a major problem because the map data used by many LBS providers does not reflect authoritative data – causing many visitors to follow poor navigation directions. When the National...

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10 Fantastic Hiker Traditions on the Appalachian Trail

Posted by on Nov 18, 2014 @ 1:17 pm in Hiking News | 0 comments

We humans are pretty ritualistic creatures. We crave routine and seek out the familiar. When we start to pass these behaviors down through enough generations, we start calling them traditions. Every culture has its own traditions, including the community that surrounds the Appalachian Trail. Hiker traditions and customs can be hard to understand for those on the outside, but that’s not surprising. Life on the AT is almost the exact opposite of what most people in the U.S. consider “normal” life. We hikers are a quirky group of people, indeed....

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Hiking in Maine: Saco Beach Loop has history and an ocean vista

Posted by on Nov 17, 2014 @ 8:47 am in Hiking News | 0 comments

Ferry Beach State Park in Saco, Maine is a 117-acre gem in Maine’s state park system that features a nice stretch of oceanfront beach, a pleasant network of foot trails and some interesting history. Long before the advent of roads, a ferry crossing connecting Hills Beach and Camp Ellis at the mouth of the Saco River served early travelers along the beach from as far away as Boston, thus giving Ferry Beach its name. By combining the park’s trails plus a walk along Ferry Beach with three trails of the Saco Bay Trails system and two short...

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Hiking adds clarity, adventure to life

Posted by on Nov 16, 2014 @ 9:06 am in Hiking News | 0 comments

At the University of Chicago, Ginny Too was “the Asian girl with glasses hanging out at the library.” She was neither athletic nor outdoorsy. “It was never part of my upbringing,” she says. How things have changed. Too, now 34, has climbed three challenging mountains: Kilimanjaro in Tanzania, Cotopaxi in Ecuador, and Mount Whitney in California. More impressive, the “geek” who graduated Phi Beta Kappa has hiked the entire length of the Appalachian Trail and, for good measure, America’s two other...

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Cold weather doesn’t have to put hiking on a hiatus

Posted by on Nov 16, 2014 @ 9:01 am in Hiking News | 0 comments

Temperatures are dropping, snow is in the forecast and restlessness tugs against the temptation to grab a good book and settle in by the fire. With a few exceptions, most bikes, boats and summer gear are packed away for next year. Then the email rolls in. “Hey, who wants to do some winter hiking?” It appears that there are two kinds of winter hiking. One involves multi-day excursions that are borderline tests of survival skills while the other is simply doing what you do in the summer but adapting to winter terrain and conditions. To get...

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If you haven’t seen Yellowstone in the winter, you’re really missing out

Posted by on Nov 15, 2014 @ 11:34 am in Hiking News | 0 comments

Yellowstone, America’s first national park, is one of the USA’s most popular vacation destinations, especially during the summer months. This same park rewards adventurous travelers with a much more intimate experience during the winter when only about five percent of the park’s 3.4 million annual guests choose to visit. For first-time Yellowstone visitors, winter in the park is like magic. For travelers who have enjoyed Yellowstone only during the spring, summer, or fall, a winter visit is like being in a different park. In...

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Hikers, city seek to create trails: San Mateo’s Sugarloaf Mountain to become more accessible

Posted by on Nov 14, 2014 @ 9:26 am in Hiking News | 0 comments

A group of avid hikers are coordinating with San Mateo, CA officials to provide more recreational opportunities at Sugarloaf Mountain by creating formal and accessible trails at the city’s largest park and open space landholding. “It’s a little jewel here in San Mateo,” said Marilyn Stockdale Green, a San Mateo resident who sits on the nonprofit Trail Center Board of Directors. “The top of Sugarloaf offers some of the best views on the mid-Peninsula and it has not been accessible. Really there’s use trails up there, some very steep fire...

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The business of hiking

Posted by on Nov 14, 2014 @ 9:11 am in Hiking News | 0 comments

While Warren County and Front Royal, Virginia are drawing up plans for extensions of the Appalachian Trail to bring hikers into town, there has been little discussion on the effect hikers have on the economy. The Appalachian Trail Conservancy states more than 2 million people visit some part of the trail every year, spending between $125-168 million annually, with $27 million going to local communities. According to Alyson Browett, the Appalachian Trail Ambassador for Front Royal-Warren County and the chair of the Front Royal-Warren County...

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Couple rely on map and compass for thru-hike of Continental Divide Trail

Posted by on Nov 13, 2014 @ 1:03 pm in Hiking News | 0 comments

Couple rely on map and compass for thru-hike of Continental Divide Trail

From its southern terminus near the Mexican border, the Continental Divide Trail heads north across New Mexico toward Canada. In southern New Mexico, the route is almost entirely unmarked as it crosses semi-desert grasslands where much of the drinking water comes from watering troughs on cattle ranches, never mind the algae and scum. For Iris Russell, the landscape could hardly have been more alien. Born and raised in Gatlinburg, TN the 30-year-old Russell had considered doing the Appalachian Trail as her first long-distance thru-hike....

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Take a Hike Day Nov. 17

Posted by on Nov 12, 2014 @ 8:38 am in Hiking News | 0 comments

Take a Hike Day Nov. 17

Source: Fix.com  

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How Trekking Poles Can Make Your Hike Easier, Faster And Safer

Posted by on Nov 11, 2014 @ 6:32 am in Hiking News | 0 comments

Trekking poles are essentially a modern-day evolution of the traditional walking stick. Poles are either telescoping or collapsible (the latter of which collapse like tent poles). Telescoping poles offer adjustable lengths, which is useful when climbing or descending. Collapsible poles lack adjustable lengths, but they are often lighter than their telescoping counterparts. Collapsible poles either use twisting locks or flip locks. Flip locks are more secure. Some poles feature built-in shock absorbers. Those don’t really help a lot and...

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Filmmaker uses love for Appalachian Trail to make documentary

Posted by on Nov 10, 2014 @ 8:33 am in Hiking News | 0 comments

It runs more than 2,000 miles, from Georgia to Maine. The Appalachian Trail, the brainchild of Benton MacKaye had humble beginnings in 1921 and became a continuous footpath in August of 1937. “I learned a lot about life and a lot about people out on the Appalachian Trail,” said documentary filmmaker Sam Henegar. Henegar has a special bond with the trail. “I started hiking with my dad when I was about 11 years old and grew up camping and grew up outdoors in East Tennessee,” he told News 5. 5 years ago, Henegar set out...

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7 Things You Absolutely Must Try in a National Park

Posted by on Nov 9, 2014 @ 9:55 am in Hiking News | 0 comments

President Franklin Roosevelt once said, “There is nothing so American as our national parks…. The fundamental idea behind the parks…is that the country belongs to the people.” If you have yet to explore “your” parks – there are 401 of them – then Veterans Day is just the excuse you need. November 11, 2014 is the National Park Service’s final free-entrance day of 2014, when admission fees are waived for everyone. Here are picks for seven essential experiences: Take a scenic drive along Blue...

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New book highlights the best places to hike in Central Alabama

Posted by on Nov 8, 2014 @ 9:22 am in Hiking News | 0 comments

Avid hiker and author Thomas Spencer penned a new book highlighting the best hikes in central Alabama. Entitled “Five-Star Trails: Birmingham: Your Guide to the Area’s Most Beautiful Hikes” the book lists great hikes within a 75 miles radius of Birmingham and features maps and photos. Spencer grew up hiking and camping in Alabama with his family. He covered outdoors and the environment with the Anniston Star and The Birmingham News for over two decades. Some of the Birmingham hikes featured are Oak Hill Cemetery, Railroad...

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LA County Hikes That Are Perfect For Fall

Posted by on Nov 7, 2014 @ 8:24 am in Hiking News | 0 comments

Los Angeles County has just launched a new trails website with tons of information for anyone who looking to explore the county’s trails on bike, foot, or horseback. The site promises oft-updated information on trail conditions, weather, and air quality, plus interactive and downloadable maps with directions and elevation info for each path listed—a total of 367 miles of GPS-mapped trails throughout LA County (and that’s just for starters). A mobile site is expected by the end of December and an app is slated to be ready sometime...

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In Ireland, hiking for ancient relics hidden by fog

Posted by on Nov 7, 2014 @ 8:18 am in Hiking News | 0 comments

When most people think of Ireland, they imagine bucolic green fields dotted with fluffy sheep, or cobblestone streets lined with signs advertising Guinness. But there is a lesser-known side to the Emerald Isle. It is deep in the grey, barren mountains of the Connemara region, in County Galway, hiking through land that has remained virtually untouched for thousands of years. The only remnants of human activity are scattered relics left behind by the few others who have been devoted enough to traverse this inhospitable environment. During the...

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Asheville benefit for Appalachian Trail Nov. 6

Posted by on Nov 6, 2014 @ 8:57 am in Hiking News | 0 comments

Asheville benefit for Appalachian Trail Nov. 6

For some, hiking the Appalachian Trail is a bucket-list item. Completing the 2,185-mile trail has come to signify extreme stamina and perseverance. But of the thousands who hike the trail each year, says John Odell of the Appalachian Trail Conservancy, only a small fraction are through-hikers who complete the whole trail from Maine to Georgia or vice versa. The vast majority are day users or short-term campers who have the opportunity to enjoy a part of the trail while knowing that it’s part of something much bigger. To celebrate and raise...

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Sweating The Trail Details In The National Parks

Posted by on Nov 5, 2014 @ 11:25 pm in Hiking News | 0 comments

Sweating The Trail Details In The National Parks

Sweat and muscle for trail work in Rocky Mountain National Park comes, in part, in the form of Conservation Corps provided through the Rocky Mountain Conservancy. This past spring the Conservancy sent 36 conservation corps interns out into the field in six crews for an 11-week internship as part of its Conservation Corps Program. Half of this group worked in the national park (the other half worked in the surrounding Arapaho-Roosevelt National Forest) to protect landscapes against ecological damage and provide safe and sustainable...

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Challenge at Mission Peak: Finding a Place to Park

Posted by on Nov 5, 2014 @ 9:06 am in Hiking News | 0 comments

At three miles long and 2,000 feet in elevation, the hike up Mission Peak is not for the faint of heart: The trail is dry and nearly bald, and climbing it can be painfully hot. The incline near the top is rocky and preposterously steep. But for those who make it to the top, the payoff is big. In addition to a panoramic view of San Francisco, Oakland, San Jose and, sometimes, the Sierra Nevada set off against a cornflower sky, there is a pole to climb, one where hikers can pose in a victory stance for a photograph that proves they made it....

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How To Find The Perfect Hiking Boot

Posted by on Nov 4, 2014 @ 7:00 pm in Hiking News | 0 comments

The most important item in your outdoor wardrobe, hiking boots grant you the ability to traverse challenging terrain, work to keep your entire body comfortable and supported while carrying heavy loads and help regulate temperature and dryness. They’re also a difficult purchase to get right, particularly if you’re buying online. Here’s how to do that. What type of boots are right for you? First, ask yourself how you plan to use them. In an ideal world, you’d have a different pair of footwear for every different...

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Solo hiker traverses the Pacific Northwest national trail

Posted by on Nov 3, 2014 @ 9:26 am in Hiking News | 0 comments

Solo hiker traverses the Pacific Northwest national trail

While hiking hundreds or thousands of miles, particularly all alone, is no small feat — between the weather, the physical exertion and the mental and emotional discipline — hiking little-traveled routes adds still more challenges. Kelley Wiley Lane learned that firsthand this summer when she hiked the Pacific Northwest National Scenic Trail, which meanders for 1,200 miles from the Continental Divide in Montana to the Pacific Ocean. While most hikers go from east to west, Wiley Lane started July 3, 2014 on the Pacific Coast because there was...

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Arapaho Indians shared knowledge of Rocky Mountain National Park

Posted by on Nov 3, 2014 @ 9:15 am in Hiking News | 0 comments

In 1914, one of the most unusual events in Northern Colorado’s history was an invitation tendered to two Arapaho elders living on the Wind River Reservation by the Colorado Mountain Club. Gun Griswold and Sherman Sage were selected by Colorado Mountain Club during a trip to the reservation. It was believed that these individuals had lived in the Estes Park region before it was settled. The purpose of the invitation was to have them take a two-week long pack trip through the mountains and to record what they could remember about the...

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Walking in the footsteps of a pre-traitorous Benedict Arnold

Posted by on Nov 2, 2014 @ 9:20 am in Hiking News | 0 comments

In early October 1775, Gen. Benedict Arnold and a contingent of 1,100 American soldiers made the portage over the Great Carrying Place between the Kennebec River and the Dead River in Maine on their wilderness expedition to Quebec City. The lengthy and difficult portage greatly weakened Arnold’s army, which ultimately failed in its attempt to wrest control of the city from the British and thereby expand the Revolutionary War, forcing it to retreat in defeat in the dead of winter. Hikers today can explore this incredible 13-mile segment of...

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Trekking to Choquequirao, Peru’s remote Inca ruins

Posted by on Nov 1, 2014 @ 8:32 am in Hiking News | 0 comments

Halfway down the track, Nixon stops. He thwacks his machete into a stump to free his hands and reaches over a stone wall, groping for something in the vegetation beneath. A moment later he pulls up a clear plastic bag and hands it over. It is full of human bones. “Incas.” Since the Spanish never found this place, Nixon, the custodian, is surely right about the bones. They belong to the people who built Choquequirao, one of the most remote Inca settlements in the Andes, and were stashed here by the archaeologists who, over the past 20 years,...

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Haywood artist releases frame-worthy trail guides

Posted by on Oct 31, 2014 @ 11:44 am in Hiking News | 0 comments

Ken Czarnomski has always loved sketching and writing, but as a department chair for the sustainability and construction management programs at Asheville-Buncombe Technical Community College, his projects consisted mainly of razor-straight lines and technical engineering language. There wasn’t a lot of room for freehand sketches or colorful commentary. After retiring, Czarnomski began looking around for ways to pick up some of those hobbies he’d left untouched as a working professional. At the same time, he wanted to find a way to give back...

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The Appalachian Trail Conservancy Announces New Strategic Plan To Ensure A Bright Future

Posted by on Oct 30, 2014 @ 7:21 am in Hiking News | 0 comments

The Appalachian Trail Conservancy Announces New Strategic Plan To Ensure A Bright Future

The Appalachian Trail Conservancy has announced a five-year strategic plan that will advance the health and long-term management of the Appalachian Trail. The plan, which was the culmination of a two-year collaborative process between the ATC and the ATC’s board of directors, is a vision and strategy that will build on the organization’s stewardship of the trail while also aligning with the priorities of the National Park Service and the U.S. Forest Service. The new strategic plan, which is the first to be created and put into action since...

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Blue Ridge Parkway Announces Full Road Closure at Milepost 422 for Tunnel Rehabilitation

Posted by on Oct 29, 2014 @ 9:05 am in Hiking News | 0 comments

Blue Ridge Parkway Announces Full Road Closure at Milepost 422 for Tunnel Rehabilitation

Blue Ridge Parkway officials announce the closure of a small section of motor road between existing gates at Milepost 420.3 near US Forest Service Road 816 (Black Balsam Road) and Milepost 423.3 at NC Highway 215. Both lanes of the motor road in that section will be closed to all visitors beginning November 3, 2014 through May 2015. During this closure, Devil’s Courthouse Overlook at Milepost 422.4 will be accessible from the south by foot, bicycle or skis atNC Highway 215. The Art Loeb Trail crossing at Milepost 421.2 will be...

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New Maine Topo Maps Feature National Scenic Trails

Posted by on Oct 28, 2014 @ 8:47 am in Hiking News | 0 comments

New Maine Topo Maps Feature National Scenic Trails

Newly released US Topo maps for Maine now feature segments of the Appalachian National Scenic Trail (A.T.). Several of the 715 new US Topo quadrangles for the state now display parts of the A.T. along with other improved data layers. “Located within a day’s drive of 2/3rds of the U.S. population and open year-around to all visitors, the Appalachian Trail is America’s most readily accessible long-distance footpath,” said Matt Robinson, National Park Service GIS Specialist for the A.T. “Having its route accurately depicted on these new US Topo...

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Hiking to the top of Canada’s Jasper National Park

Posted by on Oct 27, 2014 @ 8:42 pm in Hiking News | 0 comments

Hiking to the top of Canada’s Jasper National Park

Along with neighbouring Banff, Jasper National Park is a Unesco World Heritage site, recognised for its beauty, animal and plant life, and staggering variety of landscapes; including glaciers, alpine meadows, steaming hot springs, cerulean lakes and some of the highest peaks in the Rocky Mountains. The 44km Skyline Trail is one of the most beautiful – and challenging – stretches of the park’s 1,000km of trails. The route gains 1,380m in elevation and reaches the highest point of any hiking trail in Jasper, the Notch, at 2,511m above sea...

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Popular New Hampshire hiking trails now permanently protected

Posted by on Oct 27, 2014 @ 8:58 am in Hiking News | 0 comments

This past week, the Society for the Protection of NH Forests announced that The Everybody Hikes Mt. Major fundraising campaign has acheived its goal of $1.8 million for acquiring 980 acres on and near the mountain. “We are very grateful that the campaign received more than 1,900 gifts ranging from $2 to $340,000. Gifts came in from 31 states, from as far away as Hawaii, Arizona and Oregon,” the newsletter reported. Not only was the Forest Society involved in the effort, it was in partnership with the Lakes Region Conservation...

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