Taxpayers are propping up wildly-inflated coastal property values. At some point, we’ll stop doing that, and coastal property values will crash. Unless they have already crashed because Miami gets hit by its equivalent of Superstorm Sandy. Or because the smart money pulls out of coastal real estate ahead of time after realizing that our climate inaction has made the crash inevitable — due to a combination of faster-than-expected sea level rise and ever-worsening storm surges. The main prop is the National Flood Insurance Program, which covers...
read morePeople interested in getting outdoors in Vermont this summer are now able to check a website for detailed information about hundreds of trails across the state that are open for public use. Officials from the Vermont Department of Forests, Parks and Recreation and the Upper Valley Trails Alliance unveiled the “Trail Finder” website to help people learn more about trails they’d like to hike, bike, cross country ski or use for a number of other outdoor activities. Trail Finder is a searchable trails information website that...
read moreMaybe not everyone believes in Sasquatch (or Bigfoot), but it’s still a good thing to look over your shoulder when you hike in southern Oregon. At least that’s the opinion of the authors of a revolutionary new hiking book, “Hiking Sasquatch Country,” by Wendy and Gary Swanson of Grants Pass. The book covers 39 hikes and 37 historical points of interest in southern Oregon, selected for their beauty more than for their physical challenge. What makes this book unique, also in the opinion of the authors, is that all but...
read moreThree members of the Denton Drilling Awareness Group were arrested when they refused to move away from the entrance to a fracking site where work began June 2, 2015. Before arresting them, however, Sergeant Jenkins, a 30-year veteran of the Denton police department, thanked the three — Adam Briggle, a professor at the University of North Texas, and Denton residents Niki Chochrek and Tara Linn Hunter — for the work they had done. The three were charged with criminal trespass and released before noon. The arrests come a week after...
read moreThe Appalachian Trail Conservancy seeks volunteers, 18 and over, to help maintain the Appalachian Trail in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park as part of the Smokies Wilderness Elite Appalachian Trail Crew for the 2015 season. A position on the S.W.E.A.T. Crew is physically demanding and is designed for experienced hikers who love to work hard, live in the backcountry, and create lasting friendships. S.W.E.A.T. Crew is a mobile group that focuses on trail maintenance in the heart of the Smokies on sections more than five miles from the...
read moreA hike in the high desert followed by a soak at Ojo Caliente Mineral Springs is one of New Mexico’s true pleasures. The plateau above Ojo Caliente offers gentle hikes through the desert landscape and views of mesas, cliffs, and mountains. The hot mineral waters soothe muscles tired from hiking and provide a feeling of deep relaxation. There are several trails that begin near the springs and lead up to the plateau. Joseph Mica Mines is one of the destinations. The mica mines are caves cut into a pink granite cliff surrounded by sparkling bits...
read moreChaco Canyon and the greater Chaco landscape of northwest New Mexico draw people together in a unique and enduring way. These lands provide an opportunity to experience the Southwest as it once was – a vast open landscape rich in cultural history. Currently, this landscape beyond the national park’s boundaries is threatenedn. To the Pueblo people, Chaco Canyon is the place of their ancestors, who built the magnificent great houses, roads and other structures within and around the canyon. The Navajo people also have deep ties to the Chacoan...
read more“Nur die harten kommen in den garten” (only tough guys get into the garden). With this Teutonic exhortation the guide leads us – a group of “soft Scottish mens” – up into the mountains of the South Tirol for a week-long trek around the Sarntal (or Sarentino) Valley. Our collective mountaineering level amounts, approximately, to the endurance required to huff and puff up a few munros. But we have previously undertaken one Alpine trek together. That was six years ago in the North Tirol – on the Austrian side of the border – when our average age...
read moreThe Obama administration says a new federal rule regulating small streams and wetlands will protect the drinking water of more than 117 million people in the country. Not so, insist Republicans. They say the rule is a massive government overreach that could even subject puddles and ditches to regulation. Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, R-West Virginia, is promising to “rein in” the government through legislation or other means. It’s a threat with a familiar ring. Capito and other Republicans are also pledging to block the...
read moreThe Scandinavian mountain range, running through most of Sweden and Norway, is one of the most underrated hiking locations on the planet. With its vast valleys and low, snow-capped mountains, this northern mountain chain presents a unique landscape filled to the brink with natural treasures to be discovered. Everyone’s heard of the magical fjords of Norway, but few people are aware that they actually make up part of the Scandinavian mountain chain. There aren’t a lot of mountain chains overlooking the ocean like this, making this such a rare...
read moreHiking through the woods is one of the best ways to exercise, but those in Pennsylvania over the next week will be in for a treat as the state celebrates Hiking Week 2015 starting on Saturday, May 30. According to the Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources and the Keystone Trails Association, there will be almost 100 organized hikes that will make their way through parks, forests and cities across the state. A full list of scheduled Hiking Week events can be found at ExplorePATrails.com. Hiking Week is a celebration...
read moreCoal-bed methane was going to be the answer to Wyoming’s slumping oil-based economy. Companies flocked to the Powder River Basin in the late 1990s and early 2000s, when the promise of big money was available to anyone with a dream and ability to work hard. Thousands of wells popped up. The BLM oversees 15,662 coal-bed methane wells in the Powder River Basin alone, said Clark Bennett, assistant field manager over minerals and lands in the BLM’s Buffalo Field Office. But by the late-2000s, the boom became a bust. Cheaper, abundant natural gas...
read moreShareholders of ExxonMobil and Chevron — the United States’ top two oil companies — voted down proposals aimed at getting the companies to focus a little more on climate change this week. One of the proposals would have added an independent director with experience in climate change to the boards of both companies. That proposal got about 20 percent of the shareholders’ votes at both companies. A few other climate-related proposals were also voted down by shareholders. One that would have prompted the companies to develop a report on the...
read moreAn Ashland, Oregon-based group has begun clearing overgrown trails within the rugged Wild Rogue Wilderness Area, and a new grant means they can expand their efforts at opening foot access off these Rogue River trails. The Siskiyou Mountain Club‘s Wilderness Conservation Corps crew has begun scouting and hand-clearing light brush to launch the club’s two-year quest to restore what will become a 30-mile hiking loop with multiple access points along the famed 40-mile Rogue River National Recreation Trail within the wilderness area...
read moreHike it Baby began when Shanti Hodges, a young mother in Portland, Oregon joined a young mother’s group at her local hospital in 2013. She thought it would be more fun to be outside of the hospital on a hike and suggested they all meet the next week for a hike. And it took off through social media. “Our goal is to get babies on trail,” she told an Oregon radio station, describing Hike it Baby as “a platform to bring families together.” The website has challenges, like 30 miles in 30 days, and 30 minutes outside...
read moreThe Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) will have an easier time regulating water pollution under a new rule released May 27, 2015. The Waters of the United States rule, developed by the EPA and the Army Corps of Engineers, offers protection to two million miles of streams and 20 million acres of wetlands that, until now, were not clearly designated under the Clean Water Act. The rule clarifies what tributaries and wetlands are part of the overall water system and will decrease confusion and expense, the EPA and Army Corps said. The...
read moreScott Jurek has been eyeing the Appalachian Trail for years. On Memorial Day, he began his pursuit of the trail’s speed record. Jurek has won nearly all of ultrarunning’s elite events, including the historic 153-mile Spartathlon, the Hardrock 100, the Badwater 135-mile Ultramarathon, the Miwok 100K, and—his signature race—the Western States 100 Mile Endurance Run, which he won a record seven straight times. In 2010, he set a new US all-surface record in the 24-Hour Run with 165.7 miles—6.5 marathons in one day. Jurek was a central character...
read moreChris Gallaway fought off swarms of mosquitoes like something out of a Biblical plague, black bears trying to get at his rotisserie chicken, and the general exhaustion and agony, anguish and heartbreak of anyone thru-hiking the 2,180-mile-long Appalachian Trail. Although Gallaway, 32, of Black Mountain, NC began the journey in 2013 as a solo hiker, he was never really alone. Armed always with his video camera on the seven-month-long odyssey, Gallaway created the ultimate moving selfie — a documentary film called “The Long Start to the...
read moreIt’s a big idea — a 10,900-mile-long one. Melissa Scanlan, an associate professor, associate dean and director of the Environmental Law Center at Vermont Law School, seeks to establish a hikers version of Mt. Everest — the Great Lakes Trail on the shores of the Great Lakes. All of the Great Lakes. And all of their shoreline. It would span at least eight states and two Canadian provinces, and would be the longest continuous marked trail in the world — five times larger than the 2,180-mile Appalachian Trail from Maine to Georgia, and more...
read moreThe favela communities of Cantagalo and Pavão-Pavãozinho in Rio de Janiero, Brazil have restored a hiking trail along their hills in order to boost ecotourism in the communities. The peak of the trail lies on 200 meters and offers a great view over the city including Ipanema and Copacabana beach, the Lagoa and on clear days even Niterói on the other side of the bay. The new trail will start in Cantagalo and continues on to Pavão-Pavãozinho to the border between the neighborhoods of Copacabana and Ipanema. It was created out of several older...
read moreHow about some tips on how to avoid confrontation with cows on our hiking adventures. A family friend was hiking up Mission Peak near Fremont, CA recently and was attacked by a bull. She has sustained very serious injuries and is in a lot of pain. Please advise of any suggestions you have in regards to this unfortunate incident. Cows generally are nonaggressive unless they perceive a threat to their offspring. Bulls can be aggressive by nature, but they are most dangerous when they feel their herd is being threatened. When hiking, if you spot...
read moreWhen Rick Bombaci went to work for the U.S. Forest Service in 2010 as a wilderness ranger, his friends were curious. What did he do in the woods all day, besides weave garlands and write poetry? In conversations at potlucks, he learned to skip fancy terms like “assessing resource damage.” He was a glorified garbageman, he said. His pickup route? Fire pits big enough to lie down in, full of twisted masses of melted beer cans and polypropylene tarps. Tin cans and oozing batteries stuffed into stream banks, trees garroted with steel...
read moreIt’s no secret that some state legislators in the West want to boot federal land management agencies from their states. They argue that agencies like the Bureau of Land Management and Forest Service cost too much and are too detached from local values, and that states could make money by running our vast open spaces like a privately owned business. The Cato Institute, a Washington, D.C.-based libertarian think tank, is of that opinion and has developed models to replace federal agencies with private interests. What many people don’t...
read moreThere is not much water in southeastern Utah’s Arches National Park. What water is there is vitally important to the flora and fauna of the popular high-desert preserve. State and federal officials gathered in the park just north of Moab to acknowledge the role water plays with a contract meant to protect the precious resource. The deal signed by Utah Gov. Gary Herbert and national park and Interior Department leaders has been a long time coming, but finally defines water rights for the park and other water users in the area....
read moreTwo of the most heavily used day-hiking routes in Yellowstone and Grand Teton national parks in northwest Wyoming are closed for the time being because of weather damage and maintenance. In Yellowstone, the iconic Brink of the Lower Falls trail is closed in the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone because of a mud and rock slide that deposited a 7-by-8-foot boulder on the route, effectively blocking the path. In Grand Teton, the trail beyond Hidden Falls to Inspiration Point is closed and being rerouted so crews can replace bridges over Cascade...
read moreThe West Bank is much more than the Israeli military occupation that has come to define it for the outside world. From the Byzantine ruins of Sebastia to the lush flora of Wadi Qelt to the vast Jericho desert, the West Bank is a varied and dazzling landscape. You might break bread with Palestinian families in Jericho’s Aqbat Jabar refugee camp, at a women’s cooperative in Burqin, or in an apartment building in Nablus. The West Bank hiking route is actually a small portion of a new long-distance walking trail called Abraham Path. It is...
read moreJoin the Conservation Trust for North Carolina for kid-friendly hikes this 2015 summer that will connect you and your family to the natural world. Brumley Forest Nature Preserve — Saturday, June 13th, 9:00 AM Join CTNC and Triangle Land Conservancy for an exclusive hike on TLC’s 613-acre nature preserve in Orange County. Enjoy a preview of the vision for making Brumley Forest Nature Preserve a family destination for recreation. Saddle Mountain — Saturday, July 25th, 11:30 AM Come explore the 502-acre Saddle Mountain...
read moreRecently world leaders have encouraged everyone to consume less and think more about our impact on the environment. It’s a timely warning. Ahead of a series of major events later this year, The Foundation for Deep Ecology and the Population Media Center released a collection that illustrates the devastating effects of out-of-control growth and waste, and it’s sickeningly breathtaking. “This is an issue that people care about, and oftentimes it’s just not discussed by mainstream media,” Missie Thurston, director...
read moreMemorial Day weekend is the kickoff for the summer to come and traditionally is a very busy weekend at campgrounds and picnic areas around the Pacific Northwest, weather permitting. The Fremont-Winema National Forest of southern Oregon issued some information about this year’s camping seasons that applies pretty much all around Oregon and Washington, and all across the country. “Due to the dry winter, most campgrounds, trails and roads, even in the higher elevations, are accessible earlier than usual,” said David Hosack,...
read moreThe time for lacing up your hiking boots is here. And just in time for the summer season — when hundreds of hikers will descend upon the area — TetonHikingTrails.com has launched. The user-friendly website offers hikers interested in Grand Teton National Park a “source of trail information at their fingertips,” Jeff Doran, the site’s founder, said. TetonHikingTrails presents detailed information on more than 40 hikes in the park such as trail descriptions and key features, elevation profiles and pictures of the trails as well as maps. Each...
read moreToms Creek Falls, a breathtaking 80-foot cascade waterfall near Marion, NC, is now accessible to visitors of all ages and abilities. The Grandfather Ranger District has completed work on the Falls Branch Trail (#214) and trail head parking area. Trail work included installation of an accessible observation deck below the falls and resurfacing of the ½ mile trail and parking area. To visit Toms Creek Falls: From I-40, take US 221 North (exit 85) about 12 miles to Huskins Branch Road. Turn left and go 1.2 miles to the trailhead. Call the...
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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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