Half Dome in Yosemite National Park, an iconic visual representing the American West, is famous for many reasons. Many of us grew up seeing Half Dome memorialized in the black-and-white photographs of Ansel Adams. However, for nature lovers and backpackers, Half Dome represents one of the most arduous trails in North America, especially the final 400 feet of...
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The collapse of Northern California logging ended the McCloud River Railroad’s line to Burney. In 2009, citizens and local organizations formed a partnership to acquire the right-of-way. The trust won a $350,000 state grant this month to purchase the right-of-way. Called the Great Shasta Rail Trail, the route spans more than 80 miles through forested mountains. The...
Learn MoreMany people have watched golf tournaments, or perhaps even played, at the famous Torrey Pines course in San Diego County. Fewer are aware that the course is named after one of America’s rarest trees, the Pinus Torreyana or Torrey Pine. Considered a “vulnerable” species of tree, there are only two places in the world where the Torrey can be seen in the wild, and both...
Learn MoreIn the summer of 1995, a 26-year-old woman who had never been backpacking before set out to hike the Pacific Crest Trail. She had already separated from her husband, quit her waitressing job and sold most of her belongings. Now she went to the outdoors store REI to purchase almost everything she could possibly think of for her three-month journey: fleece pants and an...
Learn MoreCustomized backpack fitted with a GoPro camera on Riley, the corgi. First test run, attempted up in Los Angeles Runyon Canyon.
Learn MoreWhat’s a hiking club doing in a place described in terms of extremes – inhuman, alien, haunting, unforgiving? A place where site names such as Furnace Creek, Funeral Mountains, Coffin Peak, Badwater Basin and Devil’s Golf Course seem designed to scare you off? Park pamphlets clearly spell out precautions for spending time in the “harshest, driest...
Learn MoreStarting at 8 a.m. Saturday March 10th, the gates to Blue Mountain in Grand Terrace, CA will be open to all hikers. The rest of the year the gates are locked, so this is a once-a-year opportunity. All the signature mountain peaks of Southern California can be seen from the top of Blue Mountain. Looking to the left of Cajon Pass, Cucamonga Peak and Mount Baldy in the...
Learn MoreJMT: The Muir Project. A collective of multi-media artists ventured out for 25 days to hike 230 miles and record their adventure on the John Muir Trail. The crew departed from Yosemite Valley on July 10th, 2011 and completed the trail at the summit of Mount Whitney on August 3rd. Along the way, they were joined by musicians, painters, teachers and other...
Learn MoreHiking in and around Palm Springs and the Coachella Valley in California can be fun and exciting, however it can also be very dangerous. Hiking is a relaxing and rewarding outdoor activity, but there are a few things that every hiker should know before they head out on the desert trail. No matter when you go hiking in the desert always have the correct equipment and lots...
Learn MoreAre you up for a challenge in 2012, a challenge that will lead you toward discovering and hiking in new areas, enjoying the outdoors while you improve your health and well-being? The East Bay Regional Park District hopes that residents of Alameda and Contra Costa counties in California will rise to the challenge, and that this year’s numbers will top the more than...
Learn MoreIn a decision that could bring an end to the national Adventure Pass program, the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the U.S. Forest Service cannot charge for hiking, walking, picnicking or visiting undeveloped areas of national forest land. In the unanimous ruling released Feb. 9 in favor of four hikers who objected to paying a fee to visit the forest, Judge...
Learn MoreAn MBA student at Washington University was beaten and starved as a child, and then was homeless as a teen. Michael McLaughlin has now turned his life around, but he hasn’t forgotten where he came from. He’s devoting his life to helping other children who are suffering, and hiking 2,500 miles to raise awareness. Each step forward for McLaughlin is a step away...
Learn MoreChannel Islands National Park is an archipelago of five almost entirely undeveloped islands that remains one of the least visited parks in the country. Much like the park’s farther-flung islands — San Miguel to the west and tiny Santa Barbara to the south — Santa Rosa Island receives only about 5,000 visitors annually, despite its impressive sprawl: 53,000 acres,...
Learn MoreIt has taken almost half a year, but the National Forest Service has decided to use a boardwalk to restore a popular path taken out of commission by the fall of two giant sequoia trees last September. The Forest Service went through a lengthy public consultation process to determine what to do about the ruined portion of about 100 feet of trail within the Trail of 100...
Learn MoreAs hiker displeasure with the closure of a portion of the popular Bump and Grind trail continues to simmer, another trail closure controversy has erupted in the mountains above Palm Desert, California. The federal Bureau of Land Management last week installed a sign prohibiting dogs on the uppermost half-mile of the Hopalong Cassidy trail to where a well-known landmark, a...
Learn MoreThe Bureau of Land Management will host free guided hikes to look for wintering bald eagles in the Cache Creek Natural Area in Lake County on Saturdays in January and February. Hikes will be held, Jan. 21 and 28, and Feb. 4, 11, 18 and 25. Hikes will be canceled in rainy weather. Those interested in participating should reserve space for a specific date by calling the BLM...
Learn MoreIt’s not the Golden Gate Bridge or the golf course at the Ritz-Carlton; it’s not Pebble Beach or the Monterey Bay Aquarium. When it comes to the sweetest attractions in coastal northern California, try getting off the beaten path for some under-the-radar hiking on trails that are truly spectacular. These three hikes lie along the ever-popular Pacific Coast...
Learn MoreBureau of Land Management natural resource specialists in Lake County, CA will lead guided four-mile hikes in the Cache Creek Natural Area from mid-January through late-February. The hikes will take place from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Saturdays. Enjoy the scenery of Cache Creek canyon where eagles, tule elk, osprey and other wildlife may be seen. The first mile consists of a...
Learn MoreFor the past ten years, the City of San Clemente has embarked on the process of developing a continuous 2.5 mile coastal trail paralleling active railroad tracks within the Right-of-Way owned by the Orange County Transportation Authority (OCTA). In addition, the City proposed construction of new, improved safe access points to the City beaches. Although the City has 18...
Learn MoreThe U.S. Forest Service is proposing to build a boardwalk near the twin giant sequoias that toppled to the ground along a popular trail, an event that garnered national attention and a slew of suggestions about what to do with the ancient trees. The agency received more than 150 comments from the public, ranging from “cut them into firewood” to “leave...
Learn MoreAmateur researchers in the United States continue to eagerly search for the mysterious creature known as Bigfoot, staking out California’s redwood forests at night in their hunt for the elusive beast. Despite many claimed sightings, the existence of Sasquatch has never been proven. Yet that hasn’t stopped the obsessed from pursuing his giant...
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I am Jeff Clark, founder of Internet Brothers, publisher of Meanderthals, and a passionate hiker. I live in western NC near the Blue Ridge and Great Smoky Mountains. Pisgah and Nantahala National Forests are just out my doorstep, 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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