For a few weeks each year, from April into June, the land not far beyond Mount Hood is prime for walking across juniper-dappled hills in Oregon’s high desert. The air dries out quicker east of the mountains, making wildflowers bloom and caddis flies hatch to feed ravenous trout in the Deschutes River. The land where central Oregon begins, around Madras and...
Learn MoreOne of the most scenic places in the Oregon Cascades, the lake in the crater of Broken Top in the Three Sisters Wilderness, has finally landed in one of William L. Sullivan’s hiking books. So why was the Eugene author, often referred to as Oregon’s “hiking guru,” holding out all these years? Blame it on the U.S. Forest Service, Sullivan responded...
Learn MoreThe Lewis and Clark National Park covers a sprawling 40 miles and comprises 12 separate sites in an area stretching from Long Beach, Washington State to Cannon Beach, Oregon. Abundant trails for hiking, drama, stunning scenery and wild, rugged coastline all mix together in this historic encounter of America’s most famous explorers. These trail-blazing pioneers, in every...
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 MoreIn the wake of a storm that hit the Columbia River Gorge, volunteers with the Mt. Hood Chapter of the Pacific Crest Trail Association helped clear blocked hiking trails last weekend. The chapter’s volunteers care for 221 miles of the Pacific Crest Trail from the Mount Jefferson Wilderness to Mount Adams. And that help is critical considering that only one U.S. Forest...
Learn MoreRejecting the idea that they have to “keep up” is an attitude shift that many hikers are making as they move into their 60s, 70s and 80s, and they are heading out onto hiking trails in increasing numbers. In the past seven years, the Portland, OR Parks & Recreation Senior Recreation program has more than doubled the number of weekly hiking trips it...
Learn MoreNothing sells a conservation message more than a walk on the wild side. And doing it during the winter adds a whole new dimension to the appreciation. “If you’ve never snowshoed and you’re an avid hiker, snowshoeing is a way to see the forest and to see Oregon’s back country in a completely different way,” said Sean Stevens of Oregon Wild....
Learn MoreWhen I talk about backpacking alone, a 52-year-old woman, people tend to ask two things: Do you get lonely? And are you afraid? The answer to both is yes. Loneliness sets in during the long interval between supper and sleep. Meal done, I sit at my campsite, waiting for dark before crawling into my tent. My body is tired from hiking, but my mind is awake, wishing for...
Learn MoreThe idea for the Outdoor Blogger Network was born, appropriately enough, on a riverbank, via a conversation between two Outdoor bloggers. Rebecca Garlock, The Outdooress – and Joe Wolf, Flowing Waters – were talking about a myriad of topics and blogging ideas after spending a day fly fishing for trout in Oregon. It was one of those times when things just clicked. ...
Learn MoreAbout 350 air miles southeast of Portland, the West Little Owyhee River, a rarely visited tributary of the better-known Owyhee River, has cut a squiggle of a gorge through sandy expanses of sage and rye. The canyon is surely among the most inaccessible places in the West. At its loneliest, the nearest human living under a proper roof is about 24 hours away by four-wheel...
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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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