Wild, rugged, and weathered — the Wichita Mountains Wildlife Refuge in central Oklahoma is a symbol of the old west standing at the threshold of modern times. The natural attractions of the refuge are many and varied. In addition to viewing and photographing wildlife in their natural setting, visitors find the lakes, streams, canyons, mountains and grasslands ideal...
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An 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...
Learn 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...
Learn 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...
Learn 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...
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Chris 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...
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The Nitecore MH12 is an ultra-compact, high strength USB rechargeable flashlight offering reliability and performance that defies its size and weight. Whether you’re hiking after dark or before dawn, and your headlamp simply isn’t enough, the MH12 just might be your solution. Maybe you’re hiking in a pitch black cave or cloud-covered night. Whatever the...
Learn 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...
Learn 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...
Learn 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...
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When 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...
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The Puebloan people have lived in the American Southwest for many centuries. Archaeologists think they are descended from groups of hunters and gatherers who came to the region over 10,000 years ago. In the area that is now Bandelier National Monument, in Northern New Mexico, the villages of Tyuonyi and Tsankawi and their adjacent cliff dwellings appeared in the 13th...
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It’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...
Learn 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...
Learn 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...
Learn 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...
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Join 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...
Learn 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...
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The labyrinth called Canyon de Chelly (pronounced d’SHAY) comprises several canyons that include Canyon de Chelly, Monument Canyon and Canyon del Muerto. At the mouth of the canyons near the tribal town of Chinle, in northeastern Arizona, the rock walls are only 30 feet high. Deeper in, the bright red sandstone bluffs rise dramatically to stand more than a thousand...
Learn 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...
Learn 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...
Learn 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...
Learn MoreThe most beloved — and at times the most crowded — national forest in the country is getting a little more breathing room. Pisgah National Forest, which covers more than a half-million acres of heavily forested mountains, mile-high peaks, waterfalls, streams and rivers along the eastern edge of the mountains of Western North Carolina, just added another 517 acres of...
Learn MoreIt’s the sun peeking through the trees, the slight breeze on a cool day and the crackling of the leaves beneath your feet that bring people closer to the world around them. “You feel surfaces people have never experienced,” said Kevin McDermott who’s been barefoot hiking for seven years. “It’s like living in a different world.” The bareness of barefoot hiking brought...
Learn MoreDuke Energy Progress announced plans May 19, 2015 to shutter and eventually demolish its 51-year-old, coal-fired plant at Lake Julian, opting instead to rely on natural gas to meet a growing demand for electricity. If granted state approval, the natural gas facility could be online by 2020 and would be built on Duke property near the existing plant. That facility...
Learn MoreThe Great Smoky Mountain National Park closed the Mt. LeConte backcountry shelter and the popular Cliff Tops area due to aggressive bear activity in the area. Trails leading to the summit of Mt. LeConte are still open, but the park is encouraging hikers to walk in tight groups of three or more and carry bear spray. The park has extra staff stationed to monitor the...
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There are few more spectacular and humbling experiences than being at one with nature, miles from civilization, with nothing but the flora and fauna that surrounds you as company. It’s this oneness with nature that draws hikers onto trails for remote, days-long hikes. Nature lovers will challenge themselves against the elements; surviving on the bounties of Mother Nature...
Learn MoreLater this month, crews will begin carving a 2.6-mile tree-shaded hiking path out of the wilderness along the Peace River near Fort Meade. And when the Peace River Trail is finished about four months from now, city leaders in Fort Meade are hoping it will become a magnet for visitors to their community. “I think people are going to come here and walk the trail, and...
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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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