It won’t happen overnight, but the National Park Service is starting the process to integrate Valles Caldera National Preserve in New Mexico into the National Park System. The national preserve was moved to the National Park Service from the U.S. Forest Service when President Obama signed into law the massive Defense authorization bill passed by Congress in late...
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Great Smoky Mountains National Park geographic information system specialists and scientists in collaboration with scientists from Tennessee, North Carolina, and the United States Geological Survey (USGS), have completed a three-year stream mapping project. Park scientists used a combination of aircraft-mounted scanners and a Global Positioning System verification...
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Do you have what it takes to complete the Dirty Dozen Wilderness Hike Challenge? Presented by The Wilderness Society and Blue Ridge Outdoors Magazine, this challenge is a great way to celebrate the 50th anniversary of The Wilderness Act, discover new places or revisit favorites, and have the chance to win prizes. 2014-2015 marks the 50th anniversary of The Wilderness...
Learn More“‘Every second, new colours,” said the guide, Dharme, as the sky turned from crimson to gold. As the sun rose, the landscape below took shape – distant peaks soared above valleys which dipped beneath a canopy of mist. Waterfalls plunged, white stupas peeked out from the jungle, and coloured flags were illuminated in the early light. It was 6am on the...
Learn MoreThe agony and angst endured by those who hike for months over the rugged National Scenic Trails are painfully palpable. But they, and the millions of hikers who self-impose these hiking challenges, really have it easy. Think how hard it would be to hike all those miles without trail markers, or without a trail. That’s where the real trail angels come in –...
Learn MoreUnited States Senators stood up for what they believed in finally—and it wasn’t pretty. During a debate over construction of the Keystone XL pipeline, intended to carry oil from Canada to the United States, the Senate voted on an amendment—just for show, really—on whether climate change “is real and not a hoax.” Easy question—everyone said yes, it’s real. (Well, not...
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An ambitious project that began on the Blue Ridge Parkway to connect children with the great outdoors is getting bigger. Kids in Parks, a signature program of the Blue Ridge Parkway Foundation, has been awarded $921,000 from the Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina Foundation to continue its work helping kids and families reconnect with nature through TRACK...
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Even though Devils Elbow is a mountain summit, the highlights of the Devils Elbow Trail in Panthertown are the myriad of waterfalls on the Tuckasegee River. The river forms at the confluence of Panthertown and Greenland Creeks, then takes a wild ride over several falls on its way eventually to Fontana Lake in the Great Smoky Mountains. Most of this hike is on maintained...
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Hexo+ is the ultimate next-gen tech gear for taking amazing aerial shots and videos. Capable of auto-flying and auto-following the subject, users can control the Hexo+ with a few simple gestures on their smartphones, and the Hexo+ will fly to position while adjusting its trajectory along the way for the perfect filming angle. With a maximum speed of 70km/h and the...
Learn MoreThe U.S. Forest Service plans to conduct a 255-acre prescribed burn in the Grandfather Ranger District, Pisgah National Forest, by Friday, Jan. 23, 2015. The agency will conduct the one-day burn near the Avery County-Caldwell County line, northwest of the Globe area near Anthony Creek. The Forest Service is conducting the burn as part of the Grandfather Restoration...
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Connecticut’s Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP) recently announced a great opportunity to win prizes for hiking Connecticut’s high peaks as part of a new program – “The Sky’s the Limit” 2015 Hiking Challenge, designed to promote hiking in Connecticut’s state parks and forests throughout 2015. “What a great way to spending time outdoors hiking...
Learn MoreYes, there’s a better way to put one foot in front of the other. Improve your stride, trek farther, and end leg and back pain with this guide to the new science of healthy hiking. “Backpacking used to be a necessary part of survival,” notes author and back-pain specialist Esther Gokhale, who has studied healthy sitting, standing, and walking postures in native...
Learn MoreGreen River Preserve (GRP) is Carolina Mountain Land Conservancy’s largest conservation easement and one of the largest in all of western NC. It contains a plethora of natural treasures and abundance of unspoiled mountain slopes making it one of the biggest and most biologically-diverse private wildlife preserves in western North Carolina. More than 2,600 acres of...
Learn MoreA Duke Energy contractor is seeking permission from North Carolina regulators to move millions of tons of coal ash from existing dumpsites at the utility giant’s power plants and place it in abandoned clay mines in Lee and Chatham counties. But should the plan win state approval over the objections of local governments, environmental advocates worry that it could...
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Warrior Hike is a walk back to civilization, back to a life left behind and back through history. Sean Gobin, a combat U.S. Marine Corps veteran, started the nonprofit organization after he returned from multiple deployments to the Middle East, undertook a four-month through hike of the Appalachian Trail, and realized this could provide the ideal way for soldiers...
Learn MoreFall foliage season is a popular time for hiking in Pennsylvania. But fall hiking on state game lands might be prohibited if a new regulation under consideration by the Pennsylvania Game Commission is approved. The commission is scheduled to consider a new rule Jan. 27, 2015 that would forbid hiking and other non-hunting activities on state game lands during fall and...
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Re-measurements and relocations of the Appalachian Trail (A.T.) have brought the total mileage of the footpath to 2,189.2 miles, an increase of 3.9 miles from last year’s mileage of 2,185.3. This mileage is carefully documented in the Trail’s official guidebooks, which include the Appalachian Trail Data Book and the Appalachian Trail Thru-Hikers’ Companion. Both books...
Learn MoreOne of the highlights of winter hiking in the Sierra Nevada is the surreal calm of the forest under a blanket of snow. There are very few leaves to rustle and, when the snow is powdery, not even footsteps make a noise. That’s why the sudden burst of birdsong on a recent trip to Chickadee Ridge was such a pleasant surprise. One moment a group of Tahoe Rim Trail...
Learn MoreBeth Moon, a photographer based in San Francisco, has been searching for the world’s oldest trees for the past 14 years. She has traveled all around the globe to capture the most magnificent trees that grow in remote locations and look as old as the world itself. “Standing as the earth’s largest and oldest living monuments, I believe these symbolic trees will take on a...
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The Greenbrier section of Great Smoky Mountains National Park is filled with old growth forest, and with lots and lots of creeks draining into the valley from the high mountains of the Smokies above. The path of one of those creeks, False Gap Prong, takes it from near Laurel Top to Greenbrier Cove. A non-supported trail — otherwise known as a manway — follows...
Learn MoreWith one quick drop in the price of oil, the shale oil boom is officially bust. In less than a week, 61 oil rigs across the United States closed up shop, according to the most recent rig count from Baker Hughes. The U.S. has 1,750 oil rigs still pumping, but that number is expected to fall by another 400 rigs by the time spring rolls around. The whole episode is a...
Learn MoreThis morning the White House announced a new plan to crack down on the oil and gas industry’s emissions of methane, a potent greenhouse gas. The move is the last major piece of President Obama’s domestic climate agenda, following in the footsteps of tougher standards for vehicle emissions and a sweeping plan to curb carbon dioxide emissions from power plants. Like the...
Learn MoreSenate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said this week he will allow the Senate to vote on an amendment asking if they agree that climate change is impacting the planet. At his weekly press briefing, McConnell said “nobody is blocking any amendments” to legislation that would approve construction of the Keystone XL pipeline. The GOP leader had promised...
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The United States is proud to preserve and protect its World Heritage Sites. There are a relatively small number of places on Earth that have been formally determined by the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) World Heritage Committee to possess “outstanding universal value” to humanity for their exceptional cultural and...
Learn MoreMount Olympus is worthy of its association to the gods in Greek mythology for numerous reasons. First, it is Greece’s highest mountain, and, naturally, the gods wouldn’t live on a puny little hill. Second, it is the second highest mountain in the Balkan Range. Finally, it beckons thousands of people each year to tackle its hiking trails and reach its summit. Mythology...
Learn MoreWhile the West—with its high altitudes, rugged peaks and chill, outdoorsy vibe—has quietly claimed the mantle of quintessential hiking paradise, don’t write off everything east of the Mississippi. After all, seemingly endless wilderness stretches along the Ozark Highland, North Country Scenic and Appalachian Trails, so missing out on the chance to climb a 14er...
Learn MoreThe chemical that contaminated West Virginia’s drinking water supply last year traveled father and lingered longer than had been previously recorded, according to a new study by U.S. Geological Survey researchers. Published online in the journal Chemosphere, the peer-reviewed research shows that the chemical — 4-Methylcyclohexanemethanol, also known as crude MCHM — was...
Learn MoreBaked by time like some multi-layer geologic tort, Canyonlands National Park in southeastern Utah features a landscape cut by canyons, rumpled by upthrusts, dimpled by grabens, and even pockmarked, some believe, by ancient asteroids. Just outside of Moab rises a kaleidoscope of tilted and carved geology laid down over the eons. There’s the red and white Cedar Mesa...
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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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