The USFS has resumed a project that includes timber harvesting in the Harmon Den area of the Appalachian Ranger District of the Pisgah National Forest, approximately 25 miles northwest of Asheville, North Carolina. Benefits of the timber harvesting include improved wildlife habitat for species including elk, deer, grouse and other species that benefit from areas of young...
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Clad in his signature park ranger hat, belt buckle, and jeans, Smokey Bear is best known for his timeless message: “Only you can prevent wildfires.” Created by the U.S. Forest Service, National Association of State Foresters, and Ad Council, the character is considered the longest-running public service campaign in American history, and one of the most successful. But...
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There truly is no Earthly escape from the waste we have unleashed into the environment. Henderson Island in the South Pacific has been found to host hundreds of pieces of plastic per square meter of beach, with even more items buried in the sand. World heritage site Henderson Island is among the most remote places on Earth. Although Polynesians once occupied the island,...
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The Cradle of Forestry in America invites nature enthusiasts of all ages and knowledge levels to the first spring Pink Beds Bioblitz on Saturday, May 20, 2017. Join naturalists and scientists to discover the diversity of life in this special part of Pisgah National Forest, and add to knowledge gained about the area during last fall’s Bioblitz. Those who would like...
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In the winter of 2014, Sherri “Sam” Mason, a chemist at the State University of New York at Fredonia, sent two of her undergraduate students out to the shore of Lake Erie near campus to volunteer to fillet the fish that sport fisherman caught. The deal: the students could keep the guts. They took the fish innards back to campus and painstakingly sorted through the...
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Modern workout machines, like treadmills, offer flat and predictable workout surfaces. Although you can adjust the incline slightly, it does not offer a consistent challenge. In fact, most people fail to see expected results after months of using their treadmill. Hiking engages the entire body as it requires the use of hamstrings, glutes, quadriceps, abdominals, calves,...
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The sharp teeth of the cross-cut saw carve like a file through the thick fir log to the rhythm of Jason Middleton and Aaron Babcock pushing and pulling this antique tool of the backwoods. “We’d already be through it but we hit a knot,” Babcock says. The knot proves to be no match for the seasoned saw, and the split log sloughs into the Middle Fork...
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Law enforcement and search and rescue personnel encourage adventurers to plan ahead, use the buddy system and tell loved ones where they’re headed as they venture into the Columbia River Gorge or the Northwest’s other wonders as the weather warms. Trails can be tricky this time of year, a Multnomah County Sheriff’s Office spokesman said, citing slick...
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The hikers pile out of minivans on the side of a serpentine highway, climb a dusty hill, pass a Bedouin woman preparing morning bread in a tent, then turn the corner and find themselves embraced by the desert hills — a world apart. Outdoor exploration is a weekly Friday morning ritual for the group, which calls itself Shat’ha, or “Picnic” in Arabic –...
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The Condor Trail is a wilderness route through the mountains in the Santa Barbara, California backcountry running more than 400 miles from Lake Piru in the south to Bottcher’s Gap in the mountains above Big Sur near Carmel. It goes through seven wilderness areas in the Los Padres National Forest. It is not an easy trail — in parts, there is no trail. Inspired by trails...
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Leave your hydration monitor, bluetooth speaker, and autonomous drone at home. On the trail, you’ll only need your brawn, smarts, and a smattering of old-school gear for this sort of hiking trip. Hiking trails these days are overcrowded, sissified dirt highways of giant-backpack-wearing, ill-prepared softies. Did the great explorers of pioneer days need zinc on their...
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President Donald Trump’s national monuments executive order is an attack on American national parks, public lands, and oceans. One of its specific targets is the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument in Utah. Although some Utah politicians argue that this monument has had a negative impact on the surrounding area, the reality on the ground is quite different: By a...
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As he embarked on a tour of Utah to review two national monuments, Ryan Zinke said he sees no evidence Native American proponents of Bears Ears National Monument were exploited by special interest groups, as state leaders have suggested. “I think they’re smart, capable, passionate, and have a deep sense of tie to their culture and want to preserve it,”...
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Tom Lopez created the Grand Slam peaks of the Boise, Idaho, area as a four-step training regimen for his summer climbs. Others have latched onto the concept as a goal unto itself, or a circuit worth completing against the clock. “When I redid the website a couple of years ago, the Grand Slam peaks page disappeared,” said Lopez, a retired attorney, mountain climber and...
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Ever wonder what nature looks like when you aren’t watching it? If a critter scurries through the forest and there’s no one there to see it, is it still adorable? The answer is yes. We know this through the efforts of trail photographers who operate remote trail cameras that capture nature as it looks when no humans are there to disturb it. There is a part of...
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The Green Mountain Club, based in Waterbury, Vermont, is a membership based nonprofit organization that is responsible for the maintenance of the Long Trail system, including the 272-mile footpath through the wilderness, 185 miles of side trails and 70 backcountry campsites. The GMC also participates in maintenance and protection of Vermont’s 100-mile portion of the...
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After being diagnosed with an invasive, aggressive, triple-positive Stage I breast cancer in the fall of 2012, Patti McCarthy wasn’t sure she’d be able to continue her beloved hiking. And she’d had plans: She and her husband spent the previous months preparing to hike the whole Pacific Crest Trail, all 2,650 miles of it from Mexico to Canada. “After the diagnosis, I had...
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Thirty people attempted a thru-hike its inaugural year. The 2016-17 season saw more than 500 people try it. With the number of hikers on one of the world’s newest long-distance trails more than doubling year after year, chances are you will begin hearing more about Te Araroa. Even though it may be impossible not to fall in love with New Zealand, Te Araroa is challenging...
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Topping out at just over 3,000 feet, its height alone does not make Shortoff Mountain one of the most famous peaks in all of Western North Carolina. It is also a destination for hikers, rock climbers, campers and lovers of wilderness adventure. Instead, Shortoff draws its fame from two outstanding physical features. One is its location at the southern end of Linville...
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The Ozark Trail Association has an upcoming event that hiking enthusiasts may want to join. The association has recently announced its inaugural Taum-A-Hawk Hiking Race set for June 10, 2017. A one-day event open to the public, hikers will traverse the 13 miles of the Ozark Trail from Taum Sauk Mountain State Park to Johnson’s Shut-Ins State Park located in Iron County,...
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Hiding giants is a tall order, but Thomas Dambo has managed to hide six in the area around Copenhagen, Denmark. Dambo is an artist who specializes in reclaimed and recycled materials, and the Forgotten Giants are no exception to this method, created from scrap wood collected from old, demolished buildings and felled trees. The sculptures were deliberately placed off the...
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Throughout history, humans have existed side-by-side with bacteria and viruses. From the bubonic plague to smallpox, we have evolved to resist them, and in response they have developed new ways of infecting us. We have had antibiotics for almost a century, ever since Alexander Fleming discovered penicillin. In response, bacteria have responded by evolving antibiotic...
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In wintertime, the sounds of nature are so subtle they’re almost imperceptible: The whistling of the wind though craggy mountaintops, the whispering branches of the trees; the soft, delicate patter of an unseen animal’s paws across snowy ground. “It’s a really quiet experience,” said Rachel Buxton, recalling a recent winter hike in southwest...
Learn MoreInstead of an actual trail, jumbled volcanic rock dictates that you meander through its obstacle course. Each turn brings you closer to the summit that tops out just up the road from the Shoshone Ice Caves, but progress was slow. The immense stone garden that is traversed continually changes. Early on, the ground surface contains enough soil interspersed between rocks to...
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Summer is nearly here, and it’s bringing fears of a rare tick-borne disease called Powassan. This potentially life-threatening virus is carried and transmitted by three types of ticks, including the deer tick that transmits Lyme disease. Over the past decade, 75 cases have been reported in the northeastern states and the Great Lakes region, according to the US...
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The Carolinas Poison Center, which offers assistance to venomous snake bite victims and the doctors who treat them, has reported a near quadrupling in North Carolina snake bite incidents compared to this time last year. According to a report filed by WLOS, the center received 71 calls throughout the month of April 2017. Compare that to the 19 calls the center received in...
Learn MoreGreat Smoky Mountains National Park officials announced that a 2-year trail rehabilitation project will begin next week on the popular Rainbow Falls Trail. The trail will be closed May 8, 2017 through November 16, 2017 on Monday mornings at 7:00 a.m. through Thursday evenings at 5:30 p.m. weekly. Due to the construction process on the narrow trail, a full closure is...
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Fill up your water bottle and lace up your hiking shoes—National Trails Day is right around the corner. National Trails Day is the only nationally coordinated event designed to unite all muscle-powered trail activities with the goal of connecting more people to trails. Every trail beckons adventure and has a story to share with any person willing to discover it, 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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