The mysterious deaths of two young tourists in Panama puzzled examiners and shocked nations on both sides of the Atlantic; now secretly leaked documents could reveal what happened. Welcome to the jungle: specifically, the cloud forests of the Talamanca highlands. It’s a rainy Saturday in early June, at the height of the wet season in northern Panama… on the trail...
Learn MoreWaterfall fatalities seem to occur in national forests and parks every year. Safety measures are the best prevention. The best way to enjoy a waterfall is from a safe distance. Heed posted warning signs indicating danger and stay on established trails. Never climb on or around waterfalls and never play in the water above a waterfall. Rocks can be slippery and it’s...
Learn MoreThe Cradle of Forestry invites the public to enjoy a Saturday, July 30, 2016 program about western North Carolina’s logging train history and the 1915 Climax logging locomotive on display at the Cradle. Visitors will learn about the locomotive and explore the rich history of a time when many livelihoods depended on logging trains winding their way through the...
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This month, the full Democratic Platform Committee approved the strongest statement about the urgent need for climate action ever issued by a major party in this country. The platform makes for the starkest possible contrast with a party that just nominated Donald Trump — a man who has called climate change a hoax invented by and for the Chinese, who has denied basic...
Learn MoreThe Bureau of Land Management (BLM) announced July 20, 2016 the completion of its environmental review for a landmark oil and gas leasing plan on federal lands between Arches and Canyonlands national parks. The release of the Moab Master Leasing Plan (MLP) is the result of a collaborative process where the BLM listened to the needs of local leaders as well as from...
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You can’t enjoy a day in the woods if your feet are bothering you because your boots are uncomfortable. One of the questions I get asked the most is how to choose the appropriate hiking footwear. It isn’t a difficult question, but it seems to defy a simple answer… at least until now. Paula Casey of Walsh Brothers Shoes sent me this infographic all the...
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The Conservation Fund and the National Park Service will host an event to commemorate the National Park Service’s Centennial and celebrate the protection of lands surrounding Waterrock Knob, a major scenic destination on the Blue Ridge Parkway. An effort to conserve more than 5,000 acres in the Plott Balsam Mountains and much of the spectacular views from Waterrock Knob...
Learn MoreIt’s no news that Greenland is in serious trouble — but now, new research has helped quantify just how bad its problems are. A satellite study, published in the journal Geophysical Research Letters, suggests that the Greenland ice sheet lost a whopping 1 trillion tons of ice between the years 2011 and 2014 alone. And a big portion of it came from just five glaciers,...
Learn MoreSolar energy has grown 100-fold in this country in the past decade. Globally, solar has doubled seven times since 2000, and Dubai received a bid recently for 800 megawatts of solar at a stunning “US 2.99 cents per kilowatt hour” — unsubsidized! For context, the average residential price for electricity in the United States is 12 cents per kilowatt-hour. Solar energy has...
Learn MoreThe Republican Party’s 2016 platform was released at its national convention in Cleveland. It contains sections called “A New Era in Energy” and “Environmental Progress.” Ha. If you want a guide to what Republicans would do with full control of the federal government, you couldn’t get a better one than this 2,400-word part of the platform. Cancel the Clean Power Plan...
Learn MoreThe Wallowa Mountains get all the attention as Eastern Oregon’s great hiking and backpacking destination, but if you actually go there you’ll drive right by the similarly scenic, much more accessible Elkhorn Range. So skip the crowds at Joseph and Wallowa Lake. Forget the long, dusty trudges hiking up to the high country of the Wallowas. At Anthony Lake in the Elkhorn...
Learn MoreMore than half of the Republicans in Congress question the science of human-caused climate change, according to the Center for American Progress. The presumptive Republican nominee for president, Donald Trump, has also said he is not “a great believer in man-made climate change.” In a letter dated June 28, 2016, 31 leading U.S. scientific organizations sent members of...
Learn MoreTasmania’s Arthur Range is arguably Australia’s most spectacular mountain chain. Unfortunately for hikers there’s a catch. It’s called the “weather.” Backcountry trips in the Arthurs are a meteorological roll of the dice at any time of year. When it’s fine you’ll be treated to sublime views of jagged quartzite peaks, hanging valleys and glacier carved lakes. If a big...
Learn MoreIn a new study published in Nature on Monday, July 18, 2016 scientists say they have for the first time thoroughly documented one of the most profound planetary changes yet to be caused by a warming climate: The distribution of clouds all across the Earth has shifted, they say. And moreover, it has shifted in such a way — by expanding subtropical dry zones, located...
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On a recent summer morning a group of middle schoolers joined Cassius Cash, superintendent of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, for a short hike along the Porters Creek Trail in the park’s Greenbrier district about six miles east of Gatlinburg. It was a gentle trail — at least by Smoky Mountains standards — that allowed plenty of opportunity to savor the...
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This is big, raw countryside with tumbling landscapes of jutting Navajo sandstone cliffs bleached by grueling heat and sprawling bluffs that rise proud and angry from a sagebrush floor. There is nothing diminutive in this bold and unforgiving land that is so overwhelmingly expansive and complex one can lose a sense of time and being — wrapped in serene beauty that can...
Learn MoreFirefighters on the North Rim of Grand Canyon National Park contending with gusting winds on Sunday, July 17, 2016 were hoping “existing roads and natural features” would help them gain control over a lightning-sparked wildfire that made a four-and-a-half-mile run the day before. The winds Saturday pushed the Fuller Fire to the northeast through the Saddle...
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Bears in the Smoky Mountains long ago figured out how to raid food bags hanging from trees. But until this year, the bears in the Blue Ridge didn’t know how. Now, mama bears are teaching the baby bears how to do it. Are the black bears in the areas of McAfee Knob and Tinker Cliffs in Virginia growing smarter? At the least, they seem cagier and more socialized to...
Learn MoreA team of scientists is camping on the Appalachian Trail in North Georgia this week, studying how it’s affected by its own popularity. Georgia has one of the busiest stretches of the more than 2,000-mile trail, said Jeff Marion, who studies recreation ecology at the U.S. Geological Survey and Virginia Tech. Since the trail begins in Georgia, there can be a lot of...
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For many, getting outside is a welcome escape from computers, iPads, smartphones, and all the electronic gadgets that make our lives “more convenient.” Others embrace technology, happily combining pedometers and global-positioning systems with their adventures. Today, such personal devices as Fitbit and applications such as MapMyHike give outdoor enthusiasts tools to...
Learn MoreA controversial legislative proposal released July 14, 2016 by Representative Rob Bishop (R-UT) would transfer all federally-owned energy and mineral resources in southern Utah to state control, paving the way for massive new uranium, coal, and oil extraction across the area’s national forests, redrock canyons, and other public lands. The bill, known as the Public Lands...
Learn MoreJim and Will Pattiz are media professionals who have a passion for our national parks. Their More than Just Parks plan is to create short films for each of the 59 US National Parks to give people a completely unique viewing experience. They hope that this will encourage folks to get out there and have a one-of-a-kind experience of their own in our national parks. It is...
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The Republican Party is drafting its 2016 platform, which represents a hard swerve to the right on social issues. But other parts of its stance have long been consistent – most notably, its push for transferring federal lands to state control. Party platforms are not binding, but they do demonstrate party priorities – what the base thinks are the most important issues...
Learn MoreLocated about 45 minutes from Winston-Salem, this beautiful State Park offers more than 20 miles of hiking trails for all experience levels. The view at the end of the Hanging Rock Trail is a must-see. At 1.3 miles (one-way), this is a fairly easy hike that also offers some waterfalls at the bottom. While the last part of the hike is steep and has several stairs to...
Learn MoreShenandoah is haunted by ghosts. Just 15 years ago, the eastern hemlock tree, the mighty Redwood of the East, was a scenic highlight of Virginia’s Skyline Drive, creating the shady groves that put Shenandoah National Park on the conservation map. Now 95% of them are dead, rotting on the forest floor or still standing above the canopy as gray ghosts, with a few...
Learn MoreAt a glance, Stamsried seems a lot like any other town in Bavaria. It has the same narrow, winding streets and the usual assortment of bakeries, butcher shops and bars. It’s home to no particularly famous individual or great cultural landmark. What it does have is a fantastic set of hiking paths and Burgruine Kurnberg, one of the better set of castle ruins you’ll find in...
Learn MoreThe Appalachian Ranger District of the Pisgah National Forest will hold a public meeting on July 14 from 2-5 p.m. at the North Carolina Arboretum to learn the public interests and issues related to a developing proposal for the “Twelve Mile” project. The proposed area for the project is the southwestern most part of the Appalachian Ranger District adjacent to...
Learn MoreA couple of years back, Liz “Snorkel” Thomas walked from Georgia to Maine on the Appalachian Trail. At the time, she became the fastest woman to do this without a support team—and she did it completely solo. The 2,190 miles of the Appalachian Trail cover the highest mountains on the East Coast. She hiked through fields of boulders, forded powerful rivers, 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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