For the first time since 2013, Google has updated its satellite imagery of planet earth. The new images have more detail and truer colors, giving civilians more data than has ever been available. Google Earth works by analyzing trillions of pixels worth of satellite images, selecting the clearest, cloud-free ones, then stitching them all together into one seamless image...
Learn MoreThe land is big and mostly flat. There are endless fields of corn, wheat and soybeans. Colors of green and gold paint the earth for miles. But as you travel west, the farmland gives way to wild grasses. It grows tall here under a huge blue sky. Farther on, however, the grass becomes much shorter. A strong dry wind blows continuously from the west. Suddenly, the land is...
Learn MorePicture a volcano spewing a river of molten lava burning so hot that it burrows its way through the Earth, moving so fast that a human couldn’t outrun it. That’s what happened on the Big Island of Hawaii at what is now Hawaii Volcanoes National Park. The lava flow from the Kilauea volcano left behind massive lava tubes as evidence of its destructive path,...
Learn MoreThe Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court found in favor of four youth plaintiffs in a critical climate change case. In 2012, hundreds of youth petitioned the DEP asking the agency to comply with the Global Warming Solutions Act (GWSA) and adopt rules reducing the state’s greenhouse gas emissions, but that petition was denied. As a result of DEP’s reluctance...
Learn MoreJust the thought of being alone in the wilderness gives most people a panic attack. And while it is good to be aware of all the dangers of the wilderness, it is more crucial to think with a clear head so that you can survive any situation, such as getting lost. Wilderness survival is a lesson that you need to think about and learn before you leave your home. You need to...
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Join Conservation Trust for North Carolina and the Youth Conservation Corps for a hike at Jordan Lake near Apex, NC on Saturday, July 16, 2016 at 10:30 AM. You will meet up with a NC Youth Conservation Corps (NCYCC) crew that has been working around the lake. See the work these amazing young people have done to improve, restore, and preserve trails at Jordan Lake. CTNC...
Learn MoreAs you leave the city of Yachats behind, cross Highway 101 and climb into the sprawling forest of Sitka spruce alongside the rugged and beautiful Oregon coast, a question lingers at the back of your mind: Who is Amanda? This scenic 3.7-mile stretch of the Oregon Coast Trail, running from Yachats up to the top of Cape Perpetua, is officially known as the Amanda Trail...
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Are you into hiking technology but you still have no idea how to use a handheld GPS? Then, this is for you. A hiking GPS is not quite the same as Google Maps on your phone or the navigation system you use in your car. It’s a little more complex than that. Most GPSes or hiking watches have many features you can utilize to help you not only pinpoint where you are and where...
Learn MoreThe fortress of steel and concrete towering above the pine forest here is a first-of-its-kind power plant that was supposed to prove that “clean coal” was not an oxymoron — that it was possible to produce electricity from coal in a way that emits far less pollution, and to turn a profit while doing so. The plant was supposed to be a model for future power plants to help...
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Just getting to the edge of Rocky Mountain Front guarding the third-largest wilderness area in the continental United States requires miles of driving on rocky roads and through creek beds to find isolated trailheads. Those passing beyond the boundary must leave all motors and wheels behind. And yet, for two decades, thousands of people have hiked into this daunting...
Learn MoreFour days before Christmas in 2008, a blur of brown fur scrambled along the snowy Continental Divide in Wyoming. The terrain and the conditions were brutal, food scarce. The bait a biologist placed in a wooden trap proved irresistible. As soon as the creature crawled in, a signal alerted researchers miles away. They rode a snowmobile deep into the mountains, near...
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Mushrooms weave a network of ecology, medicine, food, and farming. Encountering a mushroom in the forest provides a glimpse to a web that is largely unseen, underground. The mushroom is a fruiting body that emerges from a network of branching mycelium, a cellular structure interwoven in soil. This mass thrives by connecting to other organisms, especially the roots of...
Learn MoreThe smugglers carried their tiny prizes tucked away in suitcases of jalapenos and dirty laundry. The spicy fruit was supposed to deflect inspections. Perhaps they thought the dirty laundry would do the same. Another rare item sat nestled in a new box of Uncle Ben’s Rice. Russians had a hard time finding Uncle Ben’s Rice back home, says Nicholas Chavez, Special Agent in...
Learn MoreThink of wildlife in U.S. national parks, and certain images pop to mind: Bears. Bison. Elk. Wolves. All spectacular critters, to be sure. But the National Park Service protects a wide range of wildlife, large and small. Some of these species are cryptic or elusive. But other smaller denizens offer fascinating viewing opportunities. For example, Great Smoky Mountains...
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Most people would have given up years ago. She is not most people. 41-year-old Medina, Ohio, resident Stacey Kozel has undertaken an enormous task: hiking the entire 2,190 miles of the Appalachian Trail. For most, that would be a mighty feat unto itself, but Kozel has an additional obstacle, to put it lightly: her legs are paralyzed. Kozel was diagnosed with lupus when...
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Did you know there is a network of willing volunteers stationed across Vermont, working together to provide hiking knowledge, recommendations for the best places to get water or stay for the night, and transport to and from trailheads? And that they are motivated simply by a shared love of the trail and a desire to see others make that connection? Volunteers like this...
Learn MoreWhen the temperature hits the triple digits in Phoenix, AZ, hikers continue to hike. They snake their way up Camelback Mountain, which has a 2,680-foot summit with spectacular views of the city. They pack the picturesque mile-long trail up Piestewa Peak. They traverse the towering cactus dotting South Mountain Park. And some of them find themselves lost, parched, in...
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While residents and environmentalists urge Duke Energy to clean up its coal ash pits, North Carolina’s biggest utility — and the governor’s former workplace — just got another pass from the legislature. Duke will likely not have to clean up seven of its unlined coal ash pits, where the byproduct of coal-fired power plants is stored. Instead, the company can opt to simply...
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The Wilderness Society’s mission is to protect wilderness and inspire Americans to care for our wild places. They contribute to better protection, stewardship and restoration of our public lands, preserving our rich natural legacy for current and future generations. They are a leading American conservation organization working to protect our nation’s shared...
Learn MoreA day at a national park with your family and friends might be priceless to you, but these natural treasures have a quantifiable value to the U.S. government: $92 billion, according to a new report from the National Park Foundation. To put that in perspective, that’s greater than the annual GDP of Ukraine or Sri Lanka, which are $90.52 billion and $82.1 billion,...
Learn MoreIn 1872, Dr. Charles M. Hitchcock bought a thousand acres of Rancho Carne Humana and built a country home along Ritchey Creek. He called it “Lonely.” Nearly 150 years later the beautiful trails along the creek remain as California’s Bothe-Napa Valley State Park. But you won’t be lonely there anymore. Bothe-Napa Valley State Park is one of the most-frequented hiking...
Learn MorePhoenix may close hiking trails in its more than 40,000 acres of desert preserves during intense heat that statewide already has claimed several lives this summer. Temperatures reaching 110 degrees would prompt the closure of city trails for people, through a policy under consideration this week. Dogs would be stopped from hiking when the mercury hits 100 degrees. The...
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Join Carolina Mountain Land Conservancy for a celestial show atop CMLC-conserved Bearwallow Mountain on Sunday, July 17, 2016. Hike to the summit about 90 minutes before sunset in time to watch the full moon rise, then hike back down the gravel road about 60 minutes after sunset. At 4,232 ft. above sea level, Bearwallow Mountain stands as the highest peak in the...
Learn MoreBoyan Slat was just 16 when he realized he wanted to rid the oceans of plastic. It all happened after he dove into the problem in the most literal way while snorkeling in Greece and finding more drifting plastic than fish swimming. “I thought, that’s a real problem. How can we come up with a solution for that?” Slat recalled. Indeed, the problem is real and large. Around...
Learn MoreThe Marcellus Shale has transformed the Appalachian Basin into an energy juggernaut. Even amid a recent drilling slowdown, regional daily production averages enough natural gas to power more than 200,000 U.S. homes for a year. But the rise of hydraulic fracturing over the past decade has created another boom: tons of radioactive materials experts call an “orphan” waste...
Learn MoreE pluribus unum — out of many, one — has been an official motto of the United States since June 20, 1782. Writ large, it could be the motto for climate action. There have always been two poles representing how the world might respond to the increasingly painful reality of climate change (or indeed any global scale problem). At one pole is unity driven by our moral...
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Cold Mountain is a Western North Carolina peak so beloved and romanticized, there are even a best-selling novel, Hollywood movie and microbrew bearing its name. But even though the 6,030-foot summit is protected as part of the Shining Rock Wilderness of Pisgah National Forest, and the state Cold Mountain Game Lands protect land on the western slopes, large chunks of the...
Learn MoreCenturies ago in Brittany, locals had plenty of motivation for canal building. With several wars negatively impacting the coastal waterways, they needed to link Nantes in the east and Brest in the west, both with military arsenals, and, in doing so, to improve the economic development of the rural communities in the interior. This Napoleonic initiative took decades of...
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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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