The Continental Divide Trail Coalition (CDTC), the lead National Partner for management of the Continental Divide National Scenic Trail (CDT) has launched a new Fundraising campaign through Indiegogo titled “The Next 32 Miles” to raise funds to construct a 32 mile non-motorized section of the CDT on the Rio Grande National Forest near Saguache, CO.
“The Next 32 Miles” launched on November 18, 2014 and raised over $10,000 in the first 48 hours of the effort. The Campaign will run through January 2, 2015 and can be found here.
This project would allow the CDTC and partners, including local Youth Corps programs and volunteers, to complete one of the last remaining sections of the CDT in Colorado. When complete, this 32 mile trail section, which co-aligns with the Colorado Trail, will be a highly desirable, primitive back-country hiking experience.
Unlike the PCT and the A.T., the CDT is incomplete, despite being created 36 years ago. The CDT is falling through the cracks, and is facing great difficulties in maintaining what so many have worked so hard to build and is threatened by ever shrinking federal budgets and resources. Because the Trail is unfinished, it is vulnerable to interests incompatible with the vision of the Trail as a remote back-country primitive experience.
There may not be a better way to escape the rainy day blues than a dip into the magic waters of Oregon’s hot springs. Geothermal activity creates pools of relaxing glory that are particularly welcome when the temperatures dip and the rain falls across the mountains.
The hot springs in the Beaver State vary considerably. Some are wild outposts with naked hippies running around, others are pricy retreats and some are little-known secrets.
To keep hot springs an enjoyable experience, it’s important that visitors not trash them. There’s a disturbing history of people acting poorly at hot springs in Oregon and ruining it for everyone else. Remember, while clothing might be optional, acting like a jerk is not. Wait your turn, clean up after yourself and enjoy the soothing waters.
Here’s a round-up of the best hot springs in Western Oregon, including five public destinations and four private resorts:
With year’s end quickly approaching, don’t let it pass by without making the annual “Trek to the Tree” at Kings Canyon National Park to watch as rangers lay a wreath at the bottom of the Nation’s Christmas Tree.
This year’s trek is the 89th annual. It will be held on December 14 from 2:30 p.m.-3:30 p.m. Sponsored by the Sanger District Chamber of Commerce in cooperation with the National Park Service, the event will include the Jubilation Singers, Sanger High School Choir, Fresno Tuba Christmas Ensemble, and a non-denominational holiday message. During the ceremony, a National Park Service representative will speak about the General Grant Tree’s role as a national shrine in memory of the men and women of the Armed Forces who have served, fought, and died to keep America free. A memorial wreath will be placed at the base of the General Grant Tree.
The ceremony will be held at the General Grant Tree, a quarter-mile walk from an adjacent parking lot. Given limited parking at the grove, a free shuttle service will be available from the Kings Canyon Visitor Center parking area to the Grant Tree Trail.
With an average of ten million visitors each year, Great Smoky Mountains National Park experiences many visitors who get lost in the park because of inaccurate Location-Based Services (LBS) or outdated maps. Park-issued maps are available at visitor centers, but many visitors rely on navigation assistance from their mobile phones or other GPS devices. This is a major problem because the map data used by many LBS providers does not reflect authoritative data – causing many visitors to follow poor navigation directions.
When the National Park Service NPMap team announced several initiatives built around OpenStreetMap (OSM), the Smokies quickly saw an opportunity to get accurate maps and data into the hands of an increasingly technologically-savvy public. All National Parks must make their authoritative map data available through the NPS Data Store, but few park visitors possess the knowledge or the software required to manipulate the data or load it onto their personal electronic device. OpenStreetMap, on the other hand, is built specifically for non-technical users, and it gives them the ability to edit and interact with the data in a platform of their choosing.
The Smokies update to OSM has been complete for over a year now. Present in the OSM database, available for public use, is what the National Park Service considers essential base data for visitor services: transportation networks, points of interest, and visitor services infrastructure. For example, anyone can consume OSM data from the Smokies and make a map showing the location of visitor centers, ranger stations, campground, and hiking trails – no specialized skills required.
We humans are pretty ritualistic creatures. We crave routine and seek out the familiar. When we start to pass these behaviors down through enough generations, we start calling them traditions. Every culture has its own traditions, including the community that surrounds the Appalachian Trail. Hiker traditions and customs can be hard to understand for those on the outside, but that’s not surprising. Life on the AT is almost the exact opposite of what most people in the U.S. consider “normal” life. We hikers are a quirky group of people, indeed. Sometimes we can’t even explain why we do what we do, but there’s something kind of fantastic about that.
Here is a list of some of the most popular hiker traditions on the Appalachian Trail. It’s true not every hiker participates in them all, but that doesn’t make them any less amazing. Some of the traditions may seem fairly obvious, but for those new to the Appalachian Trail, you may consider partaking in a few of them on your own thru-hike experience.
Ferry Beach State Park in Saco, Maine is a 117-acre gem in Maine’s state park system that features a nice stretch of oceanfront beach, a pleasant network of foot trails and some interesting history.
Long before the advent of roads, a ferry crossing connecting Hills Beach and Camp Ellis at the mouth of the Saco River served early travelers along the beach from as far away as Boston, thus giving Ferry Beach its name.
By combining the park’s trails plus a walk along Ferry Beach with three trails of the Saco Bay Trails system and two short sections of paved road, hikers can enjoy a scenic and ecologically diverse four-mile loop hike known as the Saco Beach Loop.
Ferry Beach State Park is open from April 1 through Oct. 31; that’s when you can start the loop hike from the beach parking lot in the park’s interior. Outside of that period, hikers must begin from the gate at the park entrance on Bayview Road.
By combining the Red Oak, Tupelo, Greenbriar and White Oak trails on your trek through the park, you’ll enjoy easy walking through a mixed forest while visiting a tupelo swamp and a freshwater tarn named Long Pond.
At the University of Chicago, Ginny Too was “the Asian girl with glasses hanging out at the library.” She was neither athletic nor outdoorsy. “It was never part of my upbringing,” she says.
How things have changed. Too, now 34, has climbed three challenging mountains: Kilimanjaro in Tanzania, Cotopaxi in Ecuador, and Mount Whitney in California.
More impressive, the “geek” who graduated Phi Beta Kappa has hiked the entire length of the Appalachian Trail and, for good measure, America’s two other long-distance trails, the Pacific Crest Trail and the Continental Divide Trail. Earlier this fall, she was honored for completing the so-called “Triple Crown” by the American Long Distance Hiking Association – West. She is in elite company; only 233 hikers have had the stamina and perseverance to accomplish the 8,000-mile feat.
Her adventures have convinced Too of the importance of taking chances and risks. She has also become more appreciative of her fellow travelers, both on the trail and in life.
“Whenever I saw people on the trail, I would stop and take the time to hear their stories. I came to appreciate the value of interacting with people I may never see again. I try to talk to people more now and to have meaningful conversations.”
Temperatures are dropping, snow is in the forecast and restlessness tugs against the temptation to grab a good book and settle in by the fire. With a few exceptions, most bikes, boats and summer gear are packed away for next year.
Then the email rolls in. “Hey, who wants to do some winter hiking?”
It appears that there are two kinds of winter hiking. One involves multi-day excursions that are borderline tests of survival skills while the other is simply doing what you do in the summer but adapting to winter terrain and conditions.
To get outdoors to hike in the winter requires the same steps as doing so at any other time during the years, just more of them.
Yellowstone, America’s first national park, is one of the USA’s most popular vacation destinations, especially during the summer months. This same park rewards adventurous travelers with a much more intimate experience during the winter when only about five percent of the park’s 3.4 million annual guests choose to visit.
For first-time Yellowstone visitors, winter in the park is like magic. For travelers who have enjoyed Yellowstone only during the spring, summer, or fall, a winter visit is like being in a different park. In addition to smaller crowds, there are few vehicles (only a small portion of the park’s roads are open during winter) and an entirely different array of activities. A snow-covered Yellowstone is truly a wondrous place.
Three major issues of a winter visit to Yellowstone are: 1) how to get there, 2) where to stay, and 3) what to do once you arrive.
A group of avid hikers are coordinating with San Mateo, CA officials to provide more recreational opportunities at Sugarloaf Mountain by creating formal and accessible trails at the city’s largest park and open space landholding.
“It’s a little jewel here in San Mateo,” said Marilyn Stockdale Green, a San Mateo resident who sits on the nonprofit Trail Center Board of Directors. “The top of Sugarloaf offers some of the best views on the mid-Peninsula and it has not been accessible. Really there’s use trails up there, some very steep fire breaks that people hike up, but there’s never been a hiker-friendly trail to the top.”
Currently, many visitors scale up the steep slope via old fire break cuts or have created their own paths toward the vista. Volunteers and the city now seek to formally align trails that were established by repeated use and create new access paths to Sugarloaf Mountain from Laurelwood Park that will discourage visitors from veering off course and contributing to erosion.
The Trail Center, an organization dedicated to promoting trail access in the Bay Area, stepped in with a group of hiking enthusiasts to realign a user-established trail and create an easier path to the top of the mountain. In June, the group finished the route that fragments from the main Tenderfoot Trail through the Oak Woodlands. In all, the city seeks to create at least 3.43 miles of hiking trails and renovate about .82 miles of multi-use paved trails. The city would also create formal trails connecting to the San Juan Canyon Open Space in Belmont.
While Warren County and Front Royal, Virginia are drawing up plans for extensions of the Appalachian Trail to bring hikers into town, there has been little discussion on the effect hikers have on the economy. The Appalachian Trail Conservancy states more than 2 million people visit some part of the trail every year, spending between $125-168 million annually, with $27 million going to local communities.
According to Alyson Browett, the Appalachian Trail Ambassador for Front Royal-Warren County and the chair of the Front Royal-Warren County Appalachian Trail Community Committee, between 750 to 800 hikers stop by Front Royal during the hiking season to buy food and supplies, stay in hotels, dine at restaurants and pick up or send packages at the post office.
“Hikers are hungry because they burn a lot of calories every day and when they get off the trail, they’re looking for a nice warm meal,” Browett said. Browett said a one-way hike up the Appalachian Trail, from Georgia to Maine, costs about $5,000 and takes about three to five months. According to Browett, many of the hikers are professionals.
“They’re teachers, police officers, people who just graduated college, retirees and veterans who have some disposable income and are between jobs or were able to get the time off from work to fulfill their lifelong dream,” Browett said.
From its southern terminus near the Mexican border, the Continental Divide Trail heads north across New Mexico toward Canada. In southern New Mexico, the route is almost entirely unmarked as it crosses semi-desert grasslands where much of the drinking water comes from watering troughs on cattle ranches, never mind the algae and scum.
For Iris Russell, the landscape could hardly have been more alien. Born and raised in Gatlinburg, TN the 30-year-old Russell had considered doing the Appalachian Trail as her first long-distance thru-hike. Instead, here she was on May 1 embarking on an epic thru-hike of 2,800 miles along the spine of the Rocky Mountains. With Russell on the Continental Divide Trail was Will Hammond, of Seymour, TN. A seasoned hiker, Hammond had already thru-hiked both the Appalachian Trail and the Pacific Crest Trail — two trails that combine with the Continental Divide Trail to create the “Triple Crown” of long-distance hiking in the U.S.
Russell and Hammond started out from Columbus, N.M., on May 1 and crossed into Canada on Sept. 22. Traveling north across New Mexico, Colorado, Wyoming, Idaho and Montana, they hiked for almost four and a half months. The Continental Divide Trail is about 70 percent complete; the route consists of a combination of small roads and horse trails as well as dedicated footpaths. For much of the way, Russell and Hammond relied on map and compass to navigate their way across terrain that varied from arid ranch lands to snow-capped mountain passes.
Trekking poles are essentially a modern-day evolution of the traditional walking stick. Poles are either telescoping or collapsible (the latter of which collapse like tent poles). Telescoping poles offer adjustable lengths, which is useful when climbing or descending. Collapsible poles lack adjustable lengths, but they are often lighter than their telescoping counterparts. Collapsible poles either use twisting locks or flip locks. Flip locks are more secure. Some poles feature built-in shock absorbers. Those don’t really help a lot and they tend to add extra weight and mechanical parts – just more pieces to break.
Trekking poles are usually made from either aluminum or carbon fiber with rubber or cork handles. Aluminum poles are sturdier than carbon fiber ones, but they’re often heavier. Carbon fiber poles are stronger and lighter than aluminum poles, but they’re more expensive. Rubber handles are more durable than cork ones, but they’re not as comfortable — cork handles mold to your hands, but they tend to eventually break up.
Trekking poles provide extra stability: When traveling over rough or uneven terrain, trekking poles can act as extra legs — making large rocks, tree trunks, or any other obstacles easier to navigate. They provide extra points of contact when crossing rivers or streams.
Make hiking easier is through the use of walking sticks or trekking poles
It runs more than 2,000 miles, from Georgia to Maine. The Appalachian Trail, the brainchild of Benton MacKaye had humble beginnings in 1921 and became a continuous footpath in August of 1937. “I learned a lot about life and a lot about people out on the Appalachian Trail,” said documentary filmmaker Sam Henegar.
Henegar has a special bond with the trail. “I started hiking with my dad when I was about 11 years old and grew up camping and grew up outdoors in East Tennessee,” he told News 5.
5 years ago, Henegar set out to tell the story of the American icon with a documentary. “It is the experience of hiking, of backpacking and also the history of the Appalachian Trail, which to my knowledge has never been broadcast before,” said Henegar.
He is not a filmmaker by trade, but it has become his hobby. “My work is seasonal, so in my downtime i would spend working, you know to edit, to do research.”
That seasonal work gave Henegar the means to make his documentary: The Appalachian Trail- An American Legacy.
President Franklin Roosevelt once said, “There is nothing so American as our national parks…. The fundamental idea behind the parks…is that the country belongs to the people.” If you have yet to explore “your” parks – there are 401 of them – then Veterans Day is just the excuse you need. November 11, 2014 is the National Park Service’s final free-entrance day of 2014, when admission fees are waived for everyone. Here are picks for seven essential experiences:
Avid hiker and author Thomas Spencer penned a new book highlighting the best hikes in central Alabama. Entitled “Five-Star Trails: Birmingham: Your Guide to the Area’s Most Beautiful Hikes” the book lists great hikes within a 75 miles radius of Birmingham and features maps and photos.
Spencer grew up hiking and camping in Alabama with his family. He covered outdoors and the environment with the Anniston Star and The Birmingham News for over two decades.
Some of the Birmingham hikes featured are Oak Hill Cemetery, Railroad Park, Moss Rock Preserve, Oak Mountain State PArk, Red Mountain Park and Ruffner Mountain.
Each hike featured shows the most important information first such as GPS coordinates, distance of the hike, hiking time, wheelchair access and contact info. Lots of photos are included in every chapter.
Spencer has a useful rating system that rates scenery, trail condition, if the hike is child friendly, difficulty and solitude. There is other useful information about nearby attractions as well.
Los Angeles County has just launched a new trails website with tons of information for anyone who looking to explore the county’s trails on bike, foot, or horseback.
The site promises oft-updated information on trail conditions, weather, and air quality, plus interactive and downloadable maps with directions and elevation info for each path listed—a total of 367 miles of GPS-mapped trails throughout LA County (and that’s just for starters).
A mobile site is expected by the end of December and an app is slated to be ready sometime in 2015. Meanwhile, looking through these resources, here are four hikes that would be perfect for the (theoretically) cooler autumn hiking season, as well as for sneaking a peek at some fall foliage.
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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