The goal in making this trail available to the public is to share the history, science, and beauty of the wetlands, and to provide a glimpse into the lives of the wildlife with which we share this habitat.
This three-phased project funded through the Recreational Trails Program by Montana’s State trails program enabled the design and installation of an interpretive nature trail in a 28.8 acre wetland now protected in perpetuity by the Whitefish Lake Institute (WLI). It included building the trail, interpretive trail signs, a main trailhead kiosk and two satellite kiosks, a retaining wall, snow guard rail, directional posts, three bridges, six benches, and weed management work.
Bordered to the north and east by the 215-acre Murdock Nature Conservancy Easement, the Preserve makes available a large contiguous area that protects water quality and provides habitat for aquatic, terrestrial, and avian wildlife.
In addition to protecting the wetlands from development, the project includes wetland restoration to re-create diverse habitat for wetland species. Two branches of Viking Creek join in the Preserve to form the main channel of the creek— one of six perennial tributaries to Whitefish Lake.
The US Forest Service today announced that Ball Creek Road (NFSR 83), located in Macon County, NC on the Nantahala Ranger District of the Nantahala National Forest, will be temporarily closed for its entire length from approx. September 29th, 2014 until late October, depending on the duration of the road work. Ball Creek Road begins at Coweeta Hydrologic Laboratory and ends at Upper Nantahala Road (NFSR 67).
The road work, conducted by Aldridge Brothers Inc. out of Robinsville, NC, includes the repair of two roadway slides and the replacement of two culverts. This work will serve to repair damages resulting from storm events in January 2013, to improve roadway safety through enhancements in roadway drainage and stability, and to better protect resources against erosion and future road failures.
Funding for this project was secured from Federal Highway Administration’s Emergency Relief for Federally Owned Roads.
When a special occasion comes along, most of us want our friends to celebrate with us. The celebration of the 40th anniversary of the Chattooga Wild and Scenic River and the 50th anniversary of the Wilderness Act on Saturday, Sept. 27, 2014 is no different. The Forest Service and multiple friends and partners have joined forces to host a day of outdoor activities on the Sumter National Forest, at Oconee State Park, SC and at Chattooga Belle Farm. It is also National Public Lands Day.
The celebration, which has been months in the making, starts at Oconee State Park at 9 a.m. with demonstrations related to two favorite pastimes on the Chattooga – fly fishing and boating. Other activities include a scavenger hunt and face-painting for children, as well as cross cut saw demonstrations.
The river provides a magnificent backdrop for those who prefer to keep both feet firmly on the ground. The Foothills Trails Conference, The Wilderness Society and the Oconee County Hiking Club will lead family-friendly, easy hikes on Saturday to Station Cove or Spoonauger Falls, as well as moderately difficult hikes through the Ellicott Rock Wilderness.
“Our wild places are a wonderful and important resource worth celebrating,” said David Cohen, wilderness ranger with The Wilderness Society. “I’ll be leading a hike in the Ellicott Rock Wilderness and I look forward to sharing some information and history about the area with folks who want to come along.”
Fall is more than pumpkin-flavored beverages and a reluctant step toward winter. It’s a time to enjoy nature and see Indiana in its best light – under the warm glow of colorful native trees.
Fall is a welcomed season to many nature lovers because the cool crisp air and relatively low amount of precipitation means it’s time to take to the trails to celebrate the season.
Bob Dispenza of Allen County Parks and the Trailblazers community hiking program said fall is the optimal time of the year to enjoy the outdoors. “We being a relatively level area, we tend to get a lot of rain and snow melt in the spring, so that tends to be pretty wet, but this time of year we get the advantage of drier trails, fewer insects, and fall color. We even continue to have the summer wildflowers such as all the prairie plants like the goldenrods, asters and things like that,” Dispenza said.
To celebrate the new season and appreciate the developing foliage, The News-Sentinel decided to welcome the autumn by highlighting the region’s best hiking trails. This guide will feature the trail, distance, level of difficulty as well as feature a year-round synopsis highlighting the unique features of the park.
Experience the autumn outdoors with these five Indiana trails and parks:
In a world of resorts eager to find a competitive edge in guest amenities, one Utah resort has truly gone to the dogs.
Flash and his canine buddies get to hike the rusty red mountains twice a week — at least they will until they are adopted from the Ivins Animal Shelter in Ivins, Utah. They do it as part of a program with the Red Mountain Resort, where guests get the privilege of hiking with shelter pups — a program that seems equally beneficial for both the dogs and the humans.
The Ivins Animal Shelter has a no-kill policy, and its adoption rate is 99.7 percent.
The Pound Puppy Hike program came about 10 years ago while a hiking guide for Red Mountain was splitting her time between the resort and running the animal shelter.
These days the top dog at the shelter is Aggie Smith. A no-nonsense woman with a big heart, Smith has worked here for nine years. She started as a volunteer and is now the shelter manager and an animal control officer.
For the Pound Puppy Hike, the dogs are brought out one by one and they couldn’t be happier to see their hiking companions.
If you’re looking for a challenge, look no further than Hanging Rock State Park and the 2nd annual “Reach the Peaks” hiking challenge scheduled for Saturday, Sept. 27, 2014. The hike already has over 160 registrations and the number of registered hikers is rapidly increasing each day.
Reach the Peaks, a strenuous 11 mile hike, will challenge participants to summit the five major peaks of Hanging Rock State Park, Moore’s Knob, House Rock, Cook’s Wall, Wolf Rock, and Hanging Rock, all in one day. Organized by the Stokes County Arts Council and Friends of the Sauratown Mountains, this year’s event will begin at the Visitor’s Center Parking lot with day of check in/registration taking place between 7:30 a.m. and 9:30 a.m.
Over 50 volunteers will be involved in the event with water and hospitality stations set up along the trail and a variety of informational booths highlighting all of the outdoor recreation possibilities in the county set up in the main parking lot.
Participants receive an event t-shirt, stainless steel water bottle, post-hike meal, and trail comfort/hospitality. They will also be provided an event card to be checked after reaching the summit of each of the peaks. Those who summit all five peaks and complete the hike will receive a specially created “I Conquered Reach the Peaks” embroidered patch.
Join the celebration on Saturday, Sept. 27, 2014 as Frazee, Minnesota becomes an official Trail Town on the North Country National Scenic Trail. Joining communities as far-spread and diverse as Canastota, N.Y., Dayton, Ohio, and Solon Springs, Wis., Frazee has earned official status as a gateway to America’s longest National Scenic Trail.
The public is invited to the dedication beginning at 10:30 a.m. at the corner of Lake Street and Main Street by the Hostel Hornet. A hike to the Lion’s Park will follow with coffee and donuts.
A Trail Town is a community through which the North Country Trail passes that supports hikers with services, promotes the Trail to its citizens and embraces the Trail as a resource to be protected and celebrated. Trail Town signs already greet travelers at the entry points to Frazee.
The community has served several long distance hikers on the North Country Trail. In 2013, Minnesota hiker Luke “Strider” Jordan spent a night in Frazee while hiking the full 4,600 mile length of the North Country Trail from North Dakota eastward to Vermont.
Trinity River National Wildlife Refuge has opened a new set of hiking trails in Liberty, TX. These trails provide a primitive hiking experience through undisturbed bottomland hardwood forests, with opportunities to view native wildlife and a range of natural habitats. All trails are fully-marked and ready to be hiked without the need of a map for guidance, but only open from sunrise to sunset.
To hike the trails, follow the marked yellow posts, as well as colored tree markers, to navigate your way throughout the trail system. At the start of the hike, you will pass through three closed gates. The gates just mean that it is walk-in only.
There are 5.3 miles of total trails, broken up into three separately marked segments: Possum Passel Pass (1.2 m), Great Egret’s Ridge Loop (2.0 m) and Boggy Boots Loop (1.5 m). This allows you to choose from a range of hiking levels, from a more maintained and relaxed walk along Possum Passel Pass, to a longer, more rugged, hike along Great Egret’s Ridge Loop, which boasts three scenic outlooks and access to Trinity River. To get the full experience of the trails, check out the farthest trail — Boggy Boots Loop — and complete them all.
Perhaps you’ve heard of the war between cars and bicycles in Seattle, WA. Another battle is being waged on recreation trails across the state.
If you’ve ever been startled by a speeding mountain bike while hiking or angered about a trail rutted by horse hooves or off-roaders, you have a chance to do something about it. The state is developing a trail policy that could reduce what’s known as “trail conflict.”
An easy fix would be simply separating users or restricting trail use to one group or another. “The downside to separating uses is that each specific use then gets less trail built for them, but when we can put them all together, we end up with more trails for a larger group of users, but possibly more conflict. We’re just trying to figure out what the balance is for the public,” said Brock Milliern, recreation program director for the Washington State Department of Natural Resources.
User conflict is just one issue. The trail policy process is about a lot more than that. The policy will also establish rules for a coordinated approach to planning, building, and maintaining trails, based on trail standards used by the U.S. Forest Service, with emphasis on environmental protection.
“As DNR-managed areas get closer and closer to urban areas, as population grows, we get more pressure for the land. People love coming out on DNR-managed lands. There can never be enough trails, so we’re trying to figure out how to work best with folks who do that,” Milliern explained.
Do you have a bicyclist in your family? Here are some gift suggestions.
“Day Hiking the San Juan Islands and Gulf Islands,” by Craig Romano has to be one of the most ambitious hiking books out there, both for the author to write and for would-be hikers who buy it and aim to use it.
Romano, who has taken up the mantle of great Northwest trails author, takes us on a journey to a land of Oz, where islands dot the Salish Sea, the collective name for inland saltwater in northwest Washington and southwestern British Columbia.
Not only does he cover hikes on 24 islands, but it also describes them on the B.C. Saanish Peninsula (near Vistoria) and Fidalgo Island (location of Anacortes). At least Fidalgo has a highway bridge, so you don’t need to ride a ferry to get there like most of the other islands covered.
This is the first book to tackle, from a hiker’s perspective, so much of the territory of the Strait of San de Fuca and the Strait of Georgia, with all their sounds, passages, passes, channels and straits.
The “most dangerous national park” has been largely closed to the public for the last 11 years. Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument, on the southern Arizona border, once saw a steady flow of immigrants – and drug runners – from Mexico. On Aug. 9, 2002, ranger Kris Eggle was shot and killed while chasing a cartel hit squad, prompting park officials to close nearly 70 percent of the monument in 2003. Some small areas were later reopened.
But on Sept. 15, 2014 all of Organ Pipe’s 517 square miles were once again opened to hikers, birders and desert lovers. Park officials believe that increased border security and patrols have made the park safe for visitors to get off the beaten path. “No more armed guards,” says Sue Walter, the monument’s chief of interpretation. “(The border) has surveillance towers, vehicle barriers, pedestrian fences. We’re educating visitors and they can make their own decisions about whether they feel comfortable (going into the backcountry).”
Organ Pipe, 94 percent of which is designated wilderness, once was traveled mostly by the endangered Sonoran pronghorn and Sonoran desert tortoise. It began drawing both human and drug traffickers in the 1990s, after border security crackdowns in urban areas sent crossers to remote rural areas. Rangers routinely found themselves in high-speed chases, and they seized thousands of pounds of marijuana and other drugs each year – 17,000 pounds of pot in 2005, 100,000 pounds last year. Not surprisingly, the monument’s reputation tended to scare away visitors. Just 210,000 came in 2010.
In the wake of 9/11, the new Department of Homeland Security was authorized to construct barriers along the border without having to comply with federal, state or local environmental laws. The Border Patrol also hired thousands of new agents.
Organ Pipe now has 20 law enforcement officers, compared to 5 in 2003, and the number of Border Patrol agents in the region has jumped 20-fold, to over 500. The increased border patrols have taken a harsh toll on the park’s environment, though. 2,500 miles of new vehicle tracks were tallied in 2010.
The Chequamegon-Nicolet National Forest in Wisconsin will celebrate National Public Lands on Sept. 27, 2014 with a fee-free day and volunteer service projects to improve America’s public lands.
“America’s national forests and grasslands belong to all of us,” said U.S. Forest Service Eastern Regional Forester Kathleen Atkinson. “These beautiful places have so much to offer, and we hope you’ll get outside and volunteer on National Public Lands Day to enjoy these places for yourself, while improving them for future visitors.”
Volunteers can also celebrate America’s public lands with a trail maintenance project taking place at the Fifield Fire Lookout Tower or help eradicate invasive plants at the Northern Great Lakes Visitor Center.
“We’ll be performing maintenance on the trail to the Fifield Fire Lookout Tower and removing brush and vegetation from around its base,” said Brady Howe, Medford-Park Falls Ranger District recreation and trails specialist. “This tower is on the National Register of Historic Places. Volunteers will learn about the important role fire lookouts played in the past, and how prior logging techniques had led to the abundant fires in northern Wisconsin.”
The popular Ape Cave recreation area in the Mount St. Helens National Volcanic Monument now has a view of the iconic mountain. The Volcano View Trail is the first new trail built in the national monument in nearly two decades.
Since last year, trail volunteers have been building the milelong trail, which takes hikers up to a viewpoint from the Ape Cave headquarters/visitor center, on the south side of the mountain.
Monument officials expect the new trail will alleviate the long lines to the Ape Cave — with 60,000 visitors annually — since hikers now have another trail to explore if the main attraction is overcrowded. A one-mile trail isn’t a destination hike, but combined with other trails nearby it should make for an attractive family-friendly day trip.
All those complaints from young and first-time hikers: The trail is too long. It’s too hot. It’s boring hiking in the woods. If your kids checked all the above, the Ape Cave is for you. Ape Cave, billed as the longest lava tube in the continental United States, makes this area the second-most-visited in the national monument, after Johnston Ridge Observatory.
Newly released US Topo maps for Oregon now feature segments of the Pacific Crest National Scenic Trail. Several of the 1,835 new US Topo quadrangles for the state now display parts of the Trail along with other improved data layers.
“Having the Pacific Crest NST finally show up on Oregon US Topo maps is significant for all of the recreational users of the wild spaces the trail traverses,” said Tom Carlson, Geospatial Liaison for the Pacific Northwest. “Hiking the trail provides commanding views of the volcanic peaks of the Cascade Range as well as the verdant forests of the western side of the mountains and down into the farmlands of the Willamette Valley. You also see parts of the open Ponderosa Pine forest and high desert on the eastern slopes of the mountains.”
The Pacific Crest National Scenic Trail is a treasured pathway through some of the most scenic terrain in the nation. Beginning in southern California at the Mexican border, the PCT travels a total distance of 2,650 miles through California, Oregon, and Washington until reaching the Canadian border. The PCT is one of the original National Scenic Trails established by Congress in the 1968 National Trails System Act and fifty-four percent of the trail lies within designated wilderness.
The USGS partnered with the U.S. Forest Service to incorporate the trail onto the Oregon US Topo maps. This NST joins the Ice Age National Scenic Trail, the Pacific Northwest National Scenic Trail and the North Country National Scenic Trail as being featured on the new US Topo quads. The USGS hopes to eventually include all National Scenic Trails in The National Map products.
These new maps replace the first edition US Topo maps for Oregon and are available for free download from The National Map and the USGS Map Locator & Downloader website.
Naturalist John Muir once said, “In every walk with nature, one receives far more than he seeks.” There is no better time than today to go outside and enjoy nature.
One of the major benefits of hiking is that it delivers almost immediate rewards. As long as you haven’t been leading a totally sedentary life, you can usually begin hiking right away. Another plus: You don’t have to be in perfect shape to start and get the health benefits.
Hiking is a great way to start exercising. Start with easy hikes and work up to steeper hikes that work your legs more. Additionally, it’s pretty cheap. The up-front spending for hiking essentials is minimal.
According to the American Hiking Society, hiking delivers a remarkable range of health benefits with comparatively few risks. By using hiking as a way to stay physically active, you can:
• Lower your risk of heart disease and stroke.
• Improve your blood pressure and blood sugar levels.
• Boost bone density and build muscle strength.
• Help control your weight.
• Boost your mood.
A growing body of research suggests that walking and hiking have mental benefits as well as physical ones. Hiking and walking are great for helping people think about things and work through problems. Sometimes observing nature can lower stress and allow you to think clearer, while at the same time activating parts of your brain that aren’t as active in a work setting. Research shows that spending time outdoors increases attention spans and creative problem-solving skills by as much as 50 percent.
There’s still plenty of warm weather to test out one of the U.S. Forest Service’s improved trails in Grand County.
Late summer and early fall provide an ideal opportunity to experience some of the new trail work the U.S. Forest Service has completed this summer with the help of many volunteer groups and a grant from the National Forest Foundation’s Ski Conservation Fund. Seven major trails projects are already complete and several more are planned for this fall.
This season’s efforts highlight five wilderness trail projects in celebration of the 50th anniversary of the Wilderness Act. The first of these, in partnership with volunteers from the Grand County Wilderness Group, built a half-mile connector trail from the Broome Hut cabin on Second Creek up to the Mt. Nystrom Trail in Vasquez Peak Wilderness Area.
A project on the Roaring Fork Trail in Indian Peaks Wilderness Area brought 12 volunteers from around the nation through Wilderness Volunteers to build a 32-foot natural bridge across the rushing waters of Roaring Fork Creek.
Wilderness Volunteers also brought 10 volunteers from across the country to help build a 42-foot span foot bridge and 75 feet of turnpike on the Hi Lonesome Trail, an integral part of the Continental Divide Trail.
A project on Devil’s Thumb Trail in Indian Peaks Wilderness is also planned for this fall.
The Appalachian Trail Conservancy (ATC), along with its Appalachian Trail (A.T.) Community™ partners and 31 Trail maintaining clubs, invite families to take a hike on the A.T. during the fourth annual Family Hiking Day on Saturday, Sept. 27, 2014. Held trail-wide on National Public Lands Day, Family Hiking Day is a program developed by the ATC to introduce and welcome families to the A.T. and all of the benefits that come from spending time outdoors.
With studies showing that children are spending less time outdoors each year, the ATC developed this program to help get kids, youth, families and trailside neighbors outside and active. Hiking the A.T. is not only a good source of physical exercise, it also provides an opportunity to create lasting memories and long-term appreciation for protected public lands.
“The Appalachian Trail Conservancy is proud to host Family Hiking Day for the fourth year,” said Ron Tipton, executive director/CEO of the ATC. “It’s a great opportunity to engage families with the outdoors, promote physical exercise and encourage people to explore their natural and cultural heritage on the Appalachian Trail.”
Families from Maine to Georgia are invited to enjoy the outdoors with volunteer-led hikes, or to plan an adventure on their own utilizing a list of family friendly hikes in their local area as well as trail-related games and activities. Guided hikes will be led by A.T. club volunteers, partners in A.T. Communities™ and health organizations like the YMCA near Asheville, North Carolina. RSVPs are required for guided hikes, and carpooling is encouraged.
For more information about Family Hiking Day, including guided hikes, a list of suggested hikes by state, and activities and tips, visit www.appalachiantrail.org/events.
Hiking along the Pacific Crest Trail this summer, Lon Cooper looks like a human version of the Google Street View car. Rising out of the side of his stuffed backpack is a gray pipe with a small, but thick, circular top. The antenna stands about 3 inches out of the top of his pack and looks like a miniature version of the tall cameras standing atop the infamous mapping cars. What is harder to see is the pipe running down the entire side of Cooper’s pack and the wire that follows that pipe. And what is impossible to see is what the wire connects to deep in Cooper’s pack: A geo logger.
In a way Cooper is like a two-legged version of the street view cars. Instead of snapping pictures, though, the equipment he’s carrying is logging data to help improve a mobile phone app – the Halfmile PCT app – that has helped thousands of hikers along the same route he’s traversing. “I never dreamed it would become so popular,” Cooper said of the app during a recent pit stop at Snoqualmie Pass.
Created by David Lippke and Cooper together in early 2012, the Halfmile PCT app serves as a companion to Cooper’s famous Halfmile PCT printed maps – Cooper’s nickname is Halfmile – and aids navigation on the PCT. Using a phone’s internal GPS locator, the app provides trail diagrams, tells hikers of upcoming points of interest and calculates distance and elevation gains and losses.
“The app knows where you are exactly,” Cooper said. “It knows how far it is to landmarks, knows the amount of elevation gain. It’s a big help to planning your route.”
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. 
Copyright © 2011-2023 Internet Brothers. All Rights Reserved. ISSN 2324-6057
Designed by Elegant Themes | Powered by Wordpress | Logo by Design Aspirations
