On Feb. 5, 2014, the world’s most famous wolf woke up somewhere along the Oregon-California border, very likely in the Cascade-Siskiyou National Monument, a landscape of Alpine forests and grassland valleys. For the better part of a year he had been making his home in this place where the Cascade, Klamath, and Siskiyou mountains converge. It was cold that day, in the upper 20s or lower 30s depending on his altitude. Still, it was plenty warm for a gray wolf, which can sleep comfortably at 40 below. Known as OR7—the seventh wolf to be fitted...
read moreOn Oct. 21, 2014 the U.S. Forest Service unveiled draft management area boundaries that put 692,700 acres — about 69 percent — of Nantahala-Pisgah National Forest in management areas that make “timber production, for the purposeful growing and harvesting of crops of trees to be cut into logs” the “primary or secondary use of the land.” Today, the Nantahala-Pisgah is one of the jewels of the National Forest system, receiving more than seven million visitors annually and playing a key role in Western North Carolina’s $2 billion tourist...
read moreWhen it comes to getting great sunrise and sunset photos, perhaps the best time of year to find success is during winter. There are two reasons why the winter months offer up the greatest opportunities. The first reason is that the sun rises later and sets earlier so you don’t have to get up at a frighteningly early hour or stay out past dinner time to capture the beauty. The second reason is a bit more scientific. The colors of a sunrise or sunset are based on how light is entering and traveling through the atmosphere. The National...
read moreAn engineer with an eye for cost-effective design is winning fans in the third world with an affordable wheelchair made out of bike parts. The original chair grew out of a project for disabled people in rural areas. Amos Winter, then a graduate student at MIT, designed a three-wheeled chair made from ordinary bike parts, with levers that riders pump to power it along unpaved rural roads, as well as around the house. “There was not a product to meet that section of that market,” said Winter, who is now a professor at the Global Engineering and...
read moreThree separate and very interesting things have happened over the past few months, and what makes them even more interesting is the timing, and the fact that they all happened within such a short period. Sequentially speaking, the second and most recent thing that happened, is that a midwife in the highly conservative oil patch community of Vernal, Utah in the Uintah Basin observed something — a ghastly discovery that apparently no state or federal agencies, nor even the local TriCounty Health Department had yet observed– dead babies, and way...
read moreAn overgrown trail with a link to the Mount Baker Marathon, a storied race that occurred a century ago, is being cleared out and rebuilt as part of a Bellingham ultra-runner’s dream of launching a new version of the competition. Daniel Probst knows first-hand why the Ridley Creek Trail needs a makeover. He and other runners attempting an epic run, hike and climb from Bellingham Bay to Mount Baker and back had to crawl under logs and clamber over trees, more than 30 of them, that had fallen across the trail. Also, about half of the trail had...
read moreDuring his thirty years tracking lost souls through the Smokies and beyond McCarter rescued twenty-six people, many of them children. These days he’s still in the mountains, often thinking about those he found—and the few he didn’t. The last lost boy he found was named Phillip Roman. Phillip, who was ten years old, had wandered away from his family while they were at Clingmans Dome, the highest point in the Smoky Mountains, and as happens more frequently and more suddenly than you could ever imagine, he simply seemed to disappear....
read moreIdeas to be gathered from partners, stakeholders and the public will be a major component of a master planning process underway to guide completion of the Mountains-to-Sea State Trail, according to the N.C. Division of Parks and Recreation. The 1,000-mile trail corridor will ultimately link Clingman’s Dome in the Great Smoky Mountains to Jockey’s Ridge State Park on the coast. Nearly two thirds of the cross-state route has been completed as a continuous, off-road trail experience, offering opportunities for hiking, biking and horseback riding...
read moreThe House of Representatives will end its legislative session this week having recorded at least 234 votes against the environment in two years. According to a December 1, 2014 count by the minority staff on the Energy and Commerce committee, the House floor held 551 anti-environment votes over the four years since Republicans took control—including votes on bills and amendments that weakened Environmental Protection Agency regulations, opened lands to coal and oil, made changes to the Clean Air and Clean Water Acts, approved the Keystone XL...
read moreOut of sight, out of mind. This certainly applies to methane emissions from the oil and gas sector. That’s because methane, a highly potent greenhouse gas and the primary constituent of natural gas, is invisible to the naked eye. And it’s one reason methane emissions, while a significant threat to our environment, don’t get the attention they should from policymakers or the public when compared to, say, conspicuous oil spills. But we have the technology to make the invisible visible. A video shows that fugitive methane emissions look very...
read moreIt’s been 10 months since a pipe broke beneath a coal ash waste pit at a shuttered Duke Energy power plant in North Carolina, sending 39,000 tons of toxic waste into the Dan River, a drinking water source for downstream communities in Virginia and North Carolina. One might think that 10 months would have been enough time for the company and North Carolina state regulators to ensure that the coal ash pits at its 13 other power plants across the state were secured and not putting other water sources at risk – but one would be wrong....
read moreExplore these waterfalls and mountain summits in Georgia’s mild climate. From the chilly altitudes of Georgia’s southern Appalachian mountains to its more temperate southern coastline, all are beautiful year-round, but they’re arguably better in wintery landscapes and cooler temperatures. Don’t ditch your hiking boots when temperatures plummet and leaves fall: you’ll miss out on one of Georgia’s best hiking seasons. Autumn’s deciduous leaf drop opens wide winter vistas on mountain summits otherwise cloaked in leaf cover. Icicles drip from the...
read moreAs the popular Appalachian Trail continues to morph and grow and attract more users and admirers, protecting the land that hugs the footpath and winds into its view is more important than ever, conservationists say. And now one of the more popular access points to the trail in Mitchell County, North Carolina has a little more elbow room in permanent preservation. The Southern Appalachian Highlands Conservancy, a land trust based in Asheville, recently purchased 76 acres a half-mile from Carvers Gap, a popular spot for hikers accessing the...
read moreGreat Smoky Mountains National Park officials announced that the next full-scale, Trails Forever restoration will begin on Alum Cave Trail in 2015. The Trails Forever crew will focus restoration efforts on several targeted locations along the 5-mile trail to improve visitor safety and stabilize eroding trail sections. The restoration work will require temporary trail closures throughout the 2-year process. Alum Cave Trail is one of the most popular trails in the park, leading hikers to iconic areas including Arch Rock, Inspiration Point, Alum...
read moreOver the last several decades the sport of hiking has become increasingly more popular. According to the latest Outdoor Recreation Participation Report, 11.4% of all adults in the United States participated in hiking in 2013. But the burning question to a modern-day trekker is when did people take to the trail for pleasure? Ever since our predecessors began walking on two feet humans have used bipedal mobility to hunt, explore, migrate to another territory, or trade goods with another community. At some point we as humans figured out that...
read moreThe Red Desert in Wyoming is huge. It encompasses 9,320 square miles and is the largest unfenced area in the continental U.S. I-80 cuts across its southern quarter. Highway 287 runs up its eastern side and then angles across its northern edge, following the route of the historic Oregon Trail whose 350,000 travelers between the 1840s and 1860s wanted no part of the arid Red Desert. The Green River creates the boundary to the west. A map shows only two dirt roads dissecting this massive, nearly treeless wilderness larger than some states. Just...
read moreThere aren’t many marriage proposals that can be seen from space, but for this traveller, an epic journey through Japan was also a unique marriage proposal. Japanese artist Yasushi Takahashi left his job to travel through Japan, covering more than 4,349 miles in six months, mostly on foot and sometimes by car, ferry or bicycle. GPS technology tracked his every step as he journeyed from Hokkaido island to Hyodo Cliff on Kyushu island where the trek ended. At the end of his journey, the GPS records of his travels around the country...
read moreHikers take note: miles and miles of new trails on Long Island’s East End are now open. It’s all part of an effort to get people to enjoy the natural treasures in their own backyard. Every week members of the Southampton Trails Preservation Society walk the public trails dotting the landscape from Southampton to Bridgehampton, but until now, you had to know the way. “If you’re a newcomer, but you see the green blazes you will not get lost,” said Susan Colledge, with the society. The Green Blazes Trail Club markers now mark the way along the...
read moreWriters, photographers, storytellers — gather your lenses, unsheathe your pens — today Maptia 2.0 is launching. Come and join this global community of creative individuals who love to explore new cultures and new places, who care about the environment, and who believe that thoughtful storytelling can make a tangible, positive impact in the world. Maptia is a place to publish our most thoughtful and inspiring stories about the world around us. Stories about the places we call home, stories about the places closest to our hearts, stories about...
read moreIn 1953, Sir Edmund Hillary and Sherpa Tenzing Norgay were the first people to summit Mt. Everest. Their expedition started in Kathmandu, and led them to the village of Jiri; from there they trekked across 100 miles of mountains and jungle Each year, tens of thousands of people journey into Nepal’s Sagarmāthā National Park to witness Everest Base Camp firsthand. Most fly into the tiny airport of Lukla to begin their journey, but an adventurous few retrace Sir Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay’s historic steps from the beginning....
read moreOne of the longest hiking routes along the coast of Maine can be found within the densely populated boundaries of Bath. There the Whiskeag Trail traverses three conservation preserves and several municipally owned properties on its five-mile journey through the wooded outskirts of town, much of it along Whiskeag Creek. The trail is a project of Bath Trails, itself a collaboration of the Kennebec Estuary Land Trust, the city of Bath, Healthy Maine Partnerships, local schools, mountain bikers, landowners and citizens. Bath Trails worked for...
read moreThe crew at LeConte Lodge are connoisseurs of sky gazing. Whether it’s an orange sunset blazing across the horizon, an August meteor shower, or the International Space Station orbiting at night, they’ve seen it all. Two weeks ago, the crew and lodge guests were treated to a rare occurrence when a dense layer of clouds settled over the valley at sunset, leaving the skies over Mount LeConte, elevation 6,594 feet, crystal clear. With Pigeon Forge and Gatlinburg buried beneath a sea of clouds, the stars that night twinkled at full strength,...
read moreThrow a few supplies in a day pack, rendezvous with your nature-loving friends and get yourself to a trailhead for an outdoor adventure everyone will enjoy. Here are 12 hikes a short distance from 12 major cities that offer excellent trail conditions, diverse landscapes and spectacular views.
read moreGriffith Park, Los Angeles’s largest and most-visited green space, has 53 miles of trails snaking through it, but a proposed new project would increase that number considerably. The plan is to take about 180 acres of untouched, LADWP-owned land near Universal City (known as the Upper Hollywood Reservoir) and open it up to the public with hiking trails on about 11 miles, plus a parking lot. Opening paths on the land would increase connectivity to Cahuenga Peak, in addition to giving Angelenos more land to hike. Cahuenga is that peak next...
read more“We were hiking over mountain ranges to get away from all the war,” Pol says. “We were running over mountain ranges while we were being shot at. Landmines were everywhere. We were hiking for our lives, pretty much.” His family had managed to survive the late 1970s under the Khmer Rouge, the brutal Communist regime that killed more than a quarter of Cambodia’s population. But when war broke out between Cambodia and Vietnam, the Pol family fled on foot to Thailand. Hiking was something you did out of fear and desperation, not...
read moreOne of the highest forts in the Maharashtra region of India is Salher. As per the common lore, Kalsubai boasts to be the highest peak in the Sahyadri mountains while Salher has the distinction of being the highest fort in the Sahyadris and the second highest peak. About 5,141 feet high, the trek is arduous and takes about three to five hours from the base to the top. As per the ancient scriptures, it is mentioned that this mountain was a place where Lord Parshuram did penance after winning back Earth. This ancient fort is historically...
read moreFjällräven, a Swedish company (the name means “Arctic Fox” in Swedish) started in 1960, was the first to make and distribute the original external frame backpack, along with revolutionizing expedition tent and sleeping bag design in the late 60s and 70s. By applying the now-famous Swedish combination of functionality with elegantly simple and beautiful design to outdoor equipment and apparel, Fjällräven has been the choice of in-the-know outdoor enthusiasts for decades. The secret behind much of their success is a patented fabric...
read moreJoin Carolina Mountain Land Conservancy on Saturday, December 13th at Weed Patch Mountain to hike the new trails at Town of Lake Lure’s Buffalo Creek Park. This hike is open to both members and non-members and is located just north of Lake Lure. More than 1,500 acres of Weed Patch Mountain were saved from development when CMLC acquired the tract in 2009. The Town of Lake Lure has since purchased 200 acres for the creation of Buffalo Creek Park and is currently constructing a network of hiking and mountain biking trails. Hiking distance...
read moreAfter a daylong slog through the suffocating Guatemalan jungle, you emerge before a soaring pyramid in the ghostly ruins of El Tintal, the first stop in the forested realm of the Serpent King. A slight breeze stirs the air, offering a respite from the heat. You climb the pyramid and watch the forest swallow the sun. Earthen mounds entombing cities lost to time lay scattered below. You are heading for El Mirador, the grandest city of them all, only now beginning to reveal its secrets. You set off before dawn from Flores (about 300 miles north...
read moreThe 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...
read moreThere 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....
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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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