The trail runs for 45 miles from downtown Harrisburg to Karmak in southern Illinois. The tail is managed by Illinois Department of Natural Resouces with an additional 2.5 miles managed by the City of Harrisburg. A 543-foot long tunnel gave the nearby town its name, and now the trail. Beginning in Harrisburg, the trail is at 370 feet above sea level, rising to 680 feet at Tunnel Hill and then dropping to 340 feet at Karnak. The trail crosses 23 trestles ranging from 34 feet long to 450 feet. The longest, Breeden Trestle, is also the highest at...
read moreAs 2017 is the sesquicentennial year for John Muir’s thousand-mile walk across the southeastern U.S. (1867-68), it is likely that many people will be attempting to trace his path. Chuck Roe, founding manager of the North Carolina Natural Heritage Program, founding director of the Conservation Trust for North Carolina, and Southeast U.S. Region program director for the Land Trust Alliance, was inspired to retrace the path of Muir’s long walk, but with a different focus—that being by telling the story of land conservation along the route of...
read morePrescribed fire is an important and widely used management tool, but the smoke produced can cause air quality issues and health problems. Before conducting prescribed fires, managers typically model the amount of smoke a fire will produce, which is directly related to the amount of fuel available. “Most fire-effects models were developed in the western U.S.,” says U.S. Forest Service forestry technician Virginia McDaniel. “Their accuracy has not been well-tested in southeastern forests.” In the southeastern U.S., prescribed fires are used to...
read moreIn the northeast corner of West Virginia nestled between mountains, lakes, and rivers lies the tiny, quaint county of Tucker. Though the county has a small population of under 5,000, the large sense of community has helped create one of the most beautiful, booming outdoor areas in the United States. Winters filled with an abundance of snow have created a serene mountain setting ideal for skiing and snowshoeing while rugged terrain leaves hikers and mountain bikers with exciting and challenging trails sure to test their ability. And the unique...
read moreAn incredible tale of taking to a long-distance trail to wash away the troubles in the real world was birthed in the hills of Southern Ohio. At age 67, Gallia County, Ohio, native, the late Emma “Grandma” Gatewood, who had overcome decades of spousal abuse, and who was the mother of 11 children and 23 grandchildren, read about the Appalachian Trail in National Geographic. She was so moved by the beauty of the new trail that Gatewood laced up her Keds sneakers, grabbed a small backpack and become the first woman to thru-hike the...
read moreWhen Congress passed the act creating the National Park Service in the summer of 1916, it instructed the agency to leave park scenery and wildlife “unimpaired for the enjoyment of future generations.” The law did not define “unimpaired.” To Stephen Mather, the charismatic borax magnate who served as the first director of the Park Service, it meant simply “undeveloped.” Early park managers followed his lead, striving both to protect and to promote sublime vistas. But the arguments began almost as soon as the agency was born. In September 1916...
read moreThe devastating spruce beetle infestation in the San Juan Mountains has crossed the Continental Divide, and within the next few years, will spread into the high country around Durango and Silverton, leaving in its wake an expanse of dead trees. “I tell people all the time: you need to get up there before it starts to look different,” said Kent Grant, a Durango-based district forester with the Colorado State Forest Service. “Already it’s increasingly more obvious. It’s just around the corner.” The spruce beetle epidemic started in Wolf Creek...
read moreU.S. national parks remain what American author Wallace Stegner once called America’s Best Idea. Our parks enjoy bi- partisan support and are a model for park systems around the globe. By any measure, the idea is a success. But, as we transition to a new administration, it is timely to ask this question: will the System continue to serve its intended purpose in a new century? Will it remain effective and popular in the next fifty or one hundred years? We are a different people than we were in 1916, 1966, or even 15 years ago. We communicate...
read moreMaybe you’ve always dreamt of trekking across the U.S., but didn’t have the time, money, or know-how to make the full trip from east to west. Or maybe hiking the Appalachian Trail has been a secret goal, but you’re terrified of sleeping in tents. Luckily, there’s another option. It’s called the East Coast Greenway—3,000 miles of marked trails and roads from Key West, Florida all the way up to Canada. Whether you hike it or bike it, you’re sure to be challenged, but always close enough to civilization to calm your fears of being lost in the...
read moreOnly three countries in the world are home to mountain gorillas: Rwanda, Uganda, and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). About 18,000 permits were given out in Uganda last year to see these gentle giants, with about 30,000 permits given in Rwanda. In total there are fewer than 900 gorillas in the wild—fewer than the white rhino (20,000), and fewer still than the Bengal tiger (2,500). They remain critically endangered due to poaching and humans moving in on their territory, and the chance to see them, to understand them, is increasingly...
read moreMike Summers was in good company last week as he relaxed in a leather conference chair, munched on a supreme slice from Tano’s Pizza and sipped a Sprecher’s Hard Root Beer. At the end of the conference table was Tim Malzhan, 59, who thru-hiked the 1,200-mile Ice Age National Scenic Trail more than 25 years ago. Across the table to his right was Luke Kloberdanz, 40, who hiked the trail in one continuous trip in 2003. And seated directly across from Summers was Dave Caliebe, 34, who in 2010 thru-hiked the trail that winds through Wisconsin...
read moreThree men accused of going on a vandalism spree across several western United States National Parks have pleaded guilty and will be banned from all public lands for the next five years. Before U.S. Magistrate Judge Mark Carman at the Yellowstone Justice Center in Mammoth Hot Springs the three Canadian men affiliated with the group “High On Life” admitted to breaking the law in Yellowstone National Park, Zion National Park, Death Valley National Park, and Mesa Verde National Park. This past summer the men, Charles Ryker Gamble, Alexey...
read moreNew to fishing? Here are some tips for choosing your first reel. In our day to day life, knots plays a vital role. Starting from the shoe lace to camping and fishing, a perfect knot can be an essential requirement. There are several steps to tie knots perfectly for various purposes. For example, the square knot is useful for camping and hiking. A clove hitch knot is for securing rope around things. Fisherman’s knot is for sailing and fishing and bowline knot is for securing a boat, mountain climbing etc. Knots are also very...
read morePerhaps you are 62 or older and think you might want to visit a national park or two before you die. Let us offer you some advice: Get thee to a federal recreation site – be it a national park, national forest or Bureau of Land Management office – and buy a lifetime senior pass that gains you entrance to all federal lands that charge entrance fees, for as long as you live. The cost of one will be increasing by 800%. To be clear, the current price – $10 for a lifetime of access to any and all national parks and federal lands – may be the best...
read moreTrickling between Old Fort and Ridgecrest, Swannanoa Creek is a natural passageway into the Swannanoa Valley. Over the centuries, the storied tributary has led many travelers into Western North Carolina. The Swannanoa Valley Museum & History Center will lead a moderate-to-difficult, mostly downhill, four-mile hike down this path on Saturday, Jan. 28, 2017, shedding light on the natural, social, and cultural history of this once major artery into the Blue Ridge and crossroads for tourism, commerce – and calamity. During Stoneman’s...
read moreA thick forest thrives on hardened lava that once flowed down Mount Fuji’s northwestern flank into lakes that reflect the volcano’s snow-capped cone like rippling mirrors. Within it, the roots of hemlock and cypress trees snake out over the ground through a blanket of moss, and trails lead to deep caverns filled with ice. The Aokigahara forest, as this tangle of woods is called, was born on 12 square miles of lava from an eruption in the year 864, the biggest in 3,500 years. The event left Japan’s rulers awe-struck and its countrymen inspired...
read moreWherever a Search and Rescue (SAR) member goes; they are trained not to leave home without a 24-hour pack. The pack contains everything they need to stay out for 24 hours including water, flashlight, snacks, extra clothing and maps. Many of the searches conducted by SAR could have been prevented if the hikers had carried a map of the area; those venturing out need to know where they are going and be familiar with landmarks and places around them. A map can be a life-saver if a trail sign is missed or a trail intersection is confusing. It’s...
read moreEnvironmental experts will present information about the long-term effects of the Party Rock Fire on the natural environment in Hickory Nut Gorge on Tuesday, January 31, 2017 at 6 p.m. in the Community Hall at the Lake Lure Municipal Building. Experts include Clint Calhoun with the Town of Lake Lure, Marshall Ellis with NC State Parks, and Michael Cheek with the NC Forest Service. The Party Rock Fire burned more than 7,000 acres in the Hickory Nut Gorge in November of 2016. While there were no fatalities and no structures were lost during the...
read moreOne of the major attractions of living in the Chattanooga, TN area is the abundance of outdoor recreational opportunities, which includes many miles of hiking trails close to town. As a new year gets underway, you may be thinking you’d like to get started or do more in the way of hiking some of those trails. Or you may already be an avid hiker who’s recently moved to Chattanooga from somewhere else and would like to explore the local trails. What may be holding you back is the lack of someone to hike with. Your friends and family members may...
read moreArborists from the National Park Service Incident Response Team resumed clearing overgrown vistas on the Blue Ridge Parkway in the Roanoke area December 4th through December 15, restoring 25 vistas so far with this stretch of the project. The project is a continuation of the vista restoration work launched in the fall of 2014 with the support of Friends of the Blue Ridge Parkway. At that time, the team worked 10 days, according to arborist team member Chris Ulrey, an NPS plant ecologist. Work continued in the spring of 2015 around Grandfather...
read moreThe public finally has the amazing opportunity of experiencing a section of California coastline that has been closed to the public for more than 100 years. Save the Redwoods League has opened their newly-constructed 2.3 mile trail, which cuts through 957 acres of forest known as the Shady Dell, and extends the Lost Coast Trail south, making it an even 60 miles in total length. Save the Redwoods League purchased Shady Dell from the nonprofit Redwood Forest Foundation in 2011 for $5.5 million with the help of the California Coastal Conservancy...
read moreA rock slide has closed about two miles of a scenic drive inside Zion National Park in southern Utah. Nobody was injured, but officials say Zion Scenic Drive is impassable just north of Zion Lodge and will remain closed until further notice. Park officials say the slide occurred late January 13, 2017, covering both lanes of the road with about 200 tons of massive boulders and debris that stretch about four car lengths. It’s not immediately known when the closed stretch of road will reopen. Park officials say workers and geologists must wait...
read moreThe National Park Service is waiving entrance fees on Martin Luther King Jr. Day: Monday, January 16, 2017. As part of the park service’s centennial, national sites will be free to the public 10 days in 2017. The waiver includes entrance fees, commercial tour fees, and transportation entrance fees. Reservation, camping, and tour fees will still be collected. If you’re interested in making your visit to a national park reflective of Dr. Martin Luther King’s contribution to our country and the civil rights movement, here are three National...
read moreA 70-year-old Grand Rapids, Michigan man has admitted to stealing thousands of black spruce tree tops from the Chippewa National Forest. Black spruce is a North American pine species. It is widespread across Canada and the northern United States, including the Great Lakes region. The popularity of black spruce tops and other forest products that are used in the seasonal holiday decorative market has surged over the last 20 years. The spruce tops are sold at landscape retailers and some grocery and home improvement stores nationwide. The...
read moreThis week, as John Murray drove north from his home on the Badger-Two Medicine River to his job as the historic preservation officer for the Blackfeet Tribe, the mountains glowed red. His wife, who drove with him, commented on their beauty. Murray, 69, noted with deep satisfaction, that for the first time in more than 30 years, there are no more oil and gas leases up there. For thousands of years, the area was home to the Blackfeet and Murray has spent decades fighting a collection of oil and gas leases sold for $1 an acre by the Reagan...
read moreExxonMobil has lost a key battle in an investigation into whether the oil giant misled the public about the dangers of climate change. A Massachusetts judge ordered Exxon to hand over more than four decades of the company’s climate change research. The court rejected Exxon’s emergency motion to kill the demand from Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey, who is investigating allegations the company ignored internal scientific research going back to the 1970s. The ruling came while longtime Exxon boss Rex Tillerson was being...
read moreDespite a late fall wildfire that shut down the park for nearly two weeks and scorched 11,000 acres, Great Smoky Mountains national park drew a record number of visitors last year. Park spokeswoman Jamie Sanders said more than 11.3 million people visited the Smokies in 2016, helping increase a healthy connection to the outdoors while boosting the economy. The visitation was a 5.6 percent increase over 2015 when there were 10.7 million visitors. The Smokies is a rugged swath of a half-million acres of wilderness, front- and backcountry...
read morePresident-elect Donald Trump aims to open up federal lands to more energy development, tapping into a long-running and contentious debate over how best to manage America’s remaining wilderness. The U.S. government holds title to about 500 million acres of land across the country, including national parks and forests, wildlife refuges and tribal territories stretching from the Arctic to the Gulf of Mexico. They overlay billions of barrels of oil and vast quantities of natural gas, coal, and uranium. With Trump poised to take office on Jan. 20,...
read moreWolves are vicious animals. They have snarled through history as some of the planet’s greatest predators, pouncing on helpless prey all over the world — Russia, Europe, North America — with no mercy. In northern Norway, they’ve been known to savagely attack — with kisses. Narvik is a small town just an hour-and-half flight from Oslo, Norway’s capital. A historic train — the northernmost in the world — romantically snakes through the mesmerizing, snow-capped fjord landscape like in a fairy tale; a gondola takes skiers to some of the country’s...
read moreBy Scott Finn It started out of desperation. Winter is a hard time for my son, Max. He has autism, which means he hates any break in routine — and winter has a knack for screwing up schedules. And not unlike most 10-year-old boys, Max is a tightly-wound ball of kinetic energy. He literally bounces off the walls during the winter. Sometimes, we get in the car and drive around, just to get out of the house. So last January, I signed us up for the 100-mile hiking challenge in the New River Gorge. I thought hiking 100 miles over the next few...
read moreOp-ed by Peter Metcalf, CEO and Founder, Black Diamond Inc. Over the past several months Utah’s political leadership has unleashed an all-out assault against Utah’s protected public lands and Utah’s newest national monument, Bear’s Ears. It’s time for Outdoor Retailer to leave the state in disgust. Over 20 years ago, I successfully led the effort to relocate the Outdoor Retailer Trade show to Utah. The state has some of the country’s most beautiful, varied, wild and iconic public lands that personified our...
read more
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
