The first LifeStraw water filter was introduced by Vestergaard in 2005 for public health use in developing countries. The filter converts microbiologically contaminated water into safe drinking water that meets US EPA standards for water quality. Since then, the LifeStraw brand has expanded to include additional water filters and purifiers with more features (e.g., higher volume, safe water storage) for use in households, clinics and schools. In 2011, Vestergaard began selling its LifeStraw filters to consumers in North America for use in...
read moreYou know the last place you want to be the day after Thanksgiving is fighting traffic and stampeding hordes of deal-obsessed shoppers in the malls. So instead, head outdoors for some respite from the crass commercialism of Black Friday. The Great Smoky Mountains National Park – by the way, the most popular national park in the country, for many good reasons, one of which, it’s FREE! – invites visitors to join ranger-led hikes across the park on Friday, Nov. 27. Hikes will be offered in the Cataloochee, Elkmont, and Cades...
read moreTo find the largest waterfalls in the Columbia River Gorge, all that’s required is a drive out Interstate 84 to the many viewpoints and trailheads east of Portland, OR. To find the largest trees in the Gorge, however, you’re in for a lot more work. In an area with a long history of logging, precious few groves of old-growth trees remain intact. The ones that do remain are way off the beaten path, known only to a handful of big-tree hunters often reluctant to share the location. Such is the case with what Hood River photographer...
read moreThere’s a bargain to be found in the woods this holiday season. The San Francisco nonprofit Save the Redwoods League is offering free passes on Black Friday – Nov. 27, 2015 – to redwood parks from Monterey and Santa Cruz to the North Coast. The idea is to offer individuals and families a chance to start a new Black Friday tradition by walking among big trees instead of big-box stores, the organization says. Big Basin Redwoods State Park near Santa Cruz, Andrew Molera State Park in Big Sur and Jedediah Smith Redwoods State...
read moreMary Moynihan has the math all worked out. She will need to average 21.8 miles per day, which comes out to about 12 hours per day. She will need to hike at a speed of 2½ to 3½ mph. And if her math is correct, she will hike a total of nearly 8,000 miles — in one calendar year. It’s called the Calendar Triple Crown, and only a handful of hikers have ever accomplished the feat — all of them men. Moynihan hopes to be the first woman. The 31-year-old Bend, OR resident and manager at the Patagonia outdoor clothing and gear store in Bend plans to...
read moreIn 1968, the Appalachian and Pacific Crest Trails became the first “National Scenic Trails,” but ten years later Congress designated the third. Splitting the country’s midsection like a corkscrew, tight-roping the Rocky Mountains from Mexico to Canada, the 2,700-mile Continental Divide Trail is acclaimed as the third jewel in the hiking world’s Triple Crown. The CDT has a split personality. The path careens like a pachinko ball veering from jaw-dropping scenery to moments when it claws you in the back. The CDT’s informal slogan is: “Embrace...
read moreIn June 2008, the PA Appalachian Trail Act was amended by Act 24, requiring the 58 PA municipalities along the Appalachian National Scenic Trail (A.T.) to take action to preserve the natural, scenic, historic, and aesthetic values of the Trail and to conserve and maintain it as a public natural resource. The legislation was prompted by a Commonwealth Court case related to a proposal to construct a country club for sports car enthusiasts, which threatened a portion of the A.T. in Monroe County, Pennsylvania. Act 24 requires such actions –...
read moreThe trio of do-gooders — Seth Orme, Joe Dehnert, and Paul Twedt — named their effort the Packing It Out initiative. Their goal was the removal of more than 1,000 pounds of litter as they hiked from Georgia to Maine. They hit the trail in March, and by August 15th had met the goal. To remove this much debris they relied on the help and generosity of good samaritans who packed litter out to trailhead garbage cans and recycling bins near the route. Orme said people were more than willing to help once they found out the cause. The men were even...
read moreThe Skylands Region is home to rolling hills and endless acres of farmlands. It also boasts the highest point in New Jersey—aptly named High Point State Park in Sussex County. The Gateway Region is the most urban part of the state, but that doesn’t mean it offers less hiking than the state’s other regions. The best thing about hiking these parts is the potential for skyline scenery in the distance. The Delaware River Region, which encompasses five counties, borders the Delaware and includes part of the Pinelands—a National Reserve made up of...
read moreGarlic mustard, Japanese stiltgrass, Oriental bittersweet, and other non-native invasive plants are creeping across backyards, parks, forests, and roadsides throughout the southeastern U.S. Scientists are still trying to understand what drives their relentless spread. Invasions are often assessed by measuring species richness, or the number of non-native species known to grow in a certain area. However, other measurements of plant invasions could offer more insights. Two measures of invasion were modeled – richness and prevalence. Richness...
read moreNeal Clark has been watching his feet a lot this fall day. The young environmental lawyer chose flipflops for this tour of the Utah desert with the blithe self-assurance of someone comfortable outdoors. Remarkably, he’s stumbled into thorns only once. Now, he cautiously threads a gap between banks of cryptobiotic crust. The castle-like colonies of microorganisms anchor the thin topsoil; no conscientious environmentalist would crush them. But Clark pauses: Just ahead, an oil rig towers on a patch of earth scraped bare to accommodate trucks and...
read moreSnowed under by an avalanche of empty plastic bottles, in 2011 National Park Service Director Jonathan Jarvis told the system’s 408 parks, national monuments and historic sites that they could stop selling bottled water at their concession stands and offer public water bottle filling stations instead. According to Jarvis, the environmental impact of single-use plastic bottles made from petrochemicals and shipped around the world is incompatible with the Park Service’s goal to be a responsible steward of nature. Plastic bottles make up an...
read moreAustralia’s Carmichael coal mine project has been under major scrutiny by large conservation groups and prominent Australians for months. Now, progressive think tank the Australia Institute has found just how damaging the emissions from burning coal at the mine could really be. The coal mine project, which is a backed by India’s Adani Enterprises and approved by the Australian government in October, has the potential to out-weigh annual emissions from entire cities and countries, according to a new report by the Australia Institute. According...
read moreThere is a sign at Arches National Park featuring a quote that reads: “Let the people walk.” It’s a line taken from Ed Abbey’s 1968 nature writing classic “Desert Solitaire.” It might seem like an odd choice: Arches, and its nearest city, Moab, Utah, have become virtually everything “Cactus Ed” hated. The asphalt road ribboning through the park has turned Arches into an epitome of “windshield tourism,” allowing visitors to see nearly every attraction without...
read moreHiking Horsetooth Rock is a rite of passage for northern Colorado residents, and it’s especially spectacular at sunrise. The wind was fairly calm that morning, but it can be gale force – so make sure to have layers with you. There were only four other people up there for sunrise, and no other dogs. Getting down Horsetooth with a 75-pound dog is much more difficult than getting up. Fit your dog with gear that assists in getting her up and down the rocks. Alma wore a Ruffwear pack that had a handle on the back, which was excellent for hauling...
read moreThe Green Mountain Club said they listened to member feedback to improve and update their most celebrated publication, without changing the features hikers value. This is the most complete map of the entire Long Trail system in Vermont. “We are not only excited about the detail of the map but the aesthetics are wonderful as well.” Still printed on quality waterproof paper, the Long Trail map is durable in all Vermont weather. It increased in size from six to eight folding panels allowing for more detail, including significant Long Trail...
read moreLamping Homestead may be one of the most isolated hikes in Ohio. It is a long ways from anywhere, in rugged southeast Ohio. The 5-mile loop doesn’t cross any roads in the rolling Appalachian foothills between Haney and Pleasant ridges in southwest Monroe County. It is managed by the U.S. Forest Service as part of the 240,900-acre Wayne National Forest that includes 12 Ohio counties. The national forest lies within an 834,000-acre tract established by Congress in 1934. The Lamping Homestead Recreation Area is off state Route 537, about...
read moreMore than a month after a Tennessee woman was injured on a solo hike in the Cold Mountain area of a Haywood County, NC, she visited the sheriff’s office yesterday to thank the rescue crews who spent days searching for her. Julie Hays and her husband Craig personally thanked Sheriff Greg Christopher and others yesterday. More than 200 people from more than 60 local, state and federal agencies helped search for Julie after she didn’t return from a day hike in late September. The search continued for two days until she was found injured about...
read moreAs the world prepares for the most important global climate summit yet in Paris later this month, news from Greenland could add urgency to the negotiations. For another major glacier appears to have begun a rapid retreat into a deep underwater basin, a troubling sign previously noticed at Greenland’s Jakobshavn Glacier and also in the Amundsen Sea region of West Antarctica. And in all of these cases, warm ocean waters reaching the deep bases of marine glaciers appears to be a major cause. The new fast-moving glacier is the Zachariae glacier...
read moreIn spring and summer 2014 Trevor Rasmussen, known also by his trail name Fronkey, used the crowdfunding resource Kickstarter to finance his thru hike of the Pacific Northwest Trail, and to pay for production of a documentary film detailing his adventures. 130 contributors donated a total of $5,262 to his project. The original Kickstarter requirement was only $1,700, so Rasmussen used the extra contributions to improve his camera equipment inventory, ostensibly to enhance the production quality of the documentary film. In the summer of 2014...
read moreThere is a new section of the Appalachian Trail in Bear Mountain, NY that will open this weekend, thanks to nine months of work by volunteers. The New York-New Jersey Trail Conference’s Long Distance Trails Crew, an all-volunteer group, contributed more than 3,000 hours this year to relocate a 0.2 mile section of the historic trail in Bear Mountain State Park. The section was heavily used and deeply eroded, said Chris Reyling of Hartsdale, who’s the head of the Trails Crew team. The relocated route was built with natural stones to...
read moreNothing spoils a good walk in the great outdoors like someone who simply doesn’t know, or doesn’t care, about the rules of the trail. They’re not hard to learn. They’re not overly cumbersome. Most of them aren’t even rules as much as they are fervent suggestions. Still, when you’re hiking, whether it’s a short day trip on a mile loop in the closest state park or a thru-hike on the Appalachian Trail, you have to know them. You have to know that, for example, blasting Metallica from a wireless Bluetooth...
read moreThe U.S. Forest Service ranger station in the Pisgah National Forest within the Grandfather Ranger District in Nebo, North Carolina was renamed the Jason Crisp Forest Service Building during a ceremony on Nov. 10, 2015. U.S. Forest Service Officer Jason Crisp and his K-9 partner, Maros, lost their lives while on a manhunt in pursuit of a homicide suspect on March 12, 2014. His widow, Amanda Crisp, his two sons, Logan and Garett, other members of the Crisp family, more than 80 State, County, Forest Service, Federal law enforcement officers...
read moreIn Texas, you could have a full-out appliance party at your house — with the dishwasher whirring, oven broiling, and laundry spinning — and as long as it’s after 9 p.m. and you’re on the right electricity plan, the extra energy use won’t cost you a thing. More than 50 Texas utility companies are offering plans that give away free electricity at night, thanks to bountiful wind power, among other factors. Texas has more wind power than any other state, accounting for roughly 10 percent of the state’s generation. Alone among the 48 contiguous...
read moreThe trails at Granny’s Acres Conservation Area near Warsaw, Mo., wind through woodlands, up and down steep hills, and across shady valleys cut by small streams. This oak and hickory-dominated woodland is a pretty place for a late autumn or winter walk. The signed hiking loops range from 2.6 to 4.1 miles in length. “It’s kind of a unique area,” said Jake Willard, department resource forester and area manager. “The trails go way back in and it’s fairly remote.” Hikers should be aware that the terrain is...
read moreIt’s no surprise that veterans have a long history of serving as stewards of the American outdoors, and with our public lands under pressure from development and other threats, their voices are more important than ever. Our wildlands provide an excellent place for self-centering or connecting with family and friends. This is true for people from all walks of life, but it is especially important for veterans. Often haunted by the horrors of war and the loss of unit comraderie, many combat veterans find that extended time in the great outdoors...
read moreBlack bears of the Smoky Mountains are starving this fall and their foraging is bringing some of them practically muzzle-to-face with residents and tourists near the most visited national park in the U.S. While bear attacks are rare, officials are concerned and warning people to be careful. Bears near the park have climbed into cars, ripped open garbage, tried to enter cabins and even chased people. A periodic problem of nature—a collapse of the natural crops of cherries, acorns, hickory nuts and walnuts that bears love to eat—is driving...
read moreBiochemistry and microbial biology are majors that require a fair bit of studying. The workload can be stressful. You’ve got to really know your stuff. You can ask Montana State University seniors Colleen Rooney and Emma Sirr. It was after a particularly stressful day during sophomore year that Rooney jokingly suggested to Sirr that the two take off for the West Coast to hike. The Pacific Northwest National Scenic Trail begins in Olympic National Park at Cape Alava, the westernmost point in the contiguous U.S., and terminates in the high...
read moreBetween 2000 and 2012, the world lost forest area and gained forest area. But the losses exceeded the gains, according to U.S. Forest Service researchers and partners who compared tree cover data from those years and estimated a global net loss of 1.71 million square kilometers of forest — an area about two and a half times the size of Texas. That’s only part of the story, though. “In addition to the direct loss of forest, there was a widespread shift of the remaining global forest to a more fragmented condition,” says Kurt Riitters, a...
read moreEven on trails, hiking the right way is sometimes counter-intuitive. Especially this time of year. Take, for example, a familiar and notorious fall hiking obstacle: the mud puddle. What is the best way to pass? Toss a big branch over the puddle to create a makeshift bridge to keep your boots from getting muddy? Skirt the edge of the puddle? Walk through the puddle as if it wasn’t there? “That’s one of the biggest things we tell people when it comes to hiking in the rain,” said Kindra Ramos, spokeswoman for the Washington Trails Association....
read moreWatch your step. A hike in the park could turn into a scuba trip if you walk slow enough in Grüner See, a mountainous Austrian park that turns into a lake every year. Grüner See, which means “Green Lake” in English, sits at the base of the Hochschwab mountains near the town of Tragoess in Austria, and everything in the park – the benches, grassy knolls, creeks and bridges – become a popular diving spot come spring, when winter’s snow and ice flood the area with beautiful aquamarine water. By summer, the lake...
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
