The hills surrounding the Vail Valley in central Colorado really come alive in the summer months, when aspen leaves quiver in the wind and blankets of wildflowers spread across miles of meadows. Hit the trails with some help from the new Vail Hiking Center in Lionshead, located near the Eagle Bahn gondola at the base of the mountain. “The Vail Hiking Center is our new one-stop-shop for hiking information at Vail,” said Jonno Goldstein, hiking center and guided activities supervisor at Vail. “Whether you are looking to get yourself outfitted...
read moreThe National Park Service maintains over 800 miles of trails (walking and equestrian) within the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Whether your interests lie in a handful of hiking experiences or completing all the park has to offer, it goes without saying that good planning and organization is required. If you want to expand your hiking experience and tackle all of the trails, you need to understand a few tricks in efficiency and how to get to and from some of the remote park trails; and to complete all 800 miles of hiking trails, you...
read moreby Jennifer Pharr Davis Recently, I have been getting a lot of e-mails and questions about how to make a living or start a business in the Outdoor Industry. So I thought I’d write a post about my experience and nine lessons I’ve learned as the founder and owner of Blue Ridge Hiking Company. There are risks and hardships that are involved in backcountry camping and starting your own company. I started my company as a naïve 24 year-old who wasn’t thinking entrepreneurially, but rather as an idealist who wanted to help other people get outdoors....
read moreA dozen writers and photographers from five eastern newspapers were on top of Springer Mountain, southern terminus of the Appalachian Trail. They were poised to take the first step of a 2,158-mile adventure along one of the world’s premier hiking trails, a serpentine footpath tripping over the ridge tops of 14 states from Georgia, through Pennsylvania, to Maine. It is a long way, this sylvan slipper. So long that for the next seven months, as they took turns hiking northeast, the trail disappeared into a long green tunnel, or over a...
read moreIf you live in Oklahoma, and you’ve been injured by an earthquake that was possibly triggered by oil and gas operations, you can now sue the oil company for damages. That’s the effect of a ruling by the Oklahoma Supreme Court, which on June 30, 2015 rejected efforts by the oil industry to prevent earthquake injury lawsuits from being heard in court. Instead of being decided by juries and judges, the industry was arguing that cases should be resolved by the Oklahoma Corporation Commission, a state regulatory agency. The state’s high court...
read moreThis summer it will be increasingly obvious to Jenny Lake visitors that Inspiring Journeys—the multimillion dollar renewal effort at Jenny Lake for the NPS centennial in 2016—is well underway. The second of four construction seasons started in May and, as with last year, the primary focus is on backcountry trail work. In September, physical changes in the frontcountry will also start to become apparent and will impact late season visitors. • The lakeshore trail on the southwest segment of the Jenny Lake trail system is now open for public...
read moreIn a jam packed but complex day for international climate action, Brazil, the United States, and China — three of the world’s top 10 greenhouse gas emitters — all announced new goals on June 30, 2015. The commitments came in different forms and units, ranging from forest hectares to renewable energy gigawatts — but collectively appeared to represent a new and major step forward towards addressing climate change and cleaning global energy systems. President Obama and Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff, leaders of the western hemisphere’s two...
read moreThis July we’re celebrating 30 years of Park and Recreation Month and the enduring importance of parks and recreation for the world. From the start, parks were created to serve the people—to give them a place to appreciate nature, exercise, socialize and have fun. This mission lives on and will continue to intensify into the future. This July, let’s celebrate the past, present and future of parks and recreation. Each July since 1985, America has celebrated Park and Recreation Month. A program of the National Recreation and Park Association...
read moreWhen her marriage ended in divorce after 10 years, Carol Schaffer wasn’t eager for a fresh start. Still shaken up by the split, Schaffer said she held tight to the people and pastimes she loved and only introduced new things into her life (hiking, “Seinfeld” binge-fests) if they helped her heal in some way. “You can’t change everything about your life right away after a separation,” said Schaffer, who lives in California. “Some people are tempted to make all kinds of changes to themselves and their...
read moreShell’s plans to bore two wells in the Arctic Ocean this summer may be jeopardized by an obscure permitting requirement that effectively bars drilling operations close to each other in waters off Alaska. The restriction highlighted by environmentalists opposed to Shell’s Arctic drilling campaign could be a major stumbling block for the company, which has spent $7 billion and seven years pursuing oil in the region. The provision is embedded in the government’s rules for obtaining a “letter of authorization” allowing companies to disturb...
read moreThe average American boy or girl spends as few as 30 minutes in unstructured outdoor play each day. Only 6% of children nine to 13 play outside on their own in a typical week. But if you’re reading this, you probably already know that outdoor play is essential for children’s health and well-being. Here are several science-backed reasons that prove you’re right. Better vision Better resistance to disease Increased Vitamin D Less Stress Better attention spans, even for kids with ADHD symptoms Better physical fitness Better physical coordination...
read moreRobert Redford is an actor, director and environmental advocate. On Monday, June 29, 2015, I’ll have the honor of addressing U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and representatives from 193 countries gathered at U.N. headquarters in New York to call for immediate action on global climate change. This meeting is part of a growing groundswell being felt throughout the world with citizens, cities, religious leaders, corporations and nations demanding real action. And when world leaders meet in Paris this December, the world will be...
read moreAs a U.S. Marine tank commander, Sean Gobin endured many harrowing experiences: the invasion of Iraq, counterinsurgency missions in Fallujah and the training of Afghan army recruits. But he never had a chance to process any of it. In 2012, Gobin left the military and convinced a war buddy to hike the 2,168-mile Appalachian Trail with him. They used their journey to raise money for disabled veterans, but along the way, Gobin realized that the experience was also helping him. “Hiking eight hours a day, I was processing all of these...
read moreHiking author Mickey Eisenberg still treks eight to 10 miles on weekends at age 69, often with his buddy Gene Yore, a young 76. Their knees aren’t that creaky, and they still can tread some serious miles, so why not, Eisenberg said. “When people think of Mount Rainier National Park, they typically think of Mount Rainier itself,” said Eisenberg, a physician. Most don’t realize that in addition to “The Big One,” there are 100 peaks located in or adjacent to the park, often with fewer visitors, and many with summits reachable by hiking trails...
read moreOutdoor enthusiasts have several new trails that the Tennessee Valley Authority has opened in North Alabama this summer, including one that brings hikers to an old saltpeter mine. And while explaining the new trails and playgrounds near Guntersville Dam, Athens and Muscle Shoals, David Brewster, TVA’s natural resources manager for west operations, also listed the most popular locations for the most common summer time activities. Three new trails opened this summer, including Cave Mountain Trail on the south side of Guntersville Dam....
read moreResearchers who study the Earth’s climate create models to test their assumptions about the causes and trajectory of global warming. Around the world there are 28 or so research groups in more than a dozen countries who have written 61 climate models. Each takes a slightly different approach to the elements of the climate system, such as ice, oceans, or atmospheric chemistry. The computer model that generated the results for this graphic is called “ModelE2,” and was created by NASA’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies...
read moreIn its ninth summer, the Idaho Conservation League Adventure Series in North Idaho features day hikes of varying difficulty, paddle trips on both Lake Pend Oreille and Lake Coeur d’Alene and campsite and trail maintenance volunteer opportunities. Whether you are new or native to the Panhandle, this adventure series is a great way to explore and gain new appreciation for Idaho’s spectacular peaks, lakes, streams and wildlife. The hiking series kicks off Saturday, June 27, 2015 with a hike up Lookout Mountain in the Selkirks. This...
read moreAlaska, the great northern frontier of America, is being reshaped by climate change. While rising temperatures are altering its character and landscape, they are also bringing the ravages of wildfires. In the past 60 years, Alaska has warmed more than twice as fast as the rest of the country, with average temperatures up by nearly 3°F. By 2050, temperatures are projected to climb an additional 2-4 degrees, with the Arctic region seeing the most dramatic increases. These rising temperatures are expected to increase wildfire risks in Alaska,...
read moreSea-level rise puts at high risk more than $40 billion in park infrastructure and historic and cultural resources, including almost $90 million in assets at the Canaveral National Seashore, according to a federal report. The report by scientists from the National Park Service and Western Carolina University is based on a study of 40 parks. “Climate change is visible at national parks across the country, but this report underscores the economic importance of cutting carbon pollution and making public lands more resilient to its dangerous...
read moreGreat Smoky Mountains National Park officials announced the temporary closure of the Cosby entrance road due to flood damage. On June 22, 2015 at approximately 4 p.m., flash flooding along Rock Creek spilled over the banks, damaging road shoulders along 1,500 linear feet of the Cosby entrance road. Underground electric and phone lines were exposed along most of the road where the shoulder area was washed out up to 6 feet deep. All electric power and water service to the campground and picnic area has been shut off. Park maintenance crews...
read moreVancouver-based company G-Kup has come up with 100 per cent compostable coffee pods as a solution to uneconomical and incredibly wasteful K-Cups. The plastic single-serve coffee pods designed for Keurig machines have exploded in popularity, but the garbage it creates has become a global problem. A Mother Jones report said the number of K-Cups produced in in 2013 was enough to wrap around the planet 10.5 times. Even the pods’ creator has said he regrets creating them in the first place. As an alternative, G-Kups are held together with a...
read moreIf you’re going to fake it as a paid-up member of the jet set, then Monterosso, at the northern end of the Cinque Terre, is the perfect place. Pinned to the cliffs above the Gulf of Genoa on the shin of the Italian boot, the Cinque Terre – the five lands – is the sort of landscape that causes hearts to beat a little faster. This is one of the scenic miracles of the Mediterranean: five small villages hewn from solid rock, huddled facades and pantiled roofs overlooked by churches and fortifications that date back to the Middle...
read moreSomething has been missing from Middle Georgia gardens. Nature lovers may have noticed the lack of monarch butterflies. The familiar orange wings with black veins flutter between Canada and Mexico during annual migration that keeps them from wintering in freezing temperatures. Milkweed plants in the Southeast and Midwest are the traditional breeding ground, but many butterflies die trying to find increasingly sparse pockets of the plant. A decline in native milkweed on Georgia roadsides and Midwest farms means fewer places to lay eggs....
read moreWill Shafroth, who worked in the Interior Department under former Secretary Ken Salazar, has been hired as CEO and president of the National Park Foundation. Shafroth fills a void created when former CEO and President Neil Mulholland abruptly left the organization last fall. Yellowstone National Park Superintendent Dan Wenk served in an interim capacity, but returned to his park earlier this year. Shafroth will oversee the Foundation’s work, including its operations, philanthropic support through individual and foundation giving, corporate...
read moreCDT Montana, a branch of the Montana Wilderness Association that focuses on maintaining and supporting the Continental Divide Trail, had no problem filling most of its volunteer slots for this summer’s trail projects. That was until a longtime partner had to cancel leaving an entire project without any volunteers. The trail maintenance project runs July 5-10, 2015 in the Benchmark area of the Rocky Mountain Front. CDT Montana is looking for four folks to help on the project but could take up to eight volunteers. The group will car camp at the...
read moreIn just a mile on level ground, you can reach a spot that can change the way you feel about things for a long time. From the trailhead for the Pacific Crest Trail near Tuolumne Meadows, you can amble north for 20 minutes or so to a pristine meadow sprinkled with lodgepole pine, where a high mountain rim frames your moment in time. Unicorn Peak (10,910 feet), Cathedral Peak (10,940) and Fairview Dome (9,731) poke holes in the sky. Nearby, the Tuolumne River runs clear, cold and pure. The only sounds are often meadowlarks, nutcrackers and other...
read moreIf you can surround yourself with anyone, surround yourself with hikers. They are the most down to earth, adventurous folks you’ll ever meet. They are the definition of pure, good vibes. They’re all different, but they all have similar characteristics that make them simply irresistible. If you don’t hike, you should strongly reconsider. Here’s why: They’re optimistic, yet prepared for anything They’re minimalists They’re incredibly encouraging They’re carefree and bold Surround yourself with those who care more about fulfilling their souls...
read moreA recent report by the U.S. Forest Service shows that for over 19 million people in the South – roughly the population of Florida – clean water begins in the region’s national forests. The report provides information at a level not previously available on the amount of surface drinking water national forest lands provide to communities in the South. The Forest Service Southern Region and Southern Research Station (SRS) worked together to produce the report’s analysis, tables, and maps, which include detailed data on public water system...
read moreThe Palomar Mountain Observatory Trail is one of only four National Recreation Trails in San Diego County, California. From the tree-shaded, well-maintained trail there are bucolic vistas of grassy meadows with grazing cattle. It also provides a chance to visit the Hale Telescope and the world-class Palomar Observatory. It is easily accessible and is a rewarding hike year-round. Palomar Mountain rises steeply from the Pauma Valley in the west and the Temecula Creek valley in the east, but the mountain itself consists of gentle rolling hills...
read moreMore than 100 years after legislation was introduced to build a bridge over the Winooski River, hikers on the Long Trail will have a safe place to cross the river and head north. The Green Mountain Club opened a new 224-foot Long Trail suspension bridge as part of the Winooski Valley Long Trail relocation. The bridge, located just off of U.S. 2 in Bolton, Vermont saves hikers from a 3 mile walk down the highway from the woods of Camels Hump State Forest to the Jonesville Bridge and back onto the trail, said Mike DeBonis, executive director of...
read moreThanks to a new partnership between Albemarle County and the Kids in Parks program, there’s a new family hiking trail in Crozet, Virginia. Kids in Parks is a national program designed to get kids outside and exploring. The new trailhead at Mint Springs Park is open with a kiosk stocked with interactive maps. Kids in Parks calls it a track trail, it has free guides that teach kids about birds, nature, safe hiking and more. As families work their way along the path, kids can check off what they find and see. When they get home, they can...
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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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