Hiker Blog

The remains of the plane are supposed to still be there on Medicine Bow Peak. I started up before six that morning... On October 6, 1955, United Airlines Flight 409 crashed near the top of Medicine Bow Peak, ... via Buzzle.com

Hike name: Rusk bushwhack. Location: North-central Catskills. Length: 2-3 miles round trip. via Poughkeepsie Journal

But it's entirely different when Mrs. Griz gives me times of quiet and solitude. via The Herald-Leader

An empty pill bottle and letters to and from loved ones have been found by searchers looking for an Illinois teenager whose car was found parked in a highway rest area Sunday night near the hiking country of ... via Channel3000

"In general, we want to accumulate the power before using it; for example you could walk for 20 minutes then have enough power to talk for 2.5 minutes on your cell phone"

Researchers at Michigan Technological University have designed a strap that will capture the energy generated by the up-and-down movement of a hiker's pack and turn it into enough voltage to power small ... via Science Daily

Officials from the Wilson County Sheriff's Department have released more information on a body found Oct. via NBC 17

Filed under: Climbing, Hiking, History, Learning, Stories, North America, Ecotourism

If, in Tim Cahill's words: "the sight of Death Valley National Park is something akin to scientific pornography for hard-rock geologists," the piece he wrote on his travel there is soft-porn for the solitary adventure travel-writer.

Metamorphosis used to vaguely tickle my curiosity in geography class at school, but other than that, I have absolutely no interest in geology. I still managed to read Cahill's detailed narration in National Geographic on Death Valley in one shot, without yawning.

For those of you who don't know about Death Valley other than being a set for Star Wars, it's a valley in California that is recognized as the lowest point of the Western Hemisphere and one of the hottest places on the planet; it covers an area of 3-million acres.

It's called Death Valley after some explorers got lost there around 1845; although only one of them died, they all thought that it would be their grave.

What makes the place interesting other than it's grim and forbidding name, is that it has sand-dunes as well as snow-capped mountains; multicolored rocks that move, and canyons. It is home to the Timbisha Shoshone tribe, and 1000 types of species and plants -- 50 of which are not found anywhere in the world.

Cahill's feature reads as if you were in an open museum of the Valley -- he captures more than the essence of the place. So if you get a kick out of obscure geographical dwellings of our mother earth, you will love this article.

I suggest you start off by reading Cahill's interview about the trip; then go on to the full article if it did something for you. The feature will be in print in National Geographic's November issue.

%Gallery-8988%

 

Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

"It's going to be too much for the small community to handle"

Local officials from the Tri-County Area gathered Wednesday in the hope of getting a piece of about $7.2 million in federal dollars for future road projects. via Journal Star

Filed under: Activism, Hiking

Traveling can be a difficult and grueling ordeal at times. I can't imagine how much more difficult it would be if I was retired and having difficulty walking.

That's where canes and walking sticks come in handy.

As a sign of the times, however, today's demanding senior citizens want more from their canes than just a hardened piece of wood. That's why the Voyageur Travel Collection offers all sorts of bells and whistles on their canes and walking sticks. Their 007 model, for example, contains a secret compartment for medication as well as a high beam LED built into the handle to illuminate the path ahead. Other models offer internal shock springs, camera mounts to convert canes into a monopods, and engineering designs which allow the canes to easily break down into convenient travel sizes.

Wow, getting old has never been easier!

 

Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

"That's our biggest problem -- many people don't know how to hike"

Most folks' intimacy with Picacho Peak involves a dashboard's view from Interstate 10 at highway speeds. via Northwest Explorer