BirdShooter's Backpacking Blog: If you are in to backpacking then you'll be "n2" this website.
Should the Great Smoky Mountain National Park charge backpackers for camping overnight in the park? According to an article published yesterday by National Parks Traveler, the answer is a resounding NO: John Quillen, a Tennessean from Knoxville who fought to have the public comments on the fee proposal made public, says that by his calculation the comments were "almost 20 to 1 against the fee." Part of the concern was that the proposed fees, which range from a low of $4 per … [Read more...]
In Episode 8 of the N2Backpacking podcast series, I speak with my father about how he introduced me to the outdoors and how he served up a steady dose of hiking, camping, and fishing before I reached elementary school. We talk about the early years, of catching my first fish, of car camping in Ohio, and about the Appalachian Trail - where he joined me for a few days in June during my 1994 thru-hike. Weeks later, my father returned to the A.T. but this time with a family friend while … [Read more...]
I have used both stand-alone GPS units and Smartphone apps on the trail and have yet to resolve which is better. For short day hikes - the Smartphone apps win hands down for convenience and their instant access to trail databases from companies like the North Face. But in the backcountry? I tend to agree with this assessment by Backpacker Magazine gear editor, Kristin Hostetter: In a nutshell, here are the pros of using a smartphone with a navigation app: great for local hikes, daily … [Read more...]
The Mrs. and I just returned from a trip to the Grand Canyon, and if you haven't seen it - the winter is a great time to go. There are fewer people, there's no summer 100+ heat, and it's fairly easy to book a room at the last minute - even on a weekend. I made my first trip to the Canyon in 1996 during a three month cross-country roadtrip that put 17,000 miles on my car and had us touch all four corners of the Lower 48. We arrived on the North Rim in mid-summer with 104 degree heat and … [Read more...]
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