Choosing hiking boots, first and foremost, should be about comfort—but what about practicality? If you’re a do-it-all-in-a-day adventurer, you might be looking for a unicorn of a boot that’s equally at home on concrete and dirt. Luckily, boots like these have entered the gear market. While there are still plenty of options for utilitarian hiking […]
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This Op-Ed represents the opinions of The Wilderness Society. “Mister, what kind of cactus of is that?” Jose, a 13-year-old from Anthony, New Mexico, points to a walking stick cholla, admiring its radiant purple flowers as he calls over a group of friends to admire the long, spiny cactus. Last year, Jose was part of […]
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A gentle wind rustled evergreen boughs around me, a stream galloped past my now-damp trail runners and my pup threw herself, ecstatic, against downed branches in our way. The world was right, but I wasn’t. I saw it all, but I didn’t feel it. Instead, I had a heavy, deadened feeling in my chest and […]
The post Tired of Your Sport? It Could be Burnout appeared first on REI Co-op Journal.
The vast lands of the Midwest host fewer than a dozen national parks. But on February 15, Indiana Dunes officially became the nation’s newest and 61st national park. The designation marks the final chapter of a century-old conservation story that is also the story of Chicago, and a reframing of wild places beyond the traditional […]
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The temperate climate and varied topography of the greater San Diego area delivers an enjoyable getaway for hikers of all abilities. Whether you are looking for a seaside stroll, a rolling hike on open hillsides, a tough climb to a peak with a view or a route-finding challenge in the desert, the trail systems at […]
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A version of this story appeared in the fall 2019 issue of Uncommon Path. Mastering a layering system takes work. But once you’ve done it, we think you’ll never go back. Layering systems are typically made up of a base layer, a mid layer and an outer layer. A down jacket, typically worn as a warm […]
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The National Park Service (NPS) saw 318.2 million recreation visits in 2018, according to an announcement released yesterday. This is the third highest number of annual visits on record since 1904 (when the NPS started tracking visitation numbers), though it is about 12.67 million visits fewer than 2017. The announcement also showed that visitors spent […]
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