Postal Advice on Mail Drops for Long Distance Hiking
With hikers gearing up for the spring hiking season, the question comes forth regarding mail drops and the postal service. This blog post is not about the pros and cons of mail drops or what to put in your drops - I will blog on that at another time - but logistics for mailing them out.
Good advice.
Appalachian Trail takes hiking to extremes
I am told what makes this hike so special is the things you miss. Things like taking a shower, having ice cream on a hot day, eating a cheeseburger and fries, eating pizza, not smelling bad, not being dirty, not being eaten alive by bugs and missing all that news coverage of the daily lives of the Kardashians.
Cry baby.
Sandstone Along the Appalachian Trail In Virginia
This week’s Friday Field Photo features a Silurian (444-416 million years ago) sandstone called the Tuscarora Formation on display along the Appalachian Trail near Roanoke, Virginia. In this location, the beds are dipping very steeply, almost vertical, with stratigraphic ‘up’ to the right. The popular Dragon’s Tooth and McAfee Knob hikes, both along the Appalachian Trail, follow ridges held up by this robust sedimentary unit. These are fun hikes because the trails will follow the same set of beds for long distances providing spectacular views of the adjacent valleys.
Federal Funds to Help Preserve Land in Maine Along The Appalachian Trail
The U.S. Forest Service announced today that Maine is getting more than $8 million for the conservation of nearly 12,000 on Crocker Mountain in Carrabassett Valley and close to 6,000 acres near Madrid on Orbeton Stream.
[…]
The protected parcels include nearly 12,000 acres of working forest owned by the developer Plum Creek on Crocker Mountain that buffers 10 miles of the Appalachian Trail, and about 6,000 acres of property around Orbeton Stream, which is critical habitat for both endangered Atlantic salmon and native brook trout.
Power companies offer to trade with park service for power line
Two utilities seeking to place a high-voltage transmission line across the national park near Bushkill are offering to spend $30 million to buy nearby land and donate it to the Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area and the Appalachian Trail.
Choosing The Right Camera For An Appalachian Trail Hike
Hello, I am looking for camera recommendations to take on my upcoming Appalachian Trail hike. Important:
Image quality
Single lens
Weight
Small package
Battery life
Battery charger weight if not AA batteries
Nasa maps America’s forests for first time to reveal how canopy covers a THIRD of the U.S.
A new map, created by Nasa with the help of government conservationists, accurately documents for the first time the tree population in the U.S. - and all that there is to lose.
The map depicts the concentration of biomass - a measure of organic carbon - that is stored in the branches, trunks and leaves. The darkest green reveals where there are the leafiest forests and the tallest trees in America.
Almost a third of the U.S. is covered in forest. The darkest patches are along the east and west coasts of the U.S where forestry is the most dense. The region surrounding the Appalachian Mountains which runs down the east coast is one of the country’s most heavily wooded. Since 1937, the Appalachian Trail has been in place - a 2,181-mile long public footpath that runs from Maine’s Mount Katahdin to Georgia’s Springer Mountain taking in some of the most breathtaking scenery.
(Source: Daily Mail)
‘Faces of the Appalachian Trail’ is an original documentary produced by Ruthmar Productions. It looks at the Appalachian Trail and many of the diverse personalities associated with the trail. When you think about the Trail, you think about hikers, but there are so many others whose lives are shaped by their experiences with the Appalachian Trail. ‘Faces’ takes a critical look at some of these peoples’ lives.
Why pitch in? One Appalachian Trail volunteer shares her story
Trail maintenance has an obvious benefit: it’s darn good exercise. But for Becky Smucker, a volunteer trail crew leader in the Pisgah National Forest, it carries a deep satisfaction.
“Those of us who work in jobs that produce abstract results, trail work is a concrete, immediate result that you can see,” Smucker said.
