NWOG

Cruises are a Neat Opportunity

Sunday, July 4th, 2010

Have you ever played the game called “Lies?” Simply put, Lies is a game in which you go to a place where you have never been (and will probably never be again), and pretend that you are someone entirely different from who you actually are. This can be a very fun way to experiment with different ways to handle similar social situations — and if you really want to be strange, you can always try out those ridiculous pick up lines you found online. Or you could just walk around as if you were the king or queen of the world, confidence and power oozing from your every pore, and tell people the stories of your (made up) life to see how they react.

While most of the time this is a bad game to play, there is a time and a place for it. That time and place is on board a cruise ship. If you have ever taken a cruise, you know that it can be an amazing time to essentially be somebody else, if only for a few days. It can be really awesome to see how “the other half” lives. And the other half in question does not have to be the opposite end of the socioeconomic spectrum, either. They can just be “the popular people” or “the lusty people.” Simply take whatever you would generally classify yourself as, and be the polar opposite of that.

This can be an incredible opportunity to learn. And not just about your typical assumptions about life, either. You can try out things socially that you would not dare if there were people you know around. And you can also learn more by watching people interact. So when you shop around for cruise offers, think about what kind of person you might want to be in a far off place.

Tags: Canada, Cruise ship, Cruises, Recreation, Specialty Travel, Travel, Travel Agents, United States | Posted in General | 1 Comment »

How to Start Finding the Best Hiking Footwear

Wednesday, May 26th, 2010

Investing in a solid pair of hiking-specific shoes or boots can make the difference between a day enjoyed and a day in pain and discomfort. A cheap pair discount shoes probably won’t hold up to a twelve-mile hike through the Appalachians, and an expensive pair of boutique boots with crampon attachments is a bit much for the trail around your local apple orchard, so when considering your hiking footwear, it’s best to take a few key factors into consideration.

First, what kind of hiker are you? Are you new to the practice, or have you been doing it a while? If you’re new to it, don’t buy the most expensive pair of shoes. Like an expensive guitar doesn’t make you a better guitar player, an expensive pair of shoes won’t make you better at hiking. Try your own shoes first, and move on from there.

Second, what are your trails like? Are they flat, paved with crushed limestone or mulch? Or are they dirt trails? Are there lots of roots and rocks? How much climbing will you have to do? Depending on the terrain, a heavier-duty shoe might serve you better. But if the trails are too light, a heavy-duty shoe might end up weighing you down. Know you trails.

Third, you need to know your feet. Going to your local hiking expert and having them help you find a good pair of shoes can make a huge difference. They might even know your feet better than you do, and because they’re the experts, they’ll know what is right for your hike. It doesn’t hurt either to go to a podiatrist, if you’re serious about the sport, and have your foot doctor recommend what kind of support you need. Walking can be hard on the joints, and having the right kind of support is necessary for enjoying a long day on the trails.

Now get out there and explore!

Tags: Best Hiking Footwear | Posted in All About Hiking, Hiking Techniques | No Comments »

Hiking With Your Dogs

Monday, May 24th, 2010

Most animals love being outdoors – especially dogs. That’s why it is important to bring your dog outside whenever possible. Let Rover run around, catch the frisbee, play in the water, chase birds and squirrels, and let him get the workout that he needs. But you don’t have to stay at the park with him. You can take him into the woods on your next hike too.

But there are a few important things to consider when hiking with your dog. Since not all dogs are created equal, you want to make sure your dog gets along with other dogs. Especially if you pick a trail that is populated with a lot of other hikers and their dogs, a canine tiff is never fun to get into or break up, so do your best to make sure your dog is obedient and behaved when out on the trails.

Also, despite the temptation – even if you are absolutely sure you have the trails to yourself – keep your dog on a leash. A mountain biker could whizz by or a wandering animal might be lolling in the woods, and your dog could get into a collision with the mountain biker, or run off into the woods following only his animal instincts.

You should also bring some plastic bags to pick up after your dog. The temptation might be strong – you’re in the woods, and animals go to the bathroom in the woods – but just like you’re in the city, pick up after your dog. It’s cleaner, it’s more sanitary, and it smells better. And it’s considerate to other hikers.

Finally, consideration is key. Not all trails are open to people with dogs, so don’t think that you and Rover can be the one exception. No dogs means no dogs. Respect the rules.

Tags: Dogs Hicking, Hiking | Posted in Hiking Techniques, Sports | No Comments »

Hiking, Camping, and Fires

Friday, May 21st, 2010

If you are an avid hiker, chances are, you are a fan of camping and other outdoor activities too. And if you’ve ever been camping, you’ve probably had a fire going. Perhaps you were making some dinner, toasting some marshmallows, or maybe even boiling some water for some coffee. If you’re in the woods, having a good fire can be your best friend, but left untended or improperly prepared, it can quickly turn into your worst enemy. There are a few important precautions to take when you’re out spending a day in the woods, hiking, camping, and everything else.

First, whatever spot you pick to make a fire, do it away from brush, dry trees, and other fire hazards. Your best option is an open area in a clearing where sparks won’t jump from the fire onto a tree or a pile of dry leaves. To ensure the fire stays controlled, make a perimeter around it using rocks, dirt, sand, and whatever else might be used as a retardant. Finally, when you’re done with the fire, douse it amply with water and dirt to ensure that once it’s out, it stays out.

The embers at the root of the fire have a tendency to roost and reignite, so when you’re putting out a fire, mix it around and get it as wet as possible. And if you don’t have any water you want to spare, you can always urinate on the fire site too. It doesn’t smell the best, but it’s economical.

Finally, you should avoid making new fire sites whenever possible. The whole point of trail systems and prior camping sites is that you try to leave as little of a footprint as you can when you are out exploring the wilderness. The woods are to be respected, as are all the forces of nature, and nothing is more naturally destructive than fire. Therefore, in the woods, fire only when necessary.

Tags: Camping, Fires, Hiking | Posted in Adventures, Hiking Techniques | No Comments »

Making Your Own Trails

Friday, May 21st, 2010

Hiking almost always involves following established trails. But what if there are no trails? Then what do you do? Make your own.

Of course, as with anything, there are certain parameters that must be followed when blazing your own trails, and if you really want to get involved with this hand-dirtying job, it’s always best to consult your local park district first. Parks are usually maintained by a paid team of workers who often have backgrounds in forestry, geology, and other earth sciences. They know how nature works and what works best in nature. If you don’t know what you’re doing when you cut a trail, you could be stirring a brewing recipe for erosion, cut through poisonous species of plants or even happen upon a buried gas or electric line without knowing it.

So, first thing’s first – consult the park district. Often times they will be looking for volunteers to help cut and establish new trails, and if you want to be involved in your community, there is no better and more fulfilling way to do it than to know that your handiwork is what went in to creating these trail systems.

But let’s say you’re a landowner yourself. First thing you will need to do is chart a path, which involves surveying and staking out where the path is to go. You may need a machete or small chainsaw for this preliminary charting session. After you’ve selected your trail, you will also want to investigate what plants you may be cutting through. You don’t want to cut through a patch of poison oak and inhale the dust from the saw. Once you cut all of the trees and plants (which shouldn’t be done too liberally), you’ll need to upturn some of the earth and lay down mulch or gravel to at least hold off the weeds and plants for a while.

Trail blazing is a lot of work, and requires a lot of continual upkeep, and trails keep people on the path and lessen the human footprint in the forest.

Tags: Blazing, Trail | Posted in All About Hiking, Sports | No Comments »

Urban Hiking and Exploring

Thursday, May 20th, 2010

There are other types of hiking beyond simply walking in the forest. Even hiking’s more obscure sub-types: canyoning, mountaineering, rogaining, backpacking, and others do not explain the limits of the sport. Furthermore, these types of hiking overlook the greatest and strangest jungles and forests of them all: cities.

Over the past number of years, urban exploring has become an increasingly trendy physical activity, which isn’t such a bad thing. And in some ways the urban exploring trend is an extension of modern civilization’s self-view, that we can see ourselves in such a curious and alien way. Urban hiking and exploring is therefore much more than simply walking down suburban sidewalks and downtown malls, but it is actually discovering the complexities of the world’s greatest cities.

For example, some cities have long neglected tunnel systems, abandoned buildings, and long-reaching industrial parks with now useless, monolithic machinery. As nature recaptures these items, or as the dregs of the city slink down into them, they start to look otherworldly and ugly, though beautiful in their own neglected way.

Urban exploring therefore necessitates accessing some of these archaic systems and forgotten monuments, in some forms more legal than others, but if you are seeking not to vandalize, but to simply document and explore the city’s degrading architecture. Some movies have also managed to further romanticize what the world would be like without people, and what would happen to the cities and industrial parks, but for hikers looking for a different kind of adventure, urban hiking and exploring offers just that.

There are websites online that have urban explorers for their own cities, and sometimes they will post new destinations or urban exploring ideas. Sometimes it’s best to explore with someone who has done it before, and there are often communities of people looking for new experience, so it’s a good way to make new friends, too.

Tags: Exploring, Urban Hiking | Posted in All About Hiking, Hiking Techniques | No Comments »

Backpacking: Hiking for the Dedicated

Monday, May 17th, 2010

When it comes to hiking, there are those who hike, and those who really hike. That’s not to say that the weekend walker is any less creditable than the dedicated hiker, but rather, that there is a certain level of pretense that accompanies the sporting philosophies of those more dedicated to the sport of hiking. It’s like this with all types of sport, though with hiking, it is easier (and more affordable) to access that pretense. And once you get there, all that pretense isn’t such a bad thing.

Anyone who takes hiking seriously has gone all the way with it and tried their hand at backpacking. The first thing you need for backpacking is an extensive trail system, like that found in the Rockies, the Pacific Crest, or even the Appalachians. If you’re going to be walking for a few days, or even a few months, you need miles of uninhibited and unblocked trails, which means that some places are better for backpacking than others.

Secondly, you’ll need a good backpack relative to the things you want to be carrying. If you’re going to be backpacking the 21st century way (which is frowned upon by most of the dedicated backpackers), you’ll need room for your laptop, rechargeable batteries, water treatment kits, global positioning systems, snake bite kits, and everything else convenient. However, if you do it the good old fashioned way, you’ll need a compass, a map, a box of matches, a few cooking utensils, a knife, and maybe some toilet paper and body powder.

Hiking, and especially backpacking, can reconnect your body and your mind to your human roots. It can be an ecstatic experience to leave the technological world behind, if only for a short time, and enjoy nature as it was meant to be enjoyed: by being a part of it, not apart from it.

Tags: Backpacking, Hiking | Posted in All About Hiking, Sports | No Comments »

The Importance of Staying on the Path

Wednesday, May 12th, 2010

Most trail systems are preserved by park districts and experts who are familiar with local ecosystems and the effects of human impact on local flora and fauna. The purpose of hiking is to enjoy nature, so a good trail system allows just enough room for the passer-through to enjoy the scenery without impacting it too severely. Any good hiker knows that you should leave the forest the same way you entered. You should leave nothing behind and pick nothing up.

As humanity has had its historical impact on the world and the whistle-blowers of environmentalism started to sound their voices as early as the late-19th century, ‘Green’ philosophy has finally started to be accepted by the culture’s consciousness, and people are making great efforts to preserve an increasingly fragile world. We are well aware of endangered animal populations, but there are older, nearly extinct creatures on this earth who receive even less attention than their hot-or-cold-blooded counterparts – endangered trees and plants.

There are the “Araucaria araucana,” or monkey puzzle trees of Chile, some as old as fossils. Or “Quercus suber,” cork oak, native to parts of Europe and Africa. The cork from these trees can be shaved from the trees without damaging them, but their population is dwindling. More immediately, there is the North American green pitcher plant, a carnivorous plant which behaves much like the venus fly trap, and is just as endangered. These are just a few of the hundreds of endangered and disappearing plants.

If you’re hiking through the woods and catch sight of something off the trail, it’s okay to look, but watch where you tread. You don’t want to step on something fragile, and you should never touch. You might be near a piece of history hanging on by a thread, and as an environmentally conscious hiker, it’s your responsibility to protect and preserve it.

Tags: Good Trail, Hiking | Posted in All About Hiking, Hiking Techniques | No Comments »

Hiking on the Prairie

Monday, April 26th, 2010

They used to say that, before the advent of the West in North America, a squirrel could go from the Atlantic coast to the Mississippi River without touching the ground. That is, before the true influence of agriculture in America, the country was wooded from coast to coast. Of course, this is a grossly simple oversight. Native Americans were tilling parts of the land before Europe arrived, though it certainly wasn’t as aggressive of a farming style as was the Europeans.

Nonetheless, America’s plains were maintained by the large herds of bison and other grazing creatures, and today they still stand as a testament to North America’s diverse animal history. The bison were slaughtered and most of the animals are gone, but the plains and prairies remain. And for hikers who are tired of the popularity of the woods and the attention those draw, prairie hiking is just as fun and exploratory of a way to experience America’s still ranging diversity of flora and fauna.

On the prairie there are insects and different kinds of birds and mammals that you wouldn’t otherwise see in the forest, and the range of grasses and flowers across the prairie is extensive. As you stand and look across the horizon of the prairie, it’s a different sort of feeling that you might experience simply looking through a screen of trees in the forest. You realize how truly large the land is.

One of the problems being in the plains, however, is the intensity of the sun and weather. If you’re out in the plains in the summer, bring extra water and sunscreen to shield you from the unforgiving rays and exposure to the sun itself. And if you’re in the plains during a storm, seek cover quickly, since lightning strikes have a potential to seek out the tallest object around. Other than that, enjoy the plains – a geography unique to America.

Tags: Hiking on the Prairie | Posted in Adventures, Seasonal Hiking, Sports | No Comments »

Enjoying The Outdoors, On Your Feet

Friday, April 23rd, 2010

With the spread of concrete, vinyl, and asphalt resting on top of the earth like shellac, it’s easy to forget that underneath and outside of it all is the living, breathing being that made this expansion possible. In other words, the earth and all of its green things are taken for granted by us, and some people spend their entire lives having never setting foot into the original brick and mortar.

But still the impulse is there within us, laying dormant like a primeval desire that draws us into the woods, the water, and the jungle. Somehow we remember we were once there, serving it rather than letting it serve us. Of course, there is nothing wrong with using the tools and technology to simplify the complicated world we’ve found ourselves in, but there is an inexplicable exhilaration one experiences when he or she leaves the phone and computer at home, laces up his shoes, strings on a canteen of water, and heads for a hike into the woods.

Hiking lets us return to the wonder we once had when we heard the wind brushing through the trees like waves on the beach, and sometimes we see things we forgot we had. Hiking up a mountainside and overlooking a valley or lake can be both memorable and rewarding, and you don’t need a camera to capture the moment, because nothing stores it in your memory like directly experiencing it yourself.

You hear the crunch of the dirt and leaves under your feet, you hear a melodic call from a whippoorwill, you see a caterpillar roosting on a leaf, and you forget the world ‘out there.’ It’s not bad to leave it every once in a while, and when you do it, it awakens something in you, a thousands-year-old memory, vaguely familiar. Listen to that. It’s that memory which puts life into a perspective no amount of cars, rubber, and hundred-dollar jeans can imitate.

Tags: Hiking, Outdoors | Posted in All About Hiking, Seasonal Hiking | No Comments »

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