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Timed Hiking Trails – Technology for Competitive Hikers

Timed Hiking Trails – Technology for Competitive Hikers

Technology for Competitive Hikers Whistler Blackcomb in Whistler BC, Canada began using RFID (Radio Frequency Identification Device) technology last  winter.  Skiers  buy a pass that includes an antenna and their identifying information.  As they approach a chair lift, the gate reads the card and automatically opens to allow access. The same technology has created a new […]

Living in Cuyahoga National Park

Living in Cuyahoga National Park

Countryside Initiative Program The National Park Service has created a Countryside Initiative program in partnership with Cuyahoga Valley Countryside Conservancy.  The program is designed to preserve and protect the rural landscape in Cuyahoga Valley National Park by providing farmers with long-term leases in exchange for farming the land.  Farmers must compete for a lease  of a proposed site including providing […]

Diversity in Outdoor Recreation

Diversity in Outdoor Recreation

We have mentioned the work of Latino Outdoors to “connect cultura with the outdoors.” Current African American culture also discourages the outdoor connection.  Outdoor Journalist James Wells realized decades ago that very few people of color, besides himself, were spending time outdoors.  He says, “I still find myself being one of the very few people of […]

Federal Recreational Lands Passes

Federal Recreational Lands Passes

Save Money at Federal Lands With fees rising at most of the National Parks and more people traveling this summer due to lower gasoline prices, it’s time to get your Federal Recreational Lands Pass to save a lot of money on park entrance fees and other costs. There are five agencies that participate so you […]

Around the World

Around the World

Around the World with Teens Ever wonder what it would be like to drop everything and take your family on an around the  world trip while living from backpacks for more than a year?  Mike and Catrell Cooney did more than wonder.  They wanted to give their kids a world-wide education, but they had limited financial […]

The Mitchell Monument

The Mitchell Monument

Students and Teacher Killed in Japanese Attack Seventy years ago, May 5, 1945,  six U.S. civilians were killed in Oregon by a Japanese attack.  They were the only mainland victims of enemy action during World War II.  Killed were five kids ages 11 to 14 and their Sunday School teacher, Elsie Mitchell.  They were on […]

Historical Topographic Maps

Historical Topographic Maps

Topographic Maps Explorers need maps.  The U.S. Geological Survey has been creating and updating these maps since its inception in 1879.  If you need a current map for your explorations,  you can download them for free or order them on paper using the “Map Locater & Downloader” at store.usgs.gov. Beyond current maps,  the U.S.G.S. now has […]

Outdoor Recreation and Drones

Outdoor Recreation and Drones

Flying drones is outdoor recreation.  Yet this activity often intersects with other outdoor recreation pursuits.  So much so that the National Park Service has banned drones in the National Parks since June of 2014.  That doesn’t stop people from flying them in the Parks and one fellow was recently tasered by a Park Ranger while […]

Grande Tour Scenic Bikeway

Grande Tour Scenic Bikeway

The State of Oregon has developed another national first in the form of series of scenic bikeways (12 to date) that will entice you to get off the main highway and explore great vistas around the state.  One of the state bikeways is the Grande Tour Scenic Bikeway in the Grande Ronde Valley in the northeast […]

Be a Campground Host

Be a Campground Host

According to the U.S. Forest Service: “A campground host is a volunteer who agrees to spend part or all of the year in a National Forest campground. A host helps other campers by answering questions, providing information about the local area, and acts as the “eyes and ears” for identifying problems when Forest Service employees […]

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