The U.S. Forest Service has a very active rental program for stays at old fire lookouts and cabins in the National Forests.  In just Washington and Oregon there are 74 opportunities to experience the life of a fire lookout and explore some of the most scenic terrain in the world. Most of these rustic rentals […]

Stand up paddle boarding or SUP originated in Hawaii and involves paddling a surfboard or specially designed paddle board while standing on it and propelling it with an extended canoe-type paddle.  Participants can take on this activity in the ocean and catch waves to surf to shore, on flat water or even navigating rapids in […]

Rock the Park is a show on the CW Channel about the National Parks.  Each 20-minute episode features hosts Jack Steward and Colton Smith as they get out and explore part of a National Park in the U.S.  You can find a station in your area that carries the show at the producer’s channel finder […]

I got my first really good 10-speed bike in Albany, New York in 1975.  It was a Peugeot PX-10, a racing bike that had carried some great riders to success in the Tour de France. My first really good mountain bike arrived in 1988.  I was leaving Libby, Montana and closing the little bike repair […]

According to Wikipedia: “Leptospirosis (also known as field fever, rat catcher’s yellows, and pretibial fever among other names) is an infection caused by corkscrew-shaped bacteria Leptospira. Symptoms can range from none to mild such as headaches, muscle pains, and fevers; to severe with bleeding from the lungs or meningitis. If the infection causes the person to turn yellow, have kidney failure and bleeding it is then known […]

 Earth Day Facts and History Earth Day marks its 45th Anniversary in 2015.  What began in the USA on March 22, 1970 as an environmental education initiative, supported by Senator Gaylord Nelson (D-Wis.) and Congressman Paul McCloskey (R-Calif.), is now celebrated in nearly 200 countries around the world.  In many places it has expanded to Earth Week and […]

It was 1986 when Marilyn Price was bicycling up Mount Tamalpais near San Francisco when she realized that the inner city kids she was working with, had never seen the city from above, never done much physical activity and were constantly stuck in a concrete jungle. She wondered how these kids might be able to […]

If you are going for a walk, take your trekking poles along and make it a Nordic Walk. Nordic walking, a term first defined in 1979, adds upper body exercise to normal walking through the proper use of trekking poles or specially designed poles just for Nordic walking. The special poles typically have a strap […]

November Project™ is a free fitness movement started by Bojan Mandaric and Brogan Graham in Boston.  The movement involves loosely knit groups of people from all walks of life and all physical conditions that get together to exercise.  A 60 minute event might involve warm-ups, calisthenics, running, jogging, walking, stair climbing and more, all presented in a […]

I came across the Tentsile Tree Tent and thought it looked pretty interesting.  This two-person tent is essentially a suspended hammock with an integrated tent.  It’s not exactly a hammock because the floor of the tent is attached to three trees.  The straps that attach to the trees are tensioned with ratchets, just like a slackline.  This creates […]