Bicycling is a great avenue to outdoor adventure, but how does one get kids these days to learn how to ride their bikes safely? Denmark has taken the lead with bicycle playgrounds. The idea developed out of organized games like follow-the-leader, tag and obstacle course. The bicycle playground is mostly based upon the obstacle course […]

“Hike Your Own Hike” is the first principle in Francis Tapon’s 2006 book, cleverly titled “Hike Your Own Hike.” Tapon hiked the entire Appalachian Trail, and more, in an effort discover how to take his life to the next level. In a nutshell he decided: “Thru-hikers don’t blindly do what people tell them they should […]

The Bend Bulletin, February 8, tells the story of Ravi Drugan, a double-amputee who won a bronze medal last month at the X Games in Aspen, Colorado. Drugan won his medal in monoskier cross. He lost his legs in an altercation with a train in 2004. Oregon Adaptive Sports (OAS) has been providing assistance and […]

I was a free range kid. My parents kept an eye on me more than I wanted, but I was still allowed to explore neighborhood parks and bicycle all over without supervision. While I see a lot of kids doing the same thing these days, some parents have become so over-protective that the kids barely get […]

In the early 1980’s the U.S. Forest Service was seeing increased wilderness use and associated impacts on the ground. For the most part, people were not intentionally causing damage, they were just loving the land to death. The solution was clearly not more regulation, but better education. Efforts to teach people how to enjoy the […]

If you are part of an outdoor or health oriented group in your area, it would be an easy process to set up an outdoor health challenge and encourage more people get the outdoor time they need.

The pathfinder as a searcher and the Pathfinder role at Explore!

Ever watch the Discovery Channel’s Shark Week on TV? How about Animal Planet’s Nature’s Deadliest or Rattlesnake Republic? Do these shows instill a love of nature and a desire to get outdoors? Quite the opposite.

“A wilderness, in contrast with those areas where man and his own works dominate the landscape, is hereby recognized as an area where the earth and its community of life are untrammeled by man, where man himself is a visitor who does not remain. An area of wilderness is further defined to mean in this […]

When making your New Year resolutions, consider something about getting outdoors and in touch with nature. With this and any other resolution: be realistic – so you aren’t doomed to failure; don’t make too many resolutions – only those you really want to accomplish be specific and clear – so you know if you accomplished […]