The Green Hiker

With the tag “Get Outdoors Wherever You Are”, the National Wildlife Federation’s Get Outside page sports the nifty Nature Find tool that allows you to find outdoor events and/or sites within one to 500 miles of any U.S. location.

Using Google Maps and a database of almost 30 site types including parks, aquariums, trails, and preserves, you can easily find a local destination no matter where you are in the country.

And you can filter your search to show only sites that include activities:  NWF events, camping, water sports, snow sports, cycling, walking, and nature events …. to name a few.

Check out my crude screen capture video to get a better flavor of this “you-have-no-excuse” Nature Find.

Nature Find Video

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The India arm of the World Wide Fund For Nature has initiated The Green Hiker project to encourage responsible tourism throughout the entire Himalayan ecosystem.

Battered by both baggage-toting tour groups and climate change, the Himalayan mountains and wetlands struggle to maintain their high altitude identity.

The Green Hiker Campaign simply encourages all involved to help reduce their tourism baggage.

Of course, anything brilliantly named The Green Hiker has to be eco-friendly.

Photo by swamysk

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The Big Agnes Salt Creek Recycled Tent earned Backpacker Magazine “Editors’ Choice 2009 Green Award”. This 2-person, three-season tent uses 100% recycled materials (including the reflective guy lines and plastic clips). Without any toxic dyes, this green tent is a somewhat shocking white.

The Salt Creek is not just some eco-friendly experiment or “paean to green”. You’ll want to pack this tent from windy Spring through chilling Fall. The Big Agnes is a 3-season camping workhorse. From the Backpacker Magazine’s review :

“Wind and rain whipped the Salt Creek on trips from high-alpine Colorado to the peaks of northern Wales, and everywhere the green construction proved both durable and weatherproof”.

Specs:

• Packed weight 6 lb 12 oz
• Floor area 36 sq ft
• Head height 38 in
• Single side door with vestibule
• Recycled zippers
• 2 mesh floor pockets
• Hub/pole design makes set up easy
• More specs and features
  

Click here for more info on this great Big Agnes Recycled Tent!

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Are you a dedicated green hiker or backpacker looking for additional eco-friendly info and insights?

One place to start is Backpacker Magazine’s Green Guide. This compilation places a link list under three categories:  Featured Stories, Nature, and Gear.

So … here comes Super Poison Ivy? (Under the “Nature” category.)

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Outdoor Adventure Gear Expert & Green RVer Brian Brawdy features his Lance Camper Eco RV & winter gear essentials for the upcoming season!

WHAM Rochester 08

http://www.brianbrawdy.com

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Eco-Tourism

• Dream green with Vicki Godal as she glides about the planet detailing some of our world’s eco-tourism paradises. Here’s a taste:  “Hiking into the Patagonia mountains, fjords, volcanoes and ice fields are sure to keep ecotrekkers happy and awed at the beauty that is Patagonia.” Volcanoes and ice fields on a single trek!

Mountain Man

• How to be remembered? How to honor the admirable deeds of a full life that touched so many others? A portrait? Maybe a marble bust or a bronze statue? Surely anything more than just a grave marker.

How about a mountain.

Ira Spring passed away in 2003 at age 84. His legacy includes hiking guides, spectacular photographs, and the Washington Trails Association. And to honor this tireless wilderness advocate, the State Board on Geographic Names will rename Washington State’s Spring Mountain to the Ira Spring Mountain. Susan Gilmore of the Seattle Times details all here.

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