The Green Hiker

Our first Spring hikes are just days away. Even in Upstate New York.

What follows is a quick review of hiking happenings across the U.S.

• Ed Parsons offers a great perspective on revisiting favorite hiking trails throughout the year. His seasonal reminiscences of New Hampshire hiking trails are perfect as we transition from Winter to Spring.

• The U.S. Forest Service upgraded and standardized the blazing and signage in the Chattahoochee and Oconee National forests (Georgia). Green for horse trails and lime green for hiking trails. I assume all horses will be tested for color recognition skills.

• Deb Stanley in the Denver Hiking Examiner has her Spring hiking list in order. 16 great day hikes in the Rocky Mountain National Park and the Grand Canyon. Deb, beautiful photo of Solitude Lake.

• Amy Hotz of the StarNewsOnline roams the Ev-Henwood Preserve south of Wilmington. N.C. Fifteen hiking trails and a 1,000 year old cypress tree named “Gus”.

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Still haven’t strapped on your hiking snowshoes. What! You don’t own a pair. Well, the folks at ORS in Vermont produced three videos to help you match a snowshoe with hiking terrains and snow conditions.

Atlas TSL MSR Tubbs Recreational Snowshoes Comparison

http://www.orssnowshoesdirect.com/all_recreational_trail_adventure_snowshoes.htm
An excellent general overview of snowshoes targeted for a variety of terrain and conditions including packed snow and broken trails, gently to moderately rolling terrain, groomed slopes and hills.

MSR Snowshoes Review Video by ORS Snowshoes Direct

http://www.orssnowshoesdirect.com/msr_lightning_ascent_snowshoes.htm
The MSR Lightning Ascent snowshoes and MSR Lightning snowshoes models are the lightest all terrain snowshoe models on the market. For use in all types of conditions such as deep powder and untracked snow, technical & hilly terrain, prolonged steep vertical as well as variable snow types like heavy, wet snow and icy hardpack.

Tubbs Mountaineer Snowshoes Review & Demonstration by ORS Snowshoes Direct

http://www.orssnowshoesdirect.com/tubbs_mountaineer_snowshoes.htm
Tubbs Mountaineer snowshoes are the choice for expedition and out of bounds backcountry territory. Handles extreme steeps, ice, hard pack and wind blown traverses with ease.

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Hiking and star-gazing at Mont Mégantic in Quebec …

• At a light pollution symposium, the International Dark Sky Association awarded Dark Sky Reserve status to a 5,500 square kilometer area around the Mont Mégantic Observatory. The Montreal Gazette has  Peter Leney’s detailed account of a “region …. palpably remote amid rolling Appalachian mountains spilling over from Maine”; a region that “combines hiking trails with astronomy facilities” rewarding all with ….

Or just staying dry near Mount Si in Washington State.

• Karen Sykes tries to stay dry on her first wet hike of the Fall season. Rain gear insights along the Boulder Garden Loop and Little Si Trails near Seattle.

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These folks just have to hike. Snow on the mountain trails? Who cares. Let’s go to the library!

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Hiking And Backpacking As Conditioning

Most people view conditioning for sports as something that should take place in a gym, in a field, on a track, or in a pool, but there are other, more adventurous options. Cross training has become a common practice for most athletes, but most of them think of it as a mix of other conventional sports such as running, biking, and swimming.

There are more useful and more exciting ways to cross train for any activity, and many options are in the outdoor adventure field.

As a soccer coach, I have used hiking, backpacking, mountaineering, trail running, mountain biking, climbing, cross country skiing, and downhill skiing as training methods that my athletes enjoy, look forward to, and always come out on the other side in much better shape.

I want to focus on Grand Canyon hiking, because of its unmatched upper leg building and overall conditioning.

Grand Canyon Hikes

There are many ways to use a Grand Canyon hike for team or individual sport training. I’ve taken my entire soccer team into the Canyon on rim-to-rim adventures that strengthened the boys’ teamwork as much as their bodies.

The rim-to-rim, which entails 4000 feet of downhill hiking and 4000 feet of uphill hiking, can be done in a single day for the super-fit or as a multi-day hike, which works better for team-building. The rim-to-rim-to-rim, which includes 8000 feet of downhill hiking and 8000 feet of uphill hiking can also be done in a single day or as a multi-day hike, but should only be tried in one day if you’re willing to trail run much of the way.

Either way, hiking between the rims is a feat both physically and emotionally. The trail is steep and sustained and is absolutely perfect for upper leg strengthening. For the rim-to-rim, most people take the South Kaibab Trail down and the North Kaibab Trail back up, and then back the same way for the rim-to-rim-to-rim.

Another alternative though is to take the Bright Angel Trail as a alternative route back to the South Rim.

Another option especially for preseason trainings is a rafting trip into the canyon and then a hike out. The conditioning isn’t as good with the rafting, but the hike out more than makes up for it. The rafting is one-of-a-kind when it comes to bonding athletes around something outside of their sport.

Less Strenuous Options

The New Hance Trail is a great option for a tougher hike, and a mule-assisted trip down to Phantom Ranch is a great way to make it more moderate. Whichever option you choose, just remember it’s critical to stretch and hydrate frequently.

And in the Grand Canyon September is the best month because it’s not too hot, and the Fall sports season is just beginning.

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Hiking News Headlines

• Before you hike one of Colorado’s Fourteeners, they’re are a few things you should know. Depending on the time of year and your skill level, tackling one of the 55 mountains at or above 14,000 feet above sea level ….

• Screening footage from his uncompleted documentary, The Vanishing Hemlock: A Race Against Time, David Huff sounds an alarm to save southern Hemlock forests from the woolly adelgid ….

• This years’ National Public Lands Day is Saturday, September 27th, 2008. The annual program of the National Enviromental Education Foundation is the nation’s largest hands-on volunteer effort to improve and enhance the public lands ….

• For hiking all of Pennsylvania’s 18 State Forest Hiking Trails, totaling 798 miles, William S. Geiger of Lehigh County, and John Potter of Lycoming County, PA are the 2008 recipients of the State Forest Trails Award ….

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