Just wanted to send along a few encouraging words about a couple blogs started in the past couple months that keep getting better.

Russ at Trailcraft has an instructive should-I-GPS-or-not post. His conclusion: loves the entertainment value, leaves it at home on actual backpacking outings for the usual reasons. Lately I’ve had to avoid the urge to link to everything he posts.

Casey at ModernHiker has been putting his GPS to entertaining use, but he’s also been mashing up his waypoints with Google Earth images to create useful 3-D topo maps. I admire anybody willing to invest the time in creating topo maps to accompany their hike write-ups; I’m usually too tired when I get done hiking.

Robert at End Pavement is already picking up some of Casey’s habits with the 3D trail imagery. He’s down in LA trying to dispel the stereotype that the whole area’s covered with concrete.

Matt at Oregon Outdoor Journal has been doing some fine hike write-ups of late. He also writes about fishing, camping and gear now and again.

Sarah at Freezer Bag Cooking has had a bunch of not-necessarily-cooking-related posts that have been fun and useful.

I’ve seen a major uptick in people starting hiking blogs in the past few months — it’s getting to the point where it’s a challenge to keep track of ’em all, but that’s a good kind of confusion to have. Ten years from now when everybody who hikes has a blog they’ll hail us as pioneers. Really, they will, I promise.