I have a new gig to write occasional blog posts for Travel Country, the web retailer based in central Florida. I started out with the basics: five ways to find hiking trails online. Travel Country has an intriguing stable of…
Author Archive for tom
Cook’s Wall revisited
by tom • April 3, 2011 • 2 Comments
This’ll be a quick one — a jaunt up to Cook’s Wall at Hanging Rock State Park. While it’s under five miles, this is a pretty vigorous hike with lot of rocky trails and witness-the-earth’s-curvature views on a clear day.…
Rainy-day hike at Laurel Bluff, Reedy Fork trails
by tom • March 27, 2011 • 4 Comments
Reedy Fork Creek along the Laurel Bluff Trail. I defied a rainy weather forecast yesterday and notched another hike on the Greensboro Watershed — this time in a seven-mile loop taking in the Laurel Bluff and Reedy Fork trails east…
Cape Fear River and Raven Rock State Park
by tom • March 20, 2011 • 3 Comments
Lanier Falls at Raven Rock State Park southwest of Raleigh. The gravitational pull of the Blue Ridge causes a lot of us Triad types to overlook places like Raven Rock State Park, which hasn’t a single peak to its name.…
Waterfall hike at DuPont State Forest
by tom • March 13, 2011 • 6 Comments
Lower section of Triple Falls If I drive 170 miles one way to see a waterfall, it’s better be one kick-ass waterfall. This one is. Times two. And it’s in the coolest-named county in the Carolinas: Transylvania. DuPont State Forest…
High-top hiking boots: better than low-rise shoes?
by tom • March 10, 2011 • 12 Comments
Keen Voyageur Mid, left, and Keen Voyageur This one bedevils a lot of hikers: do I really need hiking boots that go over the heel? You might, but probably not for the reasons you think. Back when I was a…
Must-see vid: strenuous Yosemite day hikes
by tom • March 9, 2011 • 2 Comments
If Yosemite National Park figures in your vacation plans, here’s a nice video from a park ranger outlining the muscle-burners in the Valley: Great thing about the harder hikes: They’ll get you up and away from the throngs of tourists,…
Just for fun: my 10 favorite hiking blogs
by tom • March 6, 2011 • 39 Comments
What’s a hiking blog need to make my personal top 10? Let’s start with: Timeliness: Newsy, relevant, plugged in to the latest doings and technology. Stamina: We’ve all got a few blog posts in us, but the best bloggers keep…
Owl’s Roost Trail on the Greensboro Watershed
by tom • February 27, 2011 • 0 Comments
Lake Brandt in the Greensboro Watershed I won’t pretend this is a great hike. But it’s not too bad when you consider it’s entirely with the city limits of Greensboro, population 255,000. Owl’s Roost Trail snakes along the shores of…