Free Republic

It used to be that marijuana came to the Bay Area from the legendary back country of Humboldt County or the desert fields beyond Tijuana. Now the fields are in the Bay Area, and everywhere else in the state. Marijuana is one of the top cash crops in California, NBC Bay Area's Mike Luery reported. Many of the fields are located next to popular trails and in the middle of state parks. A fierce battle is being waged in our own back yard to remove the pot groves. They are hidden in brush so thick that specially trained officers must...

Have any of you ever bicycled or walked across America? It is something I've been thinking about for several years. If you have done this, would be interested in reading about your experiences. Routes you took (or avoided), mistakes made, lessons learned, planning, did you carry a firearm, memorable experiences, how long did it take, etc. ..... any aspect that you'd like to comment on.

A Giles County man paroled from prison after serving 14 years for killing two hikers on the Appalachian Trail in 1981 now is suspected of shooting two campers just off the trail in Giles on Tuesday. Randall Lee Smith, 54, was in a Roanoke hospital yesterday after crashing a pickup truck in Giles, Sgt. Michael Conroy of the Virginia State Police said.

Relatives of three men missing in bitter weather on Mount Hood comforted each other and held out hope Friday that the trio survived, eight days after the lightly equipped men left for a two-day ascent. Winds were expected to gust to 100 mph Friday morning in the latest of a string of storms to hit the 11,239-foot mountain, and forecasters said rescuers' next shot to find the men probably would be Saturday. Kelly James, who like Hall is from Dallas, was believed to be holed up in a snow cave near the top, and the other two were thought to...

Three climbers stranded on blizzard-ravaged Mount Hood selected one of the most difficult approaches to the summit, a decision that is hampering rescue efforts. The trio scaled the north side of the mountain, which offers a view of Mount Rainier but is treacherous, with slopes of 50 or 60 degrees and occasional sheer walls of ice. For rescue crews, the site has been made even more forbidding by snow-laden winds rushing over the steep slopes at speeds up to 80 mph. "Those are the strongest winds I've ever been in — knock you down, hands and knees," said Lindsay Clunes...

After 18 hours in the snow and cold at 12,000 feet, three 9-year-olds and a mother arrived at the aptly named Lost Man parking lot to cheers from dozens of waiting family members and search-and-rescue teams that had worked through the night. The Lost Man Loop Trail, a popular hike just west of Independence Pass, is a partial loop with two trailheads on Highway 82. Rescuers couldn't confirm exactly how the group got lost, but several members said it was likely the hikers thought they began at the upper trailhead, when they were actually at the lower trailhead... The snow...

Nature-deficit disorder is ruining our kidshttp://www.nevadaappeal.com/article/20060816/OPINION/108160053 http://tinyurl.com/zchy3 by jim stiles August 16, 2006 No matter how old I live to be, there will never be a place so full of mystery and adventure as a place of my childhood called The Woods. The stories that grew out of those trees still kindle powerful feelings, even after all these years. My friends and I knew the place was haunted. It had no boundaries, and in our 10-year-old minds, it went on forever. Jump ahead a few decades to a familiar topic: the commercialization of wilderness. What created the demand for such...

Finding God on the Mountainhttp://www.beliefnet.com/story/197/story_19711_1.html A scoutmaster discovers he had to get lost in order to find what was missing from his life. By Tony McIntosh I'm a scoutmaster for a small Boy Scout troop in my town. This summer during camp I went along with two of the older scouts--my son, who is 14, and another boy, 15--on what's known as "The Adventure Trek," a 28-mile backpacking trip that includes two days of white-water rafting. Our troop had gone backpacking in the past but never like this, so it was going to be a challenge for all of us....

Want healthier kids? Send them outsidehttp://www.dailyherald.com/story.asp?id=212657 BY JASON KING Daily Herald Staff Writer Posted Monday, July 31, 2006 Sean Taylor watched as 5-year-old son Payton played "snake tag" with other children at the Grant Woods Forest Preserve in Lake Villa. The father and son were participating in the Lake County Forest Preserve District's Knee High Naturalist program, which focused on snakes that day. Taylor said he wants his son to play outdoors as much as possible and, luckily, Payton loves to do so. "If he stays inside all day, at night he's just crazy," said Taylor, of Lake Villa. "He...

TAKE A HIKEhttp://familyfun.go.com/family-travel/places/feature/famf0804hikes/famf0804hikes.html http://tinyurl.com/nfdbn by Alan Kesselheim Adventure has always been a priority for my wife, Marypat, and me. So when we decided to have children, we promised each other to do all we could to make the great outdoors part of the family equation. To our delight, not only have our kids--Ruby, age nine, Sawyer, 11, and Eli, 13--embraced our passion for exploring, but seeing nature from their perspective has deepened our appreciation of it. On the following pages, you'll find a variety of trail-tested strategies we've adopted to keep hiking a favorite pastime in our family. Whether you're...

Camping, hiking and fishing in the wild as a child breeds respect for environment in adults, study findshttp://www.news.cornell.edu/stories/March06/wild.nature.play.ssl.html http://tinyurl.com/ljnj3 By Susan S. Lang March 13, 2006 If you want your children to grow up to actively care about the environment, give them plenty of time to play in the "wild" before they're 11 years old, suggests a new Cornell University study. "Although domesticated nature activities -- caring for plants and gardens -- also have a positive relationship to adult environment attitudes, their effects aren't as strong as participating in such wild nature activities as camping, playing in the woods, hiking,...

Fresh Idea: Survival Kits For Kidshttp://kutv.com/freshidea/local_story_143180939.html May 23, 2006 4:07 pm US/Mountain The summer is here and you may have a lot of outdoor activities planned. But before you send family members out in to the wilderness, Michelle King shows us what every parent should equip their child with. In case of any emergency being prepared for the worst may save your life or the life of someone you love. Last summer 11-year-old Brennan Hawkins went missing for four nights, but was found alive. Just one year prior to Brennan, 12-year-old Garrett Bardsley also went missing during a scout trip...

Utah Scouts preparing to push summer safetyhttp://deseretnews.com/dn/view/0,1249,635212541,00.html http://tinyurl.com/kcvon Deseret Morning News, Saturday, June 03, 2006 By Pat Reavy and Ben Winslow Deseret Morning News In the wake of high-profile outdoor tragedies in recent years, the Great Salt Lake Council of the Boy Scouts of America is revising its rules to help keep Scouts safe this summer, and one Utah mom has developed an outdoors safety pack for children. The organization has made sweeping changes to many of its camping policies, including new safety measures for hikes, precautions against lighting strikes and new guidelines for campfires. "We now have in place...

"GMUG" stands for the Grand Mesa, Uncompahgre and Gunnison National Forests. Combined, they encompass some 2.9 million acres of National Forest lands in Central and Western Colorado. These three forests are home to some of the most outstanding recreational opportunity in the West. Right now, the forest's are revising their Forest Plans. These management plans provide broad guidance on what activities may or may not occur on these lands. The BlueRibbon Coalition (BRC), a national recreation advocacy group that champions recreational access and responsible use of public and private lands, is growing increasingly concerned about the influence several anti-access groups...

A quick vanity to all... I am beginning to plan a 1-week or so family vaction (experienced cyclists / hikers) "Up North" next summer to get out of Arizona heat. We are looking primarily at Alaska, Glacier National Park (Montana), Yellowstone. We are looking at hiking, kayaking/rafting, bicycling, horseback riding; and prefer camping to hotel stays. Does anyone have any recommendations as to the best tour company or ones to avoid? Could anyone give pointers on dumb things to avoid or things which really added to their experience? Cheers!

Yellowstone is a world wide draw By Cara Eastwood outdoors@wyomingnews.com Published in the Wyoming Tribune-Eagle I scoured Yellowstone National Park during the first week of June, surrounded by European and Asian tourists. At each turn in the road, I found another tour bus squeezed onto the side of the road as its passengers pressed their faces to the windows to ogle an elk, a herd of deer or in one case, a dead bison. Other tourists I saw drove expensive SUV rental cars to explore the park. They all must have gotten the memo that American schools weren't out yet,...

Walk loudly and carry a big stick. That's my approach to hiking in mountain-lion country. I've fashioned a stout walking stick out of a pine branch that now is as much a part of my hiking gear as a water bottle and bug spray.

Doctors Remove Leech From Woman's Nose Fri Apr 8, 4:09 PM ET Strange News - AP HONG KONG - Doctors have removed a leech from the nose of a 55-year-old Hong Kong woman after she swam and washed her face in a stream, a medical journal reported. The woman went to her doctor complaining of nose bleeds and an occasional sensation that something was blocking her left nostril, the Hong Kong Medical Journal said in its April issue. Her family doctor noticed a "brownish mass" in her nostril but couldn't remove it because of heavy bleeding, the journal said. The...

Mother, Daughter Recount Struggle to Survive Winter Ordeal on Colorado Mesa The Associated Press Published: Feb 10, 2005 GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. (AP) - Deborah Walker and her 18-year-old daughter had been lost for two nights in the snow, warding off death and worrying about her missing husband, when she sagged against a tree and thought, "God, don't let Camille see me die." Not long afterward, on Jan. 11, rescuers found the pair. But Walker's 54-year-old husband, Dan, who had struck out alone to find help, is presumed dead. The mother and daughter described their ordeal Wednesday to the Grand Junction...

GREAT ST. BERNARD PASS, Switzerland, Oct. 27 - The only dog right now at the 950-year-old hospice of St. Bernard is a very nice golden retriever named Justy. The issue of those other dogs - the famously huge and heroic ones, who toted brandy barrels in legend, who lived here for centuries and sniffed scores of stranded travelers out of the snow - is not one that the Rev. Frédéric Gaillard is keen to talk about. "Now there are helicopters," Father Gaillard, one of four remaining monks at the St. Bernard's hospice here, said with some irritation. "And we have...

Story Number: NNS040326-08 Release Date: 3/26/2004 11:20:00 AM By Journalist 3rd Class Devin Wright, Commander, Navy Region Hawaii Public Affairs PEARL HARBOR, Hawaii (NNS) -- Almost 130 Naval Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps cadets took part in an annual four-day spring camp beginning March 19. The spring camp consists of a day of boot camp-style instruction on military protocol, and a basic seamanship course that includes sailing and kayaking. There is also a physical readiness portion in which cadets hike Diamond Head and complete second class swimming qualifications. Cadets also receive an historical overview of the Navy here in Hawaii,...

A Good Way to Lose Subscribers... Thu Jan 22, 8:44 AM ET LONDON (Reuters) - A hiking magazine apologized on Thursday after it published a route plan that would have sent walkers striding into thin air off the north face of Britain's largest mountain, Ben Nevis. The magazine, Trail, missed out a vital bearing needed to guide climbers off the summit of the Scottish mountain in bad weather. Anyone who had followed the magazine's directions would have plunged down a sheer cliff into nearby Gardyloo Gully. Editor Guy Procter, himself a keen hillwalker, said that Trail published 200 routes every...

Camping Part 1 Well, it had to happen eventually, though when it came, I wasn't ready for it. My son, only ten years old--they grow up so quickly, don't they?-- finally approached me and asked, you know, THE QUESTION. He caught me off guard—but then, is a father ever really ready to have his once innocent boy come up to him, eyes solemn and full of trust, and so very bluntly ask, "Dad? Why can't we ever go camping?" Normally I handle his requests for information with a very patient and caring, "Ask your mother." Somehow I know, though, that...

CANYONLANDS NATIONAL PARK, Utah - Thirteen park rangers lugged equipment into this southeastern Utah park and lifted an 800-pound boulder that had trapped a mountain climber until he amputated his arm with a pocketknife. After hiking 3 miles to the remote canyon Sunday, the crew was able to lift the egg-shaped boulder and push it into a space where it fit securely. The rangers also recovered the arm of Aron Ralston, who was pinned for five nights before cutting off his arm below the elbow with a pocketknife on Thursday. Ralston, 27, hiked out of the canyon for help and...

Vandals pillage remote cabin By SCOTT MABEN The Register-Guard   Recommend this story to others.   A remote U.S. Forest Service cabin near Waldo Lake that is used almost exclusively by volunteers was found ransacked this week. Someone broke into the Taylor Burn cabin and proceeded to smash appliances with an ax, break glass out of cabinets, cut up furniture, ruin winter provisions and spray a chemical fire extinguisher over the mess. The Willamette National Forest estimated the damage at $5,000. "The cabin was totally trashed," said Gary Guttormsen, a volunteer wilderness ranger from Springfield and retired Thurston High School art...

I'm looking for sources of quality, American Made, hiking and hunting boots. Any suggestions?