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The following are a few outdoor-related stories that I came across recently that I think you'll enjoy as much as I did:

If any of you watched America's Best Idea, the Ken Burns film that aired on PBS a couple of years ago, you may recall that the Hetch Hetchy Valley and the battle to dam it was an on-going theme throughout the series. John Muir led a public campaign to prevent the city of San Francisco from damming Hetch Hetchy, which he said was one of the most beautiful areas in the world. Muir lost that battle, and the magnificent valley within Yosemite National Park was dammed in 1923. I just read a few days ago that voters in San Francisco will decide this fall whether to drain the 117-billion-gallon Hetch Hetchy reservoir, which currently provides about 7% of the freshwater used by California. So, in the end, it's very possible that Muir could still win the war.

Earlier this week the Adventure Journal published their list of America’s 20 Best State Parks. I've been lucky enough to have visited four of the parks on that list, including Dead Horse Point State Park in Utah. The author doesn't mention it, but the park also has an outstanding campground in which each campsite includes a sheltered picnic table, and cabinet space to store your food gear (at least it did when I visited several years ago)!

The Hike Bike Travel blog provides more outstanding photos from another world-class hike: The Rainbow Range in Tweedsmuir Provincial Park in British Columbia.

The keys to the truck and a Guinness! The Adventure Journal published another great article earlier this week, this one on Trail Magic.

Last weekend the Aspen Times published a wonderful article about a local man who rode his bike from Alaska to Aspen. I definitely would love to do something like this....someday.

Hiking icon Earl Shaffer is famous for becoming the first person to thru-hike the entire length of the Appalachian Trail in 1948. Apperently he built several shelters along the trail as well. Most have been destroyed, but the Appalachian Trail Museum has already saved one of his log structures. On June 28th a stone shelter at Dean's Gap in Pennsylvania was relocated to the Appalachian Trail Museum. The decaying shelter will be rebuilt on the Museum grounds in the configuration as close to the original structure as possible. The Museum has a report on the relocation process.

Finally, the American Alpine Club has put together 5 of their favorite backcountry tips and tricks for staying alive in an emergency situation.


Jeff
Hiking Trails in Great Smoky Mountains National Park