Destinations

Last September I spent an evening in Grafton Notch along the Maine section of The Appalachian Trail. If you’ve never visited Grafton Notch, you owe yourself a visit. It’s a remote and wild mountain pass at the northeastern end of the Mahoosic …

Map of UK by Tourizm Maps © 2003 The Outer Hebrides, sometimes called the Western Isles, lie off the north west coast of Scotland. Next stop heading west is Canada and the USA. Although it’s as far north as Labrador, the Gulf …

Gertrude’s Nose is an impressive section of cliff face in The Gunks. Located within Minnewaska State Park, it’s an easy walk from Lake Minnewaska, or a more challenging one if you hike along the Millbrook Ridge Trail from Trapps Bridge. I did …

One of the great spectacles of spring in New England are the waterfalls and streams that dot the countryside. Fed by snow-melt these turn into monstrous torrents in spring and make spectacular viewing. Here are a few of my favorites. Thoreau Falls …

Although most of the people who hike the Appalachian Trail are section hikers, you won’t find many trail guides designed for them available from the Appalachian Trail Conservancy, which is kind of a shame if you think about it too much. But …

A few years ago, I went on a Columbus Day Weekend (October) backpacking trip with my friend Christine Benton to the Pharoh Lake Wilderness in the Adirondack region of New York State. Christine is a trip leader for the New York – …

I toured the Borders Region in southern Scotland, about 50 miles south of Edinburgh, and just over the “historical border” from England (and the rest of Rome.) We had originally intended to hike the 60 mile St. Cuthbert’s Way on this trip, …

Franconia Notch is a spectacular mountain pass in the White Mountains. It is one of several major notches that the Appalachian Trail traverses in New Hampshire including Kinsman Notch to the south, Crawford Notch at the southern foot of the Presidential Range, …

Shaw’s Lodging in Monson, Maine has had over 50,000 hikers as guests, mostly Appalachian Trail thru-hikers or section hikers. I’ve always heard great things about it from other hikers and I wasn’t disappointed when I started my 100 mile wilderness section hike there …

Philip kayaking in New Hampshire I was reading the Japanese version of the Montbell site last night and came across an interesting sport I’d never heard of that has a following in Japan, called Sawanobori, or Shower Climbing. It combines all of …

Hooiberg Mountain, located near the center of Aruba is the 3rd highest peak on the island at 168m and featured on the Aruban flag. When you land at the airport in Aruba, Hooiberg looks very close, but it is about a 20 …

Hiking the Metacomet-Monadnock Trail I went for a very pleasant 5 mile ridge walk last Sunday at the Mt. Tom State Reservation in Western Massachusetts, overlooking the town of Northampton and the Connecticut River Valley. I used to live in this area …

I love the Appalachian Trail, but on weekends and in the summer time, it can feel really crowded. In fact, the ATC estimates that 4 million people hike on the AT each year, and a lot of their trail maintenance and stewardship …

Over the past few summers, I’ve tried to find the Catskills Aqueduct where it flows through the Shawangunks (Gunks), near New Paltz. This aqueduct, which still supplies about 40% of New York City’s water supply, was completed in 1917 after 9 years …