Ray K. Anderson's Blog, page 2

Hiking Tip–How to avoid blisters

Most long-distance hikers, at some point, will get blisters on their feet. The usual precautions are: break in new footwear, start slowly and build up to bigger mileage, wear a liner sock, or don’t wear a liner sock, keep band-aids and bandages handy. All well and good; do whatever works. But if you really want to head offContinue reading "Hiking Tip–How to avoid blisters"

Trail Maintainence Crews: Lots of work; very little credit.

Who paints all the trail blazes? Who clears all the blow-downs and debris? Ever seen the occasional ladder and handhold of rebar? Where does that come from? Trail maintenance crews, that’s where. Behind all that beautiful scenery is the hard, grunt work of men and women who maintain your trail. My hiking buddy in New Jersey is a volunteer trail maintainerContinue reading "Trail Maintainence Crews: Lots of work; very little credit."

Backpacker Etiquette

We don’t hear much about backpacker etiquette. We should. Without public support there wouldn’t be many official trails. Agreements have to be reached with private landowners if trails run on their property. Arrangements must be made with local, state, and federal governments if trails cross those lands. Think of what happens if we are careless and sloppy; […]

The Appalachian Trail: Is it getting too crowded?

Now is the time when many hikers are planning a thru-hike of the A.T. It’s a heady experience, but I’m reminded of this newspaper article about hikers  overcrowding the Appalachian Trail  I’ve been hearing a lot about this in recent years and, in the south, in spring, it appears to be true. Young people like to socialize […]

Re-Thinking The Triple Crown

If you are a long-distance hiker, you are probably aware of hiking’s triple crown. The triple crown comprises the Appalachian, the Pacific Crest trail, and the Continental Divide Trail. I tried to become a triple crowner, but the CDT took me out. I went alone in my late sixties after having completed the other two […]

New Hampshire’s Cohos Trail–3

This post will complete my recollections and comments about New Hampshire’s Cohos Trail. Some of you have asked about a passport. A passport is not needed unless you plan to go into Canada. The trail starts, or finishes, behind a maintenance building just before the customs building, which is at the border. There are only three shelters on the […]

New Hampshire’s Cohos Trail–2

This is a follow-up to my last post. I started south on the Cohos Trail from the Canadian border, near US Customs, which is north of Pittsburgh Village, NH. There is a sign leading you to the trail, but it is confusing because the trail is little used and covered with waist-high weeds at the starting point. A customs […]

New Hampshire’s Cohos Trail

A few years ago, I spent three weeks hiking New Hampshire’s Cohos Trail. This relatively new trail is an isolated path that runs from the Canadian border, just above Pittsburgh, New Hampshire down to Crawford Notch, in the heart of New Hampshire’s White Mountains. I trekked from north to south so I could build up to […]

Hiker accomplishes Triple Crown in one Year!

http://billingsgazette.com/lifestyles... https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fb... Yet again, a hiker has thru-hiked all three trails of the triple crown in one year. Jeff Garmire, of Vancouver, Oregon, has just completed the Appalachian Trail, the Pacific Crest Trail, and the Continental Divide Trail, all in 2016. That’s a total of almost 8000 miles! So far as I know, only three or four other hikers have […]

Canyoneering

http://ychikingclass.wordpress.com/ca... I’ve been hearing more and more about canyoneering. If you click above, you will see some exciting pictures, compliments of Verde Valley Hikers. One of the definitions of canyoneering is: The sport of exploring canyons by rafting, rappelling, and waterfall jumping. I would also add hiking, for how else do you get to these isolated […]