Ray K. Anderson's Blog, page 5
June 11, 2016
The Triple Crown Hiking Trails
Long-distance hikers commonly refer to America’s triple crown hiking trails. The pictures, top to bottom, follow the order below. If you want the newest (May 20, 2016) and best update of the Triple Crown I’ve seen, click here: https://marmot.com/love-the-outside/t...? Appalachian Trail (AT) This is the grand daddy. It runs through 14 states from Georgia to […]
June 4, 2016
Hiker Killed by Grizzly
A lot of you are out hiking trails now, so I’m running this post again, which appeared last year. YELLOWSTONE GRIZZLY KILLS HIKER. An autopsy confirmed that a 59 year-old man was killed while hiking near the Mary Mountain Trail in Yellowstone National Park. This is the second fatality from a grizzly at Yellowstone this year (2015). […]
May 28, 2016
Hiking Tip-Navigation
Look at the picture above. A good trail path, easy to follow, right? But say it’s mid-day and overcast, and you’re not paying attention. You stop to break and remove your backpack. You void on the right side of the trail, come back over the trail and snack on the other side. You grab your camera, cross back […]
May 21, 2016
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 off […]
May 14, 2016
The Appalachian Trail: Is it getting too crowded?
A friend recently sent me 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. When I thru-hiked the A.T. in 2003, it was crowded then, I thought. The shelters up to Damascus, VA were […]
May 7, 2016
Hiking With Jack
Meet my grandson, Jack. He was nine years old when this picture was taken and a typical gadget-gamer of our modern age. I introduced him to hiking. On this day we had climbed Great Blue Hill in the Blue Hills Reservation of Massachusetts. My father used to say that there is a time and place for everything. Today was not the time nor the place for […]
April 30, 2016
Hammocks for Hiking
My hiking friend told me about the “Hammock Camping” article in this Spring’s issue of A/T Journeys. I’ve never overnighted in a hammock, but many hikers swear by them. Once you try it, they say you will become a convert. Most often used in fair weather, hammocks are becoming more popular. Hikers using them bring up some good points: 1) You sleep or rest off […]
April 23, 2016
Hiking Trails Near You
You may not realize it, but there are lots of hiking trails near you. The first place to look for them are in your state’s parks. I live in Massachusetts, and when I google Massachusetts State Parks I’ll be directed to the Department of Conservation and Recreation. Here I can explore all parks by name, study trail maps, order guides, contact the […]
April 16, 2016
BAY CIRCUIT TRAIL
A couple of years ago, I thru-hiked the BCT (Bay Circuit Trail) in Massachusetts. I started from the northern trailhead at Plum Island near Newburyport and three weeks later finished at the southern point at Kingston Bay in Duxbury. It was a pleasant hike, flat and easy the entire way. Although about a third of the hike was on […]
April 9, 2016
The Long Trail
The Long Trail, traversing the length of Vermont from the Massachusetts-Vermont line to the Canadian border, is the oldest long-distance hiking trail in America. This 272 mile footpath is not a cakewalk. It may begin that way, but the climbs over 4000 footers like Mt. Mansfield, with its tricky […]
