June 2006


June 2006

Featured Stories: Wet Dreams


No matter what the Bush Administration tries to say about global warming, you know one thing for sure: It’s getting hotter out there. What’s the answer to our sticky, sweltering Southern Appalachian summers? A tall, cold one. We’re talking about a 50-foot waterfall cascading from high rock cliffs into a clear and crisp mountain pool. Here are the Southeast’s top swim-friendly falls.

Featured Stories: This Land is Your Land?


The Constitution says nothing about an American’s right to mountain bike Pisgah National Forest. Hiking Shenandoah isn’t covered in the behemoth document either. Right to vote, yes. Right to a comprehensive National Forest system, not so much.

Featured Stories: BMX


“I rode BMX in the ‘80s, during the big craze,” Mark Coates says. “Then I grew up, got a career, got married and had kids. But I got lucky and found it again. When you get bit by the BMX bug, it’s hard to kick.”

Featured Stories: Day Hammocking


It could be the most basic sport known to man (and we use the term “sport” loosely). Day hammocking combines two of founder Travis McDowell’s favorite pastimes: hiking and napping. Simply take a hike in the woods of your choice, find a nice spot to hang a hammock, and nap.

Featured Stories: After the AT


When told, pre-A.T., “hiking the trail will change your life,” I thought OF COURSE it will change my life. I will be skinnier, more athletic and perhaps tougher and more savvy. I will gain a greater appreciation for nature not to mention a resume builder, and as an added bonus: I will make friends from all over the U.S. If it weren’t life changing, then why would anyone do it?

Switchback: Does marijuana enhance the outdoor experience?

Reader Forum

News of the Wood: Stargazing in the Blue Ridge

Freshman year of college, I thought Astronomy 101 would be a cosmic breeze, filled with field trips to the observatory and a lot of staring at the moon. It turned out to be a bunch of head-spinning equations, and I barely escaped with a D. Fortunately the Blue Ridge night sky is here for the taking without the mathematical hubbub...

News of the Wood: Un-bear-able: Bear Poaching Soars in the Southeast

America has always had a tenuous relationship with the bear. Fueled by fear and fascination, the American black bear was hunted almost to the point of extinction in the Southeast after European settlement. Many states even offered a bounty for black bears, which were considered a nuisance to our ever-expanding urban and suburban populations. Virginia didn’t take their bounty off the books until 1977.

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