Apr 17 2015

Trail Gear Suggestion: Coatback

What is Coatback?

Coatback jacket storage system in portable container.

Coatback is Portable

Coatback is an ideal solution for those trail days that start out chilly but warm up as the day goes on. Doesn’t that sound like pretty much every day on the trail? It does for me, so that’s why I appreciate the Coatback.The mantra for how to dress on the trail is, “Dress in layers.” And that’s a good suggestion. Except what do you do with those layers as you begin to peel them? The Coatback provides the answer to that question. It allows you to wear that excess clothing safely and securely on your back. To fully understand this, please take a look at the video located at the end of this blog post.

Why Coatback?

This question is best answered in the ubiquitous bulleted list:

  • Coatback is extremely compact and can be stored in your daypack or bike bag.
  • Coatback is easy to use
  • Coatback allows you to carry your jacket or other clothing in a way other than the yuppy “tie it around your waist” technique.
  • Coatback allows you to quickly add or shed clothing throughout the day according to weather conditions.
  • Coatback is good for active trail use to compensate for varying levels of activity that might leave you cold one minute and sweating hot the next.
  • Coatback is easy to carry for active travel such as on hiking trips, bike trips, ski trips and more.

Standard Trail Gear

If you’re like me, you have a collection of indispensable trail gear for all occasions. Whether you are a biker, hiker or skier, you have a stash of clothing and equipment that you raid before each trail trip. Coatback is now part of my standard trail gear. I keep it with my bike gloves, daypacks, trail snacks and miscellaneous outdoor gear. And it is now mandatory equipment when I go on trail journeys. It’s easy to use, easy to pack and certainly comes in handy when I start shedding excess layers due to warm weather or glorious trail exertion. Hmmmmmm. That might be a good name for my next blog post: Glorious Trail Exertion.

Anyway, have a look at the following video and seriously consider adding Coatback to your stockpile of trail gear:

Permanent link to this article: https://trailsnet.com/2015/04/17/trail-gear-suggestion-coatback/

Permanent link to this article: https://trailsnet.com/2015/04/10/where-is-everytrail-website/

Apr 04 2015

Bicycle Camper Trailer

Portable Bicycle Camper Trailer

photo of bike camper trailer

bicycle camper trailer

Tent camping and hotels are no longer the only options for those of you who like to travel on long-distance bicycle paths. Thanks to companies that are starting to manufacture foldable bicycle trailers & portable bicycle trailers, you now have the option of towing a camper trailer behind your bike. In addition to allowing you to camp in relative comfort and safety, it also provides you with a trailer to stow your gear. (such as extra clothing, camping gear, etc.)

Wide Path Camper

One of the finest bike camper trailers is made by company called Wide-Path Camper. The pictures shown w/ this post are of the Wide Path bicycle trailers. As you can see,

bicycle camper trailer near trail

bike camper trailer

the trailers fold down to a fairly small profile for ease of towing on a relatively flat trail. Since they have a wider footprint than a typical bicycle, they seem less than ideal for most roads & highways unless those highways have an exceedingly and consistently wide shoulder. I would recommend these for long-distance bike paths including rail-trails & canal trails. Although not mandatory, it would be best to tow these bicycle trailer campers on paved or concrete trails. Wide-Path Campers fold out and can be taken from the portable towing configuration to the camper configuration in about three minutes. The Wide Path Campers weigh just under 100 pounds, so are best suited for fit & experienced cyclists.

Other Bicycle Trailer Campers

photos of bicycle camper trailers

bicycle camper trailer photos courtesy of weburbanist.com

The Web Urbanist blog also has a great post about Bike Campers for Nomadic Cyclists. It shows intriguing photos of a dozen different cycle camper trailers from basic to luxury. Some of these are homemade and others are available for purchase. But it looks like this may be a new trend for traveling bicyclists whether you are on an active travel tour or just riding your local urban bike trails.

Permanent link to this article: https://trailsnet.com/2015/04/04/bicycle-camper-trailer/

Mar 28 2015

Camino del Rey Trail in Spain

Camino del Rey Trail Photos Say it Allimages

If trail enthusiasts in Spain can find the funding for this incredible suspended trail, then cities, states, counties, provinces & countries should easily be able to fund the vital trails images-1needed to form an essential network of trails for recreation, exercise and transportation. Although most people call this trail Camino del Rey, it’s actual name is Caminito del Rey which means “the king’s little pathway.” That’s all I’ll say about this amazing trail. I’ll let these Camino Del Rey footpath photos do the rest of the talking.

images-2 images-3 images-4

 

Permanent link to this article: https://trailsnet.com/2015/03/28/camino-del-rey-trail-in-spain/

Mar 21 2015

Hiking in Japan – An Outdoor Paradise

hikers on Japanese trail

mountain trail in Japan

Mountain Climbing in Japan

Japan is a land steeped in beauty, history and culture. For the outdoor enthusiast, it’s all here. Approximately 73% of the islands landmass in uninhabitable due to the many mountain ranges that stretch in all directions and as far as the eye can see. So, if you are into the gut-busting outdoor life of mountain climbing, take your pick. Many climbers, who place Japan on their list, tend to (attempt) complete the “100 Famous Japanese Mountains”, or Hyakumeizan as they are known locally. Spread throughout the archipelago are many Pilgrimages, the Shikoku Pilgrimage being the most famous of them, dating back many centuries.

Hiking the Tokaido Road in Japan

hikers on Japan's Tokaido Road

Hiking the Tokaido Road

Before the invention of modern transport, which lead to the many motorways and highways that span this nation, anyone who wanted to migrate between regions, did so via old rock and mud roads. The most famous being the Tokaido (road) which, in many places, has been faithfully restored and maintained. Then, if you are like me, get on the internet, log-into “Google Maps” and find somewhere to go and create your own itinerary. Most of my outings are such trips. You never know what is just around the corner; this video is just one such experience I had.

Japanese Paths – Car-free and Carefree in Japan

 

Japan trail hiking

footpath in Japan

Over the years Japan has payed a lot of attention to it’s infrastructure, particularly in the area of roads and public transport. There not many places that are not serviced by a rail line or bus service. Even the most isolated of places is sure to have a bus service, albeit one-or-two buses per day. So, getting-around is no problem.  I am honored to have been asked by Kevin to contribute to his site, “Trailsnet”, on hiking in Japan. Most of my posts will be of paths and hikes I have done in the Kansai Region, which incorporates such famous areas as Osaka, Kyoto and Nara.

Great Outdoors in Japan

Although I am an avid outdoors person, I don’t profess to being an expert, nor do I have a complete knowledge of hiking

hiking trail in Japan

Barry on trail

in Japan. What I do have is respect and appreciation for what we have here. And that is what my posts are about. If you are planning on visiting the Kansai area, touch base with me and, if possible, I will take the time to help you experience the great outdoors of Japan.

photo of Ross Barry Findlayson

Barry – The Outdoorholic

Sayonara

Many thanks to Ross-Barry Finlayson, the Outdoorholic. Barry has been a Trailsnet follower from the beginning and has contributed wonderful Japan hiking and biking blog posts on Trailsnet. And now that Trailsnet has international trails, we can all look forward to Barry’s Japan hiking trail contributions.

Permanent link to this article: https://trailsnet.com/2015/03/21/hiking-in-japan-an-outdoor-paradise/

Mar 14 2015

Trailsnet Has Trails in Every State

Find Trails in All 50 States on Trailsnet

Trailsnet has now fulfilled their main goals for 2014 – 2015. The second of those two goals was to provide an option for finding and adding international trails on Trailsnet. That goal has now been accomplished. But our #1 goal, for the last couple years, has been to feature the best trails from every state on Trailsnet. It took us a little longer than expected, but that goal has now been accomplished also. Every state is now represented on Trailsnet.

How to Find Trails in Every State

a list of trails in every state

Finding Trails

Because of the new international trails feature, the navigation on Trailsnet.com is slightly different. The most obvious difference is the new trail navigation menu in the right-hand sidebar. Using this new menu, Trailsnet browsers are able to locate trails by geographical region, trail length, trail surface, trail use and trail type. The other website navigation change is on the main Trailsnet horizontal navigation bar. Now, when you hover over the Trails link on that menu, you will discover three different levels of trail navigation. The first pull-down option will show you seven different geographic locations including Unites States, Africa, Asia, Australia, Canada, Central America/Mexico and Europe. (See screen-shot on the right side of this post.) So now, to find United States Trails, you will hover over the Trails link, then pull down to the United States option, then over to the state of your choice and then one more level over to the trail of your choice within that state. Hopefully you’ll take this opportunity to give it a try and let me know what you think in the comments below.

Next Trailsnet Trail Goals

Now that Trailsnet has accomplished these major goals, it’s time to set a couple more. So here are the Trailsnet goals for 2015-2016:

  • Improve Add-a-Trail Function: Feedback from loyal Trailsnet fans shows that our Add-a-Trail function is not as easy as it could or should be to use. So that’s the next major goal for Trailsnet – to improve this function and make it easier for first-time users to add trails. The current system is pretty simple once you’re already registered to add a trail. But first-time users struggle with the current registration process.
  • Trails in Every Country: This one may take more than a couple years, but we can dream, can’t we? Just as we now have trails in every state, it will be nice when we can say we have trail in every country worldwide. So if you haven’t already added a trail to Trailsnet, now’s the time. Trailsnet now offers you the opportunity to add a trail anywhere in the world.

Permanent link to this article: https://trailsnet.com/2015/03/14/trailsnet-has-trails-in-every-state/