Feb 10 2011

Michelle Obama Blog Post on Physical Activity

The family that hits the trail
together, stays fit together.

Michelle Obama, First Lady of the United States, has strong feelings and plans for helping kids stay active and fit. Her ideas (summarized below) highlight the importance of a national trail system that is available to everyone and is family friendly.

First Lady Column on Physical Activity

I remember when I was a kid, all my friends and I wanted to do after school was run around outside until dinner. And even then, we didn’t really want to come inside. But now, with video games, the internet, and entire TV networks geared toward kids, there’s a lot more competition for our children’s free time. And as we’ve seen more and more, when kids aren’t moving, when they’re not active, they’re less likely to grow up healthy – and it’s a significant factor in our country’s building epidemic of childhood obesity.
So in our first year of Let’s Move!, we’ve worked hard to reignite the magic of play and get kids moving again. We’ve worked with sports leagues like Major League Baseball and the National Hockey League, with pro athletes and nonprofit leaders. And with Super Bowl MVP Drew Brees and gold-medal gymnast Dominique Dawes at the helm, we’ve established a revamped President’s Council on Fitness, Sports, and Nutrition.
Kids are moving all over the country, from schools to our greatest national parks. Families have joined in as we reach for our goal of one million Americans to take the PALA Challenge. With this program, everyone, from a pre-schooler to grandma and grandpa, can earn the President’s Active Lifestyle Award with just an hour a day of physical activity for kids and 30 minutes for adults. So we’re working to set good habits that can continue long after the challenge is over.
Plus, more than 3,500 schools participated in Walk to School Month. Gyms have introduced family days with fun activities for the kids, and neighborhoods all across the country have broken ground on new playgrounds and parks for families. And the Departments of Interior and Agriculture have teamed up to get kids outdoors – from local parks and pathways to our beautiful national lands and waterways – with Let’s Move Outside!
So Let’s Move! isn’t just the name of an initiative. Those two little words are a call to action – something we want kids to say more and more. Because playing around shouldn’t be something they feel like they have to do – it should be something they want to do. The more they dance, the more they kick around the soccer ball with friends, chances are they’re going to want to keep doing it even more.
That’s what we’re working toward – a future where kids are having fun, feeling better about themselves, and on the road to a healthier future. And if we as parents have to call a couple extra times to get them to come inside for dinner, that’s not all bad either.

Permanent link to this article: https://trailsnet.com/2011/02/10/michelle-obama-blog-post-on-physical-activity/

Feb 09 2011

Snowshoeing is a great way to burn calories

One of the members of our recent snowshoe expedition sent me this chart that shows how snowshoeing compares to other activities such as walking and running when it comes to burning calories.

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Permanent link to this article: https://trailsnet.com/2011/02/09/snowshoeing-is-a-great-way-to-burn-calories/

Feb 09 2011

Janet’s Cabin Snowshoe and Nordic Ski Trail

“Whether you visit in the summer or in the winter, you will fall in love with this trail, the scenery, and the comfortable cabin.”

happy snowshoers



Thus starts the description in the latest TrailKing trail guide on the Everytrail website.


It documents a recent snowshoe trek up to one of the Tenth Mountain Division mountain huts up in the Colorado mountains. The snow was plentiful, the scenery beautiful, and the air thin. I still have trouble believing that the snowshoe trip was only 5.5 miles. It seemed more like 55. And I wasn’t even the one breaking trail. That would be the person in the front. I was the person in the back. Often way in the back.


But let’s not discuss my winter out-off-shape blues. We’re here to discuss trails, and this one was a doozy. It was well-packed on the way up since it had been a couple days since the last significant snow storm.

Janet’s Cabin

Once we got to the cabin, we found it to be warm, comfortable, and spacious. Altogether, there were 20 of us staying there with 12 in our group and a couple smaller groups. On the second day there, we took a couple exploratory side trips, both on or near the track of the great Colorado Trail. The first one, we trudged through the snow toward Vail. On that little side trip, we experienced a phenomenon called “Wompf.” I’m not sure I spelled it correctly, but it was quite the experience. Nine of us were standing around in snowshoes and, all of a sudden, “wompf,” the snow just sort of gave way beneath our feet. Fortunately, we were not on much of a slope, so we didn’t really go anywhere but straight down about a half inch. The same thing happened one more time on the trip. I guess you could say we experienced a mini-avalanche or mini-earthquake. Either way, it is an experience I won’t soon forget.

snowshoe buddies



The second side trip was in the other direction, up to a pass between two mountains. The wind was howling and the snow was blowing, but it was gorgeous in a sort of winter blizzard sort of way.


That night, it started snowing and continued throughout the rest of our journey. We had quite a powdery expedition back down the trail and had to constantly look for landmarks so as not to get off track since our earlier tracks were completely covered with cold, fresh powder snow.


If you’re interested in seeing a map of the snowshoe trip along with pictures and a more detailed written description, visit the latest Everytrail guide for Janet’s Cabin.

Permanent link to this article: https://trailsnet.com/2011/02/09/janets-cabin-snowshoe-and-nordic-ski-trail/

Feb 07 2011

Snowshoe Trail Extraordinaire

I just returned, yesterday, from a snowshoe trip to Janet’s Cabin. It is one of the Tenth Mountain Division huts that is located on the Colorado Trail.

To call it a “hut” is a bit of an understatement. It is rather luxurious accommodations for a cabin that is above 11,000 feet and is accessible only by trail.

Sauna in back of Janet’s Cabin

It sleeps 20 people, and our group contributed 12 people to that 20. The cabin has a nice communal kitchen and is cozy warm, even in a February snowstorm.

I will soon be creating an Everytrail guide and then will provide you with a link to that. In the meantime, I will add a picture of the sauna… yes I said sauna.

Doesn’t it look like a make-believe gingerbread house with powdered-sugar frosting on the roof?

Permanent link to this article: https://trailsnet.com/2011/02/07/snowshoe-trail-extraordinaire/

Feb 02 2011

Trails and Greenways cost much Less per mile than roads

I have often wondered how much trails and greenways cost to build in comparison to the costs of roads. Of course, I would expect a path to cost less than a street for numerous reasons, but I wondered just how much less.

vs.

Well now I know.

The average cost, per lane mile, for a road to be built is between $500,000 and $1,000,000. (How come I’m picturing Dr. Evil with his pinky up next to his mouth right now?)

The average cost to build an asphalt trail (Asphalt is more expensive than dirt and gravel trails, but less expensive than concrete so it makes a nice average, plus roads are usually asphalt, so it also makes a good comparison.) is $25,000 to $100,000.

As I said, I expected trails to be less expensive to build, but that is considerably less expensive. And that doesn’t even factor in the most important figure… the cost of maintaining trails compared to roads. Some trails can go many years with little or no maintenance whereas roads are in a constant state of repair and disrepair.

And let’s take the tally a step further. Which is more beneficial in certain important categories:

·      Health
_ü_ trails
__­__ roads
·      Environmental benefits
_ü_ trails
__­__ roads
·      Family togetherness
_ü_ trails
__­__ roads
·      Recreation
_ü_ trails
__­__ roads
·      Relaxation
_ü_ trails
__­__ roads
·      Safety
_ü_ trails
__­__ roads

 It’s plain to see that trails cost significantly less to build and maintain than roads; and they’re much more beneficial. But who has more money to throw at congressmen,  oil lobbyists or trail lobbyists? So where do all the tax dollars go?

Once you figure it out, please let me know. I’d love to get your input on this one.

Permanent link to this article: https://trailsnet.com/2011/02/02/trails-and-greenways-cost-much-less-per-mile-than-roads/

Feb 01 2011

Sign People for Bikes petition

Support bikes and bicycling. Support environmental friendliness. Support energy independence. Support recreation. Support the great outdoors. Support a healthy lifestyle. Support family togetherness. Support trails. Support safety.

Here’s your second chance to sign the People for Bikes petition that promotes a more bicycle-friendly environment with safe bike lanes and trails. They currently have over 200,000 signatures and are going for double that. Heck, I say, “Let’s go for a half million.”
This link will take you to an extremely easy online People for Bikes petition.
Thank you for your support.

Permanent link to this article: https://trailsnet.com/2011/02/01/sign-people-for-bikes-petition/