When it comes to bicycle paths, the safest option is always above or below grade crossings at intersections. However, for financial and engineering reasons, this is not always possible. So whenever we want a lesson on how to make bike trails safer and more efficient, we turn to the Dutch for a couple lessons. A good example of safe bicycling intersections can be seen in the following video clip:
Permanent link to this article: https://trailsnet.com/2011/02/12/safe-intersections-on-bicycle-paths/
Feb 11 2011
Expedia’s TripAdvisor has purchased EveryTrail
Is the latest corporate merger good for trail lovers?
Last week, TripAdvisor acquired EveryTrail, the distributor of online trail guides. If you don’t recognize the name TripAdvisor, you may have heard of their parent company, Expedia, the internet travel giant.
This could be good news or bad news, depending on the final outcome of the merger. It would be good news if Expedia used its online muscle and presence to further promote trails as a viable and preferred travel activity. This would expose even more people to the joys, health benefits, and environmental benefits of trail travel. More people would realize that they can use a particularly awesome trail as a major deciding factor for choosing a vacation destination. At the very least, destination trails could become one of the talking points when discussing vacation spots.
It could be bad news for trail users if Expedia changes the Everytrail experience too much. For example the current model for Everytrail is to offer both trips and guides. Trips are free and offer some basic information about trails worldwide. Guides are much more extensive and usually cost about $1.99 per trail. Bundles, or groups of trails bound by a single theme, cost more than guides, but are usually less expensive on a per trail basis. In other words, if you buy the Southern Trails bundle, it includes
Everytrail Guides can be downloaded onto a smartphone such as an iPhone or a Droid. Users can then access trail information including a map, photos, points-of-interest, and a written description of the trail directly from their phone, before they leave for the trail (for trip planning purposes) or while they’re on the trail. Most of the guides show how to get to the trailheads, give visual directions for following the trail (map), include links to other useful websites, and have information about lodging, camping, food, equipment/bike rentals, and other important details.
Time will tell whether this business acquisition will be good for trail users and guide publishers. The current business model is one of those rare win-win situations where those of us who publish guides on Everytrail have the opportunity to make a (very) small income by publishing guides while trail users have the convenience of an informative guide located right on their smart phone. They no longer have to pay the big bucks for a bulky guidebook that includes way more trails than they’ll ever explore. Everytrail guides allows users to purchase guides for just the trails they will actually visit.
If you’re not familiar with Everytrail, click on one of the links above and give them a try. Remember all their trips are free and even some of the guides are now free. Let me know if you agree that, given the current Everytrail model, downloadable trail guides are the wave of the future.
Permanent link to this article: https://trailsnet.com/2011/02/11/expedias-tripadvisor-has-purchased-everytrail/
Feb 10 2011
Michelle Obama Blog Post on Physical Activity
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| 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.
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.”
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| 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.
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| 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.
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| 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.
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| 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/