Tag Archives: family hiking

With the end of winter and the start of spring comes warmer weather, blooming flowers, and peak hiking season. While you should absolutely enjoy the trails, be sure to keep an eye out for some dangers the warmer weather brings: poisonous plants, fungi, insects, and arachnids all pose some significant dangers to hikers. The best thing that you can do to stay safe is to keep an eye out for these dangers and prevent poisoning in the first place.

Hiddenite, NC is a tiny town with a sparkling history.  Back in the late 1800s, Thomas Edison hired a mineralogist named William Earl Hidden to look for platinum in the foot hills of Alexander County, NC.  Hidden found an intriguing green gemstone instead.  Named for Hidden, the gemstone was soon …

As part of our family’s Appalachian Trail backpacking trip, my wife and I took our daughters camping at Vogel State Park in Georgia.  Apart from the terribly twisty road that gave my wife and one daughter motion sickness, the park was beautiful and well worth the trip.  It has a …

The Klymit Static V Luxe Sleeping pad is an innovative addition to Klymit’s Static line of sleeping pads.  This pad’s wide design makes it comfortable for people of larger stature or those who change position often in their sleep.  The v-chamber design provides exceptional support and comfort through its body-mapping …

  Hornets, Snakes and Bears, Oh My!     Life with a wife and three daughters is already an adventure.  Taking them all hiking on the Appalachian Trail is a grand feat in and of itself.  Surprisingly, they didn’t complain very much.  Instead, there was a good amount of laughter, …

Have you ever seen an elephant take a mud bath or fed a 16 feet tall giraffe named Jack a piece of lettuce?  If not, you should take a trip to the NC Zoo.  Boasting the greatest acreage of natural habitat of any zoo in the world, the NC Zoo is a …

From a young age, I have enjoyed the outdoors and the adventures the natural world brings.  My brother and I ran rampant through the fields and forests of North Carolina.  We hunted, fished, camped, hiked, and explored as often as we could.  I learned to love and respect nature and …